Three days after Ren left New Grenton, Iselv and Kithra were being bombarded with a bunch of work. Even with the help of the fallen n.o.bles and the Adventurers Guild, the problems of Ren"s New Grenton kept on piling up. Though Ren"s ideas were good for the people if they were implemented, but making them happen was a different thing than just telling them to make it happen. Aside from manpower, the biggest concern at the moment was money. The money Ren gave was a lot but it was not enough. Even draining all the money from the Regalcrags and all the other fallen n.o.bles wasn"t going to cut it.
Right now they were doing things for free, and because of the rush the people had from the proclamation of independence the other day, many were feeling alright with doing things for free. But that was obviously not going to last. They needed a solution and fast, if they don"t find one immediately they might lose any momentum they got and the will of the people will s.h.i.+ft. If that were to happen, they didn"t know how Ren will react...
Based on what they have seen, two things could happen. One, Ren wouldn"t really care as much since the only thing that seems to truly affect him is battle. Second, Ren could get truly angry and decide to kill them all, or he could do something worse. Just thinking about that made all of them s.h.i.+ver in fear.
...
It has been five days since Ren left, but the problems regarding their funds still haven"t be solved. The situation has been getting a bit bad. Even though on the surface, everything was going smoothly, but here and there you could hear rumors spreading around. Some people were talking about them becoming independent from the kingdom wasn"t a good idea.
Aside from the rumors, some other things have gone wrong. As the people were finally cooling down after the battle against the elder lich, they"re slowly figuring out that what Iselv said on that day might be ideal, but the way they"re doing it isn"t helping them at all.
...
While Iselv and the others were trying their hardest to quell the dissatisfaction of the citizens, help suddenly arrived from an unexpected source.
...
In the middle of the common room inside the Regalcrags mansion sat a tall man with a calm demeanor. The man was smiling ever so slightly while drinking the tea that was given to him.
Behind him was an old man wearing a butler suit. His grey hair and outstanding posture gave off a presence of rigidity. While the two were getting comfortable, someone entered the room.
"I"m sorry for the wait." Kithra entered the room with a gentle smile on her face, that look of hers would have made any regular man fall for her, yet the two in front of her weren"t any regular men.
"Oh, is his highness the third prince not joining us?" The tall man stood from his chair and looked at Kithra with a sly smile on his face.
"His highness the third prince is extremely busy at the moment and is sorry that he couldn"t meet you in person."
"I see... It"s alright, I understand. So introductions are in order I guess. My name is Harold I am but a simple traveling merchant from a little country to the west."
"A country to the west? That means he is from beyond the Hekoria mountains. But is there really a country there, based on what I know there is only a desert beyond those mountains... Is there perhaps a country in the middle of the desert?"
While Kithra was thinking, Harold, continued his introductions.
"This person behind me is my butler, Oliver." The butler that stood behind Harold bowed in front of Kithra.
"It"s nice to meet you, Harold, and Oliver. I am Kithra, you can call me the secretary of the third prince as well as the person who handles finances. So, now that introductions are done, how about we take our seats and talk about why you are here Harold."
...
Once Harold and Kithra have sat down in front of each other, the atmosphere suddenly got a bit tenser, but both parties still kept on smiling.
"Let me get straight to the point. I want to make a deal." Harold who was drinking his tea was so relaxed as he said this, it felt like he was in his own house.
"A deal is it?" Kithra was intrigued by the calm demeanor of the merchant. She tried probing him and sense that Harold had only the same amount of mana as any other regular person has. The butler behind him was a different matter on the other hand. She felt like probing the butler would result in something bad.
"Yes, you see I heard rumors about what is going on here. At first, I thought that there must be some mistake, but after reconfirming it from several different sources, it turned out to be real. You see I find the things that you people are trying to do, to be great. So I came here to help you by providing you with financial support."
Hearing Harold say that he would provide financial support, made Kithra"s eyebrows twitch a bit. Still, she remained calm and smiled as she spoke, "oh... So what do you want in exchange for your support?"
"No need to be so stiff, Ms. Kithra, or should I say Ms. Thelia Renia." The moment Kithra heard that name she started to gather mana onto her hand, but before she could do anything more, she felt the cold blade of steel touching her neck.
The butler Oliver was able to move so fast that it felt like he teleported. Kithra who had a knife pointed at her neck sighed. Harold, on the other hand, remained unperturbed as he continued to smile gently at Kithra.
"Oliver, please don"t point a blade at our business partner." Oliver withdrew the knife he pointed at Kithra"s neck and silently retreated back to Harold"s side.
"So now that we are all calm, let"s continue our talk. Don"t worry Ms. Kithra this deal with benefit us both greatly."