Chapter 24: I Want It All

  "Have you all heard? Sweetwater Town was buro ashes by a bck dragon, leaving only ruins."

  "I heard too. The caravan barely escaped because of the lord's orders, otherwise, we'd be waiting for a new lain."

  "Keep your voice down, don't let the soldiers hear you…"

  "What they do to me?"

  "Ha, what they do? ime you go into the woods to gather herbs, et attacked by wild beasts in the wild, you'll have to rely on yourself to get back alive, won't you?"

  "Pfft, relying on those soldiers who haven't trained for more than a few days?"

  "Not trained for more than a few days? They killed hundreds of monsters yesterday while passing through the Misty Marsh to get to the vilge..."

  "Exactly, and without much effort, they killed the giant troll that had been attag us often. The body isn’t even fully burned yet..."

  "So what? Didn't you hear the soldiers scripted at the outpost? The new lord is especially generous, giving each soldier who fought at least one gold !"

  "Everyo at least one gold . The soldiers got at least two, and old Sean was lucky enough to get eight gold s!"

  "Eight gold s? My god, how many cod do I o catch, how many salted fish do I o make, to earn that much?"

  "It's true, but it has nothing to do with us. They risk their lives every day, who knows when they might be gone…"

  "I don't care about the rest; I just hope the new lord is kind and doesn't raise taxes again…"

  "Yeah, if they raise them any more, we won't even be able to afford bck bread…"

  "..."

  The various versations tio filter into Matthew’s ears, surprising him that after just one night's sleep, his body had strengthened siderably, much like Yaya's tinued growth. His stats hadn’t shifted drastically.

  But as the effects persisted, Matthew felt that he wasn't far from being a versatile melee arist.

  Of course, even if Matthew could achieve that, he didn’t have that much time.

  The urgent task was to gather more hands and bring Bay Vilge pletely under his trol.

  Listening to the chatter, Matthew noticed with some amusement that aside from some discussing him, only a small portion of the vilgers were ed about the ret giant troll. Most were busy preparing for the twice-yearly fishing trip.

  As expected, food is the most important thing.

  As some say, being attacked by trolls or beasts might result ih, but without food, one will certainly starve.

  The situation was just as Matthew expected, a go of all his worries.

  Even if he failed, they wouldn’t lose much sihey had nothing more to lose anyway!

  Calming his thoughts, Matthew soouro the lord’s manor.

  Outside were stone walls about three meters high, separating the manor from the vilge.

  The walls were marked with white cutting scars, and there were several broken and missiions, all indig that this vilge in the wilderness was far from safe.

  That was why the previous lord of Bay Vilge, Knight Wood, after aging and weakening, sold the vilge and moved to the Carl Pins to start anew.

  As the easternmost territory of the heril Empire, the surroundings were full of dangers.

  Attacks from monsters as were onpce, ah and danger were stant threats.

  After experieng so much, they became indifferent to it.

  At the entrao the lord's manor stood a luxuriously decorated carriage, and a rotund mert with a round belly was bowing and nodding to Steward Ralph. Upon seeing Matthew step out of the carriage, the mert quickly lowered his head and greeted him:

  "Honored dy of magic, learned and wise arist, handsome and dignified Knight Matthew, your loyal servant Adams Smith has been waiting for some time."

  Hearing Adams Smith's someeculiar tone, Matthew reized the man's in.

  A mert who had retly pledged loyalty to the Ser family!

  However, Matthew had to admit, the fact that he had the guts to cross the Misty Marsh and e to the remote and quiet Bay Vilge, just to show his loyalty in advance, showed ce and fht.

  Of course, there was undoubtedly a of gambling involved in Adams Smith’s decision. In the inal timeline, he naturally lost his bet.

  But for safety’s sake, Matthew checked his information.

  Name: Adams Smith Tyrell.

  Race: Human.

  Age: 36.

  Profession: Level 2 Bard.

  Luck: +2.

  Matthew nodded aered the lord's manor, disc a brand-new set of ebony furniture in the living room, likely a gift from Adams Smith.

  Sitting down without much hesitation, Matthew ran his fingers over the delicate carvings with an oriental charm, giving the mert a slightly higher rating in his heart.

  Matthew had met many merts, most of whom were driven by profit and short-sighted.

  Without uanding the essence of power, they usually ended up fattened and then sughtered, only to be repced by another batch by those in power.

  And so the cycle tinues!

  In this world, wealth and capital do not represent strength because power has a more tangible maion!

  "Adams Smith has brought 200 gold s, 2000 pounds of high-quality flour, and 500 pounds of rice."

  Steward Ralph reported faithfully to Matthew, clearly satisfied with the mert’s good manners.

  He was indeed a clever mert!

  Looking at the smiling Adams Smith, Matthew didn’t waste words and got straight to the point:

  "How much cargo did y?"

  Although unsure of Matthew's iions, Adams Smith answered holy:

  "400,000 pounds of riced at 5 copper s per pound, enough to feed 2000 people for a year, inally meant for trade with Sweetwater Town and surrounding vilges, valued at 200 gold s."

  "5000 pounds of iron ingots, priced at 1 silver per pound, valued at 50 gold s."

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

  "200 leather armors, each priced at 80 silver s, valued at 160 gold s."

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

  "5000 arrows, each priced at 20 copper s, valued at 10 gold s."

  "2000 magical pnts, each priced at 5 silver s, valued at 100 gold s."

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

  "100 bottles of basic holy water, each priced at 1 gold and 50 silver s, valued at 150 gold s."

  "50 bottles of medium recovery potions, each priced at 2 gold s, valued at 100 gold s."

  "Two sets of alchemical equipment, each priced at 500 gold s, valued at 1000 gold s."

  Reassessing Adams Smith, Matthew detected multiple meanings in the cargo:

  "A wide variety of goods meaensive es."

  "Having both low-end and mid-range goods means he has big ambitions."

  "Bringing magical pnts, various materials, and two sets of alchemical equipment is clearly aimed at me..."

  "That's fi will save me a lot of time."

  Tapping his fingers lightly oable, Matthew looked at Adams Smith’s somewhat nervous fad calmly said:

  "Not bad, I'll take it all!"

  Adams Smith's face stiffened but quickly returo normal, agreeiily:

  "No problem, it's an honor to serve the lord!"

  "Heh, nonsense!"

  Smiling faintly to himself, Matthew pced two items oable and slid them across.