Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 109 The Priest of the Misty Moon Divine Court's Insight
P.S.: I took my family to see "Nanjing Photo Studio" yesterday.

The second half was a little slower, but I still give it a 97 out of 100, it's really good!
Top recommendation!

In the book review section, people often make sarcastic remarks, saying that my book was written by a pink (pro-CCP) sympathizer. I just want to say, get lost! I am a red (pro-CCP) sympathizer!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The powerful and wealthy Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild, and Oren, the deputy deacon of the Northern Trading Company, have come to this increasingly bustling vast sea for the fourth time.

Each time he came, his feelings were completely different, so much so that he would often stand there for a long time, gazing into the distance, and occasionally even doubt whether he had come to the wrong place.

"Is this the allure of pioneering knight territories?"

"Perhaps, Your Excellency, but I think that without the supplies you provide, this land might just slowly die in barrenness."

"So, you can also be considered one of its creators!"

Oren was naturally unaffected by such foolish flattery. On the contrary, it was precisely because he had been in charge of coordinating the supply of materials here that he was particularly aware of how outrageous the Han Hai Territory had done.

When I first came here, Han Hai Territory was a place that no one wanted to get involved with.

As a novice lord, he had to deal with a land that had been rotten for millennia and had offended some people he shouldn't have. Even though the steward Helan, who had drifted away from Qiyue, tried his best to make connections everywhere, he only received a reluctant perfunctory response from the merchant guild, who asked him, a novice with equally little experience, to step in and deal with the situation.

Then, Oren met the somewhat naive lord, who was not at all "noble" in demeanor, and heard that strange and unusual ballad.

I couldn't understand it, but it was very jarring. I only heard it once, but it still often lingers in my ears.

On his second visit, Oren saw the towering Tower of Heads.

The goblin heads were stacked in dense layers, forming a tall tower from the bottom up. The slave laborers of the Vast Ocean Territory carefully filled the gaps between the heads with sand and mud, and cleverly embedded all the heads into the surface of the tower, creating a magnificent visual effect with just a few hundred heads.

Helan said it was the lord's creation, called "Insight".

Oren thought it was a brilliant idea and worth emulating!

Although the high stewards were not satisfied with the fact that they failed to bring back the ogres, the good thing was that Oren brought back more orders, which allowed the trading company to slightly raise the trading level of the Vast Ocean Territory.

Oren has gained another Category II trading zone, which is a pleasant surprise.

In short, every time he came, there were dazzling changes in the territory, which made Oren's description of the Vast Ocean Territory always feel a bit outdated.

However, at this moment, the high priest from the Misty Moon Divine Court did not seem to care about this.

Unlike the Heqiyue Dynasty, which uses short names with two or three syllables, the people of the Wuyue Divine Court generally use long names with multiple syllables.

This custom also profoundly influenced the various vassal states of the two major powers. For example, Earl of Cloud Mist, Princess of Frost, and Captain Peiwen of Cloud Mist Territory are typical examples of short, two-syllable names.

Zircon Clan was originally a short name system, but after currying favor with Mist Moon, it was changed to the somewhat incongruous Zircon Monroe and Zircon Heisenberg.

The high priest's name is Todd Farrell, a standard official name of the Mist Moon Divine Court.

This priest, barely thirty years old and widely regarded within the divine court as having a promising future, sat regally in a magnificent temple carriage drawn by two sacred unicorns.

The carriage was covered in moon-white enamel paintings, and the silver runes on the shafts flowed with a soft halo under the strong desert light. Through the crystal-encrusted windows, the high priest curiously looked at everything outside the carriage, occasionally throwing out a few questions to Oren.

"I remember you said last time that the lord here practices necromancy?"

Oren bowed slightly: "Yes, Your Excellency, I am certain of this, and I have personally witnessed the Lord's skeleton warriors."

“I have specifically checked that this lord’s last certification in the Creek Moon Federation was only that of a mage apprentice. Everyone who has come into contact with him has confirmed that his main practice is necromancy, and he is extremely unbalanced in his studies. It seems that he is not even very good at necromancy attack spells.”

"Well, that's really amazing!"

Priest Farrell's voice was clear and melodious, with the unique, hymn-like rhythm of a clergyman: "The territory of a necromancer lord is actually like this... well, so vibrant, interesting, very interesting!"

This is already a new city near Hanhai Territory, and outside is a bustling and vibrant scene.

Along the main road running east to west, every few dozen meters a large cart pulled by a camel would pass by, carrying a huge wooden barrel, clearly a water-carrying vehicle. As the cart swayed slightly, the wooden wheel hubs creaked and groaned.

Looking west along the road, you can see the gradually emerging outline of the city of Hanhai. In the southern part of the city, dozens of goblin workers are digging, their picks and shovels rising high and falling heavily, kicking up clouds of dust on the ground.

Beneath their feet, a deep moat stretched outwards from the city.

Further away, within the residential area, human workers were building houses. The area appeared to be enormous; according to the high priest, it could house at least tens of thousands of people if measured according to the living space for slaves.

The most eye-catching sights were the centaurs running back and forth, seemingly tireless, their hooves flying, kicking up clouds of dust on the construction site and roads.

They rushed in from the south carrying heavy wooden crates and roared away from the north carrying bulging sacks, continuously delivering supplies to the vast warehouse area in the city center.

Driven by this atmosphere, everyone seemed to be quickening their pace involuntarily.

"Oren, have you noticed? I hardly see any guards or overseers here!"

Yes, along the way, the Seven Luminaries Garland convoy only encountered soldiers from the Vast Ocean Territory twice. Once was at the northern checkpoint, more than 80 kilometers away from the Vast Ocean Territory, where they came into contact with the Vast Ocean Territory's forward outpost. The other time was when they were stopped and questioned by the Vast Ocean Patrol Team about 10 kilometers from the city.

Once inside the city, they did not see a single soldier carrying a weapon or whip.

This is really weird.

You must understand, there are a large number of slaves here. Without long knives and whips, these lowly wretches can move a basket of soil from the east to the west in the morning and then move the same basket of soil from the west to the east in the afternoon.

Each kingdom has its own formula for optimal slave utilization. For example, according to the experience of the Misty Moon Divine Court, killing the 10% of slaves who work the least each year can keep the entire team's work efficiency in a positive and good state.

On the orc side, this figure rises to 18% to 20%, mainly because orcs never buy slaves; all slaves are obtained through raiding, so they seem like worthless items.

I wouldn't feel bad even if you beat me to death.

The cost of the slaves that Seven Luminaries Garland bought from the orcs was too low, even less than a cooking pot. This is why Seven Luminaries Garland gradually became closer to the Vast Sea Territory. Doing business is similar to robbing money. Who wouldn't like that?
Oren was also unable to answer the question, however, he was accompanied by personnel from the Vast Ocean Territory.

This was chosen by Helan from among the male servants who were originally hired to purchase goods for the lord. He had studied for a few years, was quite clever, and most importantly, was humble and willing to bend over. He was used as a receptionist for the territory.

"Your Highness is curious, don't your slaves need supervisors when they work?"

The receptionist replied respectfully, "The Vast Ocean has its own rules. If these slaves don't perform well, they will be punished accordingly."

"Oh? Tell me, how is it regulated, and what are the consequences?" Priest Farrell immediately became interested.

The receptionist smiled shyly: "I'm just a handyman for the territory council, and there are some things I'm not very clear about. Why don't we wait for Governor Helan to come and ask him to tell you two gentlemen in person?"

Upon hearing this, Oren felt a surge of anger rising to his head, but before he could lash out, High Priest Farrell burst into hearty laughter: "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! This is getting more and more interesting!"

"Oren, let me tell you, I made the right decision to come here!" For the rest of the time, Priest Farrell kept his eyes glued to the outside of the carriage. When they arrived at the reception area of ​​the Vast Sea Territory, he refused to rest and couldn't wait to get out of the carriage. He wandered around the permitted areas inside and outside the city, sharing his insights with Oren from time to time.

"Look at the passing vehicles and pedestrians, everyone is doing their job, working and resting in an orderly manner. The level of management is extremely high. This young lord must have a mastermind behind him!"

Oren replied in a low voice, "The lord has hired a noble butler who used to work in Qiyue, and he's quite famous..."

"No, no, I know those old sparrows. They're not like that at all. They can manage people very well, but they could never manage this kind of spirit."

“You know, in our temple, there are some who are just slackers and some who are true believers who complete the ritual without missing a single step. I can tell them apart at a glance. They are doing the same thing, and that kind of dedication can’t be faked.”

"These slave laborers here have a bit of the air of a lord's believer; they're quite interesting!"

After walking a few more steps, Farrell pointed to the buildings not far away: "Look at the progress of this city's construction, what do you think?"

"Uh, in response to High Priest, it's fast, extremely fast. Every time I come here, it feels like I don't recognize you anymore."

Farrell smiled and shook his head: "Whether it's fast or not mainly depends on how much effort people put in!"

"Back then, at the Taiya Fortress, more than twenty grand mages led hundreds of master craftsmen to build an iron wall and copper rampart in three days! The construction speed here is just average in my opinion."

"What I'm concerned about is the order in which this city was built. Look, the city lord's mansion, residential area, trading market, and storage area are almost all completed, but the city walls haven't been touched at all."

"What does this mean?"

Oren nodded thoughtfully: "Is the lord truly confident?"

"Yes, that's what it means!"

"You Seven Luminaries Flower Wreaths, after doing business with others for so long, still think it's a short-term transaction. That's really... too short-sighted!"

"Thank you for your guidance, High Priest. I will go back and report to the deacons. We need to start preparing in advance in the future."

"It won't affect you!" Priest Farrell waved his hand. "I don't care about your business. I just happened to see it."

"It's fortunate that you did a good job in the preliminary contact, which saved me a lot of time in contacting you back and forth."

The two chatted and walked around, accompanied by the staff of Hanhai Territory, who remained silent the whole way.

Suddenly, a sharp scraping sound rang out.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the camel-drawn cart had been startled by something and leaped to the side of the road. The cart crashed heavily into the stone sign beside the road and overturned with a thud.

The roof panel on the vehicle was knocked off, and the clothes and bedding inside were scattered all over the ground.

It was a delivery truck from the Seven Luminaries Garland.

To date, due to the continuous influx of people, Han Hai Ling is unable to achieve self-sufficiency in materials other than fresh water.

The Seven Luminaries Garland's transport convoy came almost every week, and the various tools used by the slaves for road construction and land reclamation alone emptied the entire inventory of the six merchant guilds in the North.

This time, Oren's visit was not just a formality; he not only brought another batch of slaves but also a batch of various daily necessities purchased from the Han Hai Territory.

While Oren was strolling around with High Priest Farrell, the merchants' traders had already completed the handover with the Vast Ocean Territory and started driving the trucks into the warehouse.

Perhaps the wagon was worn out from the desert or got stuck in sand and gravel somewhere, and it overturned in full view of everyone. The driver jumped out in time and frantically tried to stop it, but he couldn't.
Just as the coachman was filled with despair, a boy who looked to be only ten years old, with a torch badge pinned to his chest, took a few steps closer, put a whistle in his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and blew hard!
“Beep!!!!”

The sharp, high-pitched, and highly penetrating whistle swept across like a signal flare, instantly drowning out the noise of the construction site!

The whistle seemed to convey some kind of command, and all the vehicles that were rushing along the road stopped in unison. The construction workers put down their tools and swung their arms as they gathered around. Even the goblins and gnomes bared their teeth and jogged over.

From both the east and west sides of the road, groups of centaurs, their large riding boots swaying, came galloping towards the wagon, and the crowd swarmed around it like leaves in a whirlpool.

Seeing this scene, everyone from the Seven Luminaries Garland assumed a looting frenzy was unfolding over scattered goods.
Oren immediately grabbed the Magic Recording Tablet.

Then, he recorded a rather unbelievable scene.

A rough voice shouted, "One! Two! Three! Lift—!" More than a dozen strong men responded in unison, chanting slogans, their veins bulging, and they managed to lift the heavy vehicle back onto its original position!
The centaurs and human children were quick-witted and nimble, picking up the goods that had rolled all over the ground.

They formed two short human walls, quickly picking up clothes and bedding, passing them hand in hand, like a relay race, to the front—where several centaur warriors placed their front hooves firmly on the carriage shafts, received the supplies, and neatly stuffed them back into the carriage.

The driver of another transport truck next to them shouted something and tossed over a few coils of thick hemp rope. The centaur skillfully caught them and used them to securely tie up the somewhat deformed roof of the truck.

In just a few dozen breaths, the overturned vehicle was completely reloaded, and apart from a bit more dust on the body, it looked no different from before.

With a neigh from the lead centaur, the halted traffic began to move slowly again. The workers patted each other on the shoulder, chuckled good-naturedly, and went back to their work.

The boys wearing the torch badges scattered instantly, running in their own directions, leaving only the coachman with the Seven Luminaries Garland still standing there, dumbfounded.

The boy who first blew the whistle urged loudly in dissatisfaction, "Go, go, go! Hurry up and don't block the way!"

High Priest Farrell had lost count of how many times he had exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, "Interesting, absolutely fascinating!"

Everything he saw that day greatly intrigued High Priest Farrell. If his trip was originally just to go through the temple procedures, now the High Priest had decided to have a thorough discussion with the local lord.

The next day, under the leadership of Helan, the group arrived at the city lord's mansion, which was only one-third complete. In the still somewhat rough hall, they met the Lord of the Vast Sea.

The building materials for the central hall of the city lord's mansion were stone from the southern desert dunes. Even when the territory was at its busiest, Helan arranged a special team, selecting the most skilled warriors and strong laborers, to be responsible for the mining and transportation of building materials for the city lord's mansion.

These pale yellow stones, cut into neat strips, were used to construct the main structure of the Lord's Hall. In the center of the hall, six stone pillars supported the dome, creating a seven-meter-high central hall. This is currently the only place in the territory where minotaur warriors do not need to bend over to enter.

The decorations on the four walls were still very rough. Chen Mo, who had been letting Helan arrange things, was very firm on this issue: "The image of the lord needs to be displayed, so a magnificent appearance is enough!"

"Keep things simple internally. We need to focus more resources on building up our territory right now. We can come back and replenish our resources once the territory is mostly developed!"

Because of this arrangement, the interior of the hall is filled with exposed rock textures, exuding a primitive and rugged sense of power. The floor is paved with unpolished slabs of stone, with fine sand filling the gaps. These are all details that will need to be repaired little by little in the future.

Heran followed the proper etiquette for receiving guests, arranging the scene in an orderly manner. Throughout the reception, he constantly quoted classical texts, both to engage in friendly exchanges with the visitors and to create a harmonious atmosphere, while also subtly conveying information to his lord.

Lord Chen Mo attended the reception banquet in full regalia, wearing a well-tailored sky-blue velvet formal robe. The robe was embroidered with intricate patterns in silver thread, symbolizing pioneering and thorns. A wide black sash with silver trim was worn across his chest, with an antique-style badge at the end.

Yes, it's still the familiar crescent-shaped longsword and nail-headed hammer.

Seated on the large lord's chair, Chen Mo frequently raised his glass to express his gratitude to the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild for their support of the Vast Ocean Territory, and also to extend a warm welcome to the priests of the Misty Moon Divine Court who had traveled from afar.

Regardless of how much water the lord actually added to his wine, no one here dared to investigate.

(End of this chapter)