![City of Desire [Kingdom Building]](https://at-global.global.ssl.fastly.net/at-global/cover/67f0960bc1d9793202a144dd.jpg?time=1743820299570)
“Maedas,” said John Santos as the small island came into view; it grew bigger and bigger till it was just a few hundred meters away.
According to Santos, it is eight miles long and five miles wide; it is not the biggest among the Namdar Islands, but also not the smallest.
There are many hills on the island, and on the biggest is a huge manor; even from far, it looked amazing.
Fifteen minutes later, the yacht was docked at the small pier, and we walked out of it, gathering in a crowd of nearly a hundred people, including the security of forty-six guards.
“Welcome to Maedas, ladies, and gentlemen,” said Santos as he led us toward the manor with a finely crafted road.
There are carriages, but we are walking while Captain Julian and his men spread around, looking for any threat that might come, despite John Santos’s assurance that all animals here have been culled and there is a force of fifty people, always guarding the island.
I do not mind walking; nobody here does; everyone is busy enjoying the natural beauty of the island.
“This island is very well developed,” I said as I looked around.
“It is not surprising the house of Santos owned this island for nearly two centuries, which is more than enough for them to develop the way they wanted,” replied Locke.
With enough money, a year is more than enough, and these people have centuries, and it shows.
The whole island is one big garden, and every tree is chosen; every blade of grass has a purpose. There is not a single thing here that is not planned, and it looks wonderful.
I am all for natural beauty, but you have to recognize art and what they have done with it is truly art.
I truly wished I had my phone right now; I would have definitely loved to click a few pictures.
“You see that bearwood tree there; that big tree was planted by my grand uncle in the year we had brought this island,” said Santos motioning toward a huge shade tree.
He is showing off, but nobody seems to mind it; when you have such a beautiful thing, you show off.
I looked at everything, wanting to capture them in my mind; some of them even gave me an idea about, what I wanted to do with the garden, and I am going to do it when I return.
It took nearly an hour to reach the hill, but we did not climb it, instead moved around for two hours, enjoying the different gardens that are around the island.
I also noticed the manor is on the hill is not the only building; there few more others around the island, built by the many members of the house of Santos.
We roamed around for two more hours before finally climbing the hill when the sun started to go down.
At that time, the new boats begin to dock at the pier; there are a few more people that Santos has invited who will join the party.
“My dear friends, welcome to lux manor,” he said and opened its huge glass doors, and the first thing we saw was a huge hall covered in glass walls, giving the view of the whole island.
As we entered the hall, the staff was already waiting for us, with the drinks and refreshments.
We took them and followed Santos, who showed off the manor before taking us to the roof, where the original party was to be held.
“Wow!”
It is the only word that came out of my mouth as I scenery around me from the highest place on the island.
“Its really something isn’t it,” said Locke beside me, and I couldn’t help but nod. It is truly impressive.
By the time people from newly arrived ships arrived on the roof, it was completely dark, and now the island looked even more beautiful.
Light crystals lit across the islands, and also light trees of a different kind, including the ones I had in my establishment.
It looked mesmerizing, and seeing such beautiful scenery; I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to open the establishment in a place like this.
On a private island.
A place like this with complete freedom, especially where a big city like Namdar is close. I am sure I would not have any problem getting clients.
‘The dream is too big.’ I thought and shook my head.
Even the smallest island costs millions of imperials, and I trade in crowns; I would need decades at least to get the kind of money to buy an island and create the establishment of extravagance I am dreaming of.
I moved out of those thoughts and went back to people to mingle.
There are quite a lot of interesting people here, not just merchants but others too, including a Knight from the order of black star, a knight order based in Namdar.
Once upon a time, they used to be the warden of Namdar.
Time passed, and with it, the party got merrier, and people began to get drunk; I even spotted middle-aged men and women kissing each like horny teenagers.
I flirted with some women but never let go too far, even when they were ready; such actions have consequences, especially with married women.
I had suffered once, and I am not powerful enough to bear the consequences; I wouldn’t take such a risk.
“Care to dance, young silver,” asked a beautiful woman who looked to be in her early fifties.
“When beautiful women like you ask Eva, how I can I refuse,” I said with and took her hands.
This is Eva Charles, one of the few people I knew from before; I had met her once in Redfawn.
“My, you dance quite well, even better than your father,” the women said as we danced under the night sky.
“You are not bad yourself, Eva,” I said, and the older woman smiled, and her smile was beautiful.
John Santos really knows how to throw a party; he chose the best location and brought unlimited booze and great music.
Time passed so quickly that before I knew it, it was twelve, and I started to feel sleepy.
“Vice-guild master, I am going to turn in,” I said to John Santos, “The night is still young, Remus; stay a little,” he said, a little drunkenly.
“I like to, but I don’t think I will be able to hold the sleep,” I said with a smile, “Fine them, the staff will take you to your room,” he said; I nodded and walked toward, while saying good night, Locke, Eva, and other people.
As I walked out of the exit, Dan and Leena came behind me, and the staff took me to my room.
Which is quiet, with huge glass walls that provide a great view of the island and the ocean.
…
Bang, Bang, Thud!
I was woken up by a loud banging sound before my door crashed open, and Dan and Leena walked inside.
I was about to bark at them irritatingly when seeing the expressions on their faces made me close my mouth.
‘What happened?’ I asked, looking at my pocket watch on the table beside me, which told me there was not even an hour since I had slept.
They better have a good reason to wake me up.
“Look,” said Dan with obvious fear in his eyes as he motioned toward the glass wall, and I turned toward it.
For a moment, my tired eyes weren’t able to see anything, but a second later, I saw what he was trying me to see, and my eyes widened in the sheer horror that my mind had frozen up for a moment.
I saw zombies and skeletons walking toward the mansion, in large numbers, in hundreds.
Everywhere I look, I see them; there is not a single place where I cannot see those things.
The bad things do not just stop there; the pier, which had been packed with ships, now had none.
I could see the small white form, which seemed to be half submerged in water.
“They have cut off all the escapes from the island,” said Dan, as if knowing what I was thinking.
This is obviously pre-planned; this is not the effect of an artifact or relic, but someone intentionally sent an undead here and also cut off all the escape routes.
They obviously want to kill everyone on the island.
“When had they appeared?” I asked as I calmed myself from the panic. “Just a few minutes ago, all of a sudden, they began to pop out of the ground and come out of the sea,” said Dan, shaking.
I had never seen him like this; even when the orcs attacked, his voice was even, and his gait confident.
Leena seemed much better off than him.
We fell silent, but it was not completely silent; I could hear the loud screams and sounds of fighting. I did not have to be intelligent to know that the undead had already entered the manor.
“What do we do?” I asked because I had no freaking idea about the undead, and the tidbits I knew had been jumbled in panic.
Dan seemed to have no idea either as he looked at Leena.
“We obviously can’t stay here; the undead will come here sooner or later,” she said. “If possible, we need a fortified space to hide, something that could isolate life aura; the undead attracted to it.”
“And master silver, pick up your blade; whether you want or not, you will need to fight, at least till the rescue arrive from Namdar,” she said.
I nodded and immediately got out of bed and picked up the blade, and my bag, which I had opened fumblingly, and took out potion bottles.
“Here are the stamina and health potion bottles,” I said and handed them two healing potions and two stamina potion bottles; they looked a little surprised, especially Leena, but they took it without hesitation.
These people are going to protect me, and I have to give them everything that will give them a chance to survive.
These potions are expensive, but I don’t fucking care; I will buy more later, and if I survive, I will give them a fat bonus.
Like I did to Dan and Johan after returning from the Blain, I paid double what we had agreed.
I had just given them the potion when I heard the steps and desperately wished it would be a human, but to my shock, it was a grotesque zombie holding a rusted blade.
The moment it saw us, it moved toward us, and its speed was not slow at all; it moved quite quickly while I was frozen in fear.
Thankfully, Leena had not; she crossed the distance between the zombie and herself in a second and swung her rapier at speed, I could see.
Pachac!
A clean sound rang out, and a moment later, I saw the head of the zombie falling on the ground.
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