Start with Island Lord

Six o'clock in the morning.

‘Wow~~Wow~~~’

The waves hit the shore, the west wind howled, and the white seagulls circled freely in the blue sky.

"Dang Dang Dang~~Sail the sail~weigh the anchor~~~"

"Woo~~~~"

Amidst the desolate sound of conch shells, three medium-sized flat-bottomed cargo ships loaded with cargo slowly left Xialin City's Broken Gold Wharf.

There was no crowd to see her off, no flowers to show off, and not even many people paying attention.

In the busy Broken Gold Terminal, this was just an ordinary voyage.

Even if he marries a princess, he is still just a small baron, with a population of over 30,000, and the territory is still a notoriously barren island.

Not to mention the natural alliance with a population of hundreds of millions, even the giant island of Welland with a population of 30 million, or even the Shire County with a population of one million, are insignificant.

It's just a tiny flea attached to the giant beast. Even if you shine a spotlight on it, it can't get into the giant beast's eyes.

When the three cargo ships completely left the dock, the small ripples caused by the pebbles falling into the pond immediately subsided.

The Broken Gold Pier is as busy as ever. Everyone is busy making a living, and no one will pay too much attention to things that are insignificant to them.

But in this world, not everyone pays attention to the food plate in front of them. There are always people who look up into the distance.

In the guest room on the second floor of the Golden Sturgeon Hotel, Muladi, the brothel owner from Levend, stopped at the window and watched the fleet go away.

There were two people standing beside him, one was a young mage and the other was a warrior guard, both of whom were his trusted assistants.

The young mage was a little confused.

"Sir, I admit that this baron is very good at transformation, but just because of this, would it be too risky to lend him 30,000 Oggs on credit?"

Muladi smiled faintly: "I am just a little baron now, I can't say for sure in the future~~"

The young mage was startled: "In the future? Can the princess return to the top of Weilan?"

Muladi retracted his gaze from a distance, turned to look at the assistant beside him, and said seriously: "The phoenix has broken wings, of course she can't fly back by herself, but I bet the baron will lift her up, and he will definitely do this Do."

"must?"

The young mage was stunned again, and then said: "Master, does he have this ability?"

"I think he does."

The guard next to him smiled and said: "Master, you are betting a bit big this time. What gave you such confidence?"

Muladi tapped a victory piece randomly placed on the window sill.

"Probably that wonderful victory chess match."

"ah?"

Both assistants didn't understand.

Muladi smiled slightly: "Stop talking, come on, come on, who of you will play a game of chess with me?"

On the other side, with the help of the roaring sea wind, the fleet sailed quickly towards Paddlefish Island.

Today is a good day, the sun is shining brightly, there are no clouds in the sky, and the visibility is extremely high. Looking towards the sea to the east, you can vaguely see the outline of the mountains in the sky.

After all, the Fengxi Strait is less than 60 kilometers wide, and Longmian Xuefeng, the highest peak on Paddlefish Island, is nearly three thousand meters above sea level.

At the current speed of the fleet, it will take less than three hours to cross the strait and reach the Sturgeon Pier on Paddlefish Island before noon.

It was just a short cruise and everyone in the fleet was relaxed.

But not Rosen.

In the cabin of the first ship, he was talking with 15 Kaa mages.

The Kaa mages have been hiding on the ship for several days.

The wounds in their souls were not completely healed, and they stayed in the dungeon for a while. They were also frightened on the ship, and couldn't eat well or sleep well, so they all became depressed.

Their mentality towards Rosen was very complicated. They had admiration for being a fellow mage, distrust of the lord from the common people, and resentment that he had ruined their good deeds.

Rosen introduced himself first.

"I am Baron Rosen Saxony, and I am also the lord of Paddlefish Island, our destination. I believe you all already know me."

"My wife is Her Royal Highness Princess Selena Adrian. She comes from Dawn City and is also a new spell master."

"Our deeds are widely spread among Weilan people, so I won't introduce them in detail."

After a few brief introductions, he looked at the Kaa mages: "Now, tell me what you think."

The Kaa mages all had dark faces and said nothing.

Rosen looked at Rubacado: "Master, what are your plans for the future?"

Rubacado glared at Rosen like a resentful woman, and said in a resentful tone: "Now that we have boarded the Baron's ship, does our personal thoughts on the future matter?"

Rosen looked at the other Kaa mages, all of them had similar sad expressions.

Of course this won't work, he still expects the other party to serve him.

So it needs to be explained carefully.

"Master, if you succeed in this fraud, how much money will you get?"

"What does this have to do with you?"

"Of course it does, because it is related to the amount of compensation I will give you."

"Compensation. Amount?"

All the Kaa mages were stunned when they heard this.

Ruvacado was also stunned: "What do you mean?"

Rosen smiled: "I ruined everyone's good deeds. You hate me and don't trust me. This is reasonable."

"But if I compensate you with this amount, then there should be no disputes between the two of us, right?"

"Uh~~~"

Ruvacado was a little confused, and the other Kaa mages also looked at each other, unable to figure out the intention of the baron lord in front of him.

After a heart-to-heart exchange, Ruvacado said cautiously: "That bastard Nord promised that as long as the plan succeeds, he will give us 50,000 Oggs in the end."

Rosen smiled calmly: "Fifty thousand Oggs is not a small amount. Do you think, with Nord's character, you can really use this money to leave Shire County?"

Ruvacado was silent.

He knew that Nord would definitely silence him because it would cost him nothing and ensure absolute safety.

Big shots like to do this. In their eyes, civilians are tools that can be discarded at will.

At this time, the senior mage who was proficient in arcane missiles and had a pair of bright brown eyes appeared.

Rosen remembered his name was Gatland.

The man took a step forward and snorted coldly.

"Baron, of course we know that Nord is not a good guy, but we also have our own means of escape."

Rosen nodded in approval: "That's true. I personally think that after a lot of hard work, you can take away at least five thousand Oggs of money. Is this inference okay?"

Kaa mages, you look at me, I look at you, and finally they all nodded in recognition.

Marklay, a senior mage who is proficient in low-level arcane lattice creation, nodded: "Absolutely."

I didn't see it clearly in the dungeon, but then Rosen discovered that this guy actually had six fingers on his left and right hands.

Either the six roots are abnormal, or the six roots have normal function and coordinated appearance.

It's amazing.

Of course, this detail does not affect the negotiations, Rosen continued: "This is what I think."

"When we get to the island, I will provide you with enough tools, materials, and a refining room, and you can help me build the Lightning Torrent Crossbow."

"If it is really created, I will give you a one-time bounty of 10,000 Oggs, plus a compensation of 5,000 Oggs, for a total of 15,000 Oggs."

"how?"

As soon as these words came out, the Kaa mages looked at each other again.

But it can be clearly seen that most of the sadness on their faces has disappeared, and there is a lot more excitement and expectation.

Obviously, for them who were born as civilians, the income of 15,000 Oggs was quite generous.

But there is also confusion.

Because Rosen requested a lightning torrent, not the arcane torrent they had carefully studied.

Although there is only one word difference, it is not the same thing at all.

A very handsome senior mage with a strong scholarly temperament came out, it was the inscription mage Gronk.

He pointed out: "Baron, we study arcana, not lightning"

‘Shuula~’

Rosen directly handed over a spell book titled "Analysis of Similarities and Differences between Arcana and Lightning". The book was handwritten and exuded a strong scent of ink. It was obviously just written.

"I am familiar with lightning and arcane magic."

"I hope to use lightning missiles instead of arcane missiles."

Three senior mages immediately gathered to read.

The book is not thick, only 20 pages, full of technical data related to practice.

The three of them are indeed talented people. After reading it quickly, I can see clearly.

After a low-pitched discussion, the inscription mage Gronk made a concluding speech.

"If the contents of the spell book are true, then we can make a lightning torrent crossbow."

"But the accuracy of the crossbow will decrease. The range will be shortened, maybe only two hundred meters at most."

"The advantage is that the power will increase. After all, lightning is much more powerful than arcane magic."

Rosen was very happy and asked again: "So, what were my conditions just now?"

"Let's discuss it."

With these words, Rosen clearly felt mana fluctuations triggered by the whispers of the soul erupting from the crowd.

He listened to their whispers without expression.

About a quarter of an hour later, Master Ruvacado spoke.

"We can serve the Baron, but we don't trust the Baron's credibility. What if we succeed in doing the job, but the Baron doesn't pay us, drives us away, or even kills us?"

Rosen smiled faintly: "Gentlemen, first of all, I want to make it clear that I don't like killing, especially I don't like taking the lives of fellow mages."

"Mother Nature said that it only takes a moment to cut off a head full of wisdom, but it takes decades to put wisdom into this head."

"I deeply agree with this."

Ruvacado's expression suddenly softened a lot, but he didn't fully believe it.

"Hmph~ Noble lords are the best at lying. They say one thing with their mouths and do another behind their backs."

Rosen continued: "So, I will make a sacred oath in the name of Mother Nature to prove my sincerity, how about it?"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the Kaa mages softened significantly. After some whispering, Ruvacado began to make conditions.

"We can work for you, but you are not allowed to mistreat us. You must give us enough respect and a decent life."

Rosen nodded: "These will be specified in the contract one by one."

Ruvacado had no objection: "Then let's sign the contract."

Rosen had already drafted the terms of the contract, and now he took them out and handed them to Ruvacado.

Ruvacado read it carefully, revised a few items, and then stamped his spell mark, and other Kaa mages also followed suit.

Finally, Rosen and Kaa mages also issued sacred oaths to ensure the validity of the contract as much as possible.

After swearing the oath, all the Kaa mages took a long breath, with relaxed smiles on their faces.

Master Ruvacado was a little curious: "Baron, why do you believe we can create the Arcane Torrent Crossbow? Aren't you afraid that we will lie to you again?"

Gronk, the inscription mage, said: "Yes, when we recommended ourselves to the Mage Guild in Shire County, they all thought our idea was ridiculous."

"That's right, those bastards directly said we were dreaming."

Rosen did not answer immediately. He asked Alia to open a few bottles of fine maple wine and pour a glass for each of the khal mages with a fine crystal cup.

He took a sip himself and smiled: "I am also a mage. I always pay attention to the latest developments in magic. So, I knew as soon as I heard it that your idea is very feasible."

Six-fingered Markley laughed: "Baron, you are not the same as ordinary Weilan mages."

Rosen also laughed: "Of course not, other Weilan mages did not marry the Princess of Dawn."

This immediately caused a burst of laughter, but as they laughed, the khal mages gradually fell silent.

They gradually came to their senses, gradually realized the difficulty of a small baron competing with King Aaron for the princess, and gradually realized the terrible ability of the baron in front of them.

It felt like this young baron exuded a bottomless aura, deeper than the ocean under the cargo ship.

Ruwakado held the wine glass and asked carefully: "Baron, what do you plan to do with us after we build the Torrent Crossbow for you?"

"Then you will be free, go wherever you want, it's all up to you."

"Ah?"

Everyone looked at each other, not believing that the other party would be so easy to talk to, and the long-standing distrust of the noble lords emerged again.

The look in Rosen's eyes began to be wrong again.

Rosen saw through their psychology. He gently shook the clear amber wine, looked at the faces of the khal wizards seriously, and said in a gentle tone:

"I can see that you all have the wildness of adventurers hidden in your hearts. You are eagles that like to soar in the sky, not hens that hide in the chicken coop to lay eggs."

"But the lack of money has bound your nature, and when this constraint disappears, what you want to do most is to spread your wings and fly high."

"If I restrain you at this time, I will only gain hatred, which is not a good thing for both of us."

"On the contrary, if I let you go free at this time, we will be friends. If we can cooperate once, we may not be able to have a second or third time."

"This is good for both of us, isn't it?"

After these words, the khal wizards were silent, and none of them spoke, just drinking quietly.

After a while, Master Luwakado suddenly raised his hand and wiped his eyes, sighing: "No wonder the baron was able to marry the princess, it turns out that he has a pair of eyes that can see through people's hearts."

"We will definitely help you make this Lightning Torrent Crossbow as soon as possible!"

Other Kao mages also nodded, expressing similar ideas.

Rosen raised his glass: "Come, let's forget the troubles of the world, forget the differences in status, and toast to the simple friendship between mages~ Cheers~"

"To friendship~ Cheers~~"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the cabin became very harmonious, as if old friends who had not seen each other for many years were reunited.