City of Desire: Chapter 1062 New Plan (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

Marquess Grimvale

‘…my apologies, Marquess, but I cannot.’

The man cut the call before I could persuade him any further.

“Damnation!” I cursed.

Until last night, everything was going well, not great, but well. I was confident I could convince the nobles and mercenaries to fight, but then Silver made good on his promises.

He assassinated not just any person, but fucking Gaidan, the general.

The man who was holding it all together.

He did it in the dam middle of a large encampment with an army of over one hundred and fifty thousand and six Lv. 40+ powerhouses, seven including him.

Silver’s assassin killed him without anyone knowing for hours. There were skills active; they should have sensed the moment he died, but they didn’t.

Not to mention how the assassin entered the camp.

There is no doubt that someone from the camp was in on it, and the assassin Silver used was very capable. I am sure it was his bodyguard; we knew he was a capable battlefield assassin, but he had also proved himself a covert assassin.

“Andil Consortium had backed down. They are pulling the men back in the empire.” Informed Talmire.

“Fuck!”

I shouted across the office.

They were one of the biggest financiers, financing the army of twenty-five thousand men, which they are now calling back to the empire.

“Tell them we are willing to pay for the cost of their army,” I said. It’s a massive amount of money, but I have already lost so much in just an hour.

Within minutes of receiving the news. I was informed by a few mercenaries and nobles that they were now leaving.

They were part of an army of ninety thousand coming toward me. They moved immediately to leave. Now, only sixty thousand are coming toward me, and many are even thinking about leaving, including the new Lv. 40.

In the army, Gaidan was leading. Around fifty thousand were already leaving.

I was talking to one of the leaders of the mercenary coalition; the bastard is hell-bent on leaving. Because Silver didn’t assassinate them, his people called them again, telling them they could be next.

“Is Lant ready to take my call yet?” I asked. Things were getting worse by the minute, but I could still salvage it.

“No.”

“What about Valebrook?” he shook his head. None of them were willing to talk to me. Only Yerk was talking, but the man was scared, and he wasn’t Gaiden.

He had power, prestige, and charm to hold it all together. Yerk did not have these qualities.

He could keep Viremont’s army in control, but he couldn’t keep the rest.

“Groups have formed in camp. The first one being led by Yerk, the second one by those that are leaving the region, and the third by Valebrook, Faireyn and Vark,” informed Dasir.

“This is a good thing for us. It is better to negotiate with the leader of the group than with individuals,” added Talmire.

I didn’t say anything; it is a good thing, because even Gaidan, despite leading the army, wasn’t able to be the leader Viremont was.

“I am not getting a good feeling about it,” I said, and I trust my instinct. Their expressions turned somber; they know my instincts are never wrong about such things.

“Ask our people to try their hardest; tell them not to hesitate to offer the benefits of the upper limit,” I ordered. I have my people in the camp.

They have been traveling with the armies since they left Almin.

Offering them so much will incur a massive cost, but I am willing to pay it. As long as I conquer Silver’s territory, it will all be worth it.

…

Knight-Marshal Liorian

“…we are Vris’alud; nothing will happen. You can trust me on it,” said Elmid before cutting the call.

“Silver’s people have threatened them again,” he informed. I could tell by the conversation.

Now, they are worried, with him sending assassins after them as he promised.

“What did Silver’s chief say?” he asked, turning to Lomos.

“That any covert action will make the blast of last time look like a little firework.” All three of us turned somber at that. The blast was small, and damage was contained, but that is not what scared us.

It is that display in Greltheaven. If he brought even a fraction of that here, he could do massive damage.

“This covert action would not work; we do not have the assassins to pull it off, and Silver would be prepared.”

“Most importantly, Silver had grown confident enough to use the assassin,” Elmid said, and I nodded. Attacking Silver covertly would be counterproductive.

He had already shown that he would react to our every move with his own. If we remain quiet, he will do nothing, and currently, we do not want him to do anything until we are ready for something.

“What is our plan?” I asked.

“I still believe that Grimvale will be able to pull it off. Once they become calm in Bilgas, those greedy nobles will ally with him.”

“It is a lesser force than what Grimvale had planned, but it will still be a much bigger force than what Silver has.”

“It is a good chance that he will win against Silver, but even if he doesn’t, it will be fine. We don’t care about victory as long as they kill each other’s men and powerhouses; we will be golden for the attack.”

He is being cautious this time, and I am glad; the result affects me as well.

I want to leave this damn wasteland and return to my order, and that will only happen if we conquer the whole damn region.

“So the hordes will stay where they are?” I asked.

“For now.”

…

Lord Rutto

‘That will be stretching too far; they had just attacked us; they will not agree to it,’said the voice in my mind while the wind crashed against my ears as I rode through the wasteland.

I wanted to laugh.

Remus Silver is incredible. I have never met anyone quite like him.

He understands people. He respects them, cares about them, and knows how to make them feel valued. That is why so many people are willing to follow him into death.

But there are some things he does not understand.

At heart, Remus is still a merchant, and merchants are a different breed from nobles.

A merchant may cheat, deceive, threaten, or take advantage of someone, but even a merchant has a line he is unwilling to cross. Well, most merchants do, but nobles have no such limits.

From childhood, it is ingrained in them that power is everything, and their power comes from two things. Their title and territory, with level and artifacts below them.

Power changes the rules.

When it comes to those two things, there is almost nothing they will not do to get it.

They will lie, betray, blackmail, ruin lives, sacrifice their own people, and crawl through whatever filth they have to if it brings them closer to what they desire.

And when a noble is desperate, they will contort in any way to get what they want.

“Let me try; I will make that happen. For you, and for the dominion,” I want to do it, to make him proud. He is the man who trusted me, giving me respect and responsibilities that I craved so much.

Not to mention the power; I'd never had any before. Here, I have a real position, and that comes with real power.

‘Fine, I will trust you, but be careful. This is not going to be easy; it might even turn dangerous.’ I smiled hearing that; this is another thing about him.

He might micromanage things, but he is trustworthy once he hands over responsibility and doesn’t interfere.

Though he helps, that is different from interfering.

People interfere when they don’t trust the other person; they help when they do.

His trust made me confident enough to take big risks. The Rutto five years ago would never have dared to suggest such a daring plan.

“Thank you for your trust, my lord, and for what you have sent; I am sure they aremore than capable of protecting me,” he laughed.

‘Good luck, Rutto.’ With that, he cut the call while I focused on the ride, with the power of witchcraft covering me.

Because of it, we move undetected, but we need to move at a certain speed.

We can’t move too fast, or we might be detected by their powerful sensory skills or the beast scouts in the sky or on the ground. We don’t want that, knowing how close we are moving through the undead’s territory.

While I rode, I pulled up the Lord’s Diary and turned to the task I had written.

It is the original task: to mediate between the four once they capture the city. The task remained the same, but something more was added to it.

Something difficult.

Dividing responsibilities among four is going to be a massive headache. Especially the position of City Lord or Governor, whichever title they choose to take.

All four of them expressed the desire for the position.

There are three other positions: Warden, General, and Chancellor or Treasurer. Two choices for the title like the Governor, he has already decided who he wants in these positions.

It will not be easy to convince them, but I have a plan.

Though before we begin with that, they need to capture the city. We have provided them with all the help we could, and now it is up to them.

I hope the city will be completely under their control and calm by the time I reach it.

An hour and a half passed when I raised my hand as the charm in my pocket began to heat up. We came to a stop and waited; the two guards didn’t ask the question; they knew when to ask it and when to remain quiet.

For a few seconds, there was nothing, until a woman rode out from the rocks.

“You took your time, Lord Rutto,” she said as she rode toward me. As she reached me, a faint, beautiful fragrance of the most delicious liquor filled my nose.

“My apologies, Miss Utsa.”

She will be riding with me to Bilgas.

I don’t know where she was before coming to me. She suddenly disappeared a week ago; nobody knows where he had sent her.

“Let’s go; I heard we have quite a task in front of us,” she said, and I smiled.

She is there for our protection, but also for the message. The women of Velvet Garden hold an important position, and Utsa is known to be one of the most trusted of Remus Silver and holds a high position in Velvet Garden.

Her presence is going to make things a lot easier for me.

Though I couldn’t help wishing it had been Jenna with me. She is a continent away, but she had promised to come back before the opening and will stay in the city for at least a month.

I wish she would come back sooner. I miss her a lot.