City of Desire [Kingdom Building] - Chapter 880: Leaving The Fortress

Proofread by Thomas F

Thud!

I landed on the ground and looked ahead. The soldiers are moving through the battlefield, killing the monsters that clung to life.

Not all of them are being killed; some are being captured.

Ignatius and Baronies have developed an economy based on the monsters. Dead and alive, they are profitable, and these people do not waste a single one.

I looked around before turning to Tempest. He is still eating the Bear.

He had already eaten more than half of it. Including the crystal and the core of the bear, but still eating. Though not as ravenously as before.

He shouldn’t have been able to, but during the advancement, he could.

Also, there is his powerful bloodline.

“When you first took that monster, I had my doubts about you taming him, but not only did you tame the wild monster of one of the difficult bloodlines in record time, you also made it advance.”

“I am envious,” Ignatius said and sighed.

“I am just the lucky, Lord Silver,” I replied, and the man shook his head.

“I would be lucky to, if I fed my beast a mist-grown diet,” he added in jest. Not many people know about it, but I am not surprised; he does.

“If it advances successfully and you keep it in control, there will be a lot of offers.” He stated. He is not talking about Tempest, but about his seed.

A seed of a Grade V monster of such a bloodline is a precious thing.

Many mares of capable bloodlines could mate with him and sire a beast that would have his abilities, but would be much easier to control.

I had already received offers before, but now there will be more.

First, he will have to succeed in his advancement; there are a lot of things that could go wrong. After he advances, I will need to tame it again.

It is more like a reset of dominance. If I couldn’t control it, it would attack me or run away.

“Given our friendship, I will accept the offer from you. I believe the Raunos bloodline you have is suitable to mate with Tempest,” I said, and a smile lit up on his face.

“Thank you, Lord Silver,” he replied.

I value Blackwell’s friendship; they helped in the times when many hesitated. It is only fair; I reciprocate. Besides, I have an interest in that Raunos, too.

They gifted Carla a Raunos horse a few months ago, and she loves it.

If that bloodline mates with tempests, I believe. The result would be very good.

I watched him for another minute before I walked across the battlefield with Ignatius. It is the last thing I want to do. I am drained. If I close my eyes, I will fall asleep, but there will be no sleep today.

I will soon leave the fortress.

I have to return to Lauryl. The vote is today, and the party where I will formally announce Lola, Governor of Lauryl.

“A Voltwing had changed things,” said Ignatius as we walked around. Looking at the dead monster, talking to the wounded.

People have died, and a lot more have been wounded. It pains me to see it, but this is the reality of the world.

“It will likely attack again, the question is when,” I replied. Neither of us doubts that it will attack again, but if we get some time, we will be able to deal with it better.

Soon, Harrods and August appeared in front of us.

“My lords,” they greeted. “Both of you did a wonderful job,” praised Ignatius. “We just kept them busy; it was you who defeated them,” replied Harrods.

I talked to them for a few minutes before I returned to Tempest.

He is finished eating the Bear and is now in deep sleep, where massive changes are happening inside him; the changes that made me very excited.

“Arrange a cart; I will be taking him with me,” I said as I removed my hand from his back. It surprised him. “Will it not affect the advancement?” he asked worriedly. I shook my head after some hesitation.

“No, but we will have to do it before he reaches the later stages of advancement.” he is in a very deep sleep; the movements will not affect him, but we will need to be careful.

A few minutes later, we are in Fortress, looking at the cleanup from above.

“Voltwing Tiger produces a new set of challenges; we will need more help to deal with it,” said Harrods. “The dominion will provide the fortress with everything it can,” I replied.

I understand his worries, too, and will be providing him with more support.

Still, I will be restricted by the finances, among other things. The one thing I want to provide him with the most is the artifact; it would help him tremendously here.

Unfortunately, artifacts don’t grow on trees.

It would have been great if we caught Blava Moon. It would have brought us another artifact, but she was able to run away.

They looked but could not find her.

It was quite regrettable, not only because of the artifact but also because the woman has potential and hates us deeply. It is a motivation.

That is bad news for us, as the woman has an artifact and has awakened the aura. With the training from her organisation, she could be extremely dangerous.

I pushed those thoughts and turned to the man.

“General Axseer has been incredible in the battle,” he said, and I smiled. I have been looking at her, and she has impressed me a lot.

“She has a great future in front of her. I want you to foster her well,” I stated.

It is another reason I sent her here; this man is a veteran of many battles. He had spent nearly all his life in the army, from a common soldier to an officer; he could teach her a lot.

“I will,” he replied.

A few minutes later, I visited the hospital where soldiers are recovering.

“Before, we never had enough healers and healing resources,” he said, looking at the injured. “They deserve it,” I said, looking at the healers and priests working through the patients.

Since I took over and saw the casualties after the first battle, I focused on healers.

I recruited them, I trained them, and provided spells to the mages who have affinity to healing spells, along with investing in resources and infrastructure.

It worked in the second battle. Our casualties were drastically reduced.

Most injured survived, even the most severely injured. Healers are the reasons and the resources. Especially, essence potions and essence drop potions.

No, other nobles use those to heal soldiers, but my healers do. Only to save critical patients. That couldn’t be saved with the regular potions or spells.

Yes, it costs a lot; some call it insane, but it saves lives.

These people are willing to fight with their lives on the line. If I couldn’t do everything in my power to save them, I would never be able to live with myself.

“I have never seen the priests working so professionally. We needed to beg for their aid in times like these,” he said, looking at priests from all three churches working on the injured.

“It’s the condition for them to operate in the dominion,” I replied.

In the empire, the Church of God of War has too much power. That has made them arrogant, and also the dependence they cultivated.

Priests are the best healers, but I have invested enough in medicine. That, even if they disappeared tomorrow, we will be able to manage.

I don’t trust churches, not even the Church of Dusk. It’s not like they did anything; it’s just how these churches operate and the power they wield.

Most of the priests here are from Dusk, but there are quite a lot from God of War as well.

There are only three from the Church of Wealth.

The dusk is always helpful; they also have a small church in Baron Harrods’ territory. He is the only baron who lets them; the others did not, including my sister.

“I am fine, Colonel. Focus on patients,” I said to Colonel, the head of the infirmary.

“I will, but let me patch you up first,” he offered. I wanted to decline, but my injury is deep. It is healing, but not quickly enough.

“Ok,” I said.

I agreed to the Colonel’s offer for treatment. He carefully cleaned my injury, his actions both professional and considerate.

“Thank you, Colonel,” I said, grateful for his attention. “It’s my pleasure, my lord,” he replied with a bow before turning his focus to the other patients. Meanwhile, I continued with Baron Harrods.

A few minutes later, I stopped beside one bed, where a heavily injured man was lying. His whole body is covered in bandages; there is barely a place where he hasn’t received injuries.

Seeing Grazong like this, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“The only reason he is alive is because of the emotion essence potion he drank,” said the old doctor. “He is out of danger, right?” I asked.

“Barely, but the recovery would not be smooth or quick,” he replied.

The doctor is right, he is lucky to be alive after taking the attacks of the Torrent Ape head-on.

I spoke with the healer for a minute about his condition before moving forward.

Soon, we reached the place where our expressions became sombre, and we bowed to the people who sacrificed their lives to protect the dominion.

“The casualties are much lower than I had thought,” he said, looking at the dead bodies of the soldiers. “It’s still a lot,” I replied, to which he shook his head.

“It would have been a lot greater. If not for the good gear, the combat healers and potions we had,” he replied.

I know he is right, but seeing the dead. I couldn’t help but blame myself a little. I know it’s not my fault. I did everything I could to end the battle quickly, but the mind is not always rational.

I scrutinized each and every face of the dead. Some didn’t even have a face.

I etched them all into my memory before walking out of the morgue. Promising myself to provide them more help, so there would be fewer casualties the next time.

I went to my quarters, freshened up, and changed. I wanted to lie down and close my eyes for a beautiful sleep, but I did not.

I walked out and held the meeting with the officers; some of them had just come out of the infirmary and were still bandaged and pale.

“You all did well, but this is just beginning. That Voltwing will come back, and it will come back with even greater force. You all will need to be ready to deal with it,” I said to them.

“We will be my lord,” replied Baron Harrods.

The meeting lasted for forty minutes before ending. I congratulated the officer who awakened the aura and met the captain who had awakened it.

He is from Baronies, but he was not on the list of those who could awaken the aura.

He wasn’t on any list, but now, after awakening the aura, he is on the biggest list. He will now be paid a greater salary, have more resources, and receive the best training Greltheaven has to offer.

Soon, I finished all my business, and once more, I am beside Tempest.

Watching people putting him in a cart. It is not an easy task; a strong soldier and a couple of mages were required to do the job.

I would have kept him here, but I needed to leave. Most importantly, I need to be there when he wakes up from his advancement.

The timing will be sensitive, and many things could go wrong.

“Take care of the north, Baron Harrods,” I said as I stopped at the door of the carriage. I want a ride to Lauryl, but I need to move with Tempest.

I could ride ahead, but I don’t want to take the risk while he is in the cart; moving him is already risky enough.

“I will, my lord,” he replied with a nod. I nodded and stepped into the carriage. A minute later, it was out of the gates, moving toward Lauryl.

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