Envoy from Terravalle Kingdom

Three months passed since Helena and her men left for another expedition inside the Forest of Echoes.

Meanwhile, Back in the village, there were a few developments.

First is the library, Blanc had a lot of books that he had already finished reading so he asked Kirk, the chief of the carpenters, to allocate some personnel and build a huge library.

He donated all of his used books to the town library so that they could be used by the academy's students or even by the regular citizens.

Four librarians were hired to take care of the town's library.

In addition to this, the carpenters also finally finished the stone walls.

For a long time, the town's fortifications were only wooden spiked walls. Back then, the wooden spiked walls were more than enough to protect the town from predators.

Unfortunately, their enemies this time weren't mutated wild animals anymore. 

The town has been garnering lots of attention lately and they've already been attacked by the greedy northern nobles of the Terravalle Kingdom because of their rapid growth.

Fortunately for them, they managed to defend against the nobles' attack with only a few fortifications. 

Blanc knew that the wooden spiked walls wouldn't be enough when they get involved in nation-level wars so he assigned Kirk to personally lead the stone city walls project.

Finally, it was completed last month. 

For the past year, Blanc has been preparing in order to take the next step.

He knew that once the envoys arrived, they couldn't hide their existence any longer so they might as well call themselves a city and try to develop faster in a somewhat "transparent" manner.

In any case, the future city will have quite a few trump cards including the hidden forces so it's not like their secrets will be completely exposed.

Blanc was quite sure that they would be underestimated after seeing their fake "military might" which is only composed of 1,500 trainees on the surface.

If ever other kingdoms or fiefdoms decided to attack them, he was sure that they would only bring forces that were enough to deal with the 1,500 "weak soldiers".

Due to this, Blanc will gain a huge advantage once the hidden army composed of elites and veterans reveals itself. 

Not only would they be able to wipe out a portion of the attackers' forces, but they would also gain precious time to develop themselves further after every successful defense.

Today was the day that the envoy of the Terravalle Kingdom would arrive.

The town hall is currently bustling. They were all preparing for the envoy's arrival and Blanc himself was preparing the meeting room.

After another half an hour of preparation…

"Ahh…Finally done, I hope this envoy from Terravalle Kingdom isn't hostile."

Blanc muttered to himself as he sat on a chair inside the meeting room.

An hour later, the door opened.

An old man along with two escorts entered the meeting room.

"Ahh…Mayor Blanc, I suppose?"

"Hello, Sir Envoy, welcome to Resonance Town. I am Blanc Rougenfort, the mayor of this town. May I know your name?"

"I appreciate the warm reception Mayor Blanc. My name is Anderson Terravalle, you may call me old Andy if you want."

"You're welcome, Sir Anderson. Please, do take a seat."

"Ahh…Thank you, Mayor Blanc…This old bones of mine is truly becoming a hindrance to my work."

Blanc inwardly breathed a sigh of relief after the first few exchanges with the Terravallean envoy. It seems that they weren't here to cause trouble for them.

"What brings you to our humble town Sir Anderson?"

"Hohoho, you're too humble Mayor Blanc. How is this a town? This is clearly a city already. I would like to extend my respects to you for being able to develop a city in these dangerous lands."

"It was truly hard in the beginning. However, I was quite lucky to have such hardworking men under me. I couldn't have done it alone."

Anderson Terravalle looked deeply at Blanc.

"I see that Mayor Blanc is a man of character. But I wonder, what are your plans for the future?"

Anderson's voice became stern and he stared straight into Blanc's eyes as if he was looking straight into his soul.

Blanc wasn't intimidated by the envoy though, he knew that this envoy was only testing his ambitions. 

If it was like this, Blanc was sure that he was a reasonable man and as long as he didn't lie, the town should be fine.

"I am willing to trust Sir Anderson's character so let me tell you why I am trying to build a civilization in these dangerous lands."

"You see, we were from the Laurelei Fiefdom which was a territory under the Kingdom of Lockridge. Unfortunately, Duke Samara from the Samara Dukedom started a rebellion."

"Count Laurelei, who I consider a father figure, sided with the Lockridge Royal family but unfortunately, his forces were wiped out and we were forced to look for a new home."

"I don't want my loved ones to experience such tragic fate again so I built a village here in the gloomy plains. Due to some fortunate encounters, we were able to grow to what we are right now."

"My only purpose is to destroy the Samara Dukedom and make sure that my loved ones and my subjects will have a safe place to call home."

"I do not have any wild ambitions such as conquering the world but if I have to do it to provide a safe haven for those who believe in me then I will do it."

"I shall strike down everyone who tries to ruin our peace."

Blanc gave Anderson a fierce gaze after stating his purpose for creating his own settlement.

"Hohoho, pardon me for being straightforward Mayor Blanc but we saw the military might of your town earlier and I have to say that your words aren't very convincing with just a thousand and five hundred men under your command."

"You don't have to worry about our matters Sir Anderson, we have our own means to protect ourselves. It doesn't matter to me whether you believe me or not."

"Hohoho, big words Mayor Blanc. I wonder if you could still say that once our kingdom's army pays a visit to your little town."

"Oh? Are you threatening me, Sir Anderson? You're welcome to try. However, you better not regret it once you make such an irreversible decision."

"I am not a kind person to people who are determined to harm my loved ones and my subjects."

Blanc stared daggers at Anderson Terravalle, clearly stating that he wouldn't budge even in the face of a strong enemy.

Anderson stared right back at Blanc trying to capture any signs of weakness from him.

"Hohoho, young lads these days couldn't take a joke. Don't worry Mayor Blanc, the Terravalle Royal family is an upright clan. As long as you do not mean any harm to the world, we shall not be enemies."

Blanc's expression visibly eased up upon hearing what Sir Anderson said.

"I see, so you were only jesting Sir Anderson. I apologize for showing such poor behavior."

"Not at all Mayor Blanc, it is only natural to protect the people that you love. If anything, your display earlier impressed me."

Although he got a feeling that he was being tested, he didn't care and still showed his true reaction towards those who dared to harm his subjects.

Anderson also knew that Blanc was serious and would fight to the death with those who dared to harm this little town.

Although Anderson doesn't know the full extent of this young Mayor's abilities, just based on his attitude, he knows that this young Mayor is extremely capable.

"Well then Mayor Blanc, your intentions have gotten through to me and I got all the information that I need here. Although we might be intruding again in the future, I assure you that we mean no harm."

"Thank you for the warm welcome. Although I would like to stay here longer, my busy schedule doesn't permit me to do so."

"Farewell Mayor! I shall visit again when I have the time."

"You're welcome, Sir Anderson. I hope you enjoyed your short stay here at Resonance Town."

Anderson Terravalle finally left and Blanc heaved a sigh of relief. 

He didn't want to face such a strong Kingdom in the early stages of their development so he was lucky that the Royal Family of the Terravalle Kingdom had good morals.

After the meeting, Blanc went home early to rest as he still had another meeting tomorrow.