Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill sat leisurely on the terrace, summoning a musical instrument that could play automatically. Surrounded by a light misty rain, he listened contentedly to the beautiful serenade.

The occasional sound of wind chimes from the Floating Castle harmonized with the music, as if echoing in response.

Hill looked up at the wind chimes hanging under the eaves, made of pale blue conch shells, and smiled gently.

To prevent Hill from actually needing to use the Dragon Roar Bell, Agleya hurriedly made these wind chimes for him, with Terry also taking human form to help her weave sturdy silk threads.

If there was ever a need to alert the inhabitants of his territory to a significant event, all one had to do was pull hard on a crystal thread that hung from the chimes, and the conches would resonate, emitting a melodious sound akin to whale calls.

This was enough to spread throughout the entire territory.

At first, Agleya didn't understand why Terry was so eager to help her with the wind chimes until the first time she passed by Terry's room on the right side of the castle.

Even outside the castle, she'd been quite startled by the filtered sound.

However, the two of them had developed a good relationship through this collaboration, and so Hill gave up the golden Dragon Roar Bell that could tease them both.

After all, there would always be a use for it in the future, especially after the arrival of the Undead Tribe.

"Sir," List said cheerily as he appeared, "all 200 Magic Storage Rings have been sold out. An Archmage from Neverwinter seems to want to buy them all."

"Did you notify him that I can have 100 rings ready each day?" Hill asked seriously.

He didn't want his dumping strategy to harm innocent people.

Although, whoever allowed that Archmage to be greedy and hoard goods?

But everyone has that bit of a desire to take advantage of something, good people and bad people alike.

Hill didn't feel he had the standing to reproach others for the mistakes they made out of greed.

"Yes, I made it clear. He was indeed planning to sell in Ferun at first.

But after listening to me, he changed his destination. He intends to go directly through a portal to the Zahara Continent. The excessively hot climate there is in dire need of items like the Spell Storage Rings," List said in a low voice. "He's also asking if there are any other items suitable for use there. He even praised Miss Agleya's name a few times."

Hill understood instantly; this was an inquiry about whether Agleya was willing to sell a divine artifact that could create purified water.

Moreover, if Agleya was willing to offer a discount, that Archmage would also be willing to spread her Name of God.

But such matters would have to be dealt with by Agleya herself.

Promises to deities were more binding than any contract.

"Go directly and ask Agleya," Hill said with a smile and a nod. "See if she's willing to have her name known in that Zahara Continent. I remember she can make those Purified Water Beads that can store water for up to a year."

"Miss Agleya might not be willing," List replied. "Other than her daily purification work, which she hasn't stopped, she's been hiding in her room studying those necklaces."

Hill smiled and tilted his head: "Agleya is a very self-disciplined good child; she'll make the right decision.

If she refuses, then it simply means she doesn't need it."

List stared at Hill for a moment, and after verifying that he genuinely thought this way, he vanished.

Hill scoffed. So what if he's chaotically good?

Agleya was smart and capable in her own right! Otherwise, she wouldn't have learned all those skills from Hill, which were somewhat useless to deities.

Like the Purified Water Bead and the Nutrition Bead.

Both were strange objects from Toril. When Hill first discovered them, he was curious and learned how to make them.

The beads, regardless of type, were spongy and gel-like. When consumed, they dissolved on the tongue without any taste.

However, the Nutrition Bead could be eaten directly, while the Purified Water Bead had to be mixed into any magic-free, harmless liquid to dissolve and turn into 1 pint (470 milliliters) of drinkable cold water.

Only a tiny bit of liquid was needed; in any place fit for human survival, it was impossible not to find even that.

If all else fails, even sweat could be reused!

But to Hill, both of these items were of little use. After learning how to make them, he didn't bother with them further.

Agleya, however, felt that they might be useful in the future and followed suit to learn the production methods. After all, even pure seawater could dissolve the Purified Water Bead.

Later on, they discovered that both Neverwinter and Deepwater City sold similar strange objects at affordable prices, so both Hill and Agleya gave up on the idea.

Especially Agleya, these items could only be sold, and not given away as gifts, unless she had sufficiently devout followers.

A deity's generosity should not be extended limitlessly; her allowing people to come and draw water without any restrictions was already quite generous.

Hill waited three days before he received news from Deepwater City.

Kelben was indeed powerful, but compared to the deep-rooted and so-called City of Radiance, Deepwater City, he still didn't have the clout to dominate completely.

It was already difficult for him to delay the caravans by three days.

But these caravans were also aware of what had happened, as it was evident from the long lines of wagons filled with basic necessities rarely bought in Neverwinter.

Only a place like Hill's, where nobody cultivated crops, would buy these in large quantities.

Especially certain foodstuffs; rather than taking a risk of potential total loss at sea due to rough waves, it was far more profitable to sell to Hill's territory.

Although the profits Hill offered were not very high, most merchants wouldn't gamble with something as bulky as food.

However, the merchants of Deepwater City would only bring a few carts, and their convoys were still bound for Neverwinter.

Though they were worried that Hill's side would quickly fill up and stop purchasing these basic supplies, at worst they could just take them back to Deepwater.

They were all carrying money on them!

Even if it was dozens of carts of grain, the profit wouldn't compare to that of a single Spell Storage Ring.

It didn't matter if they couldn't sell here; didn't every merchant in Deepwater City have channels to other regions?

Seeing them swarm into the commercial street and queue up, Hill revealed a satisfied smile amidst the flash of lightning and roar of thunder.

He had already calculated the material cost for Kelben; even if he could squeeze it to the limit, it would be at least 20 gold coins.

Even if he had his dozens of students engraving runes together, the materials would cost about 2 gold, and even his most honest students would have to be paid 2 gold for their labor by Kelben.

This was Ferun, where every spell, every drop of mana, was worth a lot of money.

Hill had kindly left him a profit margin of 1 gold coin, and if Kelben sold it in his own Magic Tower, he wouldn't make a loss!

Of course, the sales clerk might not earn much salary then.

Hill felt he was quite benevolent by not completely cutting off the Mage Lord's way to ship goods, as long as he was willing to waste time to earn this 1 gold right under the eyes of all deities and mighty beings.

It was like the Deck of Many Things he had sent.

This was the method the Black Staff used to maintain his faction, he didn't cut off Hill's livelihood but gave him the opportunity to make his own choice.

As long as Hill wasn't greedy and kept his wits about him, he wouldn't flip the card over and bring trouble upon himself, or even a dead end.

Hill indeed learned many tactics from this Mage Lord, isn't it just about leaving a seemingly possible but actually impossible leeway?

Feigned sympathy met with insincere intentions, in the end, it was just a tit for tat.

Hill glanced at the Temple of Agleya; in the end, she decided to spend a bit of time each day making Purified Water Beads.

The Archmage from Neverwinter decided to leave briskly in a week's time.

He has been lingering around the Temple in recent days.

Agleya's reputation among the commoners and even mages was getting better and better.

Even though she wasn't as approachable as the deities of Toril, nor would she treat some individuals with special regard.

The Sea God always carried herself with pride and even refused to show her true form in front of humans.

But she was willing to trade fairly with anyone, whether they be followers of other deities or mages full of doubts about the deities, Agleya made no distinction.

She just didn't cooperate with the Evil Faction.

But people of the Evil Faction didn't particularly dislike Agleya.

It was for the same reason: fairness.

Inside the Temple of Agleya, there were only Puppets. No amount of money or power could make an exception for anyone.

Of course, this was also because Agleya was powerful enough to stick to her own ways without compromising with anyone or any deity.

After all, everyone understood that Agleya, currently residing in the Undead Swamp, was merely an avatar.

She was of the same kind of existence as Ambori's incarnation.

Yet she displayed such might that, in the absence of access to Agleya's true form while the Goddess maintained a stance of disinterest in worldly affairs, no one would trouble her.

No one could guess that this so-called avatar possessed nearly half of Agleya's Divine Power.

'Boom!' The clouds that had been accumulating in the sky for days were finally shattered by the endless thunder, and the drizzling rain instantly turned into a raging storm.

Hill watched with satisfaction as all the lightning and thunder above his territory eventually converged on the rooftop of Terry's house.

The humans stirring below, for the most part, abandoned the thought of continuing to wait in the territory.

Many donned raincoats and rushed towards the main road in hopes of finding opportunities in the other two cities.

Some even directly burst from the exit at the Forest Array through the wilderness, an exit that was one-way—to facilitate those who wanted to venture into the wilderness—and once one went out, it would take them days to get back to the main road.

"Hill~" the human-shaped Terry suddenly rushed over, "Hill~ I have been thinking of coming back to stay here for the past few days."

He hinted by touching his neck subtly, "I feel that, when something good happens, it's best to stay away from my dad."

It seemed he had found the method to use the pendant as the key to Dimensional Space.

"Terry, you'd better calm down.

If you can't control your emotions, you'd better wait until next year to visit," Hill thought for a moment and still stopped Terry's impulse, "Otherwise, your dad will find out you've made a fortune by tomorrow.

I can't interfere with matters between you and your father."

Terry's gaze froze, and he found himself in the painful throes of decision.