Urter in the back already had a headache. None of them thought Miorich would come to Violet City, so they were not prepared. The house of previous citymaster was burnt down, and city hall was half destroyed, so they could not take the guests there. Anfey’s house was still under construction; the police department was too worn; his house was not in good condition. Urter could not think of an appropriate place for Miorich to stay.
Iliverny reminded Urter of the garrison residence. As the highest ranking official of the local military garrison in Violet City, Master Sam had secretly left after he got the news that Shansa Empire was about to invade Violet City. He even took the time to take more than half of his wealth with him. The garrison residence was tall, big and clean, so it had became the command post of Shansa Empire. Compared with other government buildings, it was damaged the least.
Urter immediately asked Iliverny to take some patrols to the garrison residency through the back roads to tidy it up first. He also sent over a dozen patrolmen to go to the garrison residence to clear the traffic and lead the way for the guests. He also ordered two patrols to go to the Garden Hotel and few other larger-scale hotels and restaurants to recruit chefs, waitresses and maids in Anfey’s name. These chefs, waitresses and maids needed to go to the garrison residence as fast as they could. He also sent a few people to book all the rooms from the few large hotels in the city. They also needed to clear the hotels and make new arrangements for hotel guests to other hotels. Of course, Anfey was responsible for all the costs. Last but not least, he sent people to buy liquor, meat, fruits and vegetables, plates, bowls, kitchen utensils, seasonings and other stuff. The soldiers took Urter’s order and started to run to get so many things done in time. As they were already half a street away, Urter sent people to call them back and added six hundred blankets and two hundred tents to the list. This was his plan B. If the bodyguard squad of Miorich did not want to go to other places and insisted on staying in the garrison residence, blankets and tents would become handy. He could not buy them a minute before they needed them.
Violet City had been economically desolated after the war. This purchase was the biggest business for the business owners in the service industry.
Urter gave many different orders, while Anfey just stood by and watched Urter give out orders. He had to admit that the saying, "different professions specialize in different areas" was right. If Anfey gave orders as the citymaster, he would have forgotten many things. Maybe he would not know to shop for food until soldiers were hungry. Maybe he would not remember that there was no military inventory in Violet City until those bodyguard squads needed to sleep. It would not kill Anfey if he messed a few things up, but it would make everyone doubt Anfey’s ability.
A patrolman walked two horses out. Anfey jumped on one of them and gave an eye to Christian to signal him to come over and he had something to tell him. Niya in the back yelled, "There are still two ladies here. You are so rude."
Suzanna nudged Niya with a smile. She held her hand out to try to help her get on the horse. Niya shook her head. "I can do it. I am just not happy that he never thinks of girls first." When they were on the run, Anfey was the leader and Niya had to listen to him. She could not show her attitude, even she was mad at Anfey. Now she was back to her hometown. She felt she had people she could fall back on. Therefore, she dared to talk to Anfey that way.
Anfey smiled bitterly. He turned to Christian and asked, "Where are they? Are they waiting for us at Blackania City now?"
"They came too," Christian answered.
"Did they all come?" Anfey asked.
"Of course, we will be your cheerleaders," Niya said proudly.
"It must be your idea, right?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, right," Niya said.
Anfey shrugged. Anfey actually felt relieved to see Niya act the way she did. Niya had been in low spirits when she was on the run. Anfey worried people would think he did not treat her well if her acquaintances saw her. Niya immediately acted the way she was before once they entered Maho Empire. It was actually really nice.
In order to buy Anfey some more time, and also to showcase Anfey, a dozen patrolmen in the front leading the way had walked around the whole city with the instruction of Urter. When the guests entered the garrison residence, those patrolmen were exhausted. They had run around crazily. They had to clear up anything on the street, keep civilians off the streets, run to the front to remind civilians about safety. Others may only walk one lap around the city, but they had run around for a few rounds.
The Garrison residence used to be quiet, but it became hustle and bustle today. People were running around to take trash out, clean rooms, move liquor barrels in, organize the tables and chairs, talking here and there in small groups. While they saw the patrols who lead the way had already entered garrison residence, they suddenly became quiet. People were busy running around retreated to the back of the garrison residence.
There was one thing Urter missed. He asked those patrolmen to negotiate the prices with retail sellers on their own, and set the salaries for the chefs, waitresses, and maids. He did set a bottom line for the patrols to follow. If the retail sellers were across the bottom line, they could force those sellers to obey. Unexpectedly, the patrols did not run into any trouble. Even when they gave a very low price to start their bargaining, those sellers agreed with the prices right away.
The saying, "there must be benefits to waking up early" was right. Businesspeople were driven by profits. However, people could forget about making profits for a short time as the social environment or personal experiences changed. People in Violet City were still experiencing the aftermath of war. Those businesspeople definitely felt the pain without protection in the war. No one respected their ownership of personal property. On top of having meals without paying, even when they had their doors closed, those Shansa Empire soldiers still could break down the door to take anything they wanted. If they were caught by the supervisors on watch, all they got was being scolded. Anything taken from them were never returned. Sometimes, their supervisors lead those soldiers to rob them.
Even though they had heard of Anfey’s achievements and victories, personally, Anfey was still a far reach for them. They did know about General Miorich. If Miorich did not come to Blackania City with his bodyguard squad, Blackania City could have fallen. The problem of Blackania City was solved by General Miorich. If this had not happened, Shansa Empire would have had no problem with military supplies, which would have ensured they could attack more cities from different directions. If this was the case, their dream of going back to the empire would be hopeless.
Because of General Miorich, their long suffering was replaced with some short-term losses. The Shansa Empire military was defeated and retreated out of Blackania City. When they heard those patrols were buying stuff for General Miorich, those greedy businesspeople forgot about their profits for the moment and agreed on the lowest prices without any hesitation. Some of them even volunteered their maids to help.
Miorich made some hand gestures, and then about twenty of the knights followed him in. The rest of the knights stayed outside. As Miorich slowly walked to the living room, Niya walked in the front, followed by Anfey and his crew.
The tables and chairs in the living room had been cleaned. There was a chair at the center with over ten long tables put together on both sides. A few girls dressed in maid uniforms were setting the tables. Miorich suddenly frowned and turned around to scan the room. Urter hurried over and said, "General, is there anything wrong?"
"Find me a quiet place. I need to talk to them first," Miorich said.
"Sure, sure, please follow me." Urter walked to the side door.
Anfey was looking at the living room as Niya pushed hard on his back. Niya laughed and said loudly, "Uncle Miorich has many questions for you. Don’t you want to run away? Hurry up."
Anfey stumbled. He should not make a fool of himself with his martial art skills, but he was helpless when he dealt with Niya. Miorich was here, Anfey dared not to use any strategies to ask Niya to behave.
Niya was the only one who dared to talk aloud and joke around in front of Miorich. Anfey believed that he would make fewer mistakes if he talked less. Suzanna had been quiet in front of the strangers. Others were even quieter, without a doubt. Niya just seemed normal to Miorich. Niya would act the same way no matter whether she was in front of Miorich or Yolanthe.
Yolanthe and Saul had the relationship as king and follower in public, but they were more like friends outside of public eyes. Yolanthe did not have a daughter and treated Niya as his own daughter. In addition, his third oldest son received an estate outside the capital, the oldest prince and second oldest prince of Maho Empire had treated Niya as their little sister. In other words, Niya was spoiled.
Miorich turned around with a smile and glanced at Anfey. He followed after Urter and walked straight ahead. Anfey walked behind them and felt a little nervous. He pulled Niya’s sleeves and asked in a low voice, "What questions will Miorich ask me?"
"The questions I have always wanted to ask." Niya leaned her head back and smiled.
"Me too," Black Eleven said.
"Do you know what Miorich will ask me?" Anfey could not help turning his eyes to Black Eleven. Black Eleven had been with Anfey for a quite period of time. When Miorich started the fight with Anfey, Black Eleven fought with him. A person who had been kept away from secrets would have no idea what questions Miorich would ask.
"Those few normal questions," Black Eleven smiled. "Where is your family? Where did you learn martial art skills from?"
"I want to know the answers to those questions as well," Suzanna said, smiling.
"These questions are nothing special. Why didn’t you guys ask me before?" Anfey said.
"You always act like…who would dare to ask you?" Niya suddenly realized that it was not too decent to say she did not dare. She immediately rephrased her comment: "I did not want to know before, but I want to know now. Is that ok?"