Chapter 712 711. Supreme Wizard Engineer

Chapter 712 711. Supreme Wizard Engineer

"Why the long faces?" Sylvester strolled into the large tent and saw Cardinal Smeaton and his officers looking depressed and devastated.

Thud!

They dropped to their knees and saluted him.

'Scent of hope, and at the same time anger? What did I do to them?' Sylvester noticed the mix of smells and tried to deduce what had happened. 'Did I overwork them?'

"Your Holiness, I ask for forgiveness," Cardinal Smeaton bellowed like a dying rooster. "We tried our best, but despite that, we came across some people who didn't understand the language of kindness; Who did not understand the value of this project; Whose greed is such that even the demons would feel ashamed."

'Ah, the anger is directed to someone else?' Sylvester realized and calmed down. You'll discover the inception of this content at n0v@lbin★

"Speak clearly, Cardinal. What is the matter?"

"The Brownland Construction Guild is trying to extort money from us, Your Holiness. They are refusing to work while knowing our urgency. They want to renegotiate the contract and increase their fee for the whole project. This is heretic behavior, going back on their word because they smell more gold," Cardinal Smeaton explained with real hatred in his voice.

Sylvester scoffed and walked over to take a seat beside the table. "That's it? Haven't you read the contract, Cardinal Smeaton?"

Feeling he had made a mistake, Cardinal Smeaton apologetically shook his head. "Forgive me, Your Holiness. I have not read it yet."

"You don't need to. It's the guilds who should read it as thoroughly as possible. It's not just a sheet of paper but a contract bound by the law. Holy Land's commerce department under the Saint Keymaster handles these contracts, which are made on a template I designed. In clear words, it's written that if the Guild renegades on the contract, they will have to pay back ten times the price fixed for them.

"If they don't have that much wealth, then all their personal properties will be seized, and they will be forced to share a part of their salary for the rest of their lives, no matter where they work, until the money is paid in full," Sylvester clarified to everyone, giving them some refreshing space to breathe. "The Holy Land is the backer of these contracts, Cardinal. They can't extort money from us."

Thud!

"Your Eminence, Smeaton. Guildmaster Brandon of the Brownland Construction Guild has arrived," the guards at the door announced.

Sylvester amusedly smiled. "Is that him?"

"Y-Yes, Your Holiness."

"Let him in."

Cardinal Smeaton knew something entertaining was about to happen. He quickly gestured to his assistant, and the guards allowed the guildmaster to enter. It was a tall man, an Archwizard with superior Earth Elemental abilities. One of the victims of the changing landscape, as the need for warrior wizards and knights had reduced significantly, and the monopoly on violence was in the hands of the Church.

"You know what I want, Cardinal Smeaton. You're wasting your time if you didn't invite me to negotiate." The burly man walked in with the pride of an Archwizard. In the old times, an Archwizard could easily be considered a Count-level noble if in service of a Kingdom. Similarly, this man also had that air, and his clothes were a testament to that.

Cardinal Smeaton acted calmly and greeted him. "Welcome, Guildmaster Brandon. I invited you so you may greet His Holiness, the Holy Sovereign of the land we all live on."

Guildmaster Brandon silently sneered at the Cardinal when he heard the mention of the Pope. He had noticed the new man and already guessed it to be him. 'Smeaton, you slimy old fox.'

"Ah, I greet His Holiness with all my heart."

Sylvester nodded and stayed seated, arms folded and facial expressions unchanging. "I heard you have grown the seed of greed in your heart. What did you do before starting the Construction Guild?"

Brandon clenched his teeth, knowing that the man before him was like a God. No matter what he believed in, the others followed the Pope. And the Pope's power was a fact, not a speculation. 'Why is he meddling in something so small? Isn't the Church rich enough to simply throw money at problems to solve them?'

That's what the world was like before. It was Brandon's own mistake of not noticing the change in the air.

He smiled ingratiatingly and weakly answered. "I... I was in the service of Duke Grimton, Your Holiness."

"Why were you let go?"

"With the end of nobility, Duke Grimton reduced his soldiers and experts. More than half of us were let go, and the ones he trusted the most, and who had served him the longest, were kept." Brandon answered straightforwardly, "I formed this Guild after being let go."

"He didn't trust you then?" Sylvester commented, and Brandon couldn't refute it. "Returning to the part about the contract. Why do you think I would agree to renegotiate? Did you not read it before signing it? Let's say you truly miscalculated and accepted the project for less money, but isn't that your own mistake? Does your word hold no honor?"

Clank!

Clank!

Clank!

The metal tracks fell into their places on their own, and the screws fell in the holes at the same time, tightening themselves. The speed was slower this time as he had to be mindful of many things, but there was no doubt that he was faster than any Construction Guild possible. This was the speed of a Supreme Wizard.

Clank!

Clank!

Sadly, although he hoped to finish laying the whole track that day, he ran out of metal tracks to lay. So, he returned to the storage yard and barely found any change there.

"I've laid the base of the tracks all the way to Miraj City and the tracks till Maximilian City's second bridge. I'll need more tracks, as many as you can, to finish this railway line by the night," Sylvester ordered Cardinal Smeaton.

Thud!

"Your Holiness!" Cardinal Smeaton, surprisingly, fell to his knees and prayed. "We will take it from here, Your Holiness. Have mercy on the poor souls here... we have hired many local people as well, and they will lose their chance to work and earn if you finish it so quickly."

"..."

'Ah, I overdid it.' Sylvester realized what he had just done out of boredom. As a Supreme Wizard, he didn't even sweat despite using so much magic. 'Has my upper limit increased because of evolution with Nehilius?'

Suffering from success, Sylvester sighed and agreed. "I understand, Cardinal. Compensate the people you hired with the fee for the whole project. I was merely trying to show you what can be done with magic, and how delays coming from people who can use magic sound like nothing but excuses."

Cardinal Smeaton hung his head low in shame. "I beg your forgiveness, Your Holiness. This incident shall not repeat again."

"I hope so."

With that, Sylvester kicked his feet and jumped toward the direction of the Holy Land. His little break was over once again, and it was time to sit at the desk and stare at thousands of documents. Thankfully, nobody seemed to have noticed his disappearance as he found his office as it was before his escape.

'Even Chonky went home.' He sighed and sat down again. 'The things I do for peace.'

Knock! Knock!

"It's Saint Seer, Your Holiness," Anya informed.

'Lazark?' Sylvester was surprised as the spymaster never visited him unless something serious happened.

"Let him in."

Quickly, in his usual dark, oversized robes, Cardinal Lazark entered and saluted. "May the Holy Light enlighten us... and the Central Continent."

"What happened there?" Sylvester loved the man's to-the-point attitude.

Right away, Lazark placed a parchment on the table. "It came from one of my newly placed contacts in the Central Continent. We finally know why the four kingdoms have always been at war with each other."

"Isn't it because of the Soul Tree?"

"Yes, but," Lazark pointed at the third line on the parchment. "The tree seems to be corrupted by demonic energy."

"What!?" Sylvester jumped to his feet. "That makes no sense. Soul Trees are Solarium generators, and Solarium is a natural deterrent to demonic energies."

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