CHAPTER 58: IT’S YOUR RESIDENT PRINCE SPEAKING!

"It’s your resident prince speaking!"

Even with Theo’s loud shout, the crowd would never react as swiftly as a lone man.

Which is why, just like there were some who stopped and turned right away, there were those who had to notice the entire crowd had stopped to pay attention themselves.

And in that time, Theo turned back to Narmidor.

"People have tried over and over again to conquer others by violent means," Theo started, only to immediately shrug his shoulders, "and I will show you how much easier it is to just buy everyone instead."

Taking a breath, Theo turned back to the crowd.

To say that most of the sect members were present... would be a gross overestimation.

Out of the cultivators, maybe a third of them were at the scene, with the rest either away on their assignments or back at the deeper part of the sect, away from all the commotion.

But when it came to the mortals, the many workers that the sect employed to keep its city running...

With a glance around, Theo could guess that the simple mortals were the majority of the crowd. And while it was but a small fraction of the workers within the sect, given their number?

’This had to be like everyone from this area and around,’ Theo thought, taking note of this important detail.

"I know this is not what you would expect, want, or desire to hear, but there is a list of favors I need from you all."

With just those words alone, Theo managed to turn the crowd’s curiosity into anger.

When hearing Theo’s request for favors, they could all tell it meant even more taxes and conscription from their ranks!

The crowd quickly started to boil. Before it could erupt, though, Theo raised his hand as he prepared to speak.

"First, can any of you deal with woodworking?"

Silence was the crowd’s only response to Theo’s inquiry.

First, his request was way too out of the realm of anyone’s expectation for them, even if they fit perfectly in the criteria Theo just presented, to respond.

And yet, even after giving the crowd some time to process his request? Still, not a single voice called out in response.

"I mean just the simple, ordinary stuff. Carving out cups from a block of wood, cutting out cutlery from planks, the usual," Theo shrugged his hands. "Nothing really complicated, I promise."

For a few more moments, no one reacted. And with each passing second, the air grew more and more awkward.

Such a huge crowd, and there wasn’t a single person who could deal with wood?

Seconds continued to pass while the awkwardness continued to grow.

Then, someone raised their hand. Next, two more hands moved up. And by the time Theo saw five of them move up, he smiled and nodded his head.

"Okay, now that we have the people to work the wood, who here can split ropes into threads?"

Once again, following a silence, several hands shot up, more due to the pressure of the awkwardness than from their wish to volunteer. And just like before, once five hands shot up, Theo moved on.

"Who here knows how to make simple boxes, with the one caveat being that those boxes need to be able to hold as much water as the other?"

"Who here can fetch the water?"

By now, all the positions Theo had to fill were taken care of. But he was nowhere near stopping yet.

"Who here knows how to handle planting of the herbs?"

"Who here knows how to harvest the grains?"

"Who here knows how to stay up for long hours with little to do?"

Soon, Theo forced over a hundred hands to go up, even though he only ever had the need for fifteen, maybe twenty workers.

But for such a big and open address, there was no way to hide the news about it from anyone who did their due diligence and investigated the situation. And by keeping the future of his project in mind, Theo made sure to muddle the waters as much as he could.

Sure, anyone could find out about the public recruitment. But would they be able to pick out the three, maybe four jobs Theo needed to fill out of the ten-fifteen roles he requested the locals to fill?

Would anyone be able to tell whether someone carving out wooden cups was important, or was it the person capable of mixing herbs to create soothing brews?

Either way, now that Theo gathered all the workers that he needed and then all the spare manpower he simply would have to pay for, it was time to proceed to the next step.

"Okay then. To all those who raised your hands, would you mind staying behind?" he asked, knowing full well that as things were now, it would be a blessing if even a single person out of each category would stay behind.

It was one thing to shyly raise one’s hand due to the awkwardness in the air and while in the midst of a thick crowd. But to make good on one’s raised hand and actively subject oneself to a labor exploitation?

It didn’t matter that it was the prince calling for their help. Here, in the sect, he was just an inner disciple, as powerless to offer them anything as would be all the other disciples in a sect that already struggled to keep itself on the right side of the balance sheets.

But Theo wasn’t done yet.

"I happen to have an important job for all of you!"

Even now, all that he managed to achieve was convince those who volunteered that what he wanted was their free labor, making it all the less likely that even a single soul would follow his bidding and stay behind.

And now that the mood of the crowd swung towards its darkest possible areas, Theo was finally ready to unleash his true weapon.

The weapon that he planned to conquer the world with, just the way he bragged to Narmidor about.

"It’s a job that will pay better than an expedition to the wildlands!"

This announcement, Theo made sure to make with a raised voice while paying extra attention to keep it slow, steady... and perfectly easy to understand, even with all the noises of the crowd.

And just like by a touch of a magic wand, with the single word ’pay’ now appearing on the agenda, the crowd... hesitated.

The crowd hesitated and gave Theo just a few more moments of its attention, allowing him to expand on this simple promise.

"Sure, there will be an expedition coming soon, it’s going to be mostly free of threats," Theo continued to speak right as a strange feeling welled up in his chest.

After all, in the face of what he was about to do, speaking out of turn or negotiating without Narmidor’s approval while he was right there...?

All of those things were about to be overshadowed by his very next announcement.

"And it’s because I’ve already brokered a ceasefire with the tribes!"

For the nth time today, the crowd turned silent.

This time, however, it wasn’t the silence born out of their wish to skimp out on whatever additional work Theo wanted to impose upon those good people.

No, this time it was pure and unadulterated shock.

A shock that was followed by an explosion of noise as everyone found this moment to be just right to shout out and externalize their surprise.