Chapter 25: A Glimpse of the Reward

“I couldn’t possibly joke with you about this kind of thing.” George smiled, as if to dispel Hiren’s doubts. “Wait until we return to the Territory, then I will send someone to calculate the specific funds needed to expand the workshop. Only after adding the original assets can we determine your shares. However, you won’t have management rights; you can only receive the annual dividends.”

Hiren said with a glowing face, “Dividends are enough. As for things like management, a rough person like me doesn’t understand them anyway. Anyway, I believe you, George, wouldn’t cheat me.”

“Can I invest too?” Craig asked quietly from the side.

George was noncommittal about this: “You are still too young. It’s better to ask your father before making a decision on these matters.”

In the following game of Chinese Checkers, George dominated the game thanks to his experience from before he transmigrated. He could still fight one against two, thoroughly achieving the feat of bullying the kids. Looking at the mournful faces of Craig and Hiren, George felt that it would be great if this could happen a few more times. The light in the tent was rather dim; the lit covered lantern made people ignore the changes in the outside light.

“Young Master George, it’s time for dinner.” The voice of the Little Maid, Ilena, interrupted George’s bullying behavior. Both Craig and Hiren showed expressions of being saved.

Hearing the voice, George touched his stomach and indeed felt a little hungry. Perhaps he was so engrossed in bullying people just now that he lost his awareness. He couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh, then said, “Forget it, let’s stop here for today. Remember to call me next time you want to play.”

After saying that, without waiting for the two to reply, he stood up, opened the curtain, and left the tent.

With a long “Phew—” sound, Craig leaned back, supporting himself on the ground with his hands, and said, “Thanks to Ilena for finally calling George away. Next time we play this, we definitely won’t call him. At the very least, we have to wait until we get stronger.”

“Fortunately, George left right after he finished speaking just now, otherwise I really wouldn’t have known how to answer him. That kind of situation would have been a bit awkward.” Hiren reached out to touch his forehead: “Craig, anyway, someone will bring you food later. For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit late. How about another round?”

“Forget it, after playing with George just now. At least for these few days, I won’t be in the mood to play chess anymore.” After saying that, he lay straight down. Seeing Craig’s behavior, Hiren, who had known him for many years, knew immediately that he was throwing a little tantrum again. So he didn’t stay there to bore himself, turned around, and left the tent.

In the small town under the same twilight, a day’s difference felt like a lifetime. After a day of hard work, the remains and corpses had been basically cleared away. But the broken walls and ruins were still telling of the cruel burning and killing of last night. The dark brown stains on the streets and corners that couldn’t be washed clean also indicated the bloody brutality of the invaders. The occasional barking of dogs and crowing of roosters had long disappeared without a trace, as if it were a distant, hazy dream. Cooking smoke rose sporadically over the town, like young girls in white gauze dancing gracefully, looking graceful under the setting sun. It was beautiful, but it revealed a sense of desolation and sorrow.

The thickest and largest cooking smoke came from the camp in the town center square. The small town had just been plundered, and many supplies were destroyed. So, there were no new varieties to be seen at today’s dinner. Except for a bowl of thick stew, everything else was various foods purchased yesterday.

“There aren’t even any fresh vegetables. I really don’t know what word to use to describe my feelings right now.” George thought speechlessly as he looked at the chunks of meat floating in his soup bowl. Although one shouldn’t be too particular when away from home, it was rare to not even be able to eat green vegetables when traveling with a large group and staying in a town. This meant that the residents of the town were too busy to go to the fields to pick crops. What they were eating now were finished products and semi-finished products made in advance.

Speaking of being busy, George remembered that he hadn’t looked at the mission reward given by the System before. He would think about it carefully when night came.

After chewing slowly for a while, George finally solved the problem of his stomach. If there was a chance next time he went out, he should try to cook for himself as much as possible. George, who felt his taste buds had been ravaged, naturally came up with this idea.

Watching Knight Val eating, George handed his tableware to Ilena and walked not far away to do his routine digestive exercise. Actually, for a Knight, such exercise wasn’t very necessary. To be able to adapt to war, their group’s digestive ability was incredibly strong. And George’s behavior was just a habit, which could be considered a tribute to his life before transmigrating.

Seeing Knight Val stand up, George quickly followed: “Hi! Mr. Val, how is the defense arrangement of the town going?”

“Really. I finally got to rest for a while, and you kid come to ask about this.” Knight Val said angrily, “It’s not a big problem, although there is a shortage of manpower. But dealing with ordinary small thieves is no problem. I asked those on patrol to bring whistling arrows. If anything happens, it will be easy to support quickly. If Alchemy fireworks weren’t so expensive, I would have wanted to use those.”

George frowned: “If there is a shortage of manpower, will it cause the soldiers to be too tired? How about we rest in the town for another day after the reinforcements arrive and relieve the guard?”

“But that would have an even greater impact on the schedule. These three days of protecting the town can be said to be done according to tradition; if it’s delayed, it’s delayed. But resting again wouldn’t have a good reason.” Knight Val seemed a bit embarrassed.

“If it’s about Lord Father, leave it to me.” George’s words were full of confidence and determination, “We started more than half a month earlier than in previous years. Even if there are things to deal with, since these few days have already been delayed, one more day doesn’t matter. Besides, no one knows if we will be attacked again on the next journey. It’s always right to rest well.”

Mr. Val punched George’s left chest: “Then I will thank you on behalf of the soldiers.”

“Cough cough— you hit too hard.” George covered his chest, pretending to be in pain.

Knight Val had an expression that said he had seen through it long ago: “Stop pretending, I was very measured in my strike. Unlike that kid Hiren, who never knows his own strength. Although it won’t hurt you guys, it’s bound to be a bit painful.”

“Mr. Val, how is your relationship with the Temple of the War God or the Goddess of the Night?” George asked tentatively.

“Why would you think of that? The War God has quite a few believers in the Duchy. After all, the foundation of our Duchy of Nohan is bravery and Military Merit. Although I am not his believer, I am still quite familiar with the Temple.” Knight Val paused for a moment, “As for Lady Night, she is absolutely Neutral. Although her believers have no direct conflict with me, they probably don’t like me. After all, I am a believer of Pelor. The sun and the night never get along, right?”

“Then do you remember the Loot obtained from the Ogre Wizard that day? There was a high-quality Precision Totem. Thomas said that thing can only be sold for a good price in Temples similar to those two.” George stated his trouble.

Knight Val gave a positive answer: “Okay, then I will ask for you. This kind of thing shouldn’t be a big problem.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Because of the shortage of manpower, even Hiren was arranged to go out on duty. And George was able to rest in the camp because of his status.

George used fatigue as an excuse to get on the carriage. After lighting the lamp, he arranged for the Maid Ilena to guard outside. Immediately after, he took out a Parchment Scroll about a foot square from his body. This Parchment Scroll looked ordinary. The wax-yellow paper surface had dark brown spots and some scratches of varying depths. The edges of the paper seemed to have been gnawed by insects and were somewhat incomplete. After opening it, a sense of vicissitudes from the ages came rushing towards him.

After spreading out the Parchment Scroll, George patted the backrest of the seat in the carriage, opened a secret compartment, and took out a quill with a silver tip and a bottle of fixed dark red ink. This quill was called Diqila’s Writing Pen. It was an Alchemy product made using a griffin feather as the shaft, Mithril as the tip, and the silk sac of a tanned Earth Mastiff Spider as the core. When used with Dragon Blood Ink to write on that Diqila Messaging Paper, once the writing was completed, the content would be transmitted to the holder of the corresponding receiving item, the Diqila Tome.

Of course, Dragon Blood Ink couldn’t be a real dragon blood product. It was an Alchemy product refined using fresh lamb’s blood, the juice of the Vishnu tree, and minerals like Blood Marrow Stone. The ink in the crystal bottle was about half a pint and cost around fifty Gold Coins. Of course, the bottle was recyclable. But it was an expensive consumable after all. If such a serious incident hadn’t happened yesterday, which greatly affected the schedule, George wouldn’t have used this for communication.

George thought for a while and organized his sentences. Then he pulled out the cork branded with twisted text from the crystal bottle, dipped the quill in the ink, and started writing on the Parchment.

Diqila Messaging Paper had two major flaws: first, it could only transmit one-way, not two-way communication; second, from the moment the pen touched the paper, the content of the same page had to be completed within a short time, and the interval between two writings was about two hours. The better the workmanship, the shorter the interval, but the difference was actually small. There were also other minor issues like the need for consumables. But because of its relatively simple production process, the output and price were easily accepted by people. After all, the Tome together with up to 8 sheets of messaging paper only cost 2200 Gold Coins, which was considered rare and low among Magic Items. Plus the Writing Pen at 80 Gold Coins each, a relatively complete intelligence network could be formed.

“When will I be able to get a Two-way Mirror?” George couldn’t help but complain after finishing writing. The Two-way Mirror could be said to be an instant communication tool between two people. You just had to write on it with a pen. There was no need for consumables, and its use was basically unrestricted. However, the high price of 5000 Gold Coins and the scarce sales volume were the hard parts. Since George took over the management of Bolerum Territory and the economy became more relaxed, Lord Viscount had been looking for opportunities to buy a Two-way Mirror to replace the inconvenient Diqila Tome so that the two could contact each other smoothly. Unfortunately, he had not been able to do so for years.

After finishing, he put away the various items respectively. Then he started to sit quietly, regulate his breath, calm his mind, and relax his whole body. Slowly, he entered the Pagoda again. Three ancient books were floating on the altar in the center of the first floor of the Pagoda. Although George didn’t recognize the text on the books, he knew what was recorded on them. One of them almost blinded George’s eyes, because the message reflected in George’s mind regarding the thing recorded on it was “Primordial Qi Great Grappling”.