"What happened?" Christian’s voice came from a distance.
"Blavi, take care of them." Anfey raised his voice. "Ok, everybody, mind your own business. If you have done everything, go rest early."
Everybody left. Doris heaved a sigh, and then she was pulled away by Suzanna. Christian landed from the air next to the dwarf bodies on the ground. His brows snapped together. "What happened?"
"They were trying to escape, but got hit by Blavi’s magic," Anfey said.
Christian slightly shook his head, but did not say anything.
"Christian, it is getting dark. Go get some rest. Don’t make yourself too tired," Anfey said quietly.
"What to do? Someone has to take care of them, right?" Christian did not buy what Anfey said.
"Capable people usually take on more tasks than they should," Anfey smiled.
"Forget about it." Christian was a little pissed. "Don’t find excuses for your laziness."
"I know I cannot manage it," Anfey said.
"I was just like you a long time ago." Christian suddenly became sentimental.
"A long time ago? Come on, how old are you?" Anfey said.
"It was indeed a long time ago. I hated running errands. I would rather hide in my room to have my peace. Later, my father told me that every step matters in life. A person needed to learn to manage himself first before he could learn to in charge of a family. Learning to manage a family was a prerequisite for managing a village. Learning to manage a village was required before managing a city," Christian said.
"Learning to manage a city is a prerequisite for managing a country?" Anfey said casually.
"Well…" Christian paused. "I did not have such high expectations for myself. I hope I can at least manage myself well. Back then, my father asked about my dreams. I just answered that I hoped I could first manage myself well. My father later sent me out of the country."
"That’s perfect. Keep up your good work, Christian. This place is similar to a village. I am helping you now." Anfey patted on Christian’s shoulder.
"You are so annoying," Christian muttered.
"Why don’t you see that I am actually helping you?" Anfey said.
"I have no time to bulls*^t with you. I have to finish something." Christian released levitation magic and flew away. He did not intend to bother with Anfey anymore. Anfey watched Christian flying away and smiled. His smile seemed to be more like a grin. Suddenly Anfey saw a person walking towards him. It was the princess of Shansa Empire, Alice. He hurried to turn around and walk back to his own room. He did not want to have any contact with her at this time. She was very smart. If she noticed Anfey was going to attack Griffin Aerial Unit, something nasty might happen. No matter how much Alice hated her father and siblings, Anfey did not expect Alice to contribute to this task. Giving her a small hint about this task was all Anfey could do.
* * * *
In the following days, everyone was busy. Most houses did not meet the standards and needed to be rebuilt. The ones that met the standards had some minor problems here and there. They needed to do a thorough inspection underground as well. Dwarves and gnomes had phenomenal digging ability. The whole town was like another vision of the TV show "Tunnel Wars" in Anfey’s world. Almost every room had a secret tunnel leading to the underground tunnels. The large number of underground tunnels in the town gave Anfey’s legion a huge headache.
Blavi and Riska took turns taking people to do site inspections in ground tunnels, where they were even attacked by dwarves and gnomes. When the werewolf Barak ordered the natives to chase after Anfey’s legion, there must have been many dwarves and gnomes still working on the tunnels. They absolutely escaped a disaster. Blavi and Riska estimated their number at somewhere between one hundred and three hundred.
Every time they finished a site inspection in the ground tunnels, Hui Wei would add something to the map. Main roads, secret passages, branches, and dead ends seemed to get more clear. Alibaba mercenary group never lacked mages. With Christian’s lead, they started to set up magic arrays on every main pass in the underground tunnels. They tried to reduce the areas that dwarves and gnomes could live.
Some people might think they had wasted their resources, but Anfey believed it was necessary. A base was a must-have if they wanted to do something here. Setting up the magic arrays could better ensure everyone’s safety. As time went by, the first defensive system map was drafted in Alibaba mercenary group.
Anfey had been hanging out with Hagan, experimenting on magic chemicals. Black Eleven disappeared on the first night. He had became a boarbeast businessman by the time he showed up again. He herded over a hundred boarbeasts back to the town. Two days later, he herded more boarbeasts back. There were over four hundred boarbeasts in total.
Everybody thought those boarbeasts were prepared for them to stay long in this town. Black Eleven seemed really eager to do this business. Another day, he herded over forty boarbeasts out of the town. No one knew where he went.
One day, people were enjoying themselves in the town. Girls washed clothes around the well as they sang. Black Eleven’s subordinates were practicing. Hired guards were patrolling outside the town. Some people chatted together while others were flirting on the empty field. Anfey, Suzanna, and Christian sat on an ancient tree, chatting.
Suddenly they were all interrupted by a magic signal from outside of the town. Girls immediately picked up their basins and ran back to their rooms. There was a tunnel in each room. All they needed to do was to hide in the tunnels as fast as they could.
Guards hurried to find their own weapons. They looked nervously at Anfey, who was still on the tree. They waited for his orders. Black Eleven’s subordinates stopped their practice and hid in their assigned spots.
Christian released his Eyes of Sky. He set up all the lookout posts, which could accurately locate who was coming into the town. A cavalry of around two hundred riders showed in the Eyes of Sky. Their looks were not clear, but it did show they marched in perfect formation. The bright silver armor shone the cold colors. They looked powerful and magnificent. There was a group of regular people behind them. They should be the people herding the boarbeasts.
"Here they are." Anfey heaved a sigh of relief. Since the Shansa Empire’s soldiers were here, it meant their plan had worked very well. Rotting chemicals worked. It was showtime.
The cavalry in the Eyes of Sky sped up. Not long after, Anfey could hear their loud hoof beats. Anfey jumped off the tree and leaned against the giant rock. He looked forward lazily. Suzanna and Christian jumped off the tree as well and stood by Anfey’s side.
They could already see the cavalry coming. It looked like they had sped up even more. Maybe it was because Anfey’s spot was too obvious. Those soldiers rode with lightning speed into the empty area and directly rushed toward Anfey.
Anfey looked casually, with his eyes squinted, but he felt something was strange.
The riders did not rein their horses until they were only 24 feet away from Anfey. They all stopped together, and a guy who looked like their leader stepped out. He looked up and down at Anfey after he noticed Anfey did not seem to be affected by their presence. "Hey, man, are you in charge of this town?"
"Yes, what do you want?" Anfey said.
"Answer me carefully. Tell me. Are there many boarbeasts in your town?" the leader asked.
"Why do you care whether we have boarbeasts?" Anfey was getting a little mad. There was no such scene in his plan. That leader was too rude.
The guards standing not far from them started to laugh. They were definitely the soldiers of the Country of Mercenaries. Seeing other countries’ soldiers so arrogant and rude, they were disgusted by it. They became mean in turn.
"What is wrong with that guy?" a guard said.
"Yes, what is wrong with him?" another combative guard said, "We raised those boarbeasts, not you. Who gave you the right to yell at us?"
Guards laughed. That leader looked mad and said coldly to Anfey, "Are they your subordinates? You’d better ask them behave themselves. Don’t you understand evils come out of the mouth?"
"I think your mom needs to behave first." Anfey looked even colder than that other leader. No matter what roles he played, Anfey had given a lot of thought to that role’s attitude, identity, personality, and how that role would handle things. People would only believe it if he could understand and act out all of those traits. As the lowest level of administrator in the Country of Mercenaries, a town mayor, Anfey did not need to be scared by Shansa Empire’s military. Even if Anfey had to fight with them, they would not have criminal charges. It was just a political confrontation. Shansa Empire’s soldier would not dare to cause any trouble at this very moment. Looking at this confrontation from the other side, if the town mayor was not brave enough to face a confrontation, then how could he be a town mayor. The Country of Mercenaries was very competitive, a place where everyone respects the people who were strong and powerful. If Anfey was scared by men on horseback, it would raise the red flag.
The guards laughed even more after they heard what Anfey said back to that leader. A few of them laughed so hard that they fell on the ground and rolled. Suzanna almost lost it as well. She had to turn around and bite her lip to control herself.
"You…" That leader’s face turned purple. He pulled the sword out and radiated strong combat power.
"So? Are you going to rob us? Come on!" Anfey yelled, "Bros, get ready!"
Guards rushed forward together. Suzanna pulled her sword out, coldly looking at the leader. Christian flew to the sky. Intense magic surges flashed in the sky. The girls in the room ducked out one after another. Every one of them had a stick in their hands. Some sticks are longer than others. However, they looked scared and anxious. This was not what they usually did. From the rear of the town, mages flew into the sky one after another. It was hard to tell their magic levels, but the magic surges gathered over there were super strong.