Chapter 698: Good and Bad

Proofread by Thomas F

“Hundred and twelve thousand,” I said as I looked at the numbers in the file in front of me.

That is how many people have left the city in the past three weeks since the battle of Panar. It feels painful even to say it out loud.

“We are doing much better than other cities, not to mention. There are no riots,” replied Valentina. She is helping me with the interior matters.

“We are also seeing some small reduction in the rate of leaving,” I said, without taking my eyes from the file in front of me.

It is painful to see people leave, but at least it is done in an orderly manner. There were no riots, not even a single one, unlike the other cities in the region.

Compared to them, the number of people leaving our cities is smaller. In Deerpond, the number is around three hundred thousand, and in the Port Midlet, it is around a hundred and fifty thousand.

That is, even after they have taken the restrictive measures, which is having the opposite effect.

I finished the file, but she immediately put another one in front of me.

“The names for the people for the interim promotions,” she said.

Officials are also leaving, and we are promoting the others to take their places. Most of the time, it is their juniors, but we are also recruiting people from the city.

Those with experience and those who could do the job, like people from the businesses, or those who had administrative experience.

We are even recruiting orc shamans and chieftains. They have organisational experience.

There are a lot of these people in the city who belong to the smaller tribes. We had also taken people from medium and large tribes.

Even the Velvet Garden.

We are placing them in jobs where their organisational experience is needed, even if it is not the type of organisation they are used to.

Such people learn quickly, and it’s not that we are handing them significant responsibilities.

For most jobs, we promote people within the city hall. People who know what the job entails and are capable of doing it.

“Thank god, the things in the army aren’t worse than we had expected,” said Bell.

Our soldiers have more confidence in our abilities to defend against the undead than the civilians. It made me glad, because people are also trying to poach them left and right.

They are focused on my most powerful and talented, including Stone.

I okayed the names; many of them were suggested by me.

“The work of the outer ring. Should we stop it now that they have suspended the next tranche?” she asked.

Two hours ago, Namdar suspended another agreement. This concerns the funding for the city’s expansion. They were about to be released the following week.

I am not surprised. The only thing that surprised me was that they didn’t do it before when they suspended the other agreements.

“What do you think we should do?” I asked back.

“We should continue with the workers who are staying. The money we have from the tranche will last for around a month with the reduced number of workers.”

“It will keep workers busy and we will be able to use the money,” she replied, and she smiled.

They can’t take back the money they had already released, and since the contract is ironclad, we couldn’t use it for anything other than its contractual purpose.

Thousands of workers have left, but many in the city are willing to stay as long as we continue to pay them.

I do not wish to halt the expansion work. It will continue as long as we can.

Minutes passed, and we continued with the work.

“This is the last thing, and it’s good,” she said and put the file in front of me. I read it, and a smile appeared on my face. It is excellent news.

She left a few minutes later. Fifteen minutes after that, I walked out of my office.

Soon, I am in the carriage, moving toward the legacy.

It is a little past eight, but looking at the streets, it feels like ten. It hurts to see a city like this, but I could barely do anything with the circumstances I am in.

The other cities are in worse condition than mine, but it didn’t make me feel better.

I only care about my city, not others.

I pushed those disappointing thoughts away and took a deep breath.

A moment later, a wisp of aura came out of me and formed a fractal, and did it in seven seconds. I have been practicing daily at every free time.

Till now, I hadn’t comprehended the essence of it, but it was not all fruitless.

I was able to bring the time down to seven seconds. I will be able to shorten it even further, but it will not transform into the blade until I understand the essence of the palling leaf.

I am trying hard, but no matter how much I try. I can’t quite capture the essence that I feel from Bell.

I kept trying till the carriage took the turn into the park. I looked outside, with a big smile appearing on my face.

This is what the last file was about.

The park is filled with people, just as many as there used to be before the Battle of Panar. Even slightly more.

The citizens are leaving, but the tourists are coming in droves. After the first two weeks of decline, they started increasing rapidly.

My citizens aren’t the only ones who think the Greltheaven would be conquered.

The citizens of a merchant state also hold this view.

So, they are coming ragingly, as this would be their last chance to see the legacy.

Most common people could never visit the legacy. Velvet Garden is unique in that I wanted to take advantage of what it had to offer.

It didn’t just happen out of thin air; I’m running an expensive advertising campaign in the Merchant States, and it’s working better than I had thought.

Most might think I should focus on the coming conflict with the undead, and I am doing that.

More people in the legacy means more essence, and more essence means greater freedom to buy war resources. They are also helping me build confidence in the citizens of Greltheaven.

The tourists didn’t just help preserve the legacy, but also boosted other businesses, such as hotels and transportation.

The carriage stopped in front of the gates of legacy, which still have lines.

“Master Silver,” the girls at the reception greeted as he walked into the legacy.

I nodded at them and stepped inside the elevator. It began to ascend, before stopping a few seconds later.

I stepped out, but it was not the top floor; it was a Spa floor—bathhouse floor, to be exact.

It is filled with people, having the most fantastic time of their lives. Today, the bathhouse is filled; there are more people than we usually allow.

We permitted it because it was a corporate party. Thrown by the business in Padim City of the merchant state of Belnin.

It had been fifteen days since the artifact was placed, and I had gotten the data and finalised the settings. I kept the power at 15% along with the master and legacy skills.

Vitae Bath is at 17%, Recharging Bath is at 18%, and Silken Skin is at 20%.

It allows me to keep the artifact active while harvesting more than double the amount of essence, which is nearly three times the amount I used to get from the bathhouse before the artifact.

I noticed that when the power of the artifact and the skills are high, people focus on relaxing the most.

They might talk with each other, eat, and drink, but a few minutes later, they would close their eyes and enjoy the effect of the artifact and skills.

At this percentage of power, they could enjoy the lighter effect of the artifact and skills while enjoying the company, food, and other things we have to offer.

Still, those who want to remove their fatigue can visit three small pools, which have the power of the artifact and skills at 20%, 30%, and 40%.

The same thing happened on the spa floors above. The power of the skills and artifact remained up to 60%, depending on the treatment.

I increased the density of the mist as I walked. I didn’t want to talk to any people.

Soon, I reach the artifact; there, too, the mist becomes denser.

We didn’t hide the artifact in the mist; it is the main attraction, it would be idiocy to hide it. They could see it, but they were not allowed to get too close to it.

Although I don’t want them to see what’s going to happen soon, right now, I could see many heads turning, and some got closer, but even the most drunk didn’t cross the boundary. Some nearly tried, but stopped seeing the person appearing in front of them.

I looked at the artifact, the most beautiful thing I had seen. I didn’t do anything and just watched.

It was a little over ten minutes later that I saw the person. I have been waiting for. Looking at her state, worry couldn’t help but appear in my eyes.

“When was the last time you slept?” I asked Caena. She looked beautiful as always, and one couldn’t see that she was tired, but I could tell that she was.

“Last night,” she replied, but I am having a hard time believing it.

It is my first time seeing her in four days. After level-up, she took a step back from her duties.

I feel guilty seeing her like this, but I need her. She will be instrumental in our victory against the undead. For it, she needs to prepare.

“You need to rest to do the job properly,” I said. She is a madam, and she understands very well how fatigue affects productivity.

She didn’t say anything other than smiling before turning to the inner well of the artifact.

“Let’s wake up our general,” she said, and we stepped into the artifact. For over ten days, we had kept her in artificial deep sleep to recover her spirit.

We could have woken her up, but it would have lengthened her recovery.

Now, she had fully recovered and wouldn’t even need a rest before she could start working. However, I am planning to give her a few days off.

She may have recovered in spirit, but it will take her time to recover psychologically.

She had fought for her life and death before her unconsciousness. She will need time to process that.

As we reached the well, Caena took out the charm and placed it on her chest.

“It’s time to wake up, General,” she said and activated the charm.

We waited, but nothing happened. We just kept watching when, a minute later, she began to twitch, and a few seconds after that, she opened her eyes.

I could see the panic for a fraction of a second in her eyes, before alertness took over and she looked around carefully, while we watched from our places without making any movement.

That saber is still in her hand, and I didn’t forget to notice the wisp of glittering fire covering it.

“Lord Silver,” she said, getting up like a soldier, nearly stumbling in the water. “At ease, General,” I ordered, and she relaxed.

“How are you feeling, General?” I asked. “Better than I had thought, I would,” she replied after a moment of silence.

“You have fully recovered from bodily and spirit injuries, but I am giving you three days of leave to recover psychologically before returning to your duties,” I informed.

She nodded hesitantly, before looking around with surprise and confusion on her face.

“Where am I?” she asked. “You are in the legacy,” I replied, and more confusion appeared on her face, especially when she looked where she was standing.

“All will be explained later, General,” I said and helped her get out of the artifact.

“Lt. Colonel, please take the General to her quarters,” I ordered the middle-aged woman who had arrived after she woke up. “Yes, my lord,” she replied.

A moment later, she sat in the wheelchair and he pushed it, taking her out of the bathhouse.

“How much time will it take for the stuff to arrive?” Caena asked. Asking about the things she wants for her spells. “In two days,” I replied.

“Take a rest, Caena. You can resume working tomorrow,” I said to her in my serious voice.

She opened her mouth to reply, but closed it before nodding. I don’t want to push herself too hard and burn out; that would be truly disastrous.

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