Chapter 239: Act 6 – Letter (6) (Second Update, Double Monthly Votes)
“I mean expansion with the goal set on the wilderness. With the power of the whole nation, we will open up new territories in the wilderness.”
Brendel replied word by word, then he paused his work, lifted his head, and looked at Andrew, who was gazing at him with a complicated expression. The Druid Elder took a gentle breath, but still seemed disbelieving:
“But the law of nature lies in cycles. As a local lord, it is certainly easier to simplify matters. But like a force, with oppression comes resistance. While it may be a good thing to push this forward with your own strength for the entire order, not everyone might agree.” He paused and answered differently: “Exploring the boundaries of civilization is a dangerous and arduous task, especially nowadays, My Lord. Are you willing to take the risk of being opposed by the majority to implement all this?”
“It’s not that difficult, after all; interests will always drive people to act,” Brendel answered. He couldn’t help but think that it was similar to how gold and silver drove the Portuguese and Spanish to set sail, merely repeating the path walked by Prince Henry. Besides, how valuable the wilderness was, apart from the Temple, only he truly knew. The Temple had to weigh the ratio of investment to return, while he had examples ready at hand.
“The returns from the wilderness will naturally serve as the driving force for Erluin to advance further. And people are always forgetful; when gold is at hand, only a few can see the accompanying risks,” the young lord replied. “Not to mention that once the majority improves their lives, they will not wish to go back to the past.”
“Are you so sure that the investment will yield returns? Running at a loss is something that happens often,” Andrew countered. “If setbacks arise at the beginning of the plan, the blow to your entire concept would be devastating.”
Brendel chuckled inwardly. The other party was already thinking from his side, which indicated that he had persuaded them. After all, this matter was inherently tempting to Druids and almost impossible to resist. “That’s why I need you, along with my experience,” he replied. “A comprehensive plan combined with a bit of luck means that risks must be taken with everything. You often see individual pioneering actions fail because they lack substantial support behind them, which is the support of territory, lords, or even the entire kingdom.”
Brendel mused that actually, some great lords occasionally had spontaneous pioneering actions, but in a situation where enemies were everywhere, no one dared to invest too much in uncharted territory. Thus, such investments were often one-time affairs, and sooner or later, apart from true gamblers, no one would care about the wilderness anymore.
But this was also due to the fact that most people had no clear understanding of the wilderness. He, however, had an advantage: he knew for sure that his investments would yield returns. That was the advantage of experience.
After a moment of silence, Andrew finally nodded: “Alright, My Lord, you’ve convinced me. If you can truly achieve all this, how do you need us to proceed?”
“It’s not about how I need you to proceed,” Brendel said. “It’s about you safeguarding your fruits. You will understand. There are not only my ambitions in this world; you have not yet truly witnessed the greed of other lords.”
The Druid Elder nodded, “I understand,” he replied. “I must say, you are the best persuader I have ever seen, My Lord.”
Brendel smiled slightly. He picked up two letters from the desk: “There’s one last thing I’d like to ask of you.”
“You speak,” Andrew took a breath; Brendel’s earlier speech even made him a bit excited. If it could really be done, the transformation it could bring to the entire ordered world would be seismic. If the benevolent Eke was the greatest pioneer after the Era of Chaos, then this young man might very well dominate the history of the next era.
If he could succeed.
“Help me deliver these two letters.”
“Letters? To whom?” asked the Druid Elder.
“Crossing through the forest, you can reach Port Gris to the east from the nearest distance; I have some subordinates there at this moment,” Brendel replied. “You will deliver this letter into the hands of someone called Retao, the Bronzesteeldragon; I believe you won’t make a mistake.”
Andrew took the letter, glanced at it, then asked, “Is there anything else?”
Brendel shook his head: “No other matters, and the rest will be proven by time. I have other things to attend to, so I won’t see you off. Best wishes for your success—”
Andrew nodded, “Then I take my leave.” He bowed deeply to the young lord along with the other two, then opened the door and left. Beside them, Flour finally raised her head, staring blankly as Andrew and the others exited, turning back to ask, “My Lord, did you give them the letters as well?” Although this wild elf girl always knew Brendel was meticulous, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy about strangers.
Because she didn’t understand why Brendel would trust three unfamiliar people so much, not only entrusting Funiya to them but also handing a matter of life and death into their hands. Even if they were Druids, what if their identities were fake?
But Brendel naturally couldn’t explain the reasons to her. His understanding of the Druids in the Amber Sword could only be explained as the knowledge of wizards. But on the other hand, he couldn’t just say that he actually knew those guys, could he? If asked where, that would be something from over a decade ago, after the Conference of Sacred Stones; he had exerted a long effort to boost the reputation of the Withered Wood Council for the series of dungeons and tasks of the Valhalla ruins. In those days, Grudin had long since turned to ashes; it was the most prosperous era after Erluin’s restoration. Now that he thought about it, probably no one would believe it besides a madman.
After considering this, he replied: “Retao has always been in contact with Freya, so sending a letter to Princess Grifian shouldn’t be a hassle.”
The elf girl glared at him. “You know I’m not talking about that,” she said, annoyed. “My Lord.”
Brendel smiled.
“I certainly know what you’re talking about, Miss Elf,” he replied, “but you must also admit that I understand the Druids better than you do. So trust me, they are speaking the truth; the ‘prophecies in the forest’ should appear at this time. The Druids’ respect for Nia far exceeds your imagination, helping me deliver a letter is merely a side activity, and furthermore, I believe Andrew will treat this matter as a test. For them, everything I previously mentioned is an unprecedented vision,” Brendel thought for a moment and added: “If you cannot empathize with their values from their perspective, it will be difficult to understand how much they value this matter.”
“But.”
“There are no buts,” Brendel simply made up an excuse, “besides, that itself is part of the consideration; I also have backup means.”
“Backup means?” Flour looked at him suspiciously, wondering how she was unaware of that. After all, the two letters Andrew had taken were both copied by Antinna; she didn’t believe that Brendel would prepare more. After long periods of interaction, she had gradually begun to understand this young man.
“Of course,” Brendel couldn’t help but glance at the elf girl, but Flour remained expressionless as ever. He paused, suddenly coming up with a point, and asked: “How is the inventory counting going?”
Flour lowered her head to look at him, a flicker of disdain flashing in her eyes. She thought that talking to a girl would also require such shameless interruptions, and she still counted as his summoned creature. However, disdain aside, she opened the notebook in her hands and plainly replied: “We’ve inventoried the granaries, and the stored grains amount to about fifty thousand bushels, which are enough to sustain the consumption of the entire city for three to four months. However, the supply warehouse is basically depleted; the stone materials, wrought iron, and timber are all far below records, and the specific flow directions are untraceable—”
It was normal for there to be depletion; considering Grudin’s capability, he was fortunate not to have turned Firburh into a black forest. But truly, he had to thank the Druids in the forest, although the former might not know that there was such a group.
Brendel shook his head, “The shortage of stone materials and timber must be remedied. Firburh is not safe right now; the walls damaged in the battle the day before yesterday must be immediately repaired and fortified.” He thought of this point and couldn’t help but rub his forehead. Previously, in the ‘Lord Mode’ of the game, resources were quantified, and this player-friendly approach was causing him significant trouble at this moment. For example, to fortify a stretch of wall in the game required two units of stone and timber—
But how much was two units of stone and timber in reality, Brendel had no idea. As for consulting Antinna and others, unfortunately, while Antinna was knowledgeable, she wasn’t omniscient, and especially on such matters, it would likely require professional stonemasons or management officials.
But the crux of the problem was that whether it was stonemasons or officials, Firburh was now completely lacking them. And those captured defense captains, firstly, were unwilling to work for her, and secondly, most were recruited from mercenaries by Grudin, making them incapable of answering such specialized questions. In fact, they knew even less than Husher, although Husher was no better than Antinna in that regard either.
Thinking of this problem made Brendel feel a headache.
He shook his head and said: “In any case, do we have enough supplies to repair the walls?”
Flour glanced at him, thinking, My Lord, you yourself chopped down half of the southern gate with a sword just to show off. Isn’t this self-inflicted? Yet, despite her internal grievances, she expressionlessly replied: “My Lord, simply put, it’s basically equivalent to having none—”
“What?!”
……(To be continued. For more details, please visit, more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
