Chapter 199: We Can

Gervas smiled faintly, shifting the topic, "Of course, the nobles of the capital are foolish and rich—it's not impossible to make even more gold from them!"

"For example, we could decorate the magic fans with different materials: ordinary ones with copper, mid-tier ones with silver, and high-end ones with gold and gems…"

Wood stared wide-eyed, utterly stunned.

He wasn't stupid—he understood at once.

Just imagine, when those vain nobles of the capital see them, they'll hand over their gold coins by the heap!

But as he thought further, Wood's face darkened suddenly, filled with anguish, "Lord Gervas, your suggestion is truly excellent—I agree we could make a fortune—but it's all too late!"

"I'm already drowning in debt, and I'm about to enter the Chaos Wastes—otherwise, if the capital nobles find me, I'll spend the rest of my life laboring day and night crafting magical trinkets to pay them off!"

Gervas smiled inwardly, but feigned hesitation, "Lord Wood! I have a proposal… why not stay in my Stormhold? I'll protect you!"

"Stay in Stormhold? This…?" Wood froze again.

He knew his creditors were major nobles of the capital—even some with royal ties.

Not even a border noble like Gervas would dare harbor him—let alone the great nobles themselves?

"Lord Wood, you may never have heard of Stormhold, but let me tell you: within the kingdom, it's known as a land of death, for three lords have died here in just ten years!"

"So I know taking you in is extremely risky—but I'm willing to take the chance, because I desperately need funds to develop my territory, and for that, I'm ready to risk it!"

"Of course, there's another important point: I feel you and I are very much alike."

"We're both striving to rise—you've just had bad luck and failed to succeed, so I don't want you to flee into the Chaos Wastes and become food for barbarians or slaves to bandits!"

"Stay in my territory. Though I can't provide you with abundant resources, I guarantee the basic materials needed for a junior mage's cultivation!"

"Moreover, once the magical devices we produce start generating profit, I'll give you a tenth of the earnings!"

"That way, you might become a mid-tier mage soon—even a senior mage!"

"By then, you won't have to worry about your debts anymore—you can return to the capital with your head held high!"

Gervas activated his 'Noble Self-Cultivation,' his eyes brimming with clarity and sincerity.

Wood's eyes welled up again, moved deeply: "Lord Gervas, you are the most benevolent and kind-hearted noble I've ever met!"

Next, Gervas naturally produced the magical contract and had both parties sign it.

Gervas honored his promise: he protected Wood and provided daily cultivation resources.

Additionally, once the magical devices generated profit, he would give Wood one-tenth of the earnings!

In return, Wood had to serve Gervas at least five hours daily—producing magical devices.

Though enforcement wouldn't be strict in practice, these terms were written clearly for fairness.

As for the term of service, it was at least eight years.

For five years, regardless of whether Wood broke through to mid-tier or senior mage, he must remain serving Gervas.

Wood naturally saw no problem with this.

A mage's advancement was far slower than a title knight's.

Without vast resources to pour into cultivation, and with daily alchemical device production required, breaking through to mid-tier mage in eight years was already quite fast.

A conservative estimate was ten years under normal conditions.

So Wood actually felt Gervas was deliberately showing goodwill.

After signing the contract, both parties enjoyed a cheerful lunch together.

Wood no longer feared being torn apart by barbarians and eaten as meat.

Gervas had hired a mage at the lowest possible price—as a beast of burden.

Under normal circumstances, noble-mage collaborations split profits fifty-fifty.

Sometimes it was forty-sixty, but only when desperate alchemists partnered with great nobles.

A ninety-ten split—if other mages heard of this, they'd curse Gervas as a vampire.

It was no different from free-riding.

…

"Are you certain the iron mine has been producing over a thousand kilograms of ore daily for more than ten days?"

"Yes, my lord, I've quietly questioned many serfs and even witnessed iron ore being unloaded at Wheatfield Town—the mine truly produces over a thousand kilograms daily!"

"Damn it! Why? Previously, we only extracted one or two hundred kilograms per day—how did it suddenly jump to over a thousand?"

Inside Pat's Castle!

Lord Pat's face turned ashen.

After selling the iron mine, he had never stopped monitoring it.

Originally, he wanted to prepare in advance if his fraud was discovered.

But the recent investigations delivered an unbelievable report.

The mine's output had not only recovered—it had apparently increased!

"Previously, he deployed over three hundred men to dig, yet output barely reached fifteen hundred kilograms!"

"Now, Gervas has only a hundred men digging, yet produces a thousand kilograms daily—output has risen by half!"

"The meaning is obvious: the ore vein hasn't been exhausted—it's hiding an even richer deposit!"

"And now, I sold this vein for just seven hundred gold coins…"

The more he thought, the more twisted Lord Pat's face became.

"My lord, please take care of your health!"

His subordinates, alarmed, feared he'd collapse from rage.

"No—we absolutely cannot let others take advantage of the Pat family's iron mine!"

Lord Pat seemed to have made a firm decision.

His subordinates stared, stunned.

"Bery!"

"My lord, your humble servant is here!"

"Go immediately and inform Baron Kieran and Sir Wo to bring their men to the Viscount's Castle at once!" Viscount Pat ordered.

"Yes, my lord Viscount!" The subordinates vaguely sensed that something major was about to happen, but dared not speak further.

"By the way, tell them to bring all their equipment; a battle is likely to break out!"

"Yes, my lord Viscount!"

……

"Reporting, my lord! The Storm Knight Regiment, all knights and knight squires, are fully assembled!"

"Reporting, my lord! The Storm Infantry Regiment, the 1st Company's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Squadrons, are fully assembled!"

"Reporting, my lord! The Storm Flight Squadron is fully assembled!"

"Reporting, my lord! The Barbarian Slave Squad is fully assembled!"

"Excellent, then let us depart!"

At Gervas's command, he led his subordinates toward the southwest of his territory.

Although he did not wish to provoke a major conflict with this neighbor immediately, Gervas still mobilized the vast majority of his forces as a precaution!