Anton was a little grateful to Anna’s teacher, her classmates, Elianah, and her sister and her sister’s friends for giving them privacy to meet up with Anton and Anna’s father.
After waiting for a couple of hours, several carriages arrived. When the carriages stopped in front of the manor, the first one who stepped out was Anton and Anna’s father. They both ran and hugged their father.
“Thank the divines that you’re back, Father,” Anna cried, and even Anton was sniffling a little.
He had to admit that Anton now truly felt that Anders and Anna were his family, and he didn’t know what he would do if he lost them. He remembered thinking that it was a mistake to allow Anders to go by himself to New Drennor, and for several days after his father left, Anton felt an urge to follow Anders. He didn’t because he didn’t want Anders to think that Anton thought little of his father’s strength. That Anders wouldn’t be able to protect himself.
At least now, the three of them were back together. For a while, at least. Up until Anna returned to her academy and his father became busy handling his new mercenary group.
After a few minutes of hugging and crying, Anders introduced everyone who stepped out of the carriages to Anton and Anna. Still, Anders noticed that his children’s attention wasn’t focused on the people and decided to stop the introduction. Anton knew that his father would continue the introduction once emotions had settled.
Anton, Anders, and Anna were led by Raymond to the office that the butler had prepared for Anders, while Ronia and the other people from the manor led the others who were with Anders somewhere. Read complete version only at ɴovelfire.net
At that moment, Anton didn’t care about them. His attention was solely focused on their reunion with Anders.
In Anders’s office, the three of them settled into the elegant chairs placed inside while a pot of hot tea was placed on the small table at the center. After that, Raymond left them to give the three of them some privacy.
“This Rose Manor is incredibly beautiful, Anton. How much did you spend to purchase this, and why did you buy it?” Anders asked while sipping tea.
“Around 180,000 gold coins. The monthly expenses of the manor are around 8,000 to 10,000 gold coins, but to be honest, gold coins are easy to acquire in this kingdom. After a day of dungeon diving the 30th floor of the Corridors of Amuneta dungeon, which is one of the high-level dungeons that littered this kingdom, I could earn around 60,000 to 70,000 gold coins. I don’t even have to do anything. I just placed a small tent on top of my Dire Bear, watch movies or television shows, or read books while my summons kill the dungeon monsters. When all the monsters are killed, my summons will have already collected all the spoils. I then exit the dungeon and convert all the loot to gold coins except for high-level mana stones.”
Anders and Anna gaped at Anton.
“Why the 30th floor?” Anna asked.
“It’s the easiest floor for me to grind for gold coins. I delved it three or four times a week, then I would earn around 250,000 plus gold coins. I still have all the high-level mana stones I gathered from the dungeon, except for those I sent to Anna. I have 164 of them.”
“What is the mana stone exchange rate here in Ormunda?” Anders asked.
“A low-level mana stone is 100 gold coins, a medium-level is 1000 gold coins, and a high-level mana stone is 10000 gold coins, but from what I’ve learned, high-level mana stones were supposed to be so rare that even if you have the coins, you might not even be able to purchase one. Right now, I still don’t know how I can use the stones personally when it comes to my magic. I haven’t researched them yet since I was busy delving dungeon,” Anton said.
“Are the monsters from a high-level dungeon difficult to kill?” Anders asked.
Anton paused for a bit before answering his father’s question about the monsters inside the high-level dungeon.
“To challenge myself and to earn battle experience, I delved into the deeper floors of the Corridors of Amuneta. I managed to reach the 60th floor, and the monsters there are truly powerful. If I bring you with me, Father, I will probably not be able to protect you, and the monsters there will definitely kill you. If you’re planning for your adventurer or mercenary group to delve into the dungeon, I recommend that you start with the beginner dungeon.”
That information made Anton’s father think deeply.
“Just like you, I want to challenge myself so I will have the power to contend with the undead once they start with this continent. Before we left New Drennor, we heard rumors that the forces of the Undead Coalition were seen in the waters near the coastal city. I now truly believe your theory that sooner or later we will have to battle it out with them,” Anders said.
“Based on my cursory inspection of this kingdom, Ormunda is truly very powerful, Father. That meant that we might have earned the time to grow, so the moment that we have to battle with the undead, I’m sure that we will be ready.”
Anton saw that Anna was staring at him and their father, but he could see the just like him and Anders, Anna had this resolute expression on her face. He knew then that the three of them were now true enemies of the Undead Coalition.
“Again, why did you buy this manor? There’s a chance that we might have to leave this place as well,” Anna said.
“I thought the same thing, but right now, my theory is this kingdom is the best chance for us to grow in power since it has the resources we will need to do so. Not only that, we’re still in the fringes of the kingdom, and if worse comes to worst, we can move to the center for more protection. Having a property here meant that we might be treated by Ormunda’s government as part of its citizens. Besides, gold is so easy to earn. Even if we need to run, we can just leave this manor,” Anton said with a shrug.
“Our family also owned a very popular flower shop in the perfume district, according to Ms. Ronia,” Anna said.
“Once the gardener had planted the flower seeds, I used a spell to rain mana water on them, and the flowers grew. The effects were wonderful. The flowers that were cut off last very long before they wilt, and the smell of the flowers became intoxicating. The garden also produces a lot of flowers. Instead of throwing them away, a gardener decided to open a flower shop with my permission, and I provided the capital. Right now, that one shop's earnings alone can support the manor.”
“I will need more coins. There are around 20 people in my Adventurer Group, and I will need the funds to outfit all of them. I planned to outfit a few people with the remaining gold coins that I have left, then earn more gold coins by diving the dungeons here or doing mercenary work, and then continue outfitting more people,” Anders said quietly.
“You don’t need to do that, Father. Anton had saved hundreds of magic items from diving the dungeons. It’s in the manor’s treasure room.”