Chapter 324 - Evergreen Village 5
Chapter 324 - Evergreen Village 5
Draco's expression became ecstatic as he nodded rapidly. It turned out that this Treasury also had such a shocking effect! Allowing one to remove Tradeskills by converting them into exp for another Tradeskill or as a Tradeskill book that could be re-learned or sold.
Vishad laughed. "This is not a problem, I can bring you there after you settle into our village, where you have all such procedures taken care of if you so wish."
Draco seemed pleased by this. He then left the office with Vishad leading him and his two buddies along. When the various residents here saw them pass by on the streets, they were understandably shocked.
How did this evil outsider manage to garner the attention of the mayor? Vishad was stern and strict, not tolerating any nonsense, so the people respected him greatly.
There was no way for this outsider and his thieving group to have garnered even the slightest goodwill from him. So how could this be?
The people then gasped. Could it be that these outsiders had threatened their dear mayor or blackmailed him? That was most likely! After all, outsiders were evil people with three heads, six arms, and ten legs who ate babies for a living.
Thinking like this, many flashed a look of pity to the mayor, but none had the guts to even dare approach. All they could do was send their thoughts and prayers over, as it was known that sending one's thoughts and prayers were always enough to resolve critical situations.
How could Vishad not see this? However, he paid it no mind. He understood that he would have to spend some time cultivating his people's perception of these three, otherwise his attempts to curry favor would fall flat.
Soon, Draco and co were led to the extreme north of the village. There, the housing was non-existent, with only a lovely park, beautiful lakes as well as trees nearby.
Along a straight pathway that was sandwiched by some strange azure orbs that functioned as lights, there stood a stately manor. It was around the same size as the one that had previously been in the Vita Settlement, but a bit smaller.
Draco was surprised by this excellent ambiance. It was likely that if the manor had been large or overly extravagant, it would have conflicted with the scenery.
However with it like this, it actually gave this kind of otherworldly vibe that was hard to put a finger on. Draco quickly opened photo mode and took a shot of this.
He was certain that if he uploaded it on the internet, it could win art awards and many photographers worldwide would go crazy. Even Qiong Qi and Clarent were moved.
Seeing their expressions, Vishad was greatly pleased. He then began to explain the status of the manor.
"This is the manor where outsiders are meant to reside when they visit any village. So no matter the village you go to when you enter the inner section there would be a similar manor in roughly the same area, in terms of design and all."
"This is naturally because the Supreme Ancestor wanted to accommodate possible inheritors properly. It wouldn't do to have someone who they intended to cultivate as a successor live a bit frugally, especially with the Supreme Ancestor's status." Vishad said with a laugh.
Draco nodded. He had truly been wondering how such a magical scene could be arranged by mere mortals, but it turned out that it was not. With a Semi-Origin God like the Refinement God doing this, obviously the scenery would be God-tier.
Vishad continued: "Inside are many rooms you can use, with an outfitted workshop if you want to refine your skills, a kitchen, underground brewery, animal pen, garden, and a small mine located on the premises."
"There are also a few lifestyle rooms of entertainment Tradeskills that you can purview at your leisure. Most importantly, there is a well-stocked library with many books that detail unique recipes and designs for almost every Tradeskill from the Supreme Ancestor's era."
Draco heard this and felt his blood boil. "Is it possible for me to take them away?"
Vishad's lips twitched. Just getting the chance to freely read and learn such things at will was a big gain, but the fellow wanted to even carry them away. Vishad suddenly understood that Draco's greed was almost endless.
He wanted to refuse, but his intention was to curry favor. Outright refusing might cause bad feelings to blossom within Draco, so Vishad was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.
Seeing his dilemma, Draco's greed cooled down as he laughed it off. "Just joking."
Vishad sighed with relief. Then, with a light smile, he had a great idea. "In fact, it is not impossible for you to take them away. However, the requirements to do so are steep…"
Draco smirked. "Let me guess, I need to become the inheritor?"
Vishad's face became awkward as his epic reveal was smashed and his plan to motivate Draco went down the drain. "Well… yes, basically."
Qiong Qi and Clarent snickered. How could this fellow think that this was hard to grasp? Obviously if one became the inheritor, forget taking some books away, he would even have the right to carry the entire Treasury away most likely.
Vishad brought them into the manor, where they were received by three maids and one butler. The butler was of the goatman race, and his eyes showed wisdom and age.
The three female maids were all young beauties of the human, birdman, and halfling race. The human race maid looked similar to Slim Fatty in terms of face and height, as well as possessing an average bust and okay h.i.p.s.
Her eyes displayed a warm and gentle light, showing that she had a very benign personality.
The birdman maid though, resembled Keira the Killer Queen. She had sharp, tr.a.p.ezoid like eyes and a slightly hooked nose, as a well as thin pink lips. She was taller than the other women, standing around Draco's height.
Her skin was a light brown color, and her folded wings at her back were dark brown. Her face was angular and she wore a deep frown. Her eyes flashed with a mean and cruel light, just like a hawk eyeing prey.
Her chest was around Hikari's level, meaning that it was exemplary. Her backside though, was almost on the same level as the wood elf girls from the Flora and Fauna quest, making Draco's smile widen.
The halfling girl was around the height of Draco's waist. She had a cute and adorable face, with neatly brushed black hair and light purple eyes that displayed endless naivety as well as cheerfulness.
What was surprising though, was that her chest was on the same level as Sublime Notion and Loving Aunt. Her backside was also quite thick for her height, which made her seem like a stunning beauty who was compressed into a smaller form.
She was basically what Sublime Notion could have been if she wasn't the current master of the Dao of Despair.
All three maids were quite good in their own way. The human one had the best looks, the birdwoman had the best backside and the halfling one had the best bust.
If someone told Draco that this lineup wasn't specifically chosen, he would laugh and beat the fellow to death with a blade of grass.
It seemed as if Vishad wasn't holding back with his intention to court Draco's favor. The goatman looked natural here, but the three female maids looked like they were cobbled together quickly.
Heck, Draco wasn't even sure if they were maids, but normal girls from the younger generation of the village. The human girl looked the part actually, but it was clear that the birdwoman and the halfling were not.
Upon seeing them, the goatman bowed low and very respectfully, while the three maids also made a respectful curtsy.
"Greetings my Lord Vishad and noble guests. Please be welcome to the Evergreen Manor and take a rest." The goatman said.
Vishad nodded and gestured for Draco to enter. He then turned to the butler and the maids, speaking to them sharply. "Make sure to take care of this guest with the utmost care. All of his demands are to be met, whether light or heavy. Am I understood?"
The goatman, the human girl, and the halfling quickly acknowledged. Only the birdwoman had a look of irritation on her face, but quickly gave her assent when Vishad's sharp eyes fell on her.
Not wanting to stay a moment longer as he had to prepare various things to accommodate Draco as well as cultivate him, Vishad resolutely left. Draco mused that the Lizardman was incredibly sharp-minded and astute.
Such a person would be perfect to be the city lord of a High-tier city in the future Vita Kingdom. Draco then turned to the goatman and inquired his name.
"You may call me Hoover, My Lord. I am the steward of the Evergreen Manor, and the maintenance is usually handled by Doris here." The goatman said as he gestured to the gentle human girl.
Doris also bowed elegantly, showing that she had adept training in the matters of interacting with her lord. Her light brown eyes showed a trace of interest and appreciation for Draco.
It wasn't even due to his aura. Draco was naturally handsome, and whether one was male or female, if they saw someone attractive of the opposite s.e.x, they would certainly have some level of interest.
"Hello, my name is Ophie! Nice to meetcha, Mr. Lord!" the halfling greeted cheerfully and cutely. She also gazed at Draco with thinly disguised interest and curiosity.
Draco nodded to her with a light chuckle and also greeted Doris. He then turned to the silent birdwoman who was glaring at him with a slight resentment on her face.
Once she saw that she had attracted his attention, she suppressed this feeling and spoke in a voice that sounded mature for her age. "Greetings, Lord. My name is Natasha."
Draco was surprised. He fully expected this birdwoman to openly display her dislike for him, but she actually pushed it down. He figured that being angry seemed to be her natural disposition, so it couldn't be due to her own values.
In that case, Vishad's position in this village was not simple at all, or probably most of it had to do with the Supreme Ancestor. If the Supreme Ancestor asked them to sacrifice their lives for him, they would do it, much less entertain one outsider.
Still, Draco showed nothing and also greeted her back cordially. The irritation in her heart lessened when she saw that this fellow was not some arrogant prick who would just abuse her due to her beast race affiliation as it was said that these species had a poor standing in the outside world.
In here, there were too many different races for that to matter. Still, Natasha was right, as most of the slaves that resided in the Aether Hall waiting for Draco to seed them were of the beast races.
The Bazaar's inventory was also more than 90% beast races, with the occasional goblins, elves, etc also being sold off. If a beauty like Natasha had existed in the outside world, she would likely have been caught and sold off in quick order.
At this moment though, Draco was less inclined to play around with the maids. Turning to Hoover, Draco asked him: "Please show me around the manor."
Hoover nodded and gestured. "Right this way, My Lord. I shall do this posthaste."
Draco and co followed Hoover around the manor as he showed them the various rooms as well as the duties he and the maids had to perform, as well as the utilities of the rooms in question.
By the time they were done, nighttime had fallen in this inner section. In the outer section there had certainly been day and night, but the cycle was uneven. Draco had known about the passing days thanks to the quest timer and his own internal clock.
--------------------------------------------
Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of chapters for the past two days. I already made an announcement about it on Discord, but I short-circuited my motherboard and had to get it replaced.
I then had to re-install windows - almost forgot to backup the chapters for the novel, would've died if that happened - and finally got everything in working order around 6 pm yesternight.
So today there will be two chapters to make up for the two missed days, and there will be two chapters tomorrow, one for what should have been today's and what would be tomorrow's.