Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 206 - 206 112 Beast Summoning Horn_2

206: Chapter 112 Beast Summoning Horn_2 206: Chapter 112 Beast Summoning Horn_2 If it really wasn’t staying nearby anymore, he could indeed breathe easy while raising the Little Griffin, and the horn could later serve as a territory early warning and time signaling device, effectively functioning like a bell tower, which wouldn’t be a waste of effort at all.

…

After discussing matters, Leon briefly parted with Kovis, asked the servants to heat some water, and went back to his room to wash off the dust from his travels.

He rested for a short while, then took out the gifts he had brought back and went to find Azeryan and the other male servants at home, distributing boots and shoes to each of them.

Before dinner, Olivia also arrived at the house, and on his behalf, distributed the hairbands that had nearly caused a laughable mess among the women.

Watching Little Lina overjoyed, eagerly having Miss Elena help tie her hair and put on the hair accessory, Leon’s gaze unconsciously lingered on the blue hairband at the back of Olivia’s head.

The change in the young girl’s hairstyle didn’t attract much attention.

The locals from Orland naturally assumed that Olivia’s hairband was something she had purchased herself.

The girl, still shy, obviously wasn’t ready to announce her engagement to everyone; she was probably still muddled in her own thoughts.

Leon, of course, wished to consider her feelings and didn’t hurry to find Uncle Bryan to discuss the private engagement with his daughter.

However, if he went by what was said that night, the identity of his unseen father-in-law was likely someone else.

Although Olivia herself was still unaware of the situation.

After the long talk with Mr.

Brian Sr.

that night, Leon learned that although Mr.

Brian Sr.

had treated the girl as his own for many years, he was not her biological father.

And the truth of Olivia’s background…

Leon sighed helplessly in his heart.

It was even more…

indescribable than he had imagined, which made him lament the chaotic affairs of the Royal Family.

If possible, Leon now felt it would be better if the girl never learned the truth.

The next day.

All the heads of the households from the remaining families in Selva Village were privately gathered together.

After confirming the identities of each person to ensure that there was no duplication or fraudulent claiming, Leon presided over and supervised the distribution of the condolence money to each surviving family in Selva.

Even though it was money from disaster, receiving this sum meant that over the course of one night, all the villagers had turned into wealthy households.

One by one, they lined up to register, received their heavy pouches of money, and saw Lord Leon fulfilling his promises; their eyes flickered with complex joy and excitement, as if in a dream.

Nearly three months after the disaster, for these tenants who were almost destined to forever struggle for food and warmth at the bottom, life still had to continue day after day, no amount of sorrow could withstand the erosion of future time and hard work.

And receiving this large sum of money meant that their lives had reached a new starting point.

It was foreseeable that the men who had lost wives and children would soon use this money to remarry and have children, rebuilding families, and the women who had lost husbands and children would do the same.

There would definitely be many small weddings in Selva going forward.

This wasn’t a modern society on Earth where one could live freely on their own; getting married and starting a family more often than not had become a heavy burden for everyone.

In the harsh social environment of this world, akin to ancient times of a past life, being alone without kin or offspring also meant being helpless and weak, unable to protect oneself or one’s wealth.

Leon was indeed inclined to encourage his Subjects to remarry outside the village, to bring in more people.

However, if freewomen and girls wished to marry far away, he wouldn’t play the saint and offer charity; unless the marriage was to Platon or Longka, he would expect the usual Relocation Tax.

But that being said, under normal circumstances, surely no fool would leave the thriving prospects of Selva to spend money on taxes and move to an unknown foreign place, leaving behind the land of their ancestors for generations.

In this era, the dangers of moving to another place were extremely unpredictable.

Besides, a Lord like Leon, who lightly taxed and gave payment and food for labor, not only in Orland but also likely rare across the entire Western Continent.

After distributing the money, Leon didn’t forget to take this opportunity to hold a manor meeting with these newly affluent Subjects, informing them in advance that the village was expanding to build taverns, inns, and other facilities, and was reconstructing the market, providing an opportunity for villagers to join in and invest.

Regardless of whether these villagers with little knowledge understood or not, Leon hoped that some of them would be clever enough to join the plan, to turn their stagnant money into active capital – after all, he definitely wouldn’t swindle them.

The Farolis Family’s construction crew had already started work not far east of Selva several days ago, and people passing through Selva from all directions had come in a few waves, including Soldiers and craftsmen from the eastern camp looking for taverns and village markets.

As expected, they could only return disappointed.

Signs of consumer demand and business development had already emerged, and Leon understood that he could not delay any longer, even if it meant slightly slowing down the progress of the military camp.

After all, there were only twenty to thirty soldiers to spare, and the incomplete barracks could be used while still under construction.

This was just the beginning.

Once the supply base was built and the forest roads were cleared, with the flow of people multiplying, it would be too late to start such initiatives.

If Selva did not take action promptly, these naturally wandering individuals and traveling merchants would autonomously develop around the transfer camp, forming a new settlement.

With such proximity, how could he let the chance to make money slip to others?

After the public meeting was dismissed, the next day, Leon took a few wealthy representatives from Selva’s subjects to plan the future distillery, entertainment, and commercial market housing construction in the eastern forests of Selva.

The southern Nightmare Forest was no longer a forbidding place; for many years to come, there would be an almost inexhaustible supply of forestry resources.

Now, even if the eastern forests of Selva were completely cut down, Leon wouldn’t mind it at all—everything else might be in short supply, but not timber.

There was as much as one could want to the south of Longka and Selva.

In the following days, a team split from the barracks construction site began expanding the eastern part of Selva, making the already bustling territory even busier.

The first to be completed was the watchtower on the North Slope.

The refurbished stone tower not only had new windows carved out on all four sides of the original third floor, but the top also took advantage of the space freed up by the original windmill mechanism to construct a fourth-floor observation tower, making it completely unrecognizable from its original windmill mill form.

A flagpole jutted out from the side of the tower, displaying a drooping black swallowtail flag made of coarse cloth, with the Pendragon Sword Wing Badge fluttering in the wind.

This ensured that every passerby beneath the slope could clearly see to whom this territory belonged.

A massive beast summoning horn was mounted on a wheel frame at the top of the observation tower.

According to the timing of the solar corona and the hourglass, at dawn, midday, and dusk, the duty sentinel would push the horn out of the watch port and blow it with all their might.

Three times a day, the sonorous and prolonged sound, enhanced by a specially designed echo amplification mechanism crafted by goldsmiths, would spread to every corner of Selva.

According to Lokhak, who often traveled back and forth across the territory, he could hear the distant call even in the wilderness halfway to Longka patrols.

If the Death Claw were still active in this region, it would surely be drawn here one day.

Day by day, rotating with his companions to supervise the construction progress of various locations, Leon did not even for a moment cease his relentless magic power training.

February passed quietly and hastily.

Come March, the end of winter in the southern part of Orland was near; although not completely over, the weather had already grown a bit warmer.

Enduring the exhaustion and heavy pressure, Leon was drenched in sweat as he persistently accepted Olivia’s daily encouragement in swordsmanship.

After enduring the beating from his lover, he then used the martial arts skills, tempered as though he had endured years of grueling practice, to knock down all of the increasingly fierce guards.

Unsurprisingly, the last one standing before him was still Zabron, the guard with the best martial arts skills among them.

Leon’s breathing grew heavier.

With a low growl, he unleashed his power, swinging the horizontal slash that he had swung tens of thousands of times before with practiced ease.

Zabron bent forward and moved in, trying to block his lord’s powerful strike as usual.

Boom!

The collision resounded.

A thunderous noise filled the air, causing the grass to dance in disarray.

Zabron, who tried to block with his shield, was shocked to find himself unable to resist and was knocked off his feet by an immense force.

Behind his faceplate, Leon too stopped in amazement at the surge of power he had unexpectedly released.

The heavy-armor-clad giant, like a puppet, was flung several body lengths away, crashing onto the grass with a clang…

…

But Leon swore, with his dynamic vision, he could see clearly.

…his sword.

It hadn’t even touched the opponent’s shield.