Chapter 19

Before winter was over, another light snow fell.

Cyrus stayed cooped up in the castle every day, spending most of his time reading or cuddling Snowball and Coalball, the two little tiger cubs.

The rest of his time was spent shut away in the alchemy laboratory, continuing to study the proportions for mixing herbs.

From knowing nothing about herbs at first, to knowing a little, to now understanding them thoroughly, he owed it all to the precious reading time before bed each night.

There was much more to learn now, and naturally, it required even more time.

Cyrus often seemed to stare blankly into space during the day, but in truth, he was immersed in the system interface, reading diligently.

Whenever Judas saw him gazing foolishly out the window, his concern inevitably turned into worry.

Perhaps afraid that Cyrus would make himself sick from being shut up in the castle, Judas bundled him up tightly the next day and took him out to have snowball fights and build snowmen with Gibran, Toby, and the others.

Cyrus: "..."

Judas worried over him like an old father.

The first step in fully developing Visas and Komoy Fort was to gather enough craftsmen.

Given that there was a full five-year plan to carry out in the future,

Cyrus hoped that the craftsmen would settle permanently in Visas or Komoy Fort from then on.

He adopted the same promotional strategy as before, offering enough attractive benefits and tempting conditions. Not only would they advertise within the territory, but they would also send people out with the Thorn Merchant Guild to spread the word comprehensively throughout every city.

Interested craftsmen could bring their families and follow the Thorn Merchant Guild to Visas or Komoy Fort to settle down.

Gadayat had a total of fifteen cities.

Although Rose Salt was already sold across a considerable area, it still had not covered the entire Gadayat Kingdom.

If Cyrus wanted to accumulate enough funds before rebuilding the two cities, and ensure that the flow of money did not dry up during the construction afterward, he had to keep exporting Rose Salt farther afield.

Therefore, it was imperative for the Thorn Merchant Guild to seek sales channels in every city, develop subordinate sellers, and establish branch offices.

It was much like modern advertising, only with more primitive methods.

Once the Soldiers' Training Camp's missions and daily training had come to an end, everything began to fall into place, and some of the knights had time on their hands.

The Thorn Merchant Guild split into two teams and set off separately.

Walker sent two of his subordinates, Taylor and Bana, to accompany one of the guild's teams out of Visas, both for protection and promotion.

Mike Andrew had now shed his identity as a slave and been promoted from squad leader to deputy platoon commander.

Ferdinand sent Mike and Myle, the squad leader under his command and also his friend, to depart with the other team.

Niramo.

It was known as the liveliest city in the Gadayat Kingdom, and it was also the territory owned by Bass Riches.

The lord held an important position in the royal capital and did not need to remain in his territory at all times. There were dedicated people below him to manage it on his behalf.

The lord only needed to collect the money from taxes and handle matters his subordinates could not resolve.

Taylor and Bana arrived in Niramo with the Thorn Merchant Guild.

The two walked down the street.

Bana sighed. "Niramo truly deserves its reputation as the liveliest city in Gadayat. Look at all these people coming and going. Oh, that girl over there is even waving at me..."

Taylor said flatly, "If you like it that much, stay here. I won't take you back to Visas."

Bana hurriedly said, "Don't say that, brother. I was only talking. The young count's territory is still better and more interesting. I don't even want to return to the royal capital, so why would I stay in an enemy's territory?"

At the time, he had stood behind Lord Walker and heard Matthew Luke reveal their conspiracy. He truly despised Bass Riches for colluding with the Gaina to murder nobles despite being a duke of Gadayat.

Bana could not help sighing again. "Still, it would be great if Niramo became part of the young count's territory too."

Taylor automatically filtered out his meaningless words and continued walking ahead without looking aside.

After escorting the Thorn Merchant Guild to the designated location and waiting for its leader to begin the handover process with the subordinate sellers, the two finally had time to wander around Niramo.

They bought some Niramo specialties and gifts, intending to bring them back for the young count and Lord Walker.

There truly were many novel items in Niramo that could not be found in Visas or Komoy Fort.

Because it had been built beside the Volri River, transportation was also relatively well developed.

If one casually grabbed someone on the street, that person might very well have come here from another country.

Niramo had an Artisans' Guild.

Taylor and Bana intended to recruit people from the guild.

The so-called Artisans' Guild was merely a somewhat respectable low building.

The stone carvings outside the guild depicted hammers and chisels. Several slightly weathered pieces of parchment were posted by the entrance, and the guard at the door yawned in boredom as they entered.

Bana said, "There are obviously far fewer people around the guild..."

Before he could finish,

a middle-aged man suddenly rolled out of the Artisans' Guild entrance.

He wore the guild's specially made craftsman's robe. His knees struck the ground hard with a tearing sound, ripping part of the hem and staining it with dirt and dust.

Quite a few people stood behind him. Not only did they make no move to help him up, they watched him with sharp, mocking laughter.

"Conrad Brown, why didn't you watch the threshold? Look at that, you fell again."

"Maybe his eyes are growing on top of his head, so he can't see anything. Hahaha."

"Conrad Brown, why aren't you getting up already? Are you waiting for us to come help you?!"

Even the man guarding the entrance laughed mockingly and pointed at him.

Taylor and Bana saw it clearly.

The reason Conrad Brown had fallen was entirely because someone behind him had stuck out a foot to trip him just as he was about to leave.

Conrad Brown had slightly dull golden hair. His face looked gentle and somewhat handsome. At that moment, he lowered his head, braced his hands on his knees, and slowly rose from the ground.

When they saw that Conrad Brown remained silent, the people behind him actually wanted to give him another kick.

Someone nearby noticed the two knights, Taylor and Bana, walking over. He pulled that person back and signaled to him, finally making him stop.

"May I ask what the two of you need, my lords?"

A flat-nosed man who appeared to have some authority rubbed his hands together and asked, "Are you looking to hire someone for work?"

"What did he do to you?"

Taylor pointed at Conrad Brown, who stood silently to one side.

This group was clearly bullying him for no reason, and they had nothing to say.

After a long while, the flat-nosed man said, "Well... you may not know this, but he isn't from Gadayat."

"He was originally a commoner from the Anas Empire. Later, after offending a noble, his entire family fled to Gadayat for their lives. They've lived in Niramo for nearly two years."

The flat-nosed man did not mention how Conrad Brown had offended them, instead bringing up unrelated reasons.

The Volri River flowed through the Anas Empire, and there were many cities along its banks. Niramo was one of them.

Thus, over the years, many outsiders had come ashore by ship and settled here.

Bana quietly said to Taylor, "The young count specifically told us not to take people with bad intentions or those who are lazy and slippery... Let's find out what happened first."

Taylor nodded.

It seemed they would not get any useful information by questioning the flat-nosed man and the others.

Taylor directly told Conrad Brown to leave with them.

Conrad Brown was clearly stunned. Unable to refuse, he followed behind Taylor and Bana.

Taylor and Bana brought him to a small tavern and ordered three cups of rye ale.

"Tell us. Why were they bullying you?"

Bana pushed one of the cups of rye ale in front of Conrad Brown.

Conrad Brown hesitated.

He did not understand at all why these two knights had brought him here. Normally, few people would involve themselves in the affairs of the Artisans' Guild...

Taylor saw his doubts. "Just answer honestly. You don't need to concern yourself with anything else."

Conrad Brown chose his words carefully. "It was because of an issue with a construction project... The opinion I put forward happened to be the opposite of theirs..."

"But in the end, my opinion was proven correct, so they're somewhat... My lord, they're only minor conflicts. They'll pass in a few days. I never expected to trouble you..."

Taylor frowned. Seeing Conrad Brown rubbing his hands, clearly unwilling to say more and filled with wary unease, he waved him away.

After Conrad Brown left,

a burly man seated at the next table leaned over with a flattering smile. "My lords, do you want to know about Conrad Brown?"

"You can ask me. I know all about it."

Taylor and Bana exchanged a glance.

"Go on, then."

The burly man chuckled and tapped his cup.

Bana raised his hand and ordered two more cups of rye ale.

The burly man immediately gulped one down impatiently. Then he slammed the empty cup heavily onto the table, wiped his mouth, and said, "That hit the spot."

Taylor said, "Can you talk now?"

The burly man hurriedly nodded. "Of course, of course."

"Conrad Brown has become rather well known lately. He designed a new type of river dam that was meant to be built upstream on the Volri River, but who would have thought that the moment he brought out the plans, someone from the Artisans' Guild snatched them away?"

"That person was the guild president's son and held quite a bit of power. Once the plans were stolen, there was naturally no getting them back. Besides, Conrad Brown fled here from the Anas Empire. If his life had been good before, he wouldn't have..."

The burly man laughed twice and continued, "Outsiders like him are often discriminated against and bullied in Niramo. Conrad Brown was no exception."

"After his plans were stolen, no one spoke up for him."

"Originally, they only needed to build the dam according to the plans. But the president's son embezzled funds to save money, deliberately reduced the key dimensions, and cut corners..."

"Conrad Brown discovered it and reported the situation several times, but who cared? It was all pointless... Later, although the dam was completed, heavy rains washed it away some time ago and killed several people."

"The guild president was held accountable, and his son received some punishment. Only then did they begin rebuilding according to Conrad Brown's design. But it still hasn't been completed, and the Artisans' Guild is clearly dragging out the process."

Bana could not help saying, "Then Conrad Brown clearly did nothing wrong."

The burly man said, "Conrad Brown did nothing wrong, but he offended the president of the Artisans' Guild, and the president's son dislikes him even more. So it isn't strange that he gets bullied every day."

"We're used to seeing it."

Taylor frowned. "The president wasn't dismissed?"

The burly man said, "How could that happen? This president has connections with plenty of people. A few bribes to those above, and he kept his position. Conrad Brown probably thought you two were trying to trick information out of him, which is why he cautiously said nothing."