Surviving The Fourth Calamity

The girls of the Undead Tribe, sluggishly jumped down from the earth wall, chattering away, "They are too rude!"

"What do they take us for?"

"We were merciful just by not killing them!"

"Exactly, Vander! Those guards are beyond the pale. Doesn't anyone manage them? Dismiss them!"

Vander could only offer a bitter smile, "Ladies! They are just ordinary people, unaware of your identities!"

"Ha! Can't ordinary people dress a bit cooler?"

"Is it a crime to dress nicely here?"

Vander closed his eyes, "They will be punished. Now, please don't block the entrance! Others are waiting to get in!"

The grumbling girls of the Undead Tribe finally entered the gates.

Vander broke the earth wall and tossed these fools into the guard room, "Get them some clothes! Haven't I told you to lay low recently? Stay away from strange people when you see them! Don't you understand? Where is your captain?"

Watching the angrily cursing Vander, Fran asked Hill, "What do we do when they come to us?"

Hill quietly responded, "Why would there be ordinary people in our domain? All outsiders are Professionals, no one would be so foolish. As for security, I leave it all to the Alchemy Golems, and grandfather does the same, right? Let the Tower Spirit take responsibility for discerning right from wrong, strictly handling it according to the law. After all, we are the Clan of the Deities; fairness and justice are what matter."

Fran couldn't help but sigh. It was rare to see Fran reveal such a sense of helplessness.

Fran said to Adrian, "You'll handle the matters of the domain with Diamant from now on."

Adrian nodded in resignation, "Yes, teacher."

Fran continued, "Let's go, into the city. We'll return immediately after the ceremony!"

William's coronation was imminent, surely a busy time. As Hill walked, he thought about how his subordinates had to deal with the Undead Tribe's issues themselves, not wanting to trouble the future King at such a moment.

It seemed they still didn't know how to interact with players, only instructing their subordinates, who had never encountered the Undead Tribe, to steer clear of anyone who acted unusually.

It would be chaos born out of different perspectives and value systems enough to keep them busy.

They would never understand why Archmages would venture to the outer city—a place where commoners and all sorts of people milled about, seldom frequented by High-level Professionals, let alone women.

Nor could they grasp that, to save money, many players would surely stay in the cheapest and lowest-grade hostels in the outer city. If William's subordinates didn't go to their master for advice soon, waves of players would be sweeping through the underworld of the outer city.

These players would surely raise the banner of the God of Time and Space, purging all evil in the name of cleansing, leveling up while fighting monsters, and gathering some gold on the side.

Hill hardly believed that only these ladies from the Inner City dressed this way. Without any provocation from the players, people would be heading their way for trouble.

Hill was rather curious about one thing: where did these small dresses come from? Had their game started selling appearance items? Hill wanted to see the men's clothes, somewhat interested in buying.

Adrian suddenly laughed, and Hill looked up to see: the players were visiting various Temples.

The Paladins guarding the gates all turned pale. After all, not many could tolerate their sacred Temples being reduced to topics of comparisons.

Perhaps by William's strict orders, no one from the Undead Tribe entered any major Temples. Even the unguarded Noble Temples were left unbreached.

But the players' gesturing and guessing which Temple belonged to which deity was enough to drive the Paladins mad.

Hill overheard a passing player dismissively say, "What kind of Noble Temple is this? It's not even as tall as the Justice Temple!"

The chattering never ceased.

"The Spring Water Temple is the prettiest and suits me best. Quick, take more pictures. What's wrong with the Love Temple? It's not even pink!"

"Exactly, even light purple would do! Who uses dark purple to represent love?"

Hill quietly thought: All Temples are uniform in height. It's just that the Justice Temple is lighter in color, making it appear taller.

The deep purple is a very expensive natural color derived from shells found in the ocean. This was a key point for noble women joining the Love Temple. How many vain noble girls have been tempted by the shimmering deep purple Priest robes?

Hill heard a startling exclamation, "That one must be really old! Why else would they like a 'granny' color!"

Fran couldn't help but cough, quickly pulling out a Puppet Horse carriage, plucking up Adrian and Hill, and hurriedly making their getaway.

Hill heard someone behind them ask, "Oh my! An Alchemical Golem Horse! How gorgeous! Where can I buy one?"

The carriage picked up speed.

Adrian pointed outside, "Here comes William's Guard Commander!"

Hill stuck his head out to look. The Guard Commander with a pallid face had left his subordinates far behind and was heading rapidly towards the chaotic Temple District.

Fran said, "Adrian, block off the square leading to the Magic Tower after we return."

"Yes, teacher! I will just leave a small door on Apprentice Street, guarded by a Puppet."

"Two Sky Knight Puppets!"

"All right, teacher!"

"What about your place, Hill?"

"I am merely a poor and meek Archmage, always in seclusion at home. Next door is the powerful Mage Fran's Tower, so please turn left if you need anything."

Fran snorted coldly and fell silent.

Adrian chimed in, "Your tower, even the less wealthy magisters can't afford to build one."

Hill said to him, "My backers are right nearby. Why would they bother coming to me? It's obvious I'm being cared for by others!"

Adrian patted his head, smiling bitterly.

Fran, looking at the throngs of the Undead Tribe outside the carriage, said, "The noble district has never been this busy since it was established."

Adrian said, "There are over 100,000 people! Does William just let them roam around the city like this?"

Hill suddenly asked, "Are all of grandfather's shops closed?"

Fran spoke first, "Who could keep professionals locked up! Besides, they are God's Chosen." Looking at Hill, he said, "What about it? Except for one or two storefronts, all the others have been sold."

"Let grandfather open one up and sell all the little trinkets he doesn't need anymore."

"The merchants didn't come along," Adrian said.

"I'll go!" Hill said, "and also collect some materials on the way."

"What good things could the undead have in their possession?"

"They've got a bag that can hold quite a bit, and they like to pick up anything they don't recognize. Even three melons and two dates are money."

"You, an archmage, opening a shop?"

"Even a magister has to pick through trash to sell!"

Fran snorted coldly, and Hill quickly shut up.

"Adrian, take him there."

"Which place does grandfather plan to stay at?"

"I have a house in the mage district. Why?"

"We're going to stay in the capital for about half a month. I'll just stay at the shop!"

Adrian said to him, "You're an archmage! Even if others knew you're a magician, it wouldn't matter. Haven't you seen how many magicians there are among the undead?"

Hill said, "I don't want to depend on grandfather from the Perelast family."

Adrian fell silent.

At last, Fran said, "The worst that could happen to them is being banished along with Edward. They're surely arranged to stay outside the Northern Border, which doesn't involve us."

Adrian said, "We'd end up being neighbors with Charles as well."

Hill said, "So, at a time like this, they'll definitely try desperately to find help. I really don't want to deal with them."

Adrian asked, "So what do you plan to do? You can't just ignore the situation completely."

Hill said, "I'll wait until their fate is decided. If they really do get kicked out of the country, I will return the money the earl gave me."

He turned his head toward the window and softly repeated, "In the name of my father, I bestow upon you 20,000 gold and leave all of my mother's dowry to you."

Adrian said, "Give him 50,000. Just think of it as if you also bought the pioneering decree for the baron's domain."

Hill nodded silently.

Fran said, "Let's drop Hill off at the shop first, it's on Maple Leaf Street." Turning to Hill, he said, "It's the biggest commercial street in the baron's area, suitable for you to go to."

Hill nodded, "Thank you, grandfather."

The carriage quickly arrived at Maple Leaf Street and finally stopped outside a three-story building. The white building was a typical commercial house, with the first two floors facing the street entirely made of crystal floor-to-ceiling windows. They were covered by curtains, hiding the rooms from view. The third floor featured two tightly shut windows.

Adrian took out the keys and handed them to Hill, tossing him two rings as well, "Inside are mage-level alchemical goods, all used by me for practice. My teacher thought there was no need to store them in the magic tower's warehouse. You can sell them; consider it pocket money from me."

Hill said indifferently, "Don't treat me like a child."

Fran, handing him a ring with a smile, said, "Alright, you can account for these. Whatever you sell, you get one layer of profit."

Adrian chuckled with his right hand covering his mouth.

Hill didn't want to talk anymore: Wait until the undead come in, and you'll see that even trash can be sold!

The result of too few mages is even fewer alchemists. Unless one has extraordinary talents or is very wealthy, it is hard for people to continue under the circumstances where basic alchemical goods are difficult to sell.

But high-grade alchemical items are in high demand and short supply. Unfortunately, outsiders don't understand transactions between mages at all, which is why the earl had no idea he once had such a wealthy wife.

Fran walked away with Adrian while Hill watched the carriage depart before turning his gaze to Maple Leaf Street.

It being autumn, the red leaves were fluttering down beautifully on Maple Leaf Street. Hill nodded in satisfaction, confident that players would come for check-ins.

He nodded to the neighboring shop owners who came out to look and entered the shop.

Indeed, Fran's shop was lavish. Hill looked at the alchemical shelves; these high-level goods only needed to place items in the box under the shelf, and the goods that were laid on the platform, shielded by magic crystals, would automatically replenish when one was taken.

Hill put elemental ore in each shelf and used his own magic power to activate the array on the shelves.

After arranging the goods by medicines and sundries, the description of the items could be seen on the platform's magic crystals just by infusing them with magic power. Hill checked the shop's defensive magic array and cleaning array's crystals, filling them up before easily heading upstairs. His main intention was to find bargains from the players. Opening just one floor was enough; the second floor could be used as a warehouse.