Most of those guilds could accept contracts and they were very strong. Therefore, their members could find jobs anytime, providing taxes and revenues for their guild.
As for the Bards… Well, they weren’t capable fighters, and they weren’t as good at support as Priests. Unless it was absolutely necessary, no mercenaries would ever invite them on an adventure.
Besides, while their teammates were fighting life-and-death battles, the Bards would be singing and playing musical instruments behind them… Their partners couldn’t be happy even if they won a battle.
More importantly, the enhancement of the Bards’ performance was indiscriminate, which meant that the enemy would be buffed too.
Therefore, they were really not competent as teammates.
Only after the Bards learned “Precise Push” at level five would they be able to enhance selected targets, but the problem was that the Bards could only level up slowly if they didn’t take part in battles.
There were few Bards above level five. Even if they reached level five, they were still not as good as Priests of the same level, who were both sturdy and helpful.
Therefore, Bards could only spend most of their time singing for alcoholics in the taverns. To make more money, many Bards even learned dirty songs. Even so, a Bard could earn no more than fifty coppers a night in tips.
Sometimes, when the customers were too few, or too petty, they couldn’t earn any money at all, and the tavern would only offer them a couple of coppers as a gesture of kindness.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible for a Bard to grow rich, and if they weren’t rich, their guild couldn’t have money either.
Poor people had few ambitions. That was the truth in most cases. Of course, there were always exceptions who built up an enterprise from scratch purely based on their own capabilities.
But those people were too rare, and Viki was clearly not one of them.
He had been dazzled by a payment of 150 gold coins for three months.
The headquarters of the Guild of Bards in Hollevin could only earn no more than twenty gold coins for a whole year with the taxes from the branches.
Subtracting the maintenance cost and the salaries of the staff, it wouldn’t be bad if they had three gold coins left by the end of the year.
Green Shade was indeed a tricky organization, but definitely not as tricky as poverty.
Besides, it wouldn’t be a head-on clash. Viki didn’t think that it would be hard for the Bards to smear their reputation by singing.
In the meantime, Viki was deeply touched by Roland, who obviously believed that the Bards could be important too, and even considered Roland a good friend of his guild.
Anybody would be touched by someone who thought they were capable when the whole world thought they were garbage.
Then, Roland discussed with Viki on how to delicately and gradually ruin Green Shade.
For example, they would make up some stories where human Druids appeared as neutral but ended up as obstacles for the protagonists.
Also, those human Druids would say philosophical things like:
“Trees and beasts are part of nature, but human beings are not. Human beings are the disease of this world.”
“A human’s life can be compared to a seedling or a cub. Nature is merciful enough to let you log and hunt so that you can survive. But there is a finite quantity of wood you can cut and meat you can have, and you should die if you surpass that limit.”
“Nature is always right, and human beings are always vile.”
And so on!
Also, in many stories, the contradictions between the protagonists who tried to save people and the human Druids who were determined to protect nature were depicted.
For example, when a village suffered from a storm and many villagers were trapped in the flood, the protagonists were going to cut down trees and make rafts to save them, but the human Druids showed up and stopped them. Though the Druids were defeated in the end, a lot of time was wasted, resulting in the deaths of many villagers who could’ve been rescued.
Or, in order to save the hundreds of thousands of residents in a city, the protagonists set up a fire on a mountain to stop the demons, buying time for the evacuation of the residents and indirectly saving them.
But after the human Druids learned of it, they hunted the protagonists on account of their ruining nature.
They also conspired with demons and nearly killed the protagonists.
Similar incidents were mixed into the lore and the knight tales.
Besides, Roland didn’t make them up. Similar things had been described in the intelligence he purchased from the Guild of Mercenaries and the Guild of Assassins, but few people knew of them.
What Roland asked the Guild of Bards to do was to bring those things to light.
Viki immediately declared that he would get the job done, and that there would be a huge difference in Hollevin within a couple of months.
Before he left, Roland said, “If our cooperation turns out to be successful this time, we’ll definitely come to you again if we’re in need.”
“No problem.” Grabbing the bag of gold coins, Viki bashed his chest.
After seeing Roland off, he immediately asked his secretary to summon every person who had actual power in the guild and announced the big news excitedly.
“We’ve finally had a big deal!”
Viki was filled with hot tears at the meeting.
Roland, on the other hand, teleported himself back to Delpon and continued supervising the logging project.
After days of treatment, Vincent recovered. He dedicated himself to safety assurance and order maintenance again.
Because Andonara, a half-Legend, was with them, they didn’t really have to worry about safety.
Besides, Christina could watch over the workers at the lumber camp during the night and ensure their safety.
Delpon had never been livelier.
In the day, a swarm of people would leave the city, enjoy the white bread, and cut the trees diligently.
At night, the same swarm of people would return with 150 grams of wheat.
The quota for an individual was not much, but every poor family usually had a few workers taking part in the business. As a result, not only could they keep themselves fed and save their own food, but they could also return with around one kilogram of wheat.
Though the income was not very much, the workers all felt hopeful and satisfied about the job.
As long as they could be fed, they could survive the winter however cold it might be.
They were genuinely grateful for the Magic Tower, which organized the project.
As a general manager who focused on the big picture, Roland didn’t see the poor workers’ gratitude directly except for the numerical changes, like when they turned from Neutral to Friendly.
But as for Andonara, Vincent, and the other magic apprentices in the front line, they had sensed it in person.
The workers were scared of them at first, but they were now looking at the supervisors with more admiration than fear.
Most people liked being treated positively, so the magic apprentices were even more hardworking.
Even Andonara and Vincent felt very comfortable in such an environment.
The workers spent another seven days on the job, cutting the last tree in the forest and shipping the timber away. The precious wood was moved to and stored in the Magic Tower’s warehouse.
In the meantime, a lot of wild animals were hunted, and many plant magic materials were collected.
When Vivian calculated the worth of the timber and the magic materials, she discovered, to her surprise, that the stock was twice as valuable as their total budget.
Therefore, they didn’t lose a dime but actually made a fortune, not to mention the reputation that they earned.
At the conclusion meeting of the Magic Tower, Vivian reported the result in disbelief.
Neither Roland nor Vincent seemed surprised.
Roland simply didn’t care about the gains or losses. In his opinion, certain costs were necessary in order to realize his plan. He never considered a profit. Although he had made a hundred gold coins, it wasn’t really important to him.
As for Vincent, he didn’t even think that a hundred gold coins were money. As a rich kid, he donated millions of yuan to Silver Wings without asking for anything in return. That money was nothing for him.
Andonara, Christina, and Jerry, on the other hand, were as shocked as Vivian.
They had never thought that one could make a fortune by doing good deeds.
It was a great eye-opener for them.
Roland patted the table and said, “We have to clear the land next. Like before, Andonara and Vincent will ensure the workers’ safety and order under the help of the magic apprentices. Vincent and Jerry, you will investigate with the Black Sand Gang and find the real poor households and how many people each family has. Make a list. We’ll distribute the land later according to the census.”
Everybody nodded and accepted the task.
Roland announced that the meeting was over. Then, a guard reported to him that a Priest wanted to meet him.
A Priest?
Roland realized that the reliable Priest that Hawk recommended was finally here.
He went down the Magic Tower with Andonara and saw a female player at the door. She was wearing chain armor, carrying a square shield, and holding a gigantic hammer. She looked very intimidating.
Reliable… Definitely reliable.
She was definitely a great helper in battles.
Andonara looked at her face and then her breasts. She then slightly nodded.
The female player was plain-looking… which meant that she didn’t add any of her points to Charm.
That was highly unusual for female players.
Roland walked to her and asked, “Are you Hawk’s friend?”
“Yes, I’m a Priest from the Water God Church. I’m told that you are in dire need of a supporter and muscle, so I came here on foot happily.”
