"I understand." The blue mist responded softly.
"Help me contact the Bloodline Elder Council. I’ve figured out who has been investigating me—it’s Adelle, the young master of the Sambo Family. He hasn’t found anything yet, but he’s managed to get himself into a heap of trouble because I killed four members of the Blood Clan. Ask the Bloodline Elder Council to clean up this matter for me."
"If he hasn’t found anything, why bother dealing with it?"
"It’s part of my agreement with Jones, and it’s the condition under which he told me the truth. He’s friends with the young master of the Sambo Family. Help me take care of it, leaving no loose ends. Originally, I planned to go directly to the Bloodline Elder Council myself, but my body can no longer endure two consecutive uses of spatial magic. Handle it for me..."
Adolf’s face ultimately became submerged within the blood crystal, and the entire crystal rapidly solidified.
The underground space returned to its original silence. A deep silence, as if capable of devouring everything.
After Adolf left, Jones’s life returned to its usual pace.
Of course, the term "usual" had become somewhat inappropriate to describe Jones’s life now. After all, his daily routine involved expanding territory, which meant every day was a new day, each day marked by progress and advancement.
"You must become the master of money, not its slave." Jones agreed with this sentiment, but first and foremost, one needed money to begin with, right?
With Adolf’s approval, Jones announced the next day that the dwarves at the refinery would be granted their freedom. The entire territory erupted in celebration.
"Thank you, our honorable Lord. We will prove with our actions that your decision was the right one. May the War God bless you!" The refinery’s dwarf leader, Silverhammer, clasped Jones’s hand and kissed it repeatedly, so much so that Jones felt a bit embarrassed.
"I am merely doing what I should do. As long as everyone works hard, we can definitely build up this territory."
Standing on a high point, Silverhammer called out loudly to the dwarves: "Did you hear that? Work hard and repay our Lord! We can never go back to Dwarf Valley. From now on, this is our home! We’ll live here for generations!"
The dwarves cheered exuberantly.
Keg stood beside Jones, winking and making exaggerated expressions.
"What’s up?" Jones asked.
"How did you persuade the owner of the refinery to agree to free the slaves?"
"By discussing it with him."
"Discussing? Can such a matter be negotiated?" Keg asked, puzzled.
Jones smiled mysteriously and replied, "Of course it can, especially when the owner of the refinery is me."
"You’re the owner of the refinery?" Keg was stunned.
"Not only am I the owner of the refinery, but I also now have some funds—quite a bit, actually. At least for the time being, I won’t lack money. Perhaps I should immediately repay all my debts." Saying this, Jones glanced at Silverhammer, who was eloquently speaking nearby: "To be honest, he’s better at speaking than you are. I like him more, truly."
"Hmph." Keg rolled his eyes.
"Now, let us all cheer for our esteemed Lord! He is a friend to us dwarves, unlike other members of the Blood Clan! He possesses a kind and noble heart!" Silverhammer proclaimed to the crowd from his elevated platform.
Immediately, the dwarves erupted into fervent shouts and cheers. This included the dwarves from the refinery as well as those from the gold mine. They swarmed forward and lifted Jones high into the air.
Truth be told, suddenly having so much money left Jones feeling somewhat uneasy, especially considering that, on the surface, he hadn’t seemed to sacrifice much to obtain it.
All things considered, since acquiring his territory, he had only gained an income of twenty thousand gold coins. More precisely, he had only profited one thousand gold coins: eighteen thousand went toward costs, and one thousand was Adelle’s share. A thousand gold coins—just enough to cover the bank’s interest.
Nevertheless, he had indeed received a significant amount of money, instantly elevating him to the status of a small-to-medium scale Blood Clan Lord.
Having settled the arrangements for the territory, the first thing Jones did was bring Dora to Hilde. He headed to the bank to pay off all his debts.
Slamming two banknotes with a value of ten thousand gold coins each onto the desk, the goblin clerk opposite him nearly dropped his eyes in astonishment.
"From now on, I owe you nothing. Please hurry; I still have other matters to attend to." Jones said, expressionless.
"Certainly, Young Master Jones. I’ll handle it right away." The goblin clerk quickly took the banknotes, returning shortly with nine thousand two hundred gold coins as change.
Fortunately, banknotes also came in denominations of one thousand gold coins each; otherwise, Jones wouldn’t have known how to carry them back.
Striding confidently out of the bank, Jones arrived at Adelle’s castle and handed him a banknote worth ten thousand gold coins.
"I met Adolf. He said he’ll resolve your issue."
"The night before last, after you left. He came to me right after. In fact, he arrived before you even left; he just didn’t show himself."
"So he knows I’ve been investigating him?"
"Yes. But you needn’t worry." Jones replied with a smile.
Adelle picked up the banknote from the table and silently glanced at it, paying particular attention to the issuing bank’s signature: "Jones, are we still brothers?"
"Of course we are. Why do you ask?"
"If we are, then why would you rather owe Adolf money than owe me?"
Jones paused for a moment before smiling and responding, "I don’t owe him money. This is my own."