Arcane Emperor

"Have you all heard? Sweet Water Town was torched by a Black Dragon, nothing but ruins left."

"I heard, too. Our caravan luckily followed My Lord's orders and escaped the disaster, otherwise we'd be waiting for a new lord."

"Keep your voice down with that, don't let the soldiers overhear…"

"What can they do to me?"

"Oh, what can they do? The next time you go into the forest to pick herbs, or when you're attacked by wild beasts, you expect to count only on yourself to make it back?"

"Pff, to count on those soldiers who've hardly had a few days of training?"

"Hardly trained for a few days? They killed hundreds of monsters yesterday, fought their way through Misty Swamp, and made it to the village…"

"That's right, in a moment of inattention, they killed those trolls that often attacked us, and their corpses aren't even all burned yet…"

"What's that compared to this? Have you not heard what those soldiers summoned to the outpost said? The new Lord is exceptionally generous, giving at least one Gold Coin to every soldier who fought in the battle!"

"It's not just one Gold Coin per person; the soldiers got at least two. That old chap Sean got lucky—he snagged eight Gold Coins for himself!"

"Eight Gold Coins? My god, how many codfish do I need to catch? How many salted fish to make to earn that back?"

"It's indeed true, but this has nothing to do with us. They live by the sword, who knows when they might be gone…"

"Otherwise, I can't be bothered to think too much, just hoping the new lord is truly merciful and won't raise taxes again…"

"Right, if taxes go up again, we'll barely afford black bread…"

"…"

Various voices of conversation kept entering Matthew's ears, and he never would've imagined that just after one night's sleep,

his strength had increased significantly, much like Yaya's continuous growth. Although there weren't any obvious changes in attribute data,

as the effects persisted, Matthew felt he wasn't far from becoming a Close-Combat All-Round Arcanist.

Of course, even if Matthew were capable of that, he didn't have much time.

The pressing matter was to gather more manpower and bring the entire Bay Village firmly under control.

After listening around, Matthew somewhat sentimentally found that apart from a few people discussing him, only a very small portion of the villagers were concerned about the trolls that appeared before. Most people were busy preparing for the biannual fishing season.

Indeed, food is the most important thing.

As some say, being attacked by trolls or wild beasts is only a possibility, but without food, starvation is a certainty.

The situation matched Matthew's expectations almost exactly, and he let go of all his burdens.

Even if he failed, they wouldn't lose much more; they hardly had anything left to lose!

Calmly organizing his thoughts, Matthew soon returned to the Lord's Mansion.

The mansion was enclosed by a stone wall about three meters high, which separated it from the village.

There were numerous bright white chop marks on the outside of the wall, and several areas of damage, all indicating that the village, located in the wilderness, was not very safe.

This was why the previous lord of Bay Village, Wood Knight, sold off his estate and moved to the Great Karl Plains to settle down as he got older and his strength started to wane.

As the easternmost territory of the Nesserite Empire, dangers surrounded it.

Attacks by monsters and wild beasts had become a part of everyday life; death and danger were always close at hand.

With more exposure came acceptance.

At the entrance to the Lord's Mansion, there stood a luxuriously decorated carriage. A portly merchant with a round belly was bowing and scraping to Butler Ralph. Upon seeing Matthew step down from the carriage, the merchant quickly bowed and greeted him:

"Above the Magic Lady, the learned and wise Arcanist, the handsome and majestic Knight Matthew, your devoted servant Adams respectfully awaits."

Hearing the slightly strange inflection in Adams's voice, Matthew knew his origin.

A merchant who had just pledged allegiance to the Searle Family!

But Matthew had to admit, the man had the guts to cross Misty Swamp and come to the secluded Bay Village just to show his loyalty early; that was bold and visionary.

Of course, Adams was certainly making a gamble, and in the original trajectory, he would naturally have lost that bet.

However, for the sake of safety, Matthew still checked his information.

Name: Adam Smythe Trell.

Race: Human.

Age: 36 years old.

Occupation: Level 2 Bard.

Luck: +2.

Matthew nodded and walked into the Lord's Mansion, where he found a set of brand-new ebony tables and chairs in the living room, presumably a gift from Adam Smythe.

He sat down without much mental burden, touched the carvings that bore a hint of Eastern charm, and in his heart, Matthew gave him a higher score.

Matthew had seen many merchants, and the majority were solely profit-driven with short-sighted vision.

If they could not grasp the essence of power, they would usually be fattened up and then slaughtered, to be replaced by a new batch by those in control of power and influence.

Such was the cycle!

In this world, wealth and capital were not considered savage and powerful, for strength had a more specific demonstration!

"Adam Smythe has brought 200 gold coins, as well as 2000 pounds of high-quality flour, and 500 pounds of rice."

Butler Ralph reported to Matthew faithfully, clearly quite satisfied with how well Adam Smythe had conducted himself.

This was a somewhat clever merchant!

Observing the generically smiling Adam Smythe, Matthew didn't waste words and got straight to the point:

"How much goods did you bring in total?"

Although he didn't know what Matthew was thinking, Adam Smythe still spoke truthfully:

"400,000 pounds of wheat, 5 copper coins per pound, enough for 2000 people to consume for a year, originally intended for trade with Sweet Water Town and the surrounding villages, valued at 200 gold coins."

"5,000 pounds of iron ingots, 1 silver coin per pound, valued at 50 gold coins."

"200 spears, 50 silver coins each, valued at 100 gold coins."

"200 pieces of leather armor, 80 silver coins each, valued at 160 gold coins."

"50 longbows, 1 gold and 20 silver each, valued at 60 gold coins."

"5,000 arrows, 20 copper coins each, valued at 10 gold coins."

"2000 magical plants, sold at 5 silver coins each, valued at 100 gold coins."

"300 pounds of various minerals, magical materials, 10 silver coins per pound, valued at 30 gold coins."

"100 bottles of Elementary Holy Water, each sold at 1 gold and 50 silver, valued at 150 gold coins."

"50 bottles of Intermediate Healing Potions, each sold at 2 gold coins, valued at 100 gold coins."

"Two sets of Alchemy Equipment, each set 500 gold coins, valued at 1000 gold coins."

Reappraising Adam Smythe, Matthew discerned multiple implications from the goods he had prepared:

"A variety of goods indicates wide connections."

"Having both low-end and mid-range products signifies great ambition."

"Specifically bringing magical plants, various materials, and two sets of alchemy equipment, he's definitely targeting me..."

"Well, that's good, it can save me a lot of time."

Lightly tapping the table, Matthew looked at Adam Smythe's somewhat reserved face, and spoke very calmly:

"Not bad, I'll take it all!"

Adam Smythe's face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered and agreed with a hearty nod:

"No problem, serving My Lord is my honor!"

"Hah, nonsense!"

With a faint smile in his heart, Matthew placed two items on the table and pushed them across.