"Best of luck, my son. I hope you will make me and our house proud," said Count as he hugged his son.
"I will, Father," said Lancel emotionally, before breaking the hug.
Lancel had taken part in many of the diplomatic missions, but it would be his first leading it.
The count had many expectations from him and so is the city and the whole region. A success and we will have a little less headache from the Navr.
It will give the region a chance for stable development, with the Greltheaven being the biggest beneficiary.
"York, I hope you will protect my son from any danger," he said to the High Mage. He is the one responsible for security, with three captains below him; Captain Julian being one of them.
"I will protect Lord Lancel with my life, my lord," High-Mage promised.
The Count nodded and turned to the handsome man in his early forties with shoulder-length raven-black hair.
Viscount Akre, the leader of five people, came from the fourth prince. He is a loyalist and, from what I heard, a hell of a negotiator. Unfortunately, he will be only negotiating the prince's business.
Count Darrow talked to him for more than a minute in privacy. After he finished, he turned to us.
"Everyone, try your hardest to make this mission successful as possible," he said.
"We will, my lord," we said in unison. "Leave and return in victory," he said, and we climbed into the wide boat.
A minute later, it is sailing through the river to the other side. Most of our entourage had already reached the other side. We were the only ones who had waited for the last goodbye.
I sat more comfortably on the bed and looked at the ships sailing in the river. There are a lot of them, more than they were a month ago.
The undead incident barely affected a week of progress; the trade from merchant cities recovered in less than a week. Unlike us, they are used to the undead and did not react as badly as we had expected.
"I can't wait to see the day when at least half of these ships dock at Greltheaven," said Lancel.
"Under Lord Count and your leadership, that day isn't far, my lord," said Hennessey. His assistant and the biggest yes-man, I had ever seen.
Robin, I, and others also nodded our heads in affirmation, but a few of us also rolled our eyes secretly, hearing the absurd statement.
Less than a quarter of ships coming from empire and merchant cities, dock at the Greltheaven. The percentage is reducing, despite more ships docking at Greltheaven by day.
We are a tiny city, and we are growing at a shocking speed, but we are just one city. While goods in the river go for hundreds of cities of empire and merchant city-states.
We are lucky to be established in such a strategic place. Where huge trade gives us huge taxes.
I had got to know the amount of tax we receive, and it blew my mind. It is huge and the worse thing is the Count will spend only a quarter of it on the city.
From what I am able to find out, around 40% of taxes earned by the city go to Prince Grelt, 25% to the empire, and 10% were pocketed by Count Darrow. I had tried to steer the Count to spend more on the city, but found it impossible.
Count Darrow is smart, but he is also a greedy fellow as they said him to be. He isn't willing to spend a single penny from his share.
It is kind of normal here, but still, I hope he would listen. If he spends more on the city, he will earn more, but it will not happen.
So, I focused on nudging him toward spending efficiently. Instead of spending more on white elephant projects, which Count Darrow is quite fond of, I made him focus on infrastructure and services.
I did not succeed completely, but I had my victories and a level in my Adviser Class is proof of that.
Soon we reached the other side and walked out of the boat, one after another. The carriages were already ready and, seeing us stepping out, the others who were waiting by their carriages stepped inside immediately.
Eighty-four people are going to Navr; nearly half of it is security, with three of my guards added.
I wanted to bring more, but three is already a stretch, as no one had been allowed to bring their guards. The only reason I did was that I refused to go on the trip without them.
We walked toward the carriages; there are eight of them with a lot of horses and four blue-horn rhinos.
They are black rhinos with blue horns; they are slightly slimmer than the earth rhinos, but it gives them speed. It might not look like it, but they could go faster than the horses of the earth and have much greater stamina than them.
Soon, we appeared beside a purple long carriage and Captain Julian opened the door.
Lancel was the first to go inside before it was High Mage York, Robin, and then me. The carriage is big, with wide comfortable seats that can recline for maximum comfort.
Soon, the carriage begin to roll, and its speed was not slow.
"Lord Lancel. Navr had rejected our request for our security," said High Mage York suddenly. "Fuck, why those bastards couldn't agree," cursed Lancel angrily.
The security had already been decided, but Lancel kept trying. The Navr rarely makes an exception and Lancel is not powerful enough to force them to do that.
"Navr said since we are their guests, they want to guarantee our safety," replied High-Mage York.
The moment we stepped out of the empire's boundary, there will be people from Navr guiding us, providing security. Since they are an undead kingdom, one does not need to guess the kind of security they will provide.
They do that to every diplomat, and to be honest, I would prefer the undead take a charge of our safety.
I don't like it, but their records speak.
Lancel did not speak further, and others also remain quiet.
Seeing there won't be any talking soon, I took out several documents and begin to read them.
I have done it many times, but I am doing it again; I want to be familiar with every word.
So, I will be ready to deal with any problem that came with me.
I am responsible for the business delegation and its business; the merchant guild had provided a negotiator, but I also need to be fully prepared. Being undead is not easy.
A few hours passed, and Lancel is now sleeping, and High-Mage York is alert, casting the spells now and then, while Robin and I working.
I was reading a long document when suddenly I saw Robin turning toward the window and kept looking.
I followed his gaze at the window and saw the prison wagons filled with bandits. Over 90% of them are orcs, with the rest 10% being half-bloods and humans.
They are in large prison wagons, chained for extra protection.
Count Darrow acted on his promise and doubled the bounties on the bandits and allowed the foreign mercenaries. They poured in and from the first day; they started killing and capturing bandits.
They are very good, with special classes and skills to aid them.
In less than a month, more than half of the bandits were captured or killed. Some had run away in fear, while some struggling.
There is still one group that is giving trouble and has killed many bandit hunters that come to hunt them. So, now stronger bandit hunters are hunting them, and they are confident they will capture them in a month.
It is not just mercenaries, but also the forces of Mirador Hold. Though they did not count.
They have been trying that for months, achieving no success.
Even the band of nobles had better success in hunting bandits than them. A few nobles of Nakar forest had banded together and formed a couple of hunting bands against the bandits.
Even my brother had joined in and from what I heard; he was actively taking part in it and seemed to be enjoying the hunt.
Good for him.
A few hours passed, and we took a small rest of half an hour at a big patch before resuming our journey.
Soon, the evening arrived, and we could see the silhouette of the Mirador Hold under the bright moonlight.
We have already come across several patrols, and a few have spread around the carriage to protect it.
It is only for a show. There is no danger this close to the Mirador Hold, especially on this side.
Soon, we reached the gates, and the carriages stopped. There is a man standing at the gates, wearing a uniform and all the medals. Beside him are the other men and women, all wearing their military uniforms.
The guards gathered around the carriage before High-Mage York came out and behind him, Lancel.
Soon, the whole entourage came out, and we walked toward the gates with Lancel leading in the front.
"Welcome to the Mirador Hold, Lord Lancel," said Commander Harrison as Lancel appeared in front of him.
He did not bow to Lancel but showed enough respect to him. If it had been Count Darrow, he would have not only bowed, but welcomed him from the carriage.
He is a prince's man, and I heard Duke Benedict played a big role in him getting this position.
Duke Benedict is Lancel's uncle.
"Commander Harrison," said Lancel. I could see the faint displeasure that appeared in the eyes of the commander, the way Lancel had greeted him, and knowing Lancel, he did intentionally.
To establish the hierarchy.
Officially, Mirador Hold is an imperial frontier fort, managed by the defense ministry of the empire.
In reality, it is a personal fort of the fourth prince; every person here comes from the army of the fourth prince, including Harrison Dane.
Count Darrow is the prince's uncle and his ardent ally. He is also part of the defense council of mirador hold and, if he wishes, could remove Commander Harrison from his post.
Lancel is nothing officially, but he is a member of one of the most powerful noble houses of the empire and the prince is his cousin, which gives him power over Commander.
Harrison Dane understands it very well, seeing how he took the small disrespect with a smile.
"Viscount Akre, welcome," he said and took us inside.
The preparations had already been made. Commander Dane took us directly to the banquet, where everyone important in Mirador Hold was present.
The party lasted for over two hours before it was over.
After the party was over, I joined Lancel for an important meeting in the mirador hold, with Commander Dane and his men.
It had lasted for a little over an hour, during which he briefed Lancel about the undead attack that happened more than a month ago. Nothing, he said, surprising to me.
He had sent the detailed record, which I had read a couple of times.
"Is anyone trying to leave?" I asked Ina as I finished my duties with Lancel.
"No. They are all sleeping. I have personally checked it," she replied with a smile. "Good, you can sleep too. We have to leave early tomorrow," I said to her.
She nodded and walked toward the door, before suddenly stopping and turning to me.
"Thank you. Master Silver," she said, surprising me. I was about to ask her why when she opened the door and walked out, leaving me confused.
I decided not to think about it further and walked into the bedroom, which had a beautiful view.
The last time when I had come here, I could not stay on this floor. Now, they have placed me here without me asking.
In just six months, the fortunes have changed.
I looked at the view for a couple of seconds, before laying on the bed. Within a few minutes, I was in deep sleep.
"Mister Silver, wake up,"
I was shaken hard from a deep sleep by a familiar voice. I woke up in seconds and my hand immediately went to the sword by my bed.
I did not forget what had happened last time when I was woken up in such a way in a foreign place.
"What happens?" I asked with my sword in my hand. "Assassins," replied Jon, making me even more alert.
"Not here, mister silver. They have attacked Viscount Akre and his men," he added, and I couldn't help but relax.