NEC Chapter 108: Mistmoon Divine Court's Insight High Priest

Oren, the deputy steward of the Northern Trading Post of the powerful and wealthy Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company, had already 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 often found himself standing in contemplation for long periods, sometimes even doubting whether he had come to the wrong place.

"Is this the charm of a pioneering knight's territory?"

"Perhaps, esteemed steward sir, but I think that without the supplies you provide, this land might only slowly die in barrenness."

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

Oren naturally wouldn't be swayed by such foolish flattery. On the contrary, precisely because he had always been responsible for coordinating the supply of materials here, he understood all too clearly just how outrageous a thing Vast Sea Territory had accomplished.

The first time he came, the then Vast Sea Territory was still a jinxed place that no one wanted to get involved with.

A rookie lord, plus a wasteland that had been barren for millennia, who had also offended certain people who shouldn't be offended. Although there was that Herlan steward who had fallen from Resting Moon desperately making connections everywhere, he only received the reluctant and perfunctory response from the trading company, sending himself, an equally inexperienced rookie, to deal with the situation.

Then, Oren met that somewhat green-looking lord, with his completely un-"noble" manner, and that strange, ancient song.

He couldn't understand it, but it was very catchy. Having heard it just once, it still often echoed in Oren's ears to this day.

The second time he came, Oren saw that towering pyramid of heads.

Dense layers of goblin heads, stacked from bottom to top into a high tower. The slave workers of Vast Sea Territory carefully filled the gaps between the heads with sand and mud, and very cleverly embedded all the heads on the surface of the tower, using just a few hundred heads to create a very magnificent visual effect.

Herlan said this was that lord's creation, called "Goblin Observatory."

Oren only felt this was truly a brilliant idea, worth emulating!

Although that trip failed to bring back those ogres, disappointing the chief stewards, fortunately Oren brought back more orders, which also allowed the trading house to slightly upgrade Vast Sea Territory's trading level.

Oren now had another Class Two trading zone under his management, which was truly an unexpected delight.

In any case, each time he came, there were dizzying changes in the territory, which also made Oren feel that his descriptions of Vast Sea Territory always seemed to be one version behind.

However, at this moment, the high priest from Mistmoon Divine Court didn't seem to mind this at all.

Unlike Resting Moon Dynasty's habit of using two-syllable and three-syllable short names, people from Mistmoon Divine Court generally used multi-segment, multi-syllable long names.

This habit also deeply influenced the various vassal states of the two major powers. For example, Earl Liuyun of Cloudmist Domain, Lady Frost, and Captain Paven were typical examples of two-syllable short names.

The Zircon Family originally also used the short name system, but after currying favor with Mistmoon, they changed to the somewhat awkward Zircon Valen, Zircon Heisen.

The high priest's name was Todd Farrell, a standard Mistmoon Divine Court proper name.

This cleric, who was only in his early thirties and recognized within the divine court as having limitless prospects, was sitting in a magnificent temple carriage drawn by two sacred unicorns.

The carriage body was covered with moon-white enamel paintings, silver runes on the shaft flowed with gentle halos under the desert's strong light. Through the crystal-inlaid windows, the high cleric curiously observed everything outside, occasionally throwing a few questions at Oren.

"I remember you mentioned last time that the lord of this place practices necromancy?"

Oren bowed slightly, "Yes, esteemed high priest, I'm certain of this point, and I have personally witnessed the lord's skeleton warriors."

"I specifically verified this. The last time this lord was certified in the Crescent Moon Federation, he was only a mage apprentice. Everyone who had contact with him confirmed that what he mainly practiced was necromantic summoning, with particularly severe specialization. He seemed not even very good at necromantic attack spells."

"Well, how truly marvelous that is!"

High Priest Farell's voice was clear and pleasant, carrying the unique, psalm-like rhythm characteristic of clergy, "The territory of a necromantic summoner lord, yet it's so... well, full of vitality. Interesting, most interesting!"

This was already near the new city of Vast Sea Territory, and outside was a scene of bustling activity.

On the great road running east to west, every few dozen meters a cart pulled by pack beasts would pass by. On the cart was a huge wooden barrel, clearly a water transport vehicle. With the slight swaying of the cart body, the wooden wheel hubs made creaking sounds.

Looking west along the road, one could see Vast Sea City gradually revealing its clear silhouette. In the southern direction of the city, dozens of hobgoblin workers were excavating, pickaxes and iron shovels raised high then heavily falling, smashing up clouds of dust on the ground.

At their feet, a deep trench was extending outward from within the city.

Further away, in the residential area, human workers were constructing houses. It seemed that residential area was very large in scale. In the high priest's view, if calculated by slave living space, that area could accommodate at least tens of thousands of people.

Most eye-catching were those centaurs running back and forth, seemingly never knowing fatigue. Their four hooves flew as they kicked up rolling dust clouds on construction sites and roads.

They carried heavy wooden boxes, galloping from the south, then loaded with bulging hemp sacks, whistling away to the north, continuously delivering supplies to the massive storage area in the city center.

Under this atmosphere's influence, everyone's footsteps seemed to unconsciously quicken.

"Oren, have you noticed? Here, I've hardly seen any guards or overseers!"

Yes, all along the way, the Seven-Radiance Garland convoy had only encountered soldiers from Vast Sea Territory twice: once at the northern checkpoint still over eighty kilometers from Vast Sea Territory, where they contacted Vast Sea Territory's forward outpost, and another time within ten kilometers of approaching the city, where they were stopped and inspected by the Vast Sea patrol team.

But after entering the city area, they hadn't seen a single warrior carrying weapons or whips.

This was truly bizarre.

You must know that there were large numbers of slaves here. Without long swords and whips, these wretches could spend the morning moving a basket of earth from east to west, then spend the afternoon moving the same basket of earth from west to east.

All the major kingdoms had their own formulas for optimal slave usage efficiency. For example, according to Mistmoon Divine Court's experience, killing the least productive ten percent of slaves each year would keep the entire team's work efficiency in a consistently positive and good state.

On the beastmen's side, this figure had to rise to eighteen to twenty percent, mainly because beastmen never bought slaves, all slaves were captured, so they felt like worthless things.

Killing them didn't hurt.

The cost of Seven-Radiance Garland purchasing slaves from beastmen was so low it was less than a cooking iron pot. This was why Seven-Radiance Garland gradually grew closer to Vast Sea Territory. Doing business felt almost like robbing money, who wouldn't like that?

Oren also couldn't answer this question, but he had accompanying personnel from Vast Sea Territory by his side.

This person was selected by Herlan from the male servants who originally purchased for the lord. He had studied for a few years, was relatively clever, and most importantly had a humble attitude and could bow low, so he was used as the territory's receptionist.

"The high priest is somewhat curious, don't your slaves here need overseers when working?"

The receptionist respectfully answered, "Vast Sea has Vast Sea's rules. If these slaves don't work properly, there will be corresponding punishments."

"Oh? Tell me about it, how is it supervised, and what are the consequences?" High Priest Farell immediately became interested.

The receptionist smiled bashfully, "I'm just someone who does odd jobs for the territorial council. Some matters, I'm not very clear about either. How about waiting for Administrator Herlan to come, and have him personally explain to you two gentlemen."

Hearing this, Oren felt anger surge straight to his head, but before he could explode, High Priest Farell burst into hearty laughter again, "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! This is getting more and more interesting!"

"Oren, let me tell you, I really came at the right time on this trip!"

For the rest of the time, High Priest Farell kept his eyes fixed on the outside of the carriage. When they reached the post station area where Vast Sea Territory received guests, he refused to rest and eagerly got off the carriage, wandering back and forth in the permitted activity areas inside and outside the city, occasionally sharing his insights with Oren.

"Look at the passing vehicles and pedestrians, each performing their duties, working and resting in perfect order. The management level is extremely high. This young lord has an expert behind him!"

Oren replied in a low voice, "The lord hired a professional steward who was once a nobleman at Resting Moon, also quite famous..."

"No, no, I know those old fellows. They can manage people very well, but they definitely can't manage with this kind of energy."

"You know, in our temple, among those who complete the ritual ceremony step by step, some are slackers, some are believers. I can tell at a glance. Even doing the same thing, that energy can't be faked."

"These slave workers here have quite the flavor of the lord's believers, quite interesting!"

After walking a few more steps, Farrell pointed again at the nearby buildings, "Look at this city's construction progress, what do you feel?"

"Uh, in response to the high priest, fast, extremely fast. Every time I come, I feel like I don't recognize it."

Farrell smiled and shook his head, "Fast or not, it mainly depends on whether enough people are invested!"

"Back then at Taya Fortress, over twenty great mages led hundreds of master craftsmen working together, building an iron wall and copper fortress within three days! The construction speed here, in my view, is just ordinary."

"What I'm focusing on is the construction sequence of this city. You see, the lord's mansion, residential area, trading market, storage area, these are almost all nearly finished, but the city wall hasn't been touched at all."

"What does this indicate?"

Oren nodded thoughtfully, "The lord is extremely confident?"

"Right, that's exactly what I mean!"

"You Seven-Radiance Garland, doing business with people to this extent, still think it's short-term trade. This is really... your vision is somewhat too short-sighted!"

"Thank you for the high priest's guidance. When Oren returns, I'll immediately report clearly to all the stewards, and we'll prepare in advance from now on."

"No problem, no problem!" High Priest Farell waved his hand, "I don't care about your trading company's affairs, I just happened to notice."

"Fortunately, you did the preliminary liaison work well and carefully, saving me much back-and-forth communication time."

The two continued talking and chatting, walking and observing, with Vast Sea Territory's reception staff accompanying them silently throughout.

Suddenly, a sharp scraping sound rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound to see a pack beast cart whose animal had been startled by something unknown. It lunged toward the roadside, and the cart heavily struck a stone marker beside the road, toppling over with a crash.

The cover board on top of the cart body was thrown off, and the clothing and bedding loaded inside scattered all over the ground.

This was a freight cart from Seven-Radiance Garland.

Up to this point, because Vast Sea Territory was still continuously importing population, it still couldn't achieve self-sufficiency in materials except for fresh water.

Seven-Radiance Garland's transport convoys came almost every week. Just the various tools used by slaves for road construction and land reclamation had cleared out all the inventory of six trading companies in the northern regions.

This time when Oren came, of course it wasn't just for a visit. Not only did they transport another batch of slaves, but they also brought an additional batch of various types of daily necessities that Vast Sea Territory had purchased.

While Oren was strolling around with High Priest Farell, the trading company's merchants had already completed their coordination with Vast Sea Territory and begun directing these freight carts into storage.

Probably this cart had been over-worn in the desert, or had sand and stones stuck somewhere. Under everyone's watchful eyes, it overturned. The cart driver did jump out in time and frantically reached out to stop it, but how could he?

Just as the cart driver looked despairing, a boy who appeared to be only about ten years old, with a torch badge pinned to his chest, approached a few steps, put a whistle to his mouth, puffed out his cheeks and blew hard!

"Tweet—!!!"

The sharp, high-pitched, extremely penetrating whistle sound shot across like a signal flare, instantly drowning out the construction site's clamor!

The whistle seemed to convey some kind of command. The vehicles busy on the road all uniformly pulled over to the side, workers on the construction sites put down their tools and came over swinging their arms, even those goblins and hobgoblins bared their teeth and came running over.

On both east and west sides of the road, nearby centaur squads successively came galloping over in their big horse boots. The crowd, like leaves in a whirlpool, swarmed around the overturned cart.

Seeing this scene, all the people from Seven-Radiance Garland thought they were witnessing a scramble for the scattered goods. Oren immediately grabbed his magic recording slate.

Then, he recorded a somewhat incredible scene.

A rough voice shouted, "One! Two! Three! Lift—!" More than a dozen sturdy men responded in unison, shouting work songs. One by one, veins bulging, they actually lifted the heavy cart body upright by sheer force!

Young centaurs and human children, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, picked up the goods scattered all over the ground.

They formed two short human walls, quickly picking up the clothing and bedding, passing them hand to hand like a relay, delivering them to the front, where several centaur warriors steadily placed their front hooves on the cart shaft, receiving the passed materials and neatly and orderly stuffing them back into the cart.

The driver of another nearby transport cart shouted something and threw over several coils of thick hemp rope. The centaurs skillfully caught them and firmly tied up the somewhat deformed cart cover.

In less than a few dozen breaths, the overturned vehicle had been reloaded. Except for some dust on the cart body, it looked no different from before.

With a neighing sound from the lead centaur, the halted traffic began to slowly move again. The workers patted each other's shoulders, letting out good-natured laughter, and each returned to their work.

The boys wearing torch badges also instantly dispersed, running toward their respective directions, leaving only that Seven-Radiance Garland cart driver still standing there dumbfounded.

The boy who had blown the whistle first impatiently urged loudly, "Go, go, go, move quickly, don't block the road!"

High Priest Farell had already lost count of how many times he'd expressed heartfelt admiration, "Interesting, truly most interesting!"

Everything he saw that day generated enormous interest in High Priest Farell. If originally his trip was just to go through temple procedures, now the high priest had decided he must have a thorough and in-depth communication with the local lord.

The next day, under Administrator Herlan's guidance, the group came to the lord's mansion that had just completed one-third of its construction. In that somewhat rough hall, they met this Vast Sea lord.

The building materials for the central hall of the lord's mansion were stone materials taken from the Monan Sand Hill Mountains. Even during the territory's peak construction period, Herlan had arranged a special small team, selecting the most capable warriors and strong workers, specifically for quarrying and transporting building materials for the lord's mansion.

These stones with a faint pale yellow tint were cut into regular strips and stacked to form the main body of the lord's hall. The hall center was supported by six stone pillars holding up a dome. The central chamber, seven meters high, was currently the only living space in the territory where minotaur warriors could enter without bending or lowering their heads.

The wall decorations were still very rough. Chen Mo, who had always let Herlan arrange everything, was very firm on this issue, "The lord's image needs to be displayed, so having a magnificent exterior is sufficient!"

"The interior should be as simple as possible. Right now we need to invest more resources in the territory's construction. When the territory construction is almost complete, we can come back and add the finishing touches!"

Precisely because of this arrangement, the interior of the hall was full of exposed rock textures everywhere, emanating a primitive and rugged sense of power. The floor was laid with unpolished giant stone slabs, with fine sand filling the gaps, all details that would need gradual refinement in the future.

Herlan followed noble reception etiquette completely, arranging the scene in perfect order. During the reception process, he continuously cited classics and precedents, both to communicate friendly with the visitors and create a harmonious atmosphere, and to subtly convey some information to his own lord.

Lord Chen Mo attended the reception banquet in full dress, wearing a well-tailored sky-blue velvet ceremonial robe. The robe body was embroidered with silver thread in complex dark patterns symbolizing pioneering and thorns. A wide black silver-trimmed sash crossed his chest diagonally, with an antique-styled badge hanging at the end.

Well, still the familiar crescent blade and spiked war hammer.

Sitting upright in the spacious lord's chair, Chen Mo frequently raised his cup, expressing gratitude to Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company for their support of Vast Sea Territory, and also extending warm welcome to the priest from Mistmoon Divine Court who had come from afar.

Anyway, regardless of how much water was actually mixed in the lord's wine bottle, no one here dared to verify it.

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