****(POV)

I can't help but play with my medallion, the one representing my old trading guild. The cartwheel on it is almost faded.

I used to be on top. I used to be the leader of one of the strongest factions in Eaglevein. Until he came that is. Him and his goddamn backstabbing! A baker, an alchemist, and an appraiser?! No! He was a crook!

He suggested we buy the mana blessing. That single event was enough to reduce our branch to dust. There are more branches out there, but they didn't want to have anything to do with us anymore. They especially didn't want to deal with me. Actually, a few, no many, even wanted to kill me.

Thanks to my misplaced trust, we lost everything. Honestly, I thought I was going to perish for a little while. My colleagues had arrested me and were getting the paperwork done to execute me using Eaglevein's laws. But then the necromancer came.

The whole city got reduced to a lifeless ghost one. That is when I escaped. Somehow, I managed to hide under a carriage of a fleeing group. At first, I chanced upon the City of Freedom. I didn't have another choice but to stay there for a while.

Necessity will motivate a man so damn much! I somehow managed to fill a void that existed there. The place was in full expansion, recruiting crazily. But they were recruiting the rabble. People that didn't even have a place to call home anymore.

This made the whole city a huge mess. There were rumors of them receiving the necromancer's blessing. That is why it became such a big deal so fast. So there was a dire need for people with my specific set of skills, someone that knew how to negotiate deals and whatnot. Well, it also required someone desperate enough.

Thus I started my empire. How I even managed to do that is a crazy story. Believe it or not, it was all thanks to a noddle seller. Yes, some random old guy owning a food stall.

The crazy part is the city lord is a patron there, so is the largest merchant of the city. The destruction of Eagleving made so many flee. Now I am extremely valuable here haha.

This is why I have a huge office right at the center of the city. Every time I see this medallion of mine I am reminded of what was and what could have been. I am also reminded of how I need to be careful in the future.

That is why nowadays I make sure not to put all my eggs in the same basket no matter what. In fact, I have many caravans journeying all over the place right now. This way there is nothing that can truly affect me and…

"Sir! Another one got attacked!"

Goddamnit! Fuck, stay calm. How many has it been already? About a fourth of my shipments?! No there is definitely something weird about the situation. This time there were definitely enough guards for the escort! What went wrong?!

"Any survivors?"

"Sir, there were no casualties. They simply handed 50% of the products."

"What?! Why?!"

"T-that, I'm not sure Sir! A letter sealed letter came for you! Of course, I came straight here to…"

"Right, good job. You may leave now."

"Have a great day, Sir!"

How the Hell am I supposed to have a good day when this happened?! My day is ruined, you dimwit! *Sigh* I better read this first.

Let me see….

Are you shitting me?! This is quite possibly the weirdest robbery of all time. The report clearly states that the head guard got intimidated by them. The questioning part is that my people outnumbered the bandits many times over!

Are they some kind of elite warriors? Do they have powerful mages or something? In the letter, it describes them as extremely confident and exuding an aura of dominance. What is that supposed to mean?!

It also says that this point is surprising considering how …naked they are?! What?! My business just got robbed by a bunch of naked dudes?!

The letter ends with: "Sorry Boss. I don't believe there was anything we could do on that one. Anyone THAT confident with their balls showing is bad news."

They didn't even fight?! They just gave them the goods?! What kind of escort does that?! Oh my fucking god, am I cursed?! First the mana blessing now this?!

Ah, screw this! I exit my office. Time to go grab a bite. Yes, I'm going to that one noodle shop. At first, I only went there to try and leave a good impression on the most important people in the city. But then, I genuinely started loving the place. Now whenever I need to cool down, I go grab myself a steaming hot noodle bowl.

As I get there, I can see many customers. There is a bigshot there too. The one that is the guardian deity of this city, a man that is busy drawing passersby while eating. He doesn't look it at first glance, but he is the core of this very city.

Officially, he is but a broke artist from Eaglevein seeking refuge here. If you ask him that is what he will tell you. He draws for a living and lives to draw. He looks so very innocent too, but there is a dark open secret behind his identity.

Let's just say the City Lord entered the depth of the ruined Eaglevein, this has been confirmed, and came back out with this man. Crazy how a man that looks so young managed to make the diplomacy city fall all by himself!

He revealed his identity himself by having drawn a bone dragon. One that was clearly posing for him. Who else than its creator would have the power to order such a mighty beast?! Still, there is a gag order.

We all know the truth, but no one ever talks about it. We all treat him like a normal artist. Funny how he even sells his art. A strong enough man to conquer half the continent on a whim is playing with mortals, selling them art. Not only is he selling art, but he's selling it extremely cheap too!

A few silvers are a steal for such an amazing thing for sure!

"Hey there!"

Oh my god! He just talked to me!

"Hello, Sir!"

"What's with the Sir haha? I'm just a broke artist. Right, is it me or there have been way more people in this city recently? How come?"

That's thanks to him! How do I explain this now...

I can't just say we've been using him as a deterrent against our enemies, right?!