A Demon's Journey

Sean and Gibson continued to observe Azaroth and his retainers every day. They only took a small break for lunch and defecation.

The two were very confident about their stealth so they weren't worried that Azaroth had detected them. Moreover, they also noticed that their target hadn't made any suspicious movement.

His daily life seemed quite average. He got up early and would go to construct an array.

He would return at noon to speak with his retainers and eat food. Meanwhile, Gibson saw that the retainers were barely able to stand on their feet.

The gravity arrays were too much for them.

After the noontime, Azaroth would return to constructing his array while his retainers trained to get used to those gravity arrays. This continued until dinner time.

Currently, Sean and Gibson were together and eating their food. They had to cover up the smoke while cooking the food and make sure it wouldn't give away their position.

It was some rice chicken porridge.

Sean began to talk to Gibson while eating his food, "It's already the fourth day and yet nothing interesting has happened."

Gibson rolled his eyes and replied, "You wanted something to happen? It is good for our kingdom if he isn't involved in some suspicious activity."

"But man. It feels as if there is no need for us here. It's not like we are sending some useful information to the Kingdom. It would make no difference whether we do this job or not." Sean complained while eating.

Gibson sighed out but he didn't reply anything. He was used to such words from Sean. The guy complained about every job they went on.

Even when the job was interesting, Sean would begin complaining about how this job required so much effort and all.

If not for his skills and his coordination filling perfectly with Sean, he would be changed his partner long ago.

Well, if Sean knew what his partner was thinking, he would have thrown that bowl of rice porridge at him.

The two were eating their food when they sensed the presence of some people. The group seemed to be consisting of 20 people or more.

At the same time, Azaroth also sensed these people. He smiled shrewdly 'They finally arrived.'

Azaroth wasn't precisely waiting for these people. He knew some people would come but not their identities.

It was nearly the noontime so Azaroth returned to Kloras Town from the training ground.

Meanwhile, those people met the guards and also saw Azaroth's retainers.

Some people laid their eyes on Yrellea, Laura, and Tiana, and began to rate them in their mind. According to them, they must be mere slaves under the Mayor here.

"The mayor has good taste. I find that golden-haired woman quite attractive." A man who was slightly obese stated as he leered at Laura.

Another man next to him conversed while leering at Yrellea and Tiana, "You need to have better taste. That black-haired woman has a much more seductive feeling while that silver-haired woman seems much more mature."

"You can have the ones you like while I will grab hold of the one I like." The man shrugged while he continued to gaze at Laura.

Laura did sense the gaze of degenerate men but she ignored it. During her time in the prison of the Silent Death Organization, she had gotten used to such gazes.

She felt that it wasn't even worth reacting to them.

Yrellea was the same as Laura. She was also used to the gazes from degenerate men. But the same couldn't be true for Tiana.

She felt very uncomfortable when men stared at her with lustful motives in their minds. She felt like they were going to eat her whole or maybe force themselves upon her.

Soon enough though, Azaroth came out and met up with these people.

Sean and Gibson were both keeping an eye on Azaroth from different directions. They couldn't miss this meeting.

~~

The meeting took held in an open space, with Azaroth's chair on a pedestal and the other attendees' seats on the ground.

Just the fact that Azaroth seemed to be seated on a spot higher than them displeased them.

One of them conveyed those feelings, "Why are you sitting on the pedestal? Do you intend to state that you are above us? You might not know 'Mayor' but we are some famous merchants and agents. Treating us like this might not be a good idea for you."

The other merchants were in agreement with those words but no one spoke out their minds like this.

"Is there anyone else who has the same problem as this gentleman over here?" Azaroth asked the other people who had gathered here.

Even though many of them agreed with those questions, no one spoke up.

Azaroth waited for some time but no one seemed to stand up and agree to those words. He then began speaking while turning towards the man who had spoken his mind, "I will now answer your question. I am sitting on a pedestal because it is a fact that I am above you. Whether it is the social standing or my family background, both are incomparable to any of yours."

Those words were highly provocative yet the men here couldn't do anything but mentally agree with Azaroth.

The truth was revealed. This was a well-known fact! This was the reason they hadn't backed him up before. They weren't idiots, and they weren't easily swayed by their feelings.

"I am Edwin Rhodes, the Mayor of Kloras Town. It is nice to meet all of you here today." With those words, Azaroth introduced himself and also conveyed his identity to these individuals.

His earlier words had already made an effect on these people. They now knew he wouldn't be an easy pushover.

Those who thought they could make use of his young age and fool him were now hesitant. They decided to observe more which was a wise decision indeed.

A man in his late middle age years stood up and began speaking, "I am Jake Stone. I, along with almost everyone else here, heard rumors that a part of the land in this town will be given away for free to anyone who arrives first. Is this true?"

Azaroth nodded his head and explained, "Let me clarify more. The size and location of the land that shall be granted for free will be decided by me. You can request a location but it depends on whether someone else is using it or not. If someone is indeed using it, then I will give it to the highest bidder. And if it's useful to me, then the part of the land will be non-negotiable. If you want more land, you will need to buy it at 1.5 times the base market price. You will receive no help in constructing your house. Also, for the next year, agriculture will be the main focus of whoever lives in Kloras Town."

Many of those who heard Azaroth's speech appeared dissatisfied. It was as though they had arrived with high expectations just to be very disappointed.

Jake Stone was the one who spoke, "I see. Then what land is going to be non-negotiable?"

This was, of course, the question that everyone else was curious about as well.

Azaroth was quick to reply though, "The land in the forests, the center of the town, and the land in the left portion of the town."

In the left portion of the town was the Alpine Gerbil Woods. No one wanted to get their land so close to the forest.

The people were relieved to learn that Azaroth only wanted the territory in the forest, the town center, and the area near the Alpine Gerbil Woods.

It seemed as if they didn't come here for nothing.

When Jake Stones noticed the reaction of his comrades, he frowned slightly.

He then looked towards Azaroth and thought 'He has seized the initiative. First, he gave a description that made it seem as if we all came here for nothing but now, it seemed as if we can indeed get some gains. Now, we can't negotiate the price or the location of the land.'

"Then if I may know, how will Lord Mayor grant the land to us?" This time, another man stood up and asked Azaroth.

He was quite respectful with his speech and was actually one of those merchants who possessed a good relationship with the Rhodes House.

"40 thousand sq. ft," Azaroth spoke, having already calculated everything. This was nearly an acre.

As Mayor of the Kloras Town, he had nearly 20,000 acres of land. Well, if he included the training grounds and the agricultural land as well.

Out of this, Azaroth only wanted houses on just 2000 acres of land. The rest was to be used either for his personal purposes or for agriculture.

He wasn't going to ask them to grow up crops to sell them. He wanted them to focus on agriculture to make Kloras Town independent from the Sinyalian Kingdom to some extent.

They should have means of survival without receiving assistance from the Sinyalian Kingdom.

Once the people here knew that Azaroth was going to give away nearly an acre of land, they immediately stood up and began speaking, "I need one."

"I want one too."

"I don't care about the location, just give me one."

Initially, they had imagined that Azaroth would only give away a small piece of his land but who would have thought it would be one whole acre.

Even though they were all reputable businessmen or brokers, they thought getting an acre for free was a great deal.

"I am pleased with your response. Don't worry, you won't regret it." Azaroth spoke with a cunning smile, "I also have a suggestion for you."

When Jake Stones heard Azaroth, he had a forced smile on his face. He could almost anticipate Azaroth's words because he had used them against other merchants as well but alas, he knew no way to counter them.

"For this one year, just create a building here and let some laborers stay here. As I want to focus on agriculture in this one year, it will help me if laborers are available in the town. In return, I will exempt you from taxes for one whole year." Azaroth's words were rather calm but it sent waves in the minds of the merchants.

None of the merchants here had plans of living in Kloras Town. They had heard that this place was demolished by the beasts sometime earlier. There was no telling when the beasts would attack again.

However, buying land in this place wasn't a bad idea. Particularly when they would receive it for free.

It would also be a great idea to send their laborers here. They could use them to build their mansion or estate.

Jake Stones subtly nodded as he had thought the same.

'He has a good plan. The workers would be virtually free once they had completed their separate tasks. They could then be used by the Mayor if they were paid separately. In this way, he can further expand the town without having to go through the effort of recruiting laborers.'

But now, Jake Stones was stumped. He understood that Azaroth was going to use those laborers to expand the town but then what? Just what was he planning ahead?

"Let's begin the paperwork. Submit your detailed copies of your identities and you can leave. Once I have verified them, I will send the land papers to your address." Azaroth spoke with a calm voice.

Such a scene was expected by all the merchants and brokers and they ordered their servants to pull out the papers from their carts.

The servants were on work immediately.

And in just one day, Azaroth granted the land to 6 individuals including Jake Stones.. The rest of the people who came with them were their servants after all.

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