Chapter 360: Bad News

The two of them only exited the meeting room when it was time for lunch. Nobody knew what they had been discussing this whole time. However, everyone—including Herza and Gavin—saw the two of them linking arms and looking chummy as they exited the meeting room, the smiles on their faces looking slyer than usual…

“Right, I forgot to ask you. The inauguration ceremony is in two days, surely you’ve more to do besides scolding me since you’ve come to Black Clouds Town so early?” After having lunch at Black Clouds Town, Lin Li invited Macklin into the study at the Tower of Dusk, and they started chatting away.

“Why, you mean I can’t scold you?” Macklin glared at him haughtily.

“Of course you can…” Lin Li brushed his nose. “But besides scolding me, I’m sure there are more meaningful things in your life?”

“Nonsense…” Macklin gave him a petty glance. “I rushed over here from Alanna because I wanted to warn you, rascal…”

Lin Li paused. “What do you mean warn…?”

“The Marathon Family and the Dwarf Kingdom made an agreement last month to build a Forging Workshop in Breezy Plains. The Marathon Family will provide the funds, and the Dwarf Kingdom the skills. Wilhelm’s nephew, Gaud, will be sent here to oversee it. Oh, and Wilhelm’s second son, Lauren, will be sent here too…”

“Gaud?” When Macklin mentioned this name, Lin Li suddenly recalled the teen who had resembled Matthias back in the Fire Plume Ridge. If there was somebody besides Wilhelm in the Marathon Family that Lin Li was cautious of, it was undeniably Gaud. Back when Argus managed to trap him in a cave, he had only managed to do so thanks to Gaud’s advice. He was no fool like Matthias…

“And there’s another piece of bad news…”

“There’s more?” Lin Li jumped. He secretly wondered if this old man was a jinx of some sort. Does he have nothing better to do besides bringing me all sorts of bad news…?

“Andoine came to me a few days ago, saying that the people of the Brilliance Shrine seem to be asking the Supreme Council about you. While they did not mention any names, the characteristics they provided were similar to yours. Have you offended any of them recently?”

“I don’t think so…” Lin Li subconsciously replied, but then he recalled the banquet at Roland City and the young and beautiful Paladin…

It can’t be…

It was merely a couple of Undead creatures, did they have to be so extreme? Fancy bringing in the Supreme Council…

“Anyway, kid, you’d better watch out. The Brilliance Shrine is not something to be trifled with, so don’t ask for trouble. If those weirdos are annoyed, even the Supreme Council would be worried…” Macklin was well aware of his apprentice’s personality—he could not go one day without getting into trouble. Honestly, he would not be surprised if he really did offend the Brilliance Shrine…

“Got it…”

“Hey why don’t you ask Englos about it? That fellow is the Archbishop of Brilliance Shrine, after all, maybe he knows a thing or two…”

“Yeah, I’ll ask him about it when I see him in a couple of days.”

Macklin’s news was bad, but Lin Li did not have the time to think about it anymore, as he found out something even worse the next morning—he was going bankrupt!

Never had he been in such a predicament since he arrived in Anril. At the Arcane Magic Potion auction in Jarrosus, he had easily made one million gold coins, and after that, he worked with the Mannes and Saruman Families to run an insanely profitable Pharmaceutical business, earning him 10,000 gold coins a month. It was enough to make any businessman green with envy, and that was merely the start of it—after they got recognition and built up their reputation, as well as managed to settle down and secure major clients, his profits were definitely 10 times that amount!

Logically speaking, there was no way he could be so short on money, as he had always lived simply, not too different from an average civilian. While studying magic might have cost him a bit, he had the Ring of Endless Storm, which allowed him to obtain magical ingredients from another world—ever since he was an apprentice, he had never had any need to purchase ingredients.

Now, it was different, and it was all because of the Tower of Dusk.

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Having millions of savings and an income of 10,000 gold coins was a large sum to most, but in the eyes of the Guild of Magic, it was barely sufficient. The Tower of Dusk had cost Lin Li way too much money because he had way too high expectations, and the cost of building the Tower of Dusk was way more than the Supreme Council’s budget allowed. They were no charitable organization; hence, most of the excess had been paid by Lin Li, and he soon realized that his pockets were nearly empty…

“Since when have I become so poor?” This was the second time Lin Li found himself desperate for a large sum of money ever since he arrived in Anril.

Well, the Tower of Dusk was built, but quite honestly, it was merely a shell. There were too many areas that had yet to be completed, which would again require a large sum of money. Others aside, even the 20 Crystal Cannons alone were going to cost Lin Li a great deal, and he had to buy them, or else the cannon room that had been built using a large amount of Eternal Adamantine would go to waste.

Thankfully, he was going to receive a large amount of Ice Crystal Metal soon. If he used it wisely, he might be able to solve some of his problems soon.

The next morning, Lin Li went to Doland to look for Kaman, who was busy with his trading shop.

“Mage Felic, you’re just in time. I was going to look for you at Black Clouds Town this evening…” Kaman hurriedly set his things down when he saw Lin Li, and welcomed this god of fortune with a smile.

“I have some matters too, but I’m not in a hurry, you can speak first…”

“I received a batch of food from Roland City yesterday. I heard them say that it’s for you…” Kaman seemed excited when he said this. He really had good taste, working with such a resourceful god of fortune.

The food was sent by a group of soldiers. They were all armed and well-trained, and probably the best army of Roland City. This god of fortune had to really be resourceful to have such an army send him the food. Could he really have rescued the son of Roland City’s castellan from the Syer Bandits?

Kaman felt himself shake with excitement when he thought of this. If he could get to know Roland City’s castellan, it would be like striking the jackpot…

“It arrived so quickly? Seems like Roland City is efficient indeed…” When he heard that the food had arrived, Lin Li felt his spirits were lifted. He had heard too much bad news the last few days; finally, there was something good today. “If you’re free this evening, get the dwarf over and exchange for the Ice Crystal Metal quickly…”

If it had been in the past, Lin Li would not have been so anxious, but it was different now. He had heard from Macklin yesterday that the Marathon Family was going to build a Forging Workshop in the Breezy Plains. If they knew of the existence of the Ice Crystal Metal, who knew what would happen.

“Alright, I’ll do it now.”

“Don’t rush, I have something else to ask of you…” Lin Li stopped Kaman quickly. “How much do you earn from the mining business in a year?”

“If things are good, about one million gold coins…” Kaman did not dare hide anything from this god of fortune, and told Lin Li everything earnestly. “It depends on luck too. To be honest, I have a group of miners myself, and if I find good mineral veins, I can do the mining myself, then the profits will be bigger…”

“You have miners of your own?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good, get those miners here, and I’ll lead you to a fortune within three days.”

“Sure!” Kaman’s eyes glowed, and he agreed without hesitation.

When Lin Li left the trading shop, he had already given Kaman a bunch of instructions, of which the most important one was to buy a forging workshop in Doland, but according to Kaman, that would be quite difficult. Recently, for some reason, the rates of blacksmiths had skyrocketed. They used to be able to hire a low-level blacksmith for one hundred gold coins a month, but now it had risen to two hundred, and even then you might not be able to hire one…

“I can’t believe it, no idea which bastard is behind this…”

Lin Li knew which bastard it was—it had to be the Marathon Family. They were building a forging workshop in the Breezy Plains, and while the Dwarf Kingdom would be providing the skilled workforce, they could not rely entirely on the dwarves for blacksmiths. Given their wealth, the Marathon Family could even have hired all the blacksmiths in the whole Doland.

Lin Li was not worried, however, for the number of low-level blacksmiths they had merely determined the amount they could produce, while the fate of a forging workshop ultimately relied on the best blacksmith it had. The Time Consignment Store would hold an auction in a month’s time; they would see if the Marathon Family was really able to monopolize the blacksmithing industry of the Breezy Plains.

When Lin Li returned to the Tower of Dusk, it was around evening. Everyone knew that the inauguration ceremony was the next day, and thus nobody went to disturb him—even Macklin. Hence, Lin Li enjoyed a rare night of undisturbed sleep.