Lowly Ascent

The mayor of Carc worked in the town hall; he was a busy and driven man. Many of the citizens had a high opinion of him.

 He was a kind and intelligent leader.

Mayor Lugh would usually never take an appointment unless it was important. But the mysterious proprietor of the Obsidian group raised his curiosity. He ended up granting him an audience to meet during one of his few breaks in the day.

The city hall was located near the city center and was not extravagant but focused purely on efficiency.

The building looked like it followed every safety regulation to the letter and even went above and beyond. For one, there were stairs to the main doors with a ramp for the physically impaired to the side which was rare in any city.

Inside was an orderly check-in area.

Once Cain confirmed his appointment, he was taken through the rest of the city hall. For a big city, the city hall wasn't as big as Cain thought. But on the way to Lugh's office, all he saw were people diligently working.

He noted that Lugh must be a good leader or at least could give good motivational speeches with all the work these people were doing with smiles still on their faces.

The paperwork on every desk was enough to reach his ankles. Astoundment was even more evident on Cain's face when he entered the mayor's office and saw stacks of paper that could go up to his knees!

It was supposed to be his break, but Mayor Lugh kept working, scanning the documents and stamping where needed or signing something else. He worked like a machine that had no off switch, autonomously working, not even realizing Cain had entered.

"Ahem, sir, Mr. Cain of the Obsidian Group is here to see you."

Lugh raised his gaze from his desk. Cain could see a man with short black hair and light brown eyes with dark bags underneath.

"Oh, I forgot. Forgive me, Mr. Cain. I have been working tirelessly lately to improve the quality of life for the citizens. I recently found an improper tax document, so I have been pulling all-nighters to fix the issue and return wrongly taken tax money back to the citizens."

Lugh stood up. He was taller than Cain, and only now could Cain see his muscular body.

Lugh looked as if he was built to crush skulls with one hand! The mayor could be considered a giant; his body was huge!

It wasn't even slightly funny. The man in front of him didn't have the genes of a human! He was a giant!

"M-Mr. Lugh, did you perhaps have a serum to increase your body size?"

"Hmm? Oh! No, no, no. I was born with a strong body, though I only became this fit because of years of training when I was young. I have also never taken a serum. I don't think they are good for the body."

Lugh spoke in a formal yet respectful tone, his demeanor completely throwing Cain off.

"I see... I wanted to meet you to form a deal with the city. Are you willing to hear my proposition?"

Cain and Lugh spent a few minutes going over an outline of a contract between the city and the Obsidian Trading Group.

The contract stated that the city of Carc would protect and support the Obsidian Group's interests as long as its headquarters stayed in Carc.

But the real exchange was in the black market. Cain found that the deal between the city and the underground wasn't as shallow as it seemed.

Through some digging, Cain found the mayor used to be the son of one of the underground crime bosses.

This was an important factor, It gave Cain an edge. 

The crime organizations would regularly trade with the city for food and supplies in exchange for some items and materials coming through the black market, such as research equipment or even serums and viruses.

Carc was a hub for crime in the West, the biggest collection of criminals, and many people would go to the underground city to sell things otherwise banned or monitored elsewhere.

Lugh took advantage of this and obtained some materials and resources for the city, he would take these illegal items and put them to use in helping the city in one way or another.

Cain was stunned that Lugh was so selfless.

The gentleman only had the city and its people in his mind, which gave Cain a sense of respect for him.

But this didn't stop Cain from adding some things to the contract between the two of them. 

"You seemed to have done research. I must say this seems more like blackmail...." Lugh frowned.

"It's simply business Mayor. I have no other cards that would guarantee this agreement. I apologize for the underhanded play."

"It's fine, what you're giving in exchange is far more worth a few baubles."

The deal between them stated that Cain would request certain things from Lugh at a discounted price. In exchange, Cain would create funds for multiple charities and build facilities for the homeless, orphans, etc.

In Cain's mind, this was a steal. He could build his credibility and favor with the people while also having access to the underground market through a secure channel that couldn't be traced back to him.

Lugh was very happy with this arrangement. Due to his upbringing, he always had a flair for business.

The mayor knew Cain was mysterious but, more importantly, talented in business and knew how to take advantage of someone while also not upsetting them.

Cain gave Lugh the demeanor to seek profits as well as the determination to calculate and take risks.

Although the caravans hadn't come back yet, Lugh decided to look at the public records of the company and saw they were already making money through a service offered to local businesses.

This service was delivering things from within the city.

Examples of this would be workers hauling steel from a steelwork factory on the edges of town to a construction site in the inner part of the city. They also did jobs as small as delivering food when manpower was free.

Cain got this idea from a similar system in Free City. Its sheer size was enormous, and many companies in different areas acted similarly.

With this, Cain wouldn't have to worry about not making profits while waiting for the caravans to come back, and this business could expand and be monopolized as he hired more workers to take up these jobs.

Surprisingly there weren't many companies or groups doing such profitable business. The Kingdom seemed more backwater than the Empire and Union in this aspect. 

The two quickly signed the contract.

With the deal made, Cain happily set off and left the mayor to his mountain of paperwork. Now that he had what he wanted, Cain headed back to his organization's headquarters.

He had already made his requests from Lugh, specifically a set of high-grade equipment and a variety of different bacteria. The bacteria were easy to find, and Cain could turn them into viruses with time. However, without the equipment, he couldn't start anything.

Mayor Lugh had warned Cain about the rarity of such high-grade items. He would be lucky to get a single piece of equipment, not to mention a whole set.

Acquiring everything would take time, but Cain was willing to wait.

He had all the time in the world as he meditated and trained non-stop in his free time.