Chapter 44
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Ben and Cordelia spent another day in the market helping the continuous flow of customers that came to their stalls. At the end of the day, Ben made sure to get her home safely and went straight back to the store.
His vandal prisoners had been locked away in his basement for two days now and it was time to deal with them.
This time he went downstairs directly to the lower third floor. He knew that these guys would be hungry after only eating one bowl of stew since he locked them up, but that hunger should serve as an incentive to tell Ben what he wanted to know so that he would release them.
When he unlocked the door a foul smell was hanging in the air. The cells were never built with toilets so when the prisoners had to relieve themselves they just had to find an out-of-the-way corner.
Ben stood in the center of the room and looked from one cell to the next to gauge their attitudes before speaking. Ben looked past those that seemed to be defiant and picked out one of the guys who looked miserable.
Placing his finger on the cell door scanner it unlocked a swung open.
Ben reached down and grabbed the guy by the arm.
"You, come with me." Ben pulled the guy by the arm across the room and out the soundproof door.
Just outside the soundproof door he placed down a table and a couple chairs and had the guy sit down.
Ben asked who the man was and who his vandal friends were. He also asked who had hired them and why they were targeting his store. After repeating the questions he had asked a few times he returned the man to his cell and grabbed another prisoner to question.
Ben continued from one prisoner to the next like this while asking each of them the same questions. As he talked with each man he learned a little more about what was going on. By repeating the same questions over and over Ben would catch them in lies or they might reveal something that they had not mentioned the first time.
He was soon able to put the story together once a few of the men began to repeat the same information. It wasn't easy at first and it was clear they were all told not to talk and give up their employer. Once Ben let them know that he would keep them in those cells until he found out what he wanted they began to gradually answer his questions.
It seemed an older nobleman of the Aregard Kingdom who owned the largest farm on the outskirts of the city had been supplying local businesses with his food over the years. He had built up his farm and even bought out a few others to the point that he was the major importer of vegetables and meats to the capital.
This older noble had become extremely wealthy over the years and was at a point in his life where he no longer had any competition in the city.
Then one day Ben just appeared in the city and began to sell food that he could not compete with no matter how cheap he sold his food.
Ben had full access to these spirit foods that everyone wanted. The noble had even tried to find out where this new magical food had come from, but when he had hired people to follow Ben they could never keep up with him.
Ben would leave the city and head west at speeds no mount could match. Even still the people following him had gone as far as the next few towns and it seemed he had just vanished somewhere along the road.
Even though Ben had only begun selling his food for a few weeks this noble could tell that if things continue this way he would lose money and could not continue to run all his farms and stores.
When the noble found out Ben had bought a store in town, he grew desperate and had hired a group of experienced mercenaries who were known to take just about any type of job for the right amount of gold coins.
This noble hired them to try and turn the city against Ben by spreading rumors and vandalizing his store. If he could somehow make it look like he was associated with Remi then the people would boycott him as well.
After their first attack, they were all shocked to see his store looked perfectly fine and all his stalls that they destroyed were right back where they should be. The enraged noble did not believe they had vandalized the store and figured they were too afraid of being caught by Ben.
The mercenaries swore that they had and even made plans over the next few days to return to the store and attempt to burn it to the ground. They had no idea that the store had been completely rebuilt with concrete. The only thing that could burn in the store was the wood panels on the walls and the hardwood floors. It would not have been much of a fire and would have remained inside the building. Ben would still have had to remodel the interior but the building structure would remain perfectly sound.
Not that they even had a chance to get through the front door because they were swiftly captured before they could even start their second attack.
Ben did have a couple of the prisoners try and fight back, flee or attack him as he brought them out for questioning, but even though they were experienced combat fighters they were like little kids trying to take down a full grown man.
With his current attributes even if the people of this world were stronger than people of Earth he was still much stronger than all of them. If, Unless it was a high stage Royal Cultivator trying to fight him it would be a useless attempt. Not only was Ben a cultivator, but he was a mage who had a few spells up his sleeves that a cultivator would have trouble dealing with.
Once he had questioned them all and sifted through the lies and misinformation one name kept coming back to him. Godwin Cherbella was the wealthy noble who had hired them to drive Ben out of town. He had paid the mercenaries a considerable amount of gold coins to take on the job.
The mercs thought if they ruined Ben's name and possibly destroyed his store he would lose enough money that he could not recover from his losses and be forced to give up on trying to do business in Goldcrest.
Quietly sitting at the table outside the cell room, Ben thought of how he should deal with this problem. He wanted to find out where this noble lived and go over and tear his properties to the ground. Ben was all about the eye for an eye old testament retaliation but he may cause problems for himself and put the king in an awkward position. Even if Godwin Cherbella was a scumbag that did deserve just that, he was a noble and a wealthy influential one.
Ben decided to take his problem to the Royal Palace and ask how the king wanted this to be handled. It was beginning to get late now so he decided to wait until tomorrow to deal with it.
He quickly went back to Cordelia's house and told her that he would need to visit the Royal Palace in the morning and not to show up until noon.
For the rest of the night, he remained in the store cultivating and left for the Royal Palace when the streets just started to come alive with people heading to work or running earlier morning errands.
Ben informed the palace guards at the gate of his situation and asked them who he should speak with. They were all stunned after hearing Ben relate the story of everything that had happened.
The guards, being guards were visibly upset someone would be so bold to attempt such crimes right in the capital city. One of them decided to escort Ben into the palace and led him to one of the king's attendants. Ben had once again related his story to the attendant and was actually soon escorted to see the king himself after the attendant went off to relay what he was told.
Once again in the throne room which was now empty of nobles, Ben could talk with the king one on one. Not holding anything back, Ben told him about the painted red words, the broken door, his destroyed vendor stalls, the attempted arson, how he waited on the roof, and how he captured them. He left out the part about him using magic. Ben did not want to reveal his ability to use magic spells to anyone yet and kept it as one of his trump cards.
He told the king that he currently had them all imprisoned inside his store and had not harmed them besides leaving them nude and hungry for a couple days.
The king was visibly upset to learn one of his nobles had hired mercenaries to perform criminal actions within the capital city. Ben did see him snicker when he learned the mercenaries were all stripped down nude and tossed in cells.
The king promised Ben he would deal with this situation and had a unit of palace elite guards follow Ben back to his store to take the mercenaries into custody while another larger unit of palace guards were sent out in groups to Godwin Cherbella estate, businesses, and farms to arrest him and take control of his properties.
Ben figured that the king knew he was a wealthy merchant and what better way to help fill the royal treasury than seizing all the properties and finances of a noble accused of criminal actions. He did not let it bother knowing this would ruin Godwin Cherbella and his family. The man made his own bed and now he had to lay in it.
Over at his store, Ben asked the guards to wait upstairs and went down into the basement alone to retrieve the vandal mercenaries two at a time.
The guards occupied themselves by walking around the store and marveling at the decor and all of the interesting products they had never seen before.
Ben's prisoner had a glint of hope in their eyes when he took them by the arm upstairs thinking that they would be released from those cells until they found a squad of palace guards waiting for them upstairs.
The streets were now beginning to fill up and everyone stopped to watch as twenty-five shackled nude men were taken from the Spirit King store.
The rumors quickly spread around the city about the captured men and the story of what had happened leaked back from the Royal Palace into the city and it wasn't long until everyone found out what the noble Godwin Cherbella had done.
With time still to kill, Ben decided to follow the guards back to the palace and make sure that he was not needed by the king or his attendants for anything else.
When he was outside the throne room talking with the king's attendant an older man that he recognized was being escorted in shackles by guards directly into the throne room.
"You! You're the arrogant noble from the Agriculture and Farming Offices!" Ben exclaimed as he saw the shackled man being roughly escorted past him.
It was the same older noble who gave him the dirty looks the other day when he went to purchase land. Ben had thought the man was upset about the way he had dressed now only to find he had a grudge against him for cutting into his profits.
The older man stopped walking and responded to Ben.
"Why did you have to come to this city? You ruined everything! I had spent years expanding my business and now it is all gone." The old man said with a look of anger.
"Oh? Then what about the smaller farmers and grocers that you cut out of the picture over the years? In this life, you need to adapt and overcome when things change. I did nothing, but undercut your profits. You are the one that ruined everything for yourself. Look at the clothes you have on and I bet you even live in a huge opulent estate filled with expensive things. Face the facts you got greedy and made a move against me when you surely had enough to even retire on and live comfortably for the rest of your life."
Ben shook his head with a nasty look as Godwin looked down not being able to respond because everything he heard was true. He had got so used to being the one that stood on top of the food industry for the capital that he could not stand being pushed aside.
No longer wanting to talk with the old guy and being done in the palace, Ben turned and left to head over to the market square and get everything put out for the customers that would be waiting for him to open.
Ben explained what had happened with the mercenaries and the noble Godwin Cherbella to Cordelia and she joked how she would be lonely not having him walk her home anymore. He just shook his head and laughed knowing all too well, this young woman wasn't as helpless as she appeared to be.
For the next few days, the two of them continued their regular routine at the market square. There was now only three more days left before the other employees would return to the store and they would open the doors to the public.
"This will be our final day working together in the market Cordelia. I have to leave Goldcrest for a few days and will not return until the store's grand opening."
Cordelia wistfully shook her head. "I can't believe how fast the days went by. It's hard to believe there are only three days before the reopening of the store. I had fun working here with you, but I am also excited to see what the new store will be like!" Cordelia explained excitedly.
"I had fun working with you as well and I think you will love the changes at the store. It has been completely remodeled and will have many exciting products for sale. For now, you can head home and relax for the next three days because I think we will be busy once the store opens." Ben explained.
It had now been a couple of weeks since Ben left the fortress and he wanted to head back and check on everyone before returning to the store. With a large balance of gold coins from all the sales, they made Ben locked the door and metal shutter on the store and began to cast his zoom spell alongside his store.
Out of sight of anyone who may be still on the street he had to wait a full minute until the spell activated and teleported him directly to the first floor of his keep.
He left his keep to walk down the empty streets which were now lit by the electric street lights. He had a quick recollection of Earth and how the streets were lit up at night just like this.
'What a great trip that turned out to be. Not only did I get a store, but it is one of the nicest stores in the city now and is even making a decent amount of products to support itself without relying too much on the fortress. I also came home with a plenty of money to make some improvements the fortress!'
Ben walked the streets and saw the lights inside the people's homes as they ate dinner, relaxed, or prepared for bed. He did not want to disturb them and decided to wait for the morning to check up on them all.
For now, he just enjoyed the fresh air and quiet streets while thinking of what he would build next.
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Ben and Cordelia spent another day in the market helping the continuous flow of customers that came to their stalls. At the end of the day, Ben made sure to get her home safely and went straight back to the store.
His vandal prisoners had been locked away in his basement for two days now and it was time to deal with them.
This time he went downstairs directly to the lower third floor. He knew that these guys would be hungry after only eating one bowl of stew since he locked them up, but that hunger should serve as an incentive to tell Ben what he wanted to know so that he would release them.
When he unlocked the door a foul smell was hanging in the air. The cells were never built with toilets so when the prisoners had to relieve themselves they just had to find an out-of-the-way corner.
Ben stood in the center of the room and looked from one cell to the next to gauge their attitudes before speaking. Ben looked past those that seemed to be defiant and picked out one of the guys who looked miserable.
Placing his finger on the cell door scanner it unlocked a swung open.
Ben reached down and grabbed the guy by the arm.
"You, come with me." Ben pulled the guy by the arm across the room and out the soundproof door.
Just outside the soundproof door he placed down a table and a couple chairs and had the guy sit down.
Ben asked who the man was and who his vandal friends were. He also asked who had hired them and why they were targeting his store. After repeating the questions he had asked a few times he returned the man to his cell and grabbed another prisoner to question.
Ben continued from one prisoner to the next like this while asking each of them the same questions. As he talked with each man he learned a little more about what was going on. By repeating the same questions over and over Ben would catch them in lies or they might reveal something that they had not mentioned the first time.
He was soon able to put the story together once a few of the men began to repeat the same information. It wasn't easy at first and it was clear they were all told not to talk and give up their employer. Once Ben let them know that he would keep them in those cells until he found out what he wanted they began to gradually answer his questions.
It seemed an older nobleman of the Aregard Kingdom who owned the largest farm on the outskirts of the city had been supplying local businesses with his food over the years. He had built up his farm and even bought out a few others to the point that he was the major importer of vegetables and meats to the capital.
This older noble had become extremely wealthy over the years and was at a point in his life where he no longer had any competition in the city.
Then one day Ben just appeared in the city and began to sell food that he could not compete with no matter how cheap he sold his food.
Ben had full access to these spirit foods that everyone wanted. The noble had even tried to find out where this new magical food had come from, but when he had hired people to follow Ben they could never keep up with him.
Ben would leave the city and head west at speeds no mount could match. Even still the people following him had gone as far as the next few towns and it seemed he had just vanished somewhere along the road.
Even though Ben had only begun selling his food for a few weeks this noble could tell that if things continue this way he would lose money and could not continue to run all his farms and stores.
When the noble found out Ben had bought a store in town, he grew desperate and had hired a group of experienced mercenaries who were known to take just about any type of job for the right amount of gold coins.
This noble hired them to try and turn the city against Ben by spreading rumors and vandalizing his store. If he could somehow make it look like he was associated with Remi then the people would boycott him as well.
After their first attack, they were all shocked to see his store looked perfectly fine and all his stalls that they destroyed were right back where they should be. The enraged noble did not believe they had vandalized the store and figured they were too afraid of being caught by Ben.
The mercenaries swore that they had and even made plans over the next few days to return to the store and attempt to burn it to the ground. They had no idea that the store had been completely rebuilt with concrete. The only thing that could burn in the store was the wood panels on the walls and the hardwood floors. It would not have been much of a fire and would have remained inside the building. Ben would still have had to remodel the interior but the building structure would remain perfectly sound.
Not that they even had a chance to get through the front door because they were swiftly captured before they could even start their second attack.
Ben did have a couple of the prisoners try and fight back, flee or attack him as he brought them out for questioning, but even though they were experienced combat fighters they were like little kids trying to take down a full grown man.
With his current attributes even if the people of this world were stronger than people of Earth he was still much stronger than all of them. If, Unless it was a high stage Royal Cultivator trying to fight him it would be a useless attempt. Not only was Ben a cultivator, but he was a mage who had a few spells up his sleeves that a cultivator would have trouble dealing with.
Once he had questioned them all and sifted through the lies and misinformation one name kept coming back to him. Godwin Cherbella was the wealthy noble who had hired them to drive Ben out of town. He had paid the mercenaries a considerable amount of gold coins to take on the job.
The mercs thought if they ruined Ben's name and possibly destroyed his store he would lose enough money that he could not recover from his losses and be forced to give up on trying to do business in Goldcrest.
Quietly sitting at the table outside the cell room, Ben thought of how he should deal with this problem. He wanted to find out where this noble lived and go over and tear his properties to the ground. Ben was all about the eye for an eye old testament retaliation but he may cause problems for himself and put the king in an awkward position. Even if Godwin Cherbella was a scumbag that did deserve just that, he was a noble and a wealthy influential one.
Ben decided to take his problem to the Royal Palace and ask how the king wanted this to be handled. It was beginning to get late now so he decided to wait until tomorrow to deal with it.
He quickly went back to Cordelia's house and told her that he would need to visit the Royal Palace in the morning and not to show up until noon.
For the rest of the night, he remained in the store cultivating and left for the Royal Palace when the streets just started to come alive with people heading to work or running earlier morning errands.
Ben informed the palace guards at the gate of his situation and asked them who he should speak with. They were all stunned after hearing Ben relate the story of everything that had happened.
The guards, being guards were visibly upset someone would be so bold to attempt such crimes right in the capital city. One of them decided to escort Ben into the palace and led him to one of the king's attendants. Ben had once again related his story to the attendant and was actually soon escorted to see the king himself after the attendant went off to relay what he was told.
Once again in the throne room which was now empty of nobles, Ben could talk with the king one on one. Not holding anything back, Ben told him about the painted red words, the broken door, his destroyed vendor stalls, the attempted arson, how he waited on the roof, and how he captured them. He left out the part about him using magic. Ben did not want to reveal his ability to use magic spells to anyone yet and kept it as one of his trump cards.
He told the king that he currently had them all imprisoned inside his store and had not harmed them besides leaving them nude and hungry for a couple days.
The king was visibly upset to learn one of his nobles had hired mercenaries to perform criminal actions within the capital city. Ben did see him snicker when he learned the mercenaries were all stripped down nude and tossed in cells.
The king promised Ben he would deal with this situation and had a unit of palace elite guards follow Ben back to his store to take the mercenaries into custody while another larger unit of palace guards were sent out in groups to Godwin Cherbella estate, businesses, and farms to arrest him and take control of his properties.
Ben figured that the king knew he was a wealthy merchant and what better way to help fill the royal treasury than seizing all the properties and finances of a noble accused of criminal actions. He did not let it bother knowing this would ruin Godwin Cherbella and his family. The man made his own bed and now he had to lay in it.
Over at his store, Ben asked the guards to wait upstairs and went down into the basement alone to retrieve the vandal mercenaries two at a time.
The guards occupied themselves by walking around the store and marveling at the decor and all of the interesting products they had never seen before.
Ben's prisoner had a glint of hope in their eyes when he took them by the arm upstairs thinking that they would be released from those cells until they found a squad of palace guards waiting for them upstairs.
The streets were now beginning to fill up and everyone stopped to watch as twenty-five shackled nude men were taken from the Spirit King store.
The rumors quickly spread around the city about the captured men and the story of what had happened leaked back from the Royal Palace into the city and it wasn't long until everyone found out what the noble Godwin Cherbella had done.
With time still to kill, Ben decided to follow the guards back to the palace and make sure that he was not needed by the king or his attendants for anything else.
When he was outside the throne room talking with the king's attendant an older man that he recognized was being escorted in shackles by guards directly into the throne room.
"You! You're the arrogant noble from the Agriculture and Farming Offices!" Ben exclaimed as he saw the shackled man being roughly escorted past him.
It was the same older noble who gave him the dirty looks the other day when he went to purchase land. Ben had thought the man was upset about the way he had dressed now only to find he had a grudge against him for cutting into his profits.
The older man stopped walking and responded to Ben.
"Why did you have to come to this city? You ruined everything! I had spent years expanding my business and now it is all gone." The old man said with a look of anger.
"Oh? Then what about the smaller farmers and grocers that you cut out of the picture over the years? In this life, you need to adapt and overcome when things change. I did nothing, but undercut your profits. You are the one that ruined everything for yourself. Look at the clothes you have on and I bet you even live in a huge opulent estate filled with expensive things. Face the facts you got greedy and made a move against me when you surely had enough to even retire on and live comfortably for the rest of your life."
Ben shook his head with a nasty look as Godwin looked down not being able to respond because everything he heard was true. He had got so used to being the one that stood on top of the food industry for the capital that he could not stand being pushed aside.
No longer wanting to talk with the old guy and being done in the palace, Ben turned and left to head over to the market square and get everything put out for the customers that would be waiting for him to open.
Ben explained what had happened with the mercenaries and the noble Godwin Cherbella to Cordelia and she joked how she would be lonely not having him walk her home anymore. He just shook his head and laughed knowing all too well, this young woman wasn't as helpless as she appeared to be.
For the next few days, the two of them continued their regular routine at the market square. There was now only three more days left before the other employees would return to the store and they would open the doors to the public.
"This will be our final day working together in the market Cordelia. I have to leave Goldcrest for a few days and will not return until the store's grand opening."
Cordelia wistfully shook her head. "I can't believe how fast the days went by. It's hard to believe there are only three days before the reopening of the store. I had fun working here with you, but I am also excited to see what the new store will be like!" Cordelia explained excitedly.
"I had fun working with you as well and I think you will love the changes at the store. It has been completely remodeled and will have many exciting products for sale. For now, you can head home and relax for the next three days because I think we will be busy once the store opens." Ben explained.
It had now been a couple of weeks since Ben left the fortress and he wanted to head back and check on everyone before returning to the store. With a large balance of gold coins from all the sales, they made Ben locked the door and metal shutter on the store and began to cast his zoom spell alongside his store.
Out of sight of anyone who may be still on the street he had to wait a full minute until the spell activated and teleported him directly to the first floor of his keep.
He left his keep to walk down the empty streets which were now lit by the electric street lights. He had a quick recollection of Earth and how the streets were lit up at night just like this.
'What a great trip that turned out to be. Not only did I get a store, but it is one of the nicest stores in the city now and is even making a decent amount of products to support itself without relying too much on the fortress. I also came home with a plenty of money to make some improvements the fortress!'
Ben walked the streets and saw the lights inside the people's homes as they ate dinner, relaxed, or prepared for bed. He did not want to disturb them and decided to wait for the morning to check up on them all.
For now, he just enjoyed the fresh air and quiet streets while thinking of what he would build next.
Ben and Cordelia spent another day in the market helping the continuous flow of customers that came to their stalls. At the end of the day, Ben made sure to get her home safely and went straight back to the store.His vandal prisoners had been locked away in his basement for two days now and it was time to deal with them.This time he went downstairs directly to the lower third floor. He knew that these guys would be hungry after only eating one bowl of stew since he locked them up, but that hunger should serve as an incentive to tell Ben what he wanted to know so that he would release them.When he unlocked the door a foul smell was hanging in the air. The cells were never built with toilets so when the prisoners had to relieve themselves they just had to find an out-of-the-way corner.Ben stood in the center of the room and looked from one cell to the next to gauge their attitudes before speaking. Ben looked past those that seemed to be defiant and picked out one of the guys who looked miserable.Placing his finger on the cell door scanner it unlocked a swung open.Ben reached down and grabbed the guy by the arm."You, come with me." Ben pulled the guy by the arm across the room and out the soundproof door.Just outside the soundproof door he placed down a table and a couple chairs and had the guy sit down.Ben asked who the man was and who his vandal friends were. He also asked who had hired them and why they were targeting his store. After repeating the questions he had asked a few times he returned the man to his cell and grabbed another prisoner to question.Ben continued from one prisoner to the next like this while asking each of them the same questions. As he talked with each man he learned a little more about what was going on. By repeating the same questions over and over Ben would catch them in lies or they might reveal something that they had not mentioned the first time.He was soon able to put the story together once a few of the men began to repeat the same information. It wasn't easy at first and it was clear they were all told not to talk and give up their employer. Once Ben let them know that he would keep them in those cells until he found out what he wanted they began to gradually answer his questions.It seemed an older nobleman of the Aregard Kingdom who owned the largest farm on the outskirts of the city had been supplying local businesses with his food over the years. He had built up his farm and even bought out a few others to the point that he was the major importer of vegetables and meats to the capital.This older noble had become extremely wealthy over the years and was at a point in his life where he no longer had any competition in the city.Then one day Ben just appeared in the city and began to sell food that he could not compete with no matter how cheap he sold his food.Ben had full access to these spirit foods that everyone wanted. The noble had even tried to find out where this new magical food had come from, but when he had hired people to follow Ben they could never keep up with him.Ben would leave the city and head west at speeds no mount could match. Even still the people following him had gone as far as the next few towns and it seemed he had just vanished somewhere along the road.Even though Ben had only begun selling his food for a few weeks this noble could tell that if things continue this way he would lose money and could not continue to run all his farms and stores.When the noble found out Ben had bought a store in town, he grew desperate and had hired a group of experienced mercenaries who were known to take just about any type of job for the right amount of gold coins.This noble hired them to try and turn the city against Ben by spreading rumors and vandalizing his store. If he could somehow make it look like he was associated with Remi then the people would boycott him as well.After their first attack, they were all shocked to see his store looked perfectly fine and all his stalls that they destroyed were right back where they should be. The enraged noble did not believe they had vandalized the store and figured they were too afraid of being caught by Ben.The mercenaries swore that they had and even made plans over the next few days to return to the store and attempt to burn it to the ground. They had no idea that the store had been completely rebuilt with concrete. The only thing that could burn in the store was the wood panels on the walls and the hardwood floors. It would not have been much of a fire and would have remained inside the building. Ben would still have had to remodel the interior but the building structure would remain perfectly sound.Not that they even had a chance to get through the front door because they were swiftly captured before they could even start their second attack.Ben did have a couple of the prisoners try and fight back, flee or attack him as he brought them out for questioning, but even though they were experienced combat fighters they were like little kids trying to take down a full grown man.With his current attributes even if the people of this world were stronger than people of Earth he was still much stronger than all of them. If, Unless it was a high stage Royal Cultivator trying to fight him it would be a useless attempt. Not only was Ben a cultivator, but he was a mage who had a few spells up his sleeves that a cultivator would have trouble dealing with.Once he had questioned them all and sifted through the lies and misinformation one name kept coming back to him. Godwin Cherbella was the wealthy noble who had hired them to drive Ben out of town. He had paid the mercenaries a considerable amount of gold coins to take on the job.The mercs thought if they ruined Ben's name and possibly destroyed his store he would lose enough money that he could not recover from his losses and be forced to give up on trying to do business in Goldcrest.Quietly sitting at the table outside the cell room, Ben thought of how he should deal with this problem. He wanted to find out where this noble lived and go over and tear his properties to the ground. Ben was all about the eye for an eye old testament retaliation but he may cause problems for himself and put the king in an awkward position. Even if Godwin Cherbella was a scumbag that did deserve just that, he was a noble and a wealthy influential one.Ben decided to take his problem to the Royal Palace and ask how the king wanted this to be handled. It was beginning to get late now so he decided to wait until tomorrow to deal with it.He quickly went back to Cordelia's house and told her that he would need to visit the Royal Palace in the morning and not to show up until noon.For the rest of the night, he remained in the store cultivating and left for the Royal Palace when the streets just started to come alive with people heading to work or running earlier morning errands.Ben informed the palace guards at the gate of his situation and asked them who he should speak with. They were all stunned after hearing Ben relate the story of everything that had happened.The guards, being guards were visibly upset someone would be so bold to attempt such crimes right in the capital city. One of them decided to escort Ben into the palace and led him to one of the king's attendants. Ben had once again related his story to the attendant and was actually soon escorted to see the king himself after the attendant went off to relay what he was told.Once again in the throne room which was now empty of nobles, Ben could talk with the king one on one. Not holding anything back, Ben told him about the painted red words, the broken door, his destroyed vendor stalls, the attempted arson, how he waited on the roof, and how he captured them. He left out the part about him using magic. Ben did not want to reveal his ability to use magic spells to anyone yet and kept it as one of his trump cards.He told the king that he currently had them all imprisoned inside his store and had not harmed them besides leaving them nude and hungry for a couple days.The king was visibly upset to learn one of his nobles had hired mercenaries to perform criminal actions within the capital city. Ben did see him snicker when he learned the mercenaries were all stripped down nude and tossed in cells.The king promised Ben he would deal with this situation and had a unit of palace elite guards follow Ben back to his store to take the mercenaries into custody while another larger unit of palace guards were sent out in groups to Godwin Cherbella estate, businesses, and farms to arrest him and take control of his properties.Ben figured that the king knew he was a wealthy merchant and what better way to help fill the royal treasury than seizing all the properties and finances of a noble accused of criminal actions. He did not let it bother knowing this would ruin Godwin Cherbella and his family. The man made his own bed and now he had to lay in it.Over at his store, Ben asked the guards to wait upstairs and went down into the basement alone to retrieve the vandal mercenaries two at a time.The guards occupied themselves by walking around the store and marveling at the decor and all of the interesting products they had never seen before.Ben's prisoner had a glint of hope in their eyes when he took them by the arm upstairs thinking that they would be released from those cells until they found a squad of palace guards waiting for them upstairs.The streets were now beginning to fill up and everyone stopped to watch as twenty-five shackled nude men were taken from the Spirit King store.The rumors quickly spread around the city about the captured men and the story of what had happened leaked back from the Royal Palace into the city and it wasn't long until everyone found out what the noble Godwin Cherbella had done.With time still to kill, Ben decided to follow the guards back to the palace and make sure that he was not needed by the king or his attendants for anything else.When he was outside the throne room talking with the king's attendant an older man that he recognized was being escorted in shackles by guards directly into the throne room."You! You're the arrogant noble from the Agriculture and Farming Offices!" Ben exclaimed as he saw the shackled man being roughly escorted past him.It was the same older noble who gave him the dirty looks the other day when he went to purchase land. Ben had thought the man was upset about the way he had dressed now only to find he had a grudge against him for cutting into his profits.The older man stopped walking and responded to Ben."Why did you have to come to this city? You ruined everything! I had spent years expanding my business and now it is all gone." The old man said with a look of anger."Oh? Then what about the smaller farmers and grocers that you cut out of the picture over the years? In this life, you need to adapt and overcome when things change. I did nothing, but undercut your profits. You are the one that ruined everything for yourself. Look at the clothes you have on and I bet you even live in a huge opulent estate filled with expensive things. Face the facts you got greedy and made a move against me when you surely had enough to even retire on and live comfortably for the rest of your life."Ben shook his head with a nasty look as Godwin looked down not being able to respond because everything he heard was true. He had got so used to being the one that stood on top of the food industry for the capital that he could not stand being pushed aside.No longer wanting to talk with the old guy and being done in the palace, Ben turned and left to head over to the market square and get everything put out for the customers that would be waiting for him to open.Ben explained what had happened with the mercenaries and the noble Godwin Cherbella to Cordelia and she joked how she would be lonely not having him walk her home anymore. He just shook his head and laughed knowing all too well, this young woman wasn't as helpless as she appeared to be.For the next few days, the two of them continued their regular routine at the market square. There was now only three more days left before the other employees would return to the store and they would open the doors to the public."This will be our final day working together in the market Cordelia. I have to leave Goldcrest for a few days and will not return until the store's grand opening."Cordelia wistfully shook her head. "I can't believe how fast the days went by. It's hard to believe there are only three days before the reopening of the store. I had fun working here with you, but I am also excited to see what the new store will be like!" Cordelia explained excitedly."I had fun working with you as well and I think you will love the changes at the store. It has been completely remodeled and will have many exciting products for sale. For now, you can head home and relax for the next three days because I think we will be busy once the store opens." Ben explained.It had now been a couple of weeks since Ben left the fortress and he wanted to head back and check on everyone before returning to the store. With a large balance of gold coins from all the sales, they made Ben locked the door and metal shutter on the store and began to cast his zoom spell alongside his store.Out of sight of anyone who may be still on the street he had to wait a full minute until the spell activated and teleported him directly to the first floor of his keep.He left his keep to walk down the empty streets which were now lit by the electric street lights. He had a quick recollection of Earth and how the streets were lit up at night just like this.'What a great trip that turned out to be. Not only did I get a store, but it is one of the nicest stores in the city now and is even making a decent amount of products to support itself without relying too much on the fortress. I also came home with a plenty of money to make some improvements the fortress!'Ben walked the streets and saw the lights inside the people's homes as they ate dinner, relaxed, or prepared for bed. He did not want to disturb them and decided to wait for the morning to check up on them all.For now, he just enjoyed the fresh air and quiet streets while thinking of what he would build next.
