"My lord, hee hee, I heard youâre looking for talent." A scantily clad woman bent over and leaned in.
Phield glanced over, and his gaze was drawn right into the cleavage.
That cleavage was truly bottomless.
"Ahem, yes, do you have any recommendations?" Phield subconsciously responded.
The woman bumped her chest against Phield, then pointed to her bosom: "Toss a silver coin into my âtreasure cave,â and I guarantee itâll be worth it."
Phield was left dizzy from the chest bump and quickly stood up, keeping some distance. Then he reached out and handed the silver coin directly to her: "Miss, Iâm only here for valuable information, not for pleasure. Please be serious."
The woman twisted uncomfortably a couple of timesâshe was experiencing "serious" and "gentlemanly" for the first time. She said: "Alright, my lord, I have a carpenter client, an old friend named Paul. Excellent skills. To earn more wealth, he wants to try his luck elsewhereâperhaps you could recruit him."
"Where is he?" Phield stood up excitedly.
"Heâs gone to the guild to look for work."
Just like the situation in Nightfall Domain, the streets of Maple Leaf City were filled with household garbage and excrement, the mixed rotting stench making people dizzy. Phield rubbed his noseâsince coming to this world, his nose hadnât had a single comfortable day.
"Hello, Iâm here for Paul. I heard heâs looking for workâI think my territory might have a spot for him." Phield said to the receptionist at the merchantsâ guild.
"Oh, youâre a bit late. Heâs already been recruited by the merchant and economic advisor Kuchi and is about to head to Fulan City to build stables for Lord Adrian Ross."
Adrian RossâPhieldâs brother, and the perverted noble who killed the original ownerâs beloved.
After answering respectfully, the receptionist paused, then pointed behind Phield: "My lord, Kuchiâs here. Perhaps if you offer enough gold coins, you could buy that carpenter."
Phield turned and caught Kuchiâs terrified gaze right away.
Kuchi was a refined merchant dressed in a fine linen long-sleeved shirt and cowhide boots.
Just the woolen cloak he wore could feed and clothe an ordinary person for two or three months.
"You... you..." Kuchi thought he was seeing a ghost, shakily tugging at his son beside him. "By the Valkyrie! Can you see him? Damn it, wasnât Phield supposed to go to Nightfall Domain? Heâs come back as a ghost!"
His son was equally stunned, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
"Donât look so shocked." Phield took the initiative to step forward, raising an eyebrow at the merchant past his prime. "Iâm not dead yet. Surprised? Unexpected?"
Kuchi was completely bewildered. In his impression, few who entered the northern province came out aliveâat least, without an army and Divine Chosen for protection, it was impossible.
Thus, after confirming Phield had entered the northern province in Bull territory, the Ross family had already assumed Phield was dead.
Theyâd even cleared out his room to use as a temporary guest room.
Theyâd even invited relatives and friends to hold a mourning party for Phieldâeveryone sang, danced, and partied late into the night.
"Damn! I have to tell Lord Adrian Ross." Kuchi muttered in alarm, but as a mature merchant, he maintained a hypocritical smile on his face.
"Oh! Thanks to the goddessâs blessing, Iâm very glad to see you safe and sound, esteemed Baron Phield."
The words sounded nice, but the old geezer didnât even bother with a basic bowâutterly perfunctory.
"Iâm also glad to see you, my brotherâs economic advisor." Phieldâs lips curved up, with no intention of blaming Kuchi for the rudeness.
Kuchi patted his chest: "Youâre as kind as ever. I wonder what brings you to the merchantsâ association? If I can help, Iâll absolutely do so without hesitation. Iâm sure Lord Adrian would be happy to provide assistanceâhe often misses you."
Ignoring the pleasantries automatically, Phield nodded and answered without reservation: "I need a carpenter. I heard Paul was recruited by you. Since youâre willing to help, you can give Paul to me. Or, I can buy himâmy territory needs someone for woodworking."
Kuchiâs mouth twitched. I was just being polite, and you took it seriously.
"Uh... Iâm afraid thatâs not possible. We need the carpenter to build stables urgently. Without stables, the territoryâs livestock industry could suffer major losses. Surely you donât want to see your own brotherâs territory damaged, right?"
"Fine then." Phield put on a very disappointed expression, looking aggrieved like a child, but sneering inwardly.
Kuchi nearly burst out laughing at Phieldâs look.
Still the same weak, incompetent wasteâhasnât changed a bit. Truly tarnishing the noble bloodline of the Ross family.
Kuchi kept a straight face and consoled: "Humility is a noble virtue. Youâve always been a noble aristocrat."
"You go first then. After all, I dote on my brother the most." Phield shrugged, gave Kuchi a deep look, and turned to leave.
"Haha, what a cowardly wimp. Father, did you see his aggrieved expression? Like a sick dog."
Kuchiâs son Lens couldnât hold it in anymore.
As soon as Phield left, he laughed out loud.
"He didnât even dare fight for a carpenter."
"Keep it downâafter all, heâs a noble. We still need to maintain basic humility when we see him." Kuchi didnât take Phield seriously either.
He twisted his plump belly a couple of times, then analyzed: "Phield might not have entered the northern province. I bet he sneaked straight here for fun. We need to notify the baron about this soonâa living Phield could take away a lot of the inheritance."
The old earl was nearly drained dry by Phieldâs stepmotherâthe time to divide the estate was imminent.
As Adrian Rossâs economic advisor, the more wealth Adrian had, the more he had. With some simple ledger manipulations, the fortune would last him several lifetimes of indulgence.
"But what if he really entered the northern province and came out unscathed? After all, luck is unpredictable."
Kuchi nodded: "Then heâs probably out procuring supplies. Lens, send someone to track his movements. Iâll hurry and load the cargoâwe leave here tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Father." Lens revealed a sly smile.
On the other side, Phield took out a parchment from his bosom, with a shopping list written on it.
"Gotta buy some slavesâthe territory is far short on manpower. Also magic items, fabrics, and food. Sigh, lacking everything."
The money heâd just gotten hadnât even warmed up before being tossed into the fire.
Seeing Phield nonchalantly pondering the list, Sam felt indignant for his lord and asked: "My lord, what about the carpenter? Should I beat up that old beast and snatch the guy back?"
"I have a planâlet the bullet fly for a bit."
Phield smiled faintly, not wanting to elaborate.
"Letâs go buy mist-dispelling lamps first."
"Alright, Iâll follow your lead." Sam scratched his head dumbly, not understanding what a bullet was.
Phield arrived at the churchâthose who could collect taxes from the royalty and nobles were naturally wealthy. The church walls were all expensive stained glass, patterned with stories of the God of Light. Under the sunlightâs reflection, these glasses shimmered in gold, dazzling and colorful.
He found the churchâs old priest, who was staring at a nunâs curves in a daze.
"I need mist-dispelling lamps and purification potions. How much?" Phield inquired.
The old priest jumped in fright: "Ahem, oh, a lamb seeking the divineâs blessingâwelcome. Let me state upfront: mist-dispelling lamps arenât about money; itâs called devotion and atonement! Mist-dispelling lamps require a devotion of 25 gold coins, purification potions are 1 gold coin each. May the Goddess of Light bless you."
Profiteeringâpure profiteering.
Phield had calculated: to quickly purge corruption from one acre of farmland required 3 vials of purification potion. And mist-dispelling lamps only lasted about 25 days. Just staying in the territory to purify fields would burn over 20 gold coins a day for Phield.
Purifying the well was even more terrifyingâestimated 80 vials to make it safe for drinking.
And this was without Phield fully developing the land!
"Fine, I want them all." Phield didnât want to deal with them, but these special products were only available from the churchâeven the royalty didnât have the secret formulas.
"Wait! Iâll devote more." A big-nosed man walked in, producing a gold coin voucher. "Iâm willing to devote 10 more gold coins to the God of Lightâplease give me all the divine gifts."
The priestâs hand paused, his face grinning brighter than a chrysanthemum: "Good, goodâI can feel your greater piety."
"Wait! 20 coins." Phield continued expressionlessly.
The big-nosed man sneered cheaply: "21 gold coins."
"30!"
"31!"
"Fine, itâs yours." Phield decisively conceded, frowning as his mind raced.
This guy couldnât be a church shill, right?
Didnât check the date before going outâhow unlucky.
No matter what, Phield wasnât willing to take a lossâ30 gold coins was already a high price. He couldnât guarantee next time heâd luck out and find black pearl wine again.
But is what I want something you can just snatch away?
Whether youâre from the church or not, stealing from me means preparing to pay the price.
Staring as the big-nosed man took the goods, Phield handed a small bag of gold coins to a guard, whispered a few words, then nonchalantly continued shopping.
After Phield was far away, the big-nosed man burst into laughter from around the corner: "Did you see his expression? Funnier than a circus clown."
Kuchiâs son Lens ran out from the alley, beaming: "How does it feel to mess with a noble?"
"An amazing experienceâIâm gonna engrave this on my tombstone so my kids will be proud." The big-nosed man put his hands on his hips, laughing smugly for a moment, but then felt a wave of fear. "Lens, but he is a noble after allâis it really okay?"
"Of course itâs fineâwith Baron Adrianâs protection, nothing to fear. Phieldâs famous for being a coward. When Baron Adrian played his beloved to death back then, wasnât he just fine?"
"Haha, thatâs hilarious." The two joked maliciously for a bit.
Lens grinned, elbowing the big-bearded manâs back: "Letâs keep messing with him, but weâll have to return the goods later.
Misappropriating so many gold coinsâif my father finds out, heâll kill me, haha."
...
PS: Iâm truly happy today. Iâve received an invitation from the platform to sign a contract.
Even though my readership is still small and the bookmarks are few, Iâm grateful and excited nonetheless.
Thank you to everyone who has chosen to read and support my work. I sincerely appreciate you.