Vol 8 Chapter 3 (1/2)

ACT 3: Secrets of Silvana Castle

“Ha……”

Ark sighed with a pained expression It was because of a NPC naht’s sleep, he connected to an office in Silvana It was a luxurious office overlooking his estate! It was the first time Ark realized that the estate was his After all the suffering he was able to sit down and relax in a co a Lord Then while he was in a good ed NPC knocked and entered

“I am the Lord’s advisor, Berami”

Beraement and so on……while he was old-fashi+oned about military affairs, his financial style was ht wouldn’t be equipped with the knowledge to handle the castle and its estateSo an NPC who specialized in estateArk didn’t really like Berami And unfortunately his intuition didn’t lead him astray

“Do you like the office?”

“Hmm, it’s not bad”

Ark deliberately answered in a haughty tone Beraers and smiled

“I’e but the castle is a h about that……according to their Majesties’ law, the rights of the Lord have been transferred to Ark-niratulations I hope you last for a while”

The civil servant spoke in an official tone Although there was a slight sense of sarcasm……he was still a civil servant NPC But Ark’s pleasant dreahtmare because of his words

“TheI have to explain is about financial ement”

“That’s right!”

Ark strained his ears and concentrated It was the part that Ark was les before occupying the castle So how et from it? Berami’s explanation continued

“The income for Silvana is earned from the import of alcohol, customs, various taxes and businesses in the territory……so one old”

‘150,000 Gold!’

Ark’s mouth dropped at the astronomical amount That orth 15 billion won in reality! It was more ine that ht not earn that much as an individualHowever he also had to apply medieval economics to New World

‘As the Lord, aold however I like?’

His heart rate sped up and his breathing beca the lottery feels like?

However……Ark’s happiness got water poured on it

“Now I’ll explain the a is that you have to pay a tax to the royal fadoold”

45,000 gold instantly fleay

Ark felt like he was hearing a scam but he made himself calm down

‘I-it’s okay There’s still 105,000 gold……’

However Bera

“By default, you should use the rest of the 105,000 gold for estate s that need to be done based on priority Theis to repair the Defense Towers and castle walls that were destroyed in the siege This is important as a Lord Then……ha, it was neatly sold”

Berami shook his head as if he was irritated However, Ark felt led so hard to destroy it and now he had to use his money to repair it!

“Then there is the monthly salary for the estate’s e soldiers and servants is 17,000 gold The donation to the Shrine of War is 4,000 gold The maintenance of various infrastructure on the estate is 10,000 gold And the castle development fund……”

“S-stop!”

Ark shouted with fright

“What the hell is with all that money?”

Berami retorted with a scornful look

“Did you think the estate is maintained for free? The iteo intodays But as the Lord you don’t have to be concernedI will handle most of it and you will still receive a small salary”

“Then I can use that money anyway I like?”

“Didn’t you know?”

Berami asked with surprise

“Although the kings frodoms authorized you to become a Lord, your actions are still limited You can only use the proceeds from the castle for castle related business As the Lord, you’ll receive 2 of the total revenue of 150,000 gold That is 3000 gold”

In the end the salary for a Lord in Nagaran wasn’t that different froe amountHowever, he had to consider the vast a 3000 gold fro……

“Honestly, at present Silvana is in a deficit Because Sir Alan as the previous Lord started a lot of construction projects He invested a lot in the estate Well, if the facilities were completed then the income for the Lord would increase”

After hearing BeraedHe had thought that he could get profit just fro mistake New World’s system and its NPCs weren’t so easy All his funds from the territory were tied to the estate thanks to the law In other words, he had to invest most of the money into developet a profit in the long term

Currently Silvana was a D class estate Once it develops to a C class then the proceeds would double The Lord’s incoold……so if he developed it to an A class estate then he would get a oldSince one old every month! It was an absurd incouarantee that he could defend the castle for that long

‘Realistically, in would take 1~2 ga of the castle by that much In reality that is half a year’ If I fail to defend the castle in the ood In addition, I also have to consider the e………’

The Lord’s old was not that s Since he couldn’t use old on a siege A ghost guild was e as much as possible And because the Defense Towers and walls weren’t destroyed, he could rush the estate’s developain realised the uselessness of war

‘Anyway, it is impossible for me’

The cost of repairs, food, various potions and hiring ain then it would cost several thousand gold Well, in the last one the old on food, cannon production and so on

He also only used 83 people But if he was a Lord then he needed more money and troops for a war Since Alan had occupied the castle until now, it was clear that he suffered a huge financial loss

‘Since I was never that greedy about it, I can just collect the 3000 gold and leave’

That hat he first thought when he heard about it But the cunning of the Three Kings i paid beforehand, the Lord’s salary was paid afterwards If it was like that……then he would receive the salary one month after he became LordA month was 10 days in reality He would have to be victorious in the sieges that were held once a week in order to receive the salary! If the Lordshi+p changes then he would receive nothing It was a brilliant law

‘Isn’t this like the kings are professional conmen?’

Ark becae next week, he had no confidence about keeping the castleOf course, as the Lord he ht be able to attract allies However, Ark had no funds to hold a siege Who was help a Lord who couldn’t even buy potions? They would rather help the other side to take over the castle

‘If I scrape ht be able to hire some mercenaries………’

He would be driven penniless by that kind of money With no money Ark was powerless to keep the castle

‘But the land is too good to just give up Just like s wouldn’t have known anything about the estate But Silvana’s geographical position aran becomes stable, I can develop it to C or even B class Then the income from the castle would be unthinkable’

If it was like that thenan army of 10,000 people wouldn’t be a dream

‘But despite the castle, I can’t even ask for 1 copper……I would rather Raiden becoinally planned’

Ark felt resentful towards Raiden If Raiden had just followed the agreement then he wouldn’t have to worry about thisThe value of 100 Interold Catapult repair costs 1000 gold Renovation and labour costs for the raccoons 600 gold In total it would’ve been 3,600 gold!

That was more than the Lord’s et a penny of it and the only thing he received was the castle

‘I really don’t have any luck……’

Ark kept on sighing But Beras didn’t matter He extended a thick document

“Then please settle the payement immediately”

“Please come back later!”

After Ark angrily raised his voice, Beraed and left the office His attitude clearly showed that he opposed the appointanized his thoughts for a bit Ark quickly gave up At the thought of dying and losing his ave up

‘It is impossible for me to control the castle next week So I’ll put that problem aside for the moment………while I’m the Lord I’ll do what I can Alan used his power as a Lord to ieon’

It was the objective he had to achieve first

‘But it ht be insufficient Alan is closely related to the Cathedral It is to the extent that the Cathedral secretly dispatched the Holy Knights Alan also disturbed Sid because of his grudge This has become troublesome……’

Ark thought of so and nodded

‘That’s it It is the reason why the Lord of Jackson hesitated to help ular soldiers can’t interfere in Nagaran That also applies to the knights from the Cathedral If I find proof that the Cathedral secretly helped Alan then it is possible to strike a blow to them’

Once the Cathedral is shaken then it wouldn’t be difficult to extract Sid Once Ark deteran to explore the castle 20 knights were kept in the castle so they should’ve left a trail somewhereAnd he found the trail without any difficulty No, it was just left in the open

“What is this?”

Ark muttered with a foolish face Inside the castle a luxurious building had been set upThe building had an atmosphere like a temple and was locked when he pushed the doors

“Ah, that is the Asyeosu Temple”

“Asyeosu?”

Berami explained the history after Ark visited him

“Yes, the Goddess of balance But it is mostly called the Cathedral because it is the ions on the continentThe church of Asyeosu was revived 100 years ago The for to what I heard, the church helped Sir Alan a lot when he was undergoing the ordeals to be recognized as a Holy Knight”

“Then this temple……?”

“Originally it just contained an old statue of Asyeosu After Sir Alan beca the temple”

Ark began to feel suspicious after Berauy like Alan wouldn’t invest money in a temple for no reason

‘Maybe he had to build a temple in order to receive the church’s help If the temple was built then the church would send NPCs for free But……it weighs heavily ona temple in the castle just for some helpers?’

Just as Ark was thinking this

“Apart from Alan, everyone in Dawn Blade was a devout believer”

“What?”

“After Sir Alan built the temple, all of the Dawn Blade coalition lived in the te three days and three nights there”

“What were they doing in there?”

“I don’t know Sir Alan’s co near there Well, wasn’t it to keep a vigil all night? They were always tired after leaving”

Berami answered in a disinterested tone And Ark suddenly saw a flash

Three days and nights praying in the temple? Once the users connected they would spend hours stuck in the templeIn addition, Alan did it as well……No, it was impossible for hiave him all sorts of benefits, it was difficult to transfer those benefits to reality There was no reason to believe in a fake religion in a game Since he built the te hidden

‘If I want to find a link between Alan and the Cathedral then it would be here!’

“Can I enter there?”

“Of course Because everything in the castle is the Lord’s possessions”

It was the first tireat While he couldn’t receive the Lord’s salary yet, he was the Lord of the castle

“But it was locked?”

“My Lord should go to your office safe The keys to all the facilities are kept there Butthe key outside the estate Since the title of Lord was released, the key should be housed there”

Ark headed straight to find the temple key

Clatter, creak……

After he inserted the key the door opened with a massive sound The interior wasn’t that different fro chairs lined up inside with a slightly higher platform at the front

‘What the hell? It’s not hiding anything? Then ere they doing in here?”

He really spent his fortune just to pray to the Gods here? Ark looked around until he suddenly became puzzled

‘Wait Isn’t soe?’

Ark stood in the centre of the temple and looked around Berami said that the Dawn Blade coalition stayed here for three days It was a coalition not one guildIn numerical ter enough for all those peopleEven the commuter buses could only cra Then where did the reo?

‘Are there any other exits?’

Ark searched every corner but nothing caught his eyeAfter a fewthe platforraved on the bottom

Turn your head and bring back the darkness

‘What does that mean?’

Ark looked around the area with a dubious expression However Ark had quite a lot of experience in solving puzzles in New WorldOnce he knew the location of the statue of Asyeosu, Ark was able to understand the phrase Since breakfast had just finished, the h the transparent sThe light was concentrated on the statue’s right side In order words, he had to turn the statue away from the eastOne of the unshakeable laas that the sun always rose in the East! He had to turn the statue to the darkness, which meant to the west

‘Then………’

Ark insolently grabbed the statue’s face and turned it The face turned around just like he expectedWhen he let go asound was heard The platfor into darkness

‘It is a secret passage! The Dawn Blade members went in here!’

There was no need to thinkArk used Eyes of the Cat and descended the stairs

‘Where do these stairs lead to?’

The stairs were longer than expectedIt twisted into a spiral staircase that seeo? He suddenly felt a cool spirit on his skin It wasn’t si down It was like cold slippery tentacles were gripping his body An unidentified fear crept into his mind

“What the? Why does it feel so unpleasant?”

Ark e cave appeared

The Cradle of an Ancient Evil (Special)

You have discovered a cave with a cold chill thatof a host deep inside the intricate rabbed themThe bloody history of this cave isn’t as sie and sinister secrets are hiddenIf you are wise then you should never enter alone

“Dungeon?”

Ark looked at the inforround underneath the castle? He didn’t understand but it would obviously be filled with monsters After he read the description he kneasn’t a low level dungeon

‘But I can’t possibly go back eh my dark attribute bonus will be supplied, I have no inforeon so I have to be prepared’

Ark took out his pot anddish To raise health he made the ‘Abundant Stew,’ ‘Grilled Sility, ‘Shellfish Salad’ to boost defense and so on……after doping Dedric and Deieon

“Dedric, scout the area Deiht beside me”

“Ugh, I feel like this is a bad cave”

Clack clack clack clack……clack clack……