Chapter 45 – Task

Gundry was busy within the last days of summer. As someone who represents the lady of the house of Argos. It is his job to serve the lady and allow her to stay comfortable in the house.

Right now he is sitting at the same table as the Lord of the Town of Tal. The roundtable was to fulfill the delusion that they are equal in ranking. But even so, the meaning behind is different.

Aside from Gundry and the Lord of the Town—there are two nobles sitting near the round table. First is the minister that takes cares of the agriculture and trade of the town—while the other noble is the minister that is in charge of the defense and security of the town.

The two has been arguing since the meeting began. The Lord of the Town was amongst the arguers and nonetheless, the situation was worth arguing.

“Milord I suggest that we rose up the defense of our town. We also need to keep anyone from entering freely without knowing their identity!”

“Nonsense! As the head of the trade, I cannot allow such move that might make the prospectors not dwell. The people came here because of the less strict security we have. And now do you think that suddenly acting like that would be a benefit for us?”

“What’s the point if we are invaded by those damn elvens!?”

Gundry sighs at the loud voice of the minister of security. Honestly, he didn’t really need to attend this meeting. But with his connections to the magus and alchemy guild and his experiences made him a valuable asset.

“But the Carnifex should be able to take care of that!” shouted the trade noble. “He has already stopped the ticking time bomb, and has taken the elven to his protection.”

The argument started when the Lord give out the info that the Julian Nostredame gathered. He discovered the existence of an enchanted child that is capable of destroying the continent of Lin—and due to this that the various lords and nobles were worried about the recent rise of escalation between the humans and the non-humans.

Gundry knew the info beforehand simply because of his connections. He was worried for a moment but nonetheless, he was calmed. But as for the nobles that are front of him. They are more alarmed than he is.

“We cannot just rely on that man! Milord, I implore you to let us protect the town. We should do a sweep and remove any threat! We cleanse the slums and because of it, the crimes have gotten lesser! If we act now then things will be better! We don’t want the mistake of letting scum leech of the town happen again and this time removing the threat and tightening the security of the town is the option!”

“And doing so, those leagues of ships and caravans would turn to the other ports in the kingdom! Do you want the town to be less prosperous!?”

“And do you want the town to be destroyed by some fanatical elven that decides to cut the throat of the kingdom of Lin! I know what I am betting here and I cannot allow it to happen!”

The two shouted each other enough for the Town Lord to slam his fist on the table.

“Enough already, we need to talk this through calmly!”

The Two nobles looked at the Lord and quieted down. With the two nobles calmed, the town lord spoke.

“Does Sir Gundry have anything to add?”

“I do. The Earth Magus’s will arrive sooner or later to build the wall. Each of them would require an amount no less than a chest filled with gold coins. And the Magus and alchemy guild would like to establish an outpost in the town.”

“That is good news for once.”

The Town Lord gave a sigh of relief after hearing Gundry. The Two nobles that were arguing pondered about what Gundry said.

“So cheap...compared to what we are paying them. This favor is rather too much.”

“The two guilds agreed to establish an outpost in this town mainly because of the node of Leylines that is located in the town. So such ‘investment’ is nothing to the guild. Plus with them establishing themselves in this town—they would be able to get closer to Lady Argos. And since this ‘trouble’ has come to the town. I think that putting a barrier around the town would be efficient. But that depends if the town is willing to spend half of its treasury.”

“What do you mean?”

The Defense Minister raised his brow after hearing Gundry.

“What I mean is simple. Spend half of the treasury’s money and use it to put a barrier formation around the town. With the Leylines node acting as the fuel for the barrier—I believe that doing so would benefit this town. With it, we can also solve any external threat that might come to the town. I believe that it won’t be long until Al-Goraz and his barbarians would break the northern kingdom. And it should be put in everyone’s mind that the elvens are not the only threat to the Kingdom of Lin, and the Town of Tal itself.”

Gundry spoke what is inside his head. He knows everything from the start and the last few days he was able to handle some tasks due to the lady being entertained by Ramiel.

“As expected of the Representative of Argos, you always bring a great contribution to this town.”

“It is not me that is doing this. Thank the Magus and the Alchemist Guilds for this. I merely relay their interest towards this town.”

“Nonetheless, I think we can agree that the town needs this. Gentleman, how about we go with this? Halving the treasury of the town for the sake of great long term benefits should suffice yes?”

“Indeed. With a wall and a barrier formation, the Town would benefit from it. But still, I would like to tighten the security until the walls are built. After that, I will pull it back to normal. Does the minister of trade agree with this?”

“What choice do I have? But I say that the walls must extend to the farmlands. Is that plausible Sir Gundry?”

“It is. It would be easy for the Earthen Arch Magus to do so.”

“Then I have no qualms.”

The Minister of Trade leaned on his chair. The lord of the town looked at the three and decided.

“Very well—we shall go with Sir Gundry’s 'proposal'.”

With that declaration—the meeting was over.