Chapter 43: Chapter 42: Perfectly Satisfied

When negotiating a price, one must have patience.

Ronin had plenty of patience. After all, he held all the cards; the advantage was his.

However, he also knew that One Thousand Gold Coins was too high a price. Even if the other party had the money, they likely wouldn’t be willing to pay it.

So he was prepared to slowly lower his offer.

After some back and forth, and two glasses of cold water, the two sides finally reached an agreement—

Gold Coins, plus three male Black Water Buffalo and ten female ones.

Ronin took a pen and signed his name on the sheepskin, a lingering smile on his face.

“Sir, please go back and tell Baron Reisen that I guarantee no one else will ever know about this matter!”

Philton accepted the signed sheepskin and took a bag of Gold Coins from his coat, handing it to Ronin. “My lord, there are Six Hundred Gold Coins in here.”

Apparently, Six Hundred Gold Coins was the most Baron Reisen had been willing to part with.

As he spoke, Philton took out eight more Gold Coins from his pocket and added them to the bag. This was from his own savings, paid in advance.

The moment the money bag was in his hands, long-awaited text appeared before Ronin’s eyes:

[“Prosperous Fortune” achievement unlocked. Attribute Points +20, Energy Essence +40]

“My lord, please count it.”

Ronin chuckled and set the bag aside. “No need to count. I’ve never doubted your credibility, Sir!”

Philton couldn’t manage a smile at all.

Not only had he handed over all Six Hundred Gold Coins prepared by Baron Reisen, but he had also paid 8 Gold Coins out of his own pocket!

“As for the buffalo you just negotiated for, I will send two Followers to deliver them tomorrow.”

Philton cursed inwardly but maintained his composure, bowing. “Well then, I shall take my leave, my lord!”

“Oh, don’t go~”

Ronin grinned widely. “I’ll have a luncheon prepared at once. You must stay, Sir.”

“Lord Reisen is about to set off for Black Python City to celebrate Count Ossen Hyde’s birthday. I must hurry back to report, so please don’t take offense, Lord Ronin.”

In truth, Reisen had left that morning. Philton was just looking for a reasonable excuse to get away.

However, this excuse put Ronin on alert.

’This Baron Reisen has connections with the Border Count’s Hyde Clan?’

’I’ll have to be even more careful in the future.’

Ronin didn’t insist further. “Since that’s the case, I won’t keep you. Please give my regards to Baron Reisen!”

After Ronin’s enthusiastic farewell, Philton and his Attendant Knight left the castle, mounted their horses, and galloped away.

Ronin also breathed a secret sigh of relief.

After this incident, he could at least be sure that Sain Territory wouldn’t cause him any trouble for a while.

Moreover, Baron Reisen was off to Black Python City for a birthday celebration and probably wouldn’t be back for ten days or even half a month.

Even if they wanted to move against him, they would have to wait for Reisen’s return. Philton was, after all, only a Knight and couldn’t make the decision to attack a fellow noble.

“Congratulations, my lord, on acquiring such a large sum of Gold Coins!” Macken said with a congratulatory smile.

“Haha, it’s all thanks to our good neighbor!”

Ronin was overjoyed. “Have someone inform Bob and Marseille that they don’t need to deliver the letter anymore. Oh, and remember to burn that letter.”

“Yes, my lord. I’ll go inform them right away.”

“Wait.”

Ronin called out. He summoned Macken’s Attribute Panel and spent all 40 of the Energy Essence points he had just obtained, raising the other man’s Knight Level progress to 135/200.

The sensation of growing stronger filled Macken with a sense of comfort. He hadn’t expected to get another boost just a few hours after the one he received this morning.

“Thank you for your gift, my lord!”

Ronin clapped him on the shoulder. “Go on. Train more Professional Knights like David for me.”

He could add points to Macken and Elron, but he couldn’t do the same for David and his group.

They had to become Extraordinary Professionals through their own efforts, and the same was true for raising their strength level.

Therefore, David and the others needed to train, spar, and fight to grow stronger.

Macken could serve that role perfectly.

“I will do my utmost!”

The Guard Officer gave a solemn Knight’s salute, then left, full of motivation.

Meanwhile, Ronin summoned his Attribute Panel, adding points to himself as he walked toward the study.

After the exhilarating rush from the surge in his Spiritual Power, Ronin’s Mage progress reached 126/150.

’I just need 24 more Attribute Points, and I can break through to become an Intermediate Professional!’

After receiving the Gold Coins from Sain Territory, Ronin now had three ways to obtain Attribute Points:

Monthly Check-in, First-Time Top-Up Bonus, and Achievement Master.

Over the next six days, he could only get 6 Attribute Points from the Monthly Check-in.

Completing the First-Time Top-Up Bonus would not only let him summon a Professional Knight with Proud Sun Talent but also grant him a deluxe gift package, which Ronin estimated would contain Attribute Points.

Besides those two, the last one was the Achievement Master interface.

Ronin looked at it.

The [Prosperous Fortune] achievement, just like the [Slaughter Expert] achievement he had completed earlier, had advanced to a new stage after he cleared the first one.

[Prosperous Fortune]: Obtain 1000 Gold Coins at one time. Reward: Attribute Points +50, Energy Essence +100

Compared to the first stage, this one required Ronin to obtain 1000 Gold Coins all at once.

Although Ronin’s current savings already exceeded One Thousand Gold Coins, that didn’t mean making money was so easy.

Of his Gold Coins, over nine hundred were “gifts” from Wushan Castle, Lake Town, and Sain Territory. The rest had all been taken from people he killed, like the Mage Pedro, or Princest, for example.

As for money he had actually earned…

Sorry, not a single coin.

“No matter what world you’re in, you always have to make money. What a headache!”

As far as Ronin knew, Mountain Forest Town had only one source of wealth: selling grain.

According to Philton, a significant amount of grain had been sent to Sain Territory over the years.

Now that Ronin no longer needed to pay “tribute” to Sain Territory, he could naturally sell the surplus grain produced each year.

But grain wasn’t nearly as profitable as the horses from Pasture City or the Black Water Buffalo from Sain Territory.

Selling ten thousand pounds of barley would only earn about 30 gold coins.

To make 1,000 Gold Coins at once from selling barley, he’d need to prepare 330,000 pounds of it.

Where would Mountain Forest Town get that much barley to sell?

Clearly, that path was a dead end.

’I wonder if Mountain Forest Town has any specialty products!’

Arriving at the study, Ronin sat down and searched through the books on the desk (of which there weren’t many). Disappointingly, Princest had not left behind any writings about the products of Mountain Forest Town.

’I need to tour my territory.’

Ronin had already decided to inspect his territory within the next couple of days. At the same time, he also planned to recruit Civil Servants from within Mountain Forest Town.

At this stage, he could lower his requirements for the Civil Servants. They didn’t need any administrative skills; they just needed to be able to convey his intentions and conscientiously complete the tasks he assigned them.

’Whether they are Peasant Slaves or Free People, as long as they are literate and have a bit of logic, they can apply.’

Ronin planned to have Chahar post the recruitment notice for Civil Servants after he finished hiring the castle servants.

Besides these two matters, he also needed to make a trip to Pasture City to buy the Magic Crystal Stone before Baron Reisen returned from the birthday celebration.

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