Chapter 161: The River of Everwinter, Lake of Moonlight

Donald’s plan to dig a river channel and create an artificial lake between the Moonlight Woods and the Dusk Forest was spread through word of mouth by William and others, quickly drawing attention across the entire territory.
When merchants, commoners, and adventurers saw the massive lake basin appearing between the two forests in the north of the territory, they were all in awe.
To accomplish such a feat alone was beyond the reach of ordinary people—truly befitting a mighty mage.
Most commoners, on the other hand, were delighted that the territory now had its own source of water.
Although the north was not as water-scarce as the Northwest Wasteland, most areas without rivers relied on mages to locate water sources and dig deep wells. Those poor regions that could not afford mages had to carry buckets over long distances to fetch water from the nearest sources.
If Donald’s attempt to create an artificial water source succeeded, it would benefit the entire region, affecting residents in surrounding towns and villages across half of North County.
Half a month later, the basic construction of the island in the lake was completed, along with the outer dock. The core structure was a neutral building—a goblin dock—acquired by Donald through effort. On this basis, a small port area was expanded on the southeast shore for future water collection and fishing.
Donald officially named the artificial lake Lake of Moonlight, inspired by its shape and the Moonlight Woods. The new river was called the River of Everwinter. With its natural barrier in place, snow did fall in the territory, but the climate remained above zero degrees, making it fitting to call it the River of Everwinter.
The river channel north of the River of Everwinter had also been dug to the source stream, awaiting Donald’s order to remove the final obstacle and release the water.
Thus, Donald left only the war puppets behind, ordering the mountain giants to return the way they came, as there were other tasks awaiting them.
After the mountain giants left, Donald gave the order to dig the final section of the river channel. With the efforts of the war puppets, a few minutes later, clear and cold stream water was diverted into the artificially dug channel.
To Donald’s surprise, the riverbed of the River of Everwinter, compressed by the mountain giants, was already extremely solid. Even with the introduction of water flow, there was little soil erosion, and the water remained clear, without the muddy turbidity expected.
The river was long, but its source was not abundant, so the water flowed slowly. By the time the mountain giants returned to the artificial lake, only half of the river channel had been filled.

“Good heavens! What kind of monster is this?”
“Yes! This guy looks like a mountain—actually, a stone mountain!”
The appearance of the mountain giant by the lake caused a stir, but it was quickly quelled by Donald, who had returned early.
After learning that the giant was under the control of the lord, everyone stopped being terrified, though they still didn’t dare get too close to it.
Donald, along with a few officials, stood by the lake with most of the onlookers, waiting. It was half an hour later before anything happened in the river channel.
“Hurry, look! The water is coming!”
“There’s water! Water! There’s water in our territory too…”
The people gathered by the moonlit lake, filled only with deep pits, cheered in delight.
Although the amount of water flowing from the channel was less than one percent of the entire lake’s volume, it was continuous, and it would likely take some time to fill the whole lake.
Seeing that the source of water from the River of Winter had been opened, Donald ordered the mountain giant to start digging again. On the side near the small port, it continued digging southward, heading southeast, with sentries left as markers along the way.
This time, the channel was at least twice as long as before, passing through Baron Redmaple’s territory and extending all the way to the northern part of Baron Gri’s territory, connecting with the upper reaches of the River of Clouds.
Donald did this because he realized that moving water prevents stagnation. The water he created for his territory would eventually flow into the River of Clouds, thus avoiding harm to the ecological environment of its lower reaches. Otherwise, by blocking part of the river’s source, the water level in the River of Clouds might decrease the following year, reducing fish stocks and leaving the fishermen downstream without a means of livelihood!
The appearance of the mountain giant in Baron Redmaple’s territory didn’t cause much panic, as Donald had sent word in advance.
In Baron Redmaple’s manor, Eustace held the letter delivered by the messenger from Dalaran and said with admiration, “Digging channels? This person is growing stronger by the day. Now even I have to look up to them. Just as my father said before he died, no amount of wealth compares to one’s own strength. Without strong protection, wealth is merely bait that invites enemies to commit crimes!”
“It’s a pity! If only I had the talent to train, perhaps my territory would look different now.”

Regarding what Dalaran had done, Baron Redmaple was happy to get a water source for free in his territory, so he naturally had no objections. As for Lord Gry’s domain, given the feud between the two families, Donald couldn’t possibly inform them politely, so he deliberately extended part of the river channel to cross Lord Gry’s territory and connect it outside his lands, just to avoid their complaints. With such a move, they had no right to object. However, since Donald had no interest in informing Lord Gry’s domain, the appearance of the mountain giants frightened many residents who were out and caused panic in their lands, as they thought monsters from the Green Cloak Forest had come to attack humans! “Lord! Lord, something terrible has happened!” Hearing the servant’s cries, Old Lord Gry frowned and snapped impatiently, “What’s the fuss? You’re an old servant here—how can you not know basic manners? What’s the point of shouting like that?” The middle-aged servant who rushed in gasped for breath, “Lord, uh! It’s terrible! Monsters are coming!” “Nonsense! What monsters? Our North County has existed for over 300 years—haven’t all the monsters within a hundred miles been eliminated? Where could more come from?” Gry naturally didn’t take it seriously, thinking it must be some prank. The middle-aged servant kept explaining. “No, Lord! There are really monsters! I saw them with my own eyes, and many others have seen them too. Those monsters are as big as mountains; with just one slap, they create pits as big as cellars in the ground. They’re already near our territory and seem determined to invade. Lord, you should hurry and make plans!” “What? Is that true?” Old Gry was shocked. Thinking his servants wouldn’t deceive him, he immediately prepared a carriage to go and see for himself. As Old Lord Gry’s carriage left his manor, it encountered several panicked villagers fleeing along the road, which made him even more convinced that it was likely true. When Old Lord Gry saw those mountain-sized giant monsters digging their way toward his territory step by step, he was nearly terrified. “Hurry! Go back!” He immediately ordered the coachman to turn the carriage around and fled back to his manor in a hurry. Then he quickly packed a few belongings and took a detour to Giantstone City. With the monsters already at his doorstep, Old Gry, anxious as an ant in a hot pan, rushed to seek help from Giantstone City.

However, his main patron, the Viscountcy of Macbeth, had seen its strength and prestige greatly diminished due to the fall of the previous viscount, who was like Optimus Prime. Moreover, several heirs were still engaged in internal strife with no clear winner yet, so how could they spare the effort to support him? With no other choice, Old Gri had to lower his pride and personally seek help from the guard forces and the Mage Council, preparing a large sum of gifts. After all, he was a noble of the Northlands, and these two factions had a responsibility, obligation, or sense of courtesy to help him overcome his crisis. Although the Mage Council sent a few Silver Masters, they still maintained close ties with Dalaran and were thus aware of what was happening there. As a result, they simply refused to see Lord Gri and offered no explanation. As for the guard forces, their leader, Sir Brewster, had good relations with several mages from the council, so he also received the news. This Silver Knight did his best—after accepting bribes, he symbolically sent a group of city guards to Lord Gri’s domain. But their marching speed was slow, and by the time they arrived, things there were likely already over. Old Gri was extremely anxious but had no solution other than hoping the city guards could arrive in time to prevent too much damage to his territory. An hour later, at Old Gri’s urging, the group of city guards finally arrived at Lord Gri’s domain but found no signs of monster attacks. Seeing that the guards wanted to return immediately to report, Old Gri, still worried, invited them to rest in the lord’s manor and ordered the kitchen to provide good food and drink to keep them there temporarily. The city guards, having already received orders from their superiors, were happy to enjoy the free food and drink. After eating and drinking their fill, they had to return to the city. Old Gri, seeing that several hours had passed since he left for Stonehold to seek help and no monster attacks had occurred, assumed they had just passed by. With a smile, he saw them off. In reality, though usually stingy, Old Gri felt regretful about the gifts he had given and the expenses for food and drink. But since he was in need of help now, he thought it was worth it. Relying only on the few private soldiers in his domain, his family might be completely destroyed. As soon as the city guards left, the servants sent to gather information returned with their report.

“I heard that lord over in Dalaran has caused another stir—he ordered a giant monster the size of a mountain to dig a river and a large lake in his territory, then came over to our lands, claiming he wanted to connect it with the Izumo River…”
Before the servant could finish, Old Gri dropped his cup with a clatter, clutching his chest, his face turning pale as he nearly fainted.
“Master! Master, what’s wrong? Someone help!”
With Old Gri in shock and falling ill, chaos ensued in the lord’s manor. Thankfully, after much effort from the servants, Old Gri eventually regained his breath.
“What a scoundrel, Brewster! He deceived me badly…”
He was upset about the generous gifts he had given in exchange for help. To secure assistance, he had prepared two large sums of money, each equivalent to half a year’s worth of revenue from his territory. He hadn’t given the sum to the Mage Guild, but Brewster accepted it without even saying a word of courtesy from the guard forces. He had wondered at the time why Brewster, who was usually so uncommunicative, agreed so easily!
Information that could be easily obtained by sending a few servants to Stone City—how could Brewster, as the top military commander of the North County, not know about it? The worst part was that he knew all along, yet he accepted his gifts and sent a group of city guards to deal with the matter.
And afterward, he couldn’t even hold Brewster accountable, as it was he who had gone to ask for help. Brewster could simply claim ignorance to shirk all responsibility.
At these thoughts, Old Gri was filled with hatred.