Supreme Magus

Chapter 4473: Ruined City (Part 1)

’Well, that’s a nice surprise.’ Solus said after Lith shared Sakh’s words with her via a mind link. ’It explains why the people of the villages I visited were so kind to me. I bet that everyone in the Kellar region knows you and every member of your family.’

’You’re probably right.’ Lith sighed. ’You know what’s sad, instead? That during my two years as a Ranger we have marked every single mana geyser in the Kellar region, whereas we’ve lived most of my life in Distar and know only the location of a handful of mana geysers.’

’That’s because we worked here, and every mana geyser was an opportunity to get home faster.’ She chuckled. ’You never gave a damn about any city of Distar aside from Derios, the Lark Estate, and Lutia.

’We have never taken a single tour of the Distar region before this mess with the Isharas, whereas we know Kellar like the back of our hand.’

Of course, not every place in the Kellar region was the same, nor were its people. Some villages and even cities still disliked foreigners and didn’t bother hiding it. Lith and Solus were rudely received a few times, but they let it slide unless certain lines weren’t crossed.

No city had ever earned their spite like Maekosh, and when Lith reached it, he was far from shocked when he discovered that its citizens had become even more bitter and ungrateful than he remembered.

”Look who’s back. The barbarian with a badge from the south.” Xelos, the owner of the Prancing Griffon tavern, spat on the ground to emphasize his joy at the unexpected reunion.

”I have no idea who you are, but I’m pretty sure it’s for the best of both of us.” Lith replied with a flat tone.

”Please, forgive Xelos’ poor manners.” Baroness Enja, the local ruler, had come to supervise the delivery of the goods, afraid that the mean people of Maekosh might once again incur Lith’s wrath with their attitude.

”This winter has been hard on everyone.” She said, and she meant it.

The Baroness had almost run out of basic necessities after sharing everything she could afford with the less fortunate. Enja wasn’t a generous woman, but if too many people died on her watch, she would have lost her seat as a Baroness even without the Isharas’ meddling.

”Hunger has plagued Maekosh for over a month, and my beloved citizens have been driven to the brink of despair. If you also consider that many among us fell ill and succumbed to colds and flu because too starved to fight back, you can understand why they are on edge.”

”Actually, I can’t.” Lith snorted, taking the crates out of his pocket dimension one at a time. ”I bet those people would have survived if you had a Healer, and also that your people drove out any gentle soul who tried to set up shop here.”

The crowd cursed, and the Baroness flushed at those words, because they were the truth. No foreigner lasted long in Maekosh, even those the city desperately needed.

”And whose fault do you think it is that we are reduced to beg a southerner for food?” Mikos, a local brewer, growled in outrage. ”It’s all because of you, *Magus* Verhen.”

The man managed to make the highest title a mage could aspire to into a slur.

”It’s only because you helped that traitor of Oshek that Maekosh is dying! Ever since he opened and expanded his two-bit brewery in Lutia, no one is willing to buy a single keg of our beer at the usual fares!

”We are forced to sell at a loss or see the merchants who until a few years ago begged down on their hands and knees to buy our goods turn around and leave!”

The number of barrels the local breweries produced each year had always been limited by the available surplus wheat stocks, just as only the bravest and boldest merchants dared to face the harsh journey to reach Maekosh.

Oshek, instead, lived in one of the Kingdom’s most fertile regions, and the Warp Gate in Lutia made buying and moving the barrels of his beer quick and easy. Moreover, the owner of the Drinking Wolf had always asked fair prices for his products.

While Maekosh’s brewers sold only to luxury merchants, who in turn supplied only the wealthy, Oshek did business with anyone who could afford it.

As Oshek’s fame as a brewer spread, he had improved his equipment, bought an entire building for his brewery, and produced so much Maekosh-quality beer that no merchant in their right mind wasted their time and money haggling with those like Mikos.

”Mikos!” Baroness Enja withered him with a look, or rather, she tried. ”Don’t mind him, either, Magus Verhen. I assure you Mikos doesn’t mean what he said.”

”I’m sure he did, and I do mind him, Baroness.” Lith stopped unloading the crates altogether and turned towards the brewer. ”If you want to glare at the one responsible for Maekosh’s situation, Mikos, you only have to look in the mirror.

”Unless the wheat you grow around here requires gold as fertilizer, your so-called ’usual fares’ are a daylight robbery. The only reason merchants put up with your nonsense and those who could afford your beer bought it for all this time was that Maekosh had a monopoly.

”If any of you had a shred of business talent, with all that money you would have long since expanded your breweries, lowered your prices, and turned Maekosh into the Kingdom’s capital of the beer, drawing countless tourists here.

”Instead, you idiots just pocketed the money and shot your own feet over and over. Look around you. Nothing has changed since my tour as a Ranger, yet even the smallest villages I visited have gotten better.

”Maekosh still has the unflattering record of being the only middle-sized city in the entire Kingdom with no Healer, no thriving merchant guild, and no chance to ever get a Warp Gate. Is it not?” Lith’s words hit all those present like a punch to the gut.

The city had actually gotten poorer and dirtier since his last visit, while the rest of the north flourished. Maekosh could have benefited from the disappearance of the three lost cities like the rest of Kellar, if only its citizens allowed it.

”Magus Verhen-”

”I’m not done, Baroness.” Lith’s tone was level, but his voice was as sharp as steel, cutting her short. ”Instead of wasting your energy whining, you people should appreciate me coming here to help you, or at least keep your mouths shut.

”I don’t expect your gratitude, but I demand your respect. I’m not your scapegoat Ranger anymore. I’m the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom, and I’ve taken some of my precious time to deliver basic necessities to you, paying them out of my own pocket.”

”As you should.” Ysha, a middle-aged woman, sneered in reply.

”Excuse you?” Lith’s eyes narrowed, and his voice lowered into a cold hiss.

The Baroness wanted to speak, but she had seen the look on Lith’s face countless times on countless other people over the years.

It was the grimace of someone fed up with her subjects’ attitude and wouldn’t spend a second longer in Maekosh, even if she paid them their weight in gold.