Dual Realm Exchange System

When the nine selected applicants entered the consultation chamber once more, the atmosphere was noticeably different from their individual interviews as Damian was already waiting for them.

The young Baron sat upon the seat of honor at the far end of the chamber with Harold standing off to one side and two Nobles Council clerks preparing the documents required for registration.

He said nothing when the group entered.

Instead, Damian calmly watched them approach.

That silence lasted only a few seconds before one of the younger applicants stepped forward, dropped onto one knee and lowered his head.

"I greet Baron Baines!" The young man declared respectfully and two others immediately followed.

Stella observed them for barely a heartbeat before stepping forward herself, placing one knee against the polished floor as her enormous greatsword shifted behind her.

There was no hesitation in her movement.

Whatever treatment she had suffered before coming here, Stella understood exactly what retainership meant.

If Damian accepted her, he would no longer merely be some employer paying for her sword.

He would become the head of the noble family she had permanently chosen to bind herself to.

Ronan watched everyone kneeling and felt one corner of his mouth twitch.

He distinctly remembered informing Damian less than two hours ago that he had no intention of kneeling every time the young man entered a room.

Then again, this was hardly every time Damian entered a room.

This was the ceremony where Ronan was asking to join Damian’s family.

More importantly, Ronan Calder had survived far too many battlefields to mistake stubbornness for pride.

A wise man followed the times.

He had come this far because he needed what a noble household could offer him, and acting like some rebellious teenager now would accomplish absolutely nothing.

Once he entered the Baines Noble Family, demonstrated his value and established exactly what kind of man he was, there would be plenty of time to negotiate how much freedom Damian allowed him.

Ronan calmly stepped forward and lowered himself onto one knee.

There was no defiance in his expression, nor any visible unwillingness.

He knew why he was here.

Damian watched the final few applicants follow before giving a slight nod of satisfaction.

He did not tell them to stand, neither did he make some embarrassed gesture insisting that such formality was unnecessary.

Damian had already decided where he stood on this matter.

He was unwilling to enslave people, erase their minds or force obedience through some soul-binding method.

But if someone willingly entered his service as a permanent subordinate, Damian was not going to perform some strange act where both sides pretended that the relationship made them equals.

That would defeat the entire point of establishing retainers in the first place.

"You have all already been interviewed and selected from the applicants presented to me by the Nobles Council, but selection does not mean acceptance into the Baines Noble Family," Damian began calmly.

"Before any of you swear an oath, I will tell you exactly what I offer and exactly what I expect. If either side finds the arrangement unsuitable, this is where we separate."

The kneeling applicants listened closely.

Damian raised one finger.

"First, every recognized retainer of the Baines Noble Family will receive a fixed salary of ten Gold per month. That amount is not reduced by lodging, ordinary equipment expenses, food, repairs or other costs incurred while carrying out family duties."

Several heads immediately rose.

Ronan’s eyes widened slightly.

Ten fucking Gold??

The drunkard had entered his interview demanding one Gold per month because that alone was already an excellent retainer salary!

Damian continued as though he had not just casually multiplied Ronan’s demand by ten.

"Second, every retainer receives fifty House Merits per month."

Stella frowned slightly at the unfamiliar term.

Damian noticed.

"House Merits are an internal resource of the Baines Noble Family. You earn them through ordinary monthly allocation, exceptional work, accomplishments, discoveries, difficult missions and whatever else I decide deserves reward. Poor performance, waste, negligence or punishment can reduce the amount you receive."

Damian reached into his Bag of Holding.

A Grain Avoidance Pill appeared between his fingers.

Then came a Purification Talisman, a Light Body Talisman, a compact Warning Array and finally a Spirit Gathering Array plate.

The applicants immediately focused upon the unfamiliar objects.

"I possess a unique Special Power related to my status as an Otherworlder. One of its useful consequences is that I can acquire goods which are extremely difficult, and in some cases currently impossible, to obtain through normal Valorian markets," Damian explained frankly.

"Some ordinary products will be available to you at preferential prices. More important resources will only be obtainable through House Merits."

He tossed the Grain Avoidance Pill lightly into the air before catching it.

"One of these provides complete ordinary nutrition for roughly seven days."

Several applicants reacted immediately.

Damian raised the Purification Talisman next.

"This can cure most ordinary bacterial and viral diseases, minor poisons, low-grade curses and several weaker magical ailments."

Stella’s breathing changed.

Then Damian placed the Spirit Gathering Array onto the table.

"And this increases the ambient mana density of an area, improving spellcasting, magical recovery, enchanting and other mana-dependent work."

The room became quiet.

Stella’s face had begun flushing despite her attempt to remain composed.

She had entered the Rosewood Town Nobles Council hoping to find a household willing to give her security and enough resources to continue growing.

Instead, Damian was casually showing them treasures with effects that sounded as though they belonged in the private stores of ancient families!

Ronan’s reaction was different.

His expression had become solemn.

He had traveled far beyond the Grayfen Region and visited places where a single street contained more wealth than entire frontier towns.

He knew exactly what portable nourishment, universal purification, compact magical security and movable mana-gathering infrastructure meant.

More importantly, he understood something the younger applicants did not.

If Damian had shown these things before they had even sworn allegiance, then these were almost certainly not the best things he possessed.

For the first time since waking inside the tavern, Ronan felt something resembling fear, and not the fear of Damian attacking him, but rather the fear of realizing that he might have accidentally stumbled into something far larger than himself.

Damian allowed them several seconds before continuing.

"Third, ordinary equipment required for your duties will be provided by the Baines Noble Family. Armor, weapons, professional tools, repairs, replacement of equipment damaged while fulfilling legitimate orders and similar expenses will not come from your salary."

Ronan’s mouth twitched again.

Damian had just casually accepted nearly everything he demanded earlier and improved the terms beyond recognition.

Naturally, there was another side.

Damian’s expression became more serious.

"Now, my requirements."

The excitement in the room gradually settled.

"First, I require full loyalty and obedience. You may advise me, and may warn me when you believe I am making a mistake. If you possess knowledge I lack, I expect you to speak rather than stand silently and watch me walk into a wall."

Damian’s blue eyes moved across the kneeling group.

"But once I have heard what needs hearing and issued my final command, you will obey it regardless of whether you personally agree."

Ronan’s raised eyebrow slowly lowered.

There it was.

"Second, I intend to invest resources into all of you. In return, you must be willing to grow according to the needs of the Baines Noble Family. That includes training, Skills, Specializations, equipment and potentially powers you have never encountered before. I will consider your preferences, but I will not spend extraordinary resources strengthening someone who refuses every recommendation because they feel sentimental about a bad build."

One of the younger Fighters swallowed.

Stella remained silent.

"Third, your personal freedom is your own whenever you have no duty or standing order. Drink, travel, marry, gamble badly, pursue hobbies or waste your free time staring at clouds if that makes you happy."

Ronan almost smiled.

"However, when I summon you under family authority, everything else stops. Unless you are physically incapable of responding, you answer the summons immediately."

That condition finally cooled the atmosphere.

Ten Gold each month was absurd, and access to miraculous Otherworlder goods was even more absurd.

Yet Damian’s demands were equally unmistakable.

This was not some decorative noble household where retainers collected salaries, attended banquets and occasionally stood behind their lord looking intimidating.

Damian expected obedience, expected control over how his investments developed, and when he called, he expected his retainers to abandon whatever they were doing and come.

Even some ducal families would have considered those expectations severe.

Damian made no attempt to disguise that fact.

"I am offering more than most nobles will offer you, so naturally, I will demand more than most nobles demand," Damian stated bluntly.

"You have already been vetted by me. Now you have had the opportunity to vet me. If those terms are unacceptable, stand up, leave the room and nothing further happens."

At this moment, nobody moved.

Ronan folded his arms over his raised knee and stared at Damian for several seconds whereas Stella remained pensive, her tail moving slowly behind her.

The others exchanged glances.

Still, nobody rose.

Damian waited long enough that no one could later claim they had not been given the opportunity.

When the silence persisted, satisfaction appeared within his eyes.

"Good."

......

The official retainership ceremony was considerably shorter than Damian expected.

Each applicant approached individually beneath Harold’s supervision, stated their name, acknowledged Damian Baines as the head of the Baines Noble Family and formally swore permanent allegiance to the household.

Damian accepted each oath in return, and every completed oath produced a subtle response from Valoria itself.

The air briefly shifted around each new relationship before settling, and Damian could feel another recognized connection entering the authority attached to his Baron of Magic title.

By the time Ronan Calder completed the final oath, all nine vacancies had disappeared.

The Baines Noble Family now possessed ten recognized retainers when Kellan Baines was included.

Damian looked across his newly established household.

Not bad for someone who had arrived in Valoria with torn clothes and no money slightly more than a week ago.

"Stand."

This time, everyone rose immediately.

......

Barely an hour remained before the announced opening when Damian returned to Central Lane with his nine retainers, and several curious pedestrians were already lingering around the storefront.

Apparently, word had spread after Damian rewarded the contractors with bizarre pills and talismans the previous evening, and people had begun waiting to discover whether the new shop truly sold what the rumors claimed.

Inside, Tana looked ready to develop a stress disorder.

The moment Damian entered, her shoulders visibly loosened.

Kevin appeared from the storage room holding three ledgers and gave his employer an accusatory stare.

"You have returned."

"I said I would."

"You also said we open at noon."

"And look at that, noon hasn’t arrived."

Kevin looked toward the clock, then wisely chose peace.

Damian gathered all thirteen employees and nine retainers at the center of the first floor.

"Alright, it’s time for a full merchandise briefing."

That immediately gained everyone’s attention.

Damian began removing goods.

The first Grain Avoidance Pill received skeptical looks until Tana read the accompanying Trade and Commerce Guild certification aloud.

"Complete basic nutritional support. Estimated ordinary humanoid duration of 6.8 to 8.1 days. Certified commercial value... twenty Silver per pill."

Nobody spoke.

Damian placed several bottles of pills into Lisa’s section.

"Lisa handles Grain Avoidance Pills and Spirit Rice. Explain effects exactly as certified and never promise anything outside the certification."

Next came Light Body Talismans.

"Reduces effective weight and movement burden, improving travel speed and jumping without directly raising Agility. Certified conservative value: fifteen Silver each, with the Trade and Commerce Guild estimating as much as twenty-five Silver in Adventurer-heavy markets."

Six hundred of these remained, as Damian never gave some out.

Getty stared at the stacks appearing before her.

"You’ll handle those along with Warning Array inquiries," Damian instructed.

Two hundred Warning Array sets followed.

Kevin read their certified price and almost dropped his ledger.

"Five Gold... each?"

"Yes."

The Purification Talismans came next.

Seven hundred and ninety-nine remained after Damian’s previous gift to Marissa.

Elsie listened with increasingly pale cheeks as Tana read the certification.

"One Gold and fifty Silver each...?"

"Correct. You handle Cleansing Talismans and Purification Talismans."

Then Damian brought out the formation devices.

One hundred Spirit Gathering Arrays.

Seventy-five Gold each.

One hundred and twenty Golden Shield Arrays.

Eighteen Gold each.

Kat’s mouth slowly opened.

"You wanted to study magic, right?" Damian asked.

Kat nodded mechanically.

"Congratulations. You’re handling formation-device inquiries alongside Tana, but Kevin controls actual inventory release for anything above one Gold."

Kevin looked intensely relieved.

Eighty large jars of Formation Ink entered secured storage next, each carrying certification that confirmed conductivity significantly above ordinary magical inscription ink even though no exact certified retail figure had been fixed.

Then came several hundred kilograms of Spirit Rice, less the small amount Damian had previously gifted away.

Cleansing Talismans followed in bundled stacks whose exact original count Damian had never bothered recording properly.

Finally came the remaining Grain Avoidance Pills, still numbering well above a thousand despite Damian’s gifts, personal consumption and distributions.

Damian did not pretend he possessed a perfectly reconstructed figure where one did not exist.

"Also, to prevent reselling and hoarding, each customer can only buy a limited amount of each. Tana and Kevin, you guys are in charge of setting limits." Damian added with folded arms.

Kevin looked at the mountain of merchandise, then toward the secure stockroom, then back to Damian.

"How much is all of this worth?"

Damian glanced around.

The categories with exact remaining quantities and fixed certified valuations already approached twelve thousand Gold before Grain Avoidance Pills, Spirit Rice, Formation Ink, Cleansing Talismans and anything Damian had not placed on public sale were counted.

"A lot." he answered simply.

Kevin closed his eyes briefly in pain and lament.

The employees finally understood why their new employer considered ten or twelve Copper daily wages trivial.

The retainers understood something else entirely.

They had not attached themselves to a promising young Baron, but had latched onto something much larger.

A normal ten foot giant would have been impressive enough, but this felt more like discovering that the hill beneath their feet was actually the back of a sleeping colossal titan!

......

At noon, Damian stepped outside and the small crowd gathered along Central Lane immediately quieted.

He had considered commissioning musicians, banners or some elaborate noble ceremony before deciding that he had neither the time nor patience.

Simple fanfare would do.

Damian raised one hand toward the sky and the prepared structure inside his sole Level 3 Spell Slot answered immediately.

<Fireball> surged upward as a blazing sphere, climbing high above the rooftops before Damian directed its detonation far overhead.

BOOOOM!

Flame burst across the blue sky.

The explosion spread outward into a magnificent shower of orange and golden sparks that harmlessly faded long before reaching the buildings below.

Half of Central Lane stopped moving.

Damian lowered his hand with a satisfied smile.

"Welcome. We’re open." Was all he said as a speech as the doors opened behind him and the crowd surged forward.

Damian watched for several moments before leaving Tana, Kevin and the sales staff to experience their first commercial war.

He had another meeting to conduct.

His nine new retainers followed him toward his Rosewood Town cottage.

They had seen the products he was willing to sell publicly.

Now it was time to show them why serving the Baines Noble Family might become the most important decision of their lives.

Inside the privacy of his home, Damian placed two jade bottles upon the table.

One contained Qi Nourishing Pills and the other contained Qi Acceleration Pills.

Ronan’s eyes immediately narrowed.

Stella leaned closer.

Damian rested both hands against the table and smiled.

"These are the goods that will never appear on those shelves."

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