part0016

For several days, the raw materials Lark ordered from the merchants guild arrived at Blackstone Town one after another. At the same time, the number of people migrating to the territory started increasing again as soon as winter ended.

Just today, they had gained almost a hundred people. It seemed that King Alvis was upholding his promise and was posting recruitment notices for Blackstone Town in various territories.

Since it had been a while, Lark decided to meet today’s new migrants.

“Young Master,” said Silverclaw. “Are we really going to accept all of these men?”

In front of them were the migrants who had arrived today. This was the largest group so far. According to one of them, more than half of them were from a village north of Mavas City. After several people in their village had died from the cold and hunger during the winter, they had decided to move to this territory.

“Of course,” said Lark. He looked at the group of migrants. Although most of them were skin and bone, the majority were young men and women. They would definitely become a boost to their workforce. “What we need the most right now is manpower. We should be grateful that the recruitment notices issued by the royal family are enough for people to start flocking to this town.”

An elderly man, who seemed to be the leader of this group of migrants, stepped forward. Although he was clearly afraid of Lark, he still did his best to look the lord in the eye.

“I-Is it true that we’ll be provided homes and food if we move to this town?” said the old man.

The other migrants waited anxiously for the lord’s reply. They must have felt that the recruitment notice was too good to be true. After all, a lot of territories were devastated by the black famine last year, despite the fact that they had finally found a way to kill the swarm.

“Nothing is free,” said Lark. “What we will be offering are job opportunities. Your survival, the food for your children, everything will still depend on how hard you are willing to work. You must have heard by now. The starting salary is six silvers for most of the jobs offered in this town.”

The migrants looked at each other in glee. The salary being offered by the lord for even the most mundane jobs was on par or a bit higher than those in major cities. Although they’d heard of the details from the messenger sent by the royal family, hearing it directly from the lord’s mouth was an entirely different matter.

“L-Lord, is it possible for us to apply to the military?” said one of the men. “We heard that it’s possible to receive twice the pay if we become soldiers.”

“As long as you pass the test, yes.”

“Clarkson, the leader of the police, will give you the details later,” said Lark. Clarkson, who’d been standing quietly next to Lark the entire time, nodded his head.

Seeing everyone’s anxious faces, Lark added, “It’s not a test of intelligence, or anything of the sort, if that’s what is worrying you.”

The man sighed in relief. “T-Thank you, My Lord!”

After handing the migrants over to Clarkson, Lark said to Silverclaw, “How many available houses do we have left in the Eastern District?”

“Only a few dozen are left,” said the head mason. “I’m afraid it’ll be impossible to provide homes for all of these people.”

Although the speed of building houses had increased a lot, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone due to the large number of migrants coming to Blackstone Town.

“For now, even a simple shack should do. Just make sure they have a roof over their heads within the next few days. We’ll speed up the construction projects once we’ve secured men for the job.”

Lark handed Silverclaw several parchments. The head mason looked at their contents and slightly creased his brow. It was a blueprint for a magic tower.

“You understand, right?” said Lark. “I’ve already gathered the necessary materials to build that thing. I’ve also briefed Gaston beforehand regarding this. For the materials, please coordinate with him.”

“Magic towers,” said Silverclaw. “I heard that the Young Master is the one who built the towers in Lion City, but seeing this blueprint… still amazes me.”

The head mason noticed something peculiar in the blueprint. He stared at it for a moment, making sure that what he was seeing was right. “The tip of the magic tower will be made out of adamantite? And the magic formation at the base—”

“Will be made using a mixture of high-grade mana stones and powdered Tears of Ubroxia,” said Lark.

The head mason looked at Lark in bewilderment. What the Young Master was suggesting was preposterous. Even Silverclaw knew that the price of a high-grade mana stone was exorbitant. Moreover, it was impossible to acquire adamantite.

As though Lark could read the head mason’s mind, he took out a small cube the size of a fist from his bag. He tossed it to Silverclaw and the head mason caught it nimbly with one hand.

“There’s more where that came from,” said Lark. “Our goal is five towers this year. We won’t be making cheap imitations like the ones seen in Wizzert and Lion City. We’ll be making the real deal. Towers capable of taking down demons and dragons.”

Silverclaw shivered. For some reason, it sounded as though the Young Master was anticipating monsters attacking the kingdom in the near future.

Silverclaw stared at the fist-sized cube he held in his hand. It was surprisingly light, and its black luster occasionally glowed in golden light. The textbook definition of adamantite.

The hand holding the cube trembled. He could probably live comfortably for the rest of his life if he sold this item in the capital. As far as he knew, it was extremely rare, even in the Dwarven Kingdom.

“Adamantite?” breathed the head mason. “Is this really adamantite? W-Where did you get this from, Young Master?”

It had been a long time since Lark had seen the head mason become this flustered. The last time he was this agitated was when his daughter was on her deathbed.

“The source doesn’t matter,” said Lark. “Start building the first tower in the Eastern District, near the Town Hall. Understood?”

After meeting with the head mason, Lark met with the merchants from Lion City. These merchants were crucial for the growth of the territory. Lark made sure to give them preferential treatment—they were given free lodgings in the best inn in the town and were charged with minimal tariffs. Sometimes, he would even go out of his way to meet them personally, just like today.

“Ah, Lord Lark!” one of the merchants greeted him merrily. Although it was still early morning, the three merchants were already drinking ale in the tavern. “Over here! Please join us!”

Lark smiled and joined their table. He called the waitress and ordered a tankard of mead.

“We’ve heard that you plan on establishing a merchants guild in Blackstone Town?” said one of the merchants. “The boss told us to assist you in every way possible.”

“Yes. Thank you. I’ve promised to compensate Big Mona for this favor.”

The merchants chuckled. “The boss will piss himself in excitement if he hears that. He’s been very busy trying to breach the market of the capital lately. He has some grudge with the merchants of the capital, you see.”

This was new information. No wonder the fat merchant was so ecstatic after acquiring the recipe for the low-grade potion.

The waitress placed the tankard in front of Lark, bowed her head politely, and left.

As Lark started drinking his mead, the merchant added, “Big Mona’s in a festive mood these days. The news that the middle-grade potion he’s been selling greatly contributed to the king’s recovery is the talk of the capital recently.”

“If this trend continues, won’t our guild become large enough to compete with the one in the capital?”

“The guild owned by the Vont Family, eh? Although the boss is raking in gold recently, it must be chump change compared to the wealth of the Vont Family. I can’t see our guild overtaking them in the next few years.”

Lark remembered that Chryselle belonged to this powerful family. For a moment, he remembered the letter she wrote to him.

“Those weasels.” The merchant shook his head and slammed his tankard on the table. Judging by his red cheeks, he was already drunk. “If I owned a port city and held power over the mercenaries, I’d be filthy rich too!”

The merchant next to him snorted. “Keep dreaming. As if it’s that easy.” He looked at Lark and said, “Anyway, we’re here to discuss the establishment of a merchants guild in Blackstone Town.”

Lark nodded. He took a small map from his pocket and spread it on the table. He pointed at a particular spot on the map. “I plan on building it here, next to the Central Market. What do you think?”

“It’s a nice location. Accessible to the main road. There should be no problem building it there.”

“But, Lord Lark, you will need at least four affiliated merchants to establish a merchants guild in your territory. Anyone come to mind?”

“About that,” said Lark, “Big Mona has already spoken with his associates in the other cities. It seems that two people have already agreed to found a guild in Blackstone Town.”

“Then we’re left with just one more person.” The merchant rubbed his chin. “If by some chance you’re unable to find another one, I could introduce you to a friend of mine.”

“I’d be grateful if you could do that,” said Lark.

“But the problem is…” The merchant spoke slowly, as though he was conflicted. “That friend of mine wouldn’t move unless there’s profit to be had. Say, how about this? I heard that umami salts are getting quite popular in the capital these days.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure that you and your friend will be given the largest bulk of its trade,” said Lark. He understood that these men only moved for profit.

The merchant grinned. “I’ll take your word for it.” He raised his tankard and clinked it with Lark’s.

After meeting with the merchants, Lark decided to visit the golden statue in the Endless Forest. He needed more funds for the various projects in the town. He’d used up almost all of the gold he’d brought back.

Using flight magic, he flew over the sea of trees at a tremendous speed. Unlike before, mana was no longer an issue.

After flying for almost an hour, he finally saw slight undulations of mana in the air—signifying that he was near the radius of the illusion spell the Scylla had cast.

Had Lark not known beforehand that an illusion spell had been cast on this part of the forest, even he would have had a hard time locating the statue. The Earth Scylla was really proficient in magic.

When Lark was only a few hundred meters away, a path in the illusion opened, and a familiar creature appeared in front of Lark.

“God Evander!” the Scylla shrieked in excitement. “You’ve finally visited us!” The Scylla’s loud voice reverberated through the forest. To those who did not know draconian language, it must have sounded like a roar from a ferocious monster. “Please come inside!”

Under the excited gaze of the Scylla, Lark flew inside the illusion and finally arrived where the statue was located. He hovered down slowly and landed on the ground.

The Scylla immediately bowed all of its seven heads and said in unison, “Welcome back, God Evander.”

Lark looked at the structure in front of him and frowned. The shrine had become a large stone castle. It was probably even larger than the king’s castle in the capital. Lark was not sure.

“It’s become… quite big,” mumbled Lark.

“It’s our masterpiece,” the first head said with pride.

“We’ve worked on it day and night since you left for Blackstone Town!” said the sixth head.

Lark smiled wryly. He wanted to tell the Scylla that there was no real need to make a castle this big, but after seeing those overly eager eyes, he decided against it.

“It looks great.” Lark decided to give it praise.

Although the Scylla’s physique vastly differed from humans, Lark was sure that all seven heads were smiling proudly right now. Its tail was wagging, sending small clouds of dust after striking the ground.

“What brings you here today, God Evander?” said the third head.

“I need more gold and adamantite,” said Lark. He started walking toward the intricately made entrance. “I’ll be entering the treasure room for a while.”

“I see,” the third head slowly nodded. “So it isn’t about those spirits, huh? Please take your time inside the treasure room, My God.”

Lark halted in his tracks. “Spirits?”

The third head replied, “Yes.”

“Several spirits have been trying to break through our illusion spell these past several days,” said the first head. “Normally, we would have immediately annihilated those fools, but since they weren’t capable of breaking through the illusion spell, we decided to leave them be for now.”

Lark was glad that the Scylla had heeded his words and didn’t resort to drastic measures. “What kind of spirits are they? And why are they trying to break through the illusion spell?”

“Wind spirits, God Evander,” said the third head. “And high-ranking ones at that. As for the reason… I apologize, but we still do not know why.”

“There were three sylphids among them,” said the seventh head.

“Three sylphids?” said Lark. “And they still couldn’t break through a mere illusion spell?”

He felt that something was wrong. Three sylphids should be more than enough to destroy the illusion spell protecting this part of the forest.

“They’re sylphids but they’re much weaker than the ones living in Marut,” said the third head. “I could probably kill them all on my own, even if there are five of them.”

The other heads nodded at the third head’s statement.

“If they’re as weak as you say, then they’re probably contracted spirits,” said Lark.

“We believe so, God Evander,” said the third head.

Unlike free spirits, those who formed a contract with a mortal were incapable of unleashing their true potential. If they used more power than what was allowed, their contractors could die.

This probably explained why they couldn’t break through the illusion barrier of the Earth Scylla.

Who sent those spirits?

And how did they know that an illusion barrier had been cast on this part of the forest?

Several questions started popping up one after another.

“God Evander,” said the first head. “This forest isn’t as peaceful as it appears to be.”

“If you will just give us the order,” said the fourth head, “we’ll do our best to investigate what is happening in the Endless Forest.”