Chapter 354: Funeral

“Today, we stand together, our hearts heavy with sorrow, our spirits united in reverence, as we remember and honour the brave souls who laid down their lives in the ultimate act of selflessness and courage,”

I said to thousands of people gathered in front of me, while the tears drip down from my eyes.

In the newly built cemetery. There are thousands of tombstones. Two thousand, one hundred and seventy-three to be exact. They include the soldiers, mercenaries, common people, volunteers, refugees from other cities, and a whore.

Mena’s tomb was in the front, among the most elaborate ones; right beside Major Hunriet’s. Her sacrifice was, no smaller than his.

“They faced the darkest moments with unwavering bravery, and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the city and its people.”

“Their bravery, their selflessness, and their sacrifice will forever be remembered and will be a beacon of light in the darkness, guiding us toward a future of hope and peace,” I said and wiped my eyes as I finished the speech.

There was a silence of a couple of seconds before I nodded at Bishop Alanis and she began the ceremony with lightning the censor.

There are twelve priests with her. Two that had fought with us, ten that newly arrived. Most of them aren’t even priests; they are acolytes who aren’t even Lv. 10 in their classes.

It is quite a risk to bring them to this city, which could be attacked by the undead again at any time.

A few had objected to them performing the funeral since most were faithful to the god of war; the state religion of the empire.

The bastards from the church of the god of war wanted to use the opportunity. Sent me letters to perform the funeral.

When I rejected their request, they came forcefully.

I had expected it and detailed them, before sending them back to the Deerpond. It will have a price, but I don’t regret doing it.

I will never give this honor to the bastards who had run away.

An hour later, Bishop Alanis finished, and I took the stage again.

“Let’s remember them, not with grief, but with joy and pride. They deserve at least this from us,” I said, bringing smiles to the faces of a few.

I walked off the stage, but didn’t leave immediately. I talked to the loved ones of those who lost their lives. It is the least, I could do.

I could only imagine what they were going through and providing every help, I could.

“It was a great speech. She would have loved it,” said Carla, wiping her eyes as she stopped by me. I didn’t say anything, just stared at the tomb, which was covered in flowers.

There are so many of them. That is the tomb had almost got buried in it.

It is not just the girls who had placed the flowers there, but also people. To save those she had sacrificed her life for.

It is buried in flowers, but I could still read the tombstone. ‘Mena Horn. Madam, Sister, Mentor’ there is also the emblem of establishment in the middle.

She wanted it as such; it was written in her will.

We stayed there for a few minutes in silence, before sitting in the carriage. Ten minutes later, the carriage stopped at the city hall and I got out.

Today, I wanted to do nothing, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. There is a ton of work in front of me.

Click!

“They are waiting for you,” said Jill as I reached my office. I nodded and entered the room.

“Lord Silver,” the four people waiting inside got up immediately. Aside from Valentina, Lola, and Hardt, there is Rip Hanson from legal.

They had finished the negotiations last night and left immediately. They were barely able to make it to the funeral.

“Sit down, all of you,” I said as I sat down.

“How were the negotiations? I asked. “Tough, but we are able to achieve, what you had wanted,” she replied, with a look.

Which is obvious to even the fool.

It is a huge risk, I am taking, but there is no other option. It had been a week since the battle and a quarter of the population had left, which is fifty-thousand people.

The battle had tattered the economy of the city. I had told the bastard, that the economy was too fragile. We need to diversify it as much as possible, but like always, he didn’t listen to me.

I have to do something to invigorate it, or more people will leave. I need to bring the city back on track, fill its coffers to pay for the army, and city employees, and finance the infrastructure, among other things.

I didn’t reply to her looks and picked up the first bunch of contracts and started reading it. It had already been vetted by the lawyers, but I like to look at them myself.

I read every text and line carefully. I do not care about the time it takes. These documents will have a far-reaching effects and I want to be sure of every word before I sign it.

It took a while before I finished reading and signed the documents, adding my own skills.

I could feel it clicking and so are they.

“This will usher a new era to our city,” I said, closing the documents. “Let’s hope so,” said Valentina.

I smiled at her, before the lawyer.

“Rip, you will resign from the merchant guild and take a position as a head council in the city hall,” I said to the man. Shocked would be an understatement of the emotion he was feeling, seeing he had a sort of frozen.

“I will not let you down, my lord.” He said and bowed.

The city hall had a legal department, but half of them had left and there was no one in the other half could lead it.

“I know you will,” I said.

A few seconds later, the lawyers left, leaving only three in front of me. Rip isn’t the only one getting a promotion, but the next promotions are a little complicated and they might not accept, seeing the conditions attached to it.

“Hardt, I want you to handle the trade office,” I said, and the man’s eyes lit up. It was my department; I like it a lot and if not for the crazy responsibilities, I wouldn’t have given it up.

“Thank you, my lord,” he said, smiling widely.

“Don’t thank me yet. There are serious conditions attached to it,” I added, and his expression turned serious.

“What conditions?” he asked. “You will have to give your position as the head of the merchant guild and will also need to step away from your business,” I said and even Valentina’s expression turned serious hearing.

“My apologies, Lord Silver, but I cannot accept the responsibility,” he said, without wasting even a moment.

His swift rejection didn’t surprise me. He would have agreed to resign from the merchant guild, but stepping away from his business is a red line for him.

Let’s see if the allure of the power is big enough for him to break it.

“This is the responsibility the position will have. Think about it, you have a day,” I said and pushed the paper toward him.

He opened his mouth, likely to reject, when suddenly he stopped and stared at the page harder. There was a shock appeared on his face and he read the page over and over, before turning to me.

“The merchant guild wouldn’t like this,” he said and I smiled.

“The merchant guilds in the empire are too bloated. I am going to revert them to basic, where they will be able to run more efficiently,” I replied.

It is the perfect chance to do what I want. The undead attack and chaos in the empire had made the merchants weaker.

They wouldn’t be able to put too big of the resistance.

“I will give you my answer, tomorrow,” he said and left, leaving only Lola, and Valentina in the office.

“I am sure, there is something for me,” she said and I nodded. “I want you to head finance,” I said, and a surprise appeared on her face, along with disappointment.

On Earth, finance is a bigger department than trade, but it is not here. Most of the responsibilities are taken by trade, interior, and other departments, making it an empty shell.

A very few kingdoms here, that give the finance the weight it deserves.

“You should read it before being disappointed,” I said and slid the page toward her. She took it and began to read; the more she read, the more her expressions would change.

“You are willing to give these?” she asked, shocked. “Finance deserves these powers,” I replied.

She will have many responsibilities, from budget to taxation, but most importantly. She will have control over the treasury.

“I will to have step away from the business, right?” she asked. She obtained the license the day she left for a merchant state, but if she wants this job, she will need to step away from it.

She could be a partner, but she could not run a business and take active parts in decision-making.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Can you make an exception for me?” she asked, trying to act cute. “Rules are the same for everyone Valentina. If you want this responsibility, you have to give up your business,” I said.

She loves what she does and after a long time. She had finally started on her own, but now, I am asking her to give up.

It is a massive responsibility. If there had been someone capable enough, that I trust so much as her, I would have offered that job to them.

“Fine, I will accept. It will fulfill my dream of becoming an important person,” she said, and I laughed.

The smile remained on her face for a couple of seconds, before it turned serious.

“Do you really think, it will work?” she asked. I didn’t have to ask, what she was talking about.

“There are good chances it would,” I replied.

Signing a contract is just one part. I have to do many more things to make them have enough confidence in us to trust us with the investments. It will be easy when the undead are hovering over us.

She left a few minutes later, and I turned to Lola.

“There is no promotion for you, only learning opportunity. Start preparing for your trip,” I said to her.

She will be leaving in three days with whoever becomes director of the trade office. It will be a long journey and a dangerous one, seeing things happening in the empire, but it needs to be done.

It is the best time to act when our competitors are worrying about the undead.

“Any new intelligence on undead?” I asked Zela. “No, everything is quiet,” she replied, which didn’t make me feel good at all.

Instead, it made me feel more suspicious.

It had been five days and there were no movements on their part. Even spies and scouts of the merchant state weren’t able to find anything.

It made me more suspicious and scared of them.

Soon, it was eleven, and I walked out of the city hall. In the mansion, I directly went to my suit, and freshened up, before laying on the bed.

I fell asleep almost immediately, thinking about tomorrow which I am excited about. I will finally share my vision for the new legacy.

“Lord Silver,”

I was in a deep sleep, having a pretty gruesome nightmare where my city burning and my loved one murdered when I heard someone calling my name.

I opened my eyes immediately and saw Shaun and Lt. Col Hiren by my bed. They take the night shift from Zela and Jon.

“What happened?” I asked as I got up, feeling scared. Something had happened; it was clearly written on their faces.

…

Hendricks

“The journey wasn’t supposed to last, more than two weeks, but it had been over two months and we still haven’t reached him,” said the man in front of me and sighed.

They are sitting at the restaurant window, watching the closed gate.

They were supposed to leave today and reach Inam, in two days, before taking a ship to Greltheaven, but now it seemed like, they would have to wait for a few days at least.

“Life is full of unexpected things, Mr. Emer,” I said to the man in front of me, before turning to two children, who are eating quietly, while we have our conversation in privacy.

If what Emer had said was right, they really had bad luck on their journey.

Hope, we reach the Greltheaven quickly. Not only for the children but also for the man, who will get the answer to the question he had been asking for a decade.

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