Chapter 105: The Dalaran Adventurers’ Guild (Part 1)

A crowd gathered in front of the Alchemy’s Edge shop.
“Young master, everything inside the shop is ready. The servants are all capable and diligent young men, and the goods have been arranged as you instructed!”
Butler Kord had had quite a leisurely time these days. Seeing that William had been busy handling various matters in the territory, Donald assigned Kord to take care of opening the shop.
“Open the door!”
Looking at the adventurers and mercenaries gathered outside, Donald waved his hand and ordered the servants to open the door.
Dozens of adventurers rushed in excitedly, competing to enter the shop. It was only because of Donald’s status as a powerful mage lord that they refrained from fighting—otherwise, given their personalities, they would have started a brawl long ago.
The mercenaries, being more disciplined than the adventurers, managed to maintain formation.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my offer is valid only for the first three days of opening. So please purchase any items you like as soon as possible!”
“Lord!” “Thank you for your generosity!”
Seeing the wide array of goods, the adventurers and mercenaries couldn’t help but head to the areas that interested them, searching for the items they wanted.
Following business principles from his past life, Donald had prices marked on all goods, selling them at half price to these adventurers and mercenaries.
Even at half price, it wasn’t the cost price—Donald could still make a good profit. But for them, it was an extremely low price. The adventurers spent their savings choosing the items they liked best and thought would bring the most profit.
As for Donald, the shop owner, he left the shop early.
The reason he opened the shop within his territory rather than in established commercial hubs like Stonehold City or Shining Gold Town was to boost the fame of his territory once again.
With its moonlight wine and black tea, Dalaran was already somewhat well-known in the Northlands and even throughout the kingdom. But these products only attracted merchants. The nobles, being of high status, rarely came to this remote wilderness in what was considered the farthest part of the Northlands. So Donald introduced Alchemy’s Fire to further enhance the reputation of his territory.
From weapons and armor to adventure gear, and from potions and bandages to compressed rations, Donald’s shop had everything. Most of these items came from his Book of Truth, while the rest were produced in workshops he ran in the town, employing local residents. This not only supplied the shop with goods but also provided the townspeople with jobs to support their families—a true win-win situation.

However, the items sold at Alchemy Fire are currently all of low grade; aside from two signature treasures, there are no items above the medium magic level as rated by the Book of Truth. This is because Donald fears that mages might notice something unusual and become suspicious, as he himself is only at the level of a bronze mage and cannot craft higher-grade items for now. Yet for low-level adventurers, these are already highly desirable equipment. In addition to selling equipment and other items, Donald also buys various materials at high prices. Being wealthy, he doesn’t need to haggle over petty profits like ordinary merchants. Since Alchemy Fire offers the best purchase prices, it’s certain that many adventurers will choose to sell their loot to this store, thus providing Donald with another source of materials. Half a month after the orc tribe was wiped out, Donald received a response to his proposal submitted to the nobility council. The royal family was pleased about the newly established knightly domain, as it meant that the kingdom of Celt had expanded again after decades, adding yet another source of taxes each year. The royal members who controlled the nobility council and the great nobles all agreed, with the queen’s approval behind them; even if a few people opposed, it made no difference. Soon, Uther would be appointed as Donald’s first noble vassal and a hereditary knight in charge of a domain. This good news greatly boosted the enthusiasm of his other subordinates. While a domain can have only one lord, the lack of other noble administrators is not beneficial for its development. Therefore, whenever possible, Donald wouldn’t hesitate to grant his subordinates noble status and positions, as this would foster strong loyalty and unity toward him. Although the kingdom of Celt has been established for hundreds of years, it is still relatively young among the nations of the continent. Its exploration of the northern lands has also lasted for centuries, yet it has not yet been fully conquered. The northern counties, separated from the Frozen Plateau and the Great Snowy Mountains by just a mountain range, are vast yet dangerous lands filled with monsters, with many areas still waiting to be explored by humans.

When first exploring the Northern Counties, Celt VII led the kingdom’s army to eradicate the hordes of orcs, goblins, and scattered bands of rogue orcs and werewolves. He also drove a tribe of Highlanders from the northern lands to the other side of the Azure Mountains, their true homeland.

To this day, some monsters like orcs and goblins must still be hiding in the gaps between the Green Cloak Forest and the Azure Mountains, ready to expand their tribes and launch a counterattack on humans to reclaim their former lands. However, due to the vast and complex forests and mountains, along with the threat of magical beasts, the Northern Counties have not expanded northward for over a hundred years. As a result, these semi-intelligent indigenous races have never invaded human territories. At most, adventurers who venture deep into the forests and mountains encounter these monsters, revealing their existence in the Northern Counties.

Although Donald’s territory is vast, the actually usable land is only equivalent to that of a normal barony in a plain area. If forests and mountains are included, it could rival the size of a city with tens of thousands of inhabitants—roughly the size of a typical county on the continent. But because the terrain around Dalaran is complex, with the Giantstone City blocking the southern part of the Twilight Forest, and the only road leading to the outside world passing through Baron Redmaple’s territory, it’s impossible to expand in those directions unless other nobles’ lands are annexed.

To the north of Dalaran, the Azure Mountains stretch along most of the Northern Counties’ border, along with the Green Cloak Forest beneath them. Beyond those mountains lie impassable snow-capped peaks and frigid frozen plateaus, effectively trapping Dalaran’s territory within that area and preventing further expansion.

For other nobles, territorial expansion might stop here. But for Donald, who possesses the Book of Truth and endless possibilities, expansion is merely a matter of time. As for the Northern Counties, as long as he has sufficient strength, neither the threats of magical beasts in the Green Cloak Forest and Azure Mountains nor the harsh cold of the snow-capped peaks and frozen plateaus can stop Donald from expanding northward.

According to one of the sacred noble conventions signed a thousand years ago between the nations of the continent and the Church of the Gods, any noble from any kingdom who manages to expand his territory into lands outside his own country may keep all the land he occupies, except for one-tenth, which must be given to his own royal family or paid in gold. This convention is jointly protected by the royal families of various nations and the Church of the Gods, remains in effect forever, and is sacred and inviolable. It was precisely the provisions of this sacred convention that greatly encouraged nobles to expand outward, bringing considerable benefits to the royal families as well. With this prerequisite in place, Donald knew that once he had built up enough strength, he could conquer as much territory as he desired. However, with a sparse population in his current territory, Donald had no plans to expand northward for now. If he were to venture north, the alien races in the forests and mountains would be the biggest obstacle—monsters were merely sources of resources and prey, but the intelligent indigenous creatures posed a threat. Previously, the threats in his territory had been orcs and some ogres enslaved by orcs, so they were not a serious concern. In the future, he might face even more powerful alien creatures, so he would need to plan ahead. Relying solely on the armed forces in his territory, passive defense was manageable, but launching an offensive could easily result in heavy casualties. However, continuing like this was not a solution either. While using a large number of summoned creatures could eliminate those threats, it would consume an enormous amount of magic cores. Even if he had enough wealth to purchase magic cores, he likely wouldn’t have enough monsters to slaughter. If he hunted monsters extensively to acquire magic cores, within a few years, the disappearance of large numbers of low-level monsters in the Green Cloak Forest and the surrounding areas of the Cloud Mountain Range could disrupt the entire region’s ecosystem. It might even force some high-level monsters from the depths of the forests and mountains to leave their habitats in search of food, invading human territories—a scenario Donald certainly did not want to see. Of course, he could also use soul power and elemental crystal energy for summoning, which could save over 80% of the costs. But soul power was extremely rare and impossible to buy, even with money. After summoning Kelthuzad and two griffins, little remained. Opportunities like the orc invasion before were hard to come by. Soul power could summon creatures that existed permanently, so wasting it on temporary summons was undoubtedly a shameful squander!

So, he wouldn’t cause such waste unless it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, Donald thought hard and came up with a solution: to establish an organization similar to an adventurers’ guild, offering rewards to recruit professionals to deal with the goblin problem. This would not only ensure the safety of the people in the territory but also address the risks posed by excessive consumption of magic cores. Moreover, it would provide a usable armed force. With this organization as a foundation, Donald could also develop his own intelligence network to gather information from the outside world.