City of Desire: Chapter 1072 War Ends (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

Ralvan Elmid

“I take full responsibility for this failure,” I said, choking on the bad taste in my mouth.

It is the last thing I want to do, but I have to. If I didn’t, the punishment for this failure would be even worse than it already is.

‘Good,’ the voice on the call said. I felt relieved as I heard that.

‘I convinced them to let you keep your rank, but you have been relieved of many of your honors and privileges. The failure cannot go unpunished; there needs to be a cost to it.’ It is painful to hear that; I earned those in blood.

“Thank you, uncle,” the man on the other side sighed.

‘I saved you this time, Elmid, but you have used all my goodwill. Fail again, and you will suffer a proper punishment.’ With those words, the man cut the call.

“The horde had entered the ships and had begun the journey back,” informed the mage after a few moments of silence.

“Tell them to be careful and take precautions.” The horde is returning from the coast near Norke and is now journeying back.

Silver had won; there was no denying it, but this was just one battle. It is far from over. I will have my revenge and Silver in chains; he will be nothing but our slave.

So let him enjoy his little victory, because it won’t be long before he starts having sleepless nights.

…

Marquess Grimvale

“They retreated,”

I said nothing as my mage informed me about it, but all the hope I had drained from me.

I was still clinging to the hope that the undead might weaken Silver. Giving me a chance to attack him, but Silver had destroyed them.

That dawn’s offensive at Gailhorn was surprising.

No, it was not the power that surprised me, aside from his generals, but the operation itself. Such operations are extremely complicated and very hard to pull off against Vris’alud’s undead.

They have been attacked so many times that they developed a system that makes it very hard for anyone to sneak up on them.

Silver not only did, but thoroughly destroyed them.

Twenty-nine people destroyed the core of the horde of a million undead, including its core necromancer; it shocked them, at least.

First was his shocking assassination operation, and now a dawn raid. Silver had shown his versatility, ability, and willingness to perform such complex operations.

Its reverberations will spread not only through the region, but also through the empire.

Effectively increasing his deterrence.

“Let me know what Silver is offering,” I said. We have received the official proposal.

I refrained from reading it, hoping the undead might do something, but those bastards are retreating now, and after what Silver showed, attacking him would be foolish.

“He is offering a lot, but also demanding a lot more,” informed Dasir as he handed me the file.

“The bastard also leaked the news that he is willing to provide us, people. And since that, there has been no single minute of silence when I didn’t get barraged by those bastard nobles with the inquiries!” cursed Talmire.

Valaniel and Haldraven contacted me too; both wanted access to people, a lot of them.

I opened the file and read through it.

Dasir is right. Silver is offering a lot. People, essence, potions, recharging the artifact. He is even offering the use of his network to bring people I want from the empire, for a charge: ‘Merchant bastard!’ But he is also demanding a lot.

From market access to free movement of people. I had kept these things restricted, but now he wants them.

“What do both of you think?” I asked.

“We need those things; I will go as far as to say we are desperate for them. If we get them, they will help us develop fast,” said Talmire.

“But he is asking a lot; if we give him those things, he will gain unprecedented influence over our economy, which might spill into other areas.” Cautioned Dasir.

“I agree, but what choice do we have? Silver is developing fast, and once the legacy reopens, he will develop even faster,” said Talmire.

“I heard whispers that Arenthal is planning a comprehensive trade agreement with Silver, and Bilgas is already his; those nobles are nothing but his puppets.”

He looked at me, his eyes serious.

“If we even want to think of defeating Silver, we have to develop just as fast, and we have a chance with aid of the nobles.”

“It will bring us the money we need to fund our defenses and get more powerhouses, not to mention fix our economy, which cannot run on your personal funds forever.”

I sighed, hearing that.

I am earning from my domain, but not as much as I should. Every month, I have a shortfall that I have to cover with my own private reserves.

That shortfall is getting smaller every month; it is not sustainable, because I'll ultimately run out of money.

“Still, we cannot let Silver have influence on the economy; it will be another weapon; he will use it against us,” cautioned Dasir.

I hate the options in front of me, but I have to do something. If I let things run as they are, it will not be good for me, but I also can’t give Silver everything; he could use it against me.

“We need to squeeze out as much as possible from this agreement, without giving too much,” I said.

It would be difficult, but I have confidence in my people’s ability. Besides, this is temporary. I will work to strengthen myself; the moment I think I am strong enough, I will attack him without hesitation.

Silver’s performance in the war has proved that he needs to be dealt with quickly.

If I give him enough time, I won’t be able to do anything against him. It will be me worrying day and night about my survival. I will not let that happen.

…

Count Summerfield

“This is larceny!” I shouted, staring at the massive ransom amount Silver was demanding.

“That bastard wants to rob us blind!” Cursed my son. This is far more than we have been expecting.

Hell, I had expected my army to revolt in the morning when I found out the General had left the city, but there was not a single movement from those useless bastards.

“This is indeed on the higher end of what we had expected.” Spoke Silva finally.

They had sent the numbers to us a few minutes ago. They intentionally waited until today, when they got a massive victory over those useless undead bastards.

I expected them to give Silver a hard time, but they couldn’t even do that.

Fewer than thirty people destroyed the whole undead horde with a decapitation attack.

I shuddered at the thought.

“We should negotiate it down quickly and pay them, or it will cost us even more,” he added. That merchant bastard didn’t even give us a grace period.

From the moment we received the proposal, he will increase the ransom every day.

He called it the “hospitality charge.”

I looked at the number again; it was massive, enough to break the city’s finances. I will have to ask him whether he could give me a grace period, accept alternatives to coin, and accept installments.

The thought of begging him filled me with fury, but I calmed myself.

“Well, at least our artifact is safe. It was wise of you to ask, Uncle, to leave the artifact behind when he left with the army,” said my son, and that put a smile on my face.

After the scare with Arenthal, I didn’t want to take any risk. So, I asked Urin to leave the artifact behind.

“Son, you will go to Greltheaven tomorrow and negotiate the price down. Half would be better, but try to bring it down even further,” I said to my son.

After the power Silver has shown, I need my army.

Not only to defend against him, but also against the other snarling hyenas of the region who are eyeing me. I need to get my army back as soon as possible.

…

Caelus Verulus

I watched Nathil walk in; he had been in Belnin for the last few days.

It is where the Department of Arcane Artifice headquarters is; the department that oversees the creation and development of artifacts, golems, and other things.

“Silver’s man is driving a hard bargain,” He said as he sat down. Silver had found the complete golem inheritance forge, something even states with our deep foundation would want their hands on.

I want it too, and I'm thankful to Silver for asking Nathil to be an observer there.

Silver wants a lot of things, including binding knowledge protection, resources, expertise, and many other things.

This time, we are not the only ones who could give him these things.

He also contacted Namdar; their golem knowledge might not be as deep as the Merchant State’s, but they could provide Silver with the resources and expertise he needs; he could get the rest from his inheritance.

“His performance in the battle increases his leverage further,” added Nathil.

His strength means little to them, but those at the top look at his potential, and he has shown he has a lot, both through his strength and his legacy.

“I hope the leadership will not drag these negotiations out. We don’t want Namdar to get all the benefits,” I said.

“I conveyed that as well.”

We are no friends of empire and didn’t like Namdar much either. That woman is one of the most dangerous people on the continent. It is because of her we could not give the satisfying defeat to the Empire.

“You had met him yesterday; did you get a positive response?” he asked.

Silver’s man returned yesterday from Belnin. He met me before departing for Greltheaven.

“On essence, yes, but not plants, none,” he sighed at that.

The number of essences isn’t exactly finalized, which will be confirmed when I go to Greltheaven for the opening, but the response has been positive.

Especially about the Grade IV essence.

The legacy in my city is Grade III. I get some Grade IV essence from the masters and the other states, but not enough. I need more, and only Silver can provide that to me.

Though more than that, I wanted plants.

Mae had convinced Silver to give her some emotion essence potions. These weren't synthesized from hard essence, but made purely from essence-grown plants.

Emotion essence potions are gentle and powerful, but nothing compared to those produced by plants.

They are far more gentle, and their efficacy is at another level.

“It will be hard; the last time we could get some because he didn’t have many alchemists and the ability to use them. Now he has alchemists and is creating a stable formula for a Grade III potion.”

It was difficult last time to get our hands on plants, but I needed them. My alchemists need it.

The extra essence had already proven incredible, raising my alchemist's level and increasing our stock of emotion essence. Plants will help even more.

This time, he didn’t plant a little garden, but a massive area of hundreds of acres.

“He does, but I will have to convince him, and I believe I could.” There are few things I have that Silver needs. I am sure I will negotiate something.

Baroness of Winter’s Veil Lv. 42

Rogue of Silent Whisper Lv. 46

High Mage of Bloom Lv. 38

[Skill Gained: Verdant’s Order]

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