Before Ryan's recovery:
...
I saw the dying bodies of thousands placed neatly on the streets. I was just trying to help. Trying to change things for the better.
I didn't know that some minor changes could lead to this. My breathing turned heavy and my head was aching. A bitter taste left my mouth.
This guilt isn't something I could tolerate. I had to do something. This was something that was indirectly my fault.
I had to take responsibility. So I did.
"Father, I have a plan to retain our rank and avoid taxes."
I said this first thing in the morning before the general had even arrived in the city.
As much as I said I was doing this to help the people, I was doing this for my family as well.
Our financial state was not enough to pay due taxes. If we couldn't pay it, we would demoted.
The only exception that could be made, had to be made by the emperor. This meant we had to appeal to him.
"Let's take out as many herbs as we can from our warehouses. Especially the ones that help replenish blood and promote regeneration.
Herbs that provide a high amount of nutrition would also be useful." I suggested.
My father listened while my mother sat beside him. He had a serious expression, as if deep in thought. In actuality, he was raring for a fight.
He was probably thinking about how he would blast into the blood cult and beat that bastard, Anton. He no longer deserves to be called by his last name.
It was good that Mother was beside him, she acted as his brain in matters like this.
"That's not a bad idea. The current emperor does prefer nobles who show care for the commoners." she said.
"Honey, let's give her full authority on this matter. She needs to learn." My mother addressed my father as his concentration broke.
"Uh.." he paused for a moment to understand what she said. "Sure. She needs to manage things hands on. Give her the emblem."
"That's what I was going to do." she replied. She tapped the ring that was on her left, middle finger. It glowed lightly.
Out of nowhere appeared a silver medallion. It was the size of my palm and was carved with an image. It was a small rose garden with the sun shining brightly above it.
This was our Zocraten family's symbol of nobility. The medallion was our proof of our status, given to the founders of the clan from that era's emperor.
Mother handed the medallion to me and said "Let's see how you do. The better you perform, the earlier you can take the title."
She was encouraging me to do my best. The better I did, the less resistance I would face when applying to become the next head of the family.
"Okay." I said softly, unsure of how I will perform.
"Come with me." I told Emily that I would;ld need her help. I didn't know where most of our warehouses were in the city.
Since she helps my mother with management sometimes, she should know. Her emerald eyes shined as she nodded and followed me out of the room.
...
As soon as Elina had left, her parents looked at each other. Her mother went behind her husband who was sitting on the couch.
She put her hands on his shoulder-length blue hair. She expertly weaved through it while helping him tie it up.
Usually, he did this himself in the morning. Today, however, he was too occupied to do so. He had been blaming himself for letting Elina go to Jenny's place.
She could have died there. When he had heard the news of the incident, his heart had almost stopped.
Thankfully she was fine. The young man that her daughter had chosen was able to protect her at the cost of his own future.
He wished he could have been there to protect her but he knew that it would make no difference.
He was only at the beginning of 5th tier Warrior. He wasn't strong as his older sister that was already there.
He was feeling very useless right now. Being unable to protect his only child in a crisis like that was shameful to a father like him.
"She'll do just fine. I've trained Emily for this day. She will make sure Elina can do as she wishes." Elina's mother said after finishing the man bun.
"Elira, I don't know what I should do. Every time she leaves my sight, I can't help but fear what might happen." the man said as he looked into his wife's emerald eyes.
It had been a long time since he said her name directly. It was his wife's name that he took inspiration from to name his daughter.
"That's why we gave her the emblem honey. It will protect her whenever others can't." she assured him. The emblem also acted as a protective artifact.
The empire gave them out to protect the heads of noble families in case of dangers that they couldn't solve.
"I always thought the earings were good enough but it seems we need better measures." Elina's father wanted to give his daughter more artifacts.
The man wasn't satisfied regardless of how many artifacts his daughter had. Plus, those earrings were a gift from Ryan. Something he had sent over for her during his time at school
He had apparently used his contribution to the sect war to get it.
"You know we can't afford something like that. That boy is much more capable than us." Elira spoke the truth.
They couldn't honestly compare to a family like Vornix.
Vornix was a Marquess family, right below the dukes.
Many even compared them to dukes as no other Marquess house was as capable as theirs. They were also a house that had produced many alchemists for over a century.
Alchemists are of the utmost value to nations, even higher than healers. Their pills are what allow people to grow stronger at a higher rate and to heal injuries and poisons.
They are also one of the wealthiest families because of the pills they produce. Very few families can compare to them in the empire.
On the other hand, they were above average Earldom, one rank below Marquee. They were far from the most capable Earldoms.
"We can only hope that Elina can attain the emperor's grace. If her charity towards the commoners goes well, we may have a chance to merge with Vornix.
Since we were willing to use so many of our herbs, even during a personal financial crisis, we should be able to at least avoid demotion and taxes." she explained.
Even though she was a mother who loved her daughter, she was a noble by birth. She had learned that one should do what is possible to retain and increase one's noble rank.
Even if that meant merging with a larger one and losing your original name. It was all excusable as long as you get wealthier and more powerful.
"The emperor would seem ungrateful and uncaring towards the doubles if he doesn't acknowledge our efforts.
After we lose these herbs, and the loss of our garden, we won't be able to recover on our for another 10 years."
As his wife spoke on and on, Alwin just sat there listening. These kinds of political things were not something he understood.
It was the main reason his parents had gotten him married to Elira. A woman who was seen as capable of managing their family while not coveting the title for herself.
Even though she is a nice lady, she could get quite focused on benefits. He did not mind this at all.
She had helped him for almost decades now. It was because of her that he could pursue martial arts. It was because of her that he had such a lovely daughter.
Even though she was a bit greedy and power hungry, he was fine with it since she genuinely cared for the family.
...
It took us almost an hour to get to the other side of the city. Most of the warehouses were stored far from the living areas.
They were kept on the outskirts, right after the commercial regions but before the very edge.
At the very edge city were the slums. As prosperous as cities or nations might be, there will always be people at the very bottom.
Though the mayors did their best to minimize poverty, they couldn't outright eradicate it.
Land near the slums was cheap so most of the city's massive warehouses were kept here.
"We have arrived young miss." Emily said curtly.
"Let's do this!" I said with passion.
We got off the carriage. The guards that ran alongside the carriage were waiting. They escorted me here as there were still safety concerns.
It had only been a couple of hours since the blood cult withdrew. We had to stay cautious.
I walked up to the warehouse guards with my entourage and flashed my emblem.
They didn't say anything after seeing it as they were used to seeing it every time my father or mother came.
They did have slightly surprised faces as they weren't expecting the young lady. Regardless, they didn't ask any questions.
They just moved to the side. They opened the heavy iron doors.
Creeeak!
The doors were kind of old so they made an unpleasant noise.
Once opened wide, The warehouse guards stayed outside as the personal guards followed me.
A smile erupted on my face when the fragrance of the herbs entered my nose.
It was a familiar scent that I had missed. I loved spending my free time in the garden, taking care of some of the plants.
It was the family business so I knew all about it since young. I also like the plants and how many forms they come in.
Since the herb garden had been burnt, I had been unable to tend to it and unwind.
"Emily, give me the list." I asked. She handed me a small stack of papers.
They explained where in the warehouse certain herbs were kept and how many of them there were.
I quickly looked over the list and circled the ones I knew were for blood replenishment, healing, and nutrition.
I marked each of the three types in 3 different colors. I handed the lost back to Emily.
"Get these herbs and bring them to the front. Then separate them into the groups I've marked on the paper." I told her.
She nodded and then went towards the warehouse guards.
"Where are the people who usually move the stuff?" she asked.
"They are at the slums as usual. I will send someone to bring them over." said the man respectfully.
Even though Emily was a servant like him, everyone knew she was of noble blood and was Elina's cousin. They would not be overtly respectful but still did the bare minimum.
"Go ahead. Tell them to bring as many as they can. We are going to move a lot more than normal." Emily revealed.
"Alright. I'll see how many we can muster up." the guard replied as he went to one of the other guards.
He said something to him. A minute later, the guy went running towards the slum.
Emily came back to me.
"The workers will take some time to arrive." I said. " We no time to waste. Guards, you can begin first."
It would probably take some time to gather people from the slums. We couldn't really wait. Whatever time we could save would be better for the people.
"You three go get these.
You guys will go here and get these.
Be careful with these. They are very delicate."
With Emily helping me direct our dozen or so guards, had gotten started.
This was only the first warehouse. We had 6 more to go. It was going to take at least a week to get done.
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Author: Hey guys, I know the pace hasn't been that fast but I hope no one minds. I just need to establish the characters some more. We will get back to the action soon.