"One...two...lift!"

Henry pulled up, his leather gloved hands beneath the underside of a pre-built wall. As soon as the top of the wall, which had been laid out on the ground, with its base already on the prepared foundation, he moved his arms one by one to prop it up.

"Move together!" The foreman of the resettlement city's residential construction team shouted and stood to the side, carefully monitoring the angle that the wall was being raised.

In the resettlement city and the surrounding countryside, which had been cleared for farming, temporary shelters like tents and questionably built huts weren't suitable for the changes in weather. The region was near the base of the mountain range southeast of West Wind Valley. It should've fallen into the territory of some city-states and small principalities in the region, but it had been purchased decades earlier through the Mahsa Trust.

The Mahsa Trust being a collection of assets belonging to the Mahsa Family, that is, the Lunapsar Royal Family. The land was purchased by the Council of Elders on behalf of Phaera Mahsa, the daughter of the late Lunapsar Prince, who was the brother of the last Queen. Phaera Mahsa was also Nera's mother.

There were properties like the resettlement area all over that region of East Iveria, which was why Nera had told famine refugees to go there. It was a safe place she technically owned.

Land for resettlement gave people a place to stay, but they still needed shelter and a means of making a living. Several nuns from West Wind Abbey had come to help, along with a crew of carpenters, farmers, and city planners from West Wind Valley to assist with the resettlement.

The forest was cleared to make way for structures, and land was allocated according to the needs of the people there. Houses were small and it took weeks to build modest homesteads. With the coming of cold weather, time was running out to build shelters that would stand against rain, wind, and snow.

That was when Henry had arrived, and with him, Ash.

Ash was five when they crossed the border and arrived at the resettlement site with Soraya, and when the problem of shelters was brought up to Nera, Ash asked why they just didn't pre-build parts and put it together.

No one knew what he was talking about, until he showed them some blocks.

"When I played with Third Brother, he organized all the parts. Everything was ready, so if I needed a cube, he would give me a cube. Time to search for them went down." It didn't take long for Henry to see a five-year-old lecturing experienced carpenters and craftsmen.

Ash had with him a stack of drawings Laheran had made and explained it as well as he could.

Within days, a production assembly line was created. Groups of people were assigned to focus on one part of a building: a wall, doors, windows, and shutters. Other groups made basic furniture, were assigned to dig foundations, while another group laid the foundations. Another set of people gathered and prepared the materials.

Each refugee had their own job. Children who were too young or had little experience assisted with preparing the ground for planting.

The structures built were simple and shaped like triangles so the walls leaned inward and created a roof. They were fast to build and easy to assemble. Over the years, different building shapes had been created, but the method of pre-fabricating the major parts of a structure remained.

The structures weren't the most beautiful or elaborate. In fact, they all tended to blend together, but it was efficient and people had shelter. For the refugees, it was the best they could hope for. Food to get them through the winter had been brought in from West Wind Valley, which had a rigorous resource reserve system.

When Henry and the former miners arrived, they were greeted by the resettlement city leaders, and immediately, families were registered. They were allowed to pick areas to settle in from the land allocated. Nothing had been built yet, but the foundations were being dug and prepared.

Supplies were also prepared based on the number of people Henry had reported.

Clear direction, efficiency, and sufficient resources were enough to put the former miners at ease. They followed the directions of the city leaders without question, satisfied that they would have a way to survive.

Henry had been bombarded with many tearful expressions of gratitude.

He didn't leave immediately after the former miners were assigned lots, either. He made a point to stay, so as to show his support. A familiar presence went along way during a transition period.

The Dareisol soldiers who'd escorted them there, and Dr. Rotherham, also stayed for a few days before leaving. Many soldiers were impressed at the resettlement city. It seemed that it wasn't what they were expecting, which was rows of dilapidated tents and starving people. They hadn't even realized they arrived until the city leaders came to greet Henry.

They'd thought they had just reached another city on the road.

They were settled in one of the city's guest houses, and a few had helped with construction, as they thought it was a novel way of building. Dr. Rotherham met with doctors at the city's medical center to hand over patients who were still recovering, as well as discuss addressing malnutrition.

Dr. Rotherham also went about bragging about the medical supplies that Ash's company had made. Henry then had to assure the medical center that he would speak to Ash about sending supplies there for testing, too.

Though reluctant to leave, Dr. Rotherham had to return to his post, and with him, the soldiers who also needed to return.

The problem was that Elka wasn't returning.

The soldiers were also supposed to escort Elka back to Dareisol, at the very least. Though Henry had told her to inform the soldiers before they arrived, Elka procrastinated until the soldiers confirmed their departure date with her. Henry had been out, assisting with construction, so he hadn't been there to witness the argument, but according to Dr. Rotherham, who was present, Elka insisted that she had several months added to her leave, so she could do what she wanted.

Did she tell them that she planned on crossing the border into Ashtar?

No, of course not. She told the soldiers she was going to escort Henry to the border city and see him off.

That sounded reasonable enough. After all, Elka wanted to properly greet her future mother, or aunt, in-law, and discuss her engagement to Henry considering they would spend some time in Ashtar on business. Several soldiers insisted on staying to escort Elka 'to the border', but Elka refused, assuring them that Henry would arrange for their remaining guards to escort her back.

In the meantime, she arranged for them to bring messages to her father, brother, and mother. With a 'mission', the soldiers were less reluctant to leave her behind when they returned.

Henry could only rub his head and sigh heavily. "Did you at least tell your family what you were doing in those letters?"

"Of course, I did," Elka had assured him over dinner. "I also included a request to extend my leave into a full sabbatical."

Henry just stared at her. Part of him admired her determination and flexibility to adapt. Part of him was exhausted and anticipated the consequences to follow. "...Your father is not going to take our engagement as positively as I'd like to hope."

"Listen, he went against my grandfather to marry my mom, so he has no room to talk," Elka had argued. "Don't worry, my mom will talk to him."

He wasn't very reassured. It was important to him that her family liked him, or at least, somewhat approved of the relationship. Being on good terms with your partner's family was a good thing. He'd traveled around a lot, and been around many people. He'd be blind not to notice.

Observing and learning from one's environment was something his mother had taught him early, if only to survive in the imperial palace with the father he had.

Elka knew that his family liked her, so she didn't have as much pressure on her.

She spent her days at the local school, learning Ashtari with local children. The school taught Ashtari and Iverian Common, as the most spoken language in the city was vulgar Ashtari with a slight northern dialect.

"All right, move forward to keep support." Henry continued to push up the pre-built wall. A series of ropes and pulleys were also being used. "All right! Interior hands, prepare to stabilize!"

With the ropes holding it upright, half the people on his side of the wall moved to go inside the building and 'catch' the wall as it slowly lowered into place.

"Foreman! The rope!" Someone shouted just as a creak was heard and something snapped above them. Henry looked up and saw the tattered end for a rope slipping out of position. Shouting came from people on the other side of the wall as it teetered forward, coming down on Henry.

There were half as many people on his side now. Others raced to return to their positions and Henry braced himself to push back. He saw something fly across the sky and embed itself into the wood panels of the building before seemingly melting into it.

His brows shot up. He knew a slip when he saw one. "Ash?" The side of the wall fell against his readied hands, but the full weight of it wasn't as expected.

"The slip lasts for five minutes! It'll be light enough to maneuver, so get it in place and secure it!" His brother's familiar voice rang across the construction site and Henry couldn't help but turn his head towards the voice.

His little brother was on horseback, galloping towards them with a frown across his face. The bay horse was accompanied by two others with their guard riding just behind Ash.

The guards reached them and jumped off, rushing to help hold the wall up as workers maneuvered it into place and began securing it to the foundation and existing structure. It was a quick process and was completed just before the five-minute time limit.

"Is that the Second Young Master?" An older man with a white beard squinted as he watched Ash dismount.

"Hello!" Ash greeted them in Ashtari. "It's been a while." He looked up at the structure in the middle of being put together and nodded with satisfaction. "You've made some improvements! I like it!"

"Second Young Master!" Several older people cried out, and had they not been working on the building, they would've rushed towards Ash to greet him. "You've grown up!"

Ash let out a laugh, thanked them, and turned to his brother.

Before he could talk, Henry slapped the back of his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" He looked past him and down the road from where he'd come. "Where are Auntie and Effie?"

"They went directly to Aedi to meet with Talam," Ash said. "How as the journey? Everything looks like it's going well. Is that transition process going smoothly?"

"As smooth as it can be. No trouble coming here. The city leaders met us and immediately began assigning lots. They'd started preparing foundations of buildings as soon as I sent them word."

"Any more attacks from Ashtari militia?" Ash asked. "Because it was rather clear coming here."

Henry shook his head. "It was clear for us, too."

"Good, good." This time, Ash patted his brother and led him away. He looked towards the escorts. "Get the horses and take them to the inn."

"Yes, Second Young Master!" They saluted and one reached for Ash's horse. Ash turned his attention to his brother and began leading him away from the construction site so they could talk.

"How long are you planning to stay?" Henry asked. Ash raised a brow.

"The better question is how long do you plan to stay? I was thinking of heading out the day after tomorrow," Ash replied. "Do you and Young Miss Arelias plan to stay longer?"

Henry paused and let out a low breath. "So, you got the message."

"That is what the messenger hawks are trained to do," Ash said in a dull voice.

Henry looked at him with trepidation. "How did Auntie take it?"

Ash shrugged. "She didn't give a strong reaction. We discussed it on the way here. If Talam doesn't have the paperwork necessary to bring Elka, then it's out of our hands, and she can't come with us."

"What if Talam does have the paperwork?"

Ash pursed his lips and thought for a moment. "First, she'll have to use her Federation travel papers since Dareisol declared war on Ashtar."

"Naturally," Henry agreed. "I've checked and she has her Federation travel papers with her."

"Second, we'll identify her as a regions manager we're bringing with us to help with the preparations and future employee training," Ash told him. "Part of the reason I came here was to get her started on regional manager duties, so when she meets Talam, she'll be prepared."

Henry nodded. "That's a good cover."

"Effie came up with it," Ash said. "Momma believes it's a good idea for her to witness what you'll have to go through, but we'll do our utmost to keep her safe."

"I understand. Thank you." A heavy weight seemed to have been lifted off his shoulders at his brother's reassurance.

"Ash?" A woman's voice sounded confused, but pleasantly surprised at the same time. The two brothers looked towards the voice and saw the pretty half-elf walking towards them. A bag slung over her shoulder had some papers and books she was studying. "What are you doing here?"

"Doing prep work," Ash replied with an acknowledging nod. "Where were you?"

"I'm learning Ashtari at the local school."

"With the children?"

"I was learning with them and helping practice their Iverian Common," Elka replied with a roll over her eyes.

Ash nodded. "Well, you have one more day. I plan to leave the day after tomorrow with you two. Will you be ready by then?'

Elka perked up, her face brightening. "Your mother said I could come?"

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Ash sighed. "As long as the necessary travel paperwork is available, you can come. We'll do our best to prepare you on the way there, but keep in mind that it's been over a decade since we've last been back."

Henry nodded. "Things might've changed, so when we enter Ashtar, we may have some things to get used to, as well."

"To be honest, we're not completely sure what to expect," Ash told her.

Elka drew in her lips and nodded. "I understand. Don't worry. Your brother has explained everything. If I can be of help, don't hesitate to use me. If I'm not, I'll stand down. I understand the importance of following orders during a mission."

Henry wanted to correct her and say it wasn't a mission, but the words died in his throat. It really was a mission.

"Then, cross your fingers that Talam will have enough paperwork to bring you with us," Ash told her.

Elka nodded, but paused. "And who is Talam again?"

The two brothers spoke at the same time. "Our brother-in-law."

Elka seemed to pause to go through what Henry told her. After a second, she nodded her head. "That is...your sister-"

"Shh!" Ash held up his hands to silence her and frowned. "Don't say her name!"

Henry gave him an unimpressed look. "She's not cursed, Ash." He looked at Elka and nodded. "Yes," he answered. "But he doesn't know, and when you meet him, you won't know, either."

Elka seemed to want to ask questions, but nodded and didn't ask why. "Is there anything I should know when we meet him?"

Ash nodded and gave her an inquisitive look. "Yeah," he said. "What do you know about being a regional manager of an international teahouse and hospitality empire?"

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The sound of the busy ground floor didn't reach the upper levels of the multi-storied tea house. The border city-state of Aedi was a stone's throw from the western border gate of Ashtar, but a far cry from what was beyond the gate. As a border city-state, it should've been the first foreign stop for Ashtari, but there was an unsurprising lack of Ashtari being spoken amongst the populace.

Most of the people in the walled city were passing through or part of a vast trade network. Everyone spoke Iverian Common, and was a bustling city with robust trade, hospitality, and plenty of large buildings, including its own Snake, Scarab, and Sons teahouse.

Even the view from the upper floor was breathtaking. It had a sweeping view of the city state's eastside, its east city gate, and in the distance, past a five-hundred pace no man's land buffer area, were the towering western border gates of Ashtar.

From a distance, it looked formidable. The towers on either side of the stone gate were taller than any building or tower gate in Aedi. They were carved with reliefs of desert lions reaching for the sun; common motifs in Ashtar. There were soldiers on the parapets and a stone wall that stretched until it melted into a desert on one side and a forest on the other.

However, behind the thick stone and heavy wooden doors that had been harvested from long gone cedar trees, there wasn't a bustling city like Aedi.

At best, it was a shantytown and a military outpost.

This was the second time Talam had come through those gates. Months earlier, he'd walked through and began his trek to get to Shae Merchant City. It was a long and arduous journey made worse by his lack of funds and inexperience. This time, after he'd returned to Ridua, he was better prepared.

"You look embarrassed." Nera looked up over the top of her tea cup. "You said that you were better prepared this time."

Talam flushed and looked away from the window and the border gates in the distance. "This time I was better prepared, but every time I see Aedi, I can't help but think about what's on the other side of the border gates."

Nera raised a brow and lowered her cup. "Is it that bad?"

Talam lowered his eyes and didn't answer. He seemed to be contemplating what to say. "It is far more...limited than here."

"Limited in people? Size?"

"Everything," Talam answered both honestly and disappointedly. "There is little commerce outside of basic necessities. Even those are struggling. Soldiers aren't paid much, so there is little money to circulate in town." He looked back towards the border gates with a complicated expression. "And though it appears as if the soldiers patrolling the walls are well equipped and are many, the outpost isn't large at all, and those weapons they're holding are assigned to the post, not the person."

Beneath her veil, Nera furrowed her brows just a bit. "Dareisol declared war on Ashtar because of harassment from Ashtar militia that led to the death of one of their soldiers, as well as injuries to several others. Was the money for the military reallocated to fringe groups?"

As a general's daughter who spent much of her formative years in a military base, Nera was not a stranger to military funding. Great General and Marquis families funded about seventy-five percent or more of their armies themselves with money from their family properties and businesses. The rest came from the country, though from what she heard in recent years, the money from the country had dried up.

Resources were limited, there wasn't much money to circulate, so even with the funding from the empire, family-led armies were struggling.

Although, the more she thought about it, the more it could've been seen as a way to weaken the armies of the Great Generals and Marquises. That would've been in line with that Old Bastard's suspicions. The gods knew that her father didn't like him.

Talam shook his head. "Money had been shifted to start building the navy. Ashtar has a long coast line, though the entire eastern portion of it is too dangerous to be used as a shipping lane."

"That leaves the Smiya Sea coastline," Nera said. If Ashtar was going to build up a navy, it would make sense for it to be there. In addition, that coastline would be the most vulnerable to Dareisol's formidable navy.

"The navy was the project of the Crown Prince, and it was done with surprising speed. Several ships have already been built and crewed, though I'm unsure about their training," Talam replied. "Considering how fast it was built and how little resistance there was to it considering all the other things Ashtar needs, it must've cost more than what was in the military budget."

"Does the navy answer to the Emperor or the Crown Prince?" Nera asked.

Talam also knit his brows. "To be honest, Madam, I don't know." He raised his head to look at Nera. "My uncle firmly believes, and has even identified evidence, that the Crown Prince is building his own military power."

Nera cocked her head and frowned. "With the Emperor's approval?"

"We, that is my uncle, my wife, and the rest of my family, believe he may have his suspicions that the Crown Prince is doing more than what he has reported to the Emperor or the court," Talam replied. "From the start, the creation of a navy was put forward the way any other policy or project was presented. It went through all the proper channels it should've gone through, and the Emperor is aware of it. There were even periodic reports on the status of building the navy."

"But the militia...?"

Talam leaned forward. "Uncle has found that funding set aside from citizen welfare has been used up, in full, and the corresponding reports indicate that it was used to employ struggling citizens in government programs."

"And the government program happens to be the Crown Prince's not-so-secret army?" Nera shook her head and poured herself some more tea. "From what I've heard, I always thought that the Emperor had an obsession with the Crown Prince's mother, but I didn't think it would be enough to blind him to his suspicious actions."

"The entire court knows it," Talam replied. "Even I know, and I'm at the bottom rung of my ministry. It's not a surprise that with that power in the Crown Prince's hands, many people in the court are siding with him."

"What would you say is a percent of the court that sides with the Crown Prince?"

Talam took a deep breath and seemed to try to contain his irritation. "The court as it is right now is not the same court as it was when you fled. Many courtiers had been sent home, restrained, or stripped of their high-ranked positions if they were too vocal against what the Emperor or his son wanted. Several had even quit court completely in anger or frustration. Most of those who are left either support the Crown Prince or are indifferent.

"The Emperor believes that the Crown Prince is fully on his side. The Crown Prince even facilitated several of his marriages to the daughters of prominent courtiers, convincing his father to allow them even when the family of the woman initially refused. This tied their families to the Crown Prince, whether they liked it or not."

Nera clenched her jaw. "Hostage by marriage." Lady Jasmin, Arunsha's mother, was arranged to marry the current Emperor by his late father in order to tie a military family to the current Emperor. If they didn't support the Emperor, it could mean suffering or death to Jasmin, who was essentially trapped in the imperial palace. She knew she could not escape her fate, so she taught her son not to be loyal to his father, but to be loyal to Prince Hedrejan, who she watched being raised in an upright manner.

At the very least, Henry would not use them as means to control her family.

Nera also believed that Jasmin succumbed to her death so that her family could no longer be tied to the Emperor, the man who let her only son die. Nera made a mental note to follow up on the current status of Jasmin's family. Asking Talam could reveal too much.

"There are currently six women in his court of imperial wives, and he has numerous mistresses outside of the palace," Talam reported. He blushed and sat up straight. "Varellian, my wife, keeps up with this, as she is very wary of him."

"Your wife understands the situation," Nera replied with an acknowledging nod. "After all, if his wives were all from prominent families, there must be something about those women outside that gives him reason to favor them."

"He has a few foreign women as well. He hasn't brought them back, but Varellian did hear that he met some women while out of the country and he was sending them to do errands with the promise of bringing them home to wed when they were done."

"This man sounds like trash," Effie said from the side of the room. She wasn't sitting too far away, and was with Talam's two escort guards. She had been interrogating them on Ridua's economic situation, its neighborhoods and prospective clientele; anything she could think of about Ridua both for her family and for business.

"It's good that you can identify a trash man when you hear of him," one of Talam's escorts said with a firm nod. "In Ridua, young ladies of wealthy or influential families rarely leave their homes, so they are easily manipulated."

Effie snorted. "The only way to manipulate a merchant is with money," she said. "And I have plenty of it."

"Speaking of money, do we have to pay for all the entry spots applied for or just the ones we use?" Nera asked.

"Just the ones you use," Talam replied. "Initially, I was only going to bring four sets of paperwork; one for each member of your family, but after speaking to my Uncle, he advised me to get the maximum allowed, which is ten. He said that you'd probably have employees that will need to accompany you to train and run the shop in the future."

Nera nodded, silently praising Enroshan, though she wasn't surprised. "Your Uncle has foresight."

Talam beamed and puffed out his chest. "Yes, he wouldn't have been able to assume the position of Prime Minister, especially under the Emperor's control, without skill."

Nera translated that as Enroshan was good at convincing people to do things, which was something she already knew.

"We will be bringing one of our regional managers with us. Once the Snake, Scarab, and Sons is properly established, she will manage it directly. We will need to review which of our tea masters can come, but that will take some time, so we should save the remaining entrance forms."

Talam nodded. "Understood, Madam. When we submit the paperwork, only the forms that are submitted at that time will be paid for. As stated previously, since an Ashtari family must sponsor foreign merchants, my family, the Heigorens, will sponsor Snake, Scarab, and Sons, as well as provide a location for the shop." Talam shuffled through is bag. "My wife has also offered some of her dowry shops, as several aren't very profitable." He paused, letting his shoulders sink with disappointment. He looked at Nera with guilt. "I'm afraid traffic will be slow for a while."

Nera nodded. "The more we learn about the empire's economics, the more we understand this. Don't be troubled. We are investing towards the future and don't expect quick turnaround."

Talam seemed to let out a breath of relief before presenting Nera with several folders.

"This is a copy of Ridua map and I've marked off the areas that are the most promising for business. Prospective locations, that is, shops, have also been circled and numbered," Talam explained as he spread it out a folded sheet in front of him. It nearly took up the entire table. He then opened another folder. "And these papers contain information on the shops. They are numbered correspondingly."

Effie slid off her seat and came over, curious to see where the shops were. She tugged a seat back and climbed on.

Her face scrunched up. "Three streets?"

Talam drew his lips inward and flushed, embarrassed. He lowered his head. "Ridua is the capital of the empire, but it's also suffering. I swear to you that despite that, it's still the most prosperous city in the empire."

Effie's eyes crinkled up with pity. "That's sad." Her comment only made Talam sink down in his seat further.

"Is this the main road?" Nera asked, though she already knew the answer. She drew her finger down a large street, which had been marked off as one of the more promising areas to open a store.

"Yes, that's the Avenue of the Lions," he replied with a nod. "It crosses the city from the west, starting from the city gate where we'll be arriving through, and leads through two major plazas before arriving at the front gates of the imperial palace. The imperial palace is here."

Like many large capital cities, the imperial palace was around the center of Ridua. It was a lightly fortified stronghold surrounding the grounds of the leader of multiple tribes in the beginning. As Ashtar grew into a country, Ridua expanded outside of the fortified stronghold, turning into a sprawling city surrounded by agricultural land used for farming and raising animals.

The Avenue of Lions took its name from the lion guardian statues at the front of the imperial palace's main gates. This was also Ridua's high street and many wealthy families had shops and restaurants on it. It was a high-profile area, and Nera didn't want to stand out too much.

They were the first foreign merchants brought in by the 'exiled', so if they took over a storefront on a prominent street to compete with the businesses of wealthy and influential families, there would be backlash.

"What about here?" Nera pointed to a street in the city's northern quadrant. It was three blocks from the main road going north to south, but was on another, and arguably more important, major street.

"The Phoenix Path," Talam replied. He followed the road through what appeared to be the city's borders and up a path, which went up to a barren flat, stone hill. "This is a temple road and leads up to a sacred hill where the Temple of the Eternal Flame is. There are various inns and small restaurants here that cater to pilgrims, as well as locals."

"During religious festivals, are there open markets?" Effie asked. She looked at Talam and explained in case he didn't understand. "That's when people in the surrounding area gather to sell, turning the road into a temporary market during festival days and nights."

His eyes brightened and nodded. "Yes, actually there are! It happens during full moons, and coincides with sowing and harvest blessing festivals."

Effie nodded and looked at her mother. "Momma, I like this place."

Nera smiled and raised her hand, touching the top of her daughter's head. "If that's what you want." Effie had good business sense for such a young child, and targeted not only a promising location where there would be a lot of foot traffic, but also did not throw them in front of the competition where they could be smothered early.

Talam looked at them with uncertainty. "Are you sure? The shops here are narrow. Other locations will be more suitable for a Snake, Scarab, and Sons."

"You're basing it off of what you've seen of our tea houses so far," Nera told him. "But they weren't always like this. We build many of them up."

"Do you have the information on lots 105, 107, and 109?" Effie asked. She was laying half on the table, tracing her chubby finger over three buildings on the west side of the street.

Talam shook himself out of his concern and rummaged through his papers. He spread them out in front of Effie and Nera.

Each small folder included a copy of the deed, the measurements of the entire lot, the measurements of the structure on the lot, blueprints of the interior layout, as well as a list of features, including wells, large trees, and furniture that was currently there.

"Are there any of these that you're interested in?" Talam asked.

Effie nodded. "These three. Momma, look. They're right next to each other. Two have a well and they are narrow, but go back, so they're deep. These two are two stories and this one had three." She beamed. "That one can be where we put the family apartment!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Nera agreed. "Talam, are we allowed to use more than one property?"

"Yes! Two of these closed up some time ago. They were my grandmother's dowry shops. One used to sell cloth, one was a bakery, and the other, which is the only open store right now, sells pre-cooked food to pilgrims and locals," Talam told her. "There have been others who want to rent it, but they require renovation, as several storms had done some water damage."

"Since you will provide the location, will you pay for any repairs needed prior to us using it?" Effie asked. "Otherwise, we can invest some of our own money to repair the shops, as we will not be paying rent or taxes on the property."

Talam blinked and looked at Effie, impressed. "We'd like to pay for repairs, but the reason they haven't been repaired yet is because we haven't been able to afford it. People who like the location won't rent unless we make the repairs."

"That's very fair under normal circumstances," Effie said. "But in this case, we can make an exception. Besides, it won't just be repairing water damage."

"There are three properties," Nera told him. "We want to connect all three to make a large building. Two parts for a tea house, and this third lot for a Snake, Scarab, and Sons inn."

Talam gasped, his eyes wide and filled with anticipation. "We can do this! The three lots will be used as a set."

"What about the current shop?" Effie asked. She tapped on property 109. "I am an honest merchant. I don't want to kick people out if this is their livelihood, and their business is at least providing for them."

Talam shook his head. "The food shop is currently run by my grandmother-"

Effie sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Talam in horror. "You want to kick out your grandma!" She pointed at Talam and almost shook as her face reddened. "You're bad!"

"No, no! Listen!" Talam held up his hands and quickly tried to calm the child. "My grandmother was only keeping it open for the sake of keeping it open, so that the shops won't be targeted for vandalism or squatters. I've already discussed this with her."

"The young lord is telling the truth, Miss Effie," one of the escorts assured her. "Elder Lady Heigoren has agreed and has even encouraged the young lord to recommend one of these shops to you."

"My grandmother is old now and every day, she and her maids and guards commute across the city to open the shop," Talam explained. "It would really help her if you selected these shops."

Nera raised her hand and put it on Effie's arm, lowering it and then pulling her child close to her. She looked at Talam. "Then, let us agree with these three lots. Renovations will fall on us."

"How long do you think it'll take?" Effie asked as she tilted her head back to look at her mother. "We still need a place to stay."

"The apartment won't be ready for a while. We'll look for an inn or house for rent nearby to stay in temporarily," Nera told her.

"Madam, lodging for you and your family has already been arranged!" Talam said. "There is no need to spend additional money."

"Thank you, Talam, but there is no need for you to spend more for us," Nera replied. She knew enough about their financial situation to know that paying for their lodging for an extended period of time would be more than just a strain.

On her lap, Effie nodded sympathetically. "Yes, we know you're poor."

Talam squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. Nera sighed and tried to soften the blow. "You're already assisting with the property, which is a good portion of our start-up budget, and acting as our local guarantors, which allows us to even enter the Ashtari market. That's already enough."

Talam shook his head. "It's no trouble or cost," he said. "Our family is small and our manor can house you, your family, and your staff."

Nera froze. "Your manor?"

Talam nodded energetically. "Yes! We've already discussed it. My family happily invites you and your family to live with us until your store is ready."

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