July had arrived, and summer was already upon them. Throughout the nearby coastal territories, a piece of news was spreading.
"Have you heard? The Red Skull Pirates were wiped out by Lord Romon's fleet."
"Yes, there was even a public trial. They hanged all the remaining pirates. What a satisfying sight!"
"I heard Lord Romon even distributed some of the seized goods to the merchant associations that had suffered losses. That was so fair and generous. They say quite a few merchants wept on the spot and expressed their gratitude."
"Hmph, during the trial, those pirates even named three businesses that had accepted their dirty pirate loot."
"I heard those businesses... have ties to the Radiance Church!"
"Shh! You dare say something like that? Are you tired of living?"
Ignoring the buzzing discussions, construction was underway in Romon's territory.
"This is quite a massive project!" Fafier remarked as he watched the nearly unbroken stream of material convoys, having come to inspect the site.
On the open ground by the dock, now almost entirely turned into a storage yard for construction materials, Romon, Fafier, and Nick walked side by side. It made for a rather strange sight: Romon wore a serious expression, Fafier had a hint of excitement, while Nick looked as though he had swallowed something bitter.
"Of course it's massive. If you piled up all the gold coins it cost, the height alone would make anyone gasp like you did." Seeing how excited Fafier was, Nick spoke gloomily.
"Hey, Nick, why do you always look so worried?" Fafier patted Nick on the shoulder. "Expanding the Mage Tower is a good thing. Don't be so depressed. You have to believe that the gold we spend today will roll back to us someday, multiplied severalfold—or even dozens of times over."
"I