Gamer Reborn

“Does it really need to be like this?” Ajax asked as looked on at all the gathered nobles in the imperial throne room.

“It’s a big power move for the emperor.” Anna explained. “Because the Empire can only openly trade with Gryndor and for a lot of those trade products we are only acting as intermediaries they have to spend large amounts of gold. The addition of this much gold into their market is a show of strength that dilutes the buying power of all the other nobles.”

“They have to do it like this as a show of good faith to the nobles.” Xavier also joined in. “It explains where all the gold came from and that it’s not just the royals intentionally pulling a trick on everyone else and just a lucky break they caught.”

“Thank you all for coming today.” the emperor’s voice silenced all the whispers and conversations taking place. “It’s my pleasure to share with you today the fortune of a young man many of you have heard about. Duke Ajax Hearthbound.”

The whispering started immediately as the name was announced. With every passing second as Ajax entered from the side entrance and he approached the throne the pressure continued to build like a powder keg. While most nobles had a neutral stance of Ajax, there were few who hated him and almost none who liked him.

“During his delve this week this young man came upon an unprecedented floor.” the emperor continued. “A city made entirely of gold!”

Like a lit fuse the room exploded, the silent whispers became much louder as everyone suddenly became very interested in the announcement. This only became worse when both halves of the golem were taken out of the spacial ring and presented before the court.

“I hope you plan to send an escort with us to the border.” the prince addressed Solderon as the emperor waited for the excitement to die down and the information to settle.

“That can certainly be arranged.” Solderon grinned back with a merchant’s grin.

“Wipe that smile off.” the prince said as he threw him his trademark smirk. “We won’t pay for it, either you do it or you better not complain about how we handle anyone who tries to rob us upon our departure.”

The prince’s words had the intended effect. With three whole squads present along with the prince, Solderon knew that any would-be robbers would only head towards an early grave. Usually that wouldn’t be a bad thing as nobles who would risk such an incident over gold were ones the crown would like to keep weak, the timing wasn’t good for it however. They needed as many elite combatants as they could get their hands on for their upcoming territory expansion projects, especially with the information they had received regarding the interference of the ascended races.

“While this young man is entitled by our agreements to keep anything he gains from the delve outside of national resources as stated in the deal that granted him the delve, he has decided to honor the tax the Empire places on all adventurers.” Ajax had to push his social skills as hard as he could to keep his face from showing the surprise he felt as the emperor started spinning his tale. “20% of the treasure, about one leg from the mid thigh down has been accepted.”

At those words one of the royal guards unsheathed his sword and with a precise cut that most of the audience couldn’t even track the leg in question was separated. The royal advisor then placed all of Ajax’s gold back in the spacial ring before publicly returning it to him.

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“As a show of thanks for his honor and character the crown has granted him another delve in ...” Ajax stopped listening to the king’s words and instead focused on how the nobles were reacting to the news.

It was easy to see that a number of them saw through the charade, while the king was making a big show of how generous both him and Ajax were and how close the future powerhouse was with the imperial family the trade was obvious. Another delve in their lesser dungeon for 20% of the gold and no problems regarding the obtained loot.

“You realize the emperor just screwed you.” Anna whispered to both the prince and Xavier.

“How?” Xavier asked.

“What?” the prince asked, though from the shit eating grin he now saw back on Solderon’s face he knew that Anna was right.

“The deal we made at the dungeon wasn’t written down.” Anna explained. “He just publicly announced that Ajax willingly paid this as a tax, the laws of Gryndor take into account any taxes paid on goods obtained in other kingdoms to allow merchants to make a solid profit.”

This was where the emperor’s genius really showed. While the heads of important houses would be able to see past the clear twisting of events they would also put together that the emperor just saved Ajax literal pile of gold upon his return to Gryndor, something that would solidify a strong relationship between the rising ducal House and the imperial family. More than anything they probably also saw through Ajax’s social skills and were aware he was taken aback by the announcement this was a gift from the emperor.

It was now Xavier and the prince’s turn to play up their frustrations. In reality neither of them cared a lick about Ajax not paying taxes on this pile of gold. His ability to reliably harvest select items from dungeons and lead parties to favorable floors would more than make up for any upfront infusion of gold. Anna’s words had been intended to ensure everyone was aware of the Empire’s move.

A celebratory party followed the announcement. With the golden leg standing in the center of the throne room for all to admire. With the emperor’s support behind Ajax almost every noble in attendance made it their mission to approach him, many of them looking to secure a trade agreement so they could also gain an infusion of gold to their own coffers.

It was here that the emperor’s plan slightly backfired on him. He could only watch with a forced smile on his face as Lexi and Anna clearly favored the more progressive nobles of the Empire, Ajax’s input on the deals themselves was tangential at best. One thing he did put in for was any abundant cheap resource that was more exclusive to the empire.

“Why the focus on abundant cheap resources?” Anna asked him after they departed from the palace. The deals Anna had made spent the remaining half a thigh and half a hip from the golem in exchange for goods that Ajax would need to settle his duchy, with all payment to be made upon delivery of the goods to his lands.

“I plan to experiment with them.” Ajax said honestly. “Because of how isolated the Empire trading is it means that any goods seen as worthless aren’t really traded.”

“The reason they are useless is because they have already checked if they are good for anything.” Anna countered. “The first thing you look for as a landed nobles is a use for anything plentiful in your lands.”

“They didn’t check if they are good in combination with other cheap and plentiful resources from other kingdoms.” Ajax explained. “They might be useless on their own but who knows what they could do if added to other similar resources found in the Republic or Sylvanthal.”

Ajax planned to raise a number of alchemists to satisfy the demand for cement, he was now looking for any other novelty product those same alchemists could use to train their skills on while also providing further exports for his duchy.

The following morning Ajax was joined by Xavier, Lexi and Anna as they stood in front of the dungeon. While the deal technically only mandated that Ajax was able to delve it seemed the Empire was looking to change the details slightly.

“Why is he going with us?” Ajax asked as he eyed the Empire champion.

“A second dungeon break of such a magnitude in the same week is not something we want.” Zilfallon answered honestly much to Solderon’s displeasure. “ Prince Xavier, Lady Manashaper and Lady Goldmancer as well as any one of your guards are welcome to accompany you as well. We’ll just rather avoid another dungeon break by having Clark here clear the last floor.”

Clark was the youngest of the Empire’s champions, Ajax hadn’t used his inspections skills on him but from what the prince said they were about the same in terms of strength and all two of the three squad leaders they had with them somewhat countered his skills set. Either of them would be more than enough to easily put the man down if he tried something inside the dungeon.

“Alright.” Ajax agreed, since he wasn’t pushing that far into the dungeon it wasn’t like he would be showcasing his full power. He was slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to choose his floors or that he would have to forfeit the bodies of the kills he made on these floors to keep his ability a secret but that was a price he was willing to pay in order to give his friends and lover another two floors worth of stats. Like him they had also delved this dungeon five years ago while boosted, without the ability to select their foe none of them were confident in fighting a level seventy four so they would have to limit themselves to only a two floor gain the same as Ajax.