Chapter 146: Awakening [ XXVI ]
Yellow River City
Two days later
The people of Yellow River City still haven't forgotten about the bastard who ended the lives of their loved ones. Each day they awoke, they spent an unhealthy amount of time praying for the downfall of the evil monster who committed such blunders.
Some of them even became impatient, seeing that the officials of the school hadn't said anything about the matter. They went to the school to protest for some time but were driven out when a magic formation was set up, forming a magical barrier that stopped them from getting close.
This made the people wonder what the school was doing.
However, while all this went on, Dragun and Vishirk did not stop cultivating.
Morning, noon, and even the dead of night, both of them spent all of it meditating and refilling their mana reserves.
Vishirk was able to refill his mana reserve on time with the help of mana stones he had purchased.
Dragun spent more time filling his up because his mana reserve was much bigger than that of Vishirk.
Also, Dragun refused to utilize his mana stones.
He kept paying and using the refreshing mana pool at the inn. He would only use his mana stones when he got to Winterseed, where there wasn't much mana to cultivate.
While Dragun was busy meditating, Vishirk excused himself and left the inn to observe the city a little bit.
Since he was from the city, the feeling to go to places he loved when he lived here kicked in, and he didn't try to fight back those feelings.
Thankfully, Dragun wasn't against this as long as he had his mask on at all times and prevented drawing unwanted attention to himself.
Vishirk left the inn happily and went to visit the places he liked while Dragun remained in the room, absorbing mana as fast as he could.
At the moment, Dragun could be seen sitting topless in the pool, relaxing.
"This pool is so refreshing and useful for magic cultivation. If only I had something like this in Winterseed, it would've been very useful for Riela in her magic cultivation," Dragun sighed.
The cost of building even the smallest mana pool was around one hundred thousand gold coins. Such wealth was impossible for a small village like Winterseed.
Even if they sold all their farm yields for the next twenty years, they still wouldn't be able to purchase the smallest mana pool.
"Thinking about selling the harvests from farms..." Dragun muttered softly.
"It would be nice if the village had some connections with merchants or other neighboring villages, in order to do business," Dragun continued.
He had been to many villages and realized that Winterseed lacked a lot of development, especially in the financial and marketing sectors.
Having connections with other villages in order to do business would develop Winterseed faster than they knew it.
Dragun once dreamed of owning an inn of his own during his six-year journey.
But with a place as small as Winterseed, having an inn would be impossible.
Currently, the population is far bigger than the number of shelters available. And the village doesn't have enough space to build more houses.
"The population would increase drastically in the next twenty years and then the village would become too tiny to contain everyone. We would have to move out and find a new home, either by clearing vacant land, conquering some already existing territory, or simply joining another," Dragun was deep in thought at this moment.
He was still very concerned about the well-being of everyone in the village even though he was not their Lord anymore. Even with the cold shoulder everyone gave him, he still wanted to help them.
Dragun was ready to do anything for them as long as they continued living peacefully. He also wanted a nice and peaceful place to develop in his magic cultivation.
"There is one land I know about, though," Dragun muttered to himself, recalling a very vast territory he came across while traveling.
The territory was very big, at least twenty times bigger than Winterseed. It also housed really big and nice houses and a magnificent palace.
However, weirdly, when he passed through the land, there was no one living in it.
He did some research and discovered everyone in the village had suddenly disappeared.
"As long as I can break the mystery about the disappearance of the people and solve it, Winterseed would have a new beautiful land to live in," Dragun smiled.
"And then I'll be able to build the inn I have always dreamed about, haha," he laughed heartily.
Nevertheless, his laugh came to a quick halt when a loud explosion followed by a noisy commotion blasted across the inn.
Dragun stood up abruptly, water dripping from his body. He grabbed a towel and dried off hastily. The noise outside grew louder, filled with shouts and crashing sounds. Dressing quickly before stepping out.
As he made his way downstairs, the innkeeper and a few guests peered nervously out the windows. "What's happening?" Dragun asked one of them.
"A group of thugs are causing trouble at the restaurant next door," the innkeeper replied with a worried expression.
Dragun moved towards the entrance and pushed the door open. Outside, the usually peaceful street was in chaos. The small restaurant adjacent to the inn was in disarray. Tables and chairs were overturned, and frightened patrons were scrambling to get away.
Five rugged-looking men were at the center of the turmoil. They laughed loudly as they flipped tables, sending dishes and food flying. One of them grabbed a customer's purse, while another snatched a merchant's coin pouch. The largest of the group kicked over a display stand, scattering goods across the ground.
Dragun stared at them with a frown on his face as he found their faces a little bit familiar.
'Where have I seen these faces before?' Dragun frowned.
He didn't engage immediately as he tried to analyze the situation first.
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"They are the same bandits we saw two days ago on our way to the market!"
Dragun recalled what Vishirk warned him about when they saw the bandits, and his eyes widened. "Could this be another trick from Alister?"