Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 75
Moreover, a bishop ranked at least as a count among the nobility.
It meant one was beloved by the gods to that degree, and it also meant possessing power befitting that station.
Tay bowed according to proper etiquette.
“Praise be to life. I am Tay, Baron Maker, administrator of a modest territory.”
Humbly. As humbly as possible.
A Black Mage had come seeking the grand cathedral of Elbera, goddess of life. One misstep could result in expulsion.
Haisian smiled.
“Please, do sit.”
Tea with a subtle fragrance was already prepared. Tay accepted the invitation and took his seat.
Haisian settled herself across from him and spoke.
“I’ve heard many things about Baron Maker.”
‘Rumors……’
Tay remained vigilant inwardly. What rumors could they be?
The nickname Skeleton Baron? Stories of commanding thousands of Skeletal Soldiers? Or perhaps——
The report Haiian had filed?
The mercenary Haiian, who had accompanied him to the Ant Dungeon not long ago, was a priestess of the Elbera Church.
Now that he thought about it, their names were quite similar.
Haiian. Haisian.
Could they be relatives?
Perhaps that was why a response to his request for an audience had come so swiftly.
Tay maintained his smile without changing his expression.
“I hope it was favorable.”
“Of course.”
Haisian likewise maintained her smile.
Behind both their smiles, calculations were being weighed.
It was Tay who spoke first.
“I would like to have priests of the Elbera Church stationed in my territory.”
He spoke plainly and directly. In such an exchange, circling around the subject would only waste time.
“Our population has grown considerably—I would like to invite about six priests. Of course, I intend to make a generous donation to honor Elbera’s grace.”
Donations were a crucial matter. The churches spoke of following the will of the gods, but money was always appreciated.
At that, Bishop Haisian set down her teacup and smiled.
“Since it is a request from Baron Maker, who is helping those in difficult circumstances, we must naturally grant it.”
Tay’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Helping those in difficult circumstances? You mean me?”
Me?
“Are you not giving life and happiness to those in Harundel who had lost hope and merely endured existence?”
Haisian’s eyes softened with warmth.
“That is what I have heard tell.”
She was referring to his policy of resettling the poor.
He had been taking those who eked out a living in Harundel’s slums and providing them with homes, food, and employment—so she was expressing it thus.
Tay laughed.
“Ha ha. I am merely trying to increase my population. My territory is newly established—it is hardly more than a remote mountain holding. Without treating people well, recruiting settlers becomes difficult.”
It was humble, and it was true.
Not so long ago, he had gone to great lengths just to hire a single bureaucrat graduating from the academy.
Haisian tilted her head slightly as she spoke.
“That is precisely why many more choose not to act, despite knowing such things.”
“I am grateful for your generous interpretation.”
“Not at all. Caring for life is the teaching of Elbera, so I am simply pleased to meet someone of like purpose.”
After that, the conversation continued with what seemed like pleasantries.
They praised each other, feigned modesty, and praised each other’s modesty in return—a social dance, yet practical matters were woven deftly between these courtesies.
The scale of the temple. The number of priests. The amount of the donation. The location of the temple grounds. The division of construction costs. The priests’ lodging and living expenses.
In the end, Tay agreed to bear all the costs himself and construct two small temples and one medium temple.
The small temples would be built one each in the two newly developed residential areas, while the medium temple would be constructed at the center of the territory.
And he secured a commitment to have ten priests dispatched.
He had initially requested six, but the number had become ten.
Haisian had suggested the increase first.
Her reasoning was that for a territory housing tens of thousands, three temples would be insufficient with only six priests.
For the church as well, expanding temples was beneficial work, so it became a mutually profitable arrangement.
“I am grateful that the Elbera Church has regarded this so favorably.”
Tay rose from his seat and offered a bow.
“I shall return to pay my respects another time, Your Grace.”
“May the blessing of life be upon you.”
Haisian inclined her head, her smile lingering as she did.
Tay departed the reception chamber. The door closed behind him.
His footsteps faded into the distance.
Haisian remained seated, her smile unchanged.
Steam rose from the teacup, dispersing before her face.
After a long silence, she spoke.
“Indeed……”
Her voice was low.
“The Wedge of Chaos that she foretold.”
The reception chamber was empty. She spoke to herself alone.
“Yet goodness lies beneath it……”
Haisian’s gaze turned toward the window.
Beyond the cathedral’s panes lay Harundel’s harbor, and somewhere past that, the Maker Barony would stand.
A Black Mage commanding thousands of Skeletal Soldiers. One who wielded death itself.
Yet with those hands of death, he was saving the living.
Giving sustenance to the poor, healing sick children, nourishing the people of his domain.
The Wedge of Chaos.
But whether that wedge pointed toward ruin or salvation remained unknowable.
Haisian closed her eyes quietly.
“Elbera, guide me. I shall watch and discern.”
* * *
A blinding white light erupted across the darkened earth.
White brilliance blanketed the blackened soil.
Crack! Crackle!
Death Force burned away and vanished.
Three priests stood before it in a line, their hands extended.
Holy light poured from their fingertips, purifying the soil infested by death.
Where the black earth touched the light, it sizzled and faded in hue.
Black became gray, gray became brown, brown returned to the earth’s natural color—a transformation truly worthy of being called divine miracle.
Tay stood apart, watching the spectacle unfold.
‘Killed two birds with one stone.’
The Undead Field.
Rant had stemmed its initial spread, but to purify it completely, Holy Magic was far more efficient.
Suppressing Death Force with Black Magic and purifying with Holy Magic were on entirely different scales.
From the outset, infernal power and Death Force used in Black Magic were of similar natures.
Suppressing one force with the same kind of power was never easy.
For this reason, Tay thought it wise to secure the temple.
Bringing these priests here had already proven its worth.
Shortly after, one of the priests approached. Sweat beaded his brow, yet his expression remained serene.
“My lord. The purification is complete. The Death Force has been utterly eradicated.”
“Your labor is greatly appreciated.”
Tay bowed with genuine sincerity.
“Praise be to life. We merely performed our calling.”
The priest smiled and returned to his companions. The three walked toward the temple, white vestments billowing behind them.
Two months had passed since Tay met with Bishop Haisian.
Much had transpired in those two months.
He had driven construction relentlessly, completing all three promised temples.
Two small temples were erected in the newly developed residential quarters, one in each district, while the medium temple was built at the domain’s center.
By pouring vast numbers of Skeletal Soldiers into the work, it was finished in two months—a project that would ordinarily have taken years.
Two priests were stationed at each small temple.
The remaining six established themselves at the medium temple.
Today’s purification of the Undead Field was their first official duty performed in the domain.
As Tay watched the priests depart toward the temple, he clenched his fist.
‘The domain is now truly complete!’
A temple.
The presence of a temple in one’s domain was not merely the addition of a building—the temple symbolized the domain’s completion.
It provided healing and blessing, served as spiritual anchor for the people, presided over funerals and weddings, and drove back sickness and curses.
A barony without a temple is scarcely half of what it should be.
In fact, it was peculiar that the Goldmanta Bank arrived before the temple at all.
In most baronies, the temple comes first, but Tay’s territory had the order reversed.
It was likely due to the unusual circumstances of a Black Mage’s domain, but at any rate, things had finally become normal.
Tay surveyed his territory.
The population had now reached eighty thousand.
Every four days, carriages brought paupers from Harundel, and immigrants continued to flow in steadily. Only a short distance remained before reaching the target of one hundred and ten thousand.
Eighty thousand.
Tay understood perfectly what that number meant.
Eighty thousand people in population; ten thousand medium Skeletal Soldiers; one thousand regular standing troops; monopoly on rings; resource-mining dungeons; a direct road to Harundel; and now, a temple as well.
‘At this point…….’
Unless someone possessed the rank of a Great Noble—a count or higher—there was not a soul who could ignore Tay. Whether viscount or baron, among peers of his own rank, there was no one to compare.
The strongest among the lower nobility.
That was where Tay, the Maker Baron, stood now.
Tay looked up at the sky and laughed.
He had come this far from his start as a debt-slave mercenary.
The road ahead was still long.
But surely today he could afford to feel a little proud.
* * *
Finally, the breakthrough to one hundred and ten thousand!
Tay’s territory had become the largest barony among all the barons!
Formidable indeed!
Moreover, he continued to increase his medium Skeletal Soldiers steadily, and the number under his command had reached a staggering fifteen thousand!
Furthermore, recently the Harundel Marquis House had placed large orders for the Skeleton Control Ring directly (with a drawback: obsessive tendencies developed), earning him substantial wealth.
The Harundel Marquis House had even begun placing orders for artifacts that controlled skeletons in bulk.
In the case of rings that controlled twelve skeletons.
The problem was that rings had to be distributed individually to soldiers.
Tactical coordination could become problematic.
That much made sense.
The problem was.
With his current ability, he couldn’t create something like that.
Not unless Mad Engineer reached level five. For now, it was impossible.
In any case, Tay’s territory was flourishing.
Abundant resources were being extracted from the dungeons. The Skeleton Control Rings and Auto-tracking Bone Spears produced in his factories were selling well.
And the reclamation of farmland was progressing tremendously.
He simply poured all the money he earned into developing his territory.
The Black Mage is Too Easy as a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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