CHAPTER 25: BLACK ROCK CITY

Ray subsequently conveyed his instructions to the Fish and handed her the ropes secured at the front of the boat.

The fish bit the rope and began to pull the boat into the water. 

The ship slowly began moving with a bumpy ride but slowly stabilized after entering some depth of the lake.

Within minutes of traveling, Ray reached the mountain exit, Lily came to the front of the boat and raised her hand then magically the cave began expanding.

As the cave expanded enough for the Boat to fit, the fish immediately began pulling the boat and entered the cave to exit the valley.

After the ship entered the cave, the expanded cave slowly returned to its previous size.

Within a few minutes of traveling the long path in the cave, Ray exited and reached the larger lake where the village was located.

With the fish pulling, the ship slowly changed the direction of its sailing and began to move towards the village.

As the ship neared its destination, the fish went below the ship to hide its presence and slowly guided the ship to the pier of the village.

After docking at the pier, Ray watched as the villagers working at the pier were astonished by the luxury ship.

Ray slowly left the ship with Lily, while greeting the villagers, Ray waited for Thomas or Troy to hear about his arrival and come here.

While Ray was conversing with the villagers, Ryan jogged over to Ray's side and embraced him warmly in welcome.

"Brother, I thought you would return earlier, if you had come a little later, we would have left thinking you wouldn't come," Ryan spoke.

"Now you are here, let's go to the house and meet my father and brothers and inform them about your arrival."

While talking with Ray, Ryan observed Lily with confusion and asked Ray about her with his eyes signaling him to introduce her.

Ray: "She is my sister. The last time I left her at home to watch the house, we were stranded from our group, and valuables were left behind. Therefore, one had to stay back to look after them. Later, after visiting your village, my family came looking for us. Now they have entrusted us to visit outside the city and start a small business," Ray introduced and explained his reason for arriving late.

Ryan got the gist of it and invited Ray and Lily to his house.

With Ryan in the lead, Ray and Lily followed him to the chief's house. 

As Ray neared the chief's house, he saw Thomas and Troy directing the villagers to pack all the items in the house and transfer them to the other side of the island.

Thomas saw Ray approaching and allowed Troy to lead the villagers in their tasks, then greeted Ray with a hug.

 "Ray hugged him back and asked if they were leaving today" after seeing the luggage being packed.

"No, we are leaving tomorrow, but Father has ordered us to pack everything and be ready so we can start our journey early in the morning," Thomas answered.

"Where is the chief, is he inside the house?" Asked Ray.

"Yes, He is still in the house, go and meet him, I have some work left here after this work is done, we will join you," Thomas instructed

Ray agreed and took Lily into the house where he saw the chief sitting behind a desk and checking some documents with a serious face.

The chief heard someone entering the house, so he raised his and saw Ray standing in front of him.

"Chief, it's good to see you again. I hope your health is fine," Ray approached the chief and greeted him first.

Then, with a hearty laugh chief said, "Hahaha, everything is fine here. We believed you would not return after your absence from visiting the village."

"I apologize for being unable to visit the village again due to being occupied with work. As I mentioned before, I had the important task of traveling to various places around the world and establishing my business. Therefore, I will rely on your guidance for my first visit to the city." Ray politely replied.

Chief liked the way Ray talked and laughed with happiness on his face and invited him to sit and saw Lily standing and inquired about her.

Ray: "She is my sister; I Have taken her out from home to see the world."

"Hello," Lily politely greeted.

After seeing Ray introduce her as his sister The chief called his little daughter who was the age of 12 years old and introduced her name as Bella and then asked her to take Lily and visit the village.

Ray took some money from his pocket and handed them to Lily to buy some dresses for her for daily use and the rest can be used as she deserves and sent them off.

Chief watched them leave and sat straight facing Ray and asked his doubts.

"What kind of business are you thinking right now?" asked the chief

"I'm thinking of starting a hotel business as I don't know any craft that could sell, or I don't have any contacts to buy supplies and sell them to gain short-term profits, or don't know the market to start a shop, rashly opening the shop will make more loss than profit, so hotel and lodge business is best suited for me, I can hire the chef and servants and start the business with money I currently have." Ray organized his ideas and explained his plans to the chief.

Chief was amazed by Ray's clear thinking and analysis and clapped his hands to appreciate him.

"Yes, you have thought through the details, but you have missed the important detail in your plans, usually the hotel business is monopolized by the city officials or the Rich merchants in the cities." 

"And any hotel or lodge is mostly visited by the merchants and mercenaries which will attract trouble due to their line of business, so why don't you listen to my advice here" The chief advised