Zachariah says "If you could do that, it would be a huge help."

"I will need the designs for the current weapon. Then I can modify them into a new weapon. Mainly so that I can make sure your craftsmen will understand it."

Zachariah says "No problem! Is there anything else you need?"

"Not for that, no."

Zachariah says "Something else then?"

"Yes. I wanted to see if you could find me a plot of land."

Before he can ask I tell him how big the plot needs to be and that it is for a castle. Then I explain about the portable castle and promise to show it to him if he finds me the land. When I take the castle out to show him, he is smart enough not to use magic sight.

Zachariah says "How much would something like that cost?"

"Tens of millions for the materials alone. The time and energy to build and enchant it, I'm not even sure what I would need to charge."

Zachariah says "Fair enough. It would be amazing to have, but I don't leave the city enough to justify it."

"Do you need to justify it?"

Zachariah says "Yes, I do. I may run the branch in this city, but I still answer to the others at my level and those above me."

"Aren't you an owner of the merchant group?"

Zachariah says "Yes, one of many. That basically means that I have invested a lot into the group. However, there are still levels among the owners and the founders above us."

"Is it just money invested that makes you an owner?"

Zachariah says "Of course not. We don't allow just anyone to invest. Only those that have proven themselves, proven their loyalty, and gained the recognition of three owners can invest."

"Oh. Then I guess I can't become an owner."

Zachariah says "Well, maybe. It is a lot harder, but business partners have become owners before. You have already done enough business with us to count as a partner and that's not including what we are planning here. So, it isn't entirely impossible for you to become an owner in the future. It would be the first time a king became an owner. Although not the first time an owner became a king."

"In that case, I will keep it in mind and see how things go."

Zachariah says "Do you have a lot of business interests on the peninsula?"

"Yes, I do. I don't even know how many at this point. I have someone who handles all of that for me. I was mainly asking for his sake, I think he would like to visit the mainland and interact with other merchants here. The only problem I can foresee is that he isn't a human."

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Zachariah says "Is he like you?"

"No, he is a beastman."

Zachariah says "Ah, that could be a problem. Can't you just make him an item to make him look human?"

"I probably could, but I don't know if he would want to use it and I won't force him. He is proud of what he is and he is right to be."

Zachariah says "Honestly, I haven't interacted much with the other races. My only real contact is with the elves I got for you. The beastmen don't interact with humans unless they have to."

"Can you blame them? Humans keep trying to enslave them. Would you want to deal with a race that kept humans as slaves?"

Zachariah says "No, no I wouldn't. Although, since humans keep other humans as slaves, I guess I already do. However, I do see your point about why they would avoid us as much as possible."

"Do you know how many beastmen tribes there are?"

Zachariah says "Not the exact number, but there are a couple of hundred at least. They completely surround the central area of the continent."

"That's the most dangerous area of the continent, isn't it?"

Zachariah says "Yes, it is. We don't exactly know how they manage to survive there."

"Yet there are still people who want to take that land from them, right?"

Zachariah says "It's not my area of influence, but I have heard that there are some areas of conflict, yes."

"Figures. I know for a fact that one tribe is being attacked, but that's all I know for sure. If I do get involved with the main continent I will probably end up trading with the beastmen and even providing them with weapons."

Zachariah says "The group would have no problem with that. It wouldn't hurt any of our interests and might even increase sales. That is, as long as you aren't providing them better weapons than we have."

"Well, that will depend on how much my craftspeople have progressed while I have been gone, but I'm not making any promises. I have no problem selling better weapons to the beastmen who are outnumbered."

Zachariah says "I guess that's understandable. Forgive me if I side more on the side of my race, even if they are in the wrong."

"That's only natural and I don't hold it against you. Even if I ended up helping the beastmen to fight against the humans, it wouldn't affect my relationship with your merchant group."

Zachariah says "That is a relief to hear. Speaking of weapons, I have the enchanted weapons you wanted to take a look at. How about you do that while I go get the designs you need?"

"Sure, I can do that."

Zachariah takes out seven different weapons and places them on his desk. Then he leaves the room for a few minutes and I take a look at the enchantments on the weapons. Each weapon has the normal enchantments plus one extra that specifically targets demons.

Surprisingly, the enchantment doesn't add extra damage, it lowers the defense of demons. Already, even without reading up on the spell, I can see several ways to make improvements. Even without adding materials or using engravings, I can probably come close to doubling the effectiveness of the weapons.

The problem is deciding just how much I want to improve them. After all, whatever improvements I make will mean giving the humans that much more knowledge. It may take a while, but the human mages will be able to figure out what I did.

If it was just the merchant group I wouldn't have to worry about it, but it won't be just them. They will be selling the weapons, which means the knowledge could spread a lot further than just this city. For that reason, I need to be careful about what methods I use on the weapons.

Just using a better method of enchanting could have huge and far reaching consequences. My best bet would be to use their own methods of enchanting and only improve the spell for demons. That would limit how much I can improve it, but it would limit the knowledge as well.