A Demon's Journey

However, the herb was currently in the possession of the kingdom\'s royal family, presenting a daunting challenge to Laura\'s quest. Nevertheless, her resolve remained unwavering, for her younger brother\'s life hung in the balance, and she was determined to save him at any cost.

Fortunately, Laura\'s royal status as the princess of the Elven Kingdom afforded her considerable power and influence, as she had awakened the rare bloodline of the ancient elven queen.

This bloodline bestowed upon her the ability to sense the location of her Elven Kingdom and send them a signal for aid.

Laura knew that her mother would come to her aid with the strength of the elves, and the Mysterious Jade Spirit Ginseng would be within their grasp.

However, Laura was not in a hurry to act, for she also had to consider her lover, who had entrusted her and her comrades with the formidable task of rescuing him.

In this task, all of Azaroth\'s retainers would require great influence, and Laura knew that now that she was in the Kingdom of Cemetia, it would be best to spread out her network.

The easiest way to accomplish that was by setting up large scale businesses.

She chose talents among the people from the slum area while introducing them all to individuals whom she was interacting with for the past few days.

It was just a group of seven women who had found Laura near the shores, adrift by the waves of the ocean.

Laura informed them that she wished to set up a trade union which would conduct trade about everything. She had already seen an example of that working in the Sinyalian Kingdom.

But the execution part was a bit challenging.

Laura had to get the permits in a particular town before setting up a building for business.

However, it was good that Laura had lots of wealth considering she had helped her fair share of people in the Glerian Kingdom as the leader of the Noble Guardians.

Many people would donate generously to her faction so that they could continue to do the good work.

It was surprising just how greatly the people were willing to donate for such a service. Perhaps it was because such an act caused them to feel good about themselves.

In any case, Laura had acquired a lot of wealth, so she was running around, setting up businesses in the entire Kingdom of Cemetia.

Naturally, her movements caught the attention of the local gangs and even some sects. After all, the wealth she had spent was astronomical. And there didn\'t seem to be any signs that she would stop.

Within just three months, Laura had bought business location in about every major city of the Kingdom of Cemetia, even a couple of prosperous towns.

Soon came the goods and the business began.

Sirena\'s parents, one of the seven women who found Laura ashore, had helped Laura come into contact with local blacksmiths.

Laura\'s organization, the Trade Union, would buy the weapons directly from the blacksmiths and deliver that stuff across all her branches one by one.

If the weapon gets sold, well enough. But if the weapon can\'t be sold, it would be returned to the blacksmith to recycle it and use the materials to create some other sword with another design.

Another thing that the Trade Union sold from the start is clothing. She discovered some local talents in the city who were creating unique designs with rather rugged material.

She hired them the next day and informed them to create their set of teams focused on creating designs for clothing. Once a few designs were completed, they soon began the process of manufacturing.

This clothing business was a huge success, especially among the ladies.

Once this trend began, the Noble Families and even members of the Royal Family became clients of the Trade Union.

At this moment, the other merchant guilds could see how quickly the Trade Union was growing.

Actually, it wasn\'t their fault. After all, the Trade Union had created a significant boom by launching all its stores in all major cities at the same time.

It was as if the individual who launched this organization possessed immeasurable wealth!

However, the other merchant guilds soon collaborated and hired mercenaries to target the caravans carrying the Trade Union\'s deliveries.

Laura naturally came to know of this information. She frowned and wondered what she should do.

Thus, she decided to contact Sargan and Yrellea. She was sure the two would have the solution to her problem. And sure enough, they did.

Thus, a couple of shocking events occurred in the upcoming days.

Huge taxes were levied upon the merchant guilds that had collaborated to act in the Trade Union\'s way. In fact, many influential members of the guilds had been captured by the authorities.

When the guild tried to investigate the matter, they discovered the reason.

It appeared that the owner of the Trade Union had informed the Noble Families about these mercenary attacks.

The Trade Union\'s owner had even set up a deal with the Noble Families. They would provide a special credit to the Noble Families as lords of their region if they could deal with the other merchant guilds.

This meant a priority in getting a special weapon, dresses, and even special discounts.

Once these merchant guilds were getting weaker, Laura took action swiftly as she expanded the range of items the Trade Union trafficked.

Even the raw materials of the herbs, the raw ores, resources, raw vegetables and fruits, and many other things.

While this was going on, Laura also set up a small information network in each city that would report to some of her chosen subordinates, who would report to her.

Yrellea had actually suggested her to have a couple of subordinates keep watch over her second-in-command. If she messes up or tries something clever, Laura had to find out immediately.

This was a good idea, so Laura informed her three members of her team of the incentives of ratting out a traitor. Naturally, she informed them individually, not collectively, as she didn\'t want them to know there was another individual she had asked to keep watch for a traitor.

However, just as Laura\'s organization was expanding nicely, she came across a grave news.

The Monarch had discovered all three herbs and his experts were on the move to grab hold of the final herb.

Once the Monarch acquires this herb, he could easily create a paste by mixing all the herbs and finally ingest the Mysterious Jade Spirit Ginseng.

Laura was caught in a dilemma. She could summon her Elven Kingdom immediately and snatch the herb from the Monarch. However, this would mean compromising on her organization that was still developing.

She didn\'t want to do that.

Thus, she asked Sargan for assistance.

Sargan gave her two words of advice, "Create chaos."

That advice certainly struck home for Laura as she understood what he meant.

The next person she contacted was her subordinate who was currently leading the Noble Guardians group.

She informed her, "Spread the news that the Monarch of the Cemetia Kingdom will be on the Silver Moon Mountain. Also, notify the General stationed near the borders of the Cemetia Kingdom of the weak points that I inform you."

And thus…flames of war spread over the land between the Cemetia Kingdom and the Sinyalian Kingdom!