Tara Veyrault

"Good luck," I wished and cut the spells, with the fourth and final person.

I lay against the chair, closing my eyes. I am tired, but a wide smile is on my face. I had succeeded, at least in the first step.

I have saved four people, all important and powerful, with two of them over Lv. 40. There is another one I wanted to save, but that person is out of the domain.

So, I gave his location to Dalson.

Although I didn't want to, I had no choice but to do it. It was his fault for staying at an inn outside the domain.

Dalson acted swiftly on the information, capturing the thieves and the artifacts. There had been a few battles, some of them quite intense, but it is his city.

Ralis Thorn had made a lot of preparation; not to mention, the man himself is ready to act, if needed.

These four will lay the foundation for the web I want to create.

I don't know whether it will work, but I have to try, and I am being as cautious as possible, revealing nothing about me. I cannot implicate Velvet Garden.

I sighed and shook my head before looking out of the window. It's morning, and already the gates have opened, and carriages can be seen coming in.

The legacy is booked for years.

This is Inam, one of the biggest cities in the empire. While the war ravaged many cities, it is flourishing, and its legacy will only deepen its growth.

I was lost in my thoughts when a knock rang out on my door. "Come in," I said.

The door opened, and Solene walked in.

"General Dalson wants to talk to you," she informed. "Okay," I replied. A moment later, she extended her hand toward me, and I took it.

"General, I hope the information has been useful to you," I said as the call connected.

"Tremendously, Overseer Veyrault," he replied. "We have recovered three stolen artifacts and arrested a lot of criminals. Including those with large bounties on their heads," he added.

"I am glad this arrangement has helped," I said. Of course, it helped; my information was full proof.

'I have called you because we have recovered three stolen artifacts, but there is still one we have yet to find. It would help me tremendously if you could provide some information regarding it?' he asked.

A smile couldn't help but light up on my face.

Of course, I have some information on the fourth artifact. I even know where it is, but I am not going to share it.

It's good for Inam to develop, but not too much. Ralis Thorn is ambitious and powerful. The development is going to give him a lot of financial muscle.

A minor setback would be good; it would slow down the development a little.

Though not too much, he is a kind of shield for us. He needs to be strong because if Tabes continues making progress, they will attack Inam.

We want Inam to be strong enough to defend against them, but not strong enough to attack us before we are ready.

"I do not; I have given you all the information I had," I replied, and could hear the disappointed sigh.

"Though if I come across it, I will inform you immediately," I added. 'I would appreciate it a lot,' he replied before cutting the call.

Solene left, and I let out a sigh.

How wonderful it would have been if we had just taken those artifacts. I thought it wasn't hard for us, but that wouldn't help us. It would bring the wrath of nobles and even the empire down on us.

Not to mention, turn the reputation we had built into dust.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Stolen artifacts are a no-no, especially the recent ones. If they are from other kingdoms or were stolen at least a decade ago, we might take a risk, but not with these.

…

General Dalson

'Dalson, you have an hour; I won't be able to keep the gates locked for more than that,'said Lord Thorn.

"My lord, give me at least until ten," I begged. One hour is not enough; every lead we had went bust. I had a last hope in Veyrault, but she is claiming that she didn't have any information.

'Don't disappoint me, Dalson, find me that artifact,' stated Lord Thorn before cutting the call.

"Fuck!"

I cursed, but nobody said anything. I needed more time. Once the port gates open, it will be very hard to find the artifact. It might leave the city within minutes.

A moment later, I took a deep breath. I need to calm down to deal with this.

"Lock down the Perone district," I ordered. It's a large district with hundreds of thousands of people. It is a place to which all the leads we have point.

They are not definite leads, and one could even argue whether they are leads, but I have no choice.

If there is even the slightest chance that we might find the artifact there.

I am going to take it.

…

Ralis Thorn

"The gates have opened," stated Lawrence.

"The chances of finding Tomalin's artifact would have lessened a lot with it," said my son. "There is no choice, nephew. We cannot keep the gates closed," replied Lawrence.

I want to massage my head. I am tired and feeling a headache. It's not because of a lack of sleep, but the stress.

Things were worse than we had expected; the number of criminals that came out had shocked me. We knew there would be a lot of them.

Still, the numbers were shocking, and so were their levels.

We have caught a lot of high-level criminals, and I am already planning on using them to alleviate the pressure I am under from the imperials.

"Dalson had done well," said Lawrence when only two of us remained in my office.

"Done well? He had yet to find the last artifact," he smiled.

"Looked at the number of criminals he had caught and their levels. It's surprising, even shocking, that he could catch so many of them," he said.

I opened my mouth, but closed it a moment later.

Lawrence is right; he had done well, but he had yet to find that last artifact. The thieves came prepared, used tools and skills that let them hide without being found.

"Though the method he found them is a little surprising. It was as if, suddenly, he knew the locations," said Lawrence softly.

"Mariha?" I asked.

Just thinking about that woman makes my head hurt. She is a dangerous one, whom I had warned not to practice her work in my city, but if she had, her help would have been tremendous.

Already, the information she had provided helped us manage these things, or it would have been even worse.

"No, it was something else. The information seemed too precise," he replied.

"It's likely a skill or information. It is likely a combination of both," I said. Dalson has a skill that helps him accurately track things; the more information he has about them, the more accurate his tracking is.

Lawrence said nothing other than nodding, but I could tell he was still thinking about it.

"The legacy, it worked better than I had imagined," said Lawrence after minutes of silence.

Of course, legacy would work; it's a legacy. Though that is not what he is talking about. He is talking about the people, the essence.

"Silver is going to rake in a massive amount of emotional essence through it," I said, and he nodded with a small frown. "It is massive, but the question is how massive," he replied.

"The size is important, but also the core of the legacy. Vanis's was a Tavern class legacy, which only turned into a Colosseum Class after becoming Velvet Garden's pawn."

"The legacies changed after it, gaining many abilities of its master. It's said that the core also changes and becomes more powerful."

"The question is, how powerful?" he asked softly.

"What's the use? The contract is ironclad." I asked. Unless I march to Greltheaven and conquer it, I wouldn't be able to do anything about the contract.

Speaking of which.

"We are meeting Dolnir in the evening; I hope it is successful," I said. I need a meeting with the Crown Prince; there are a few things I want to know about.

Especially the secret of Greltheaven.

There is a massive secret there, something truly huge. If it weren't for that, the emperor wouldn't have made a secret trip to the region. He went there, even before there was anything.

Nobody knows about his visit, not even Lawrence.

A few months later, Prince Grelt announced he would build the city there. One of Raldin's assistants is an old friend of mine, and he was really confused about his master's choice of that place to build the city.

He had said, " There are many better places than this to build the city.

I think it is the reason the undead attacked Greltheaven, and the same reason the Crown Prince is temporarily staying away from it.

Though he wants Greltheaven, it is not because of Velvet Garden.

He had drawn up plans for Greltheaven long before Velvet Garden was born.

It is why his hesitation is so confusing.

Even if his sister tries to stop him, he has a big enough spare army and powerhouses that he could capture Greltheaven, but he isn't doing that.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Lawrence. "Carla Salt," I replied.

"That woman is tough, but I believe we would be successful. "All the conditions we need to get the maximum amount of essence written in the contract had been satisfied," he said.

I couldn't help but nod at that.

I am getting five times as much essence as I used to from Vanis, but I could get more.

I could get up to seven times more essence, if the legacy and I meet certain criteria, which I believe we do. It is one of the exceptions I had forced Silver to make.

I have given them everything, and seeing how successful the opening has been, I have a chance.

I need it.

I am getting more essence than I had dreamt, but I am also spending a lot.

The appetite of my forces increased, and now everybody wants it. There are also the Imperials and a few friends and allies.

I thought, with such a huge amount, I wouldn't feel any more need, but now, I want it even more than before, which is kind of frustrating.