Louis

Cleppe

As the administrator of Nirl, one of my roles was to inform the viscountess of the evolution of the village. For several reports in a row, I showed her that the conditions in the village were improving, which slightly increased my influence at her court. For if the real plaids were held in the capital, imitations were also held locally, and I was regularly invited.

But that's wasn't the point.

As Alain had just returned, I had to announce it and report on his condition. In addition, Alain had entrusted me with one of his system reward that I had to sell.

What was it again? Ah yes

[Orb of Failure]

What a beautiful name...

But the quality of this sphere was remarkable. Slightly larger than a hand, it glistened when exposed to the sun, and put on a magnificent show.

Perfect to sell to a great courtier who could then offer it to the royal power to strengthen their relationship. And even if they didn't like it, it could still be an object of research. After all, it contained some unknown energy.

As for the risk of selling it, that was non-existent. If Cleppe was excelling on something, then that would be on how to sell something discreetly. The crowd may not know it, but Cleppe was extremely rich, and this was coupled with a great and intact historical legacy.

At worst, I would just call it a relic of the ancient era, which would make sense.

As for this system, I would see it after that.

...

I returned to Nirl with a smile on my face.

In the end, I was able to get a good price for this orb. Basically, about thirty ecus, some information, and a better relationship with Cleppe. The money was quite secondary because, in the end, we had found a source of supply.

Improving our relationship with Cleppe was interesting and could help Alain in his quest, but nothing significant.

Information, on the other hand, was crucial.

After all, the goal was to defend Nirl, and I could only do that with information. On top of that, if I could seize opportunities to do business, it was even better.

'The missi, eh?'

Basically, an authority of the imperial power who was going to check out if everything was fine. And if they did came, then that'd mean that everything wasn't fine.

If at 30 km from Moir the various counts were serious, at more than 500Km, and in an ancient city, they didn't give a damn about the imperial authority and didn't fulfill their obligations.

The Missi Dominici was therefore one of the means to supervise them.

And as long as they were in the area, they wouldn't only look at Cleppe, but also at Nirl. And it's fair to say that not all taxes were respected. For example, Nirl's traditional wine, the Poggerino, which was taxed at over 40% by the imperial power, was sometimes sold without being declared.

And even if it was declared, the money wouldn't be sent back to Moir, the distance being obviously too far. It'd be used locally for the imperial power. That is, building locally certain infrastructures, and developing the area.

In short, he would have to find a solution, but this was also an opportunity. Giving bribes would allow him to expand his connections, and that's what he did every time.

In other news, the order of the Righteous Knights disbanded a year after Supreme Knight Ludovic disappeared from the radar, replaced from his director's role.

This meant that either Ludovic hadn't become a Paladin as he had previously thought, or he had changed completely by becoming a Paladin. And the second option was the most likely.

The order of the Righteous Knights had during its year of existence put its efforts on the southern border, to equip its men with many demonic weapons, and now that the order had disappeared, more raids were to be expected.

Louis had also gathered other information such as the tournaments organized by nobles, the war situations in other countries, and within the empire, and the prices that were rising.

Clearly, it was worthwhile.

...

Nirl

'Status'.

[Louis Vinirlmo

Owner of the administration system.

Strength: Veteran (Intermediate)

Skill:

-Foresight (Passive): you predict the future more easily.

-Energy Zoning (Active, Role): you can change the role and management of space - only works in Nirl.]

'I'll have to test the skill. But where?'

Energy zoning sounded very interesting but was also unclear. I had to check all the options available to me to make it as profitable as possible.

In the end, I chose to start at my house, but nothing happened.

'Maybe it's too big.'

Not wanting to take too much risk, I reduced the Area to 1 square meter. But again, it didn't work. I still couldn't activate it.

But I wasn't going to directly ask the system for help. To do so would limit my thinking.

So I tried several ways and soon realized that imagination was a crucial element. More than that, I had to imagine the currents of the energy, and that wasn't easy. After all, no energy there works in the same way as our body. The energy center is literally a cheat.

This spoiled the rest of my day, and at the end of it I fell down after having exhausted my concentration.

We had already communicated our abilities to each other with the group, and I knew that they all had an active ability, the one related to their role. And damn, I hope they don't have to struggle as much as I did.