Caesar and the rest started picking at the food placed on the table, Elizabeth was giggling happily while seated on Caesar"s lap.
Caesar"s lips curled feeling the harmonious atmosphere. He hand-fed the rowdy girl on his lap, she would cutely nibble on the food Caesar brought to her mouth.
Suddenly Caesar gazed at his three subordinates, Irwin, Felicia, and Anny… They were eating slowly and looked quite uncomfortable.
"Ease up, no one here is going to bite you," Caesar said teasingly towards the three.
The three immediately straightened up their backs and looked down with shame, seeing this Caesar chuckled softly and went back to feeding Elizabeth.
About five minutes later both Caesar and Elizabeth were stuffed, Caesar placed the fork and knife back on the plate and raised his eyes. He looked at the three that still carried nervous smiles on their faces.
*snap*
Caesar snapped and a butler came walking over with a silver platter in his hands, on top of the platter were three pouches.
"As promised, you will be paid," Caesar said playfully as he gestured towards the platter.
The three"s faces flushed with excitement and then quickly went red with embarra.s.sment…
"w-we didn"t doubt you i-its just that, we have never been paid before…" Felicia stammered for words.
Caesar waved his hand "don"t stress the small things, speaking of which how is the progress for the weapons going?" Caesar changed the subject and asked curiously.
Irwin took a step forward "because our defenses had held in the battle the speed has gone down, no one is building like their life depends on it anymore"
Caesar nodded his head "as expected, I a.s.sume many of the workers also want to be paid for their hard work"
This time Felicia stepped forward and replied with a nervous tone "many of the workers were dissatisfied with the little amount of recognition they were given after the battle, whereas in comparison, the knights were held as heroes"
Caesar placed his hand on his chin and carried a thoughtful expression "it is true, we will award them with jobs and good pay"
Anny stepped forward this time "b-boss, shouldn"t we fire a few of the workers, with so many how can we upkeep that many wages?"
Caesar stood up slowly from his chair and straightened out his shirt "Anny, with more workers we gain more merchandise, with more merchandise we gain more profit"
Anny was shocked for a second "b-but if you pay the workers grandly than we will not gain any profit"
Caesar smiled "if you pay the workers a good amount they feel wanted, they will work much more efficiently and it creates a better working pace for new recruits. We will fire those that are subpar but raise those that exceed, do you understand?"
Anny nodded her head absentmindedly "but wouldn"t that create compet.i.tion?"
Caesar shook his head slowly and steadily walked towards the dining room door, "compet.i.tion is needed for a business to thrive, humans innately want an opportunity to reach the top or be above others. As a leader, you must create a ladder but always stay ahead of others to create a good example."
Once Caesar reached the door he turned around and glanced at the three of them "remember this, I treasure two things… Loyalty and Efficiency, everyone has a chance to reach the top, however, mediocrity is not accepted"
*creak*
Caesar stepped out of the dining room leaving the three standing there absentmindedly.
"Hehe, daddy is so cool" Elizabeth giggled and jumped up and down.
After he left the dining room he headed towards his room, he had a reminiscent expression on his face… "Back on earth when I was a young man, I knew all too well about the ladder… When I didn"t like a rule, I reached the top and changed the rule. Because I was interested in selling weapons I first had to understand how to make weapons, sigh, it is no use thinking about past matters" Caesar breathed a long sigh and approached his room.
*creak*
Caesar stepped through the door, his king-sized bed and large human-sized mirror entered into his vision… The room was painted a light green and contained a fresh scent"
Caesar stripped his clothes and entered into the bathroom, he prepared his own bath and stepped inside. The warm water caressed his body, soothing him.
Caesar tilted his head back and gazed at the ceiling… "it has been a while since I had any progress with my n.o.ble physique" he whispered to himself quietly.
He scrubbed his long hair and stretched his limbs, "the military ranking system and insurance will probably take my father and the n.o.bles quite a while to perfect and implement" he muttered to himself as he stood up.
*drip*
Droplets of sweat fell from his long hair as he reached for a towel, he dried himself and tied the towel around his waist.
*creak*
Caesar stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the closet, he rummaged through the ma.s.s amount of clothes and picked out an outfit with tight black pants and a long silk overcoat. He put on a pair of black boots and white gloves.
*knock*
*knock*
"Young master, the merchants guild has arranged for an appointment"
Caesar opened up the door and walked out with still slightly wet hair, he put his hand through his bangs and slicked his hair back "that soon?" He asked curiously
The maids around the halls watching this scene all innerly screamed and gazed at Caesar with stars in their eyes.
"Ahem, the carriage is already waiting for you outside of the palace" Sebastian cleared his throat and replied.
"Are you not coming with me this time, Sebastian?" Caesar asked with a teasing smile.
"No, I think you are fully qualified to handle it on your own" Sebastian replied humbly.
Caesar patted Sebastian"s shoulder "your no fun Sebastian," he said as he started walking away.
Sebastian smiled wryly and turned his gaze towards the maids watching them "Get back to work!" he ordered sternly.
Caesar once again walked through the long palace halls, the maids and butlers he pa.s.sed all bowed respectively. "I don"t know if I can ever get used to so many people bowing before me," he thought inwardly while observing all of the maids and butlers.
After walking for about 6 minutes he finally reached the palace gates, the guards in front of the gates cuffed their hands and pushed open the doors.
"Have a safe trip your highness" both guards respectively said while looking towards the ground.
Caesar nodded in recognition and walked out, he walked down the long white steps and a snow-white carriage greeted him at the bottom… a golden river was engraved on the sides of the carriage making it look even more magnificent.
*creak*
The carriage door opened and a long smooth leg stepped out, soon her entire body was revealed… She had long wavy black hair, Pheonix eyes, and a straight nose. She walked gracefully to Caesar and put her hand forward.
"I am the regional manager of the merchants guild, Veronica"
Caesar squinted his eyes slightly and shook her hand "Mephesto" he replied shortly.
Veronica"s face blossomed into a beautiful smile as she locked arms with Caesar "come, lets head to the guild. We can ride in my carriage" She smiled seductively and lead Caesar into her carriage.
Once they entered the carriage Caesar sat on one side while Veronica sat on the other, she stayed as close as possible and always kept a seductive smile on her face.
Caesar rested his chin on his hands and gazed outside of the window.
"You are quite smart to have come up with those weapons you call the crossbow and ballista" Veronica opened up and said teasingly.
"Hmm?" Caesar glanced at Veronica curiously
"According to my research, the man, Mephesto Pheles, lived a life of debauchery, raping women, getting drunk, and being an overall sc.u.mbag, until one day he was ordered to go on an expedition to the northern forest… Suddenly, his entire personality and intelligence changed and came back a different man"
Veronica paused for a second and looked at Caesar with a cute expression "I wonder what happened?"
Veronica suddenly leaned forward and whispered into Caesar"s ear "you also have a large amount of mana residing in your body, I wonder, are you really human?" Veronica grinned mischievously.
*uehh* (choking sound)
Caesar squinted his eyes and grabbed the woman by her neck… he leaned forward and whispered into her ear "don"t get too arrogant woman, I do not mind crushing a rose if its thorns threaten to puncture me. Caesar radiated a deep killing intent making Veronica sweat.
*plop*
Caesar let go of her neck and she fell back down on the seat, she rubbed her neck gently and a smile once again blossomed on her face.
"Are you not afraid of incurring the merchant guilds wrath?"
"If I was afraid of the retaliation of others I would not sell weapons in the first place"
Veronica smiled slyly, the carriage was soon brought to a stop and Veronica stepped out first
"looks like we have arrived," she said sweetly and gestured for Caesar to follow her.
Caesar also slowly stepped out of the carriage, they were in front of the guild Caesar went to last time. Veronica led him through the doors and escorted him all the way into the office room.
*creak*
They both stepped in, Veronica sat down at the chair and smiled at Caesar. Caesar furrowed his brows noticing the three other women present in the room.
One was Olivia, the other two were unfamiliar. One had wavy red hair and looked like she had a fiery temperament while the other had long sky blue hair and looked quite calm and cultured. They were both standing at one end of the room observing him.
Caesar sat down in front of Veronica and asked curiously "So, have you decided to accept my offer?"
"Ahem, I"m going to quickly get to the point. I want you to give us the blueprints for your weapons and we will pay you splendidly" Veronica said with a serious expression.
"Haha" Caesar rested his forehead in his palm and roared with laughter.
After a few seconds of laughter, he abruptly stopped and gazed at Veronica "I decline, I am sure you already know what my offer is, take it, or leave it."
Veronica squinted her eyes dangerously "I am afraid we can not accept your offer, our pride as a company does not let us settle for such a deal"
Caesar stood up and smiled "well, then I suppose I am going to find a different partner then"
*snap*
Veronica snapper her fingers and the two girls immediately stood in front of the door, blocking Caesar"s path.
Veronica"s lips curled upwards "I beg of you to reconsider"
Caesar rolled his eyes and smiled at Veronica "you act like you are smart but you are actually quite idiotic are you not?"
*whish*
Caesar arrived in front of Veronica in a split second, he grasped the back of her head with his palm… "if your guards are blocking the door they are not guarding you?"
Caesar said as he squeezed a little bit tighter… Veronica"s arrogant expression soon crumbled and was replaced by a painful one.
The two guards at the door didn"t know what to do, they glanced between Caesar and Veronica back and forth.
A few seconds had pa.s.sed and Veronica ground her teeth in rage "l-let me go this instant!" she roared out.
Caesar lifted her from the chair and threw her to the ground… She got up slowly with an aggrieved look and glared at Caesar.
Caesar sat down in her chair and put his legs on the table, "let me make you a suggestion, you sign the contract, you work for me, and of course, you get to live." Caesar smiled deviously while looking at Veronica that was on the floor.
Veronica gnashed her teeth "Do you think you can get away with treating the merchants guild like this? Your entire kingdom will be reduced to ashes"
Caesar twirled his hair with his finger and smiled at her playfully "I a.s.sume your merchant"s guild has a reputation to upkeep, what would the ma.s.ses feel if they heard one of their managers threatened a crown prince?"
"Do you think they would believe your words?" Veronica asked mockingly
"I don"t know, but you sure as h.e.l.l wouldn"t be there to find out if they do or not"
Caesar took out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it on the table… "Selling weapons is a dangerous business, many people look down on weapon dealers. Not to mention the number of kingdoms that will just simply try to take the weapons without paying"
Veronica nodded her head…
"I have a proposition for you, we will sell weapons in the underground… a business that works in the shadows, you can stay with the merchants guild but subtly utilize your subordinates to start creating and selling weapons with me"
Veronica held a thoughtful expression "I would be found out with the number of funds gained"
Caesar smiled "you will make much more money than you currently are, I am sure you can find a way to fabricate the income gained"
Veronica contemplated for a minute before saying "are you not scared that I will take the money and run?"
Caesar shook his head slowly "if you did that you would never reach the top, I knew many women like you in the past… Ambitious and willing to do anything to reach higher and besides, I would hold your secret in my hand"
Veronica squinted her eyes and stood up slowly, she walked to the desk and asked: "so how do you plan to sell the weapons?"
"I am sure you have a few connections, we need to make a name for ourselves before we can start ma.s.s producing… Is there a large war going on anywhere?"
Veronica nodded slowly "war is going on everywhere, the Alabastian"s are currently in a civil war… we could provide the rebels with some of your weaponry on the condition they spread the word" She said after thinking for a while.
"Perfect, remember, never give them your true ident.i.ty nor mine"
"Yea, yea, I get it, boss," Veronica said sarcastically.
She paused for a second and continued "so, what is this business called anyway?"
Caesar smiled slightly and stood up from his chair, he glanced at Veronica and said: "our company will be called Evernight"" Caesar smiled slightly and walked out of the room.
It took a few minutes before Veronica finally got a hold of her self "Evernight" she mumbled out while looking at her desk absentmindedly.
"B-boss, what do you want us to do"
Veronica waved her hand and sat back down… she looked at the paper in front of her, the more she read the more shocked she became "this man… If I follow him, I will reach higher than I ever thought was possible" she muttered out loud and looked at the ceiling.