Chapter 163 Call

Once the news began to spread, the whole kingdom got depressed. Aion's opinion of the old man was biased, so it was only natural that he wouldn't feel much when he heard of that, but he never imagined that he was that popular. While he read some books, he didn't recall reading a single one that mentioned the accomplishments of that guy. It would be weird if such book already existed...

"When kings die, the hearts of the population become uneasy," Artemisia said. "It is a hard period of transition since the future becomes uncertain. The king was one of the men responsible for the downfall of a supposed evil kingdom, and he ruled for over fifty years. It is only natural that he was that popular."

"I read the history of this Kingdom, and in the last fifty years, he didn't do much aside from starting that war," Aion said. "I can't see how the whole kingdom can miss someone that caused the death of a lot of people. It wasn't like just the people of Mileris kingdom died…"

"True, but people think that things would have been worse if it weren't for him and your father," Artemisia said. "My ancestors also caused a lot of deaths over the years, and while I didn't think much about it, things changed once I began to see people die left and right… Regardless, are you going to the capital? After the funeral, there is the coronation."

"I am not interested in any," Aion said. "I can't tell what that guy is thinking, and I want to avoid getting entangled in the lives of nobles. For the time being, I want to see how he will proceed in the next few years."

That will be a good way to measure what kind of person Vangel Zaera was. Besides, Aion was tired of moving around without a reason. Those parties, most of the time, were useless, and there was another thing that Aion had been thinking about. He wanted to expand his maritime routes. He got five more ships last year, but the profits didn't increase. Sending the ships to international waters without guards would be dangerous, and Aion also was considering sending his death knights as escorts. However, aside from Lerg, it would be hard for the others to be of some use…

"Mom, did you think about that?" Aion asked.

"For those trips to work, you will need someone trustworthy doing the paperwork, I could do that, but you want me to go as well," Artemisia said.

"At least on the first few times, you never have been on a boat, right?" Aion asked.

"Yes, but why do I have a feeling that you only want to go to lure pirates and take their stolen goods?" Artemisia said.

"That is an excellent idea, one more reason for me to go," Aion said.

The only problem with that was the fact that they didn't know anyone trustworthy and capable of paperwork that already had their own problems to deal with. That was the downside of having a small circle of friends that someone could trust… while things worked well during the kidnapping, they had to deal with a lot of work once they returned.

"Anyway, until we deal with the problem of the paperwork, we can't leave. Heading west or east will take weeks to visit all the ports that we want to sell our goods," Artemisia said.

Although they waged war against the Rosberg kingdom and the bandits' country, the Zaera kingdom still sold them their goods, but sending them using normal routes was tough, and a lot of people along the way only resold Aion's products, so he only got a small cut of the profit, to sell more and get more, he had to do the selling.

Aion could have become business partners with some nobles during those parties. A lot of them used maritime routes. However, the ones he met had connections or were part of the guys that caused him a lot of trouble, like the lord barrel and the guys of that port town that fought the pirates… he was in a bad spot.

Asking Lexus' for help was an option since he was taking a part of the profits, but Aion's pride didn't let him ask his father for help. He was the lord of the territory, even if only in name, and the land belonged to the head of the family. He was only making that much money because his father lent him that territory, and asking for more would be too much.

While Aion was thinking about that, one month passed without him finding an answer to those questions. Around that time, he received a letter from his father… telling him and his mother to head to the capital and that he will send someone to look after the territory.

"Mom…" Aion said while frowning.

"I didn't ask for help. I am as surprised as you!" Artemisia said.

"Could it be that the king's spies noticed what we were thinking?" Aion rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

While they were talking about what to do, Aion used magic to make sure that no one was listening to them, so that couldn't be the case…

"Maybe he is angry because we didn't head to the capital one month ago, but I can't imagine father getting angry over that," Aion said.

"Maybe the king is planning to chew you out for that," Artemisia shrugged. "Or, maybe he has some orders for you."

Aion wouldn't care. Either way, he had better things to do. Still, considering that his father said that he would sent someone to look after the territory, then it means that he was expecting them to stay there for a while. It was weird… to the point that Aion thought that they might be walking into a trap. He had to keep his guard up all the time and be ready to fight if anyone made any suspicious moves…