"Come on, everyone! Climb up to the roof with me!"
The moment Jack saw the situation, he knew the second floor was beyond saving.
He immediately led everyone up onto the roof of the villa.
Some people failed to make it up, while others slipped and fell into the water.
The moment they fell in, they were swept away by the flood.
In the end, only a little over thirty people made it onto the roof.
That was the entire remaining population of Area A1.
Jack felt his heart ache.
Area A1 hadn't had many people to begin with.
Then that idiot Shakun got a bunch of them killed.
Now another flood had struck, reducing the population to almost nothing.
Just over thirty people... what kind of territory was that?
On Earth, even a slightly larger villa might have thirty servants working there.
'No!'
'Once this flood is over, I have to find a way.'
'I have to become the true number one in Area A.'
'Only then can I recover some of my losses.'
According to his advisors' analysis...
The territory that ranked first in Area A would most likely receive the populations of four districts, perhaps even half the entire population of Area A.
The second-place territory would receive the populations of two districts.
As for the last-place territory in the regional competition... it would probably get the population of just one district.
So... he could only win this round. Losing wasn't an option.
Fortunately, the time was almost here.
His alliance with Chomu of Region Ten and Masachika of Region Five had already reached an agreement.
Each lord would send one expendable agent. Whether through assassination or some other means, they would eliminate the members of Ethan's lord alliance.
Masachika of Region Five would kill David of Region Two.
Chomu of Region Ten would kill Luna of Region Eight.
As for him... he was naturally responsible for killing Ethan of Region Seven.
The expendable agents delivering the Death God Cards to Region Seven should be arriving soon.
Most likely... once this flood receded, he'd be receiving good news.
"My... My Lord!"
Just then, a servant suddenly cried out.
Only then did Lord Jack snap out of his thoughts.
He looked up and saw a gigantic wave over ten meters high surging straight toward the villa.
———
[Region Seven, Ethan's Territory]
At this moment, Ethan had no idea that the flood-making artifact he had personally sent away was now wreaking havoc in Area A1.
Of course... even if he knew, he would wholeheartedly approve.
Ethan had already arrived at the third residential building.
As soon as he reached the entrance, he heard Guard Three and the others arguing with Mr. White's people.
"If you won't let us build the inn, then let us go home!"
"That's impossible. Until our Lord returns, none of you are leaving!"
"Not leaving? Then are you going to compensate us for our lost wages? Do you have any idea how much us dwarves earn in a day? Don't be shocked when I tell you, ten Dragon Coins! Got it?"
"I don't."
"You can wait for our Lord to come back and explain it to him!"
"Hah! A mere gatekeeper like you probably has no idea what a daily wage of ten Dragon Coins means. Let me put it this way. One Dragon Coin can buy ten grass cakes to fill your stomach, while ten Dragon Coins can buy a hundred grass cakes! That's a lot, isn't it?"
"We don't eat grass cakes."
"Then what do you eat? Don't tell me you eat meat?"
"We do. We eat meat every meal."
"I think you're just making that up!"
The more they talked, the louder the argument became.
Just then, Mr. White's voice rang out, "Alright, alright! Let's all get along. Peace! Peace! Chief, if you don't mind, I'd be happy to treat all of you to an Ice Gallbladder feast. They're all fresh, top-quality Ice Gallbladders. You know what they usually sell for in the city."
"Mr. White, this isn't about Ice Gallbladders. You hired us to build an inn for the lord of this territory, along with hot spring baths, leisure halls, and other supporting facilities. But not only has the lord failed to show his face, we've even been locked up here. What kind of treatment is this?"
"Please don't be angry. Perhaps Lord Ethan had something urgent come up. I believe he isn't the sort of person who disappears without explanation."
"Hmph! If there really were an explanation, then why hasn't he shown up yet? He hasn't even arranged a meal for us, and instead left us with a gatekeeper who does nothing but brag."
Ethan walked over.
Only then did he see that the group confronting Guard Three consisted of bearded dwarves less than a meter tall, with oversized heads and sturdy bodies.
"My guard wasn't bragging."
Ethan stepped forward slowly and looked at the dwarf leader wearing a horned helmet.
"We really do eat meat every meal. Besides, what's so unusual about meat?"
"Oh? Another braggart?", The dwarf chief burst into laughter, "The Misty Forest is full of danger. If you want meat, you've got to fight carnivores. With your little body, are you trying to tell me you can handle those beasts?"
"Wouldn't you just end up as their snack?"
"Chief!", Mr. White hurriedly tugged at the dwarf chief's leather outfit, looking embarrassed, "This is the Lord I told you about before. He's also a Junior Mage."
"Uh..."
The moment the dwarf chief heard the words "Junior Mage," he immediately shut his mouth.
Anyone living on the Mist Continent knew... how powerful mages were.
As members of the dwarf race who had always lived at the bottom of society, they naturally didn't dare offend such an exalted existence.
"I'm very sorry, Lord Ethan," Mr. White quickly explained, "This is the chief of the dwarf tribe that I invited, along with the dwarf engineers."
"Good. I wanted to ask you the same thing. What's going on here?"
Ethan looked puzzled.
He had assumed Mr. White would have left long ago after the Polar Night ended.
He hadn't expected him to stay this whole time, let alone somehow bring back a whole group of dwarves.
And now they were talking about building an inn?
"Come on, let's go inside and talk."
Mr. White quickly stepped forward, grabbed Ethan, and excitedly led him inside.
"You have no idea! Because of the Polar Night, I couldn't set out these past couple of days, but I still kept asking around for news from the main city. And do you know what I found out?"
"Wha—"
Before Ethan could even finish asking "what," Mr. White blurted it out himself.
"The Magic Tree behind you is actually one of the top ten Magic Trees on the Magic Tree Rankings. And there's a grand Magic Tree promotion event coming up. No matter which city they're from, anyone who places in the top ten of the Magic Tree Climbing Competition will receive an unbelievably huge reward."
"So?", Ethan was still confused, "What does that have to do with you bringing the dwarves here to build an inn?"
"It has everything to do with it," Mr. White said excitedly, "Because only the top ten Magic Trees are qualified to host qualifying competitions for the Speed Tree-Climbing Competition. In other words, we can take advantage of this opportunity to heavily promote our leisure town. Then we can make a fortune from this event."
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