Revealing Reputation

Ever since his victory in the duel against the Black Iron Mage, the name Donald Melina had become widely known among the upper echelons of North Shire over the past few days.

Although Donald himself kept a very low profile, he could not stop the Baron of Red Maple from wanting to boost the reputation of his "future son-in-law," so the Baron had secretly spread the news of the wager. While it hadn't reached the ears of every single person in North Shire, at least the merchants of some standing, the various nobles, and professionals like mages had already heard of the matter.

As Donald's reputation as a genius summoner soared, the Snow Mage and Sodo, who served as the antagonists of the story, along with Lord Gerry's family, became the objects of scorn, almost turning into the laughingstock of North Shire.

It was said that young master Sodo had been severely punished by his father, the Lord, who was enraged after learning the news from outside sources, leaving the boy unable to get out of bed for several days.

The various factions in North Shire also began to take this young mage apprentice, who had previously been obscure but was now famous, quite seriously.

Meanwhile, our genius apprentice, upon returning home, immediately threw himself into the construction of his planned manor, completely oblivious to everything happening in the outside world.

At the Giant Stone City Lord's Mansion, Viscount Macbeth looked at the intelligence report newly submitted by his subordinates and could not help but recall the events of years past.

Over forty years ago, he, having just come of age, had personally set a trap to seize that knightly fiefdom of the Merlin Family, earning his father's praise. After inheriting his title, he had bestowed it upon the son of his steward, Gerry.

He had then completely forgotten about that knightly family; what threat could a mere toddler and a servant pose to his vast family power? Even if the remnants grew up and prepared to inherit the family knighthood, he could easily tamper with the knightly assessment, stripping the opponent of their prideful status and reducing them to a commoner.

However, the little bug he once thought posed no threat had now transformed and grown to a degree that demanded his attention.

"Interesting! To think he has become a mage apprentice. Is this the old man Melina's scheme? He hid it truly well!"

Macbeth assumed that the old man Melina had hidden his son's talent for magic, fearing he would be harmed in his youth, only revealing it as the coming-of-age ceremony approached. If Donald knew his thoughts, he would certainly find it amusing. If the father of this body had possessed such foresight, he wouldn't have been swindled out of his last bit of property back then.

However, although this mage apprentice was a threat, Macbeth, now nearly sixty, had long since lost the impetuousness of his youth, which had always driven him to find ways to eradicate all hostile existences. He now knew better how to consider things from a long-term and strategic perspective.

While ordinary mages were protected by local Mage Associations and the Royal Mage Association, it was still very easy for big shots like them to secretly finish off a low-level mage who had offended a noble, let alone a mere mage apprentice.

But it was different for a rare summoner, a profession that didn't appear more than a few times in a century. Although a summoner's individual combat ability was lower than that of an average mage, the otherworldly creatures they summoned using their summoning spells possessed combat power that was far from ordinary. Moreover, for the nations of humanity, summoners had always been special talents urgently needed by the military. On the battlefield, the role of a novice summoner was worth a hundred elite soldiers; if used well, wiping out an enemy force of a thousand was not difficult. This kind of strength already exceeded the utility that most mid-level mages could provide.

If he were to move against this summoner with such immense potential, not to mention the attitude of those "hot-blooded" mages in various regions and the capital, Messer and their King of Selt would not simply stand by and allow his actions!

"Thinking you can turn things around like this? The Melina Family has already fallen; let it continue to do so! As a threat to my Macbeth Family, I cannot allow him to grow!"

With that thought, Macbeth leaned over his desk to write a short note, then handed it to the servant below, saying:

"Take this to the Association; they will know what to do! Tell Black to be careful and leave no traces!"

The servant took the letter and bowed as he left the study. Before long, the letter passed through several hands in the city before reaching a secret building beneath a residential house in the commoner district.

This underground hall was built with extreme secrecy and was large enough to hold a gathering of over a hundred people.

The people inside were all dressed in black, their faces expressionless. The letter was finally delivered to a young man in black sitting at the head of the room. Unlike the other men in black, he was tall and agile, and he was currently enjoying a glass of Selt's finest wine. He did not look like the leader of an underground organization hidden in the shadows, but rather like a noble knight.

"The old man's task, a mage apprentice?"

The man then tore up the letter and said with a mocking tone:

"He really thinks highly of us. Daring to touch one of Messer's apprentices? It seems he's prepared to treat us as disposable pawns. Does he really think I don't know my standing in his heart?"

"Leader, what should we do?"

A tall, sturdy man in black asked from below.

The young man's handsome face broke into a smile:

"Naturally, we accept. I've been the old man's lapdog for so long, a few more days won't hurt. Once I reach the Silver rank, I will have the ability to take the brothers and break free from his control. When that time comes, the world is vast—where can we not live freely and happily?"

According to Donald's own plan, if he relied solely on manual labor to build the infrastructure for the first small manor, it would take at least three months. However, he could not afford to wait that long, as spring was quickly coming to an end. Three months was too long; if he missed the last wave of cultivation before the end of summer, he would have to wait until next spring to sow his crops.

This was because the Kingdom of Selt was located in the northern part of the continent, where the climate was relatively cold, similar to the frigid regions of his past life. Most land could only produce one harvest of grain crops per year, unlike some warmer regions in the south of the continent, where some short-cycle crops could even be harvested four or five times a year.

However, the land in the Kingdom of Selt was fertile and contained many undeveloped virgin lands. The average annual yield was not much different from those warmer, multi-harvest regions, and the quality of the mature crops was far superior to those high-yield southern varieties.

This situation was somewhat similar to the Northeast region of Donald's past life, which gave him great confidence that he could achieve a bumper harvest for his manor, but he had to get the manor built first.

His original plan was to prepare the building materials himself and then rely on the ability of the Book of Truth, paying a portion of energy as the cost to complete the construction of the manor instantly. This would save more than half of the energy consumption, thereby reducing costs by as much as eighty percent.

Therefore, purchasing large quantities of timber, stone, and other materials was imperative, and this had already been entrusted to his most loyal steward, Code. Once the materials were in hand, he would be able to immediately complete facilities that would otherwise take months to build.

With thousands of Gold Sol at his disposal, Code, who had been a steward for many years but had never truly been able to act, was now excited and full of drive.

Sharing his master's burdens and building and protecting his master's estate was exactly what a true noble steward needed to do.

As for Donald himself, having finished his cultivation for the day, he was now preparing to head out to a tavern in town.