Teleportation

When Donald broke through and advanced in the training grounds, all the mages in the guildhall felt the surge of mental energy.

The mages, led by Messer, were stunned that Donald had become a Black Iron Mage in such a short time, but they were also delighted.

After all, having a powerful mage in the guildhall meant that the mages of North Shire had grown stronger still. That was good news for every mage in the region.

"In the name of the Arcane, we seek truth without fear!"

Under Messer's direction, all the mages present bore witness to Donald's certification as a mage.

"Apprentice Donald Melina, from this day onward, you are officially one of the great mages. You must uphold the ancient rules, make the pursuit of the world's truth your highest aspiration, and pass on the glory of the Arcane forever!"

"Yes. I will keep my oath and never betray the convictions of a mage!"

With that, Messer personally pinned the Black Iron Mage's badge to Donald's chest.

The center of his old apprentice badge had been blank. Now, an intricate pattern representing the elements and wisdom adorned it. Unlike other mages' badges, a Summoner's had a starry sky for its background, with a six-pointed magic circle symbolizing a connection to another world.

"If Donald could defeat a peak Black Iron Mage as an apprentice, then now that he's advanced to Black Iron, his strength must be enough to face an early-stage Bronze Mage head-on."

Every mage present couldn't help thinking the same thing.

The guildhall had produced such a talent. It was a source of pride for the mages of all North Shire, and it made their forces even stronger.

Summoners were rare spellcasting professionals. There were only a handful throughout the entire Kingdom of Selt, and most were weaker than Bronze Mages. Given the talent of a young mage like Donald, he was all but certain to become a Bronze Mage at the very least.

Once he became a Bronze Mage, a Summoner like him would probably be able to fight other Silver-rank professionals without losing ground. That meant North Shire might soon have a spellcaster with Silver-rank strength—a sight unseen for decades.

That evening, the mages held a small but lavish celebration for Donald, their newly advanced colleague.

Quite a few of them gave him gifts: spell incantations, alchemy formulas, or mage equipment. None were particularly high-level, but they were just what Donald needed, given how little of the basics he had.

Knowing that Donald already had an excellent staff, Messer personally enchanted it for his apprentice.

Afterward, the Scepter of Negation was no longer a game item that could cast only one skill. It had become a true high-grade staff that enhanced a mage's spellcasting and came with two additional spells.

The price Master Messer paid was that he needed half a month of rest to recover his lost mental energy, and he wouldn't be able to cast those two additional spells for at least six months.

It was a tremendous kindness. Donald was grateful to his teacher and felt even greater respect for him. They had only met a few times, yet Messer had already shown him sincere care. And for the sake of the mage profession, for the strength of North Shire and the Kingdom, his teacher spared no effort in helping the mages around him. What incredible dedication!

The old mage was far more admirable than the celebrities and tycoons of Donald's previous life, who had more money than they knew what to do with, yet treated charitable donations as little more than a show.

Donald himself wouldn't make such a selfless sacrifice, but that didn't stop him from holding people like Messer in high regard.

After the excitement died down, the mages gathered themselves and returned to their own research and training.

Filled with emotion, Donald brought his trip to Giant Stone City to an end. After saying goodbye to Master Messer, he went to a quiet, deserted alley and pictured his home in his mind. A flash of white light formed a teleportation circle and vanished just as quickly. Donald disappeared from the alley. The only witnesses were a few rats in the dark.

The courtyard of House Merlinar was piled high with building materials. Even walking around outside the house was a struggle.

His first experiment with Teleportation had gone perfectly. The journey ended in an instant, and Donald appeared in his own backyard without alerting anyone.

"Red Maple Town and Giant Stone City are less than a hundred kilometers apart. Getting between them will be easier than ever from now on."

In high spirits, Donald spoke aloud. Then, using the mental detection ability he'd gained upon advancing to Black Iron, he sensed his butler in the kitchen, directing the older woman who worked as both a servant and cook on how to handle the aristocratic tableware. No one else was within a hundred meters of the estate. Since it was early morning, the nearby residents were only just getting ready to wake up. He could do whatever he liked without worrying about being seen.

He pictured the manor in his mind and tried to activate Teleportation again, but dizziness washed over him, and the spell failed to start. Donald couldn't help sighing.

"The Book of Truth's figures really are precise. There's not a loophole to be found. The basic Teleportation spell has a half-hour cooldown to prevent the strain of repeated use!"

"I'll check on the manor later. These materials should be taken there, too! If they stay piled in the courtyard, I might not even be able to get into the house next time I come back!"

Donald spent more of his stored Elemental Crystals to expand his Space Mark to thirty cubic meters. He put some of the building materials currently needed into the space, then headed into his home, feeling much lighter.

The butler, Code, had gotten up early and had just left the kitchen when he hurried over.

"You're back, young master! I'll have the kitchen prepare breakfast right away."

"Mm." Donald nodded.

"I've moved the materials that were left outside. After breakfast, I'll head to the manor. You can keep handling the orders for the remaining materials!"

The initial work involved only basic construction, and Donald hadn't hired anyone to help. He planned to build the manor all by himself.

Code asked in confusion,

"What about the workers for the manor? We can't gather enough on short notice. And the manor's design will need an experienced architect!"

The old butler didn't know what to make of it, but Donald knew how lucky he was to have the artifact called the Book of Truth. He didn't explain. Instead, he showed Code his newly changed badge and said,

"You don't need to worry about any of that, Uncle Code! A mage's power can solve anything! I'm officially a Black Iron Mage now!"

Only then did Code's doubts fade. His face lit up, and pride swelled in his heart.

"Good! Good! That's wonderful! The young master is a proper mage now. House Merlinar's rise is just around the corner!"

Seeing his butler's excitement and relief, Donald felt happy too. Living in this world in place of the Donald who had passed away had to count for something.

After enjoying a sumptuous aristocratic breakfast, Donald left home feeling satisfied. The cooldown on Teleportation had ended by then. Once he reached an empty spot outside town, he cast the spell and appeared in front of the wooden cabin on the small estate awaiting construction.

He released the materials stored in his Space Mark and piled them on the open ground. Looking over the land that belonged to him, Donald felt a rush of joy.

"Although this estate is near both Giant Stone City and Baron of Red Maple's territory, it belongs directly to the royal family. So I don't have to pay taxes to either lord. I only have to pay the royal family a symbolic three percent of my net profit each year, according to the estate law!"

"But there's a trick to it. Most estate owners try to inflate their costs on paper and reduce their net profits to save on taxes! They just have to make sure Sir Jesse, the tax inspector, doesn't find anything wrong!"

Donald had picked up some knowledge of these matters from childhood memories.

"Noble estates aren't fiefs, and a fief can replace multiple estates!" That saying neatly explained the relationship between noble estates and fiefs.

Estates first appeared when the state or a Highlord needed money for some reason. They would set aside a piece of land and sell it as a way to make money. The buyers were vassals who held high status but owned no fiefs. With the true gods as witnesses in this world, if an estate owner had heirs, the lord—whether the royal family or a noble—could not take the estate back.

Over the years, estates had become more established and turned into the private property of the nobility. But unlike true fiefs, an estate owner could only grow crops, open workshops, and pursue other economic ventures. They had no right to gather subjects or maintain private soldiers.

The saying meant that a noble who owned an estate wasn't necessarily a landed noble, while a landed noble could divide up as many estates as they wanted from their own fief. Of course, except for a rare few, nobles seldom divided up their fiefs this way. Estates were usually rewards granted by the upper nobility to loyal knights and retainers.

Everyone who knew about it, including his butler, found Donald's choice of these two supposedly cursed estates baffling.

But Donald's soul came from an age of information overload, so he naturally saw things differently from the merchants and nobles of this world. He had wisely avoided buying any of the fertile estates near Giant Stone City that were up for sale. Instead, while those in the know looked at him as if he were a fool, he chose this stretch of wasteland beneath Green Cloak Forest and Cloud-Rising Mountain.

He'd made that choice because although the estates near Giant Stone City were fertile and had been well managed by their previous owners, they were not only generally expensive but offered little room for growth. He had several thousand Gold Sol to his name, but to a wealthy local noble like Baron of Red Maple, that was only about a year or two of income from his territory. If Donald bought one of those overpriced estates, he'd have little capital left for development.

The remote wasteland he'd bought was not only cheap but vast and secluded, making it ideal for his plans. As for monster attacks, the creatures could stay away if they liked. If they came, they'd only add to his estate's yield.

"Although I've never specifically studied how to run a farm or estate, I've played plenty of farm and estate management games. With a cheat as powerful as the Book of Truth, building and managing an estate should be a piece of cake!"

Looking up at the vast stretch of land, the starting point of his future growth, Donald made his way to the spot he'd chosen earlier.

Some timber and stone had been piled there. Donald opened the Book of Truth and selected the summon option for the human race's basic building, the farm.

"Book of Truth, summon a human farm for me!"

Since the basic materials were already prepared, summoning the farm required eighty percent less energy than summoning it entirely from energy.

As soon as Donald finished speaking, a vast golden glow lifted the materials into the air. When the light faded, a phantom farm covering twenty mu suddenly appeared across the broad stretch of land on the left side of the estate.

A few breaths later, the phantom became real before Donald's excited eyes. A small but neatly planned farm by the standards of this world had been built.