Early morning. Around 8 AM. The morning rays were starting to get warm. Yet last night's cold was still making its presence known.
An endless expanse of barren land in all directions. With no sight of any natural or manmade place of shade in sight. The dry winds blew freely over the land, humming an abstract sound in the ears of those watching the scene.
There was only one giant plateau in the middle of the near-endless barrenness that seemed to stand out. It stood at a height of 2600 meters above the ground. This almost square-shaped plateau was around three kilometers in length. It featured a giant flat-mountain top that also had nothing growing on it.
They had come to this desert land for a reason only they knew. These winds, the lack of presence of any living being, as well as the natural elements of the landscape told the story of the land better than the visual nothingness.
The visitors, who appeared to be passing travelers, headed toward the plateau. Just a bunch of rankers seemingly moving from nowhere to nowhere.
But was this the story of an infertile land staying infertile for the rest of its foreseeable existence? Or could the current view be part of the "before" and "after" comparisons that would get drawn and discussed at length in the future?
Only time could tell.
***
"Don't tell me this god-forsaken, desolate land is our guild's asset."
Renar said with a voice coated in disbelief. He, Eren, Viper, and Agatha had reached the guild land from their carriage a few moments ago. Renar was taken aback by the contrast he saw between reality and the supposed fairytale land Eren had painted for him.
'This entire continent is godforsaken. It is called the land of the faithless for a reason.'
Alphee heard Renar's statement and commented in Eren's head. The latter narrowed his eyes when he heard that. But he didn't say anything. He then focused on observing Renar's exaggerated despair with fun. He had come to realize that the anthrope was used to wearing his heart on sleeves.
Unbeknownst to the fact that he was turning into the group's entertainment, Renar was busy seeing a grim future ahead. So he couldn't help cursing some more.
"Damn it. We are going to stay broke for a long long time if this is our guild land. Look at it. Who will come here to interact with us? How can we open trade here? Which merchant union will start markets here?
Even if we get an automated mission assigning system from the kingdom, how are we able to get regular clients? Those clients were supposed to be the ones where we have the biggest chance of committing tax fraud, damn it.
Broke. I only see broke days for all of us."
Renar cursed after seeing a barren, rocky land without a single tree to serve as an excuse for the local populace. There was no water source nearby either.
Although creating constructions and artificial sources of water wasn't too difficult for rankers, they would have to bear the cost of running a setup like this. With their already tight financial budget, Renar wasn't the only one who thought things were going to get a lot worse before they could get any better.
Renar just kept on listing all the disadvantages of the land to Eren and the rest. He did not worry about whether his plea would be heard by any of them or not. He also started kicking or smashing with his feet the random pebbles and rocks that were unlucky enough to get in his way.
Renar believed that this land was one of the worst places to buy for their guild asset. Contrary to what he might be thinking, the butcher couldn't agree more with Renar on all of his statements.
"Hahaha! Renar, you don't know how funny you are."
The butcher laughed heartily for the first time in a long while before adding up.
"You are right. We are fucked six ways to Sunday if we only depend on this piece of land for anything other than to serve as our base. But we are not planning to do that.
Renar, one day you will reminisce about these days of our struggle. It would happen when this place transforms into something huge.
When that day comes, I hope you will climb the biggest building of that time and say out loud "Eren Elijah Idril is my daddy" for every mortal and ranker present to hear."
Eren said jokingly to Renar while taking a long drag out of his smoke. The butcher knew this place was bound to see its rise. He just couldn't estimate how high and prominent that rise would be.
Renar looked at Eren with suspicion written all over his face. "I'll only believe it if it happens when it happens," he snorted.
The butcher shrugged his shoulders before mumbling in a low voice "I just don't get why people don't trust me when I say something to them."
The butcher followed Renar who just kept on wandering. As if forced to walk without any energy left in his body, the anthrope ranker made his way without picking up his feet. Viper was with his big brother Renar, consoling him by patting on his back. Agatha walked beside him while thinking a lot of things at once.
Frankly, she was a bit skeptical too. She had already seen the land. The butcher had sent her here to do recon. Then he had asked to buy nearby properties, which were owned by various rankers of various backgrounds.
Agatha had done her part just as the butcher asked. She had targeted the weaker owners first. She offered them reasonable rates. However, if things escalated beyond her financial capabilities, she would use Tuan as a deterrence.
Thankfully, Tuan and his powers were enough to deal with the few skirmishes she faced. That was because Agatha only chose to deal with the owners who could be manhandled by Tuan if push came to shove. 'Only put pressure on those who we could afford to put pressure on.' The butcher had said to her.
Agatha handed Eren the mana binding contracts of ex-owners of the nearby land for him to inspect as they walked side by side. Each of the mana-binding contracts marked the space on the map it had.
The contract would light up and flash the owner's name over the folded contract scroll. The piece of land nearby would also react to the contract if it were nearby. The earth array setup in each mapped piece of land would project the owner's name on a big spectral screen.
Seeing that he was in the vicinity, Eren imbued the contract scrolls he held in his hand before activating the display of ownership function. Within seconds, the ground on which he was standing along with distant grounds flashed his or Agatha's name.
"This… looks more stunning than what I had imagined it to be."
The butcher smiled to himself after he saw the sight of his name being displayed over a large expanse of land. Barren and in the shabby state it might be in, this was the place he could call his own. This was his achievement.
Compared to his previous life where he didn't know if he'd be able to eat a hearty meal or not, this was a huge step-up. The scenes of his past hardships started playing in front of him as he handed those contract scrolls back to Agatha and quietly waited for someone to come.
It wasn't long before another series of rental carriages pulled at a steady pace by strong F-Rank colts was seen coming in Eren's and his group's direction. The butcher was still busy enjoying his smoke and lost in his thoughts when Agatha prompted him.
"Eren, Tuan is back with our potioner staff and some earth-element rankers from the construction guild."
It took a while for Eren to turn around and look in the direction of the carriage fleet that was heading its way. He smiled when he used Argo's vision to zoom in on a masked person who was looking at them from the window of a leading carriage.
"Took you a while. What were you doing all this time?"
Eren greeted Tuan while tucking one of his hands in his pants' sleeves. The latter had worn a mask to cover himself. But the fire in his eyes and the surge of fire-element mana around him made Tuan easy to spot even with the mask on.
"It's all your fault, Eren."
Before Eren could ask Tuan what he meant by that, his conversation was interrupted by Agatha who seemed to be on schedule today.
"Where do you want the construction to take place? The place we had decided last night while fu... Cough… I mean the updated place or the place that you had previously thought was a smart idea."
Eren scratched his chin when he heard Agatha's answer. He pondered for a bit before replying.
"The place we came up with last night. Start constructing our guild's building on the Kukenan Plateau. Heh! If nothing else, that place will at least provide us with a better view."
"BETTER VIEW OF WHAT? FUCKING DIRT AND STONES?"
Renar yelled from a distance. Apparently, he was indeed paying attention to what the butcher was saying even from afar. Eren ignored Renar's plight and Tuan's pending conversation. Because he suddenly had more significant things to do.
Eren started discussing things with Agatha and the leader of the earth-element Adept ranker who had visited the place at Eren's request. The butcher had hired his guild's services. When the plan was finalized, the Adept ranker nodded and led his team to the plateau.
The day did not stop for anybody. Before Eren could keep track of time, the sun was already going to call it quits. The gray clouds gathering in the backdrop of the orange-lit sky reduced the daylight even more. But thankfully, the construction of the very first building on the barren land was complete.
It was a basic, three-story building that stretched for about 100 meters in length. It had a bunch of large halls for various purposes along with a lot of rooms meant to be used for a range of purposes.
This building had no perimeter walls. There was not a single piece of furniture or a runic enhancement inside it. There was nothing in it that could tell the onlookers that the building belonged to a wealthy man who had it all figured out.
But this was Eren's start. And he could swear that, at this moment, it looked many times more lavish than even the wealthiest of facilities he had seen in his past.
The earth-element rankers had done their job well. Eren had only paid for their basic services. And that's what he got for his money's worth.
A premade array had also been engraved by the Adept ranker at the grand entrance to the building, serving as its welcoming platform. As if it were missing something, the array eye was blinking dimly.
Eren walked up the array eye with smoke in his one hand– his calm eyes looking at everything they could see. His group was behind him led by Agatha. She too had a face with a lot of emotions painted on it.
Eren took a long breath and tried to capture the moment in his head. He then retrieved a scroll from his storage and imbued it with his mana before dropping it right over the array eye.
The scroll disappeared into the array eye, and a distinct mana pulse was released. In the next moment, a series of spectral lights shot into the air that displayed a name that was not known to many.
White Raven Guild!
AN: Kukenan is a real place. The plateau's real-life dimensions have been retained. ;)
VEH punches in 600 chapters with this release. Thanking all the readers for making it here with Eren and me. Cheers!
