Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!
Chapter 150 - 150 - History of Noir

Once everybody has sat down, the elders took the initiative to introduce themselves via the codenames assigned to them by the organization. They also readily reported which sector or specific area they were assigned to monitor and manage the everyday activities. It seems that the elders are the top assassins during their younger yeats and also one of them was the previous patriarch or as they call "Lord" of the organization before the current one took the reins barely 5 years ago. His codename is "King" and is currently the highest ranking elder out of the 8 people seated in this round table discussion. King has also admitted that the current Lord is not in Skalvryet as of the moment and has chosen to train his skills and his mind in another territory. He said that the current lord was quite young when he got his position and thus was given his codename "Amir" though the guy didn't like it one bit. Amir became the leader of the organization at a young age of 17 and is quite a genius so he was willful. Nobody can contact him during his missions and he comes back whenever he wants. He dumped all the administrative work to the elders.

I stayed quiet as the elders took turns in explaining the hierarchy and job description of each role in their organization as well as how employees were ranks. They also gave me an overview of how missions are ranked and assigned. They were also quite detailed in how the payment system works. They were also quite proud to say that ranks are earned here and the leadership is not inherited. Every 50 years, everyone who is willing to undergo some rigorous series of tests. Simply, whoever comes on top will take the lord position. It was based on a person's strength, intellect, innate talents and honestly, also luck. As they were discussing things to me one by one, I started feeling like I was the CEO getting productivity and financial reports from my subordinates. Once they have run out of things to report, I started everyone by saying, "I strongly believe that I met "Amir" in the Academe of Gnosis last semester but for some reason, he did not enroll in the current one. He seems to be making his own investigations to find my whereabouts. Don't tell him that you have met me, no matter what happens. This is an order from me. Does everybody understand?" All the elders swore their allegiance and even gave their mana vows to keep everything that we have talked about in the conference room a secret.

Once the business side has been settled, I asked the question that has been bugging me for quite some time, "How is my family connected to your organization?" King answered readily, "Your family built this organization, your highness." My eyes widened at the truth. I told them that I really thought that it was just a cooperation that has spanned several years, maybe a relationship through marriage or even a payment for a life-saving grace. The elders laughed and they told me, "It was all of the above and much more."

Once you ask an old man to tell a story of the past, he will definitely and energetically retell it as detailed as possible as if he was reminscing his youth. Based on experience, it would take several hours on end. What more if you have 8 grandfathers that each have a version of their story to tell. I don't think I will be going back to the inn any time soon.

To summarize their story, the first royals of Rosenoir needed a way to monitor the lands that they have created without interfering personally. They saw how a lot of people are having a hard time living day by day as most of them were refugees who moved to this world with nothing to their name. The Rosenoirs loved the world they created and everybody who lived in it. As such, they started picking out talented orphans and trained them in different skills but the focus at first was on information gathering which will be their primary jobs. They also bought a huge piece of land and gave it to these orphans as their permanent home, Sklavryet. Throughout the years, the Rosenoir family has supported the organization financially and also provided basic edication and skills training to the children they have taken in. At first, the organization has almost equal numbers of male and female members but as time went on and through the changes in society and population after the Rosenoirs mysteriouly disappeared, the organization became predominantly male with a few women once in a while who are usually related to the previous employees through marriage (wives and lovers) or by blood (sisters, mothers and daughters). Women preferred to work for the government, the military or do business and just marry as many men as they can bring to their households. As the population gap between men and women grew larger, treatment towards men became worse. At that time, the elders then started rebuilding and repurposing Sklavryet as a sanctuary for abused men who have nowhere else to go and are looking for jobs that would pay them fairly. A territory of men would easily catch the attention of lascivious and greedy women thus they set rules in the territory with a warning that grave crimes are punishable by death. Women who choose to work here are also closely monitored and women who do bad things to the men of the territory have to pay appropriate financial damages, get jailed and in worst cases, their bodies will never be found. They also built the Noir organization's headquarters in heret though it was simply called the government office on the outside. The members then had to adapt to the needs of their growing clientele so even though they only started with basic information gathering, most members eventually learned other skills to complete escorting job, delivering of high value items or confidential documents, espionage, protecting people such as travelling merchants, nobles, royals, etc and even assassination requests became available through the next couple of decades. They were proud that they were able to keep the organization afloat even when their masters had to close their kingdom off from the world indefinitely. The elders said that they knew that an heir will come back to lead them again but they didn't know when or how she will appear or how long are they supposed to wait. They still kept their hopes up since it was written in a confidential document that was passed from one generation of elders to another since the creation of the organization. The Rosenoirs were kind enough to give them financial support for the next two centuries in advance to ensure that the children that they will be taken in and those that will be taken in for the years to come will not have issues getting their necessities met to survive. They then presented me well-preserved financial documents of the allowances and financial support they have received from Rosenoir from the time it was built and the things they have spent it on year over year. Everything was well-documented and in good condition. Based on the records, the annual allowance that they receive is at 10 gold coins. As for the paperwork, it clearly showed that they have not received any financial support for the last 243 years. This goes to show how tough the leaders were and the grit of all the members in keeping the organization and their home territory running even without the main source of funds. They said that it was the reason why they allowed their people to learn normal skills or jobs as their other sources of income when there are no missions. They honestly said that most of their people live double lives and it was also one of the reasons why they expanded to other type of services and recently, they finally even ventured to common types of businesses.

After the long talks and story telling, I pushed a bulky bag of coins to the middle of the conference table. Inside was a total of 2 crown coins and 430 gold coins to make up for the years that they were not provided for with instructions to continue with the documentation on how the money will be used. I swear that I even saw the old men tear up as they said their thanks profusely. I simply nodded and said, "Excuse me, I will just need to do a couple of quick magic spells." As I closed my eyes, the first thing I did was to envelope myself with an isolation barrier. I have to release my mana limiters without crushing these old men due to the pressure. Once both were completed, I started the silent chant for two rank 10 barriers. The first one was to envelop the whole territory and the second one was for the Noir headquarters. With my consistently growing mana, it only took less than a minute to put both of them in place. It was the same type of offensive and defensive barrier that I set up for the academe and the territory of the Vacarros in the south. As quick as my limiters were disabled (which for sure made my real countenance come out but who cares...), I placed it back and removed my isolation barrier. When I opened my eyes, I saw the surprised faces of the elders with their widened eyes and opened mouths. One of the elders was able to reel in his shock first and asked, "We would like to thank your highness for setting up a protective barrier for our territory." The other elders looked at the one who spoke abruptly. This elder was definitely a mage. I gave them a smile and then instructed, "The barrier I have set up is a type 10 barrier that both have offensive and defensive features. I have registered it under a patent but it has not been released yet for sale to the public. In case somebody asks, tell them that you have met with the inventor secretly and was able to strike up a deal. I trust that nobody would be brave enough to try and force information about the seller out from you guys, am I right?" The elders suddenly laughed heartily before they almost unanimously said with smirks on their faces, "They could try but I hope they survive till dusk." I am liking these grandpas more and more.

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Author's Note:

Money System in the world of Aeocrecens:

1000 copper coins = 1 silver coin

1000 silver coins = 1 gold coin

1000 gold coins = 1 crown coin

1000 crown coins = 1 arcane coin

Some territories still follow the barter system. Jewels, precious stones, ores as well as other items considered as precious for each race can also be used as currency.