"Clean it well. We do not need even a single weed," said the guard down below to the group of orcs.
They brought a group of orcs from tribes around the fort. To clean up the overgrown trees and weeds in the fort, which are everywhere.
This suit I had slept in last night had it. The guards removed it before I set the tent.
Yes, we had set the tents inside the suits. It was the only option we had, seeing there was no furniture or bedding. Even the suits were laden with junk that people who lived here years ago left behind.
I woke up not long ago and freshened. Now, looking down from the huge window.
I love these huge windows of forts and castles; they provide a splendid view, and one could even sit on them like I am doing right now.
These orcs are from friendly tribes; my sister had contacted them before and only needed to send people to bring them here to work, which they are more than happy to do, with the wages that Ignatius is paying them.
They may be far from cities, but they know the value of the money.
They will clear the plants and junk, before people from the Greltheaven come to do the emergency work on the fort.
It needs work, but most of it could delay, but some not, like working toilets. Fixing the magic lights and other things.
They are also bringing the furniture, which Ignatius sent from Oksall to Greltheaven.
Currently, with snow and no proper road, bringing people and things from Greltheaven to here is much easier than doing it from the Amberhold, despite it being much closer.
It will take around two to two and a half months to build a road. Though, the trade will start before that. The first batch of goods should arrive by the end of the month.
I watched them working for a few minutes before walking out of the suit.
An hour later, I was near my horse, ready to leave the fort, with my sister and Baron Harrods.
"Your help on the journey had been invaluable. Without you all, I don't know if I would have been standing here and talking," said Ignatius.
"You are being too humble, Lord Blackwell," replied Baron Harrods.
"It is not humble words, but truth, Lord Baron," he said, and the old man smiled.
A minute later, we are on our horses, walking out of the fort's gate with our men. There are around fifty new guards around us, a few are quite familiar to me.
They are men of my sister and Baron Harrods, who had come to the fort an hour before.
The route the safe, but nobody wants to take a risk after what we have experienced.
Two and a half hours later, we stopped. We crossed into the Empire half an hour ago and now intersection. Left is the territory of my sister, while on the right is the territory of Baron Harrods.
"It is goodbye, Adviser," said the old man.
"We will be meeting in the evening, Lord Baron," I said to him. "That's true," he replied with a smile.
"Have a safe journey, Adviser," he said and waved as left. Leaving me with my sister, which immediately turned the atmosphere a little awkward.
"I would have invited you to the Blain, but you have to go," she said after a few seconds of silence. "Some other time," I replied and move my horse forward, while she watched.
I have to go to Castle Radcliff; it is where Count Darrow is.
Castle Radcliff is not under any lord; it is under imperial control, like the majority of the territory in the Nakar forest. It is the center of baronies and going to be the center of the trade here.
I rode through the forest, and it was really beautiful. Unlike the wild paths we have taken on our journey from Amberhold, here everything is paved.
These roads will need to be widened further, to support the traffic that will come. Just imagining it brought a smile to my face.
I will be seeing it with my own eyes; I am sure I will have to make a couple of visits here every month, to see how things are going.
It is my plan, after all.
One and a half an hour later, I was in front of Castle Radcliff. It is a keep of similar designs, as other castles here.
Square in design, made of white stone, which is abundant here.
The keep is heavily guarded, which is not surprising since Major Jarvis had shifted his forces here. Handing back the Castle Lockridge to Angus Lockridge's cousin, who has become the new Lord Lockridge.
"Adviser Silver," greeted the familiar man at the gate. "Captain Hartley," I said.
"Lord Count has ordered me to bring you to his cabin as soon as you arrive," he informed.
I nodded and rode inside.
I dismounted, and the guard took the horse to the stable while I walked with Captain Hartley toward the keep.
Soon, we are at the gate of the Count's office, and I activated my skill 'Get Ready,'. While I want to show how this journey took a lot of me, looking presentable is more important.
It is what Count Darrow expects of his people.
Captain Hartley pushed open the door, and I walked inside and saw Count Darrow, turning to me from the document in front of me.
"My lord," I greeted and bowed. "Remus, welcome back," he said and motioned me to sit.
"Thank you, my lord," I replied.
He is alone in the room. There is no Mage York or any guard, there is not even another adviser.
Which is extremely rare, as there is always someone with him. A protector, like Mage York
That doesn't mean, he isn't protected. He is always protected.
"How was the journey?" he asked. The bastard knows what happens, and instead, with sympathy, he had asked me the question.
"It was good, except for one small hiccup last night. Which will be in our favor, considering we have wiped out a third of the bandits plaguing the area," I replied to him.
"You are right, it will make things easier," he said and wrote down something on the file in front of him, before turning back to me and this time expressions are serious.
"Now you have experienced it yourself. Do you think it has the potential to become a big trade route?" he asked.
"Absolutely," I replied.
"There is also a will to do it. Especially from Amberhold, they need this trade route as much as we do and will give their all for success,"
He nodded, and for a couple of seconds; he didn't say anything, before turning back to me.
"There is a reason I had sent you with Blackwell, despite knowing the danger of it," he said, in a tone that he uses when he has to say something important.
"I wanted you to get familiar with Blackwell, who we will act as a representative of Oksall," he said, and I gripped the hand of the chair a little too tightly.
"As you can understand, the trade is very important, and I want you to personally oversee every aspect of it."
Those words felt like thunder to me. I thought he would give me more responsibility and not unload the whole thing on me.
"My lord, I will be able to do a better job from Greltheaven," I protested and even activated Persuasive, but it seemed to have no effect on him.
"You will not be a mere trade chief, but my representative. You will have the authority, power to do anything that will smoothen the trade," he said.
I wanted to protest, but stopped hearing it.
If it has been trade chief, then there wouldn't have been any additional responsibility, seeing as I am already responsible for the trade with Oksall.
It would have even been seen as a demotion with me away from the seat of power, but being representative, with certain powers over baronies, is a completely different thing.
"I will accept it, but I have a certain condition," I said, and a surprise appeared on the man's face.
Till now, I have accepted every order of his without any complaint, but now, I think, I have become valuable enough that I could put certain conditions of my own.
"What are they?" he asked.
"First, I want complete freedom to operate. While I will ask your permission for important decisions, I need free will to operate on other small decisions, without informing you first," I said.
He just kept looking at me.
"Second, I want a bigger infrastructure fund and after a trade begins, I want the freedom to spend 10% of taxes coming from it,"
"Third, this should be temporary. After the route opened and everything normalized, I want to hand over the responsibility to someone capable and return to the Greltheaven,"
I started all three conditions, but not a single word came out of his mouth.
"I agree with the first and third conditions. The second condition is not something I could agree with, since we haven't even started earning the taxes."
"But I promise you, after we started earning taxes and they become greater than what we are spending here, we will talk about it again."
"As for a bigger infrastructure fund, it won't be possible with our tight finances, but I will give you complete freedom over the infrastructure fund we currently have," he said.
"Thank you for the opportunity, my lord. I will not disappoint you," I said, accepting the responsibility.
I have gotten more than I wanted. I thought he would completely deny me the first two conditions and I have only put them. So, he would accept the third one.
This new position may have power, but I like to be in the Greltheaven. My business is there, and it will benefit my carrier more if I stay there.
Though, this will be a wonderful opportunity for me to learn.
It is a huge responsibility with command over everything. I could even ask baronies to do things, but it also comes with huge risks. If anything goes wrong. It will be squarely on me.
"I will announce it to everyone in the evening," he informed.
An hour and a half later, I walked out of the Count's office and directly went to the kitchen.
I had breakfast, but I was feeling quite hungry. Likely because I am thinking so much.
This responsibility is huge. I not only have to coordinate with Blackwells and Oksall, but was also responsible for overseeing the infrastructure that we needed to build for the trade.
It means giving a lucrative tender for infrastructure. That will not cover the baronies, but also the mirador hold.
I will have to deal with them, which will be a challenge of its own.
A few minutes ago, Count Darrow had called Major Jarvis into his office and informed him of his decision. He didn't look so happy, I wouldn't be if I had been in his face.
I have become his boss. He would have to accept every order I will give it him.
Though, from the time I had spent with him. I know is a rational man. He isn't someone to let his ego come in between his job.
I really hope it is true because if he wished, he could make my job much harder.