The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 602: Entrepreneurship

"Perhaps we should join you and take a look at the city firsthand?

The royals will be busy with their duties for the remainder of the day, so there is no reason we cannot leave them in the capable hands of the Princess and her staff.

They are loyal to her, yes?" Lord Blackwell asked.

"Naturally. Loyalty was prioritized over training when we hired staff for the Manor, with the exception of Beth. Her, we hired specifically for her cooking. Even if we had to lock her in the kitchen, nobody was willing to let her get away."

The veiled maid in the corner laughed silently.

The old chef had volunteered to come with them, and she had quickly become a motherly figure to the mostly orphaned and abused girls who made up the household staff.

"Finding just the right people to work in the house is a challenge that every Nobleman faces, and the constant churn as the girls grow up and get married, move on from their early working years to family life, makes it difficult to keep reliable staff.

Having enough options that you can choose from pure loyalty is a luxury." Lord Blackwell noted.

"Indeed. Eventually, even the Veiled Maids will likely want to move on with their lives. Of course, we’ve set up their pay so that they’ll have enough to retire when it comes time to move on from their roles.

But I wouldn’t begrudge them families of their own.

In fact, if they do have children of their own, that’s good for us. Who doesn’t grow up idolizing their parents stories of their younger days? Even the daughters of city guards often want to be city guards themselves.

I know more than one who has followed in those footsteps, or who has chosen to become a member of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Now, how about we get moving before someone decides to stop us? We can take one of the maids and a couple of trolls for security."

Alistair chuckled at Dominic’s concern.

He was a magitech theorist by specialty, but he was also an Archmage. His strongest defensive spells were over level thirty, and he had more than a few rare defensive artifacts on him.

Not that they were expecting an attack. But given the circumstance, anything was possible.

By the time that they made it to the gate, they had ten trolls with them, and by the time that they made it to the factory, the first stop on their tour of the city they had twenty because the Larry Trolls from the Golden Sand Dervish Sect, locally known as the Sands Mages, had come to see what they were up to, and then gleefully volunteered to join them.

"Is this an expanded security patrol?" Jack asked as the Trolls pointed out small details about the apartment buildings they were passing, as well as the residents that were taking them over as the Debutante Event wound down.

"And this building is the most popular one in town. It’s so popular that Barkley, the shopkeeper at the new repair shop on second street, has been coming three times a day." The waist-high troll declared proudly.

"I’m quite sure that is a brothel." Jenna noted.

Dominic paused, then opened the door and whistled.

A bunch of scantily clad girls as well as one older Matron came out, then froze in shock when they saw who was here.

"Madam, I need to speak with your girls. I do hope that you are aware of Cygnian regulations on such establishments."

The Madam nodded. "I have no debt contract workers, only volunteers, they are not required to live on site, their wages are held with the Merchant’s Guild bank, and we have daily visits from the Larry Trolls for disease prevention.

All my documents are in order."

Dominic nodded. "Alright, I will send Nate by to check later."

The old woman smiled. "I understand."

As if speaking his name had summoned him, Dave flagged down Sheriff Nate at the end of the street. The Sheriff was doing his usual afternoon patrols, and the Trolls were difficult to miss.

"Ah, Lord Dominic. I see you have met our local Madam. I have already checked her paperwork and interviewed all the workers. She was actually proactive about finding me to ensure that I wasn’t going to cause her trouble."

"What group did she arrive with?" Dominic asked, unaware of when this business had started.

"She arrived with a Merchant Caravan from Castle City last week, brought twenty workers with her, all over twenty-five and widowed."

Well, that at least made it less creepy than usual.

"Alright, but if my wife gets mad, I’m blaming you."

Nate sighed. "I understand, Your Grace. I will hide if I see the Duchess in a bad mood.

Who might these folks be?"

"The new advisors from the Capital. Lord Blackwell, Lady Jenna, Archmage Alistair and General Jack Merlot. General Merlot’s Father."

Amie came over as they were talking, and Dominic took the chance to introduce her.

"Advisors, this is Miss Amie. Specialist Mage of the Duskblade Sect, and my personal assistant. Both around the Duchy and in the forge."

Amie bowed, and Jack stared at her for a second.

"Wait, I know you. Haven’t aged a day. How long has it been now?" He asked.

"Not that long, old man. It’s good to see you again."

Lord Blackwell frowned at the little mage. "It seems that I have missed some essential details here somewhere. But we can discuss that later."

Amie winked at him. "I will bring you up to speed in private. We have a lot to catch up on."

Dominic smiled. "Oh? I didn’t realize that you all knew each other already. That saves a ton of time."

"Just these two. Our work has brought us to the same location in the past."

The Larry Trolls were chatting with the ladies of the brothel, who were just getting up for the day. Their business didn’t really pick up until later in the day.

Not many had time or inclination for their services in the middle of the afternoon, unless they were sneaking off during a shopping trip.

"Alright, time to move along. If the Sheriff has vetted the business, I trust that it’s not a criminal enterprise. No need to give them a hard time, we have many things to see.

For example, we are now at the intersection between the Merchant Guild warehouses and the Magitech factories."