Fredrick was absorbing the mana within the crystal as he held it.
Nathan's eyes shined. Seeing was believing after all.
"With this, we'll groom a fighting force rivaling the top guilds in ten years"
Cabrera was subconsciously nodding.
"But it's not going to be easy. We're going to need a lot of things to pull it off"
"Where is the list?" Fredrick questioned.
"Here" Cabrera handed him the land price list.
As he read, Fredrick furrowed his brow.
"There is a lot missing from this"
Then again, Niton was too big to document all the vacant lands. They only wrote down the best ones.
"This won't do…" he kept his thoughts as he screened the slums price list.
"Here, here, here, here, here, here and here. These places are to be bought"
Nathan stretched his neck.
'Kingsmere, Traxford, Irondale, Felleris, Pierland, Qunchester and Gattiste'
Apart from Qunchester, the others were within a two weeks' ride of Kingsmere.
When he looked at the prices…his heart skipped a beat!
None was less than 5,000 Platinum, in other words, 500,000 Gold!
He smiled right after.
'Right, we have money now, and we're only paying half the price'
"Sir Nathan, what is your take on this?"
Nathan was flustered.
"Me?"
"As you have proven ingenuity by getting this guild a buffer zone, it is only natural"
Nathan coughed and adjusted his composure.
"I'd have to ask, what exactly does Sir wish to accomplish?"
"To create an army, you need numbers. We're looking to outsource these numbers from the slums, and groom them"
Nathan was bewildered.
"You believe that is possible?"
Outsourcing a fighting force from the slums? He'd never heard a crazier idea.
Fredrick laughed lightly.
"I honestly don't. But someone does, and these are his orders"
Nathan took a deep breath.
"Can you explain how he wishes to achieve this?"
Fredrick noded.
"We're outsourcing from the slums because that's where we'll find the biggest and most expendable workforce for the cheapest cost. Those were his words. And by doing them a favor of giving them a new chance at life, their loyalty couldn't be more secure"
"Hmm..." Nathan nodded with a look of contemplation. It was actually starting to make sense.
"That said, we have no intention of taking rubbish. They must be thoroughly screened. As for how, he left that task to us"
Nathan was intrigued. He had never thought of it like that. Since powerless individuals were looked down upon, those of the slums were deemed worthless.
Why then, did the capital accommodate them? Because looking at them made nobles and commoners feel good about themselves. That simple.
Also, because no one cared about them, it was the best place to find a person to murder, maim, ****, torture, use as experiment for potions, and much more.
Thinking like this, Nathan said…
"People won't be happy about this"
The slums was were most slaves were sourced. Buying it meant such advents would be blocked.
Fredrick laughed.
"Damn them and their happiness. Besides, we're untouchable"
Nathan found himself laughing as well.
Fredrick pulled out a parchment.
"In it are guidelines for you to follow"
It piqued Nathan's interest.
Upon unfolding it though…his interest was doused.
The list was so long it fell to the ground.
Nathan calmed himself and began perusing the contents.
What do you know, his interest ignited once more.
It was filled with multiple objectives, from finding people to the necessary laws the merchant guild must abide by, to something called…'information agency', to how the slums were to be restructured, and SO much more.
Nathan was awed.
'Who wrote this?!'
There were many new and unique ideas the average man would never have thought of.
If they were able to implement all of this…
…!
"Hoo…" Nathan didn't know what to say.
"Now, how should we go about it?" Fredrick questioned.
"You need this ready in ten years?"
"Yes"
"Can we increase the scale?"
"Then we'll need more money"
"That's on the way"
Nathan nodded, perusing the scroll once more.
It had been numbered in regards to importance, making things even easier.
The ideas were golden, but Nathan caught onto something.
'This person, he doesn't know much about money'
For some items, an approximate price was written on the side.
Nathan found that they were grossly overpriced.
Then, he smelt the scroll, and his eyes lit up.
'This is high quality stuff'
As a merchant, he knew his stuff.
Fredrick brought out another scroll, a soul contract.
"Sir Nathan, please sign here"
"With pleasure" Nathan didn't even peruse the contract.
Their discussion carried on for hours.
With this, the expedition was over.
-Elsewhere-
The Sentinel climbed out of the mine with a face full of smiles.
He made sure to scrape the mine of all it's worth.
Coming out though, his smile turns into a frown.
Two men were heading his way on horses.
What was there to fear? The Sentinel dusted his clothes and stood.
Approaching, the riders picked up their pace when they saw a cloaked man standing at the spot they were told about.
*Shin*
They unsheathe and point their swords at him.
"State your name and affiliations"
"Haa, you b#stards must have gone mad"
"You-"
The words stuck in their throats when he lifted his hood.
"Sentinel!"
They immediately dismount and knelt.
"Forgive us for such impertinence!"
The sentinel spoke…
"On whose orders are you here?"
"The Royal Advisor, Sir"
Kogar frowned. Things were becoming complicated.
Quickly, he mounted his horse.
"Explain as we go"
Meanwhile, Ezra was still stashing coins like there was no tomorrow.
He did this into the night, leaving after the guards came to fetch him.
Upon getting out, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The window of opportunity had closed, but he made sufficient use of it.
So, onto the next task…
Sitting in his bed, he began a thorough inspection of the space ring's contents.
He found that he could influence the space within, though subtly.
With that, the items were separated.
He examined the beast eggs first while writing the guidelines for Fredrick, which he had forgotten about.
He couldn't possibly take care of so many eggs.
Then you had the snake carcass.
He couldn't sell it, and he didn't have the expertise to cut it apart, or a space big enough to contain its body, so he could only wait for Cabrera and Fredrick to make progress.
Thankfully, with so many mana stones around, it won't be rotting any time soon.
As for the mana cube, he hadn't touched it yet.
The mana stones and mana crystals, those he had touched.
It also contained herbs Fredrick gathered while returning.
As for the book Fredrick found, he was unable to decipher it, so he put it away.
Then there was the heap of gold coins far more than he could count.
As for the tree, Ezra was examining its fruits.
They looked ordinary, as did the tree.
He couldn't sense anything significant about it, so he decided to take a bite out of what looked like an oval shaped apple.
Upon doing so, his mind went blank as he felt the fruit influence something!
Quickly, he ate the rest of the apple and his eyes went blank.
He laid limp on his bed, while within, he underwent a transformation.
His veins shone a dim red.
At the same time, he felt his understanding of fire growing in an unexplainable manner.
After a few minutes, his eyes turned back to normal.
He touches his head, trying to recall the euphoric feeling, but to no avail.
'What…was that?'
He certainly felt closer to fire.
Had his affinity increased? Or was it something else entirely?
Taking deep breaths, he tried out numerous things, from trying to release flames from his fingertips to breathing it.
Nothing worked.
While he was sure something happened, being unable to find out, he slept.
'Till tomorrow then'
He was quite tired anyway.
