booktalesy Chapter 108 Selection of the Wise and Capable
Chapter 108 Selection of the Wise and Capable
Chapter 107 Selection of the Wise and Capable
The far north, a palace frozen in perpetual ice.
Black ice crystals fell from the sky like shattered pieces, hitting the frozen ground with a soft, crisp sound.
A palace formed from millennia-old ice stands at the edge of the ice field, radiating a faint blue light.
The Winter Lord sat on his throne deep within the palace, his fingers gripping the armrests, his nails digging into the ice and slowly grinding a crack in it.
Three flames of soul energy floated before him.
One group belongs to Haji the Winter of Blades, one group belongs to Mordir the Winter of Annihilation, and the last group belongs to Serinth the Winter of Fear.
All three flames were extinguished.
It was not dim, not faint, but utterly extinguished, leaving no trace.
This means that these three fourth-tier commanders are completely dead.
The Winter Lord's pupils changed from deep blue to dark purple.
"Three."
His voice was very soft, like an echo coming from beneath the ice, but the snow on the entire ice field, spanning dozens of miles, cracked open at the same time, with countless fissures spreading in all directions, as if the earth itself was bearing his wrath.
"Three Tier 4 beings died at the hands of a swarm of insects."
He stood up.
The throne emitted a piercing cracking sound behind him, and the crack on the armrest extended to the entire backrest, with shards of ice sliding down.
The Winter Lord descended the steps, each step causing the frozen ground to sink three inches, leaving deep footprints.
He walked to the three extinguished soul flames, reached out his hand, and touched Haji's already cold ashes with his fingertips.
Haji followed him for four hundred years.
Modir followed him for three hundred years.
Serlins followed him for two hundred years.
These three Fimbulwinters were his most loyal and powerful generals, the core force he planned to use to sweep across the North.
Each one of them was an elite he personally selected, nurtured, and infused with power from low-level monsters.
Now, they're all dead.
He died in a desolate corner he had never even glanced at, at the hands of a human he considered nothing more than an ant.
The Winter Lord withdrew his finger, and the ashes vanished into nothingness at his touch, dissipating into the cold winds of the eternal night.
"White Wolf Outpost — Lorraine —"
When he pronounced the name, there was even a hint of sarcasm on his lips.
In his mind, that direction was just the most barren wasteland in the northern snowfields.
The outposts built there by humans were not even visited by his lowest-ranking Frostwolf pack.
His initial intention in sending Haji south was nothing more than to kill the remaining human forces in the wasteland—it was one of the sacrifices he offered to the abyss, a bargaining chip for him to obtain sixth-order divine blood.
A small cleaning task.
Sending a fourth-tier soldier would be overestimating their abilities.
The results of it?
One fourth-order wasn't enough, so two more were added.
Even her own mother, the Snow Woman, died at the hands of humans.
The Winter Lord closed his eyes, and the last fragment of consciousness that Serins transmitted before his death floated into his mind.
It was a massive mobile city, a four-legged behemoth forged from steel, with its walls covered in third-tier magic-powered heavy cannons. A human stood atop the city wall, surrounded by several witches.
"Relics of the Golden Age —"
He opened his eyes, his purple pupils surging with a chilling killing intent.
He would surely avenge himself on Lorraine, and then seize the relic of that Golden Age to offer to the Abyss.
This way, the Abyss organization will forgive their dereliction of duty.
but not now.
He still needs to wait.
His monster army had been decimated by Lorraine, and he could not attack the city alone. Even a high-level monster of the fifth rank would find it difficult to conquer a city by himself.
He needs cannon fodder, he needs some subordinates who can help him conquer the city.
When the moment of cataclysm arrives, darkness will conjure new monsters out of thin air on this icy plain.
This is the rule of the world, a gift from the abyss to its loyal servants.
Although his demon army was defeated by that human named Lorraine, as long as the darkness of the Moment of Change remains, he will never lack manpower.
One month.
In just one month, during this new wave of strange changes, tens of thousands of frost wolves will spontaneously generate on the icy plains.
Snow Fairy, Ice Mirror Puppet, Headless Horseman —
They emerge from the darkness and nothingness, carrying with them an innate killing instinct and absolute obedience to high-level monsters.
Join your own army!
This time, he will personally lead the entire army of monsters from the Ice Plains southward.
To take revenge myself!
He wanted to grind that mobile city to dust from the inside out, and freeze that human named Lorraine and every witch around him into ice sculptures.
"One month later." The Winter Lord sat back on his throne, the ice on the armrests refreezing beneath his palms, the cracks healing completely. "Let those insects live for another month."
He raised his head and looked at the black sun that would never rise in the eternal night sky.
"When darkness falls again, I will personally take his head."
Frostwolf City, Lord's Hall.
Lorraine sat on the count's throne, gazing thoughtfully at the blizzard outside the lord's hall window.
Outside the window is the inner fortress of Frostwolf, which was cleansed yesterday by Anna's Pale Fire. There are still charred marks on the walls and rubble scattered all over the ground.
The clock tower in the distance is now only half standing, leaning precariously, and the large clock on top has flown away to who knows where.
If the inner fortress is in this state, the outer city can only be worse.
Frostwolf City's resources were even less than he had imagined.
The Countess has amassed a considerable fortune from the people over the years, but she has spent it all on her own enjoyment and maintaining the extravagant lifestyle within the castle.
The city's defenses have been in disrepair for years, one-third of the Witch's Tower in the outer city is in a state of semi-paralysis, and the granary's reserves are only enough to support the city's current population for one and a half months.
Compared to the abundant resources in the Tower of Babel, Frostwolf City was extremely poor.
but-
Lorraine touched her chin.
Frostwolf City has something that the Tower of Babel can never compare to.
people.
No matter how powerful the Tower of Babel is, it ultimately only has a few people.
Victor, Anna, Olivia, Lyra, Ohm, plus the engineering puppet and two carpenters, all of them combined couldn't even form a large squad.
Even if all the witches and knights are perfectly advanced and of high quality, their quantity is still a major drawback.
Frostwolf City is different.
Even after the Countess's ravages, the city still has 30,000 inhabitants.
There were blacksmiths, merchants, farmers, hunters, and readily available technical resources such as the Alchemists' Guild.
Tens of thousands of living people are tens of thousands of laborers, tens of thousands of soldiers, and tens of thousands of taxpayers.
"As long as you swing the hoe well, there's no corner you can't dig down."
Lorraine muttered to himself, then pulled out the "Witch's Codex" from his pocket and quickly scribbled down a few keywords related to city construction.
First, get the internal situation sorted out.
We need to be strong in fists and united in heart.
An empire cannot be built by killing alone; those who follow you must see tangible benefits.
For example—that guy who's already standing at the entrance of the hall like a wooden stake.
"Victor," Lorraine called out without looking up, "Stop loitering at the door and come in."
The door was pushed open a crack, and the cold wind, which was about to slip in, was completely blocked by that tall figure.
Victor walked in.
This newly promoted fourth-tier Grand Knight seemed somewhat flustered at the moment.
His newly donned steel plate armor was polished to a gleaming shine, and he walked with careful steps, as if afraid of dirtying the wool carpet on the ground.
Three months ago, he was a down-on-his-luck second-tier knight who would fight to the death in a tavern for a few silver coins.
Now, he stood in the center of the lord's hall, with the Fimbul Wolf King Greatsword hanging at his waist, exuding the oppressive aura of a fourth-tier powerhouse.
Even though he was incredibly powerful, he still kept his head very low in front of Lorraine.
"Young Master—no, Earl." Victor knelt on one knee, his kneecap striking the ground with a dull thud.
"Stand up and speak." Lorraine closed the secret manual, leaned forward slightly, and stared at the man who had followed him all the way.
Victor stood up, his hands hanging at his sides, like a primary school student waiting for a scolding from his teacher.
"How does it feel?" Lorraine pointed to the sword at his waist. "Is that fourth-tier greatsword easy to use?"
"It's heavy and powerful."
Victor grinned, a simple, honest smile spreading across his weathered face. "It's a million times better than that old piece of junk. My lord, just now when I was walking outside, those church knights who used to ignore me completely now dismount and bow from afar, not daring to utter a sound."
"That's what you deserve." Lorraine smiled, then his expression turned serious. "But having a sword isn't enough; you also need status."
Victor was taken aback: "Identity?"
Lorraine picked up a pre-written parchment scroll from the table and casually tossed it over.
Victor caught it in a flurry, unfolded it, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
On the parchment, the topmost line of large characters seemed to glow with gold—"Letter of Appointment as Chief of Defense of Frostwolf City and Grand Master of the Knights."
"I'm not going to play those fancy chivalrous games with you."
Lorraine leaned back, his tone as calm as if he were discussing what to have for dinner, "From today onwards, the entire armed forces of Frostwolf City are under your command. The city garrison, the security forces, or the new knightly order you recruit—it's all up to you."
Victor's breathing suddenly became heavy, and his fingers gripping the scroll turned white.
Grand Master of the Knights —
This is a position that even the sons of hereditary nobles might not be able to obtain!
"Don't get excited yet, keep reading." Lorraine tapped the table. "Annual salary: one thousand magic crystals, or one thousand gold coins."
"Frostwolf City probably doesn't have many gold coins left right now, so we'll use magic crystals for now. I'll make up the difference when we have more gold coins."
"How much?!" Victor's voice cracked.
He suddenly raised his head, and his eyes, which had never blinked in the wind and snow for half his life, were now as red as a rabbit's.
One thousand magic crystals, one thousand gold coins?
In a world where one silver coin could buy two large loaves of black bread and ten gold coins were enough for an average family of three to live on for a year, a thousand gold coins was simply an astronomical figure.
Just a few months ago, at the very beginning of the snow season, he didn't have a single copper coin in his pocket. He almost had to sell his old armor to buy some fodder for his old horse with the broken leg.
"My lord—this, this is too much—"
Victor felt as if a red-hot coal was stuck in his throat, burning his voice so that it trembled. "All I need is food. Really, the armor and sword you gave me are priceless treasures—"
"Alright."
Lorraine interrupted him, her tone leaving no room for argument, "My Knight Commander, if you can't even afford to eat, that's a slap in my face. This money isn't for you to squander, and you can't squander it anyway. You need to present yourself properly and recruit all those capable rogue knights who are still observing."
"Then, we need to select candidates with knightly qualifications from the general public and train them into qualified soldiers. We need a sufficient number of soldiers and knights."
"I will build some of the knightly monasteries you used to use in Frostwolf City. You will be in charge of assessing who is qualified to enter."
"Finally, if you need money to do things, go to Olivia and get it."
Victor bit his lip hard, tasting a metallic, metallic flavor of blood.
He didn't utter any more fancy oaths of allegiance.
What "wherever the sword points," what "until death do us part"—those words chewed to pieces by bards are all too insignificant in the face of this heavy thousand gold coins and that unreserved trust.
"My lord." Victor carefully tucked the scroll into the lining of his breastplate, close to his chest, then knelt down again, slamming his head heavily onto the floor.
This time it was much louder than before, even leaving a white mark on the floor.
"I will certainly live up to your trust and train a powerful knightly order for you."
Victor exhaled a deep breath of white mist and strode into the snowstorm.
Behind him, the door to the lord's hall slowly closed.
Lorraine sat back on the throne, and her fingers began to tap rhythmically on the armrests again.
The arrangements for the Knight Commander have been made.
The next headache is about one coin.
He had already had Olivia do a preliminary accounting of Frostwolf City's finances.
The Countess's private treasury contained a considerable amount of gold coins and magic crystals, but it could only sustain the military production of Babel Tower and the daily operations of Frostwolf City for a maximum of half a month.
Moreover, the taxes have been collected for ten years, so don't expect to collect any more tax money from the public.
He also needs to find a stable source of income.
Lorraine stroked his chin, his gaze passing over the hall window to the densely packed rooftops of the lower city in the distance.
Population is the creator of wealth.
But wealth doesn't just fall from the sky.
We need to get these people moving, producing, and trading.
A city that is alive is a city that is useful.
He reached into his robes and pulled out the secret book that only he could see.
The shimmering light from the cover flowed through my fingertips.
"Please provide me with an overview of the currently available resources in Frostwolf City, as well as the most efficient city-building plan."
"Please provide me with the specific steps and plan for earning enough gold coins."
The pages of the secret manual turned automatically, revealing dense text and diagrams floating in the air.
A red page floated up silently.
[Crisis Warning]
[Countdown to Monster Respawn During the Moment of Change: One Month]
[Warning: After the monsters respawn, there is a high probability that the Tier 5 monster, Winter Lord, will attack Frostwolf City.]
【Please prepare yourselves, Master of the Secret Codex.】
Lorraine's eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Is the Winter Lord coming?
Come on.
He wanted to see how he could manage the city a month from now.