A Demon's Journey

Leroy didn't return to the Barret Noble House's territory, instead, he rented a room in an Inn within the City of Vanta and contacted Marquis Barret using the Voice Transmission Array Stone.

An indifferent voice sounded from the stone, "I believe the issue has been resolved."

With a forced smile, Leroy explained everything to Marquis Barret.

After some seconds of silence, Marquis Barret spoke, "Agree to those conditions."

When Leroy had spoken how Shun had proposed some conditions in return for his silence, he was utterly enraged. However, as he continued to hear Leroy's words of what Shun knew. And how Shun was planning to use it, his expression turned more solemn.

Marquis Barret had no intention of creating such a formidable enemy for the Barret Noble Family. He'd been the Barret Noble House's leader for so long that he understood when to be aggressive and when to endure. And this appeared to be a situation where he had to endure.

Also, when Marquis Barret heard the conditions put out by Shun, he was relieved. It didn't consist of paying him a huge amount of money but some fertilizer and seeds.

This was nothing compared to the wealth possessed by the Barret Noble House.

'Looks like this kid knows his limits. He didn't go too far with his demands.'

The only condition that really worried him was the third one. He had no idea when and in what situation would Shun ask for his assistance. But he decided to think of it at that time.

~~

In Mayor's office, Shun told his secretory about the negotiation. He was the same official who had went to the underground tunnel and knew that it was Barret Noble House behind that herbal land.

The official couldn't help but speak with a slightly worried tone, "Mayor Shun, I don't think threatening Barret Noble House is a good idea. They are much stronger than us and they possess greater prestige. They could easily destroy us. Maybe you shouldn't have been so impulsive."

Shun rolled his eyes and asked his secretary, "Who do you think will win if a weak one challenges a strong one?"

The official replied casually, "Obviously the stronger one will win. You aren't about to say that the weaker one will win."

Shun shook his head, "No. The result is unknown until they fight."

"Just as the strong have their strength, the weak have their own way of fighting. The result is unknown until they actually fight. What if the strong one is poisoned before the fight?  And, if you are smart enough, when you challenge a strong opponent, his enemies can turn into your allies. You can find their weakness and win." Shun spoke with an indifferent tone.

Shun calmly continued, "If the Barret Noble House refuses to accept the condition, it has much more to lose than to gain. Even if they destroy the city, the Barret Noble House's rivals would eat it alive with this information. Also, just to make an example, the King might deliver a harsh punishment as well."

The secretory finally understood Shun's words.

The next day, Leroy returned to Shun's office. He delivered Marquis Barret's message that he had agreed to the conditions.

Shun smiled and spoke, "The deal has been struck. Marquis Barret can now relax. This information won't spread at all. He should prepare an excuse for the lack of herbs and other raw resources. There will be no disturbance from my side."

Leroy nodded his head and soon returned. He had a bitter smile as he remembered how he had proudly entered these doors thinking he would easily complete the task assigned to him and get rewarded by Marquis Barret.

But now, he realized that he was blindly arrogant. He had underestimated the other party too much.

Once Leroy left, Shun spoke to the secretory, "Gather the laborers and those from the agricultural background in the Cypress Plaza."

~~

After 2 hours, Shun appeared on the stage in the Cypress Plaza.

He looked at the hundreds of faces of the ground. And it seemed that even more people were joining this gathering.

Shun cleared his throat and began to speak with a loud and clear voice, "I, Shun Gordon, thank you all for gathering here. Today, I gathered you all for a single purpose. And that is to employ you under my services."

His words startled hundreds of people seated on the ground.

"In a few days, those among you of the agricultural background will be given fertilizers. Each one will be assigned a piece of land and will use fertilizers and other nourishment resources to revive the land. After that, you will be given seeds and raise the plant. Naturally, you will be provided with detailed instructions. You will receive a fixed monthly salary which can increase based on the results.  All you have to do is follow the orders and I promise you that you will live a blissful life."

The people with an agricultural background were startled but most of them were delighted. Their conditions were so bad under the previous Mayors that even eating three times a day was challenging.

Next, Shun spoke to the laborers, "From now on, you will receive construction projects from me. I will buy the wood and hire some architects to create maps for the houses. Those will be the lodgings for you people. Moreover, I will pay you for the construction with an appropriate salary so that you can live a decent life."

As the Mayor of this city, Shun had promised the citizens that he would provide every one of them with food, shelter, and protection. He was first dealing with the food and the shelter issues as they were the most troublesome ones.

The laborers and the individuals with an agricultural background were delighted to hear Shun's words.

They had gathered on the day Shun took his speech as the Mayor of this town. They now truly felt the change that was occurring in this town.

~~

Nearly 3 days later, the delegates from the Royal Family arrived and they bought all the herbs and handed over the sum to Shun.

With that money, Shun bought food, wood and also hired some, craftsmen, blacksmiths, and architects. He wanted to start the work fast.

Meanwhile, the fertilizers and seeds from the Barret Noble House also arrived soon. Shun had already prepared a list with which he assigned the farmers.

He handed them the fertilizers, some cows and bulls, and got them working.

The laborers began their work as well as they began to create lodgings according to the instructions from the architect.

Even with their large number, it would take them a few months to create the lodgings for everyone.

It took a whole week of fertilizing the land to see some change in that barren land. The grass had already begun to grow in the land which showed that it was truly changing.

Shun wasn't surprised. He asked them to plow their respective fields and plant the seeds.

In a few days, the entire land was planted with seeds.

Now, all they had to do was take care of them every day and they should see the results in a few months.

Two weeks later, the King sent a 4 Star Array Master and 12 men proficient in taking care of Herbal Garden.

Shun invited them and displayed the herbs he possessed.

The variety of herbs he possessed surprised the gardeners. Only the Royal Herbal Garden possessed more herbs than Shun but they quickly made a plan on where and how much land they should use for the herbal garden.

The herbal garden was only created in a few hundreds of acres. It wasn't much when compared to the agricultural land of thousands of acres.

The array master created a few arrays in the treasure room of the City of Vanta to prevent the herbs from losing their medicinal properties.

Moreover, Shun also requested the array master to create some arrays around the city to detect intruders.

Now, this array was much more troublesome. The city was quite vast and to cover it completely required a lot of resources.

Shun didn't possess the wealth to buy those resources and thus, the array master couldn't begin working on this project.

It somewhat disappointed Shun but there was nothing he could do. He had to make do with what he had at the moment.

~~

Nearly 2 months later, the residence for all the laborers and farmers had been constructed. They lived in these lodgings while going to their work every day.

Now that the lodgings had been constructed, the laborers were asked to construct smithies. They brought the materials to the blacksmiths and were in charge of supplying the weapons and armors to the merchants.

As for farmers, they were already seeing that in about another week or so it would be time for them to harvest their crops.

Shun was quite delighted at the news because he would no longer need to buy food from the Royal Family.

Not spending any income on food would greatly lower their expenditures and he could buy the resources for the array to detect intruders.

The citizens in the city were utterly shocked as they saw their city change in months.

Currently, the city was utterly unrecognizable to its state a few months ago.

A few months ago, it appeared as if the City of Vanta was on its last legs. The buildings were cracked, the children were crying at the lack of food, and people used to sleep outside because of the lack of lodgings.

But now, it appeared as if the City of Vanta had gained a solid foundation. The buildings had been completely repaired and many more houses had been constructed.

They had received quality food in these 2 months. And according to the information from their close friends or family, they were about to harvest the crops soon.

If someone brings a genuine complaint to the Mayor's office, there was a high chance the Mayor would act on it.

Shun's dedication and work were witnessed and heard by the entire City of Vanta.

Soon, people had begun to sing his praises and they tilted him "The Golden Mayor."

~~

Now, three years had passed and the City of Vanta had undergone a complete revolution. Shun was 20 years old and there was nothing the City of Vanta was urgently lacking.

The agriculture was going well. The trade was prospering as they increased their contacts and trading routes. And Shun had already hired multiple warriors under his services.

His prestige as the Golden Mayor had grown a lot. He was well-known and revered by nearly all residents in the Sinyalian Kingdom's Southern Region. Many citizens desired that the Golden Mayor would take command of their city.

In a certain sense, the City of Vanta was becoming an example. This was how the cities had to be managed.

As Shun had promised to the citizens of the City of Vanta, he would make it a city they could be proud of. And he had certainly accomplished it within 3 years!

Naturally, managing the city wasn't all he focused on in these 3 years. He trained and cultivated regularly.

The King had assigned him a couple of tasks every year because of his secret identity as an Inquisitor.

Because of the multiple missions assigned to him, his prestige as an Inquisitor was growing as well.

He was now called Inquisitor Fox because of the fox mask he wore. He chose the fox mask because the foxes are considered sly animals.

And currently, under his identity as Inquisitor Fox, he had accepted the mission to search for the Elf Princess Laura Vajor and investigate the Rhodes House, Merchant Union Branch in Wrihull City, and the former Silent Death Organization branch in the Wrihull City.