25 Chapter 25

"P-princess, I think you may have m-misunderstood something." The prostitute said.

Renner didn't respond. Inside, she was only wondering what kind of game the woman before her was playing.

Was she trying to waste time? Was she waiting for something to happen? Did she have a plan for a situation like this? But before she could give answer to those questions, Hilma continued.

"The truth is… I work for Satoru. I manage Seven Hands for him."

After Hilma's statement, silence descended in the room. Renner's brain was working in overdrive, so many things went into place at the same time.

Normally, she would doubt such claims, but this development would explain so many things she didn't understand in the last months.

First, the capital's streets were cleaned free of any homeless person.

Second, the former Eight Fingers went into hiding and seemed to totally change their moves without any inputs from the outside.

Third, the Noble Faction went quieter at the official meetings. They apparently lost a lot of their income from their dealings with Eight Fingers.

At first, Renner thought something happened between the two but as time went on, it became apparent that the one who ended their relationship was the criminal organization.

Without Eight Fingers' protection, many of the Noble Faction's dirty and illegal dealings went to light, causing many problems and a lot of money passed hands to try and cover everything.

Returning to reality, the princess tried to hide her shock and compose herself.

"When exactly… did this happen?" She asked emotionlessly.

"Around three months ago. Eight Fingers tried to make him submit to them… it didn't end well for them to say the least." Said the now ex-prostitute.

Her tensed body seemed to have relaxed a bit after seeing Renner not losing her composure.

Everything now clicked together in Renner's head.

In the last weeks, she thought she was losing control over the situation, but the truth was that she simply lacked this information and of course didn't consider it while trying to understand what was happening.

In that moment, a new realization greeted her mind.

Satoru already had a great deal of influence over the Adventurer's Guild, so much that even adventurer groups from other cities came here to buy his magic items.

Now he had full control over the Seven Hands, which meant control over half of the Kingdom by itself.

To add to that, he joined the Merchant Guild more than a month ago and gained the title of Master of Magic, giving him a seat with the other leaders of the guild as their peer.

In short, he was probably on par, if not superior, to the Six Great Nobles. Only the King was above him right now, and the funniest thing was that no one had a clue about any of it. Renner smirked internally at the realization.

'Truly, how could I love any lesser man than him? If I believed in fate, I would say our meeting was a destined one. Truly a worthy man to pursue… the only one capable of understanding me… my Satoru. But still, what kind of power did you need to make such a ruthless organization submit?' She wondered.

{A few days later}

{Satoru's P.O.V.}

When Satoru left the meeting room, the sun was already descending toward the horizon.

He sighed. This meeting honestly took a lot out of him.

He knew that with time, he could avoid going to most meetings, but he had just joined and needed to know how things worked.

He needed to know what kind of people he was dealing with.

He must say, he wasn't disappointed. It was clear that most of the Branch Masters had earned their places.

They were as cunning as any good merchant should be. They knew when to act and when to watch.

There were 8 Branch Masters composing the Council of Masters.

The Master of Metal who dealt with the Kingdom's blacksmiths.

The Master of Carts who was in charge of all the transportation businesses.

The Master of Wood who had all the woodcrafters under him.

The Master of Luxury who dealt with all the various luxurious goods.

The Master of Paper who managed all types of objects based around paper, like books, but not magical scrolls.

The Master of Bricks who was in charge of all the businesses regarding construction.

The Master of Bread who dealt with all the businesses selling food and beverages.

The final and newest Master was Satoru himself, the Master of Magic.

At the moment, he had no one under his wing, but he understood that this didn't make any other Master think less of him considering how much money he moved alone.

Goldfinger has been invaluable these last few weeks in guiding him through the various inner workings of the guild. How to interact with his fellow masters and the ones he shouldn't antagonize.

For the first time since he arrived in this world, Satoru felt a little bit of familiarity towards something.

He didn't miss his old world of course, but the similarities between this guild and the various companies in his world helped him become more confident.

To add to his joy, he also discovered that his undead summons would not disappear if created using a corpse; at first he feared he would constantly have to replace his guards over Seven Hands, he was very surprised to say the least when he still felt their link even after their summon time expired.

Not like he didn't have a more pressing matter to think about. A few days ago, Hilma told him about the Princess' visit and their exchange.

While the thought of the small princess protecting him warmed Satoru's non-existent heart, the thought of her knowing about his takeover bothered him.

After all, she was a princess of the kingdom. She had a certain degree of obligation towards it.

Ordinarily, Satoru would worry more about the fact that she was a child, but he came to accept months ago that the princess was far more mature than most adults.

She gave him proof of this many times during their talks about the politics and factions in the Kingdom.

She was what most would call a prodigy, but unfortunately the society she grew up in expected her only to be silent and pretty.

Sometimes he could feel the frustration caused by her situation from her tone. He was happy that she had found someone willing to listen to her, namely him.

He didn't dare to think what would have become of her if she continued to accumulate all that frustration for years and years.

With that mind of hers, she could easily bring down hell upon anyone she wanted to.

Not to say that he didn't enjoy her childish side. She was still quite adorable the few times she pouted or when she didn't show him that demonic smile of hers.

All his doubts were relieved in the few visits after the revelation about Seven Hands.

Renner didn't seem to mind at all that he was the leader of the greatest criminal organization in the Kingdom.

Hell, she even helped Hilma with some problems and offered to pull some strings at court.

He knew she didn't hold much love for her Kingdom but this was still very unsettling.

Satoru even asked himself if she hated her own Kingdom.

With these thoughts, he entered his shop. Behind the counter was Hilma, probably still busy counting the money his shop made that day.

"Good evening Satoru, I hope everything went well." She greeted him with her usual smile.

The magic caster internally smiled. He was happy with how things turned out. Hilma was a good co-worker and a funny person when she wanted to be.

Satoru didn't have such a good experience with past co-workers, so this was refreshing for him.

He actually began to appreciate the time they spent together and the long hours he spent inside his shop didn't feel so lonely anymore.

While his emotions were dulled, he could still feel some sort of gratitude toward the woman.

"Yes indeed, how was your day?" He asked.

She sighed.

"Nothing new, but there is someone who wants to see you. He arrived here a few hours ago and even when I explained to him that you were at a meeting, he insisted on waiting for you here. I left him in the living room upstairs." She explained.

Satoru tensed a little inside. He hoped to conclude this day quickly, but apparently this would not be the case.

"Who is it?" He asked in a low voice.

"The Guildmaster of the Magician Guild." Hilma whispered back.

****

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