Jaden entered Emily’s mansion quietly with a smile on his face, but the moment he entered, he felt another presence inside.
His guard immediately rose, and his movements became more cautious. As he opened the door of the mansion and entered, he found Emily sitting on the couch in front of a young man. Of course, Jaden recognized the person; after all, William was now quite famous.
Before he could ask anything else, his slave mark buzzed and made him realize that William was his master.
Jaden moved on his own and came to kneel abruptly in front of William, who sat relaxed with one leg crossed over another.
"You can relax," William said with a smile and ordered Jaden to take a seat beside Emily.
Jaden sat down nervously as the implications of William being the Eternal Sovereign settled in. He was baffled, to be honest, since the whole situation was so absurd. His master was the same age as his younger brother.
As he remembered the broadcast from a few days ago, understanding settled on him.
William clearly sensed the curiosity and confusion in both of them, and so he spoke up.
"I know there are a lot of things that both of you don’t understand right now; I’ll have Delta explain everything that’s confusing you."
Jaden and Emily nodded at once. Now Emily, who had been quiet, suddenly asked, "My lord, since you are here, is it finally time to start the business venture that Miss Delta talked about?"
William nodded. He then looked at Jaden and said, "I have come to discuss the trade deal with Duke Rizwell. I want the Draconis family to oversee the Infinity Guild’s operations in the Riverdale Empire."
He then looked at Emily. "I think Delta must have told you, but I intend for Emily to be assigned the position of guild master."
Jaden and Emily nodded; a nervous expression crossed Emily’s face as she was about to shoulder such a huge responsibility.
Jaden, meanwhile, was happy for Emily; he smiled and nodded at William’s words.
William then told Jaden to prepare a meeting with Duke Rizwell; of course, he intended to meet the duke with a disguised identity as someone from the Eternal Sovereign’s cult.
Both Jaden and Emily realized this instinctively and knew what they had to do.
William also told Emily to complete her evaluation quickly and get certified by the education instructor of Draconia House.
After that, she would have an official educational certification from the Draconis family, reputed enough to elevate her status a bit and make people take her seriously.
Since the world now knew a bit about the eternal sovereign cult, William was not worried even if Emily was traced back to his cult; in fact, that would be better, as it would ward off hostile players that were weaker than the perceived strength of his cult.
And since the cult had appeared after the battle for the Eternal Sun Empire, and since it was clear that they had supported William, it would not be strange if people thought that William or his whole Empire was connected to the cult.
All of this subtle signaling had been intentional as William felt it was truly time for a new authority to take over the continent and replace the void left by the Astral Warden Council.
But for a small time, William would still officially not showcase any backing and strength; it was not his decision but Anastasia’s. She wanted to lure prey into her trap, and that is why both the mother and son duo had started leaving bait.
Soon, the map will change again.
William shook his head again and disappeared from Emily’s mansion, giving Jaden the task of arranging a meeting with Duke Rizwell.
For now, he changed his clothes and face a bit; using shapeshifting, he thinned his physique and walked outside into the streets of Riverdale.
He changed his clothes, keeping in mind the economic environment of the part of the city he was walking in.
First, he started with the richest 1st circle and explored all the premium merchants’ stores and auction houses to observe the market of Riverdale closely.
Money was not an issue; once he flashed a light stone before them, they swarmed around him like hungry dogs, their eyes were filled with greed as they realised that a special customer with a fat budget had arrived.
They happily showcased all their products to him and answered all his questions, which helped him get a deep understanding of the market, since he had Emily’s heavenly merchant talent in his arsenal. It did not take him long to identify critical gaps in the market and opportunities to break long-standing monopolies.
He did not feel hesitant at all; when he was a small chocolate vendor, it was not like greedy pigs like these had let him live in peace. Now that he had bigger pockets and opportunities, he would do the same, especially in the luxurious markets.
He intended to bring market uniformity, low subsidized prices, and introduce mass production in this world; his domain of infinite and time dilation would be a game changer.
William happily purchased some products that interested him and the markets that he intended to monopolize first.
Seeing William pay extravagant prices for a product, these merchants grinned like they had earned big time; little did they know this man was going to throw them out of business soon.
He repeated this pattern in every circle of the city, assessing different economic classes and their purchases while also checking out products.
The time he had spent in the capital, he had some limited idea about how things worked in the city, so it was not difficult to navigate.
In just a few minutes, he was in the third circle of the city, where normal people lived who earned through jobs and labor.
His attire changed accordingly, and since William’s familiarity with this part of the city was already high, he dropped the intention to research the market and walked towardhouse to greet her.
Once he reached there, he was surprised since he found old lady Su’s dead body inside the house.
His jaws clenched in grief and anger.
There was a whole fucking slum with thousands of people outside, but no one cared to even bury her; she was an old lady with no one in the world.
Due to the presence of mana, the bodies deteriorated later than those of humans on Earth, and since everyone awakened in this world, even non-cultivators had some mana in their bodies. The smell of her body was not strong enough to reach the outside world; William understood that.
But the fact that nobody remembered her to pay a visit or came to visit her home after she died indicated how lonely her life must have been. William himself was a culprit in this.
William sighed and sat beside her lifeless body. His empty gaze shifted toward the crate beneath the bed.
"She must have had a life full of stories that she wanted someone to hear; she was a human after all, and must have had all types of experiences in the world. The fact that no one will remember her after this..."
[you will]
Orion spoke in his mind, making him chuckle dryly. "Yes, I will."
With his left leg dangling because of his altered height, his legs struck the wooden crate slightly as he was deeply lost in his own thoughts.
The wooden crate clanked and made a metallic sound.
"hmm...?"
William slid out the wooden box from under the bed, only to see the chocolates and gold coins that he had gifted her the last time remaining intact and untouched.
There was a small note placed on top of the packed items.
It read.
"Little Will, I tried to eat these chocolates, but they taste like sticky-sweet mud in my mouth. Forgive me, but I can’t eat this crystallized mud with sugar. If you are reading this, then that means this wretched illness has won. If it isn’t too much to ask, I hope you can bury me in the earth of Opera Town. That is where my daughter is buried."
William kept his head down, his lips pressed together, and he looked at the dusty ceiling filled with cracks and webs.
".....if only I could...go back in time..." he muttered aimlessly before folding the note back and keeping it in his inventory.
He then carried the lady’s dead body and placed it inside the domain of the infinite; the day he goes to Opera Town, he will personally complete her burial there.
He looked around with a deep breath; there were some things she had left behind. He put everything in his inventory to bury with her body later and then vanished from this place.