“So? In the end, you chose my territory?”
If there were words on his face, Lind should be written all over with speechlessness.
“What else? If it were you, wouldn’t you be curious? How is the descendant of your mother’s first love doing now?”
Tia was quite calm, shrugging her shoulders.
“That’s true, but my family tree was destroyed along with the original territory, and this Ror is a first name, not a surname, right? It could just be a coincidence in pronunciation?”
“A descendant of a prince in hiding who took their ancestor’s name as a surname to conceal their identity is not impossible, right?”
Tia added, “I saw this in a knight’s novel.”
At this moment, Lena suddenly stepped forward in shock and said, “Makes sense!”
“No, no, no, why do you think hiding your identity would involve using your ancestor’s name as a surname?”
“Isn’t it?”
The two asked simultaneously.
For a moment, Lind doubted if he was mistaken, after all, he was the one who had traveled through time, while the two in front of him were the local natives, though they didn’t seem very reliable.
“Alright, I initially thought it was unlikely, but after seeing you in person, I have my doubts.”
Saying this, Tia carefully examined Lind’s appearance.
Lena immediately became alert and hugged Lind’s arm.
“Okay, okay.”
Lind waved his other hand, ending this farce.
“Regardless, it’s all ancient history now, and I’m not interested in being a descendant of some old empire prince, but I still want to welcome your arrival, princess of the elves.”
Some rangers came with Tia, most of whom were some curious elves filled with interest in the territory.
Especially the huge obelisk in the territory.
With the mindset of since they were already here, Lind wanted to arrange some work for these elves, such as the construction of this obelisk.
Elves are said to be a magical race, so they should be good at constructing the arcane arrays that allow everyone to use magic.
But the reality was completely different from what Lind had imagined.
Precisely because elves are a magical race, they had no interest in the arcane arrays and magic triggers that allowed everyone to use magic.
However, due to their natural affinity for magic, elves could quickly point out errors and flaws in the magic flow of the arcane arrays; but when it came to building and compiling these arrays, they found it daunting.
Elves are not good at using runes, or rather, they are not good at using magical tools, although they can still learn gradually through their long lifespan, they are far less adept than humans, who can use runes with great proficiency.
Lind stroked his chin and pondered. With their long lifespans, excellent affinity for magic, and valuing agreements and contracts, alongside their faith in the Nature God, elves lead very simple and plain lives. It seemed that elves were naturally suited to be regulators and maintenance personnel.
If given the chance in the future, Lind even considered hiring some elves specifically for the maintenance of the obelisk.
Out of courtesy, Lind still took these elves on a tour of the territory. Most of the elves had a good impression of Lind, after all, he had actively adhered to the contract between humans and elves after conquering the western part of the Northern Border.
Such an honest human lord was rare. Tia had encountered many humans who were initially very humble but immediately became detestable once they gained power.
But Lind was different. Even when the territory only had one Graywhite Territory, Tia had already had contact with Lind through the rangers who delivered magic stones. Lind gave the impression that the greater the power he held, the more cautious he became.
The human side of the Giant God Mountain Range was now almost completely under Lind’s control. He could easily learn from previous human lords and entirely ignore the contract, paying less or not at all, and could even completely stop the magic stones that the Graywhite Territory was supposed to deliver, since Lind no longer needed the elves’ protection.
But Lind chose to find the rangers and renegotiated a contract. Of course, this wasn’t to continue being a pushover; after all, the territory beneath the Giant God Mountain Range had become fundamentally unified, and paying third-party fees to the elves was unnecessary now, so this contract was more about determining trade terms between both parties.
“You actually have designated holidays in your territory?”
Tia strolled alongside Lind in the main street of the territory. Today just happened to be a day of prayer, and the streets were filled with children running around in robes, while adults gathered in the church for their weekly prayers.
“Every human lord I have met wishes for their slaves to work even while sleeping at night. I’m not joking; we’ve really seen your alchemists study such potions, but in the end, the outcome was worse than that of a slave, so it was abandoned.”
Is there really such a potion? Lind guessed that those capitalists from his past life would love it, after all, under industrial conditions, how expensive can a vial of potion be? But Lind believed that proper rest could improve production efficiency, even if only in theory—he preferred to believe in this theory.
“Even machines need maintenance; how much more do humans? According to the Church’s teachings, people should set aside a day every so often to pray to the Goddess, reflect on their lives, and atone for their sins.”
While greeting the subjects on the road, Lind answered Tia’s questions.
“And you? Do you have a holiday?”
Tia stopped and looked towards the church not far away.
“You have neither faith nor holidays, right?”
Lind didn’t affirm or deny this. In reality, the upper leadership of the territory hardly took breaks. In this era, high-level intellectuals were still too rare; most could barely read and write and perform arithmetic.
As a result, power in the territory was still largely concentrated in a few hands, especially after Isha left, the grassroots pressure had almost entirely fallen on Caroline’s shoulders. Though it seemed she not only had no objections but seemed even more excited…
But this was certainly not a long-term solution. Lind recruited a large number of old nobles and clergy to form a bureaucratic and interest group; however, even though Lind had lowered his standards, many old nobles still could not complete the mental transformation and would impatiently want to restore their former status once they obtained power.
Now, the examination system had officially started to enforce, and those old nobles who wanted to engage in speculation were unlikely to hold on, as he heard many were preparing to flee to the neighboring territories. Lind chose to turn a blind eye as long as their family assets were left behind; everything could be discussed.
In the end, most elves were still assigned to assist in the operations at the obelisk. After all, even though they were not good at building and compiling arcane arrays, they could help correct mistakes and verify calculations, not to mention that most elves were genuinely curious about this obelisk.
When Lind returned to his residence, Lena came over, sniffed around Lind, and asked, “Brother, are you really not a descendant of the old empire?”
Noticing the subtle change in address, Lind quickly reassured her, “If my family were truly descendants of the old empire, how could we have ended up like this? It’s all Lucanus’s nonsense.”
“Then why do I always feel like the elves are especially attentive to you? They even sent that elf princess to our territory?”
Lena, for some reason, displayed extraordinary insight in this regard.
“You must explain this to me today. Come on, let’s go inside!”
