"My lord, hee hee, I heard you're 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 'treasure cave,' and I guarantee it'll 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, I'm only here for valuable information, not for pleasure. Please be serious."
The woman twisted uncomfortably a couple of times—she 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 elsewhere—perhaps you could recruit him."
"Where is he?" Phield stood up excitedly.
"He's 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 nose—since coming to this world, his nose hadn't had a single comfortable day.
"Hello, I'm here for Paul. I heard he's looking for work—I think my territory might have a spot for him." Phield said to the receptionist at the merchants' guild.
"Oh, you're a bit late. He's 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 Ross—Phield's brother, and the perverted noble who killed the original owner's beloved.
After answering respectfully, the receptionist paused, then pointed behind Phield: "My lord, Kuchi's here. Perhaps if you offer enough gold coins, you could buy that carpenter."
Phield turned and caught Kuchi's 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, wasn't Phield supposed to go to Nightfall Domain? He's come back as a ghost!"
His son was equally stunned, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
"Don't look so shocked." Phield took the initiative to step forward, raising an eyebrow at the merchant past his prime. "I'm not dead yet. Surprised? Unexpected?"
Kuchi was completely bewildered. In his impression, few who entered the northern province came out alive—at 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.
They'd even cleared out his room to use as a temporary guest room.
They'd even invited relatives and friends to hold a mourning party for Phield—everyone 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 goddess's blessing, I'm very glad to see you safe and sound, esteemed Baron Phield."
The words sounded nice, but the old geezer didn't even bother with a basic bow—utterly perfunctory.
"I'm also glad to see you, my brother's economic advisor." Phield's lips curved up, with no intention of blaming Kuchi for the rudeness.
Kuchi patted his chest: "You're as kind as ever. I wonder what brings you to the merchants' association? If I can help, I'll absolutely do so without hesitation. I'm sure Lord Adrian would be happy to provide assistance—he 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 you're willing to help, you can give Paul to me. Or, I can buy him—my territory needs someone for woodworking."
Kuchi's mouth twitched. I was just being polite, and you took it seriously.
"Uh… I'm afraid that's not possible. We need the carpenter to build stables urgently. Without stables, the territory's livestock industry could suffer major losses. Surely you don't want to see your own brother's 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 Phield's look.
Still the same weak, incompetent waste—hasn't changed a bit. Truly tarnishing the noble bloodline of the Ross family.
Kuchi kept a straight face and consoled: "Humility is a noble virtue. You've 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."
Kuchi's son Lens couldn't hold it in anymore.
As soon as Phield left, he laughed out loud.
"He didn't even dare fight for a carpenter."
"Keep it down—after all, he's a noble. We still need to maintain basic humility when we see him." Kuchi didn't 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 soon—a living Phield could take away a lot of the inheritance."
The old earl was nearly drained dry by Phield's stepmother—the time to divide the estate was imminent.
As Adrian Ross's 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 he's probably out procuring supplies. Lens, send someone to track his movements. I'll hurry and load the cargo—we 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 slaves—the territory is far short on manpower. Also magic items, fabrics, and food. Sigh, lacking everything."
The money he'd just gotten hadn't 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 plan—let the bullet fly for a bit."
Phield smiled faintly, not wanting to elaborate.
"Let's go buy mist-dispelling lamps first."
"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Sam scratched his head dumbly, not understanding what a bullet was.
Phield arrived at the church—those 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 sunlight's reflection, these glasses shimmered in gold, dazzling and colorful.
He found the church's old priest, who was staring at a nun's 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 divine's blessing—welcome. Let me state upfront: mist-dispelling lamps aren't about money; it's 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."
Profiteering—pure 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 terrifying—estimated 80 vials to make it safe for drinking.
And this was without Phield fully developing the land!
"Fine, I want them all." Phield didn't want to deal with them, but these special products were only available from the church—even the royalty didn't have the secret formulas.
"Wait! I'll devote more." A big-nosed man walked in, producing a gold coin voucher. "I'm willing to devote 10 more gold coins to the God of Light—please give me all the divine gifts."
The priest's hand paused, his face grinning brighter than a chrysanthemum: "Good, good—I can feel your greater piety."
"Wait! 20 coins." Phield continued expressionlessly.
The big-nosed man sneered cheaply: "21 gold coins."
"30!"
"31!"
"Fine, it's yours." Phield decisively conceded, frowning as his mind raced.
This guy couldn't be a church shill, right?
Didn't check the date before going out—how unlucky.
No matter what, Phield wasn't willing to take a loss—30 gold coins was already a high price. He couldn't guarantee next time he'd luck out and find black pearl wine again.
But is what I want something you can just snatch away?
Whether you're 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."
Kuchi's son Lens ran out from the alley, beaming: "How does it feel to mess with a noble?"
"An amazing experience—I'm 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 all—is it really okay?"
"Of course it's fine—with Baron Adrian's protection, nothing to fear. Phield's famous for being a coward. When Baron Adrian played his beloved to death back then, wasn't he just fine?"
"Haha, that's hilarious." The two joked maliciously for a bit.
Lens grinned, elbowing the big-bearded man's back: "Let's keep messing with him, but we'll have to return the goods later.
Misappropriating so many gold coins—if my father finds out, he'll kill me, haha."
…
PS: I'm truly happy today. I've received an invitation from the platform to sign a contract.
Even though my readership is still small and the bookmarks are few, I'm grateful and excited nonetheless.
Thank you to everyone who has chosen to read and support my work. I sincerely appreciate you.