stonecrandall Page 53
Page 53
"Miss Lani, please stop teasing me."
Unable to refute Arthur's sharp tongue, he shrugged, conceding defeat.
Then, as he opened the jewelry box, he began to explain earnestly:
“Miss Lani has helped me so much, and I am always grateful and will always remember it.”
So, this amulet is a gift I knew I had to buy for you when I saw it at that alchemist's shop.
Lani sensed the sincerity in Arthur's words and was deeply moved. She looked at the jewelry box that the young man had opened for her.
She saw a delicate women's silver necklace placed there.
Upon seeing the silver necklace, Lani felt an inexplicable and intense desire to touch it.
Then, with a dazed look in her eyes, she reached out and picked up the exquisite silver necklace.
And the instant you pick it up.
A strange image suddenly flashed into Lani's mind.
In a banquet hall with a red and black color scheme, a young woman in a gorgeous dress who looked seven or eight parts similar to herself sat at the head of the long table.
The other person seemed to notice her observation, opened their eyes, and looked at her.
Chapter 61 Putting a Necklace on You
After making eye contact with the elegantly dressed young woman in the picture, Lani felt a strange sense of familiarity.
But the next moment.
As the unfamiliar image in her mind vanished in an instant, Lani's thoughts were pushed back to reality.
She blinked her light gray eyes, and her pupils regained their luster.
However, Arthur still keenly noticed the dazed expression on Lani's face a moment before after she picked up the exquisite necklace.
So he asked with concern:
"Miss Lani, what's wrong?"
Lani lowered her eyes slightly and answered him:
"It's nothing, I'm probably just a little tired lately and haven't been sleeping well."
Lani didn't tell Arthur what she had seen, and rubbed her forehead.
Because, in just a moment, Lani could no longer recall the red and black banquet hall and the elegantly dressed young woman in the hall that had appeared in her mind.
She tried to recall, but could only see a blurry scene tinged with red and black.
Immediately afterwards, Lani felt a sharp, piercing pain in her head.
That's why Lani answered Arthur in that way.
Seeing the pained expression on Lani's pretty face, Arthur was convinced by her explanation.
Then, he quickly went over to help Lani up and led her to a chair inside the house.
"Miss Lani, thank you for your hard work and for taking on so many responsibilities."
Arthur learned from Lawson that Lani had made great contributions to the transformation and construction of Frostwind Village and Mist Village.
As the lord of this land, he should have been the one to take charge of these affairs, but in the end, they all fell on the shoulders of this girl who was the same age as him.
Therefore, Arthur couldn't help but feel guilty towards the girl.
As Arthur was thinking this, Lani, who had sat down, extended the exquisite silver necklace she was holding in front of him.
"Don't you like it?"
Upon seeing this, Arthur raised an eyebrow, a rare feeling of unease stirring within him.
He was actually afraid that the girl in the blue dress in front of him would not accept his gift.
But then she looked at Lani.
She blushed, pursed her lips, turned her head slightly, and answered Arthur with a rare stammer:
"Um... I didn't... dislike the little lion's gift."
I just... wanted to know if the little lion could put it on me?
By the end, Lani's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and Arthur had to move closer to her to hear it clearly.
But Arthur's approach made the girl even more shy. She was startled and took a step back, but accidentally bumped her head on the wall.
"It hurts!"
Lani let out a painful groan and touched her head.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lani, I'm sorry to have startled you."
Arthur couldn't fathom Lani's complicated thoughts. He thought he had frightened her, so he quickly stepped back and apologized.
Then, seeing Lani's pained expression as she clutched her head and pursed her lips, Arthur forced a stiff smile and reached out his hand:
"If Miss Lani's head hurts a lot, I can use my aura to help ease your injury."
After saying that, Arthur activated the "Flame Lion Breathing Technique," and a crimson flame wave quickly appeared on his outstretched hand.
Unlike usual, this wave of fire emitted a gentle energy fluctuation.
The butler Leon taught Arthur a simple method to use aura power to alleviate the injuries of others.
"Ok."
Lani did not refuse; she leaned forward, getting closer to Arthur, and then lowered her head.
Looking at the well-behaved and quiet Lani in front of him, Arthur's restless emotions were calmed down.
So he carefully placed his hand on Lani's head and gently stroked it.
The girl's hair gave Arthur a soft, comfortable feel, which brought him inexplicable pleasure.
Soon, under the caress of Arthur's wave power, Lani's excruciating headache quickly subsided like a receding tide.
After wiping away the pain from hitting her head against the wall, Lani once again placed the exquisite silver necklace in front of Arthur:
"Little lion, I need you to help me put this on!"
This time, Lani was no longer shy, but openly expressed her desire.
"OK."
But the girl's directness made Arthur feel uneasy. He couldn't help but swallow hard.
Arthur then took the exquisite silver necklace and unfastened its clasp.
Immediately afterwards, Arthur moved closer to Lani, the girl in the blue dress, and with both hands holding the unfastened silver necklace, lifted it up to her neck in an embracing posture.
When Arthur caught another whiff of the girl's scent, which was almost touching his skin, his anxious thoughts surged, and his hand holding the necklace trembled involuntarily.
Arthur had never been this flustered, not even when facing a powerful enemy, the Tier 3 One-Eyed Wolf.
Lani sensed Arthur's unease and a faint smile curved her lips:
"Little lion, are you afraid I'll eat you?"
"No!"
Arthur denied it and quickly fastened the clasp on the necklace.
After putting on the clothes, he quickly withdrew his hands and then took a few steps back before standing still.
Arthur's insincere manner made Lani cover her mouth and chuckle.
Then she stood up, stood on tiptoe, and tilted her head to look at Arthur:
Do you think this necklace looks good on me?
"nice."
Arthur's competitive spirit kicked in, and he didn't want to appear to be outmaneuvered by Lani, so he pretended to be calm and answered.
Lani pressed further:
"Am I prettier, or is this necklace prettier?"
After saying that, she took the initiative to approach Arthur and bent down slightly, revealing her flawless white neck to him.
Arthur gazed at the vibrant, blooming flower before him, and was captivated by Lani's beauty and grace.
A ripple of emotion stirred within him.
Arthur truthfully told Lani how he felt:
“You’re pretty, but you look even better with this necklace on.”
"Cough cough!"
Arthur's sincere praise seemed to touch the girl's heartstrings as well.
A strange blush appeared on Lani's face. She blinked her bright eyes quickly, seemingly not wanting Arthur to notice, and quickly suppressed her teasing thoughts.
"Little Lion, all the necessary facilities for the forging workshop are now basically in place, and the allocation and mobilization of personnel from the two villages are almost complete."
Lani gets back to the main topic:
"Grandpa Lawson has communicated with Mr. Linton, the former owner of the blacksmith workshop in Frostraven Town. Their main forging materials, common iron and refined iron, are only enough to last for about a month after the Lord's several large orders."
Therefore, they hoped that their lord could provide sufficient funds to quickly purchase a large quantity of common and refined iron materials for the operation of the forging workshop.
Upon hearing this, Arthur immediately realized the importance of the matter:
"Okay, I understand."
Mr. Linton should have long-term cooperative channels for the supply and sale of cast iron and refined iron. Let's go find him now and inquire about the specific details of his purchase.
Arthur highly values the renovation and development of Frostwind Village and Mist Village.
If forming and training a brave and loyal militia was his first strategic step in developing his territory.
Therefore, providing him with the necessary logistical support for military equipment and supplies was the crucial second step.
Chapter 62 The Huge Expenses of the Forging Workshop
It is located in a large forging workshop situated between Rinfeng Village and Hanwu Village.
Mike and Bauer are working together to move a cartload of coal into the workshop.
Mike is from Windwind Village, and Bauer is from Mist Village.
They were both young people in the village and close friends who played together.
Due to the harsh icy and snowy climate, the villages of Linfeng and Hanwu are unsuitable for the growth of plants and crops, and the villagers mainly rely on animal husbandry and hunting for a living.
But hunting results were never consistent, so they grew up in a state of irregular eating habits, sometimes hungry and sometimes full.
Therefore, in terms of overall development level, compared with other villages in the Black Rock Territory, these two villages are the most backward, barely reaching the level of self-sufficiency.
For this reason, the tax collectors of Blackrock Territory only come to the two villages to collect taxes every other year.
But now, Mike and Bauer's village seems to be undergoing a dramatic transformation.
And all of this started a month ago.
At that time, a distinguished knight made a rare visit to this cold and harsh land on a day other than tax collection.
He brought news of the new Blackrock Lord's appointment and a conscription order with generous terms.
The generous terms promised by the knight tempted Mike and Bauer, but they were more afraid of war and death, and also uneasy about the outside world.
So they eventually gave up and chose to stay in the village.
However, several of his peers, who were usually close friends, seized the opportunity and followed the knight away from the village where they had lived since childhood.
A month later.
They returned, without any missing limbs, but instead brought back the corpses of two adult wind wolves.
Mike and Bauer had heard from the village elders that the Wind Wolf was a terrifying, social magical beast, whose adult strength was comparable to that of two young adults.
It is said that a group of less than ten adult wind wolves once easily wiped out a medium-sized village with ten times their population.