Mid Evening - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan

The flight was short, I wasn't even able to get up to speed because I was already flying over the Kingdom of Zan's capital.

-That merchant had one hell of a sense of direction..-

Before I took to the sky and flew here, I realized I only had general direction to guide me so I asked an old merchant by the forest for directions.

The direction he pointed, I flew in a straight line and sure enough, the line went straight over the middle of the capital.

After enjoying the sunset from the upper atmosphere for a moment, I dove down and found a good spot to land.

*Thud*

-It's gonna take some getting used to with this weight..- The ground where I landed shattered under the weight.

After transforming into my humanoid form, I headed to the city.

At the gate, I nearly gave the guards a heart attack with my royal ID, but I got in smoothly otherwise.

-There's quite a lot of commotion.- "Sir, what's all of this commotion about?" I walked over to a food stall just up the road.

"Ah, you must be new. The gathered Nation Ranks are going to set out on a subjugation mission all at once in a couple hours. They were supposed to leave at sunset but they met some complications."

-So they're telling the public that it's a subjugation mission huh..- "Thanks for getting me up to speed. What are you selling?"

"Ah, it's some dried meat. They're quite good if you'd like to try one." The man handed a stiff piece of dried meat to me.

I reluctantly nibbled a little bit just for my eyes to light up, -Beef jerky!!- "Do you have a payment artifact?"

"Yes sir." He pushed forward a small rock looking device.

I reached up and set my ID on it, causing a number to appear.

"The number on the artifact is how much it costs. How much would you like?"

"Half a kilo?"

"That'll be a silver. I'm sorry that it's a little pricey."

"No not at all, could I actually give a little extra?" Although I was by no means willing to give away everything, I saw an opportunity with this man. "Maybe I should call it an investment."

"You would like to invest in me?"

"Yes actually. What are your thoughts about it?" As I was asking him, I proceeded to finish an entire handful of jerky.

"Well this is just a small stall, even with your investment I dont think it will go anywhere great."

"Well how about this, I'll give you 10 gold, but in return you need to expand this business as best you can and put aside 25% of the businesses sales for me. You should call it beef jerky instead of dried meat as well."

The man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Sir I'm not sure why you believe in me so much but.."

"So are you going to refuse?" -Even if I invest 10 gold and he loses it all, it's not that much of a loss.- Money isn't a problem for me after all.

He took a moment to think. "I'm not sure what you see in me sir, but I will accept."

"Good, I think you've got a real gem here." I reached out to shake his hand. "My name is Vasilias Whyte."

"I'm Hugh Denys. Here, I have a piece of paper on hand, please write the conditions for the investment."

"Alright." I stopped just before I wrote, "What are you going to call the business?"

"Ah, going off of your suggestion earlier, how about 'Hugh's Fresh Jerky'?"

-A little plain but I guess it works.- Quickly getting back to writing the contract, I wrote:

'Contract between Vasilias Whyte and Hugh's Fresh Jerky Company

Investment: 10 gold

Return: 25% of company sales. Money is held until Vasilias Whyte picks it up.'

After adding a few extra details to make sure there weren't any legal loopholes I knew of open, I handed him the paper.

Hugh quickly read the paper without missing any details.

"Anything you dont like?"

"No sir, it's perfect." Gulping down some saliva, he set down his paper and changed the balance on the artifact to 10,001,000.

Pressing my thumb on the corner of my ID while it was on the artifact was how I verified my purchase.

*Click*

"Thank you, generous sir for your investment. I will make sure to use the money wisely and effectively!" Hugh walked around the stand and gave me a deep bow.

"I look forward to seeing how your business grows Hugh." I gave a slightly greedy smile as I looked at him.

"Of course!"

"Ah, before I leave, is there any sort of thug group that would hamper you?"

He paused for a moment before speaking, "No sir."

"You paused, does that mean there is?"

"No sir, they aren't a group of thugs."

"Who is it?"

"One of the local Nobles. He tries to crush those from rising in class." Hugh started to break into a cold sweat.

"Is he the only one?"

"Yes sir."

"Which estate does he live in?"

"The one just in front of the palace."

"Alright, I'll take care of that real quick, you don't need to worry about him anymore."

"Sir!" Before I could walk off, Hugh called me back. "I was planning to just move."

"No it's alright, I can take care of it. Well have a good night Hugh. I expect good things from you."

Realizing he wouldnt change my mind, he gave another deep bow, "Thank you again Sir Whyte!"

I gave a smile to him before I left.

On my way to the nobles estate, I started to realize just how much different this nation was from Kaelallan.

The population of anything other than humans was practically non-existant and just in a couple of minutes I saw some slaves.

The city was simply dirtier than Kaelallan as well. -Maybe I should've made Hugh move to Kaelallan..-

Once I arrived at the nobles estate, I put up my hood and walked up to the gate.

-Time to get used to this body a bit.- "Ilios, just follow me from a distance for a little." After giving Ilios a command, I pulled out my greatsword.

"Sir please stop ri-"

*Shing*

The sword cleanly sliced through both guards and their armors.

"AHHH!" A random woman walking by screamed at the gruesome sight.

-Welp, let's make this quick.-

Using my aura as I ran, I scanned the entire estate, slaughtering everyone who attacked me.

Eventually working my way through the entire estate, I kicked in the noble's office door.

*Bang*

"Who dare-"

*Shing*

A clean slash from the ceiling to the floor sliced him in half before he could speak.

I would have originally talked to him a little bit before slaughtering him, but there was a small demihuman child tied up in the corner.

She was roughed up, covered in grime and wearing rags. -She could shine with a little polish though..- She was a fox demihuman, a type I had never seen before, and was adorable to boot.

I was worried I may have scared her by showing such a brutal scene, but it seems like it was unnecessary worry.

The young girl looked at the scene of the dead noble but didn't feel fear or disgust, she just looked up at me in awe.

I reached down and patted her on the head, using magic to break her bonds and take off my hood to let her see my face, "Are you alright miss?"

She stared at me with eyes of reverence before lightly nodding.

"Phew, thankfully I made it in time.. do you have any family I should take you too?"

The gleam in her eyes disappeared when I mentioned her parents.

-Sh*t.. what do I do..- She looked to be about Lucys age, maybe just slightly older.

"I..Im.. okay.. on my.. own.." She slowly formulated a sentence in response.

"Here.. let's get out of here first, then we can talk about what to do. How does that sound?"

She quickly nodded her head.

With her agreement, I reached down and picked her up in a princess carry style.

I walked over to the window and lightly kicked a huge hole in the wall, jumping down and running for a short while.

-I guess this place works.- I quickly sat her down. "So what do you need to live?" -Should I really ask a young child this..-

She took a moment to think before she mumbled, "A.. sword.." She pointed to my greatsword.

-Hmm..- After taking a moment to think about what to do, I figured that giving her a weapon plus some money was about as much as I could really do at the moment. "Alright, I'll make you one real quick."

The gleam returned to her eyes as I said that.

After thinking for a moment, I figured a titanium rapier would be the best bet for both weight and balance.

It only took a short moment to make the frame and blade, but it took a little longer for some details. It was a mostly titanium rapier with a black, rubber coated handle, gold guard and silver metallic blade. For the finishing touches, I added several runes to it. The first I added were strengthening and sharpness runes. I did my best to make them as efficient as possible so whenever the wielder would hold it, it would automatically work off of their aura. Over time, the more the sword was used, the stronger and sharper it would get.

Figuring that wouldn't be quite enough for her, I added a small switch on the bottom of the handle which would reveal a wind rune. When switched on, the rune would activate and would allow the user to create blades of wind and attack from a short distance away.

Realizing that the masterpiece I made would draw too much attention to the young girl, I wrapped it in cloth.

After giving her a lengthy explanation on all of its capabilities, I gave her a warning. "Just be sure to never show anyone the sword until you are strong enough to protect it alright?"

She gave an excited nod.

Hearing various cheers from the area by the front gate, I realized I was running out of time.

"I'm sorry I can't do more for you but.." I quickly created a handful of silver coins and one gold. "This should last you for a while."

She wore an amazed look as she stared at the money.

"Ah, I couldn't just leave you in rags either." With a wave of my hand I cleaned her up and changed her attire, giving her comfortable yet stylish, noble looking clothes that would stay clean without washing. -This will keep most people from asking many questions, and work as body armor..- "Do you have a name."

She shook her head from side to side, "give me.. a name.."

After a moment of thinking, I settled on something. "How about Katherine?"

Her eyes lit up as she heard the name. "Ka..th..erine.." She slowly sounded out the name as a smile appeared on her face. She pointed up at me just after, "Name?"

"My name is Vasilias Whyte." I gave a warm smile seeing the girl's pure nature. "Well, I need to go for now. I promise I'll come back at some point."

She looked sad for a moment, but her eyes shifted to those of determination, "I.. will grow!"

"Haha, I hope so." I patted her on the head. "Grow strong for me!"

"Mm!"

Seeing her determination, I felt at least a little better about leaving her alone. -She is quite strong.. she should be alright..-

To make sure she would grow extra quickly, I put a rune on her clothes that would slowly strengthen her body using her residual aura. It's slow, but it will definitely help.

Giving the young girl one last wave and smile, I disappeared to meet back up with Ilios.

After I vanished, the girl held the rapier close to her chest as if to hug it and mumbled to herself, "Katherine.. Whyte.."