After reading the letter, Tarnes folded it and only then noticed that although the letter looked worn on the outside, there were no torn places, indicating that the messenger had done his utmost to preserve this letter.
He looked at the middle-aged man who had handed him the letter. His face was full of hope, his hands nervously clasped together.
Tarnes asked: "How many people came with you in total?"
The middle-aged man's face showed confusion as he looked back: "Well, I'm not too sure, maybe about twenty or so people. After all, only seven or eight households from the village escaped completely. Other families from the village might have had scattered survivors who followed along, then some fell behind on the road, so we should be what's left."
Tarnes sighed inwardly, knowing he couldn't count on this middle-aged man who didn't even have the concept of statistics for this question. He looked at Nepheli Loux beside him: "Nepheli, go get Roderika from Haight Fortress for me. Have her register these refugees and also record what each of them is skilled at."
Nepheli Loux nodded but didn't leave immediately, instead continuing to ask: "Is there anything else?"
Tarnes thought for a few seconds and quickly nodded: "Also have Irena prepare some liquid food for these people and arrange lodging for them—near Mills and his group."
"Understood." After confirming Tarnes had no other instructions, Nepheli Loux left.
Then he looked at the middle-aged man and said: "Since Gandalf requested in his letter that I take you in, and you've indeed managed to persist in coming to such a distant place, I have no reason to refuse..."
The middle-aged man immediately breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Tarnes' words, his face showing joy.
"But."
Tarnes' tone shifted, making the middle-aged man anxious again.
"But the prerequisite for me taking you in is obedience to my territory's laws. Joining my territory means you will no longer suffer from hunger and disease, but equally, my territory has no need for idle, ill-behaved fellows." Tarnes emphasized his warning.
The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly in fear: "Please rest assured, my lord. We are all willing to obey your commands."
Tarnes took one last look at the middle-aged man, then instructed the knight captain: "Stay alert and protect Roderika's safety."
The knight captain stood at attention and said loudly: "Yes, Your Majesty Tarnes!"
Tarnes smiled at the knight captain and patted his shoulder armor, leaving under the knight captain's excited gaze.
He now needed to prepare to summon the remaining personnel for the Lonely Mountain expedition and check whether the Golden Tree had sufficient grace reserves.
This wasn't because Tarnes hadn't previously thought of summoning candidates for the Lonely Mountain expedition, but rather because, not knowing when this expedition would begin, he had prioritized using the Golden Tree's naturally accumulated grace to summon more Lands Between soldiers and residents.
After all, Tarnes' territory could be described as vast but sparsely populated, which was one of the reasons why Gandalf had suggested those refugees come to Tarnes' territory when he rescued them.
Because Gandalf had also seen that Tarnes' territory's biggest problem was too few people.
This was also why Tarnes had never summoned other cities or strongholds from the Lands Between during all this time.
Even if he summoned them, there wouldn't be enough people to live in them.
Even now, Stormveil Castle still had over sixty percent empty houses, while Moen City had only just been filled a few days ago.
Just as Tarnes was returning to Stormveil Castle, Guy, the merchant from Lossarnach in the Kingdom of Gondor, or rather, the "noble" merchant Guy, arrived within Moen City's boundaries.
Though Guy's face didn't show much change, his heart had been completely shaken.
What mainly shocked him was the towering twin Golden Trees standing firm within distant Stormveil Castle. He had never seen such massive trees, never seen giant trees that could emit such radiance, and had never seen surrounding forests and grasslands all turned golden.
Guy didn't consider these golden forests and grasslands to be the normal withering colors of autumn, because these plants obviously still radiated vigorous life force, very distinctly different from the aged yellow of decay.
No wonder those Dwarves called this place a land covered in gold.
Guy thought to himself, looking at those golden leaves hanging from branches with eyes full of curiosity.
He wanted to know if these leaves were truly consistent inside and out, all turned to gold.
Kenneth Haight, as a very observant noble, naturally noticed Guy's expression and said with a smile: "If you're curious whether these plants are real gold, Mr. Guy, I can only regretfully tell you they are not. They have only changed to golden color, but are essentially still plants with no other changes."
Guy understood, feeling slightly disappointed inside, though it quickly disappeared.
If this really were "gold everywhere" in the literal sense, as a noble with business and economic acumen, he would probably worry about the monetary turmoil such an influx of gold would cause in his own country.
"Of course, you may pluck a leaf as a memento. Since you're not the first person to be curious about the plants in Tarnes' territory, I can completely understand your and your caravan members' curiosity," Kenneth Haight added with a chuckle.
Hearing this, Guy cleared his throat and also smiled: "Then I'll respectfully accept your kind offer, Lord Kenneth. But from what you said, have others come here before?"
After all, he had come with a mission—to establish good relations with Tarnes, this newly appeared wizard, at least to become familiar, so that if his family encountered any troubles in the future, it would be convenient to seek help. It was like leaving himself a way out.
Therefore, when Guy heard Kenneth's words just now, he thought someone with the same idea as them had already come before him.
Kenneth Haight was also perceptive and naturally knew what Guy's question was really about, so he maintained his kind smile: "You misunderstand, Mr. Guy. You are the first human caravan to travel all this way from Gondor. Both His Majesty Tarnes and I greatly admire your perseverance—finding this place was not easy."
Guy felt relieved and complimented Kenneth Haight: "Not at all. If it weren't for Lord Tarnes' Golden Tree being faintly visible from a distance, we wouldn't have found this place so easily."
He first sighed, then said with a smile: "Minhiriath has been untrodden for too long, but being able to meet Lord Tarnes and such a kind noble as Lord Kenneth Haight makes this journey very worthwhile."
Then Guy saw a group of Dwarves chattering loudly as they passed in front of the caravan, laughing and greeting Kenneth Haight before heading into Moen City.
Guy looked at Kenneth Haight and asked in surprise: "Were those just now... Dwarves?"
Kenneth Haight smiled and nodded: "Yes, they're from the Blue Mountains. Because His Majesty Tarnes is on good terms with the Blue Mountains Dwarves, we often have trade exchanges."
Guy's eyes became fervent. He hadn't expected to encounter Dwarves in this remote land.
He had thought this trip might be a loss-making venture just to leave an impression with the new wizard.
If he could purchase some Dwarf-made toys, kitchenware, farming tools, and maybe even Dwarf-forged weapons in this territory, those would be genuinely good items.
This way, Guy could earn several times the profit when he returned, far more valuable than the fruits and flower seeds he had brought.
Kenneth Haight took in all of Guy's expression changes, but he didn't say much. As long as prices were reasonable and fair, how Guy conducted business was his own affair.
After leading Guy's caravan through Moen City for a while longer, two Elves, a man and woman, elegantly approached and bowed to Kenneth Haight.
After noticing Guy's caravan, these Elves also nodded slightly to this human as a greeting, then maintained their elegance as they left.
Now Guy's eyes changed from fervent to shocked. He rubbed his eyes, and after confirming that the departing figures belonged to two Elves, he looked at Kenneth Haight in amazement: "Lord Kenneth, I didn't see wrong just now, did I? Those two were Elves?"
Kenneth Haight stroked his short golden beard and replied with a smile: "You didn't see wrong, Mr. Guy. Those are Elves from Rivendell. His Majesty Tarnes is on good terms with Lord Elrond of Rivendell, so Elrond sent some Elves to live in His Majesty Tarnes' territory."
Actually, these Elves had originally planned to stay only a month or two before leaving, but as the Golden Tree grew ever larger, these Elves had come to love this giant tree deep in their hearts and were somewhat reluctant to leave.
Anyway, Elrond hadn't set a return time for these Elves who stayed behind, so the Elves in the Golden Tree territory tacitly avoided mentioning going back.
They wanted to stay here until they were satisfied, then return to Rivendell.
Time was what Elves cared least about, wasn't it?
Guy didn't know how to express his inner shock to Kenneth Haight, but after a moment's thought, he showed a flattering expression and asked: "Lord Kenneth, do the Elves also do business with Lord Tarnes?"
Kenneth Haight replied: "They're different from Dwarves. Whether they buy or sell depends entirely on their mood. You might be able to buy a longsword forged by an Elven master today, or you might wait a month without seeing Elves enter the city. Don't think about bothering these Elves—they're all friends of His Majesty Tarnes. If you're discovered engaging in such behavior..."
Kenneth didn't finish his sentence, but Guy understood his meaning and nodded repeatedly: "Understood, understood, I get it, I get it."
For Guy, having this possibility was already an unexpected windfall.
While Guy was amazed by encountering Dwarves and Elves, Tarnes had also arrived at the courtyard where the Golden Tree stood within Stormveil Castle.
Since this time's enemy was very clearly a massive evil dragon, Tarnes' candidates were naturally those friends who had experience fighting dragons.
Among them, only two had challenged flying dragons together with him and won: one was Bloody Finger Hunter Yura, and the other was Dragon Warrior Igon.
Especially Igon, who had challenged the king among flying dragons, Raging Dragon Bale, together with him.
Igon was already on Tarnes' summoning list.
But Tarnes was uncertain about summoning Yura.
Although Yura had faced Flying Dragon Agheel together with him and successfully hunted this flying dragon.
But he had a very fatal problem.
That was that Yura, like Edgar's daughter Irena from Moen City, had his body used by the Frenzied Flame's minions after death.
Moreover, if Tarnes remembered correctly, Yura's parasitic condition was somewhat more severe than Irena's.
At least Irena hadn't shown any physical abnormalities while alive, while Yura had let out painful groans after a battle, cursing the parasite within his body.
Throughout eight cycles of reincarnation, Tarnes had always wanted to save this Bloody Finger Hunter who had helped him many times, but all attempts ended in failure.
But this time, with the Elden Ring in his possession, perhaps he could summon this old friend and remove the parasite from his body?
However, this was only a possibility. Matters involving the Frenzied Flame required caution.
Tarnes wasn't clear about what exactly the Frenzied Flame parasite in Yura's body was or when he had been parasitized.
He only knew that after Yura sacrificed himself in battle against Purblood Knight Eleonora, that damned Frenzied Flame parasite occupied Yura's corpse and called itself Shabriri.
Tarnes' consciousness lingered on Yura's name for a moment, but ultimately chose to give up and didn't summon him.
What a pity.
Tarnes thought, not only feeling sorry for Yura, but also for the strength of Eleonora, this Purblood Knight.
Because this Purblood Knight wore Dragon Knight equipment, which was also a symbol of dragon-hunting expertise.
But this was only regret. After Yura and Eleonora, he still had another candidate with higher priority.
And this candidate's strength far exceeded Yura and Eleonora—provided someone could help suppress the scarlet rot on her body.
A golden needle about the length of a finger somehow appeared in Tarnes' hand, and then he focused his mind on the Elden Ring to perform the summoning.
Grace gathered, and the figure of a slender but strong one-armed woman appeared.
She had flowing crimson hair and wore light green clothing.
She looked around somewhat confused, then when she noticed Tarnes approaching her, the woman's golden eyes lit up: "Tarnes, where is this? Uh..."
Sudden severe pain interrupted the woman's words, and her body began boiling with scarlet mist.
But at the same time, Tarnes quickly moved close, the golden needle in his hand piercing her body, and the scarlet mist gradually calmed and disappeared.
Tarnes stepped back and showed a gentle smile: "Welcome to your new home, Millicent."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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