This room was the most spacious in Elvys's mansion, decorated with large panels of black ebony and complemented by gilded accents.
Ina leaned on a golden-brown cushion on the couch, engrossed in a thick book. Her posture was elegant, her expression focused and serious. Now and then, a breeze would blow through the open window, making Ina's hair shimmer like silk.
From behind the towering stacks of official documents and ledgers, Elvys cast a glance in Ina's direction. To have such peaceful moments, sometimes he couldn't help but think, if it weren't for his accursed curse, they could have countless days and nights like this.
During this time, they'd found no solution to lift the curse from Elvys. However, thanks to the two potions Ina provided, his condition had at least stabilized. But the Elixir was rapidly dwindling, leaving them with limited time.
Noticing that Elvys seemed to have finished his work for the day, Ina closed the book in her hands, tilted her head slightly, and her long curls slid off her shoulder.
"What are you thinking about?" Elvys sat down, helping Ina straighten her wind-tousled hair.
Ina showed a troubled expression. "I want to set up a trade guild, but I can't think of a suitable name." She suddenly looked up, "How did you come up with the name 'Silver Empire'? It sounds strange. There isn't even a king here."
Elvys seemed to recall something amusing and a slight smile tugged at his lips. "When the Empire was first established, there were only two factions in the Senate, the Blood Clan, and the merchants."
"When it came to deciding on a name for the nation, they quarreled incessantly. The merchants proposed the 'Silver Republic,' while the Blood Clan insisted on 'Darknight Empire.'"
Elvys continued, "I didn't particularly like either name, so I compromised and took half from each."
Just as Ina was about to ask why he didn't choose the other halves to form the name, she realized that the combination "Darknight Republic" sounded as peculiar as "Love and Peace Assassination Group" or "Fight If You Disagree Choir." Compared to those, 'Silver Empire' was more palatable.
She asked further, "Why not the 'Gold Empire'? If I were a merchant representative in the Senate, I would definitely prefer gold."
Elvys raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you know that the dragons once established a nation called the 'Gold Empire'? It would be understandable if others didn't know, but you're a black dragon."
Ina shrugged. "But I wasn't born a dragon. I became one due to... certain circumstances."
Seeing that Ina didn't want to delve into the topic, Elvys didn't push further. He glanced at the cover of the book Ina had been reading - 'Hudis's Travelogue Across the Continent of Moro: The Orc Edition.'
"When did you become interested in travelogues? And an orc travelogue at that."
Ina huffed. "I want to see how these races lived hundreds of years ago before humans tricked them all into the Old God Ruins."
This book mainly recounts the adventures of a high-level mage named Hudis as he traverses the continent of Moro. This volume focuses on Hudis's experiences in the Soren Highlands, home to the Orcs.
As his exploration occurred right before the other races were duped into the Old God Ruins by humans, Ina scrutinized every page of the book, indeed finding some clues.
"For half the year, the place is scorched by the harsh sun, occasionally interspersed with dust and windstorms, and covered in frost the other half. It was once said that there were as few trees on the Soren Highlands as there were Orcs with a conscience. However, at least there used to be some, now there are none." This was Hudis's note upon his arrival at the Soren Highlands, where he was still interested and able to crack some harmless jokes.
But as he spent more time on the Soren Highlands, his tone began to grow serious.
"What a damned climate, this damned frost!" Hudis cursed. "Not only has it destroyed all the vegetation, but it also brings unimaginable low temperatures. My compass has failed, potion bottles are extremely brittle. I'm fortunate to be a staff-wielding mage; if I were a swordsman or an assassin, my skin would adhere to the cold metal of the weapon the moment I touched it."
From his account, it wasn't just Hudis who was having a tough time. The Orcs were as well. "I suppose I should leave this tribe soon. They look at me with hostility, as if I brought this frost. It's strange, there were never such severe frosts and storms in previous years. Even the Orcs who have lived on the Soren Highlands for hundreds of years don't know what caused this bizarre weather."
"I have to leave! The tribe's shaman died on the altar today. He slit his wrists, ankles, and even his neck in madness. Blood slithered like a snake in the white frost. I heard people shouting 'atonement' and 'divine punishment.' It appears I should leave, I should leave right away."
The last sentence, Hudis repeated twice, indicating his mental state was also rather hazy at the time.
"You've acquired a clue: Orcs - Frosted Highlands. Progress: 2/4."
Indeed, the Orcs faced unimaginable troubles during this time. Given what the mercenary guild's Winter had previously told Ina, this was likely the time when the Orcs were facing a food crisis due to continuous low-temperature frosts.
At the same time, the Human Empire was weak from exploring the Old God Ruins, leaving their defenses exposed. The Orcs took advantage of this to raid the Human Empire, but a ceasefire was quickly established.
The reason for the ceasefire was clear. The Human Empire shared secrets of the Old God Ruins with other races, deceiving them that it would be a wealthy divine kingdom.
Everything now made sense. The reason the other races fell for the fabrications of the Human Empire was partially due to their ambition to divide the treasures of the divine kingdom, but mostly because their ancestral lands were experiencing various strange disasters. They had no choice but to seek more suitable habitats.
Ina could imagine how the rulers of the Human Empire deceived the other races at the time, just declaring that humans also had troubles. There was no need to concoct lies because they were indeed weakened from developing the Old God Ruins, and small-scale famines and wars occurred frequently.
But what was the Human Empire thinking at the time? Did they do this merely to prevent other races from having no way out and hence resorting to grabbing humans' territories or directly initiating wars like the Orcs? Or did they seize the opportunity to strengthen themselves, making humans the strongest intelligent race on the Moro Continent?
Ina always felt that things weren't that simple.
Moreover, the disasters encountered by the Orcs and Goblins are still unexplainable to this day.
She suddenly asked Elvys, "What if the world ends?"
Elvys was reading the page Ina had just flipped in the travel notes. His gaze paused on the page for a moment, then looked at Ina, "I've never thought about this question."
Ina had thought it through, "At that time, I will take you, and you will take my gold, and we'll live somewhere. We are both so strong that no matter how the world ends—continent sinking, fire rain falling from the sky, or lava flowing on the ground—as long as there's a place to stand, we can survive."
She was serious, and Elvys answered just as earnestly, "Sounds good. If you want, you can also take my gold."
Hearing this, Ina shook her head. "Not now, the world cannot end. My company... I haven't come up with a good name yet."
Ina acted immediately, going straight to handle the procedures to register the company.
Elvys leaned against the pillow Ina had just rested on, tapping the heavy cover of the travel notes with slender fingers.
Will the world end? This absurd question lingered in his mind.
Ina seemed to be seeking the answer to a certain question. Elvys thought he should probably do something.
He told the secretary who came to take away the reviewed documents, "Get me the last volume of the Chronicle of the Tulle Empire and the birth population records from the cathedral in the capital."
The secretary hesitated, "Are you sure you want those records from nearly 300 years ago?" After the establishment of the Silver Empire, most of the records from the previous dynasty were burned in the war, with only a few surviving. Even with Elvys's command, obtaining these documents would be quite troublesome.
Elvys nodded, "Go ahead."
———
Due to Ina's terrible naming ability, one only needs to see the names she chose for various tea restaurants. So, in the end, the company was named Dragon Flame Commerce. However, Ina ordered some badges that could be pinned on clothes. They were made of solemn and serious black iron, with the outline of a dragon hidden in raging flames etched on them. The flames were outlined in gold, which was very suitable with the black background and the smooth golden lines.
In the future, whether in restaurants, tea houses, or candy stores, the staff could wear this badge, indicating that the place they work is a subsidiary of Dragon Flame Commerce.
Those of the Rize race working for Ina all received this badge, with only a few exceptions.
"Don't we need to wear this thing?" Quint asked.
Dusì flipped through the notebook in his hand and found where Quint had recently been working. The Rize people's work actually often rotated, first, to allow them to learn more things, and second, working in one place for a long time could lead to slackness, greatly increasing the chance of mistakes.
"Uncle Quint, you guys are in charge of the farm in the Doman Duchy's Thunder Fort. That place is not open to the public, so there's no need for a badge." Dusì added, "Uncle Quint, you guys should wait a little longer before leaving. Miss Ina has something to entrust to you."
Dusì turned around to arrange other things. Quint waited aside, with Moray and Magi, who used to be in the same planting team, now both assigned to Thunder Fort Farm. They guessed the purpose of Dusì leaving them behind, "That farm is massive, it can be said that even if it's a few of us, even a few hundred of us, we can't cultivate that much land."
Magi chimed in, "Is the Saintess thinking about recruiting local workers to help? I, I don't know how to manage people!"
Quint raised an eyebrow, "If you don't know, learn. Were you born knowing everything?"
However, Quint didn't quite agree with this guess.
Thunder Fort Farm is not in the Silver Empire or the Orlan Empire. It belongs to one of the small duchies formed after the split of the Krite Empire a hundred years ago - the Doman Duchy. Wars have been raging in these duchies for over a hundred years, and there's no sign of cessation. Turbulence and chaos seem to last for several more centuries.
Because of frequent wars, the land prices here are very low. Especially this Thunder Fort Farm that Ina has her eye on, covering over 600 hectares, the land is fertile and flat, but the price is exceptionally low.
This is not because Thunder Fort Farm has other defects, but precisely because it's flawless. It's a farm that all factions want to seize. Often, a season's crops have not been harvested, and the duchy has changed hands. The new troops seize all the farm's produce, leaving only barren wheat straws and haystacks.
Every owner of Thunder Fort Farm suffered heavy losses, and some even lost their lives.