Volume 53 Chapter 5.2: part2

V53C5P2 - Arpen Development Strategy

'I'll become truly rich selling the lord positions.'

Weed thought but could not say it out loud. He was an outright scrooge to the others but he wanted to remain a good person to Seoyoon. He quickly stirred up a fancier expression.

"There is something called a duty fee when you buy pets."

"Duty fee?"

"It serves as evidence of your intention to take good care of the animal. You never give away pets for free. Also, we need money for the development of the empire. So, lords have to pay up some duty fee, don't you think?"

Seoyoon was head over heels for Weed and was unconsciously ready to accept any fraud he were to commit. She was usually rational and smart but did not question him one bit.

"How much should I ask for duty fee?"

"The more the better. I think we should proceed with auctions starting at a minimum of 1,000 gold. Just as a display of faith."

"I understand."

Weed thought there was no meaning in the starting price. In an auction, what matters is the final price.

'If I sell off the lord positions, the users would likely criticize me.'

This was different from selling equipment earned through hunting. Not just anybody could be named a lord that would govern over cities and villages. Even so, he decided to deafen himself to criticism just this once.

'This is a rare opportunity to score a fortune. You only live once anyway.'

Simultaneously, Seoyoon thought the exact opposite. She had complete faith in Weed's pretext and saw this opportunity to gather enough funds to develop the Arpen Empire.

'We need money to make this world a happier place.'

***

Title: Greetings to all prospective lords of the Arpen Kingdom.

Hello.

I am Seoyoon, serving as a manager of internal affairs of the Arpen Empire.

We have conquered the Central Continent with our strength alone. We need to repair the broken facilities and prepare our defences against the monsters... and we lack the hands.

That is why we require your participation.

You must put the people up first.

You must dream of running a city.

You must have the motivation to shape the future.

These three traits are all you need to become a lord.

We urge to sign up for the Arpen lord seats.

P.S. For those who do become lords, we will be collecting 1,000 gold as duty fee.

For regions with many candidates, we will prioritize those who pay the largest duty fee. The duty fee will be used honorably for the development of the Arpen Empire.

A sincere message posted on the discussion boards of the Grass Porridge Cult.

In order to validate for this post, she posted an image of herself in armor riding on top of Wy-3.

- So pretty... Can someone look like that in reality?

- This face and atmosphere. They assessed that it's unachievable even if you put 10,000 stats into charm on Royal Road.

- Maybe there could be a chance by investing 50,000 points?

- That appearance is not possible even if you are reborn. She's a fairy among men.

- Even the students acknowledged that she does look that way in real life. There were a few photographs of when she attended university in an ordinary outfit. Hah.

- I am jealous of Weed. He's got everything...

For quite some time, comments went on about Seoyoon's beauty.

- By the way, was this post really created by the actual Grass Porridge goddess?

- Isn't that photoshopped?

- It's not possible to tweak that photo. How can you photoshop to this degree of beauty?

- I concur...

- This is a photo of her alone in the sky, so it couldn't have been posted by anyone else.

- That shy V that she made. She is so adorable.

- Ah. I read the content just now.

- This is a lord recruitment post.

- A duty fee of 1,000 gold... The goddess is so reserved...

- Looks like any one can apply, though it would mean an insane competition.

- In reality, the regions that will be decided for 1,000 gold will pretty much be in ruins. There isn't really another option as this is a competition of wealth.

The lord position of the Arpen Empire was a desirable one for just about anyone. There were rumors of Weed wringing the lords, but people did not believe it. No one would willingly give up their position of a lord of Arpen.

Apart from the honor of the position, most fell into the joy of developing villages and cities. Furthermore, this was lord position in the Central Continent, which many including the local citizens were after.

- Should I give it a shot? I have quite a bit saved up... I am a level 480 swordsman.

- I withstood the mistreatment in the Hermes guild. I am going all-in.

- I wish to become a lord of Arpen. I believe it will be an awesome, spectacular experience.

- Should be at least level 500. Or it could be easy competition for the merchants.

- Let's just head over first. This is the lord seat we are talking about!

The lord trend boomed among the users of the central continent. However, the atmosphere of the northern users leaned towards disappointment. The foundation in the growth of the Arpen Empire was the active participation of novice players. However, if the lords are named by how much is invested, these users would not be acknowledged for their participation.

***

Kalis of the Black Lion guild assembled an urgent conference.

"The Arpen Empire is recruiting lords. I think we should act accordingly."

The famous users in the guild like Vindel, Zekt, Probangs, Sien, and Pine were all present. Users that were long absent from the Black Lion guild had returned after the fall of the Hermes guild.

"What kind of response are you speaking of?"

Vindel asked out of curiosity and Kalis spoke with composure.

"Shouldn't we take the Tullen region in the least, no matter how much we need to spend? That is land that has been regulated under our control for a long time."

"That is right. We cannot hand over Tullen to a stranger."

"That is our homeland, we cannot ever leave."

The users of the Black Lion guild each had their say in the matter. In the past, prestigious guilds could take over territories through war. In the Arpen empire, they needed money.

Sien spoke out carefully.

"We were active in the recent battle, so wouldn't Weed-nim hand the Tullen region to us?"

He spoke out of hope, but the surrounding members could not agree.

Kalis shook his head.

"Though our guild fought bravely, we did not play a deciding role in the outcome. It was a battle won over by Weed almost on his own."

"But still..."

"Why would he hand over the Tullen region knowing how much it is worth? I will ask him to provide us some sort of discount. But we know, that is asking for too much considering his personality."

Kalis and the Black Lion guild users were burdened with having to scramble up a considerable sum of money, but thought that the situation was fair. When they were conquered by the Hermes guild, they were forced to leave their homeland and experience all kinds of unfavorable measures.

"Even if we have to pay some money, we will be able to get it all back after we secure the lord seat. We can also certainly establish our base of operations."

"I agree. Lord recruitment is not something that goes on often. If we don't play along this time, we would have to bide our time until the Arpen Empire crumbles or commit to a revolution... We need land to sustain our guild."

The Black Lion guild ultimately agreed on gathering up funds to apply for the lord of the Tulen region. The other prestigious guilds chose to do the same as Kalis. With this, the medium-sized guilds that had existed since the early times all reunited.

They could not give up their dreams of becoming lords and decided to pool all their savings.

***

- Signs of monster waves in at least 50 different locations.

- Unusual activity such as the coastal zones turning red.

- Lafaye received reports from military fortress Lahonia of the Haven Kingdom. The empire that had once ruled the Central Continent had been reduced in territory and population after the Garnav Plains battle and was demoted to a kingdom.

- Additionally, Castle Aren destroyed by Kaybern had a critical impact on the national power!

- The intel network had remained intact, delivering news about the continent.

"The entire continent will be in danger. Monster waves... I never expected this much, but Kaybern may very well determine the fate of the continent."

"Weed's ambition is wavering from the start. This is even before the users return to their homelands. Additionally, there are almost no remaining forces in each city."

Lafaye thought to herself while listening to the users talking through the network.

'If the situation continues down this path, Weed will never be able to stop it.'

There were at least a thousand cities in the central continent alone, and protecting all of them was impossible. The Hermes guild having unintentionally poured all military forces into the Garnav plains left the fortresses and the city walls completely vacant.

If several cities along the vital routes turn to ruins, the monsters will spread like an outbreak through an open wall.

'Kaybern destroying the major cities including castle Evaluk is inevitable. Weed will never be able to manage.'

The influence of the Hermes guild had receded to the Haven regions. Royal Road's best users and lords each had their complaints, but the immediate threat was on the Arpen Empire. A user named Sonia from the intel network spoke.

"Wouldn't the users be enraged against us Hermes guild?"

It was a natural concern as countless cities and the Versailles continent will be destroyed.

Lafaye held back from bursting in an uncontrollable laughter.

"We cannot be hated any more than we already are."

"....."

"This plan was executed fully accounting for the fact that everyone is an enemy. Weed and the other users need to experience failure too."

"Failure?"

"The dark dragon Kaybern will cause significant damage. If the central and northern continents are devastated, people will give up their false hope in Weed."

Lafaye also had carried out her last straw. Castle Aren had been destroyed by Kaybern, but they were caught in a dead end and the situation getting any worse had little meaning.

"We are the ones responsible for this mess, but Weed will be the one that cleans it up."

***

Each broadcast station sent out urgent news of the Arpen Empire's lord recruitment and decided to proceed with live stream.

- At midnight, two days from now they will officially announce the lords at the Earth Palace.

- There are already many users who registered for lord position at several cities.

- Of course. I can imagine the intensity of the competition at the major cities.

CTS media and KMC media collectively signed up for lord positions after an internal conference. In the past, neutrality was demanded of the broadcast stations and therefore, it was a tricky standpoint to be associated with any particular force. Now, technical neutrality was meaningless because the Arpen Empire had conquered the north and the majority of the central continent. Owning a city meant more diverse programs, and due to the competition against other broadcast stations they decided to apply for city lord positions.

- The Black Lion guild announced that they will secure the Tullen region. Oh Joo-Wan-ssi, I think they are turning away others from applying in this area.

- My thoughts are parallel. However, I expect that things will not turn out in their favour

- How so? Even they may be weakened, doesn't the Black Lion guild have considerable amounts of money stashed up?

- That may be so, but aiming for the entire Tullen region is pure greed. The wealthy folks, rich guilds and individuals will also apply.

- The Tullen region used to be belong to the Black Lion guild.

- Past territories no longer have significance as we are now under the governance of the Arpen empire. In the past, there were frequent cases of taking over by force. In the case of being appointed as lord in the Arpen Empire, the lord positions will be maintained as long as there are no concerning upsets.

- So, they would be able to keep their titles without any military power.

- Yes. This is the new order of the Arpen Empire. So, whoever can pay the duty fee which I imagine will turn out to be a fortune, will rise up the to lord position.

(To be continued...)