After leaving the guest area, Kaito walked straight toward the Vice City Lord's office. His steps were steady, his thoughts focused. This was the moment he had been preparing for acquiring the lands that would become the foundation of everything to come.
When he reached the grand office of Vice City Lord Romund, he didn't waste a single second. Entering directly, he placed his gold on the table and said, "Mr. Earl, here are the gold coins. Please count them."
The simple sentence was enough to snap Romund out of his busy thoughts. The Vice City Lord had been reviewing documents, but now he turned in surprise, staring at the pile of glittering coins that Kaito had taken out in disbelief. Even his secretary, Anna, who had been quietly working by his side, froze with an incredulous expression.
Romund quickly gathered himself. His eyes moved over the pile with practiced sharpness. Within moments, he had already judged the total. "Ninety thousand gold coins," he confirmed.
Kaito gave a short nod. "Good. Then pay the land price for the areas I've marked."
Almost as if on cue, a system prompt chimed in Kaito's mind.
[Romund's favorability towards you has increased to 80.]
The Vice City Lord's expression softened into one of faint respect. He immediately glanced at his still-stunned secretary and spoke briskly. "Anna, hurry and get the contracts."
"Y-yes, Lord Romund. I'll go right away." Anna bowed quickly, flustered but efficient, and hurried out.
As she left, Romund looked back at Kaito and spoke with a polite smile. "Mr. Viscount, to be honest, I thought this would take more time. But you've arrived sooner than I expected."
Kaito only smiled faintly in response.
Fifteen minutes later, the contracts were ready. Kaito signed them one after another. With each stroke of the pen, large plots of prime land in Astralis City transferred into his ownership. By the end, he had secured far better locations, and a far larger area, than he had even dared imagine when first making his plans.
But Kaito wasn't finished.
Once the initial deal for the city lands was complete, Kaito's eyes naturally drifted back to the large map laid out on Romund's desk. His gaze shifted northward, toward the vast expanse of land beyond the bustling districts of Astralis City. This region was clearly marked in distinct colors.
Most of the northern area was shaded in green, representing farmland fields meant for planting crops and supporting agriculture. But scattered among the green patches were areas marked in a different hue, a rich purple. These purple zones stood out immediately. They represented magical fields lands where mana was naturally concentrated, making them suitable for growing magical plants.
Kaito studied them carefully. Some of the green farmland plots already had names written beside them. Certain Viscounts had secured patches, and even one small area belonged to a Baron. Yet despite this, most of the northern territory remained unclaimed, still listed as unowned land.
At first glance, one might wonder why such a vast, fertile region especially one containing rare mana fields was left largely unclaimed. Why didn't Duke Reynard himself, or his powerful disciples, simply take everything for themselves? The answer was something Kaito only knew because of the endless hours he had spent reading the forums in his previous life.
In Glory, as players and NPCs alike grew stronger, their rewards weren't limited to titles, positions, or simple lands. Strength unlocked resources and privileges that others couldn't even imagine. One such privilege appeared when a person reached Tier 5 strength. At that stage, whether player or NPC, they gained the ability to open a connection to a personal subspace.
For players, this process was systemized. Upon reaching Tier 5, a player could open a ten-square-meter subspace, essentially a personal dimension. This space could be expanded by spending gold coins, gradually increasing its size. At first glance, many would think this was prohibitively expensive, but the value of such a resource was beyond measure.
For NPCs, the matter was more complex. Not every Tier 5 powerhouse automatically opened a subspace. Doing so required not only vast resources but also a stroke of luck. Some never managed it, even after decades at Tier 5.
But among the few who had successfully opened such subspaces, one name stood out Duke Reynard.
Kaito knew from his past life that Reynard, one of the most powerful mages in Astralis, had succeeded in opening a vast subspace of his own. Moreover, because of his success, he had guided several of his disciples through the process, and even some of them had also managed to open their own subspaces. These disciples then went on to become the core pillars of the four major Mage Towers that stood in the four regions around Astralis City.
For NPCs, the scale of subspaces was vastly different compared to players. While players began with a mere ten square meters, NPCs who managed to succeed started with nothing less than a thousand square meters. And unlike ordinary farmland, these subspaces weren't just empty plots of land. They inherently carried the mana signature of their owner. This meant that the soil and atmosphere inside these subspaces were already at the level of high-grade magical fields from the very beginning.
For mages, such spaces were priceless. Planting high-level magical herbs inside them produced extraordinary results. Because of this, NPC powerhouses who had subspaces never faced shortages of rare resources. Their funds and supplies seemed limitless. But there was another side to this coin.
Although their earnings were immense, their consumption was even greater. And among all professions, mages were the most resource-hungry. Their cultivation, research, and spell casting devoured herbs, potions, and magical materials at a terrifying rate.
Duke Reynard was a perfect example. As a Tier 6 mage, his consumption dwarfed even that of most armies. Even his disciples, who had reached Tier 5, lived lives of constant demand. Without their subspaces, their research and power would have stalled long ago.
But because Reynard and his disciples could plant high-level magical herbs in their personal subspaces, they became self-sufficient. They no longer relied on the outer world for many of their essential resources.
What's more, within their Mage Towers, there were always mage apprentices and even formal mages who specialized in Botany, an upgraded form of the Farming lifestyle skill. These botany-specialized mages were given tasks to care for the herbs growing inside the subspaces of Reynard and his disciples. It became a form of training and contribution.
In time, even some players who managed to join the Mage Towers were granted rare opportunities to enter these subspaces and participate in maintaining the magical crops. This was how the secret eventually leaked to the wider player base before the players even had a tier 5 powerhouse, in Kaito's previous life. A single mage player, after gaining access to Reynard's magic fields, had shared his experience on the forum. That post had spread like wildfire, revealing to everyone that Tier 5 and higher powerhouses possessed such incredible resources.
That was why, despite the northern region being fertile, it was largely neglected by the Duke and his disciples. To them, these lands couldn't compare to their private subspaces. They had no need for such fields when their personal dimensions already surpassed them in both quality and convenience.
However, neglect did not mean abandonment. Duke Reynard was still a shrewd man. He wouldn't simply give away land for free. These northern region territories remained under his control, part of his domain. Even if he had no use for them, he was more than happy to profit from them.
In fact, when he first enclosed the northern region, he deliberately claimed only the sections richest in magical fields. He avoided pushing too deep into monster territory or clashing with other nobles' claims, but still marked the most valuable land as part of Astralis City's holdings.
Later, when one of his disciples established a Mage Tower in the northern region after reaching tier 5, the surrounding mana density increased dramatically. This shift caused even more magical fields to naturally emerge. With that, Reynard cleverly shared a portion of the profits from selling or leasing those fields with his disciple, strengthening both their positions.