"Your master is dead. You are now a free man," Unas said directly to the man.
"Free agent..."
Pafeman repeated the word, seemingly not quite understanding its meaning, and showed little emotional reaction to the supposed death of his master. It seemed Merlin only considered him a potential body and had not subjected him to deep brainwashing.
"In short, from now on you will follow this Elf mage named Arenas Fireleaf. You must completely accept his orders and guidance. Can you do that?"
Pafeman blinked his beautiful sapphire eyes, looking at Huoye, "My new master?"
"No, you must remember, no one in this world can be your master. From this moment on, I am your mentor," Huoye said, taking out a robe. "Stand up and put on your clothes."
Unas withdrew his sword, and the man obediently stood up from the long box. He took the robe but didn't know how to put it on; he had probably never worn clothes before.
Huoye stepped forward and carefully guided him to put on the clothes, then took out the shoes and mask and taught him how to use them. This made Pafeman feel an emotion he had never experienced before—a small sense of dependence that comes from being cared for by others, something he couldn't feel from Merlin.
Huoye's mask is a small magical item that can change a person's appearance. Pafeman's exposed upper face was completely different, even his eye color became ordinary brown, and his blond hair was hidden in the hood. Now he looked like a tall, ordinary person.
Huoye seemed to have a sense of "unexpected fatherhood." Unas repeatedly reminded him to be careful before finally sending the two away. As for how to explain the sudden appearance of such a large, living person to others, that was left to the Blood Elves to make up a story.
After dealing with this matter, Unas personally made a trip to Blackrock Depths. Firstly, his Judgement Armor had been damaged in many places after days of fighting and needed to be sent back to the Thorium Brotherhood for repair. Secondly, he went to deliver money to Frank.
After a period of large-scale acquisitions, the price of Glowing Wheat, the staple food of the Dark Iron Dwarves, has risen to an unprecedented level. However, there is no other way but to continue buying, and the acquisition of wheat fields cannot be stopped, all of which require a large amount of capital.
Unas had already paid Frank a total of 400,000 gold, which was almost all spent. The grain he bought was enough to sustain everyone in the stronghold for two months (not including the more than 2,000 Dwarves who stayed behind). The acquired Glowing Wheat were enough to make Unas one of the major landowners in the Dark Iron Kingdom.
Frank explained it this way, "I used most of the money to buy wheat fields because Glowing Wheat can be harvested twice a year. In another half month, it will be planting time, and it will mature in just over a hundred days. We don't need to buy too much grain at such high prices now. Just enough is fine. If we can get through these nearly four months, we will have our own harvest."
Because Blackrock Depths is located above a volcanic crater, the winter temperature is actually warm, making it ideal for planting Glowing Wheat, unlike Lordaeron in the north, where the cold winters are often accompanied by heavy snow, making it impossible for most crops to grow.
"Just enough is fine," Unas repeated Frank's words. "You're in charge of controlling the balance. I don't want anyone to starve under my management. You must do a good job of statistics and allocation, preferably with a surplus. I have plenty of gold."
The two arrived at Frank's vault, Unas brought out large boxes and boxes of Gold Coins, instantly filling the empty space in the vault, amounting to about four or five hundred thousand gold coins.
Frank was somewhat excited to suddenly gain control of so much wealth. "This money is more than enough. I will make you the largest landowner in the Dark Iron Kingdom, with surplus funds to expand the mines' production."
"Most of the people in Stormwind City will probably be going home soon, and the mines will face a manpower shortage. You need to be prepared. If necessary, the mining work can be postponed. Right now, the most important thing is food."
"I understand. With such ample funds from the adults, I will hire people in advance."
"Everything is in your hands. If you can handle this well, I will make you one of the richest men in the world." Unas's promises inspired everyone.
For Frank, who had been a smuggler, there was no better reward than becoming a millionaire. The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, a smile of excitement on his face.
Unas wasn't worried that Frank, who was clearly greedy, would run off with the money; the middle-aged man was self-aware enough not to dare do such a thing.
In contrast, their Thorium Brotherhood was less pleasant, not because the Dwarves ' attitude was problematic.
Guild Master Orphest personally received the Lord of the Holy Light and assured him that the best repairmen would be hired to fix the damaged Judgement Armor. However, when asked about the progress of the Thunder Spear, the Dwarf guild master looked troubled and indicated that delivery might be delayed.
"How can this be? Do you intend to breach the contract?"
Orphest quickly replied, "The contract we signed has the highest legal force. If we breach it, Lord, you will receive all the property of me, Stone Greystone, and Masai. The Brotherhood also pay a large sum in compensation. Please believe me, my lord, that we have absolutely no intention of breaching the contract."
"Then why was it postponed?"
"As you should know, our Thorium Brotherhood's original stronghold was on a hill in the Searing Gorge. We gradually moved back to Shadowforge City after His Majesty Rendaen ascended the throne. A week ago, a band of marauders attacked our relocation party and stole all our goods, including several precious ores needed to forge the Thunder Spear. The kingdom's garrison and our mercenaries are doing their utmost to track them down. Stone and Masai are also searching everywhere to buy up the ores again, but all of this will take time."
After Rendaen captured Shadowforge City, many of the Dark Iron garrison troops in Searing Gorge came to surrender on their own initiative. However, a small number of troops refused to surrender. They were either staunch supporters of Thaurissan or had been completely absorbed by the Twilight's Hammer Cult, thus becoming bandits and rebels. The complex terrain of Searing Gorge made it easy for these people to hide, which was a serious problem left over from the war.
Unas was well aware of the situation and realized he could only accept his bad luck. "What materials are you lacking? Make a list, and I'll try to figure something out."
He had just acquired Gunsel and Merlin's stash, which might contain materials the Dwarves needed, but he lacked the knowledge in this area and could only take a list back to Huoye for identification.
Seeing that the Paladin had stopped blaming him and was even trying to find a solution, Orphest quickly wrote down some information, "If you have anything on the list, we will buy it at market price."
"All I want Thunder Spear. Your property or compensation is worthless to me, and I hope you understand that."
"Of course, your goals are the same as ours, and I will do my best to satisfy you."