BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power

Chapter 116 - 115 – Success and Failure

.

(At the same time)

Feet were moving quickly... and quietly.

Careful not to cause noise... yet wanting to reach their destination fast.

A man wearing a full blue iron armor arrived.

He stopped before a large gate inside a palace whose edges were gilded, stretching over a vast area in the middle of the city.

"Sir!" the armored man shouted.

Before him... in the middle of the wide white hall...

Sat two men and a woman.

And far from them, on a large chair, sat a man whose features could not be seen clearly due to the shadow cast by the massive bookshelf behind him...

In front of which stood a huge statue of a dragon... its tail stretching along the wall of the white hall... as if surrounding it from all sides.

One of the three turned toward the armored man...

And spoke in a calm, audible voice:

"The sixth commander... what calls for such commotion?"

"Sir..." the sixth commander spoke softly... straightened his stance, sighed, then added:

"The crystal... Sir, it has detected an intrusion."

"Whaaaat?!" the man jumped from his place...

The chair he sat on was pushed backward violently... and his white robe extended long across the ground.

"What are you saying?!" the man shouted.

The other two figures stood up as well...

Their expressions carried great shock.

While the man on the chair showed no reaction.

"This morning, Sir... around ten o’clock," the sixth commander said.

"The crystal detected the intrusion of a high-ranked outsider from the eastern side... he was using his latent power to move... after reaching the center of the city... he concealed himself completely again."

"What are you saying?" the woman scoffed mockingly.

She was also wearing a white robe... and appeared to be over forty years old.

She added angrily:

"Weren’t there second-rank leaders at the wall? How could they not notice an intr—"

"How many colors?"

The sharp voice cut through the room.

Silence fell and gripped the place.

The man sitting in the shadows spoke.

The sixth commander quickly knelt and answered:

"Four colors, Sir."

"The intensity?" the man asked again.

"Four colors at full intensity, Sir," the commander replied quickly.

"Leave," said the voice.

The commander hurried out.

The three masters sat down again...

None of them dared to speak.

But their faces carried great concern.

"Sir..." the third one broke the silence...

He was the youngest, with blond hair.

"Is he a fourth-rank master?" he added nervously.

"Yes..." the shadowed man replied... then added:

"Find out who stands behind him... and if he is alone... find the price of recruiting him."

...

---

(Three days later)

I stood before the mission board.

My eyes searched... then caught one.

I searched more... grabbed another stone...

Then another...

"Four missions..." I whispered. "That should be enough for today."

After a while... I arrived at one of the houses.

It was located in the port area.

The City of Dawn was not just large... it also overlooked a massive sea... one of thirteen seas surrounding the second land.

The shoreline was very wide...

A large portion of it was not for work... but rather for leisure and indulgence.

As for the smaller side... it was crowded with docks... and foul smells.

It was a typical port from Earth.

The smell of fish... the sounds of sailors... and large fishing ships...

Today was my first visit to the area.

I did not desire to work here... but I had accepted a mission.

(Protection during fishing)

One of the fishermen was facing a troubled task in catching small fish.

I stood before the fisherman... and he began explaining the mission.

Three months ago... his fishing area was close to the port.

The waters had good depth... and disturbances were minimal.

Fishing was available, though limited.

In the past months... work began to expand the water channel to allow large ships to dock.

This movement made dozens of fishermen leave their comfortable fishing areas.

Most small-fish fishermen left the area and joined large ships.

The old man, Cook... and his three young grandchildren...

Refused.

"The sea is wide for everyone... why should we be forced to follow others to fish?" the old man Cook said.

I did not reply.

I listened.

After he finished explaining...

The plan was simple... only in his mind.

If the old area was restricted... then he would go farther... toward the edges of rocky mountains.

That area was dangerous and rough...

It wasn’t just water disturbance or distance that drove people away...

But—

Mermaids.

Yes... when I heard that, I imagined beautiful alluring females...

But...

After explanation...

It turned out only the name was the same.

The mermaids here...

Were creatures with fish tails... scaly serpent-like bodies... and long arms with sharp claws.

Such creatures were extremely dangerous in water...

Even iron could be cut if not strong enough.

Let alone the old man’s fragile wooden boat.

The old man’s mission had been pending for more than a week...

Unaccepted.

But it was a timed mission.

Once accepted... I had to complete it within a day.

All I needed... was to keep the old man alive.

After a while... our journey began.

I refused to let anyone come except me and him...

Even with his grandchildren insisting... my answer was firm.

After two hours of slow sailing... in a boat that looked like it might sink at any moment...

We reached the edges.

Suddenly—

Sounds began rising from the depths.

"Mermaids!" the old man shouted... fear took over him.

"Stay steady," I said.

In this remote place... no one was watching...

So... I decided to use my power.

I released dozens of flame threads...

Surrounding the boat with a web of power.

The mermaids struck the threads repeatedly...

They never passed through.

The boat remained safe.

I sat... lying back.

The old man cast his nets.

The mermaids kept attacking...

To no avail.

After a while... the old man pulled the net.

I glanced...

It was empty.

He showed no reaction.

He prepared it again... and threw it.

Two more hours passed...

I opened my eyes.

He was still repeating...

Not a single fish.

"Sir," I said, "you’ve cast more than seven nets... are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yes," he replied. "I can feel it."

Another empty net...

Then another...

Sunset approached...

"Sir... there’s no time left. If darkness falls, we’ll face worse than mermaids."

He didn’t reply.

Pulled... threw... nothing.

I stood up.

I had no patience left.

I walked toward him... then stopped.

He had been facing away the entire time.

I hadn’t noticed...

He was crying.

Silence.

"Just tell me... is there a problem with the fish?" I asked.

"They... they..." he stuttered.

"What?"

"They don’t come near... because of the mermaids... they fear them too."

"I see..."

I closed my eyes.

I didn’t see them... but I felt my threads resisting attacks.

I increased their power...

Infused them with counter-flame...

Then—

BOOM

BOOM

BOOOOM

Explosions echoed from the water.

Screams of mermaids followed.

Each attack they made...

Was met with a counterstrike.

Against a refined weapon...

How could such creatures stand?

Each strike... was lethal.

After minutes...

Silence.

Blood rose to the surface...

Then scattered.

Suddenly—

"They’re here!" the old man shouted.

"They’re following the blood!"

He threw the net again.

Then pulled—

He couldn’t.

I rushed... grabbed it with him...

Pulled—

And—

The net came out.

Full of small fish.

Tears streamed down his face.

He emptied it... threw again.

An hour later...

Night fell.

We returned.

The boat was full.

He kept thanking me.

Honestly...

I don’t know...

Did I help him for the mission... or for humanity...

Maybe both.

Next day...

I went again.

Another round.

Returned quickly... to catch the next mission.

It ended quickly.

Two men arguing over who’s stronger.

They needed someone to train them for a competition based on thinking and luck.

I made them a Ludo game.

Trained them for a day.

They played...

Forgot their anger.

Gave me the mission stone.

Next mission—

Escorting an artist to find a place to draw.

Her condition—

She would only mark success if she found the right place... and painted it... and liked it.

Otherwise... nothing.

No one accepted it.

It reeked of a scam.

At first... I thought it would fail.

I told her that.

But also told her...

"It doesn’t matter. You succeed by finding the place... and I can delay delivering the stone... either way, we both win."

She didn’t understand...

But agreed quickly when she knew her money wouldn’t change.

After three days...

She found a small beautiful bird...

Painted it.

Gave me the stone.

Declared success.

But I did not deliver it on time.

Even though she was honest...

I was too.

My goal was success and failure at the same time.

And I achieved it.

The biggest problem now... is how I will face the guild’s suspicions...

It is difficult for anyone to believe that I fail in this number of missions...

But I am forced... I have no choice but to take the risk... if something happens, I will deal with it when the time comes...

Fear of entering the unknown is a failure in itself...