Chapter 164: Early Arrival
Days had passed, and my daze recovered slowly, but I found myself rarely as bad as the first day. My mind no longer went completely blank or so dazed that I could not concentrate. It was a pain, but I luxuriated in the attention and love of my women. They all attended to me without question, and it was something that I shouldn't have found so odd.
It felt nice, and when I was working, Yuri or Alexia stayed with me as I caught up on the financial decisions for the Embassy. Things would be different when I was gone, and there would be limited funds. I talked with Rose, and the brewery's beginnings were promising as I was the brewer.
Alchemists had a reputation to uphold, and apparently, people trusted me to come up with a strong brew. It was flattering, to say the least, but I had other things to be worried about. I had not heard from my sister in the last couple of days, and the vote would be soon. To make matters worse was the fact that my replacement should be here soon. They had sent them not long after that last emergency meeting, and that meant that I needed to be ready to go soon.
I took a deep breath, and I knew that I wouldn't leave the Demon lands until after that vote. If it was positive in my favor, I would take it home. If not, I would leave it here while leaving in the middle of the night before all the formalities were complete. I would not bring home a dead letter for the elders. It would not only reflect poorly on me, but it would be bad for relations with the Demon lands.
I had more than enough merits, though, from the Demon lands after the windfall of Francis a couple of days ago. That was not the best negotiation that I have ever conducted. The nation would be paying a little more than I think I could have done at my best. Francis wasn't looking to annoy us, though. He wanted to make a decent income for himself and his men that he sent our way.
They were coming to be blooded in the hardest training course that can ever exist. The battlefield was his main reason for making them mercenaries. Plus, I think some minds in the Demon lands might think they wanted the Empire trimmed down. It was the largest nation besides their own, and the Kingdom of Arlin was right beside it, which meant that the Kingdom would keep the Empire in check even if it was distracted.
It was a strong play, and I had to give it to the Demon Land representatives. They knew that we would want combat power, and those that were closest to us knew I already had the Succubi Illusionists. It made me want to feel out what the Incubi thought before I left. The Vampires I didn't think would join in, though. I didn't have any proof that it was only a feeling, and I didn't know specifically what it was.
I was lost in thought, wondering if I should contact Jeraxes to see if he was interested too. A sudden knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. I was in my office and had not been planning anything much for the day except to finish some reports and get things out of the way. "Come in," I shouted, interested and turning to the door.
In came my sister, Christina, with her usual look. She moved toward my desk and looked at me with a serious expression. "Your replacement has arrived in the Demon lands. I have already sent Alexia out to go fetch them to bring here. You have roughly a couple of hours to meet them." Christina told me, and my eyes widened in surprise.
That was amazing timing to make passage here unless they sent my replacement before they told me. I frowned and leaned back. I needed to think, and I shrugged. This was something that I was going to play by the minute and see who the other was. I would also insist on staying a couple of extra days, settling this person in with some large names here in the Demon lands. Technically it was something Ralph was supposed to do for me to ensure that I knew all the workings here so I could pick up where he left off.
I sighed, and my heartbeat felt loud in my ears as I contemplated everything. "Thank you for the warning," I told her, "Did they send your replacement with whoever this is?" I asked her a second later.
"Unknown. I am unsure if I can leave this post to someone with little knowledge. Also, to update you, Mistress Sally made her moves after we first departed making that deal. I got a report that she called the Medusa representative over and for two days. She was not seen leaving for those two days, and when she walked out of Mistress Sally's building, she looked almost the same but with a deep blush. It is unknown whether she did her part, but after you came and left, the Medusa showed up again. She looked annoyed and deeply blushed when she left just a few hours later. Instantly the first thing MIstress Sally did afterward was fire our contact." The report had me raising my eyebrows, and I couldn't help but frown.
"My conclusion is that she already knew who our mole was and made sure we saw her movements for us to receive a report and send them on their way. This is a very scary woman." Chistina finished her frown very deep. "I do not know where this Mistress Sally came from or who she is. I would need funds, and frankly, I am unsure of what or if I could find what we are looking for. Her counter surveillance seems to be top-notch or something of that effect. All I know of her now is that she is regarded as a Mistress of her craft and is a Dominatrix here in the Demon Lands. Some say she showed up one day with gold and bought the place. Now her clientele enjoys her services. That is all I could get, and I need more to work with if I want to investigate." Christina's report made me worry, and I sighed.
"We don't have the funds," I replied with a large sigh, "We simply do not have the funds. I have regulated so much gold into the repair and maintenance of the Embassy. If you can find where Ralph hid the gold he embezzled, then maybe I can fund more operations. But the Embassy is going to need repairs. This Wizard tower was falling apart, and the enchantments were about to wear out. I don't know who was before Ralph at this moment, but our image here will take a major hit if we don't revitalize it." I looked at the roof, "No more funding, and you need to increase the businesses under the spy ring you are building. Or I highly recommend that you increase the number. I made a lot of gold while here, but that was only enough for initial investments. With those and the funding that the Embassy will receive to run the place. We will break even in the next four years without a budget increase for the Embassy."
Christina deeply frowned as I told her the shocking news I had come to. "It can't be that bad is it?" Christina asked.
"Before I woke up to all the problems?" I asked, "It was worse, Much worse." I looked at her, "Think about what I have been doing, Christina; I have to host parties. I have to bribe and talk to representatives, making them want to work with us. Do you think they will want to work with us if I show a poor image? Do you think the staff will work for copper coins?" I asked, leaning forward. "Or course you don't! You run a spy ring, and you know gold is what I need more of. I have achieved things here while I do not know what is happening!" I paused after the excitation and sighed, realizing I was about to rant. I took a deep breath, and I sat back down. "In short, I fixed many problems, but there are more that need fixing. At least I started us back on the road to recovery with a large infusion of gold."
"Well, Do the elders know how bad it is?" Christina asked.
"I made a report, but I think there will be more funding issues in the future." I told her bluntly, "I believe that many of the larger tribes are arming the smaller beast-kin tribes, and we are doing our part on that. But I am unsure of that at the moment as I have no real information on that front. it literally is just a guess, and you can take it as such." I finished.
Christina frowned, "I need more funding to develop more information. I brought a lot of people to the Demon lands to begin and spread an information network. But my main source of information is still with my contacts in the Kingdom of Arlin." Christina said.
"Well, I doubt the Kingdom of Arlin will get involved unless someone starts making this a race war. Otherwise, they will feel obligated to join in the fight as they would be the next target." I said, leaning back. I shrugged, "It is what it is at this point. Soon we will have the replacement here to start training. Get ready to pass on your information network in a limited quantity. Keep some of your better placed and business ones more secret. I think having a source of income on the backup where no one else can see it flow would not be a bad thing. We can move the money through the brewery and bring it into the Embassy through that company." I finished, and Christina nodded.
"A bit complicated, but I will see to it," Christina turned and exited the room, and I couldn't help but sigh a deep, more profound sigh than I ever had before. I had no idea who was coming, and I hated the lack of information. I even knew back in my past world when my school was about to be attacked here. The internet and satellites provided that information. Some of my schoolmates were very strong hackers and learned of it, which was one of the reasons we held out as long as we did.
I couldn't help but sigh again as I didn't want to think about the previous world at this moment. This world was the one I needed to be thinking in, and I looked at the stack of paperwork. I wryly smiled and sent a message to Yuri to come into the office when she had a moment and preferably before my replacement arrived.
A second later, Yuri comes in wearing a purple dress and looking good. "You messaged?" Yuri asked.
"Yes, Please bring my replacement in here. All others are to be left out as I need a private conversation with them before we bring everyone else on board. That will also give me a minute to get a feel for them and choose my plans. Please have refreshments and food ready for everyone made up and bring some in so we can eat while we talk." I ordered, and Yuri nodded.
"I think it might be better to meet them at the front," Yuri said, unsure, and I barked a laugh shaking my head.
"Sorry," I apologized, "Anyone with a brain seeing this mountain," I said, motioning at all the paperwork I was behind on. "And thinks that I should be greeting them," My voice trailed off, "They shouldn't be the Ambassador, Just like this shows that I am far behind on my responsibilities," I added in at the end. I looked at her with a wry smile, "They should understand, and it is also a test of their character," I finished.
"Very well," Yuri said, "I think it is more polite," Yuri said, and I looked at her.
"It is, and you are not wrong," I told her truthfully, "But I am also not wrong."
Yuri left the room, and I returned to work, no longer lingering in my thoughts. I finished signing some papers on some wage agreements and set them aside for Yuri to file. How much paper did we go through for these things? Who the fuck is writing them out? I thought bitterly, knowing it was my supervisors and managers.
I lost myself in it for a short time before I heard a curt knock on the door and called out for them to come in. The paperwork I was working on was one relating to something about a rule I had not quite gotten the gist of yet and why it was implemented. The paperwork and the explanation didn't make much sense either, and I was happy to look up from it.
When I looked up, I saw a Dark brown Bunny-kin. He was at least a head taller than me, if not a head and a half taller than me. Muscle coated his arms, and his biceps were large. This was a fighter, and I was surprised to see my replacement looking like a macho man. "Hello," I said, leaning back in my seat before standing up. I stepped around to shake his hand, "I am Ambassador Chelsea," I introduced myself with a small but charming smile.
"I am Thomas Longsong," He said, reaching out and taking his hand in my own. "I will be your replacement," He looked at the stack of papers and nodded, "And now I understand why you didn't come out to meet me." He smiled, and I pointed at the couches.
"Sit, we have much to discuss," I replied, "And not nearly enough weeks to get you up on board with everything that I am dealing with."
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