Lady Roman, the wife of Knight Roman, returned to her parents' home with her child and dowry. The confiscated property belonged to Knight Roman, not involving her dowry. At least, she still had two or three hundred acres of land under her name, enough to make ends meet.
Lady Deya also retreated to her own estate.
Her background was slightly better than her daughter-in-law's, and her dowry was more substantial. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to marry a baron. However, later on, she had an affair with Lord Joane Vaughn, which her eldest son couldn't accept, leading to a severance of ties.
Now, with her younger son deceased and the elder son estranged, she had nowhere else to go but to stay in the estate that served as her dowry.
A property, or strictly speaking, two properties, fell into Garrett Nordmark's hands .
With a sudden surge in wealth, his dream was now one step closer. Amidst his joy, Garrett felt a bit perplexed:
Is the lord being this generous?
He did save a considerable number of peoplewithout him, the plague would have lingered for at least another half month, claiming the lives of one or two hundred unfortunate souls in the city.
However, could just these accomplishments be worth a house in the city plus an estate?
Most of those who would die in the plague were, frankly speaking, the poor. Considering the lord's usual behaviorshying away to the countryside during an epidemic and being unwilling to spend money on disaster reliefthese people might not be of much concern to him.
So, why give him a house?
The logic didn't add up!
With these doubts, Garrett remained somewhat bewildered until he obtained the deed to the house. Elder Elwin Wilkinson accompanied him to inspect the property. Seeing Garrett looking lost, Elder Elwin Wilkinson asked, laughing heartily:
"Do you think it's because you treated the plague? Don't be silly! It's just an excuse. It's not about your promising future; who would be this generous? In less than a month, you become an apprentice; in two months, a full-fledged mage and priest. Such a person, if not befriended, who would want to befriend?"
Garrett, feeling a moment of enlightenment, still felt that there must be more to it. Only after listening to Elder Elwin Wilkinson's further explanation did he understand that among the nobility, there was a rule: those with abilities must have corresponding wealth and status.
In other words, even if you were a penniless lad, once you crossed the threshold of the extraordinary, local nobles would find a way to absorb you. If you lacked money, they would provide it; if you lacked manpower, they would supply it.
As for status, the position of a full-fledged mage was equivalent to that of a knight, qualifying them to participate in noble discussionseven if the outcomes weren't guaranteed, they at least had the right to sit among peers and not be stepped on without reason.
Pondering this, Garrett increasingly felt that this unwritten rule made sense. In this different world, the power of the extraordinary resided solely within oneself. If they weren't given money or status, they might resort to seizing it, becoming a destabilizing factor! Who would cry then? Probably not the wealthy and influential gentlemen!
"But they have to spend a lot of money!"
Garrett blurted out. Elder Elwin Wilkinson couldn't help but laugh:
"In fact, it's not that much. Generally speaking, families that aren't wealthy and influential can't afford to send their children down this path. Knights earn military achievements, and naturally, the lord rewards themmages, learning magic is an expensive endeavor!"
"And what about priests?" Garrett instinctively retorted. Elder Elwin Wilkinson looked at him slowly:
"Priests are devout."
If you've dedicated yourself to the gods, what more do you want, money, status, or the like? Aren't you bound by your inner beliefs? Aren't you afraid of the failure of divine magic?
"Our lord here is a bit lustful, lazy, and mediocre," Elder Elwin Wilkinson continued with a leisurely evaluation. Garrett broke into a sweat:
"But he still knows how to follow the trend. Moreover, he doesn't have to spend his own money; didn't he just confiscate a sum? That Knight Roman has three estates; he gives you one, and he still has two left!"
Garrett pursed his lips, deciding not to continue complaining with his teacher. Elder Elwin Wilkinson looked at him and suddenly burst into laughter:
"Moreover, do you know the usual method these noble gentlemen use to recruit new blood? Marriage! Foolish boy, wait, soon someone will come knocking on your door proposing marriage!"
"I still want to open a hospital!"
"I still want to learn magic!"
"I still want to travel the country, traverse the continents! I want the stars and the sea!"
"I don't want to be tied down now!"
As Garrett walked along, he was ridiculed by his teacher all the way until they reached the house provided by the lord. Viscount Joane Vaughn was quite generous, and in terms of size, this house was about ten times larger than Garrett's residence in the city. It was a two-story brick and stone structure, resembling the rural cottages Garrett often saw in his previous life.
Downstairs featured a living room, kitchen, and dining room, with spacious bedrooms on both sides. Upstairs, there was a large living room surrounded by five or six rooms, including bedrooms, study, and a workshop, and a large balcony was also set aside.
"Treatment room, healing room, disposal room, operating room, pharmacy, this kitchen is too small for a sterilization room... Hey, teacher, this house needs a renovation!"
"Do we need to renovate this?" Elder Elwin Wilkinson looked at him with a strange expression.
"Aren't you just opening a clinic? This house is pretty good! Clean it up, bring in some furniture, and it'll be ready to use. My place isn't as big as yours, and I don't have as much stuff!"
"No renovation means it's unusable!" Garrett frowned.
"Teacher, look, the wall hasn't been painted, the roof hasn't been plastered, things could fall down at any moment. In this state, it's impossible to perform surgery! Moreover, the kitchen is too small, there's no toilet, and there's no place to handle medical waste... At least give me a bathroom! And running water!"
Elder Elwin Wilkinson pondered. He didn't understand every word Garrett said, nor did he comprehend the reasons behind each statement. However, in the few previous instances, this kid had proven that his seemingly inexplicable requests made sense...
"So, what do you need?"
Garrett frowned. He needed so many thingsmaterials, instruments, equipment. Even if he followed the most basic clinic setup, a single sheet of A4 paper wouldn't be enough to list everything. Summing it up, the most fundamental requirement was:
"Do you have money, teacher... I feel like doing all this will cost a lot of money..." Especially the water purification device, plumbing, sigh.
Right, he also needed to create a shadowless lamp. The current
solutions for shadowless lamps involved assembling a dozen priests for human-powered illumination... It was simply unbearable. The more people, the greater the risk of infection in the operating room!
Elder Elwin Wilkinson paused for a moment, then looked at Garrett with a smile. Until Garrett felt a bit uneasy, he casually asked:
"Why do you think you don't have money?"
"Well..." Viscount Joane Vaughn only gave the estate and the house, no cash! Should I sell the estate? Even if I rush to sell it, I might not get a good price...
Garrett struggled to argue. Before he could speak, a shout came from outside the stone house:
"Lord Nordmark! Are you there? Your Excellency!"
"I'm here! What's the matter?"
"I, at the behest of Baron Vaughn, bring gifts to congratulate Your Excellency!"
"Sir Levi congratulates Nordmark Mage!"
"Viscount Fulma congratulates..."
Gifts kept pouring in until, in the blink of an eye, the long table in the living room was filled. Looking at the gold coins, silk, spices, and various gifts piled on the table, Garrett's mind was in turmoil, and only one word echoed repeatedly:
Prosperity and success...
He suddenly looked at Elder Elwin Wilkinson. Lifting his chin, he smiled:
"Teacher, do you want to... send a few priests here to settle? I can teach them!"