The next few days were uneventful for Don as he spent his days cultivating.However, for the people who were living in the rank 4 kingdoms, these days were nothing but uneventful. While Don was cultivating, many small slave markets were completely wiped off by a mysterious group, and Don"s feat of exterminating the bandits with his black armored men spread throughout the kingdoms, and his name slowly started to become popular.
Fortunately, Ken and his men had successfully taken the water spirit from the Chelby mountain peak this time with the help of the teleportation scrolls.
Moreover, Benedict and Arya were staying in Arya"s family compound with her entire family and there was no news about the one who attacked Gael yet.
And because Don"s reputation among the common folk increased significantly due to the fact he punished the n.o.bles for their crimes as well as healed the victims, the people were quite happy and eager to help his men destroy the old buildings and build new ones.
Since the n.o.bles in Emir heard about how Don punished Ryan and Ma.s.sen, they slowed down their plans to rebel against him but Don already sent a.s.sa.s.sins to kill them in their sleep so for a time being, he didn"t have to worry about the pesky n.o.bles in Emir.
Of course, during these days Don could visit the villages and the commoners to hear about their problems but Don gave that task to Lord Clemo and decided only to act if his subordinates couldn"t handle it, just like the kings and emperors live in the divine continent.
"You"re back"
Arrora welcomed Don with a gentle smile as she handed him over a gla.s.s of milk and wild fruit for him to drink and eat. Since Don felt a little hungry, he didn"t mind the breakfast that he got from Arrora and filled his belly with milk and the fruit.
"How"s hunting?"
"Except for the auction in the outer lands, we attacked all the slave markets in the rank fours"
"Did you buy them all in the auction?"
Nodding her head, Arrora took out a scroll from her pocket and handed it over to Don as he placed the gla.s.s on the table beside him and opened the scroll to read
Just by looking at the beautiful handwriting, Don knew that it was written by Amaryll. The scroll stated that Arrora and Arwen attacked twelve slave markets and freed almost six hundred slaves including a small number of dwarves as most of the others were surprisingly humans. Unlike the slave markets, the auction conducted by some powerful people who Joel had no idea about their ident.i.ties was protected by many great masters so Arwen and Arrora couldn"t attack the place but chose to buy the slaves instead.
Even though Arrora and Arwen couldn"t buy all of them, they did buy a group of half-elves, dwarves, demihumans as well as many humans for a significant sum.
"By the end of this day, we"ll know how many of them decided to join the army"
"The slave merchants would step up their security after our attacks and it would be a bad move to continue this strategy for a time being"
"Agreed and Ken said he can bring the water spirit when you say so"
After completing the ritual of the water spirit, Don could be able to create a natural water source like a small lake in the barren lands of Emir and with time and resources, the water spirit would grow and form many natural water sources around the kingdom that could turn most of the barren lands into fertile lands. Fortunately, once the water spirit settled in one place, it couldn"t be moved or taken away from there so no one could steal or take the water spirit after the ritual. However, before or during the ritual, the water spirit would be vulnerable so Don and his men had to protect it until the ritual got completed.
So if Don wanted to complete the ritual without any pain in the neck, he had to show the strength of his army to scare away those who might come seeking the water spirit.
"And a group of merchants is asking for a meeting with you"
"That was quick" Don thought to himself,
"Where are they?"
"They came looking for you while you were cultivating, and they are now staying in our guest house"
Since Don spent little to no time in Ma.s.sen"s house, he decided to use this for purposes such as this
"Alright, tell them to come and meet me in the throne hall and where"s Joel? has he returned yet?"
"Yes"
"Then he can come and see me now"
As he said, Don walked to the balcony and stood there watching the construction work happening down in the capitol. Despite the rain, the people looked happy to help the black-armored men of Don as the men lifted the stones and metals while the women set up a tent and served the workers with hot beverages and snacks.
"Your majesty"
While Don was looking at the construction work, Joel came to meet Don as he was asked
"Any news about Benedict and Arya?"
"They are staying in Miss Arya"s family compound, your majesty. And some of my sources said that her father had a couple of meetings with some women in the past few months"
"Hmm, they might be the reason that I can"t contact Benedict or Arya through the Khal, and what about the one who attacked Gael?"
"Forgive me, your majesty, no one knew about her and looking at the security in Miss Arya"s family compound, I doubt that we can gather more information"
"Can you send a message to Benedict inside?"
"Already working on it, your majesty"
Don turned his gaze away from the workers to look at Joel
"Good, now go get your combat training"
*******************************
When Don entered the throne hall, the merchant group was waiting for him in the hall with guards of their own. Don was taken by surprise when he noticed the leader of the merchant group was a young girl. It was far less safe to do business in these parts of the empire, as tradesmen frequently encountered bandits and refugees when they traveled, not to mention the hara.s.sment of local bullies and underground gangsters. Because of this, not many women engaged in business.
And just like Don, the merchants, as well as the girl, looked surprised when they saw Don entering the throne hall with Arrora and the royal guards who were promoted by Don from normal guard to royal guards for the sake of having royal guards in the castle.
"He is the king?"
The girl silently asked the merchants behind her, she never thought that he would be this young because she was imagining a middle-aged man as looking at Don, she realized that he wouldn"t be much older than herself.
And from the stories she heard from her men about what happened to Lord Ma.s.sen and Ryan, she was expecting someone different, like a cruel maniac with a scar on his face with a devilish look.
The merchants took off their drenched cloaks and feather hats before bowing to the king. "It"s an honor to meet you, your majesty, we are humble merchants from Grega"s merchant guild. Please accept our warmest regards, Your majesty."
"I"m Gabriella Grega, the vice president of Grega"s merchant guild, your majesty, it"s an honor to meet you"
Like Arrora, Gabriella also had pretty black hair, but hers was denser and a little shorter. She looked in her mid-twenties, and just by looking at her makeup and the rosy shade on her cheeks, Don could guess that she"s from a n.o.ble family. From her appearance, however, Don felt that she did not look like she"s from Agoria, that much was sure to him.
"Take a seat." Don motioned her and the other merchants to sit down and seated himself in the throne. "You aren"t from Agoria, are you?"
Don was looking at the girl when he asked the question as she shook her head and then gently smiled
"Why did you say that, your majesty?"
"Obviously every one of you is n.o.bles, if you"re from here, you must have known what I did so I"m might be the last person you want to meet "
The merchants scratched their heads and let out an awkward smile hearing Don
"Anyways, tell me why do you want to meet me?"
"First of all, I must say you have done a great favor for us the merchants by clearing the bandits, your majesty" She paused for a moment and then said,
"And speaking of Lord Ryan and Ma.s.sen, they just got what they deserved your majesty, as a n.o.ble I feel ashamed by their action against those poor folks and we feel honored to be in the presence of a king who really cares about his people"
Apparently, every good merchant had exceptional communication and diplomatic skills. Don knew very well that Gabriella was trying to flatter him, but he didn"t mind her words
"I"m glad you feel that way, Miss Grega"
"Please your majesty, call me Gabriella"
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