Legend of the Arch Magus- The Expansion

by Michael John Sisa

  “Father, I suggest that you send several soldiers towards that place,” said Lui.

  “To that small town?” Lord Drakas could not see the merit in doing that.

  “Yes. With my rank as the Supreme Commander of the Western Region, it’ll be hard to target me. Therefore, the other two Dukes will definitely aim for my little brother.”

  Upon hearing this, Lord Drakus’ expression turned grim. He sent that stupid kid to a faraway place so that he’ll not be able to harm the reputation of the Marcus Family, but it seemed that alone was not enough to remove the problem.

  I really should have killed that brat back then. He kept ruining the Family’s reputation. Fighting with the other nobles. Harming the citizens of the fief. A year ago, he even almost killed the priest due to some petty squabble about religion.

  Despite his dark thoughts, Lord Drakus never implemented such plans. His genius son would find out sooner or later, and it would definitely deteriorate their relationship with each other. It was something he would like to avoid at all cost.

  Lord Drakus sighed. “Tell me, what merit would the two Dukes get by targeting Lark?”

  Even if that son of his was harmed by the Dukes, it did not really matter to Lord Drakus. After all, that kid was nothing but a baggage. He could not see how it would affect him in anyway.

  Lui gnashed his teeth as he stared at Lord Drakus. “By targeting my brother, they’ll be indirectly targeting me.”

  “Father, if they harmed my little brother, I will slaughter the two Dukes and their entire Army, regardless of the Royal Decree.”

  The eyes of Lui was predatory. “I promise you that.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Father, do you really have to go to that place?”

  Mikael lifted the bag filled with clothes and tied it on his back. “You’ve been asking me the same question since morning.” He wryly smiled at his daughter. “Elaine, it’s an order from the King. I have no choice but to go to that town.”

  “But what’s the point of monitoring that garbage?” Elaine rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ve heard from uncle Gerald that even Lord Drakus himself does not wish to be associated with that one.”

  After the declaration of the competition for the throne, Mikael, along with twenty-seven other knights, have been gathered in the throne room. The King personally assigned duties to each of them. The task was this: Disguise yourselves as ordinary citizens and evaluate the twenty-eight candidates for the throne. Of course, to do that, they would need to go towards the domain of the candidates themselves and monitor them closely.

  “Elaine, even if it seems pointless, this is a task personally entrusted to me by His Majesty. I cannot fail my liege. I have to complete this task, no matter what.”

  He also knew that the candidate he was going to monitor had the least chance of winning the competition.

  Mikael grabbed the skin flask on the table. Although he was a knight by profession, he no longer wore a plate armor. His beloved sword was now hanging on the wall of his room. Instead of an armor, what he was currently wearing was a dirty-looking tunic. The hem was filled with moth bites, and the leather belt around his waist was filled with cracks. Combined with the cheap-looking bag on his back, it would take no more than a glance to see that he was a serf of the Kingdom.

  Seeing his father dressed like a rag, Elaine could not help but feel frustrated. After all, although they did not own a land, they were still a family of knights. A noble by title and peerage.

  “This is stupid.” Elaine shook her head.

  At that statement, her father glared. “The decision of his Majesty is not wrong. Even though Lord Lark Marcus has been thrown away into that small town by his very own father, he’s still a candidate for the throne. After all, he’s still one of the sons of Duke Drakus.”

  “But father, His Majesty should have given you a better candidate to monitor, at the very least! You’ve heard the rumors about that one, right? If he treats priests and nobles like dirt, then how much more for the commoners?” Elaine was worried that since her father was disguising himself as a serf, he would be in danger once he arrived at that small town. After all, numerous bad rumors surrounded the noble called Lark Marcus.

  Mikael placed a hand on his daughter’s head, ruffling her hair in mischievous strokes. “Your father’s a knight, Elaine. Even if I meet a band of thieves along the way, I’ll survive. A mere noble kid won’t be able to kill this war veteran.”

  Elaine knew that this statement was not simply baseless confidence. After all, the title of a knight was something bestowed only to those that have trained themselves in mana. Magicians were regarded as Sages, while the people of the Kingdom regarded Knights as God’s Soldiers. After all, they were adept at both magic and swordsmanship.

  Still, even though she knew that her father was strong, she could not help but worry.

  “When are you coming back?” she asked, voice soft and soothing.

  There was a small pause. “I don’t know. I didn’t get to ask his majesty about that. He only told us to secretly monitor the candidates and send reports every now and then.”

  “You’ll send the reports personally, right?” Although Elaine knew the answer to this question, she still asked regardless.

  “That’s impossible. Blackstone Town is almost two months away from the Capital.”

  As expected, her father was going to use a messenger to send regular reports to His Majesty. Realizing that it would probably be years before they see each other again, tears started forming at the corner of Elaine’s eyes. Ever since her mother died, Mikael had been her only pillar of strength. And now, he was leaving her behind to complete this task.

  “My child will be born soon.” Elaine touched her abdomen. “Can’t you stay for a month more? Father, at the very least, see your first grandchild before you go.”

  Although Mikael was torn inside by this fact, he did not let it show on his face. He had already resolved himself to complete this task for His Majesty. He simply smiled and did not reply.

  After a few more seconds of deafening silence, Elaine sighed, walked towards her father and hugged him tight. “I will miss you, father. Please, be safe.”

  Mikael thought that he had raised a good daughter. If his deceased wife sees her now, she would have been very proud. “Of course.”

  ***

  After leaving the inner district of the Capital, Mikael went towards One Stop Clop – the only company that accepted his request to travel all the way to Blackstone Town. Although the price was a bit overpriced, Mikael did not mind. After all, the expenses were paid beforehand by the Royal Palace.

  The only downside, aside from the expensive price, was that the company would drop by all the cities along the way, before transporting him to Blackstone Town. This was because merchants were coming with the caravan, and those guys would need to stop and trade with the cities along the way.

  “Ah, Mikael, is it?” said a fat merchant. He was the leader of the caravan and also the owner of One Stop Clop. “Ready to meet your old man in Blackstone Town?”

  According to the script, Mikael was a serf traveling to Blackstone Town to meet his dying father. This was the reason why although a commoner, he willingly paid a hefty sum to the transport merchant. Since this was a task personally entrusted to him by the King, aside from his daughter, he told no one about it.

  Mikael looked at the six carriages lined up in front of them. Workers were loading crates inside, while merchants wearing gaudy clothes facilitated the transfer.

  “I’m really glad that you’ve let me join this caravan, sir.” Mikael bowed his head. If his daughter had seen this, she would have reprimanded him for bowing his head to a mere merchant. Mikael could not help but inwardly smile at the thought.

  “You have money. That’s enough reason to let you in.”

  The logic behind merchants were really simple, and this was why Mikael found it easy to blend with their group. To the merchants, money was above
the law. Even if Mikael was a fugitive, the transport merchant would still have let him in as long as he paid.

  “Those are…” Mikael’s eyes looked at the naked men and women boarding the fourth carriage.

  The transport merchant looked at the direction where Mikael was looking at. “Ah, slaves. Caught by the Furtpert Syndicate. Nasty creatures, those guys, but really effective. Make them work for you and they won’t even complain.”

  Mikael understood why the merchant called those slaves nasty. Even from this distance, he could clearly see the animal-like features of the captives. Unlike normal ears, theirs were those of a cat’s or a dog’s, some even resembled lizards and monkeys – Mikael was not sure. But he was certain that those slaves were beastmen.

  Mikael narrowed his eyes. “Forgive my impudence, sir… but would there be people who’ll buy them? I mean, they’re beastmen. They’re treated even lower than animals in this Kingdom.”

  The transport merchant chuckled. “Keep going west of here and you’ll arrive at the Lion City. You wouldn’t believe this, but the Lord of that city loves to collect Beastmen as pets. I’ve heard that he would sometimes kill them for the meat, not really sure ‘bout that one, but who cares? It’s good profit.”

  Mikael immediately connected the dots. He realized the reason why the One Stop Clop agreed on transporting him all the way to Blackstone Town.

  So, this group’s actually going to Lion City in the first place. They’re selling those Beastmen there, huh? I’m a bit worried about the Lord of that city. Eating Beastmen meat? I should make a report to His Majesty about this.

  Since the Beastmen were not considered humans to begin due to their semblance to the Demons, there was no law prohibiting anyone from enslaving them. Even if these merchants massacred these Beastmen, they would not be punished.

  But Mikael deemed that he should report about the consumption of Beastmen meat. It somehow made him question the Lord of the Lion City’s sanity. As a knight of the Kingdom, it was his duty to report these kinds of things.

  The cage containing the captives were shut.

  After the signal from the leader of the merchants was given out, the caravan starting moving out.

  Their final destination was Blackstone Town.

  Chapter Fifteen

  After the introduction of cement, Silver Claw and his men immediately proceeded to the construction of the irrigation system as instructed by the young master. They began digging a pathway for the water on the ground, and once this pathway was finished, they would connect it towards Rile River that flowed inside the forest.

  “Dig a little bit more!” shouted Silver Claw. Over a dozen workers were shoveling through the ground, sending dirt and soil flying towards the sides. “It should be at least as deep as a person’s height!”

  Silver Claw did not use complex terms like one and a half meters deep and two meters wide. Instead, he used simple terms the illiterate workers could understand.

  “That should be deep enough!” he shouted after seeing the depth of the trenches. “Add the cement!”

  Upon his order, the cement mixture inside the wooden barrels were poured on the ground. They slowly added water to it and mixed it briskly using a wooden rod with a flat end. The workers quickly moved and spread the cement on the walls and foot of the canal. This way, according to the Young Master, the irrigation canal would not easily collapse once large amounts of water came pouring out of the Rile River.

  This thing invented by the Young Master… this cement… it’s really amazing.

  Silver Claw’s heart raced whenever he thought of the many things that would be now possible with this world-shaking innovation. When he first saw how the earth hardened after addition of water, he was speechless beyond words. It took only a few hours and yet, the product was hard enough to compete with stone. And as though that wasn’t enough, this so-called cement adhered so strongly to other stones that it was impossible to separate them without using brute force.

  Silver Claw was getting shivers just thinking of these things. He wanted to get back to the eastern border as soon as possible and test this cement out on the houses being constructed there. Still, since this was ordered by the young master, he was to prioritize the completion of the irrigation system first.

  As they neared the farmlands, the canal was designed to break into numerous forks. In each fork, a device meant to block the flow of water was to be constructed. According to the Young Master, aside from the main plug at the junction of Rile Rilver, other stopper system should be built to properly distribute the water. He repeatedly emphasized that these devices needed to be made no matter what, in order to avoid overflowing of water into the farmlands. If one stopper broke, then those on the fork would still hold.

  Although the Lord of Blackstone Town was still young, Silver Claw could not help but be amazed by his insight. He had seen the plowing tools before, and even just those things alone would be enough to warrant merit from the entire Kingdom. And now, the Young Master introduced this earth-shaking innovation called cement and this ingenious stopper system in the irrigation project.

  Silver Claw breathed out. He knew that this was not the time to dally.

  I can’t let my men do all the work, right? Let’s finish this quickly so that I could finally test the cement on those houses.

  Silver Claw rolled the sleeves of his shirt and joined the workers inside the trenches. He also began digging through the ground.

  ***

  Lark received news that the first chicken coop had been finished. He immediately summoned Gaston and issued his orders.

  “Tell the servants to load the chicken eggs to the carts,” he said to the old man. “Two hundred eggs. We have two roosters in the coop at the garden, right?”

  “Yes, Young Master.” The old butler was becoming used to the eccentric orders of Lark by now.

  “Take those two with us. Also, I’ve ordered Loi saplings from the Lion City before.” Lark bought those things at a relatively cheap price, since it seemed that the people in this Kingdom have no use for those plants. “Bring all of those with us. If the carts aren’t enough, just deliver them in batches.”

  “Understood.” Gaston bowed and left.

  After the butler was gone, Lark leaned on his chair and smiled. Developing this town was tiring yet exciting. Aside from the management of the town, he never ceased his training. His only time to rest was during the night – those five hours of sleep during bedtime.

  He stood up, opened the box near the bed, and took out four thin metal plates. Engraved inside the tablets were magic diagrams and formations meant to accelerate the productivity of the poultry farm. With these items, Lark planned on forcing hundreds of eggs to hatch. An item meant to solve the fertilization process.

  Lark went towards the garden. By the time he arrived, the preparations have been already finished. The crates containing the eggs have been loaded, along with the Loi saplings.

  “Young Master,” said Gaston. “The saplings will be delivered in batches, as you’ve ordered, since the carts are unable to accommodate all of them.”

  There were only three carts in total. Lark remembered that the other carts were being used in the northern construction right now, specifically for the transportation of limestones.

  Lark nodded and boarded the carriage. After a neighing sound, the carts moved slowly and exited the Mansion’s grounds.

  Looking outside the window, Lark noticed that the snow was starting to melt. Winter was finally coming to an end.

  Good. We can finally start planting the wheat seeds. I need to hasten the reclamation of the northern lands after this. It’ll probably take a year before we can start reclaiming the western region.

  The plowing of the lands in the north was progressing quickly due to the tools introduced by Lark. According to the reports, the average farmer was able to use the plowing tool for around twenty minutes. Each day, several acres of land were being plowed and fertilized by composts. If things con
tinued progressing this way, they would be able to start planting the seeds within the next few days. The only limiting aspect would be the irrigation system, but the conventional watering method by the farmers should be enough to cover the small available area for now – at least until the irrigation canals were ready.

  As Lark was lost in his thoughts, they finally arrived at the southern border of the town. When Lark got down the cart, he immediately saw the newly constructed chicken coop. It was five times as large as a normal cabin, with enough room to house around a hundred chickens.

  A large empty space cleared of any grass surrounded the coop, with a waist-length fence serving as demarcating point. Lark was impressed that the workers followed his design thoroughly. Lark planned on using the large empty space as potential feeding ground for the poultry.

  “Ah, Young Master.” A tall man wearing a straw hat came running towards Lark and his group. “I’m sorry for not immediately coming to greet you. I’ve though that—,” he removed his hat and scratched his chin. “—You’ll be coming around late afternoon.”

  Lark smiled and simply dismissed it. He looked at the large chicken coop made of wood. He could see numerous small windows near the roof, a design meant to lessen the heat during summer. “I didn’t expect that you’ll be able to finish them so soon.”

  “We’ve worked day and night to quickly finish it.” The voice of the tall man held unmasked pride within. “We’re still working on the second one. According to Sir Silver Claw, the Young Master wants fifteen of them?”

  Lark knew that the worker was probably confused on why there was a need for so many coops. After all, by simply looking at their size, it was apparent that there would be thousands of chickens in this farm. It was an amount excessive for this small town.

  “That’s correct.” Lark did not elaborate. He planned on exporting chicken meat to nearby cities and villages once the time came. Also, by smoking it and drying it, those meat would easily become rations for the soldiers.