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If the Dukes were terrified, the others waiting in the garden went well beyond that. The aura of an ancient is one of pure predatory power, but most species don’t feel it as a danger to the body. Instead, to most species it feels like a threat to or suppression of their life force. Only the higher beings, the Seraphim, Greater Demons and most powerful of Fae and Dragons can be even remotely comfortable under its influence.

It didn’t help that Cain hasn’t learned to control his mental voice and simply broadcasted it to everyone in the courtyard. The applicants and the Nobles running the event were all left in a state of confusion at what just happened, which inevitably led to gossip.

The aura seemed to come from the Dukes tent, and the last person to enter was a young Noble with a group of Seraphim, so the gossip naturally turned to the Nobles needing an evil being exorcised. That soon turned into speculation about an attack against the oligarchs and a hidden challenger to the throne. 

Inside the upper nobility tent, Cain and the Dukes know nothing about the chaos outside, and are spending a moment happily chatting with their peers. Everything from the state of trade in Skyview to manufacturing, labor rates and problems finding workers to train for less desirable industries. Someone needs to clean the sewer drains when they clog, but as the wealth of the capital has increased, money is proving to no longer be enough to get someone to do it. They’re considering having the very worst jobs turned into prison work programs, a deterrent to repeat offenders. 

Here in Skyview there’s no law against that, and many of the prisoners are debtors who will be released when their debts are paid, so having them work more makes perfect sense to the Dukes. 

It is much more a meeting of powerful CEOs than anything else. In this country the title Duke is no more meaningful than calling them Billionaires. Their true power isn’t political but economic and most of them are very crafty businessmen. Duke Chen, who runs a chain of alchemy shops that export potions and ingredients over three Continents, takes great pride in the fact that both of his senior managers in the Capital are now Knights. Both have managed to save an entire Platinum bar over their extended lives working for him. 

In his words, money doesn’t buy loyalty, but employee loyalty requires remuneration. 

Each Duke and Dutchess in Skyview has the economic might to topple a small nation. Even Cain could with the mountain of gold and the tons of Mythril available in the Guild Bank. Though using Dragons would be much more satisfying than wasting money.

On the western side of the Central Continent, large nations are rare. Most are little bigger than the city states in the Great Desert where Cain built the Guild castle, unable to hold anything their guards couldn’t get to within an hour.

One such region is a war zone the Dukes call the hundred warring states. Roughly a hundred castles built on a round plateau two hundred Kilometers across. It has an incredible abundance of precious metals and a perfect climate for rare and valuable plants, which has caused the greedy city states to be at war continually since the last great war two centuries ago. 

Skyview is one of the larger nations, over three hundred Kilometers across in either direction. Their winding border is shared by seven nations in total, with the unclaimed wilderness of the mountains left uncounted.

Cain explains to those present in the tent that he was looking for a country home large enough to serve as a Guild House, as well as a bit of adventure and they immediately had a spot in mind. Long Fang City.

The Duke that controlled it recently died in the power struggle for the throne, as did so many others, spreading their wealth between their surviving children, but leaving a number of properties empty due to casualties. That particular Duke left no heir and the territory is being held by the crown until someone fills the conditions to claim it. 

In real estate terms, it’s a buyer’s market, but the whole of Long Fang City and the surrounding farms is intended to belong to one Duke, and it’s all up for grabs to the military minded person with the management skills to secure and renovate the territory for the benefit of the nation. 

The Dukes here in the tent are the ones that stayed out of the Royal power struggle, choosing international business relationships over political power. Others might have more influence over the affairs of the nation, but they’ve done particularly well for themselves on the business front. In better times they might be called war profiteers, but when the wars never end, they’re just businessmen, the oligarchs the world doesn’t realize they rely upon.

They’re not counted among the King’s close advisors, but they do have influence and regularly attend court. It’s held every week for two days, and the rotund Duke insists Cain simply must attend and show off his Seraphim. Cain makes no promises for this week, but once he’s found a suitable property here, he promises to attend and meet the rest of the oligarchs. 

Mostly, he wants to get to level 200 before getting involved in any sort of power games. It’s the low end of the standard for the region and Cain expects they will find many more second advancement transfers here. With entire teams of Second Advancement classes a possibility, being a Puppet Master isn’t as big of an advantage or as secure of a safety net as it was when he first started out. 

But if he can get something good from the Unique Class Advancement Token he’s got waiting, he might still hold onto his edge through level 300.

A number of messages have been sent and Cain can feel Vala poking at his mind, telling him to attend to issues outside. Every message is different, but they’re all in the same theme. The aura of an Ancient is called [Existential Dread] and it caused a panic outside. The presence of some sort of authority figure is required to calm the lower Nobles and prevent things from getting out of hand. 

“Since it’s my fault, should I be the one to give the speech?” Cain asks the other Nobles in the room, but the painter waves him off. 

“I’ll do it. It’s best if they see a familiar friendly face. We’ll explain it as a dispute over business techniques and brag about the might of the Dukes. Trust me, they’ll buy it.”

The Young Noble walks out to where a podium is set up and has a guard use an ability that amplifies his voice, the system equivalent of a microphone. “Hello everyone, as you may know, I’m Menno the third son of Duke Luther. I have come with additional information to help quell the rumors and fear I sense in the area.

First, we’re not under attack. We welcomed a new Duke to Skyview today. Duke Cain, originally from the Great Desert on the Eastern side of the central continent. He would be the one many of you saw come to visit us with a group of Seraphim. 

Secondly, the intense Aura you all sensed was not hostile to the nobility, nor was it an attack against the Dukes. Duke Cain was demonstrating a non violent technique for dealing with unruly commoners and we quite forgot our surroundings. We do apologize for any inconvenience our conversation caused.”

It looks like they’ve actually bought that load of nonsense. There’s a lot of talk about what skill that might be and how good it would be for clearing protests. That’s not what Cain had in mind, but the Nobles seem highly impressed and they’re no longer in danger of panicking. 

Menno starts speaking again. “Those of you who attend court will get a chance to meet him in the next few weeks, as he does intend to attend once he’s suitably settled into his new vacation property here in Skyview. Please continue the festivities and the Upper Nobles will be available this evening to approve candidates that pass the screening.”

With the crowd settled and the formalities taken care of Menno returns to where Cain is relaxing outside the tent, sparing an appreciative glance for the rest of the group before giving James in his rough looking disguise a double take. 

“Our local guide. I found him in an alley on my way here and he’s agreed to accompany us for the next day or so.” Cain explains and the young Noble nods in understanding. 

“I’m certain you won’t have any troubles, given your unique talents. I will accompany you all to the East gates, as my home is just outside the city limits. You mentioned wanting to take up some quests for a bit of adventure, and the extermination quests are available right beside the gates.”

Menno knows a lot more about the city than James does, knowing most shopkeepers by name and having his artwork decorating dozens of buildings between the courtyard where they met and the gates. It’s not much of an exploration of the city, the main street leads directly there and it’s one long modern shopping district, mostly with townhouses above businesses where the shopkeepers live.

Brick buildings with somewhat modern looking glass storefronts make up the main road they follow for almost three Kilometers. Unlike the dock area, this street even has street lights on poles, regularly spaced to give adequate lighting all night long. 

Few carriages travel the main shopping district, due to the crowd of pedestrians all going about their daily business, so the smell is better than usual for a major city in this world. Cities as Cain knows them here are places where animal droppings in the road are a constant nuisance, both to the nose and the feet. 

As Menno explains, this district is also open all night long. Not every store is twenty four hours a day, but the essentials, plus the bars and restaurants and a few others who found their clientele is still active at night will all be open whenever you arrive. 

The idea is that keeping everything open encourages workers to accept night shifts at the factories and warehouses, so deliveries can begin early in the morning and production never stops. If they lose too much quality of life, it’s hard to get good workers in the Capital, so the oligarchs encourage business owners near their busiest facilities to stay open, in some cases even buying out taverns, grocers and general stores between the factories and residential district in order to cater to their workers. 

The whole situation just screams of interference by the values of transfers. Big cities in Cain’s old world were exactly the same, though they often cared less about workers because of the abundant supply. 

“They didn’t think this through did they? The boulevard is so busy you can hardly move.” Evangeline grumbles, her wings tucked tight to her back. 

“On the contrary, it’s deliberate. If the city is attacked by enemies or monsters the main streets are crowded with potential defenders and no enemy can make rapid progress. The lack of cross streets helps funnel them to one location for defense, which limits damage to the city itself.” Menno explains.

“A handful of Dragons would absolutely annihilate any army trapped in these boulevards.” Mythryll agrees and Menno shudders. 

“Quite true. Fortunately, we’ve got enough second advancement classes on this side of the continent that an aerial battle isn’t usually one sided. While inquiring about your background, I heard a rumor about how your home came to be called Blood Sands Castle from a friend who was recently in Tortuga. The story has become urban legend there already.”

Cain frowns, concerned at the lack of anonymity and the repercussions of being recognized everywhere they go. “I’d say it’s all exaggeration and slander, but the last version I heard was actually pretty accurate. Battles in the area can quickly turn lopsided with only a few powerful transfers.”

“So I hear. But we’re at our first stop, the Guardian Towers both assign new and accept completed quests. The design of them all is identical, so if you see a stone tower like this on your travels, that’s what it is.” Menno explains, leading them inside the round cinderblock tower. 

“Hey Button, Duke Cain is looking for some quests around Long Fang City.” Menno greets a petite badger type Beastkin woman in the gray corseted dress and black apron of a tower worker, who blushes before a huge smile takes over her face. 

She runs over and gives him a kiss in the chin before poking his chest. “I told you not to call me that at work. But I’ll go get those quests right away.”

The words Duke Cain were enough to draw the attention of the tower workers and adventurers who were in the tower at that moment, most of them looking startled but not surprised by the well dressed and tattooed mobster that was announced as the man who terrified the Nobles only an hour ago. 

The general sentiment seems to be positive, with some whispering that Cain looks down to earth and not stuck up and elitist like so many of the oligarchs are. The tattoos don’t bother them much, even if a couple wonder what sort of criminal enterprise he’s into, and if it will be paying recruits well when he starts operating here.