18: Tom Marshall

Early the next morning, the bright and warm sunlight spilled onto Lister's face through the small gaps in the window.

Subconsciously, he reached out to block the light, shifting into a more comfortable position to snooze for a while longer. But the next moment, he suddenly sat up.

Hurrying to the window, he gazed at the bright environment outside and the clearly visible Ironthorn Town not far below. With a joyful expression, he exclaimed, "The Cold Wave has receded!"

Soon, within his field of vision, the tightly closed doors of Ironthorn Town opened one after another. All the Serfs flooded into the streets, cheering loudly.

"It's gone! The Cold Wave is gone!"

"We actually survived the Cold Wave safely!"

"It's all thanks to the Lord's foresight and protection. The Lord is wise!"

...Excitement, joy, and gratitude intertwined, turning into sincere praises that echoed between heaven and earth.

Smiling with relief, Lister withdrew his gaze and walked over to the Purple-Eyed Magic Lion Egg wrapped in bedding by the fireplace.

Seeing that it still showed no signs of hatching, he gave it a quick check and left.

After breakfast, he didn't rush to cultivate. Instead, he took Spartacus and the other Apprentice Knights to inspect the territory.

Along the way, every Serf he encountered offered him sincere praise.

The Cold Wave was powerful; the temporarily reinforced houses in Ironthorn Town inevitably suffered damage, with a large amount of wood debris scattered across the streets.

To Lister's relief, however, not a single person died during this Cold Wave, and there weren't even any injuries.

Such an incredible feat would surely shock even the nobles of the Royal Capital if they knew.

After summoning a few responsible craftsmen to arrange the post-disaster reconstruction work, Lister led his men back to the castle.

Not having cultivated properly for over two days made his whole body feel uneasy. After all, practicing in a castle room was simply not as effective as being able to move freely in the training grounds.

While admiring Lister's diligence and hard work, the other Apprentice Knights and Soldiers didn't dare to be lazy or slack off for a moment.

Despite them starting their cultivation first, Lister was the one who reached the rank of Bronze Knight first. With the gap widening, they would likely be unable to keep up with Lister's footsteps in the future.

What they wanted was to always stand by Lister's side, not to drift further away until they couldn't even see his back.

This was a Lord protected by the holy light god, after all!

...Tom Marshall was originally a moderately successful merchant in Bordeaux City, dealing in grain, fruit, and other industries.

At the peak of his success, he even owned several shops in some of the better areas of Bordeaux City.

However, a year ago, due to the war between the Northern Kingdom and the Orc Race, he invested in a large batch of leather in hopes of making a fortune.

Unexpectedly, the war stopped without warning, leaving him stuck with all the leather. He barely managed to pay off his debts by mortgaging all his shops.

While drowning his sorrows in a tavern, he 'happened' to overhear the conversation of some middlemen:

Due to the increasing unrest in the kingdom's western neighbors, the King intended to issue a new "Western Frontier Territory" decree. That barren land was undoubtedly a good place to strike it rich now.

Hearing this news, the light returned to his eyes, and he was once again filled with hope and drive.

If he could seize this opportunity, he might restore his former wealth and glory, or even more. When the time came, he would open dozens of shops in the best areas of Bordeaux City.

Without a second thought, he used his remaining money to buy resources like grain and fruit, then took the leather he had stockpiled at home and set off grandly toward the Western Frontier.

However, his beautiful fantasy was shattered just as it began. Halfway there, he was targeted by a group of refugees.

Since all his money had been spent on grain and other resources, he couldn't afford many guards. Consequently, more than half was stolen, leaving him with only a small amount of resources and the unwanted leather.

In his wretched state, he had no choice but to head to the nearby Moding Town to sell what he had on the spot, hoping to recoup some of his losses.

But when he saw Moding Town, which had been devastated by the Cold Wave not long ago, he was dumbfounded.

"In such a miserable and dilapidated town, can my goods even be sold?"

But since he was already there, he could only try to sell with extreme skepticism.

Arriving at the messy and deserted marketplace, he found an empty spot and was about to set up his stall when a heavy voice suddenly asked.

"Are you Tom, the merchant from Bordeaux City?"

Seeing three men wrapped tightly in gray cloaks suddenly appear before him, he was stunned.

Since when had his name as Merchant Tom spread to a small place like Moding Town?

However, with the mindset that every visitor is a guest, he tidied his attire and asked with a smile, "I wonder what the three of you need to buy? Grain, fruit, leather, or..."

Before he could finish, the leader interrupted him, "We'll take it all. Give us a price quickly."

"All... all of it?!" Tom exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.

Although he had been robbed, there was still quite a lot of leather among his goods, and the total price wouldn't be cheap.

Were the people in the west actually this wealthy?

Snapping back to reality, he quickly did the math and then spoke with feigned hesitation, "Since I've met such wealthy gentlemen on my first day of business, let's make it cheaper. How about 8 Gold coins?"

In truth, his goods weren't worth that much at all. Even including the leather, it was less than 3 Gold coins.

"No problem."

As soon as the words were spoken, the leader tossed him a bag of Gold coins. Then, the three of them nimbly loaded all the goods and left in a hurry.

For a moment, at the deserted stall, only Tom was left standing there, dazed in the wind.

Fortunately, the heavy weight of the Gold coins in the bag made him realize that this wasn't a dream.

"Wait, these Gold coins couldn't be fake, could they?!" Suddenly, Tom's heart skipped a beat.

Lowering his head, he hurriedly examined the Gold coins in his hand. After biting them a few times until his teeth hurt, he finally felt relieved.

Immediately, an indescribable wave of joy flooded his heart. "Haha, I'm rich!"

He had sold less than three Gold coins' worth of goods for eight Gold coins. After deducting the minimal travel and labor costs, he made a net profit of over four Gold coins. It was practically like raking in money.

"It's still some distance from the Western Frontier Territory, and business is already this easy. Even leather sells so well."

"If it were those Western Frontier territories in dire need of resources, wouldn't business be even better?"

Once this thought arose in Tom's heart, it wouldn't go away.

With the money in hand, he could go back and buy even more grain resources and leather than before. If he brought them to the Western Frontier Territory to sell, wouldn't he be able to earn dozens or even hundreds of Gold coins?

"No, this money isn't enough. If I'm going to do this, I'll do it big. I need to go back and take out more loans." Tom's expression was frantic yet determined. "I, Tom, will definitely become the richest merchant in Bordeaux City."

Hurriedly packing up everything, he quickly left Moding Town.

However, until the day he went bankrupt, he never knew that among the few apples sold today, there were actually three dragon blood fruits worth a thousand Gold coins each hidden within.

Otherwise, he would surely have coughed up blood and died of rage!