The people left behind at the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's camp were all expendable nobodies.
They had no idea where Blood Crow had gone, or even what Wester's commission was about.
The other factions and intermediary organizations in Pioneer Territory hadn't managed to pry any useful information from them.
Not that they were alone. In fact, before reaching Kurd City, most of the Blood Crow mercenaries who had gone along didn't know the goal of the operation either. They only knew it was a major undertaking.
Kurd City's skeletons were active by night and dormant by day. It was difficult for the gangs of thugs who roamed around during the day to encounter them.
Kurd City was remote to begin with, and the Skeleton Assassins cleared the area regularly. Few people could even find the place.
After the Blood Crow Mercenary Group incident, Medivh expanded the Skeleton Assassins' patrol range.
Time was on Medivh's side. The later Kurd City was discovered and exposed, the better.
"So, is Medivh dead or alive?"
Wester didn't care whether Blood Crow was dead or alive. He only wanted to know if Medivh was.
Unfortunately, no one could answer him. Medivh had mysteriously vanished as soon as he entered Odyssey, and there had been no reliable news since.
No one would connect Blood Crow's disappearance to Medivh.
After all, in their eyes, Medivh was just a Necromancer Apprentice. There was no way he could have killed a Second-Rank Knight.
They were more inclined to believe that Blood Crow had discovered a hidden realm and been killed by some entity inside while exploring it.
"They said they've hired someone new to look for Medivh in Odyssey."
The butler explained the intermediary organization's efforts to make amends.
At its own expense, the intermediary had hired a few scouts to search for Medivh in the Odyssey Region.
As for how effective the search would be, Wester shouldn't get his hopes up. After all, how good could something free be?
The intermediary organization wasn't about to spend a fortune hiring a large mercenary group from Pioneer Territory.
They were just showing that they were taking the matter seriously, giving Wester an explanation that would hold up on the surface.
The intermediary organization had good reasons for being able to operate between Odyssey and the Gewalt Federation.
A mercenary group that accepted a job had mysteriously disappeared. Could they be blamed for not doing enough? They'd already taken care of the aftermath, so they weren't afraid of Wester making trouble for them.
"A bunch of useless fools!"
Wester angrily pounded the table.
The intermediary organization had shown all the concern expected of them, so it would be difficult for him to find an excuse to go after them.
The whole affair was a mess. There was no way to sort it out.
There was still no news of Medivh. Wester couldn't afford to hire a large mercenary group to search for him long-term.
Sending people to Odyssey wasn't a viable plan either.
First, the people he sent had to be trustworthy. They were important members of Wester's household, and if they disappeared for a long time, his family's rivals would surely become suspicious.
Second, Odyssey was vast. Sending a few people there to look for Medivh would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
That was that, unless new information about Medivh surfaced.
In the blink of an eye, it had been a month and a half since the Blood Crow Mercenary Group perished in Kurd City.
While Wester raged helplessly, Medivh was inspecting his territory.
Over the past month, the walls around the three Agricultural Districts in Kurd Nine-Grid had risen to eight meters. Three potato fields were protected within the high walls, their potato plants lush and green.
East of Kurd Nine-Grid, a second Nine-Grid District had been built, with five areas: two Farmland Districts, a Central District, a Reservoir District, and a Workshop District.
The new areas were all enclosed by five-meter-high walls.
The wheat seedlings in the two Farmland Districts were lush and thriving.
The Workshop Districts in both Nine-Grid Districts were filled with brick factories.
Every day, the Workshop District produced a large number of bricks for building walls and developing the districts.
Over the past month, Medivh had balanced work and rest while crafting a large number of skeletons.
Kurd City had gained 625 Grey Bone Skeletons, 424 White Bone Skeletons, and 216 Green Bone Skeletons.
Among the Green Bone Skeletons, 56 were Heavy Skeleton Warriors.
Because he'd drawn on their strength earlier, the Big-Horned Ox beasts had spent the past month recovering. Medivh hadn't bled them dry for their blood.
During that month, one Green Bone Warrior and one Green Bone Heavy Warrior had awakened into Bone Spirits on their own, and Suixiang had advanced to become a First-Rank Low-Level Spirit Rune Warrior.
Each Nine-Grid District covered ten square kilometers.
Kurd City would become more and more conspicuous. By the time everyone knew about it, Medivh needed to be strong enough to drive back and bury every enemy.
He couldn't afford to let up. After inspecting his territory, he immediately returned to the High Tower to craft more skeletons.
Medivh had erected a High Tower in the Central Castle because he longed for a Mage Tower.
Unfortunately, he was only a half-trained mage and had no idea how to build one.
At Loran Mage Academy, he had learned only the Mental Meditation Technique and Bone Resurrection.
Much of his basic knowledge came from the Flame Skeleton Mage he had resurrected.
The knowledge the Time Skeleton carried from its past life was limited, and the Flame Skeleton Mage couldn't teach Medivh much about magic.
If Medivh wanted to learn more about magic, he would need to resurrect more Skeleton Mages, just as he had with the Spirit Cat Skeletons and Minotaur Skeletons, comparing multiple individuals to improve their inherited knowledge.
Every time he resurrected a skeleton, it was a form of cultivation, and Medivh's mental strength continued to grow.
He had already reached the threshold of advancement.
Medivh didn't know how other mage apprentices advanced to become full-fledged mages.
He only knew that if he kept resurrecting skeletons, he would eventually reach the opportunity to advance.
"Medivh, the rainy season is coming!"
That afternoon, a gust of wind blew Audrey's skirt up like a fluttering butterfly.
She gazed into the distance and saw the sky rapidly darkening.
The Odyssey Region was about to enter the rainy season. More than half a month of steady rain was ahead.
"It won't make a difference."
Medivh stood and went to the terrace for a look. He wasn't worried about the rainy season.
It wasn't like a year ago, when he and the others had nearly been wiped out by the Murlocs.
Now Medivh lived within high walls and had countless elite troops at his command. No matter how many Murlocs came, he wasn't afraid.
"Hehe, it's so safe!"
Audrey sidled over and nudged Medivh. She had nearly died in battle last time, and with Medivh by her side, she felt utterly safe.
"I feel even safer now!"
A little while later, feeling the force at her back, Audrey's eyebrows curved with laughter.
At that moment, she felt completely fulfilled and safe. She wouldn't fear even if the world were ending.
Whoosh...
The rain clouds raced by in the strong wind. In just a few days, Kurd City went from clear skies to a blanket of dark clouds.
Amidst flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, torrential rain poured down, hammering against the windows.
Beneath the rain, the gangs of thugs huddled in their camps, and Odyssey became a playground for the Murlocs.
The Murlocs, usually hidden in rivers and lakes, roamed about and plundered under the rainy skies.
The downpour didn't hinder construction in Kurd City. Awnings had been set up in the city and along the walls, and the skeletons continued stacking stones to build the walls through the rain.
Kurd City had no fear of Murloc attacks. Any Murlocs that wandered close were shot down by the skeletons on the walls.
The distinctive fishy stench of Murloc blood spread through the mist, drawing even more Murlocs.
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