Lord Asher Is Back
One major problem during medieval times was the flow of information. As his territory kept growing, it would take days, sometimes weeks, and sometimes months for him to receive information, and this had been one of the burdens on his mind. If he had a messenger bird, he would have been communicating with Kelvin.
With messenger birds, he would also be in touch with any future expedition team that would go beyond the mountains.
Ttring!
[Ding! Would the host like to upgrade these ordinary messenger birds through fusion? Yes or No. By fusing these hundred and one birds, you can get 10 bronze-ranked messenger birds.]
'Upgrade them.'
A white glow consumed all the birds, and ten taller birds emerged. They looked like messenger birds trained by the best tamers. For birds of their kind, they could be considered majestic, and their strength made them top predators of the skies. Not even mountain eagles could threaten their lives.
[Swift Peregrine Falcons. Bronze-ranked messenger birds capable of covering a distance of 3000 kilometers in a stretch. They are brilliant birds that need little training and are also capable of tearing apart any foes interfering with their missions.]
Asher smiled.
Ttring!
[Upgrade Quest: Rescue the merchants from Baron Snow's cruel hands. (Completed.)]
[Would the host like to fuse Baron Snow's territory with Ashtown during its upgrade? Yes or No.]
Instant Asher gave a positive response, and before his eyes, the walls and buildings began to transform into white light. Some minutes later, all that remained was a vast plain with ice statues. Asher stared at the stunned Sirius and chuckled.
In fact, Sirius wasn't the only one wearing a stunned expression. Jon and his workers also had the same expression. How did an entire fortress vanish into thin air?
"We're leaving. Your carriages were taken away along with your horses and the iron ores, so you would have to use these carts."
"Don't worry, I'll repay you for the loss." Asher said as he arranged the messenger birds on one cart.
"Suffer loss? My Lord, you suffered the most. I work under a guild so I can get some loans to buy carriages and horses, but you lost a sum of thirty thousand gold coins."
"It's alright. I gained something out of this."
Jon traced his line of sight to the messenger birds, and his eyes widened. "How did such exotic birds appear in this wasteland?!"
Asher smiled. "Will you return to my town or head to the borders? You're a few days away from leaving the wastelands."
Jon looked toward the direction of the high plains and to the depths of the wasteland where Asher's town was.
"We would return to the high plains."
The moment he said that, Asher saw his workers breathe out in relief, and joy spread throughout their faces. They must have been traumatized.
"That's a pity. We shall meet in the future then." Asher sat at the front of the cart and tugged the reins for the two horses attached to it to start moving.
Jon knew Asher discovered he wanted to leave and have nothing to do with the wasteland after this experience.
"Such a wise young Lord." He muttered to himself as he watched Sirius follow the leaving cart.
Not long after Asher disappeared from their sight, Jane appeared on horseback. Upon seeing her, Jon left what he was doing and ran toward her.
Jane was his niece, and he had been worried about her but couldn't summon the courage to ask Asher.
"Miss Jane, you're alive!" Others gathered around her.
"Did that barbaric lord harm you?" A female asked. It was because of Asher she was made to starve in a dark place for days, so she naturally harbored a grudge despite being rescued.
"Barbaric? Has he left?" Jane asked while looking around.
"I told him we would return to the high plains to get another convoy, but I really don't have plans on returning until we can pay for mercenaries to guard us." Jon replied.
Jane's eyes widened.
"You broke the contract! I saw Golden Fragrant Maize and Moonlit Starhorn cattle in that so-called little and remote town."
"What?"
Everyone's eyes went wide.
"Jane, did you hit your head? You saw the rare Golden Fragrant Maize, the same silver-ranked maize that only grows in the Capital of Eternal Immortal Empire and Moonlit Starhorn cattle! Not one cow but a herd of Moonlit Starhorn cattle in the poorest barony in the wasteland. Have you forgotten that those cows produce the famous crystal milk that nobles clamour for?"
A female said, trying to make sure Jan knew what she was talking about, but when she saw Jane's serious face, her expression fell.
Jon's expression grew ugly. He could not believe he just severed the connection between him and such a rich lord.
"Uncle. What did you say to him?" Jane asked, unable to believe their chance to become the sole distributors of such precious goods was slipping out of their hands.
"He already used the sentence 'That's a pity', and you know what it means when nobles say that." One man said with a downcast expression.
Jane felt regret. Had she known she wouldn't have rested but followed Asher here.
.....
Four days later, Asher arrived before his town. Looking at it from afar, he could not recognize it. The walls were now made from thick tree trunks and were 5 meters tall! There were watchtowers at the four corners of the rectangular fortress.
Even the surroundings of the town, which had transformed into a fortress, became filled with Golden Fragrant Maize plants, with a wide path that led to the gates in the middle. It's been three weeks since the maize seeds were planted, and they had now grown taller than a human and had fruits that had the length of half an adult's forearm!
Just one was enough to feed two in the morning, and they wouldn't be hungry till the late hours of noon.
When Asher got closer, he spotted the same old woman staring at the corn with a wide smile on her face.
The moment she saw him riding a cart and his wolf moving beside him, she fell on her knees.
"Lord Asher!"
Asher smiled. "I see you won't doubt me anymore." He chortled.
"Lord Asher is back!" A soldier stands on the alure, which is the walkway on the wall bellowed at the top of his lungs.