Chapter 145 Time To Go Home
In retrospect, getting invited by a penniless new Lord with no background on his turf was definitely one of the most straightforward and quickest ways to get a Stele. Heck! He didn't even have to get invited. If he was shameless enough, he could even try to get hired as a servant by applying for any job.
In a new town, there was no shortage of job offers.
With this realization, the way he looked at his three new subordinates shifted dramatically. These three priests had not been summoned by the Stele and therefore were not automatically loyal to him.
Perhaps they too were wolves in sheep's clothing using his urgent need for priests to infiltrate his territory. Even if their intentions were not so malicious, wasn't this the kind of scheme that large organizations use to place sleeper spies among their enemies or rivals?
Ikaris was suddenly tempted to fire them when they hadn't even taken up their duties yet. Magnus, who was starting to know him well, declared without compassion,
'This is the burden of all leaders. If you don't trust you will never be betrayed, but if you don't trust anyone you won't be able to accomplish anything either. My father said, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'
Ikaris had heard this saying somewhere before. 'I think we have a similar idiom on Earth.'
'It's quite possible.' Magnus chuckled. 'Wisdom doesn't change no matter what world you're from. The truth remains valid under all circumstances. Act with these priests with warmth and kindness as if you sincerely trust them, but always be prepared for the possibility that they may betray you. If one of them turns out to be a Sacred Magus under cover, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck. You were just destined to fail and die from the start.'
Ikaris grimaced. 'Your kind words warm my heart, Magnus... If your purpose was to comfort me, please, next time don't.'
Not having forgotten the numbers presented by the old Vampire a few days earlier, he recalled that about one in 900 people were Sorcerers in the Forsaken Lands, one in 2,700 were Lord Sorcerers, and one in just over 17,000 were Master Sorcerers.
The Warring Lands, and Tartarus Shade for that matter, were not just any place. The proportion of gifted Sorcerers was undoubtedly higher.
This meant that these three priests, because of their unique status, had a very low chance of being ordinary people. The big question now was how special they were.
'I'll keep an eye on them.' Ikaris made up his mind as he came up with a great idea.
The ones they recruited from the outside weren't inherently loyal to him, but the ones summoned by the Stele were. In this case, he just had to choose his spies and trusted men from among this population. The only criterion was that their Soul Strength should not be too outstanding, so that they could not resist the Stele's influence.
It wasn't very honorable, but it was by far the most effective solution to his problem. In any case, as the Stele grew stronger, it would become more and more difficult for the summoned Otherworlders to escape its grasp, which would loosen the demands on their Soul Strength.
Ikaris had not forgotten what Magnus had told him. If he had been summoned by his Empire's Stele, even with his unusual Soul Strength he would have been totally loyal to the old Vampire. Luckily, he had been saved from that disastrous fate.
"Let's go."
No longer in the mood to fool around, Ikaris and his group went straight to the point, actively searching for a blacksmith store that could satisfy Nardor's expectations. Being already in the right section, they found what they were looking for a minute later.
They could see smoke coming from the chimney of a forge and the sound of hammers working metal on an anvil was perfectly audible. A few meters away, samples of weapons, ores and other tools and instruments were displayed in bulk, their prices much more affordable.
"This is the place I've been looking for!" Nardor exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
The urge to do some shopping having left them, Ikaris let Nardor place his order after confirming that it didn't exceed the limits of his cash flow, then paid the requested 256 gold coins.
It was the most basic equipment needed to set up a proper forge, but the kit was very comprehensive. There were all sorts of prefabricated molds, whether for coinage, mass production of the most common tools and weapons, or for creating new ones if the need arose.
As for the working tools, the dwarf had also bought several hammers made of fairly heavy steel. The material was not exactly amazing and would not last long if he used it to work on more solid and valuable materials, but he had already considered this possibility by buying several spare hammers.
When quality was impossible to obtain, he had to compensate with quantity. That had always been his motto since the day he forged his first sword.
Nardor had also bought several tons of iron ore, copper ore and other raw materials on the pretext that working them with his hammer to extract the impurities would help him regain his former skills. Ikaris did not expose his lie, but he knew it was to save money. The already refined ingots were dozens of times more expensive.
"Thanks Nardor." The youth patted his shoulder. "As soon as Last Saint starts making a profit we won't have to tighten our belts so much."
"Haha, don't worry. I wasn't kidding when I said that working those raw ores would bring me back to my former level. The other reason is that the most direct way for a blacksmith to make a profit is to resell pre-purified ingots like these. My intention is to train several apprentices who will take on this unglamorous task. This way, we will control the entire production chain and maximize our returns.
"I see you have it all figured out." Ikaris smiled. "Your Lord supports you."
Their bad mood from the scuffle with the band of noblemen behind them, Ikaris then spent a good deal of the gold he had left to buy some fine swords, gifts and other essential accessories for the other villagers, but also the " school" supplies he thought he would need in the near future. Like writing materials, for example.
Danchun had also participated, advising Ikaris and Nardor many times on the choice of certain commodities that she thought would be useful to Last Saint. She had also bought a set of steel needles with her own pocket money, claiming that it was the most suitable weapon for her in her current condition.
"With my techniques it can also be used to optimize physical condition, improve sleep and speed up healing." She then explained vaguely. "I'll show you that next time we train together."
"Okay." Ikaris agreed. Now he was intrigued.
Then spreading his arms to stretch, he turned to his companions and announced,
"I think we're done here. Time to go home."
The three priests nearly fainted with joy at his statement. It had been a long time since they had to walk like this for so long and their feet were hurting like hell! It was time to check out the nation of the Lord they were about to serve.
The journey back to the quarters of House Morgunis went smoothly and in the late afternoon, as the sky began to dim, they entered the grounds of the residence. A butler received them in style, then led them to their Transportation Portal flanked by two Tartarus Enforcers.
"Is such tight security really necessary?" Nardor grunted, but remembering what Mira had told them he kept quiet.
When they arrived at the large lawn space covered with Transportation Portals, Malia, Ellie, Kellam and Taguchi were waiting for them, but they were not alone. In addition to Abram, the priest of Jessup and his entourage, Ramiro Morgunis, the manager Anaphiel had introduced them to on the day of their arrival at Tartarus Shade, was also present.
His gloomy face did not bode well.
"Ramiro, you're here too? What's going on?" Ikaris asked casually as though he didn't suspect anything.
The manager sighed, the dark circles under his eyes betraying that he hadn't slept much.
"It's no secret, so I can tell you. One of our new Lords was killed by inviting the wrong people into his territory. I heard that this priest was allowed to build a prayer hall in your territory. A courier from Lord's Paradise also came by, but I have already sent him away. What you ordered is in this ring. The ring is not a gift, so you must return it. The little red button on it allows you to empty it even if you can't control your spirit power. It was designed so that even an ordinary customer can use it. Without it, it would be impossible for them to retrieve their order."