If one wanted to maintain a healthy development model, each side had to have a clear role. A lord could not raise his subjects in reverse, nor did he have the time or energy for that.
Perhaps Anser had spoken too vaguely. The crowd whispered among themselves, discussing for a long while, yet still did not dare ask further questions.
"I'll give you half an hour to think it over. Once you've decided, bring your luggage and come find me." Anser jumped down from his horse, had Nornoth wait at the entrance, and entered the guild hall himself.
The halfling hurried after him, arranging for people to brew tea and bring out some pastries.
"How much?" Anser played with the Rod of Security, smiling as he looked at the halfling.
"The deposit you paid earlier is already enough. You're giving everyone a way to live—how could we charge you more?" The halfling straightened his back and wiped his handlebar mustache with his hand, looking very serious.
"You're quite righteous." Anser smiled but did not expose him.
He was recruiting subjects—free people. The Stonemasons' Guild was essentially an intermediary agency, and its fees were already very low. Selling him a favor would not cost them much.
As it happened, he had not brought the Treasure Coin Pouch with him either, so not charging him also saved him a sum of money.
At that moment, those refugees began entering one after another.
Anser had them wait to the side. Before long, all sixty-two people had entered.
They looked uneasy. The reason they were willing to trust Anser came half from their recognition of Durlag's official authority, and half from their awe of spellcasters.
Most mage lords had far more integrity than ordinary nobles!
"Let me borrow your place for a moment. Everyone not involved, please leave." Anser looked toward the halfling with the handlebar mustache.
The halfling understood instantly—he and the staff were the "not involved." He could only lead his people out, even thoughtfully closing the main door behind them.
Anser raised the staff and pointed it toward the crowd. "Everyone, pick up your belongings. Do not resist my spell. I will take you away from here."
The crowd did as they were told, their expressions uneasy.
Once they were ready, Anser activated the Rod of Security, marked everyone with the Paradise mark, and then initiated the teleportation.
A flash of light and shadow passed, and everyone gradually vanished from where they stood.
Six-Finger Rudin felt his vision blur. His body sank into dizziness—he could neither see nor hear, and felt so sick he wanted to vomit. Yet compared to his physical discomfort, the fear in his heart was far worse. His heart seemed about to leap out of his chest.
'Am I going to die? Could he be the kind of dark mage from the legends who experiments on living people?'
After an unknown amount of time, the light suddenly grew bright again and his five senses returned. He staggered a few steps and collapsed onto the soil. The ground felt soft beneath him. Before his eyes stretched green grass and fresh air.
Unfortunately, the sounds of people vomiting around him ruined this natural beauty.
Raising his head, a massive black tower burst into view—lofty and solemn. Startled, he stepped back several paces. There was a crack beneath his foot. Looking down, he saw that it was actually a withered skeleton.
His expression froze instantly.
"Black—"
Anser held his breath and stepped back a few paces. He had not expected ordinary people to be unable to endure even this slight dizziness. Fortunately, he had teleported them to the outer edge of the plaza—otherwise the plaza he had just repaired a little would have been ruined again.
A minute later, seeing that everyone had caught their breath, he finally stepped forward.
"Rudin—" he called out, pointing at the middle-aged man.
"Ah, Master Mage!" Rudin jolted, dropped to his knees with a thud, and trembled all over.
"Uh, no need to kneel." Anser was a little puzzled.
There was no birdcall here, but there was the scent of flowers, and the natural scenery was beautiful. Shouldn't this have been a pleasant surprise?
"From now on, you're the village chief. You'll be responsible for choosing the site and building the village. The climate here is neither cold nor hot. There are no natural disasters, and there are no beasts or enemies either. You can sow seeds anytime."
"See the treant and the Kobold over there? They'll help you reclaim the land, so there's no need to rush—settle down first." Anser instructed.
Hearing Anser's words, Rudin gradually steadied himself. He slowly got back up, but when he saw the treant and the Kobold not far away, he shuddered again in fright.
"We… don't have handy tools, and we didn't bring much…" He took a few deep breaths, trying to offer some suggestions.
Anser had anticipated this and soothed him. "The person in charge isn't here right now. When he arrives, he'll come find you. From now on, if you're missing anything, you can go to the Black Tower to find him. He'll help you purchase supplies. Land-clearing tools are free, but things like food will be charged at market price. You can buy on credit…"
He planned to have Bratt open a general store on the first floor of the Black Tower, selling goods they couldn't produce internally—tools, grain, medicine, and the like—as long as it did not run at a loss.
Once there were more people, he would move the shop outside the Black Tower. The Black Tower was his private territory; non-core personnel could not enter and leave freely.
"Mm-hm…" Rudin's mind was in a mess, and he only knew to nod.
"Get familiar with the place. I still have things to do." Anser waved his hand. His figure vanished, teleporting back to the Stonemasons' Guild.
Compared to clearing land and farming, he preferred killing monsters and leveling up. He would leave the logistical matters to Bratt.
At the Stonemasons' Guild, Anser pulled open the main door, signaling that the halfling with the handlebar mustache could come in.
The moment the halfling's foot touched the floorboards, his body froze in place. Staring at the now-empty hall, he looked stunned, then turned to Anser in disbelief.
Anser's expression did not change. With his current strength, even if ordinary people knew he had good things on him, they would not dare provoke him lightly.
What was more, to most people, spellcasters were mysterious, and they did not understand what teleportation meant.
"I'm leaving. Keep the recruitment task going—your money won't be short." Anser patted the halfling on the shoulder.
The halfling forced a faint smile but did not reply. Before he figured out whether those people were safe, there was no way he would help the other party recruit more hands.
"Anser?"
A shout full of delight reached Anser's ears. His back turned cold, and he inexplicably recalled the scene of running into Matthew before.
At this moment, it was just like that moment—even the location had not changed.
He whirled around, only to see a group of people gathered at the entrance, dusty from travel. Their races were mixed. They looked somewhat bedraggled, yet their eyes were filled with surprise and joy.
"Anser, I knew it was you!" The weathered voice was full of fatigue, yet carried a trace of relief.
"Salian, Kaleno…" Anser exclaimed in surprise and quickly walked over, his heart filled with mixed shock and joy. He had never expected to meet Salian and the others here.
A small figure pulled off her cloak, ran a few steps, and rushed toward him. "Brother Anser—"
Anser scooped little Claira into his arms. Seeing the scratches and tear marks on her face, his heart ached.
"I thought I would never see you again, wuu…" Little Claira clung tightly to his neck. Her small nose twitched, and her blue-and-purple eyes brimmed with tears.
"It's alright now, it's alright…" Anser comforted her softly.
Salian led the others into the hall. More than forty people filled the already small guild hall to the brim.
At the sight, the halfling with the handlebar mustache realized he had once again become one of the "irrelevant people." He could only quietly lead several staff members away, while inwardly praying that the kind of long-awaited reunion followed by sudden killing he had seen before would not happen again.
Anser roughly glanced around. Darla, Kafka, Colin… the familiar faces were all still there. Some were injured, but no one was missing.
Even breathing sounds reached his ears. Turning his head slightly, he saw that little Claira had actually fallen asleep on his shoulder.
"Ah…" Salian sighed, guilt in his eyes. "It was all because I insisted on coming here. They've suffered a lot because of it."
"This was everyone's decision," Kaleno emphasized, his voice hoarse.
His handsome face looked somewhat ashen, his hair messy and hanging loose. The carefree bearing he once had was nowhere to be seen.
"Why didn't you go to Beregost?" Anser asked in confusion.
Salian gave a bitter smile and explained, "That was the plan at first, but on the way we discovered that Amn was massing troops…"
That night, after they landed ashore, they did not enter the city. Instead, they traveled through the night, heading straight for Beregost.
Because their group was large and had many professionals, and with the first mate Colin's owl scouting ahead, they encountered no danger along the way.
However, when they approached Beregost, they discovered that Amn was assembling forces and that entry inspections into the city had become strict, so they did not enter. After discussion, they decided to pass along the edge of the Wood of Sharp Teeth and head straight for Durlag.
This was also a helpless choice. After all, the Quesser had most often fought people from Amn. As the captain, Salian was hated by who knew how many Amnians. If they were exposed, none of them would survive.
Durlag was known as the City of Adventurers, and it became their only choice.
Fortunately, there were many refugees fleeing. They traveled together with a merchant caravan. Although they suffered quite a bit along the way, they never encountered a life-or-death crisis.
After entering the city, they originally planned to find a place to stay first. But then they heard people talking about what had happened today. Salian felt that the person being discussed was Anser and Nornoth, so he led the others along the street to search—and at a glance he spotted Nornoth.
"How did you get here so much faster than we did?" Salian asked, equally surprised.
"I flew here," Anser said with a chuckle. "Now you have two choices: find an inn and stay there, or temporarily go to my territory."
"Ah, you have a territory?" Kaleno asked in astonishment.
"Of course. Please address me as Lord Holrewen."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---