City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 18: Journey

“Take care; if something happens that is beyond your control, simply close the establishment,” I said to Carla, the tenth time in the past hour.

“Don’t worry, Remus; everything will go well. You just need to take care of things on your side,” she said with the confidence I wish I had.

“Everything will be fine,” I reassured myself and stood up, picking up the rapier by my side with familiar ease.

The rapier had a red blade and silver handle and a black twirling guard; it was an elvish rapier and not a normal weapon, but an enchanted one.

The blade's name is rose; it was my mother's and the only thing I did not sell before coming here. I would have gotten quite a lot of money if I had sold it.

It felt familiar, even after picking it up after quite a long time; old Remus had used this blade for years. It was like a limb to him.

Killing many monsters with it till he was killed by it; he had this blade in his hand when he stuck a blow that shattered his soul, and I entered his body, merging with all the broken pieces of his soul, becoming him.

Soon, I appeared by my carriage and looked at the establishment, which I was not going to see for the next few days.

“It will be fine; I will take care of everything,” she said; I nodded before finally stepping into the carriage with a sigh.

The carriage began to move, and I watched it till it disappeared from my view; I hope everything goes well; I have worked too hard for it to fall down.

I got control over my emotions and let the rational thoughts let in, which told me, everything was going to be alright. Carla is very capable; she will be able to handle everything that came in her way.

My father had chosen her for that.

Soon, my carriage walked into the gates of the silver mansion. As I gate out, I found there were already a few people there, some I found familiar.

They are all guards, and they are from the house.

The House of Silver is a big mercantile house, and we have our own force; I heard, Grandfather had sent very capable people to form Edwin’s army.

They were veterans with good levels and experience. I am quite curious about the person leading them; grandfather wouldn’t send someone ordinary.

He had invested too much for this title to do that.

“Master Remus, they are waiting for you upstairs,” said the guard and led me inside soon; they led me to the place where everyone was.

In one of the meeting rooms, there are several people are sitting; aside from uncle, there is also Edwin and Madam. The one I focused on is the man who looked to be in his mid-sixties, Lester Woods, one of nine captains of the house of silver’s forces.

He is one of the most powerful ones with great experience in everything from fighting undead, orcs, and elves, not to mention humans.

Seeing him, I couldn’t help but feel relieved; the territory was not without danger.

“Master Remus,” greeted Lester as I appeared, “Captain Woods,” I said back before turning to my brother.

“Lord Baron,” I said and sat across him without hearing his reply, for which I should have waited, but I do not care.

Though he does, which is why he glared at me and opened his mouth but closed it from the look on his mother.

“You have come to time Remus; we were just discussing some last-minute details,” said Madam, “Are we not going with everybody else?” I asked.

My brother is not only noble, over thirty people have got the title, and half of them are forming a group with the security of Mirador Hold forces, which will take them to their respective territories.

“No, they have time, and we are not waiting, and uncle also had to return soon. We are leaving early as few groups did,” said Edwin; looking at his expression, I could see he wanted to reach the territory soon as possible.

They had already discussed the route and now going over the finer things; I stayed quiet, listening, without saying anything.

“Now that we have discussed everything let's go. I could not wait to reach my territory,” said Edwin excitedly, making his mother shake her exasperation.

Still, everybody got up and walked out, and soon we were out.

“Remus, are your people coming?” said uncle, looking at my two guards. “Yes,” I replied. He had asked me to come alone, but I will not.

Putting my safety in the hands of my family would be the greatest mistake that I would be an idiot to make.

These are the new guards I hired from the mercenary guild; their services are very expensive, but they are level 20+ and have done the missions in the area we are going.

“Your carriage can follow us then,” he said and walked toward the carriage where Madam and Edwin had already sat.

There was enough space for four people there, but he did not invite me, not that I was surprised; I had already expected this kind of behavior.

I sat down my carriage, and a minute later, the carriage rolled out of the gate of the mansion.

Half an hour later, the carriages stopped at the port, which had changed a lot when I had seen it first. It had changed even when I saw it a few days ago.

It is quite crowded, even in the morning, with people loading and unloading goods; most of the ships are coming from merchant cities, but some are going toward them.

I got out of the carriage and walked with the group toward the boat waiting for us.

As we stepped into the boat, the boatmen began rowing. I felt their skills activate as they rowed toward the other side with the smooth, practiced motion.

Nobody spoke much, even my bother; everybody was enjoying the serene beauty of the river; it is a beautiful river, with water so clear that one could drink it without a problem.

Unlike water from the earth's river, which is dirty and drinking, it will take one to the emergency room. The water of Trollmouth is quite pure; one can drink it without fear.

The boat ride ended sooner than I liked; we got out of the boat, where a woman in her forties, with staff blue staff in her hand, waited with a few people.

I did not recognize her, its not like I recognized all people employed by the house.

She is defiantly a mage; there are five mages in Edwin’s army; the four are offensive types, while the fifth is a water mage who is proficient in healing.

Their services are quite expensive, but it is not a problem for the house to hire them.

Soon, we reached the place where our forces were, and I was quite surprised by their numbers. There are nearly a hundred people, with lines of over ten carriages loaded with goods.

Seventy-two among them are part of the army, while others are servants of cleaners to drivers. There are also a few expert miners and farmers who will look around the territory for the most fertile land and things to mine.

In the month, the prince is going to provide people to the territories, and they will have to make a preparation for them as noble is nothing without a people to rule over.

“Remus, you will sit on this carriage,” said Uncle Raymond; it is the carriage that is nearly behind; there are only two carriages behind it.

It is not what disappointed me; what disappointed me is the cargo over it; he is placing me in a cargo carriage.

“Thank you, uncle,” I said with a sweet smile and took a bag from Jonah before opening the carriage door and walking inside.

I had expected nothing less, and while I could have argued, I know he would have made some excuses with my brother, who is watching from a distance.

So, it is better I comply with a smile on my face, as the day will come when I will have my revenge. I am not open-minded enough to forgive these petty offenses.

As I entered the carriage, I found out I was not sitting alone; another person was sitting there already.

He is a thin man with raven hair and deep brown eyes, who looked to be in his mid-twenties and was reading through the papers before seeing me.

He seemed quite surprised seeing me entering the carriage.

“Hello,” I said as I sat across him in a seat that already had a box bound, barely enough space for me sits squeezing; the man opposite of me was in no better condition.

There is not only stuff bound on the roof and back of the carriage but also inside, including beneath our feet.

It is going to be one uncomfortable journey.

“Master Remus,” greeted the other man as I put my rapier inside a gap behind the wooden box while I put the bag in my lap.

“You are?” I asked, “Brian Dusk, accountant for the Barony of Blain,” he said in a familiar accent. “You are from Redfawn?” I asked.

“Yes. I used to work for Lord Edwin before he brought me here,” he replied nervously, “Quite courageous of you,” I said back, and to that, he let out a nervous smile.

“Well, Brian, brace for a rough journey; the next one and the half day won’t be easy, or the days after that,” I said as I set myself comfortable in my seat.

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