Days passed.
It has been a week since the biscuit samples were sent to Raunak's mentor.
Sam is silent for this week. There are some mercenaries here and there trying to attack him. But the one he cared most about is still the person that is watching him from a long distance. By now, Sam already installed his surveillance devices near that person's position with the help of shadow mice and is watching the whole scene.
And it turned out, it is not a single person that is watching him. They are taking turns. And once this became clear, Sam sent a mouse to follow one of the people that are leaving and it led to a cave in distance.
There is a tunnel inside that cave that led to an underground cave. The shadow mice didn't manage to infiltrate that place, because in their own words. They sensed an aura of a natural predator inside.
They didn't want to go inside. Sam also didn't push them. For now, he has an idea of their exact location. So, he can prepare for something.
As for his next target on this side, Ragad, Sam didn't want to make a move immediately. For now, it is easy for him if faction 1 makes a deal with him if Ragad was present here.
He doesn't want to make the new substitute understand what exactly is happening.
But what he doesn't know is, Ragad is currently quaking in his boots as he sat on his bed within the City.
It has been a while since he even dared to come out. All his personal guards are outside his room and he even called for some extra help with the local faction 1 members.
But the problem is even faction 1 and faction 2 are alerted with the continuous deaths and disappearances.
Everyone in the official positions knew that the mercenaries that are going into the forest are all going there for Sam. But all of them are disappearing by the time city guards get there.
As for the deaths of two officials and one of them being the person in charge of the whole city, security is causing a serious backlash.
Particularly, to the newly elected city lord. Faction 1 won this time and with a significant margin. They are managed to push faction 2 back. Sam didn't influence these elections much, so he didn't care. But it has something to do with most towns getting faction 1 as their leader.
Now as soon as faction 1 took over two officials died and everyone knows that both of them belonged to faction 1.
This not only caused unrest in the people, even faction 2 is trying to take advantage of the situation. They are questioning the credibility and competence of the new city lord blatantly and the faction 1 officials are trying their best to defend.
But both parties knew who is responsible for the deaths. Even though they didn't believe that Sam killed them directly and there is no proof of significant evidence supporting their suspicions, they are sure that 'people behind him' are responsible for the deaths.
Only one person in the city has benefitted and that is Raunak. Even though he is tense and anxious because of the possibility of a conflict between Sam and his future in-law, he is really relieved with all kinds of tensions.
No one has found trouble with him in the past few days. He was as free as bird.
On this day, he finally got a reply from his mentor.
There are two separate documents. The first one is the document regarding the coconut biscuits. There is a high-grade military official that wants to send someone to discuss the deal. But they don't just want the recipe. They want an already established factory.
The best part of this is that the military officer is not from any faction. He is a person just like Raunak, he was an orphan who grew up with his own achievements without any support. Now he is supporting some of these neutral members within the military.
They are an elite force and they have quite a bit of sway within the military.
But the second document is something that is making him feel a bit conflicted.
It was mentioned that it is indeed the father of his lover that placed a hit on Sam's head.
This made him more angry than anxious.
He is angry because there is a pact between them. He was promised that he wouldn't be disturbed in his growth. He even wanted to ask for an oath. But he didn't want to hurt the feelings of his lover and now it seems like he made a mistake.
He didn't want to think the worst of the people. Even when he was an orphan and struggling, he didn't think the worst of the world because someone helped him get out of that situation. But as time passed and the more he experienced, the more wrong he felt.
He slowly walked out of his residence and made his way to Sam's camp.
Currently, Sam is cooking some wish. He is trying to make a curry and the smell is spreading far and wide.
For the past few days, he is trying to recreate the dishes of earth. He might be in grave danger, but he is not that worried. As far as he was concerned, the situation is still under complete control.
When Raunak came with that gloomy face, Sam asked.
"Is there any news? It has already been a week."
"There is some news, a military official is a willing to purchase that. But they just don't want the recipe, they also want a factory in which they can easily make the biscuits."
"That's not a problem, but they should be willing to pay for that too."
"Of course, there is no problem regarding the budget. As long as it is not overpriced that is. They are a special unit in the military and they have enough funds."
"Then that wouldn't be a problem, just look for a property…"
But Sam wasn't even able to give the requirements before he was interrupted.
"No, you wouldn't be able to buy anything in the city. Nobody would be selling you anything."
"Really? Since the people are unwilling, what about the government?"
"The government?"
"Yes, I would like to buy this area."
Sam said as he extended his hands and pointed to the expanse they are in.
"You want to buy this area."
"Yes, from what I know this forest doesn't come under the city limits, but it would still be under the city's authority. Since you are a special office, try to use that to strong-arm them into selling this area to me. They have no reason to reject this since it is extra revenue for the city.
This would also help you clear some targets in your tax. After all, tax is essentially revenue, so you can make the case and add this to your required target. If there is any opposition, just tell them that you would meet with the Elder's committee."
Raunak thought for a bit and nodded his head.
"Then what about your future father-in-law. Have you gotten any information on that end?"
Sam asked and this made the atmosphere tense.
Raunak's reaction of clenching his fists and the gloomy face clearly showed what is happening.
"Why is he targeting me? Is it just because he wanted to mess your plans or is there any other reason?"
"No, there is nothing else. He just wants to stop my promotion."
"You are smart and cautious enough to ask me to give you that forest spirit oath. Why didn't you do the same to that guy? Don't tell me, you thought that he would keep his word just for his daughter."
Raunak's face turned even uglier which made Sam understand that his guess was spot on.
"What a naïve kid you are.
Anyway, don't worry too much. He wouldn't be able to do anything to me. All you have to do is make sure that you keep the procedures in the administration wouldn't encounter any problems. I will take care of everything on this site.
By the way, how much do you think this land costs."
"Around thirty million."
"That much? Why is a land so pricey here?"
"It is because of the elven culture, they just value the land a lot. Since we worship the forest and agriculture, every piece of land is valuable to us."
"With your elves, everything has become expensive here. I never thought I would be earning money this easily but also spending that easily.
Just finish with the procedures. Money is not a problem anyway.
Is there a way to hire any artisans that are specialized in construction?"
"I think that would also be a problem. There is not a single person in the city that wants a business deal with you."
"Well, that's okay. At least they cannot violate the existing agreements. I will take care of the construction. But speed up the procedures, I want to start it early and I don't want to get in trouble with the government as soon as I start the construction."
"Sure."
Raunak was about to leave and turned around to ask Sam.
"Are there more targets in your mind?"
"Yes."
"Who is the next one?"
"Some stalkers and then our old business partner."
