Chapter 221

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After the ceremony, Ming Hu spoke with the nobles for a while, then returned to his office with Alkan.
“Sit down.”
Was it because he was knighted by the Count? Alkan’s tone was different from before. At Alkan’s words, Ming Hu sat down, and when Ming Hu sat down, Alkan opened his mouth to speak.
“What I gave you before. Are you still willing to do it?”
Ming Hu nodded in agreement with Alkan’s words.
“Good.”
Alkan smiled at Minghu’s nod. When he was done, Ming Hu opened his mouth to ask how things were going at the imperial forge.
“Your Majesty, I have a question for you.”
“Question?”
Alkan asked, and Ming Hu continued.
“I’m… I’m a blacksmith in the Imperial Palace Forge, am I not?”
“Hmmm…right.”
Alkan cleared his throat at Ming Hu’s words. He seemed to have already realized what Ming Hu was about to ask.
“I’ve been knighted an earl… can I work in the imperial forge?”
Alkan shook his head. Then he opened his mouth and said
“I know you’re very talented, but as an earl, working in the forge will present other problems. I’m afraid. I don’t think you should work in the Imperial Forge anymore.”
“Oh.”
Ming Hu gave a wistful look at Alkan’s words. The forge was the honey of merit, and it was a shame that he couldn’t use it anymore. Alkan smirked at Ming Hu’s expression and reaction.
“Of course. I’m just not allowed to work in the Imperial Forge.”
“…?”
At Alkan’s words, Ming Hu looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Your estate has a forge, too.”
“…Ah!”
At Alkan’s next words, Ming Hu exhaled with a look of realization.
‘I see you have a forge in your estate…’
The Imperial Palace wasn’t the only place to have a forge. Provinces also had forges, and you could earn merit points in provincial forges.
“Oh, and Baron Magnus’ mansion has been cleared out… are you going to use it?”
Alkan’s words made Ming Hu pause for a moment.
“…That sucks.
I know I won’t have much time to spend in the mansion, but it was too much of an itch to leave it as is.
“I’ll build a new one.”
After much deliberation, Ming Hu shook his head.
“I see.”
Alkan nodded in understanding at Ming Hu’s words. Then, rising from his seat, he continued.
“I’ll see you later, then.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Alkan returned to his desk and began to work, while Ming Hu opened the door and stepped out of the office. After exiting the office, Ming Hu walked down the hallway and opened his character window.
Nationality : Helioca [Empire]
Titles: Count
Age: 22 Occupation: Blood Knight/Strong Smith
Reputation: 4606000 Achievements: 7770
Title: Hidden Hero (Effect: +50k Health, +50k Mana)
Level: 323
Vitality: 18615050
Mana: 2506420
Blood pressure: 7730
Strength : 773030 [77303(+7200)] Dexterity : 61665 Stamina : 62107(+500)
Wisdom: 61310 Wisdom: 61011
Dexterity: 370
Contribution: Elgav – 1000000
“Hmm.
I’ve never created a title before. I smiled as I watched the character window grow in size.
“That’s right. Estates window.”
Smiling at the character window, Ming Hu remembered the activated manor window upon receiving the knighthood and quickly opened it.
1. Territory status
2. Hire NPCs
3. building construction
4. Estates Quests
The Estates window showed a total of four lists. Ming Hu clicked on the first one, Status of Estates.
Siaak
Then a new window popped up again.
“It’s bigger than I thought…
The new Provincial Status window showed a lot of things. First, it listed the cities and towns under Ming Hu’s control, including the number of NPCs living in his province, the amount of taxes collected, and just about everything else. After checking the status of his province for a moment, Ming Hu closed the window and clicked on the second option, Hire NPCs.
Siaak
A new window appeared, but it was completely different from the previous one. The Hire NPCs window lists the professions of NPCs, such as butler and gardener, as well as their stats and the cost of hiring them.
“I just hit hire and I’m hired…?
Ming Hu decided to give hiring a try and looked around to see what NPCs he could hire, but since he was experimenting, he didn’t think it was worth the trouble, so he decided to hire a gardener who would cost 5 gold for an initial hire and 1 gold for a monthly salary, and clicked the Hire button.
Siaak
When I clicked the Hire button, a new window popped up again with a message.
[Please select your employment location].
‘I can choose my employment location…’
When he saw the message and realized that he could also choose his employment location, Ming Hu turned his attention to the selection window.
“So it’s not just Asren.
Asren wasn’t the only city in the selection window. All of the cities and towns under Ming Hu’s control were listed.
‘Gray is… Does gray mean… unemployable?
Of course, not all of the choices were listed, and some were grayed out and unavailable.
“…huh?
As Ming Hu scanned the cities and towns, he couldn’t help but stop when he saw the last name on the list.
“…Palace?
Palace, at the end of the selection window, it clearly said Palace.
“You can’t be serious…
Ming Hu quickly opened the skills window and checked the information on the skills he had gained from capturing the old Prominence.
<Summon Palace
Level : -.
Proficiency : -.
You can summon your own palace in a subspace.
Effect: Summon a Palace.
Mana Cost: 10,000
"Is this it?
It was clear. The palace listed in the selection window was clearly the one summoned by the skill.
'Is this… Can I hire you?
Of course, the palaces listed in the selection window were grayed out, meaning they weren't available for hire. However, it was the gardener who was currently hiring. Since he was a gardener, it was clear that he was gray and unavailable. After looking at the palaces for a moment, Ming Hu looked up again and clicked on the topmost one, Asren.
[You have hired the gardener NPC Ralph].
[Hiring cost 5 gold].
I clicked it, and a message popped up immediately.
"So this is how it works…
After seeing the message and learning how hiring works, Ming Hu arrived at the mansion and decided to take a turn hiring and closed the hiring window.
'Building a building…'
Then I clicked the third one, Build a building.
"As expected.
As expected, the construction window was a system that allowed you to build buildings: mansions, houses, shops, etc.
"All I need is gold and I can build it right away?
It only listed the gold cost, but not how long it would take to build. It seemed like if you had the gold, you could build it right away.
"Great. I'm going to go build a mansion or a bar.
Ming Hu, who was planning to build a new mansion, thought it was a good idea and closed the building construction window.
'Manor Quest. Is it a real quest?
Ming Hu clicked on the fourth and final quest on the list, the Manor Quest.
"…huh.
The Manor Quest window appeared, and Ming Hu was surprised. The Manor Quest window showed a quest, but it was of a different scale.
'Building 200 houses. Carve out the Valguras Mountains. That's a lot of land.
These were quests that would take the average player at least a couple months to complete.
"The rewards are great.
The reward, of course, was huge.
"If only I could do this and not worry about publicity.
Quest rewards included merit by default. It seemed like you didn't need to worry about the achievement if you just beat the quest.
"Oh, my lord!"
Just then, Ming Hu heard a voice, and he closed the window and turned his head toward the source of the voice. Heimer was moving rapidly toward him.
"Hello."
Ming Hu greeted Heimer, who had arrived in front of him and stopped walking. Heimer opened his mouth to say, "Now is not the time for greetings.
"Myung-hoo, we're in trouble!"
"…?"
Heimer's warning of trouble left Ming wondering. At Ming Hu's expression, Heimer continued.
"Now… Someone else is using your seat!"
Heimer's words left Ming Hu a little bitter.
"Did they… move it already?
He had expected someone to take his spot after hearing Alkan's words, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.
"I'm here to say hello anyway.
It was bittersweet, but it was to be expected, and he had come to the forge to say his last goodbyes. Ming Hu smiled slightly at Heimer, who still had the look of a big deal on his face.
"Because I had to quit."
"…What? You're quitting?"
"Yes."
"No, why all of a sudden…"
"Well, he's been knighted, so he can't work at the Imperial Forge anymore, hahah."
Heimer looked puzzled by Myung-Hoo's words, but then he broke into a wide grin and exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're here.
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you. I hope you have a great time and enjoy your future."
"Yay!"
With those words to Heimer, Ming Hu entered the forge. Once inside the forge, Ming Hu looked at his place.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Heimer was right, there was someone hard at work in his place. Ming Hu turned his attention back to Nerfai.
"Ah. There you are, Count, congratulations."
When Nerfai spotted Ming Hu, he bowed his head slightly. It had already reached Nerfai that Ming Hu had been knighted.
"Thank you for that."
Ming Hu smiled at Nerfai's words.
"No, we were rather grateful, and…"
Nerfai's voice trailed off, and he rummaged through a drawer on his workbench, eventually pulling out a scroll. He smiled and continued.
"It's a small gift, but it's mine."
"A gift?"
"Yes, I'm sure you could. I'm sure you can make it."
At Nerfai's words, Ming Hu realized it was a crafting recipe and quickly handed the scroll to Nerfai. A message appeared.
[Recipe: You have obtained an Alcandeum Golem].