Chapter 9 Poor William
The last of Hill's Domain's Transverse Mountain Range continued unbroken and majestic. The peaks were visible, but not their bases.
While he was patrolling, he sensed the presence of a powerful magical beast. Hill could not provoke it, but where there was such a formidable beast, there certainly must be heavenly materials and even possibly a magic crystal mine. It was perfect for Fran to seize and build a magic tower. With Fran's capabilities, a Legendary Magic Tower could definitely be constructed, although it would not be as powerful as those built on the super-large elemental ores in the capital. Compared to the future danger of fighting with players, such a cost seemed very small to Hill.
Adrian looked at Hill and said, "Why do I feel that you are very afraid of these undead?"
Hill replied, "What I fear are the deities. If they really bring tens of thousands of professionals, a God War could be possible!"
Adrian was shocked, "Do you think that the people who will follow will all be professionals?"
"Yes," Hill said calmly. "It is precisely because my grandfather thought of this that he felt the need to leave!"
Adrian couldn't stand still anymore. He paced around a few times and said, "I need to go home once. No matter what, I have to inform my father." Hill remembered that Adrian's father was a Marquis of the Grand Knight rank. Though his location was quite far from the Royal Capital, he couldn't escape the royal family's struggles, especially since Adrian's mother was also from a cadet branch of the Royal Family. Although Adrian had no inheritance rights, his father had paid a great price to send him to Fran's side, and although he then ceased to meddle, he was quite a good father by societal standards, so Adrian's concerns were understandable.
Hill said, "Explain it clearly to him. Those God's Chosens around Prince William, because they cannot die, are extremely insane! And it's said that there will be tens of thousands of professionals coming, so just let them stay in their domains and do nothing extra. Also, in the next few years, all eyes of the deities will be on Saral. If you don't want the paladins knocking on your door, be kinder to the civilians."
Adrian was almost driven mad, "There's this too! How would they know the limit! The best they do for civilians is not to impose extra taxes! And that's only because the royal taxes are ample enough! Their only bottom line is not to kill people!"
Hill understood that Adrian's family was relatively good by the standards of this era. Though they might kill a civilian slave who offended them, they lacked the desire to oppress everyone in their domain to death. Many nobles imposed heavy taxes in addition to the royal taxes. In fact, the royal taxes were collected by the nobles, who kept a part of every payment for themselves before handing the rest to their fiefdoms. If not for those nobles indulgent in luxury, this money would have been enough. But there always were those who believed civilian slaves were worthless, and that dying for them was an honor! The taxes were so high that even the paladins had to intervene. But paladins were few, and most guarded the temples; in places ignored by the deities, darkness prevailed more.
Count Pelast didn't impose additional taxes either, since his domain was near the capital, and every major temple could monitor his actions. But this family had a penchant for whipping civilians who had offended them. Once William returned to the Royal Capital with the players, Hill expected to hear about Pelast's downfall.
Hill told Adrian, "Tell them to try not to beat people. If they must punish, just lock them up, and absolutely don't starve them to death. I remember your father is a believer, it would be best to ask a bishop to look into this. Definitely do not stray from the faction."
Adrian said, "They also revere the God of Knowledge! His Grace's believers, as long as they keep order, it's fine. I'll ask him to invite a bishop to stay in the domain. With a temple on the domain, other deities' paladins won't interfere much."
Hill said, "Still, don't draw attention! Prince William's followers might walk all over Saral! In the struggle for faith, if they see any incident, they will intervene!"
Adrian sighed, "Taking this opportunity to change some practices might be good. Oppressing civilians is not a glorious thing. They are among the better of the Great Nobility, but it's better to be cautious in case of bad luck."
Hill nodded in agreement, "Pelast is bound to suffer, being so close to the capital. William's people will definitely head to White Horse City."
Adrian said with a smile, "The only consolation?"
Hill replied, "Come on, just be happy knowing they'll face their downfall. You should eat and get some rest. Leave for your father's place early tomorrow. Once you've explained everything, come back quickly. Grandfather might arrive at any time."
Adrian waved his hand and went back to his room.
Hill knew Adrian wasn't very worried. That was because he didn't know. During this period, what he saw as the madness of the so-called Undead was just the preferential treatment of the newbies' village. The players were still busy leveling up; if they had time, they only discussed the world view, the background of the game, and the use of skills. Players who were just beginning to level up were only mad because they weren't afraid of dying, but once William let them out of his territory, Adrian would need to update his views. With Fran and Adrian's temperament, they wouldn't recover for 2 or 3 years. That's truly a shocking madness for the deities, who knows which True God was so bold.
Hill sighed. He thought his life would just be surviving at home and leveling up.
But he touched his chest: whether it was his original world or not, there were always some connections that moved his heart.
Modern society, oh! Those repeating curse words in the games made him nostalgic. He didn't want Fran and the others to interact with the players, because those people would definitely break them, but he himself wanted to see, really wanted to.
Hill gave himself an excuse, he needed to confirm whether William was an avatar of a deity or a transmigrator with a golden finger, especially since Saral was so close!
After Adrian left, Hill asked List to help conceal his tracks. He secretly told Alice his direction and also left the domain.
He waited near Border City for a few days before he managed to merge with a merchant caravan on a leather transport cart. These caravans constantly entering and leaving the country easily allowed him to sneak into Saral undetected.
Indeed, the gate guard only focused on counting the number of carts and did not inspect them.
Upon entering Saral, he wore a robe with a cowl to hide his features and flew along the way, noticing many mages heading in the same direction.
Mages have always been highly curious about deities, secretly researching their origins and analyzing the sources of Divine Power. It's likely that each of the top Legendary Mages had done so.
There's a saying among mages: Curiosity is both the source of a mage's advancement and the origin of their downfall.
Suddenly, with the appearance of a new god, the mages could no longer sit still.
It was just beginning, and the senior mages still remained composed, but once tens of thousands of people gathered, it was expected that Magisters and even Legendary figures would show up.
After much thought, Hill decided it was best to go and see for himself early on—he had to see William with his own eyes.
It took Hill 10 days to finally reach William's territory.
He had flown all the way to arrive this quickly. Hill estimated that, from his departure to his domain, it would take the scourge at least half a year to significantly appear; if William was vying for the throne, three years would pose no problem.
With that in mind, Hill felt relieved. Within three years, even if Fran did not show up, he could have his domain safely sealed off.
He planned to turn the area by the entrance of the valley leaning towards the left mountain range into a Mage Town to earn some money from players.
No more people were to enter the valley, and Hill would let the Treants cover all the land except for two estates with forest. As the Tower Master, showing up in town now and then would probably satisfy most of the players' curiosity.
He would let the players treat him as the village chief of the new map as long as they didn't regard him as the main boss.
As for Fran, as long as he was seen as the super backer behind the small lord, those players would try by all means to find tasks from Lord Hill. As long as Hill stood firm, life would continue smoothly.
Observing the players in William's domain hustling about building houses and hunting, with strange names strung above their heads, Hill silently declared, "From now on, I am a minor lord holding hidden tasks, tormenting players as my line in the sand, using chain quests as my approach!"
Hill quietly landed on a huge tree a kilometer away from Lord William's mansion.
As a contractor to a Wood Spirit, his presence easily blended with the trees.
This tree was probably tens of thousands of years old and had developed spirituality. Just as Hill found a branch with a good view and settled down, some branches and leaves reached out and hid him thoroughly. Hill's Elven bloodline allowed him to easily see the lord's mansion, a kilometer away.
It turns out, William was truly deserving of being the protagonist of a Western fantasy novel or perhaps a game—tall, handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes, like a David who had stepped into reality.
The strength of a Sky Knight gave him confidence. Without the need to fear assassination, William would stand for an hour at the entrance of the mansion every morning, dressed in princely attire, issuing 10 extraordinary tasks to players.
Watching these players vie brightly for William's attention each day, Hill's sides ached from laughter.
He could now confirm that William was a transmigrator.
Although this Sky Knight always maintained a detached demeanor in front of the players, the expressions he made when he turned away were enough for Hill to create several sets of emoticons.
A little girl named Perfect Bald was always boldly at the forefront every day; she would coquettishly ask William for tasks, her adorable and gentle tone always causing William's eye to twitch.
Whenever William gave her tasks, he was actually watching a girl named Xiao Liuliu behind Perfect Bald to cleanse his eyes.
This bald loli, just moments after parting a little distance from William, would switch to a boisterous deep male voice shouting, "Wifey, hurry up, it's time to gather, brothers!"
Hill felt that William really wanted to punch him.
Their group of a dozen people seemed like a gang—calling friends, linking arms, and laughing heartily.
There was a girl called Old Auntie always saying she also wanted to get tasks from William, insisting Prince William call her "Dear Old Auntie." Ah, she would die without regrets!
Unfortunately, her luck was poor; William never gave her any tasks.
Hill watched as William listened to these conversations, the veins pulsing at the back of his ears, and genuinely sympathized with him.
There was also a group of players all starting with Doomsday, comprising swordsmen and knights robust in stature. They often held hands in a circle, squeezing the scattered players outside. A knight named End of the World Romance always took the lead, pestering Prince William to talk for half an hour—even if the Prince gave them a task, they would loiter for a full hour, until William pushed everyone away and turned back to his mansion.
Watching this, Hill saw William several times barely restraining himself from acting; while End of the World Romance talked, William's hands continuously stroked the sword at his waist.