Mage Lord: The Tech Tree is Skewed by Me

"Lord Viscount!"

When Viscount Antonia pushed the door open, a large piece of fat immediately hit his face.

At this moment, looking at Viscount Antolia, whom he had never met before, the Count of Gray Water Castle felt as warm as meeting a relative in his heart.

What a good man!

What a good person!

Although he had always sold grain to Antolia at high prices before, and although he had always made small moves in secret, the young lord of Antolia still came without hesitation.

What is aristocratic style? This is!

Immediately afterwards, he saw the young lord in front of him take out a roll of brown paper from his arms and hand it to him.

"What's this?"

The Earl of Graywater Castle asked doubtfully.

"bill."

Leon said bluntly: "According to the previous agreement, the settlement will be based on the price of twelve Andal silver coins per mercenary, and the employment time will be calculated based on one month, plus some miscellaneous things, a total of two thousand five hundred A gold escudo."

"The Earl of Graywater Castle is so generous. Naturally, I can't just sit back and ignore the crisis of Graywater Castle."

"..."

For a moment, the Earl, who was still looking happy, was stunned: "Two thousand...five hundred? Or Escudo gold coins?"

Even if you are an earl, more than two thousand gold coins are already a considerable amount of wealth, roughly equivalent to an entire quarter of the entire Greywater Castle's tax revenue.

"This is the signature of Knight Danielson."

"This is also for the sake of Lord Earl's life. If we bring fewer people, if we fail to defeat the plateau hounds but instead anger these monsters, wouldn't it be worth the loss?"

When Leon mentioned the plateau hound, obvious fear flashed in Eli Wayne's eyes.

"Okay! Two thousand five hundred gold coins is two thousand five hundred gold coins!"

The Earl of Graywater Castle said in a deep voice.

In fact, he didn't want to pay for it.

However, what made Danielson go out to ask for help at all costs was indeed what he said.

As a nobleman, if he can't even keep the promises he made, then he will never want to hang out in this circle in the future.

"Your Excellency, the Count is really refreshing!" Leon praised sincerely.

Immediately, he changed the subject and said to the earl, who had already been frightened by the plateau hound:

"Monsters like the Plateau Hound are really ferocious. If they frequently raid a rich place like Gray Water Castle, they will inevitably cause some losses. If Lord Earl trusts me, why not leave the task of defending the Plateau Hound to me in the future."

"here you are?"

For a moment, Eli Wayne's thoughts were swirling in his mind, and he carefully considered the meaning of Leon's words.

Seeing this, Leon simply opened the skylight and spoke frankly:

"Eight hundred escudo gold coins per year, Antolia's mercenaries promise to intercept the plateau hounds and never let those monsters set foot on the land of Gray Water Castle!"

When Leon's words fell, Eli Wayne couldn't help being shocked and his eyes widened.

Because he suddenly realized a possibility.

is it possible……

The plateau hound was actually intentionally released by the Antolians? !

The more Eli Wayne thought about it, the more shocked he became, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it became. So, is this actually a revenge from Antolia?

However, he had no evidence.

Moreover, the Antolians have paid a heavy price in each battle with the plateau hounds over the years, and there is really no way to make any mistakes.

However, the price of eight hundred escudos per year...

Eli Wayne just wanted to bargain, but when he thought of the mess in the city, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

Under the attack of the plateau hounds, almost half of the buildings in the entire Gray Water Castle had been turned into ruins, causing losses of tens of thousands of gold coins!

Coupled with the loss of refugees and various other expenses, Gray Water Castle can be said to be severely damaged, and it will not be able to recover at all within a few years.

If this happened every five years, then the Wayne family would not need to develop at all.

Although he had resigned himself to his fate in his heart, Eli Wayne still wanted to struggle again:

"Lord Viscount, the price of eight hundred gold coins per year is too high. I wonder if it can be reduced slightly?"

"How many do you think of?"

Leon asked rhetorically.

"Five hundred gold coins per year"

The earl gritted his teeth and said:

"Hounds only attack once every five years. Five years is exactly 2,500 gold coins, which is about the same as the cost of hiring Antolian mercenaries."

"Can."

Leon said crisply: "But we have to sign a long-term agreement, for at least thirty years, five hundred gold coins per year, and Antolia promises not to let the plateau hound set foot in the Gray Water Castle."

"Um?"

Seeing how straightforward the Viscount in front of him was, Eli Wayne always felt that something was wrong, but he nodded after all.

After all, Graywater Castle simply cannot afford to be ransacked by Highland Hounds every five years.

After walking out of the castle with the contract signed by Eli Wayne himself, Leon was in a great mood.

For him, signing this agreement was entirely a spur-of-the-moment move.

The future expansion direction of Antolia is to the southwest. Whether it is expanding cultivated land or mining warm stones, it will intersect with the migration route of plateau hounds.

Even if it is for Antolia's own benefit, it will never be possible to allow plateau hounds to roam unhindered on the land of Antolia in the future, let alone allow these monsters to go all the way north.

So Leon's bottom line is actually very low. As long as Gray Water Castle is willing to pay protection fees every year, he is willing to sign for a hundred gold coins!

"Lord Viscount, what should we do next? Return directly?"

Seeing Leon walking out of the castle happily, Todd quickly stepped forward and asked.

"Get back to me!"

Leon couldn't help but cursed: "Don't forget the second condition I made when I agreed to send troops. The Earl promised that we can gather the refugees on the land of Gray Water Castle!"

"Then I'll let the soldiers disperse to look for people?"

"Find someone?"

Leon glanced at him and said, "Aren't there refugees everywhere in the city?"

After all, the city in front of us is a large city with tens of thousands of people. Even if the plateau hounds have already climbed over the city wall, there are still many residents of Gray Water Castle who are lucky enough to survive by hiding in houses or cellars.

"These people... aren't refugees, are they?"

Todd hesitated as he looked at the citizens who were looking for food in the devastated city.

"Do they have a house now?"

"No."

“If you don’t have a house, why are you not a refugee?”

Leon said with hatred: "Are the refugees who flee to the city more noble than those who escape from the city?"

"Then I'll do it now!"

Hearing this, Todd said with great interest.

If it were another noble, he might still care about something like the noble's face.

But the Wayne family...

In the past few years, how many people have starved to death in Antolia due to lack of food? !

Antolians know how to hold grudges!