Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 232 - 231: Another Kind of Talent

Gawain was quite satisfied with the development of the territory after winter set in.

All the construction projects were progressing smoothly, even faster than expected. The craftsmen had proactively adopted the Magic Web and basic symbols as auxiliary forces in their daily work, which directly accelerated the progress of most projects within the territory. What pleased Gawain even more was the ideological change reflected in this process: ordinary people began to realize the impact of the new "Magic Power facilities" on their production and life, and adapted accordingly. This was exactly the scene he wanted to see in the territory.

Of course, this change hasn’t become widespread yet. Those who can promptly recognize the convenience of Magic Power and apply it to their life and production are mainly various craftsmen. These individuals were already more affluent and knowledgeable in the civilian society, had experience in dealing with aristocrats, and some could even read and write. Naturally, they were more flexible in thinking than ordinary people. As for the rest of the civilians... Changing their mindset to integrate magic into their lives might take some time.

Aside from construction works, another thing that satisfied Gawain was the smooth start in commerce.

Driven by interests, the Kant territory to the north and the Leslie territory to the northwest completed commercial connections with Cecil at the fastest speed. Through the Northern Wasteland and White River routes, mass-produced alchemical potions and basic mining machinery were continuously sent to customers. In return, they brought back abundant money and commercial routes and intel that were more valuable than money.

To Amber, it seemed that money was even more valuable...

In the study of the feudal lord’s mansion, Gawain helplessly turned his head to glance at the half-elf girl who was enthusiastically sticking her head into a money box, sighed, and said, "It’s just the first batch payment for mining equipment, is it really necessary to do this? Aren’t those big boxes in the treasure house in the mountain enough for you?"

"This is different!" Amber yanked her head out of the pile of money with a ’pop’, put her hands on her hips, and looked at Gawain. "This is money we’ve earned! It’s a return! It’s different from money that’s destined to be spent!"

"I just can’t understand your worldview, but money is meant to be spent. Only circulating gold coins are real gold coins, while those in the treasure house are just metal," Gawain shook his head. "And to be honest, trading directly with precious metals really is too cumbersome. When the Cecil Chamber of Commerce’s influence is big enough, we still need to consider a credit currency system..."

Amber’s ears perked up as soon as she heard Gawain’s words, "Are you talking about using paper as money that you mentioned last time? And the process of using exchange tickets to buy things? I don’t want that!"

As she spoke, the half-elf looked up at the sky with a yearning expression at a forty-five-degree angle, "My biggest dream in this lifetime is to sleep on a pile of gold coins. If you turn them all into paper, what about my dream..."

"...It’s not as simple as directly turning gold coins into paper, and are you a dragon? Sleeping on a pile of gold coins without feeling uncomfortable," Gawain gave her a helpless glance and then looked down at a report in his hand, "Hmm... that Patrick is truly talented. He’s already drafted the list of the first batch of distributors and the initial market expansion plan. He’s even drawn a simple radiation diagram based on the map I gave him... Impressive, impressive."

Seeing that Gawain didn’t intend to continue discussing "turning gold coins into paper", Amber casually strolled over to the desk, took a glance at the report in Gawain’s hand, and her delicate eyebrows slightly raised, "Don’t rush to praise just yet. First, think about how you’re going to rally your manpower here—I remember you saying you wanted to build a synchronized intelligence network based on this commercial network. Patrick can solve the merchants’ problem for you, but you’ll still need to set up a team for delivering intelligence. Are you planning to send out the few clerks you’ve painstakingly gathered across the entire southern borders as spies?"

As she spoke, she swayed her head, "I’m telling you, if you really do this, Aunt Heidi will have a fit. She worked hard to train those apprentices to gather enough assistants for herself, and now if someone asks her for people, she’ll lift her Magic Wand and give them a set of ’rest in peace’ moves..."

Seeing the half-elf’s earnest expression, Gawain could confirm that she had definitely been hit by the rod of ’rest in peace’ a couple of days ago.

He shook his head, "In its infancy, this intelligence network doesn’t require such high-end personnel. It’s not easy to train clerks who can read, write, and have sharp minds in the territory. Not to mention Aunt Heidi, even I am reluctant to send them out."

"Ah? So how do you plan to organize intelligence personnel? Are you going to rely on those merchants Patrick managed to persuade? Or count on those big-headed soldiers trained by Byron Kirk and Sir Philip? I’m telling you, those Soldiers are good at fighting but not suitable for this job..."

Before Amber finished, Gawain looked up and smiled, interrupting her, "I’ve spoken to Pittman about it."

"Ah!" Amber shuddered, "What are you trying to find out from that old rogue..."

"You must know quite a few shady friends, right?" Gawain looked at Amber with a half-smile, then pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and started reading from it, "Saint of Thieves of the Southern Border, Tavern Queen, ruler of the bar and card tables, leader of all those who boast in the fields, reaper of wallets and pockets, master of copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins, self-proclaimed Chosen of the Night, person who can drink three barrels of ale without falling, Hu · all in all just super amazing · Amber..."

By the time Gawain was halfway through, the half-elf miss had already jumped up, and the rest of the titles were read while this half-elf bandit was desperately trying to snatch the paper—as it turned out, the one-meter-six Amber was no match for the over-two-meter tall Gawain, no matter how skilled in shadow travel she was, even when trying to leap and grab while almost employing all her shadow manipulation talent, she still couldn’t get the paper from Pittman...

"Who gave you all these titles..." After reading, Gawain casually pressed Amber’s head, looking somewhat helplessly at the half-elf whose face was flushed red, "Your shady friends? Or yourself?"

"Some were given by others, some were made up by myself when I was drunk," Amber, seeing no way to fight back, could only glare at Gawain fiercely, then turn her face away slightly awkwardly, "But can you not put ’self-proclaimed’ before Chosen of the Night? I really am..."

"Alright, alright, you’re the Chosen, you’re the Chosen," Gawain, satisfied, took his hand off Amber’s head and sat back behind his desk, "Honestly, I’ve been curious from the start, with your shadow affinity, stealth abilities, and sleight of hand skills... though some of these skills don’t sound so great out in the open, there’s no denying they are survival skills for ’rats in the sewer’. For someone as skilled as you in this area, how could you not know some friends who mingle in the shadows—why didn’t you mention it at the start?"

"You never asked at the start," Amber pouted, "And like you said, they’re all shady friends, not much to speak of. I used to team up with them to cause trouble when I was roaming around, but after settling down in the old Cecil territory, leading a relatively stable life, I naturally didn’t have much contact with them..."

"By ’relatively stable life’ do you mean committing crimes at a fixed location instead of on the move?"

"Right, right~~"

Gawain: "..."

After a moment of awkwardness, he cleared his throat and brought the topic back, "In any case, I need you to step up and help me gather a group of talents in this area. I don’t care about their background or past, I only require them to be quick-witted, observant, and capable of maintaining basic loyalty and obedience when paid enough. I need you to bring these people to the territory for short-term training."

"When paid enough..." Amber couldn’t help but twitch her lips at Gawain’s straightforwardness, "You really don’t mince words."

"I have no choice," Gawain sighed, "You know the base of the Cecil territory—over eight hundred original residents, nearly ten thousand refugees and slaves, this is the main structure of the territory’s population, aside from the talents we’ve hired and brought over by various means, which are nowhere near enough, I can’t possibly raise an intelligence team from such a territory. And those people you know—they might have questionable character, their past might not be clean, but their survival proves they have a flexible mind and self-preservation skills, and they must be perceptive in their own environments. In this era, people with these skills are not easily cultivated."

Starting from the "rats in the sewer" at the bottom of the social ladder to establish the most primitive intelligence network was a thought Gawain had long ago. He knew these "rats in the sewer" were looked down upon by the aristocratic and even the citizens, but he also knew that those who could survive in such a social environment were naturally the best spies: they were sharp yet steady, cautious yet daring, perceptive, good at observation, and generally had their own information channels, which were often one of their survival means. Adventurous mercenaries moving from place to place would be keen to buy information from the rats in the sewers from various regions, and as long as the money is right, the latter is the most reliable source of intelligence.

These two groups of people, situated at the social edge and bottom, are naturally symbiotic.

Of course, "rats in the sewer" also come with a host of flaws: they’re weak, almost unrelated to kindness, there’s no way they could possess any noble character, nor do they have any concept of loyalty, they can sell you intelligence for money, but they can also sell your secrets to others for money, they’re a group of people almost devoid of morals and discipline, as these things are absolutely useless in their lives.

But Gawain didn’t care—or rather, compared to their worth, these flaws were completely acceptable.

The loyalty of these people can be bought with money, and that’s enough, at least for now.