Proofread by Thomas F
'It's done!' said Tara as the large wooden crate disappeared from the house in Inam.
It appeared in the vault of Twilight Hall, before being transferred to the vault of Velvet Garden and then to one of our secure warehouses underground.
"You did incredibly, Tara," I praised. It truly is.
That was a Varisite ore, smuggled to Inam from the Empire through the network Tara had created.
The ore is one of the important ingredients used in enchantment ink. The Empire had banned its export, cutting off its nobles from selling it.
So instead of buying it for our enchantment hall. We are paying a fraction of the price to nobles. So, they are smuggling it.
We have paid less than half of the market price for it, and that is a steal.
'Thank you, Master Silver,' she replied.
She had been slowly expanding her network. That part focuses on smuggling, but there is also the information-dealing part and a few other things.
It started as a rival to Mariha, but is slowly developing into something different.
It is like Mariha's network in some things, but also different. Unlike Mariha, who has the Lord of Inam watching like a hawk, nobody is looking at Tara when she uses the persona.
With legacy's ability to project its control over its full domain. It's become much easier to control things.
It had been only half a year, but already she had spread her network throughout the empire and beyond.
The carriage stopped, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Master Silver," Andrea greeted as I stepped out.
"Has Tara informed you about the ore?" I asked. "Yes. I had already asked my people to transfer it to the alchemists," she replied.
It is they who will refine it into the ink that our enchanters need.
I said nothing further and walked toward the building. It is my destination, the one I am quite excited to see.
Its three-story building is made of black wood and reddish stone. It is a particular stone and wood. It is required for what we are doing inside.
It is one of the new buildings appearing around the park. There won't be just plants in the park this time.
"Have you been able to find out who was trying to sneak into the alchemist's garden?" she asked. A person tried to sneak into the alchemist's garden, but he was apprehended before he even reached the first building.
"A member of Black Talons," I replied.
It is an information-dealing group, some might even call them a gang. They are based in Namdar. Some say they are controlled by the Storm Tower. I wouldn't be surprised if they had been.
He was powerful, but not enough to avoid detection.
Thousands of people worked in the garden, but every one of them marked. The moment a non-marked person tries to enter, we get alerted immediately.
We get an alert if any of the workers take even a single step outside the designated area.
It is why, despite so many attempts, not a single person could sneak through, and we planned to keep it that way.
Soon, we reached the doors, and the guards bowed and opened the secure, enchanted door. The whole damn building is enchanted.
It was quite an expensive affair, but only a fraction of what I had paid to get the things inside the building. It was such a large amount that Andrea didn't think it would be worth it.
The moment we stepped inside. I felt the heat and humidity. It is steaming hot.
It is bright, with light coming from a crystal. It is an alchemical crystal that releases a specific type of heat.
"I hate this humidity," said Andrea. It is bad, but I didn't hate it as much as Andrea does. It is bearable, at least for a short while.
I smiled and turned to the orc in his mid-thirties, who walked out of the thick energy screen. He is tall, with rare pale-red eyes, and wearing a white coverall that fully covers him.
"Lord Silver," greeted the man. "Mr. Uzruk," I replied.
"Please wear this," he said, handing us the white coveralls. They are enchanted, and there is a skill attached to them.
We wore them before following him through the thick energy screen. The moment we did, the scenery changed, and I felt even higher humidity.
I didn't even look around, my eyes only focused on them; I looked at rows of enchanted trays and trays.
On those trays are white enchanted papers, on which thousands of tiny eggs are stuck. These are eggs of the silkworms, not normal silkworms, but the silkworms that are grown in legacy.
There is quite a story behind it.
"It's hard to believe these came from the teahouse," said Zela, looking at them in wonder.
"My uncle inherited the teahouse, but silkworms were his passion," replied Uzruk. Yes, they came from the teahouse: Malgrin Teahouse, legacy.
When Malgrin inherited it, it was not a legacy. Nor were there silkworms mist-born. The master is passionate about them, and since the teahouses are humid, he uses the back room to raise silkworms.
So, when it became a legacy, it covered the building, including the back room with the silkworms.
It is rare, but it happens.
I had to pay a large amount of Grade IV emotion essence to get these Silkworms, including a promise to rejuvenate an artifact, which will require a lot of emotion essence and some core essence.
But since the menagerie declined to give me what I needed, I had to find it elsewhere.
The silkworms arrived a few weeks ago, ten thousand of the original ones. It might seem like a huge number, but it actually is quite small.
Those are silkworms that grew up in a legacy and never spent a day outside, except when coming to Greltheaven.
This is my first time coming here to see them.
The silkworms were in a bad state when they came, and I didn't know whether they would survive, but they did and even thrived in the mist of my legacy, and had laid the eggs.
"How long do you think it will take for the eggs to hatch?" I asked as I looked at tiny eggs with colorful mist swirling around them.
I closed my eyes and focused.
As I did, I felt them absorb the mist. They are quite gluttonous, as the amount isn't small, but I don't care.
"These will take eight to nine days more before they hatch," he replied and walked toward the next energy screen. As we passed through it, we entered a smaller room.
It also has eggs, but these eggs are slightly glassy.
They are from the glass-wing silkworm. Those earlier eggs belong to the original silkwork, descendants of those that were when the legacy was born.
These are from selective breeding, with the original worms.
"They looked like tiny glass beads," I said, and the man smiled. "My uncle worked tirelessly for decades, but he was only able to produce three subspecies." He replied.
I didn't ask that, but the man declared it.
He has worked with his uncle since he was a child. He has intimate knowledge of how these silkworms work. He is the best person to run this facility, other than Malgrin's daughter, who will not leave the legacy.
To hire him, I promised him free rein to create new species.
"I promised you, Mr. Uzrik, I would give you free rein. Just give me the number and the production I require," I said, and the man smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem, my lord, with the things that are going on," he replied with a grin.
I got ten thousand original silkworms and groups of sixteen hundred for each of the subspecies, which is not a huge number.
I need a massive amount of silk for my stores. For that, the number of Silkworms needs to be in the millions instead of thousands. Thankfully, Silkworms lay hundreds of eggs at once and do it every sixty days.
So, it shouldn't take more than a year for the original to reach that number.
Until then, most of the silkworms would be used for reproduction. Only a small number would be used to harvest the best silk from them.
"Tell me about these eggs?" I asked as I walked around the small room.
"These eggs belong to the glassing silkworm. It produces a fine, translucent light silk that catches the light beautifully."
"It can be used in layered clothes, sleeves, as well as veils of dresses," he replied.
He cannot explain it well. He is under-selling it. These silkworms produce glassy silk that adapts well to light. They are very well suited to a rogue's clothes.
All the silk produced by their legacy silkworms goes directly to the kingdom, and I heard most of it is used to weave assassin clothes.
They tried to ask me for silk, and the master wanted the silkworms grown in my mist, but I didn't accept. I told them they could ask for essence and nothing else.
I wanted what they have, but the Kingdom of Bhekiv also needed what I have.
They have only six legacies with only two thrones. That is far from enough to meet their needs. So, they might have a precious commodity, but I'm willing to pay more than a fair price for it, and I did.
I have a lot of rogues, and this material is going to be very useful for them.
A minute later, we entered another small room, where metallic grey lay in colorful mist.
"These are eggs of iron thread silkworms; they produce the thickest silk, which is tough as leather. Flexible, but highly resistant,"
"It is the best for uniforms and riding coats. The kingdom also uses armor padding," he stated.
It can harden on impact and is hard to cut. This makes it really good for battle uniforms and armor padding. With the resources I have and grade of mist, I will make it even stronger.
I could already tell that both the army and the police were going to be on my tail for it.
We walked into the third and last small room containing bluish eggs.
"These belong to the nebuloom silkworm, which produces the softest and most beautiful silk. Noble ladies love them. Dresses made from it are a favorite of our queen and the princess."
I do not doubt that it produces the softest silk, which looks elegant and enchanting.
It fetches a very high price.
We looked through it before passing through another energy screen, but this one was red. When we passed through, we entered a large hall, with larvae inside and a smell of fresh leaves.
This is the first batch of larvae born here, and they are feeding on vibrant mulberry leaves.
"We have fed the larvae the best quality mulberry leaves, but they were not mist grown like this," said the man with his eyes blazing with excitement as he looked at the leaves that were produced here in the mist.
"Are there any changes due to it?" I asked, and he nodded excitedly.
"Yes, they are healthier and have a far lower mortality rate. On top of that, it had increased magical density inside them. It has already been compared to the late larval stage." He replied.
Does that mean it will produce better quality silk?" asked Andrea. "Both silk and silkworm," he replied.
"I believe there will be other changes in silk as well. The emotion scale of Velvet Garden is much larger than that of the teahouse's, and I could already see that it was bringing changes within them."
"I could see a lot of positive signs, but we will only know when the silk is produced."
The man looked like he could barely control himself.
There is one more thing: we are only using Grade I to III mists. Benzen said, " We should let a few generations get used to that before using Grade IV mist.
I watched the larva before walking toward the woman at the end of the hall.
She was so busy watching that she didn't even turn.
"This woman is coming here, nearly every day," Benzen whispered. I heard, and I had told them to let her. If anyone is more excited about it than this man, then it is she.
"Miss Cain, I hope you are enjoying yourself," I said, and my words seemed to startle her as she nearly jumped.
"Lord Silver," she quickly controlled herself and greeted.
"I am saying, are you having fun?" I asked, and the woman's cheeks reddened. "They are so beautiful, I can't wait for them to form a cocoon, so we can harvest beautiful silk from them."
"I have already started designing the dresses to craft from them. They will be unlike anything before," she said with her eyes blazing at the same intensity as the man.
"You do know that the first batch of silkworms is going to be used for reproduction?" I said.
Aside from a few, we will take at the first cocoon stage to run the tests and experiment. We will let the rest become adult moths. So they could reproduce.
"It's fine, even spun silk coming from them would be better than any threat I had worked with," she replied, and I couldn't help but smile.
The silk harvested at the cocoon stage is of the highest quality; it is called filament silk and is used to make the highest-quality clothes.
The one at the adult moth stage is the second grade and called spun silk.
Though she is right about spun silk coming from these silkworms. It is better than most magical silks of its grade and is highly treasured.
I had already told her, and she will be the first one working on it.
I smiled at the woman and walked toward the man. "How are preparations for other silkworms?" I asked. Of course, I am not satisfied with just these.
I am bringing other silkworms; they are non-mist, but still magical ones.
The best in the world, each one with famed silk.
The original silkworms Malgrin had were one of the worst types. The master raises them as a hobby because he is fascinated by them.
We will make new silkworms grow in mist. It will take time, years, decades, but one day they will, and until then I will keep feeding them mist.
It isn't just for silkworms.
I am creating this massive park, and it isn't just for growing beautiful mist plants.
There is a comprehensive plan.
I am bringing animals, silkworms, sheep, cows, goats, and others. Those that are material and meat. I am doing the same with plants as well.
Every plant I planted has a reason. I planted all sorts, including fields of cotton, flax, and others.
I am looking for those synced with the mist. If I didn't get them, then I will get the best among the magical kinds and tend them in the mist, until they absorb it.
By connecting my gardens and stores in a circular economy, I intend to boost my city's prosperity while simultaneously accumulating considerable wealth and influence.
"The building is nearly ready. It will be fully ready by the time they arrive."
His words brought me back to reality.
I explored the place and talked to him for a few minutes before walking out. Immediately, I activated Get Ready on myself to get rid of moisture and sweat before stepping back into my carriage.