Once he replaced Catherine's collar with the new necklace, it was easier to lie to himself that she wasn't wearing a slave collar at all. It looked more like a piece of expensive jewellery, and he was surprised that it even allowed him to change the ruleset she had to obey. Before Catherine was taken away by Miss Pola and her helpers, she received the instruction to buy herself as many clothes as she liked, wanted, and needed.

  "Sir... Would you like to come later to see what I've chosen?" The Nekomi asked with a muffled voice.

  However, she seemed excited and happy. Cate was still glancing at her storage ring or touching her necklace with a soft and thoughtful smile.

  "I will." He promised with a smile.

  Once she was taken away by the overeager clerks, Arthur focused on the things he should get to make his life easier.

  "I will need two carriages, Ben," Arthur asked. "They will have to be fairly comfortable for long travels, and it would be good if they were reinforced or, at least, easy to repair. Considering everything, I expect us to be attacked sooner or later. I want them to be big enough to fit beds, storage space, and a bath or shower. I don't particularly care about their looks because they have to be, first and foremost, comfortable and reliable. I will gladly sacrifice decorations for the sake of utility."

  "Hmmm... An interesting concept." Viridian rubbed his beard. "I think we could try to arrange something."

  "Sir Arthur..." Benjamin nervously put his hands together. "Would you help with the layout of the prototype? I will gladly provide you with the wagons for the material cost alone if you will allow me to use that idea..."

  "While it isn't my idea, I'm sure we can work something out." Arthur smiled.

  "Details!" Viridian waved his hand. "Let's see what we can put together..."

  After Arthur decided what type of carriage he would like to use as a base, they got to work. Since he had chosen a large cargo wagon, nearly six by two and a half metres, with sturdy wooden sides and roof, they had a lot of room to work with. After some consideration, Arthur decided to put beds in the back and make them fold to the opposite walls. After folding the beds and securing them to the walls, the space could be used as a convenient dining or sitting room. In the rear panel, they added a window that slid upwards to be opened, and a simple lever that closed or opened the external blinds made of reinforced ironwood. Arthur wasn't particularly happy about the suggestive bed placement, but the space inside wasn't unlimited, and bunks wouldn't be comfortable at all. After a heated debate about wasting water, Arthur managed to convince Viridian that he would manage, and Ben admitted that he was working on creating a purification rune to recycle water.

  "Impossible." The Dwarf snorted with disdain, but then grunted and looked sharply at Arthur. "Or is it?!"

  "I'm a Paladin of the Pantheon of Arcadia." He shrugged. "Trust me, I've seen things far more impressive than that."

  "Still, something like that is simply impossible! The Temple would be doing that all this time..." The Dwarf shook his head.

  "If you don't believe me, I could turn your ale into water for you..." Arthur laughed, and while Viridian seemed slightly offended by his offer, Arthur knew enough Dwarves and them well enough to recognise his amusement.

  The Dwarf took a long draw from his tall mug and left enough beer on the bottom to confirm his claims but not enough to be wasteful.

  "Prove it." He challenged the Inquisitor.

  "Purification." Arthur pointed his finger at the mug with a sigh. He just hoped that they would remain his allies.

  The Dwarf whistled and drank the water. "Damn, that's convenient... You were saying that you want a bath."

  "Or a shower." Arthur grinned. "And a toilet!"

  "Bath would be better. A toilet might work... Anyway, easier to explain things if you have to, Lord Ives." Viridian leaned back in his tall chair. "We could build a two-tank system where one, the larger of them, stores clean water, and the second one is used to purify the wastewater. It should be easy to do with runes. Especially if you help us make the purification rune work. I can bet a lot of money that you know why we are failing..."

  "That's a very bold assumption, considering that I have no idea what you are doing." Arthur chuckled nervously. That was way too close to betraying the secrets he shouldn't.

  "Abigail! Bring me the runes we have!" The Dwarf yelled at someone.

  "We can make a vow, and trust me, we are very good at keeping our secrets safe. We wouldn't be one of the biggest Trade Companies around here if we couldn't closely guard our secrets." The Dwarf grinned, but his expression hardened as he solemnly lowered his head. "Admittedly, I might be asking for more than I can afford, but your help might save thousands of innocent people. So I'm even willing to swear my fealty to you or your Emperor if that would let me save them..."

  A young Dwarven woman brought them a crate with slats of various materials, and after glancing at Arthur with curiosity, she vanished back into the adjacent room. She looked young, but it was hard to tell the age of Dwarven women.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "My daughter. Please, forgive her, Lord Ives, but she is very shy." Viridian shook his head with a sigh. "She is one of the rare Runesmiths, and my pride and joy."

  "No offence was made to need forgiveness." Arthur shrugged and looked at the runes they presented to him. The Inquisitor furrowed his brow in surprise. "I must admit that you have most of the things figured out already. You noticed that not every material is capable of withstanding the power of higher-grade runes or that you need to layer runes. Honestly, you probably just need to do more experiments to get this right... What? Why are you looking at me like that?!"

  "Runes need specific materials?!" Viridian leaned heavily on the table and buried his face in his hands. He furiously rubbed his beard and ruffled his hair. He slammed his forehead on his table and slowly shook his head.

  "That's..." Arthur heard the excited voice of Abigail, who was standing in the door, and observed him with an expression suggesting that she had just received a piece of the most guarded secrets of the universe. "If that's true, then it could change the craft of runesmithing..."

  "That changes everything, Viridian, Abigail..." Benjamin shook his head in disbelief, but his expression was cold and calculating.

  "What?! You didn't know about that? Then why have you used wood for this light rune while you used cast iron for this heating rune?!" Arthur felt slightly nauseated. He'd accidentally revealed something that could be considered a national secret, and he didn't feel great about it.

  "Aesthetic reasons, Lord Ives..." Abigail said quietly from behind them. "We used different materials if the runes had to be exposed. They sell better if they catch the eye..."

  "Everyone!" Benjamin clapped his hands and looked around at the helpers waiting nearby. "This is too big! Far more important than even the information that Lord Ives is basically as strong as legendary Heroes! We are going to sign confidentiality contracts with you all!"

  Arthur looked flatly at the rune in his hands and sighed. Oh, great. Just great... Not only was he gauging their potential, but they were doing it as well. Meanwhile, Benjamin took out a thick sheet of paper.

  "Sir Arthur, don't worry about it." The Inquisitor looked at him with resignation. If those people were just evil or greedy, he would have killed them because of his mistake. Well... He still might be forced to do it. Benjamin, unaware of Arthur's grim inner monologue, started writing the contract. "This is a magic contract that will keep all your secrets and everything you revealed to us classified. If anyone exposes those secrets, they will die before they open their mouth. It's going to be our trade secret that we won't even tell the Kingdom about. Especially the kingdom..."

  Arthur nodded and decided to keep his mouth shut. He felt like a failure of an Inquisitor anyway...

  "Lord Arthur. I know that you probably said too much, but I still want to assure you of our friendship." Viridian placed his signature right under Benjamin's. "None will learn about this from us."

  Arthur was sitting, quietly torn between the potential damages he had caused and the certainty that he was going to need these people if he wanted to return home. With a sigh, he accepted his failure, believing that, at least, he would be able to warn his fellow Arcadians somehow about his stupidity. Hopefully, the Arcadian magitech will prove to be superior even if Saftians manage to make progress. After all, Bernans knew very well how to craft runes, and they were still beaten by the Emperor. Once everyone signed the contract, Benjamin sealed it and gave it to Arthur.

  "It's yours, Lord Ives. We will take this knowledge to the grave rather than expose it to the corrupted nobles or the current Royal Family." The merchant said quietly but confidently.

  He simply took the scroll and stored it away in his storage space. With a soured mood, he returned to designing a copy of the Arcadian camping wagon. After adding a small cooking area near the bath to simplify the waste management. He decided to add a wall panel between the small kitchen and bath, and curtains between the sleeping area and the rest of the cart, as well as one to enclose the bath. He was worried that putting too many solid walls would make the space too cramped for comfort. On the opposite side of the bathtub, they placed a fresh water tank and sliding doors to comfortably enter the wagon. The doors on one side were sufficient and allowed for better use of space. Of course, he made sure that the bathtub wasn't visible from the doors.

  "For the storage area, I would like some stacked coffers and maybe a wardrobe. I don't want them to take up too much space because I want to fit a small table and a travel compartment in front of the carriage, optionally connected with some kind of doors with the driver's seat." He said with a still slightly bitter voice.

  "We could enhance some of the furniture with a holding space for that. With it, you could just resign from the coffers and fit a drawer wardrobe and have enough cargo space, Lord Ives." Viridian pointed out with a neutral tone.

  "That's probably a good idea." Arthur nodded. "We fitted enough windows, but it will need more lights inside."

  "We can use light runes to make it to your liking." Abigail tried to smile. She was standing to the side and observing her father drawing the plans under Arthur's instructions. "Now that I’ve learned how runes are really made, I believe I can reproduce the cooling runes some nobles use. But while that would certainly be our best seller, it would bring us troubles too. But I think we can fit them for Lord Ives's carriage without any issue. He is a noble, after all."

  "I appreciate that." Arthur nodded and rubbed at his eyes. He was going to cringe every time anyone mentioned anything about runes for a long time. "I also want to provide comfort to the driver. So the extended roof is a minimum, but it would be good if we could add some cooling runes as well."

  "No problem. However, only for your wagon, Lord Ives." Viridian briefly nodded and looked at the Inquisitor with concern. "The second cart, for your staff and guards, should be less refined. Functional and comfortable, but it mustn't be as good as yours. So, no bath or recycling system, no kitchen space. But it would be fine to fit beds and furniture with a holding space."

  "If you have two identical carriages, some high-ranking noble could demand that you gift them one of them," Benjamin explained bitterly. "If you only have one, it will be much easier to decline such an outrageous demand, considering that you are a Count yourself, Sir Arthur."

  "Fair point." Arthur nodded. "The second one can have a storable washing tub, and for example, a kettle and a small grill or something. That is reasonable, right?"

  "Even expected. When nobles travel, they oftentimes order their servants to do laundry and always the cooking." Benjamin agreed. "Many times I saw it while I was travelling with caravans. But I guess you won't need a caravan to travel, Sir Arthur..."

  "Indeed." He agreed. Damage was already done, but keeping more information to himself wasn't going to hurt him further.

  "In that case allow us to wrap up all the details..."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!