City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Endless Work

Nasia and Rosie had designed a system that could make enormous amounts of money in very little time. However, that system ended up giving Richard an unending stream of tasks that he couldn’t help but accept— after all, the number of precious materials used for points was on the rise. They already had enough materials to make three sets of Midren, with seventeen materials that could be used for other grade 5 runes. Every material was priceless, but according to Nasia they all meant nothing unless they were turned into runes and sold.

Even as a workaholic, Richard almost felt suicidal thinking of the sheer amount of time he would have to spend in front of his workbench. He weakly attempted to buy some free time, “Aren’t these arrangements too tight? The dragons could raid us anytime, I still need to battle.”

“No you don’t! You fighting is a waste of time, all those kids focused on points will only complain that there aren’t enough dragons for them to kill. Go make your runes diligently, I’ll take care of the battlefield. You’ll still need to fight once a month, just as a display to the newer members, but outside of that I’ll only call you if you’re needed.”

Richard’s mouth fell open; he simply had no idea what to say anymore.

Nasia then placed a crystal ball on the table, “This is something we made, have a look.”

Rosie poured in some mana, and the crystal shot out a screen of light. It showed the scene of Richard’s battle a few days ago, with some minor adjustments made to cut out periods when he wasn’t acting. It showed the powerful King of Angels leaning against his sword, a footstep in empty space flaring his six blood wings as he leapt a hundred metres in an instant. The divine sword burnt brightly in the breeze, every strike drawing blood as dragon after dragon fell from the skies. He looked like a lord of life and death, his sword cutting through the very void!

He could hardly recognise himself in this battle. Each stance was either calm as a mountain or violent as the sea, but this had never been planned. He only adjusted his posture according to the situation, but Nasia’s capture showed the air of an epic being. At the very least, someone like Philip couldn’t compare. The enormous man only cut down with his cleaver using the same few moves every time, the attacks themselves ugly as ever. However, Richard was showing unbelievable grace, as though the entire battlefield danced to his tune.

“What use is this?” he asked.

A smile blossomed on Nasia’s mask, “It’s to illustrate the situation of the war against the dragons. We’re going to make a hundred or so copies and distribute them to the bigger families in Norland; the crystals will also go with invites to participate and a convenient mention of the reward point system.

Richard felt like smashing his head into the table once more. These two wanted to use the excuse to show off Midren’s power, a gimmick to attract more participants. This was naturally a good thing, but how the hell was he supposed to populate the reward list? He’d die making all those runes!

Thinking of the endless days he would soon be spending at his desk, Richard frowned.

“It goes without saying that the work won’t be done by you alone. Rosie can share a portion of your burden, but her workshop lacks manpower. I think it’s best for you to recruit a few talented mages from the Deepblue, their manufacturing system doesn’t satisfy our needs anyway. Maybe shift it to a faster plane? Goldflow Valley doesn’t seem too bad, they can get their magic crystals right there. All you need is a few offerings to increase the timescale to match Faelor’s.”

Richard thought she was done at that point, but looking up at her he realised she had only paused to take a sip of water. She resumed with shocking speed, “And the broodmothers! You haven’t been using them properly at all. Think about it, elite cavalry warhorses are only level 5, and they can be made by the larval forest. There’s no need for those drones to live long, just five years should be enough. A single horse is worth a few hundred gold, and even at mass we can sell them for a hundred. Ten thousand horses is a million coins; we can make that in a week! The flesh furnaces too, we can tweak them to add simple enchantments. Do you understand what that means?”

Richard didn’t know what to say, but he eventually forced a smile, “How… do you think up such….”

She tapped his forehead, “You’re too simple-minded, brat. If you want to get rich, the heart of one abyssal lord isn’t enough. Earning money needs intelligence! How does someone with two broodmothers end up so frustratingly poor? I couldn’t bear it anymore!”

At this point, Richard felt like blowing his eardrums to escape it all. He almost believed he would have, too, if not for the fact that Nasia could just link to him mentally. He was frustratingly poor? How many ancient families in all of Norland could compare to the wealth he generated alone?

What frustrated him was the fact that she was right. Compared to what this system could generate, the money he had before was nothing. It left him depressed; Nasia’s system could compare with the old dragon’s.

He even understood that he was only a catalyst. Once they had made enough money from the system, they could employ a number of mages and smiths to build a supply base that constantly turned materials into goods and sold them for points. In the future, he would only have to create top-end runes; anything else would be nothing.

“Anyway, you made the piece early and I promised you an hour of rest. Follow me, I’ll help you relax,” Nasia said with a pure face.

……

Richard’s hopes were dashed when he was brought to the makeshift weyr that housed the caged dragons. There were a total of twelve that still refused to yield, and Nasia pointed at them, “Beat them up until they submit. Go ahead once you’re ready, I’ll release them one by one.”

“Why me?” he was puzzled.

“Because you have the abyssal heart. You’re the only one strong enough to beat them up anyway, just go punch around and release the aura a bit, they’ll become docile. Go ahead, you only have five minutes each. You have to get back to work after.”

Moments later, mournful wails resounded throughout the caverns.

……

An hour later, Richard was back in front of his desk, looking at the materials piled next to it. Sighing in resignation, he picked up the pen that wouldn’t leave his side for the next month.

At the same time, Nasia was bringing a group of spectators to the cave he had just left. Amongst them were legends, sky saints, and nobles from the three empires, even a grey dwarf from the Far North. Holding a whip, she was walking around the cave and commenting on all the dragons, “This male fire dragon is extremely strong, and will be able to recover to level 22. This wind female is so graceful, she will make a great mount. And this one is missing a front claw, but it’s a rare space dragon with the thick skin to survive one of Richard’s fists. Now, I know metal dragons have terrible tempers, but this one is meek as a kitten. You, sit!”