The Vastness of Magical Destiny

Chapter 62 - 62 14 Recruitment

?Chapter 62: Chapter 14: Recruitment Chapter 62: Chapter 14: Recruitment The tavern, usually very quiet, suddenly became bustling with activity. People who normally preferred to stay indoors these days flocked to the town’s only two pubs. Old Scott’s tavern was a bit larger than One-Eyed Bill’s and could accommodate thirty to fifty people drinking at once, but suddenly, seventy to eighty people poured in, making the spacious hall crowded.

Seeing such good business come his way, Old Scott genuinely thanked the new Lord for an announcement that brought such a lively scene to the tavern—of course, the Gold and Silver Shields flowing into his own purse would be much more substantial.

“Hey, Old Scott, why are there so many people here too? I thought it would be a bit better than Bill’s. If I had known it was the same, give me a glass of Pine Nut Wine.”

Muttering complaints about the owner, a merchant dressed as a portly man struggled through the gaps to the bar, finally finding a high stool and taking a seat with some effort.

“What’s going on here? Are you holding some kind of celebration? The Harvest Festival has passed, and it’s still a while before the New Year, what are all these people discussing?”

“Oh, Mr. Caffrey, you haven’t visited in so long, how come you just came from the North? What good things have you brought with you? Here’s your Pine Nut Wine, Five Copper Shields.” The tall and thin pub owner Old Scott was dizzily busy, and it took him a while to tend to the newly arrived merchant, “They are discussing the announcement released by the Lord.”

“Oh? You have a Lord here?” the portly merchant asked in surprise, lifting his glass.

“Yes, Mr. Caffrey, the new Lord is from Cyprus, Baron Komer Reese, said to be the son of the Cyprus City Finance Officer and very trusted by Grand Duke Philip. Haven’t you heard?” Old Scott was obviously more informed than the average person and spoke in a hushed, mysterious tone.

“The son of Lord Ramla Reese?” The portly merchant seemed to know about Cyprus’s Finance Officer and raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Then what is he doing here? And a Baron?”

“What? You know the Lord?” Old Scott immediately noticed the merchant’s strange expression. The new Lord had not been out much, and Old Scott had only seen him from a distance; it was mostly his Half-beastman Guards and the Administrative Officer who appeared in public.

“No, no, I’ve just heard of him. But what is there about your Lord that warrants such enthusiastic discussion?” the merchant quickly covered up.

“The Lord has announced an invitation for residents from all over the Continent, regardless of race, gender, or age, to settle in Our Caucasus. The Lord plans to exempt all residents within his territory from the Poll Tax for three years. For new settlers willing to farm, each person can be allotted land equivalent to Ten Grids and exempted from land tax for three years.”

Old Scott was clearly pleased with the profits that the Lord’s new measures brought to him, and consequently, his impression of the Lord improved greatly as well.

“Moreover, the announcement says that if someone refers outsiders to settle here, the Lord is prepared to give a generous reward to the referrer. This is quite new, and everybody is talking about it.”

“Ah, really?” The portly merchant’s face showed surprise, while his mind was stirred, “Are there specific details?”

“It seems that for each resident who settles for over a year, the Lord promises a reward of Twenty Gold Shields. That’s not a small amount,” Old Scott boasted about the accuracy of his information.

“I heard from Mr. Hesse that the Lord plans to develop the iron mine to the south and needs a large workforce, which is why he’s urgently recruiting people to come here. Otherwise, why would he act like this? Everyone is busy writing letters now, inviting relatives and friends to settle here. I heard that the Lord plans to repair the road from Ugru to Coastal Matidan thoroughly. Those willing to settle here and farm can be allocated land along the road. This is a rare opportunity, and I’ve already written to a distant nephew to see if he’s willing to come here.”

“With your Lord being so generous, does he really have that much money?” The plump merchant was already calculating how to profit generously from this great business opportunity while inquiring nonchalantly: “And the people who move here don’t face any restrictions on their race?”

“I’m not sure about the Lord’s wealth, but the announcement says that there are no racial restrictions. It seems the Lord doesn’t care much about this aspect. Most of his Guard seems to consist of half-beastmen, and oh, there are also half-elves.”

Old Scott seemed to regret that the Lord did not place much importance on this aspect. In his view, leaving aside the half-elves, how could a Lord of noble birth allow those brutish and dumb half-beastmen to serve as his guard soldiers?

“Excuse me, sir, may I help you with something?” The soldier standing at the farm’s entrance tried his best to be polite and civil, but his heavy voice still betrayed his half-beastman nature.

“Oh, I would like to ask to report to Baron Komer Reese. I am a merchant from the North, Caffrey, and I have some matters that I wish to discuss with the Baron in person.” Although facing a half-beastman soldier, the seasoned merchant still removed his hat as a sign of respect, only omitting the usual bowing gesture.

Seeing respect from someone for the first time, the two half-beast soldiers felt a bit of pride and excitement. One soldier stayed put, while the other tried to suppress his joy and said, “Please wait a moment; I’ll go and report.”

In the modest guest room, the plump man finally met the notorious Three Wolves of Cyprus. At the center was naturally the Boss of the Three Wolves, the current Caucasus Lord, Baron Komer Reese. To his left must be the slim youth from Lux’s house, Puber Lux; and to his right, the burly young man with a horse-face, fiddling with a large sword, was certainly Ilot Modo from Modo’s house.

It seemed that rumors were not entirely accurate; at least this Komer Reese was not a simple character. The plump merchant, who had traveled across the Continent, spotted something extraordinary in the pair of dark and profound eyes of the pale-faced young man across from him. When their eyes met, he inexplicably felt a sense of distraction, a quite peculiar sensation.

The slim young man, though expressionless, had alert little eyes that never stopped moving, clearly someone adept at taking things to heart. And the large sword in the hands of the horse-faced youth was surely not an ordinary warrior’s weapon. A mere glance was enough to know that it would take considerable strength to wield that heavy weapon.

“Mr. Caffrey, I understand you have matters to discuss with me. May I know how I can be of assistance?” Komer quickly perceived the plump man’s extraordinariness as well.

Although dressed simply, the man’s inconspicuous black meteorite ring on the ring finger of his left hand let Komer know that he was from a very discreet merchant organization on the Blue Continent—the Barefoot Society. Although the Barefoot Society was not renowned, and its members were not grand merchants, they had a presence across the Continent.

They were not an organization with very close connections, but when a member was in danger or under threat, they would provide mutual aid and assistance. Members of the organization also regularly exchanged information and offered business opportunities.

“Oh, Your Excellency the Baron, I am a merchant from the Naples region, and I come to Caucasus three or four times a year. Caucasus is like my second home. I am genuinely happy that Caucasus has welcomed a new Lord. I heard in the tavern about the proclamation issued by the Baron inviting population inflow into Caucasus and providing many favorable policies, so I wanted to ask: given that Caucasus is part of the Homer region of the Kingdom of Nicosia, are people not from the Kingdom of Nicosia also allowed to live and reside in Caucasus and receive protection?” After expressing his congratulations, the plump merchant went straight to the point.

“Of course, even though Caucasus is a part of the Kingdom of Nicosia, there are no laws on the Blue Continent strictly prohibiting population movement. We in Caucasus have just discovered new mines, and there is a lot of wasteland suitable for cultivation, so I hope we can have a sufficient workforce to join in the great project of making Caucasus thrive. If they participate in this great process, they can naturally become legal residents of Caucasus, and as the Lord of Caucasus, I naturally have the responsibility to ensure their lawful rights are not violated.”

It seemed he had already detected some undertones in the merchant’s words, but Komer, in desperate need of people, cared not for much else. Aside from being slightly reserved in his linguistic tact, he was otherwise quite accommodating with his promises.