Chương 98: 97: Weston, News

Colin and I made exceptional time on our way to Weston using a mix of riding and jogging. We approached the gate guards just after noon. They let us in, and we went straight to town hall to request an audience with the mayor. We told his clerk it was an emergency, and it was only a short while before we were brought to the mayor's office where he and Castell waited for us. As soon as we were led into the room, Mayor Evans greeted us, smiling.

"Have you heard the good news?" he asked.

"The Territorial Army defeated the amassed goblin army six days ago!"

"Well, that explains the attack on my homestead." I said, my voice deadpan. Evans' face went white and his smile fell.

"Is your homestead okay? Was anyone hurt?" I took a deep breath and said, "No one died. But a man lost his eye. Some buildings were burned, and I lost a bunch of my corn. Oh, and one of my tractor treads was badly damaged. I'll need oil to make more rubber."

"Damnit!" Mayor Evans said.

"It's going to take weeks to get more oil for you! We should have kept some in reserve. At least no one died." I shrugged.

"In hindsight, I agree with you. But we needed the fuel for the tractor after we got done with planting," Captain Castell said, "It sounds like your defensive measures were inadequate. The Territorial Army won, but a sizeable portion of the goblin army survived. They've split up into hundreds of small groups. It's going to be a mess for a while." I paled, thinking about what that could mean for us.

"The squad is extremely powerful, but there's only five of them. Rupert said I need to go the rune route with my Wizard class. Their Shamans were able to disrupt the runes without breaking them. His path doesn't let him notice that." I continued on, "How long ago did you get the news?"

"Only yesterday," said Evans. He turned to Castell and said, "Can you spare more militiamen? Are there any more dockhands or laborers you can trust?" Castell nodded.

"I shall speak with Johnstone about bringing some of his men in."

"That would be great," I said.

"How soon can I get people out to repair my buildings? I lost the barn and a bunkhouse. I'd like to add a few more cabins too."

"How are you on funds?" Evans asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"I still have enough I could buy a couple more plots even if the crops failed this year, thanks to the reset." Then Evans asked, "What about Quest XP to give out?" I still had over 2, 800 homestead XP banked, and I was set to add 25XP per month for each additional plot I had purchased, and I started doubling my level XP for every level over 20. That gave me 355XP per month to hire workers. Farmhands and Farm Mistresses both cost 20XP per month.

Specialist classes were usually around double the XP per month, but the only specialist class we needed was a blacksmith.

"I'm good. I get 355XP per month." I said.

"I'm currently only using 140XP per month. That leaves me with more than 200XP free." Evans looked at me as if he were worried I'd be upset about his question.

"How would you feel about hiring a few more Craftsmen full time? They would serve as good extra help. We can make sure they're trained militiamen. If you are already planning on spending the gold to expand your housing situation. My clerk, Charles, has a nephew who was recently married. He lives in Riverton but just finished his apprenticeship and needs somewhere to begin work." That sounded good and reminded me to ask about classes.

"Yeah, that'll work. I'll take a Craftsman, as well as any other tradesmen you can think of. Maybe someone who has a Distiller subclass? In my world, we use potatoes to make vodka. Mix it with some berries and it's pretty good. I'd also like to ask about getting some classes for my people. If we're going to have a real Craftsman, I have a man who would like to be his apprentice." I handed him the scroll from Tieg, then said, "And Tieg said to ask for a Scout class for Colin." I didn't mention my feelings on that.

These men wouldn't be likely to care one way or another about that.

"Also," I continued.

"Rupert said I need a Mana Disruption skill, and are we ever going to get the normal class skills that usually come in the spring?" Mayor Evans grimaced.

"I can give you the Mana Disruption, and the Scout class. The capital hasn't sent us any of the usual skill scrolls. I think they've been scared they'll be lost. But I do have some in my discretionary stash. What do you want?"

"I see," I said.

"How about two farmhand scrolls, a Craftsman, and a Butcher. I would like Beekeeper for myself." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The mayor sighed.

"I can do everything but the Beekeeper. I shall try and get one for you and add some extra for the town to your order. But if you request something that needs more river barges, you had better order it now. They're unlikely to send another convoy any time soon. Your oil has to come, so we can probably put together one convoy to allay suspicions. I'll put out a notice to the town. If things work out, expect your goods to be here in around two weeks." I nodded, feeling relieved. I had to ask Castell a final question.

"Captain, what was the point of this invasion? I understand they could have won if they'd attacked a day earlier or later. But, once they saw our defenses, they should've retreated, or kept us penned in and ravaged the countryside. Once they lost, they definitely should've retreated over the mountains." Castell, his face as calm as ever, said, "If you are able to ascertain the reason, I would appreciate it if you would bring said reason to our attention."

He hadn't been acerbic to me for quite a while, so I was put off by this response. I took a calming breath, then addressed Evans.

"Care to venture a guess?" Evans shook his head.

"Anything I say would be wild speculation. However, we are worried they were forced over by the orcs as a way to judge our strength."

"Well," I said.

"If that's the case, let's hope they decide we're not worth the effort to attack again."

"Indeed," said Evans. After that, I was dismissed and told to give my requests to the mayor's clerk. I was going to ask about his nephew, but thought I'd better wait until the mayor confirmed the plans. He gave me the Scout scroll, as well as my Mana Disruption Scroll, which I read immediately. The description said: Mana Disruption - This skill allows you to disrupt an enemy skill or spell for 1, 000 mana.

In order to use this spell, you must target an enemy mage who is using a skill or spell, and focus on that mage. Once you cast Mana Disruption, they will become unable to cast that skill or spell for 30 seconds. They are not refunded the mana they have spent to cast a spell or use a skill. You may use this skill as long as you have 1, 000 mana. There is no cooldown. This was a heck of a good skill for someone like me with no offensive magic.

If I'd had this during the attack, I could've disrupted that last Shaman, and then Rupert could have taken him out. I was more than a little pissed at Rupert right now. He'd done a poor job at really teaching me to be a Wizard. This was a skill that the mayor already had, and one I could easily cast with my big mana pool. I'd need to have a talk with Rupert about doing a better job moving forward. Along with the scrolls, I got two boxes of a dozen earth runes that I'd be using as soon as I got to level five.

Then I ordered five farmhand scrolls at 250 gold each, and then a Craftsman scroll for a thousand. That was steep, but I wanted to keep Zack and his wife. A new contract would help ensure he stayed. The Farmhand scrolls would be helpful, and they were far cheaper than the actual Homesteader scrolls. I would splurge there for any of my men who didn't get a homestead in the lottery this fall. I also bought myself a Beekeeper subclass and five beehives. They came with a colony already attached.

I'd bought Colin a Butcher subclass last fall, but if he was going to be leaving one way or another, I wanted someone else around with it as well. If Laeth wanted it, it would be his. It would be the least I could do after what happened to him. I paid for the repairs to my buildings for the Order Craftsmen who already lived in town. I would wait and have Zack and the new guy actually build the new cabins once he got here. By the time I was done, I was left with about 19, 000 gold.

That was still an absurd amount of gold for this world, but it was crazy to think I'd spent more than 80, 000 gold in under a year. That amount of gold would last a family of four a lifetime without ever working again. Colin, who had stayed quiet the entire time we were in the meeting, finally spoke up.

"So I am getting that class."

"Of course," I said.

"Did you think I wouldn't ask for it?" Colin's cheeks reddened, but he didn't respond. I took a deep breath, then said, "Let's get food at the inn, then we should go to the guild hall and buy the seed. We can come pick it up ourselves with the new horses and wagons, or see if the Craftsmen could bring it with them when they come out to fix the buildings." As we were walking across the square, Priest Lewis saw us and waved us down. I looked at Colin and said, "Why don't you go to the inn and order us some food.

I'll talk to Lewys." He nodded and kept walking while I made my way over to the smiling man.

"Mr Jacobson," Lewys beamed. Did you hear about the good news?" I nodded and said, "If you're talking about the defeat of the goblins, I did. Unfortunately the homestead was attacked the night before last. Probably by one of the splinter groups." Lewys gasped and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"We had one man lose an eye, but otherwise nothing that can't be replaced. I would appreciate it if you could help Castell find more men for us. I think we'll need the help. Men with their wives is fine. Evans says he has a Craftsman in mind. I don't want to steal too many more men from Weston. That might be suspicious, but everyone you've thrown our way so far has been a good choice." He nodded vigorously.

"Of course John. I swear by the System that I will find you some good men and women to send your way." We discussed what classes I'd want to bring out. Maybe a second Craftsman, as well as the Distiller, and maybe even a Lumberjack. I told him if they were all married, the more the merrier. I was growing ever more confident I wanted to build my own little village out on the frontier. We might even fortify the barnyard area. Once we were done, I made my way toward the inn.

As soon as I pushed open the door, I was greeted by Ben's booming voice, "I hear you're a man who is in need of a beer!" I couldn't help myself. I laughed. Then I shed a tear or two. I was stressed and emotional, but Ben knew how to cheer me up. He saw my face and couldn't help himself.

"More people should cry when I offer them a mug of this amazing brown ale."