My territory is filled with block creations.

Chapter 21 Autumn Wind Town

And so, throughout the day, under Alex's supervision, Thorne hand-wrought out all the parts of Waterwheel No. 2 using wooden boards.

By evening, the rain had subsided somewhat, and the two of them, using two round stones to shield themselves from the rain, went back to their respective houses.

The heavy rain didn't stop until the early morning of the next day, and the slight heat of summer was immediately suppressed by the downpour.

Thorne, upon getting up and opening the door, instinctively stuck his foot out of the threshold and stepped down.

With a soft "plop," a muddy, sticky sound reached Thorne's ears. A minute later, the person in question sat obediently on the wooden planks by the river, silently washing his shoes.

"Eh~"

The meaning of that sigh was very clear.

If they were in such a sorry state in the village, then Lester and Doug, who were traveling as merchants, must have been even more disheveled.

If those two people involved find out...

What could they say? In fact, they weren't exactly in a sorry state last night.

Autumnwind Town is arguably the most prosperous town outside of White Sky City, the garrison city of the northern border of the kingdom. Perhaps due to its special geographical conditions, the farmland around Autumnwind Town is the earliest to ripen in the entire northern border.

This is also the origin of the name Qiufeng Town.

In this northern land, the first autumn wind always blows from Autumnwind Town, which brings many benefits to the town, such as a larger population, a richer treasury, taller city walls, and more cultured people than ordinary towns.

Even the Adventurers' Guild, which is usually based in big cities, unexpectedly set up an office in Autumnwind Town to make it easier for the town's residents to entrust adventurers with tasks.

This convenience isn't just for the residents of Autumnwind Town; residents in other places can also enjoy it if they're lucky, such as Lester and Doug.

Of course, this convenience wasn't free. At least for Green, who had long been famous in the Northern Adventurers' Guild, he felt sorry for Lester and Doug, so he gave them a horse to ride so they could reach the main road of Autumnwind Town sooner. He should also receive a corresponding reward, such as two rolls of wool cloth that they were carrying.

The fabric is soft and clean in color, and it feels warm to the touch; it's clearly a high-quality product.

According to the merchant leader named Doug, it was made by a machine invented by their village lord.

But the village behind the forest east of Autumnwind Town? Strange, wasn't that village completely destroyed because of the previous undead calamity?

It seems that not only was the village not destroyed, but a strange lord also came, and it appears that the village, which was half dead, has actually been revived by this lord, all thanks to this roll of cloth in his hand...

Hmm, he seems like a nice person. The main thing is that this fabric is really good. Mr. Loren should like it. What did he say to me not long ago?

Oh, right, the winter clothing trade. Although I don't know why Mr. Loren thinks everyone is going out in winter clothes instead of staying home to warm themselves by the charcoal fire this winter, I'm not cut out for business, so I won't think about it too much. Anyway, he'll definitely need it, so I'll just bring it over when I hand over the mission.

And so, after the three of them entered the gates of Autumnwind Town, Lester and Doug nimbly jumped off Green's horse.

Green was also eager to return to the Chamber of Commerce to hand over the mission, but he still reminded Lester and the other man of something.

"After entering the city, remember to hide all your valuables and put some silver coins in your pockets. If you are questioned by the patrol team, give them one, or give them a roll of cloth, otherwise you may get into trouble."

After he finished speaking, he rode his horse and gradually disappeared into the dense crowd on the main street of Qiufeng Town.

Lester and Doug naturally chose to heed the advice and eat their fill, since the latter had actually begged for food in a big city many years ago and was more familiar with the ins and outs of this matter.

Just as the two found the market, stood in a corner, and began to hawk their wares after neatly arranging their cloths on the ground, Green arrived at a manor in the inner city of Autumnwind Town.

The guard on guard saw his face and immediately opened the manor gate. And so, Green arrived at the manor study with unimpeded access, where he met the man who had once been kind to him, Mr. Loren, who was also the president of the Golden Harvest Merchant Guild.

"Ah, you're back. You have no idea how happy I am to see you come here first, instead of the Adventurers' Guild." Mr. Loren, who had an arrogant, golden mustache and looked to be in his forties, immediately stood up and said this when he saw Green walk in.

"Your business is definitely more important," Green said with a smile, pulling a roll of parchment from his pocket and spreading it on Mr. Loren's desk.

When Mr. Loren saw that Green had gotten straight to the point, he suppressed his joy, sat back down in his chair, and stared at the roll of parchment on his desk.

It was a map showing the general topography of the entire northern border of the Kingdom of Tyren. In the very center was the garrison city of the northern border, White Sky City. To the northeast of White Sky City was Autumn Wind Town, and further east of Autumn Wind Town was the Northern Mountain Range.

This northern mountain range is a figure-eight shaped forest, formed by two large, circular forests overlapping each other. And just by passing through the relatively weaker point where these two forests overlap, you will reach the hometown of those two merchants.

But none of that matters. What matters is that Green marked a red X heavily in the semi-circular forest on the North Ridge.

"I have investigated and found out that there is indeed an iron mine in the Upper North Ridge. However, when I got there, the mine had been occupied by a group of goblins and turned into their nest. Judging from the size, there should be no less than a hundred of them."

After Green finished speaking, Mr. Loren casually waved his hand: "Those are minor issues. With you here, a mere hundred goblins are nothing to fear."

After he finished speaking, he leaned back in the leather chair behind him with some relief, his good mood even making him hum a little tune.

Seeing that he was in such a good mood, Green decided to add fuel to the fire. He took out the roll of wool cloth from the bag on his back and placed it on the desk.

"I think this is much better than the fabric from any cloth factory in White Dome City. I think you'll like it. Don't you happen to have that winter clothing trade plan? Maybe it will come in handy."

After Green finished speaking, Mr. Loren simply reached out and touched the fabric, letting out a soft "Hmm!" that clearly expressed his admiration.

"It's really good fabric, and it looks like it was machine-woven. Which fabric factory is it from?" Mr. Loren asked.

"Let me think... their village should be here."

As he muttered to himself, Green picked up the quill pen from Mr. Loren's desk and drew a dot on the east side of the weak point in the North Ridge, which was the location of Thorne's territory.

Seeing this, Mr. Loren, who had been humming a tune happily, immediately lost his cheerful mood and even looked listless.

There was only one thing on my mind.

Why isn't that village of the dead completely dead yet?

The iron ore that originally belonged to them now seems to have lost its ownership.

Because of some old, trivial matters. Back when Qiufeng Town was first being built here, there were many surrounding villages specifically responsible for supplying grain to Qiufeng Town.

In order to legalize the exploitation of grain, Qiufeng Town allocated a lot of unimportant land to those villages as legal compensation, even though that land was completely useless.

At that time, the Upper North Ridge, teeming with wild beasts, poisonous miasma, swamps, and goblins, was assigned to the village that Green marked on the map at that time.

Although the village has long since lost its name, embarrassingly, legally, the upper half of the forest in Beishanling has always belonged to them, including the mine.

This made Mr. Loren, who had thought the upper forest was already ownerless, sigh helplessly. He didn't get a share of this free mine, but in return, he could still own the mine if he paid something, it just wouldn't be a freebie.

Then he had to think about it. What's that saying again? As long as the bottom line isn't too low, there's always a way. After stroking his mustache for a couple of seconds in the office, he decisively came up with a solution.

Since this village of the dead isn't completely wiped out, why not just make it completely wiped out ourselves?