Chapter 108: Blackstone’s Greatest Crisis!
"Sir Luke, now where to?" Lucy finally came out of her shocked expression, then with more respect asked him about their next destination.
Luke paused slightly after noticing the tone change in Lucy’s voice, but he didn’t comment on this instead took out his list before saying, "Blacksmith Association."
Lucy nodded and along with Luke, they headed toward the Blacksmith Association building. After walking for a few minutes, they finally reached the building.
Even though it was not luxurious compared to the Magic Tower and Alchemist Association, it was still good, and smoke could be seen coming out before getting filtered by some magic arrays.
The whole place also gave the sense of cleanliness, which was remarkable for their blacksmith title.
In the Forgemaster Hall, that was the name of the Blacksmith Association building, they didn’t even have to spend much time and quickly bought everything what Luke’s was needed.
Which was, of course, weapons, armor, and some raw ingots, along with some weapon and armor blueprints.
Following that, he checked the basic short summary of the products.
| G-Rank Blueprints | 10 Gold 80 Silver Coins |
| F-Rank Blueprints | 11 Gold Coins |
| Materials & Tools | 261 Gold Coins |
| Finished Equipment (110,000 pieces) | 66,000 Gold Coins |
| Grand Total | 66,282 Gold 80 Silver Coins |
Lucy also saw the price, but this time didn’t become shocked and just quietly followed after Luke, who was nodding with satisfaction while checking the list.
After that, they reached other locations as well. There, they bought farm materials, like wheat seeds and other seeds along with livestock.
Then again he checked the basic summary.
| Seeds | 2,500 Gold |
| Fruit Saplings | 700 Gold |
| Livestock | 13,500 Gold |
| Farming Equipment | 1,800 Gold |
| Animal Supplies | 500 Gold |
| Total | 19,000 Gold Coins |
Though Luke have stored most of the purchased items in his spatial ring, but since livestock couldn’t be stored inside, he arranged for them to be delivered to his territory later.
"Can’t be helped." Luke sighed, then gave the advance payment, while the rest would be given when they reached the territory.
Finally, the shopping was finished, which brought relief to Lucy’s face.
"Too tiring!" she said after slumping down on the wooden bench.
Luke also sat down beside her and gave her a bottle of water.
She took it, thanking him before gulping down the whole bottle of water.
After finishing drinking, she turned toward Luke, who was now watching the pedestrians passing by with a calm expression.
’Should I take his help?’ she thought, with reduced hesitation toward his offer.
Even though the time she spent with Luke can’t be said to be much. But he seems to be a genuine person. ’And also rich.’ this thought came into her mind, while thinking about those ridiculous deals.
’But becoming his employee...’ On this, she sighed and leaned against the bench, while looking toward the sky.
Luke, who was just watching the people passing, noticed Lucy’s actions. So he said to her, "If you are worried about your freedom, then be not."
Lucy heard Luke’s voice, to which she slowly turned toward him.
Who was now looking straight into her eyes. Then he continued.
"I want you to work for me for 5 years. After that, you can go whenever you want, and I will give you a salary and better equipment, skills, and scrolls during that duration."
Lucy became even more surprised after hearing this. Because previously, Luke didn’t mention this.
So after thinking for a moment, she found that this was a very good deal and one of the most important things.
Lucy paused her thoughts and looked straight toward Luke’s blue eyes. ’Sir Luke is helping me when I need help the most.’ Only this thought kept her here all this time, or else she would not have come with him.
Because she also knew she was talented. Of course, not the part which Luke said. But yeah, she knew magic pretty well.
So... she had some good future, if her family’s debt was removed. But...."I agree." In the end, she agreed.
On this, a large smile appeared on Luke’s face. Lucy saw this, and a thought came into her mind, ’This might be not bad.’ and a smile also appeared on her face as well.
With that, Luke shook her hand, which confused her. So he told it was a common custom from his world, where if something was settled down, they shook hands with each other.
After everything was done and hiring Lucy. Luke didn’t give her the money immediately. Instead, he told her to pack her things and come to his territory first. After that, they would return to her territory, and there he would pay the money.
Lucy’s expression became a little conflicted after hearing this, because now she had to suddenly leave the tower during her mid-study, and the payment was also not upfront.
But then Luke added, "The amount is very high, which can easily lead to some robbers targeting you."
Which calmed down Lucy somewhat, and she nodded before moving toward the Magic Tower, though she still gave one last look toward him before continuing.
[😎👍👍 Awesome Luke!!] the system praised Luke for its strategy to lure the Heavenly Virtue Carrier to his territory.
Luke nodded to the system, but completely ignored the luring part.
"Let’s also return." Luke murmured this after noticing that it was afternoon already. And while moving, he hoped Aurielle and the others should have returned.
---
Inside the luxurious mansion, many beautiful noblewomen were dancing and enjoying their drinks.
Aurielle leaned back in her chair, leisurely sipping her wine, when Nyra suddenly asked, "Lady Aurielle, how is Sir Luke?"
On this, she turned toward her. There Nyra was at some moment, having appeared beside her with a drink in her hand.
"He is fine." She only said this and turned back again toward the dance.
Nyra saw Aurielle’s cold reaction, but didn’t mind and got close to her, then asked again with a shy voice.
"Lady Aurielle, what’s Sir Luke like? Like his choices regarding fruits or anything special he likes?"
Aurielle, who was forced to come here by Margaret, was now regretting the decision. Again heard Nyra’s question, on which her eyes twitched, especially the part about Luke’s likes, so without thinking, a sentence escaped her mouth.
"He likes to go rough."
"O_O"
Nyra stared at Aurielle with her mouth agape. Only after a moment did Aurielle realize what she had just blurted out, causing her cheeks to redden with embarrassment.
’Everything, all that pervert’s fault.’ She put all the blame on Luke, to convince herself that it was not her fault at all.
But Nyra’s imagination was already running wild. ’He likes to go rough!!!’ Nyra’s face also became red. On this, Aurielle gave her a speechlees look. ’Young woman, don’t think too much.’ But sadly, Nyra was already lost in her thoughts.
So Aurielle just shook her head and turned sideways. There, Vaelira was also just standing and didn’t even touch any food from the start.
"Why don’t you remove your mask and try some food?" Aurielle said, looking at Vaelira with a hint of curiosity. She couldn’t help but wonder what lay behind the mask.
But Vaelira didn’t respond immediately. Only a moment later, she said, "I can remove this mask only in front of Master."
Aurielle’s eyebrow twitched again at her words. ’Master here!, Master there!’ She thought irritably, while shaking her head.
’There’s already one woman in the territory who keeps clinging to him, and now he’s brought another one.’ Annoyed by the thought, Aurielle downed her entire drink in one gulp.
But the moment she finished her drink, one maid came to her, "Lady Aurielle, there is a letter for you." simultaneously showing the letter.
"Huh?" Aurielle got surprised. ’Who would have sent a letter to me?’ Just as she was thinking this, she saw the letter contained the Blackstone Highlands territory seal. ’The letter from the Territory!’
Seeing this, a bad premonition rose into her heart, and immediately she tore the seal before reading the full content inside.
Nyra and Vaelira, from the side, also saw this scene, so they got close to Aurielle and waited for her to read the letter.
"This is bad!" A few moments later, Aurielle exclaimed with urgency, which surprised both of them. So Nyra asked what happened.
Aurielle turned toward Nyra and told her that Viscount Ashenford had attacked the Blackstone Highlands and already captured all the villages and towns surrounding the territory.
"What!" Nyra also got shocked by this news, even though she did hear about Ashenford’s one son and his brother’s disappearance from Blackstone territory, and they had a valid reason to attack.
But she didn’t expect them to attack now and without even waiting for her birthday party to be over.
"I have to go." Aurielle said to Nyra, and with Vaelira, they turned to leave while also picking Margaret from the maids lounge.
"Lady Aurielle, if you need my help, please tell me. I will ask my father about this." Nyra’s voice from behind reached her.
On this, Aurielle paused slightly, and her face changed to distrust. Because she still remembered the past incident, that’s why. She didn’t want to trust the Count family again.
Still, she nodded at Nyra and didn’t answer anything. ’First, I have to tell this to Luke.’ She didn’t know why. But she felt only Luke could help in this situation.
With that, they finally left.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Count Mansion.
In the study room.
Count Stormveil was reading the latest report from the Blackstone Highlands, while his expression became darker and darker.
"So, Ashenford finally made his move." He placed the report on the table and looked outside the window. "I knew he wouldn’t let this matter go."
Standing beside him, his butler remained silent.
"My Lord, should we intervene?" the butler finally asked.
Count Stormveil shook his head.
"Not yet."
"If Luke can’t even survive something like this, then he isn’t worthy of standing on the stage of this kingdom."
The butler nodded.
"But..." The Count’s eyes narrowed.
"If Ashenford crosses the bottom line..."
"...then I will have to remind him whose territory this truly is."
A terrifying pressure instantly spread throughout the room before quickly disappearing again.
The butler lowered his head even further. "As expected of my Lord."
The Count waved his hand. "Continue monitoring the situation."
"Yes, my Lord."
---
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support, Goddess_Azraelle and geraldb345. Your help really motivates me to keep writing more.