Arthur finished reading the letter and, as he folded it, noticed that although the letter appeared worn, there were no tears, indicating that the messenger had done his utmost to preserve it.
He looked at the middle-aged man who had handed him the letter; his face was full of hope, and his hands were clasped together nervously.
"How many of you came in total?" Arthur asked.
The middle-aged man looked confused and glanced back. "Uh, I'm not sure, maybe just over twenty people. After all, only seven or eight families from the village escaped intact, and scattered survivors from other households might have followed along, then some dropped off on the way, so it should just be us left."
Arthur sighed inwardly, knowing he couldn't rely on the middle-aged man in front of him, who didn't even have the concept of 'statistics.' He turned to Nepheli Loux beside him and said, "Nepheli, please go call Roderika from Kenneth Haight's Fort. Have her register these refugees and also record what they are good at."
Nepheli Loux nodded, but didn't leave. Instead, she continued to ask, "Anything else?"
Arthur thought for a few seconds, then quickly nodded and said, "Also, have Irena prepare some liquid food for them and arrange their living quarters. Hmm, near where Mills and his people are staying."
"Understood." After confirming Arthur had no other instructions, Nepheli Loux left.
Then he looked at the middle-aged man and said to him, "Since Gandalf requested in his letter that I take you in, and you were indeed able to persevere and come this far, I have no reason to refuse…"
Upon hearing Arthur's words, the middle-aged man immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a joyful expression appearing on his face.
"But."
Arthur's tone shifted, making the middle-aged man apprehensive again.
"However, my taking you in is conditional on your obedience to the laws of my territory. Joining my territory means you will no longer suffer from hunger and disease, but likewise, my territory does not need idlers or people of bad character," Arthur warned, emphasizing his words.
The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly in fright. "Please rest assured, My Lord, we are all willing to obey your commands."
Arthur took one last look at the middle-aged man, then instructed the knight captain, "Be sharp, and make sure to protect Roderika's safety."
The knight captain stood at attention and said loudly, "Yes, Arthur, Your Majesty!"
Arthur smiled at the knight captain, patted his shoulder, and left amidst the knight captain's excited gaze.
He now needed to prepare to summon the remaining members for the Lonely Mountain expedition and check the Erdtree's blessing reserves to ensure they were sufficient.
It wasn't that Arthur hadn't thought of the alternate candidates for the Lonely Mountain expedition before. Rather, not knowing when this expedition would begin, he prioritized using the Erdtree's naturally accumulated blessings to summon more soldiers and residents for The Lands Between.
After all, Arthur's territory could be described as vast and sparsely populated, which was one reason why Gandalf, when rescuing those refugees, suggested they come to Arthur's territory.
Because Gandalf had also realized that Arthur's territory's biggest problem was too few people.
This was also why Arthur hadn't summoned people from other cities or strongholds in The Lands Between for such a long time.
Even if he summoned them, there wouldn't be enough places for them to live.
Even now, over sixty percent of the houses in Stormveil City are still vacant, and Morne Castle only just reached full occupancy a few days ago.
Just as Arthur was on his way back to Stormveil City, Gaye, a merchant—or rather, a "noble" merchant—from the Losarnach territory of the Kingdom of Gondor , arrived within Morne Castle's vicinity.
Although Gaye's expression didn't change much, his heart was utterly shaken.
What he found most shocking was the twin Erdtrees standing tall in the distant Stormveil City. He had never seen such enormous trees, nor giant trees that could emit such light, and certainly never a scene where the surrounding forests and grasslands had all turned golden.
Gaye did not mistake these golden forests and grasslands for the normal withered colors of autumn, because these plants clearly still exuded vibrant vitality, a very significant difference from the faded, yellowish color of decay.
No wonder the dwarves called this place the land of gold.
Gaye thought to himself, looking at the golden leaves hanging from the branches, his eyes filled with curiosity.
He wanted to know if these leaves were truly golden through and through.
Kenneth Haight, being a very observant nobleman, naturally noticed Gaye's expression and smiled as he said, "If you are curious whether these plants are truly gold, Sir Gaye, I can only regretfully tell you that they are not. They have only changed to a golden color, but their essence is still that of plants; there are no other changes."
Gaye suddenly understood, feeling a slight disappointment inside, but it quickly vanished.
If this place were truly "a land of gold" in the literal sense, as a nobleman with business and economic acumen, he would probably be concerned about the monetary upheaval caused in his own country by so much gold flowing into Gondor.
"Of course, you may pluck a leaf as a souvenir. Since you are not the first to be curious about the plants in Arthur's territory, I can very much understand your and your caravan members' curiosity," Kenneth Haight added with a chuckle.
Upon hearing this, Gaye cleared his throat and smiled. "Then I shall respectfully obey, Lord Kenneth. But from what you said, have others been here before?"
He had come this time with a mission, aiming to establish a good relationship with Arthur, this newly emerged wizard, at least to make himself known. That way, if his family ever faced unforeseen circumstances, it would be easier to seek help, essentially leaving himself a fallback.
Thus, when Gaye heard Kenneth's previous remark, he thought that other humans with the same idea had already arrived before him.
Kenneth Haight was also well aware of the essence of Gaye's question, so he maintained a benevolent smile and said, "You misunderstand, Sir Gaye. You are the first human caravan to depart from Gondor and travel such a long distance. Arthur, Your Majesty, and I both admire your perseverance; finding this place was not easy."
Gaye breathed a sigh of relief internally and complimented Kenneth Haight, "Not at all. If it weren't for the Erdtree in Arthur's territory being faintly visible from afar, we wouldn't have found this place so easily."
He first sighed, then said with a laugh, "Minhiriath has been unvisited for too long, but to be able to meet Lord Arthur and a kind nobleman like you, Lord Kenneth Haight, makes our journey very worthwhile."
Then Gaye saw a group of dwarves boisterously pass by the caravan, laughing and greeting Kenneth Haight before heading into Morne Castle.
Gaye looked at Kenneth Haight and asked in surprise, "Were those just… dwarves?"
Kenneth Haight smiled and nodded. "Yes, they are from the Blue Mountains. Because Arthur, Your Highness, is on good terms with the dwarves of the Blue Mountains, our two sides frequently engage in trade."
Gaye's eyes lit up with fervor; he hadn't expected to encounter dwarves in this remote land.
He had originally thought this trip might be a loss-making venture just to make an impression on the new wizard.
If he could purchase some toys, kitchenware, or farm tools made by dwarves in this territory, he might even be able to buy dwarf-forged weapons, which would be genuinely good items.
This way, Gaye could earn several times the profit upon his return, far more valuable than the fruits and flower seeds he had brought.
Kenneth Haight took in the changes in Gaye's expression, but he didn't say much; as long as the prices were fair and reasonable, how Gaye conducted business was his own affair.
After he led Gaye's caravan further into Morne Castle for a while, a man and a woman, two Elves, elegantly approached and bowed to Kenneth Haight.
Upon noticing Gaye's caravan, the pair of Elves also nodded slightly in greeting to the human, then maintained their elegance and departed.
Now, Gaye's expression changed from fervent to shocked. He rubbed his eyes, confirmed that the retreating figures belonged to two Elves, then looked at Kenneth Haight in surprise: "Lord Kenneth, did I not see correctly just now? Were those two Elves?"
Kenneth Haight stroked his golden short beard on his chin and replied with a smile, "You were not mistaken, Sir Gaye. Those are Elves from Rivendell. Arthur, Your Majesty, is on good terms with Lord Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, and thus Elrond has dispatched a portion of Elves to reside in Arthur, Your Majesty's territory."
In reality, these Elves had originally only intended to stay for a month or two and then leave, but as the Erdtree grew more and more, these Elves unexpectedly grew to love this giant tree deep in their hearts and were somewhat reluctant to depart.
Since Elrond hadn't set a return time for the Elves who stayed behind, the Elves in the Golden Tree Territory tacitly avoided mentioning their departure.
They planned to stay here until they were satisfied, then return to Rivendell.
Elves care least about time, don't they?
Gaye didn't know how to express his inner shock to Kenneth Haight, but he quickly changed his mind, putting on a fawning expression as he asked, "Lord Kenneth, do the Elves also conduct business with Lord Arthur, the wizard?"
Kenneth Haight replied, "They are unlike the dwarves; buying or selling depends entirely on their mood. It's possible you might buy a longsword forged by an Elven master today, or you might wait a month and not see any Elves enter the city. Don't even think about bothering these Elves; they are all friends of Arthur, Your Majesty. If you are caught engaging in such behavior…"
Kenneth didn't finish his sentence, but Gaye understood what he meant, nodding repeatedly: "Understood, understood. Clear, clear."
Anyway, for Gaye, the mere possibility of this was already a huge, unexpected joy.
While Gaye was surprised by meeting the dwarves and Elves, Arthur, on the other side, had arrived at the courtyard where the Erdtree was located within Stormveil City.
Since the enemy this time was clearly a massive Dragon, Arthur naturally thought of those friends who had experience fighting Dragons.
Among them, only two had successfully challenged and defeated a Dragon with him: Yura, the Bloodfiingers Hunter, and Igon, the Dragon Warrior.
Especially Igon, who had faced the king of Dragons, Bayle the Mad Dragon, alongside him.
Igonwas already on Arthur's summon list.
However, Arthur was uncertain about summoning Yura.
Although Yura had faced Agheel the Dragon with him and successfully hunted it down.
But he had a very fatal problem.
That was, like Irena, the daughter of Edgar, the Lord of Morne Castle, Yura's body was exploited by the mad flame's henchmen after his death.
And if Arthur remembered correctly, Yura's parasitic condition was even more severe than Irena's.
At least Irena showed no physical abnormalities during her life, while Yura had let out a painful groan after a battle, cursing the parasite within his body.
In his eight cycles of reincarnation, Arthur had always tried to save this Bloodfiingers Hunter who had helped him many times, but it was always in vain.
But now that he possessed the elden ring, perhaps he could summon this old friend and cleanse the parasite from his body?
However, this was only a possibility. When it came to the mad flame, Arthur had to be cautious.
Arthur didn't know what was going on with the mad flame parasite in Yura's body, or when he had been infected.
He only knew that after Yura sacrificed himself in the battle against Eleonora the Pureblood Bloodfiingers, that cursed mad flame parasite took over Yura's corpse and called itself Shabriri.
Arthur's thoughts lingered on Yura's name for a moment, but he ultimately chose to give up and did not summon him.
What a pity.
Arthur thought, feeling not only pity for Yura but also for the strength of Eleonora, the Pureblood Bloodfiingers.
Because this Pureblood Bloodfiingers wore Dragon Knight equipment, which was also a symbol of a master Dragon hunter.
However, it was only a pity. After Yura and Eleonora, he still had a higher priority candidate.
And this candidate's strength was far greater than Yura's and Eleonora's—provided someone could help suppress the scarlet rot on her body.
Arthur's hand had, at some point, gained a golden needle about the length of his index finger. He then poured his mind into the elden ring to summon.
Blessings converged, and the slender but strong, one-armed female figure appeared.
She had loose scarlet hair and wore light green clothing.
She looked around somewhat bewildered, then upon noticing Arthur approaching her, the woman's golden eyes sparkled: "Arthur, where is this? Uh…"
A sudden sharp pain interrupted the woman's words; her body began to boil with scarlet mist.
But at the same time, Arthur quickly moved closer, plunging the golden needle into her body. The scarlet mist gradually calmed and disappeared.
Arthur stepped back, revealing a gentle smile: "Welcome to your new home, Millison."