A Hospital in Another World? Chapter 992: The Council Buys Land, Lease Term 999 Years!

Silver for gold.

Silver for gold.

Magic crystal for gold, magical beasts for gold, magical plants for gold...

The entire Eagle God's Kingdom was both happy and in pain. The happiness stemmed from the fact that the debt was getting closer to being repaid. Looking at it, only two-thirds of the debt was left... then only half... then only one-third...

The pain came from the fact that the treasury was almost empty. Not only the treasury, but the temples were also empty, and the noble families' properties were nearly depleted. The warehouses, utensils, decorations, every nook and cranny of their homes that could be used were almost entirely taken out to repay the debt—

What? Not repay the debt? This debt was incurred in the name of the gods. Not repaying it was being unfaithful to the gods!

Being unfaithful to the gods, being insincere, did you still expect to receive divine favor? Did your son still hope to advance from Black Hawk Warrior to White Hawk Warrior, and someday, from White Hawk Warrior to Golden Eagle Warrior?

Did your daughter, your daughter-in-law, still hope to become a Priestess of the Serpent God? Even if she couldn't become the highest-ranking Snake Woman, didn't she still want to be a low or middle-ranking priestess? Didn't she even want to clean the steps of the temple?

Such families, without the support of military power, would easily collapse and be swallowed up by others! By then, former nobles would either die or become slaves!

"Send troops to attack the surrounding city-states, forcing them to pay as much gold and treasure as possible... Anyway, we have captured their warriors, the remaining people shouldn't dare to resist?"

"But... the gold decorations on the warriors have all been handed over... Without the gold decorations, the power of the Eagle God," the Golden Eagle Chief frowned and looked at Chivacoatl:

"Can the Serpent God provide protection? Can our warriors avoid being bitten by poisonous insects and snakes in the lowlands and jungles and not be troubled by diseases?"

"This... can be done in the short term... But you know, the great Serpent God accepted the sacrifices and is now resting, unable to spare much power... The previous war exhausted the Snake Women greatly in treating the brave warriors..."

"That would be troublesome..."

While the high officials of the Eagle Empire were holding a meeting to discuss, the magicians were also in a meeting. Grand Mage Byerbo sat at the head of the table, looking around at the grand mages, his expression relaxed and joyful:

"First, let me tell you some good news. Our action in the Eagle God's Kingdom this time has yielded excellent results. Currently, the gold belonging to the council totals..."

He glanced at the account book:

"About 400 tons of gold."

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted. Four hundred tons! Although a large portion of this harvest would go to the council—the airships were not dispatched for free—each person could expect several life-sized gold statues according to the previous agreement.

For an 18th-level grand mage, two or three life-sized gold statues should be possible, right?

Going down to 15th-level grand mages, a life-sized gold statue shouldn't be just a dream, right?

Going further down, for the warrior guards of the grand mages, they might at least get a bust or a head, right?

A life-sized gold statue weighs about 1.5 tons, which converts to about 180,000 gold coins... Slurp...

Even if the gold handed over by the natives was impure, with only 90% or 80% content, after purification and smelting, it would still be worth 150,000 to 140,000 gold coins!

Just thinking about it was exciting!

"And, in addition to this gold, there are nearly equivalent—what I mean is, according to the local market value of the Eagle God's Kingdom—other high-value magical materials. The specific value still needs further evaluation after returning to the council."

Even more enthusiastic applause followed. Further evaluation after returning to the council meant the value wouldn't be according to the prices of the Eagle God's Kingdom. A two- or threefold increase was minimal; a tenfold increase wouldn't be surprising!

This time, the contribution points each person would receive might be enough to relax for at least three years? Little Garrett is truly our lucky star! A great lucky star!

We need to maintain a good relationship with him. If there are any good opportunities in the future, he might take us along again...

Look at this time, the Conjuration School and Necromancy School got the biggest benefits, while the other schools could only get some scraps...

Grand Mage Byerbo smiled and looked around, both elated and careful not to let the corners of his mouth curl too high—to avoid arousing envy and jealousy from other schools. He waited a while, until the applause subsided, and then said solemnly:

"But I must also remind everyone of one issue. —After the high-intensity debt repayment, the wealth of the Eagle God's Kingdom has basically been exhausted by us. Whether it's the palace, the temples, or the nobles—"

He paused, his face serious:

"This is very detrimental to our subsequent development. Ultimately, we want the adventurers guided by the council to see a prosperous place full of opportunities to make a fortune, not a country that's already been ransacked."

The magicians' smiles gradually faded. Indeed, the location, combat power, and output of the surrounding wilderness of such a country were more valuable than gold and silver.

To develop this wealth, a constant stream of adventurers was necessary. Without widespread wealth, without tales of making a fortune in a single trip, how could a large number of adventurers be attracted?

"So?"

Grand Mage Vicks timely took over. Grand Mage Byerbo nodded at him and continued:

"So I suggest we start our negotiation plan ahead of time. We should ask the Eagle God's Kingdom to sell—or long-term lease—some of their territories to establish our mage towers, trading posts, and other related facilities."

"Agreed."

Grand Mage Haines was the first to agree. Grand Mage Mansfield followed with a smile:

"I've already scouted locations for the mage towers here and at the port. If we want to build more along the road or the river, I'll need to scout further."

"The area should be big enough."

"Near the main market, we definitely need to allocate a large area. Ideally, the purchase should be separate from the sale, with areas for selling equipment, potions, scrolls, repairing weapons and armor, and don't forget taverns and inns..."

"Need my help?" Grand Mage Parisi of the Divination School, specializing in astrology, offered. His branch studies daily include meteorology, and he has considerable knowledge of weather, hydrology, and soil:

"To prevent you from finding a place for a mage tower, only to have it washed away by the river next year..."

"Spit, spit, spit!"

The grand mages laughed and quickly reached a consensus. Grand Mage Vicks personally took charge of negotiating with Tlatoani:

"Using land to offset the debt? Absolutely!" Tlatoani agreed without hesitation. Not only did he agree, but he also breathed a huge sigh of relief:

Thank heavens, no more wars, no more bloodshed from the warriors! Those White Ghosts were tough to deal with; even with strong allies, their losses were not small...

"Feel free to choose! Anywhere except the palace, temples, and sacred places, anywhere you like is yours!"

With a swish, a large piece of cowhide was spread out on the table. The magicians had obtained it from the Bison Tribe, treated, dyed, and turned into a map several square meters in size. The terrain scanned by the airship was accurately carved on it:

"Anywhere on this, we can choose?"

"This..."

Tlatoani hesitated.

Just as Grand Mage Vicks thought he was about to renegotiate or lament the loss of land, the "spokesperson" of the Eagle God's Kingdom, whom the magicians understood as the "king" or "speaker," hesitated and circled a highland basin on the map:

"Outside this circle, are other city-states... They only submit to us, offering tribute and sacrifices, but for land matters, you must negotiate with them separately..."

Grand Mage Vicks felt a moment of darkness.

The most troublesome situation! Negotiating with one tribe, then with another;

After negotiating with that tribe, negotiating with a new one;

After a while, if a new tribe rises and wipes out the previous one, the previous negotiations might become invalid!

These were pitfalls the council had encountered repeatedly when negotiating with orcs and barbarians. This contract must be firmly imposed on the Eagle God's Kingdom, and it must be enforced strictly!

"In that case, let's first discuss the area around the capital... We need a large plot near the main market, about half the size of the palace, to freely modify... For this, we are willing to offer a gold nugget the size of a human head..."

"A gold nugget the size of a human head is too little. This is the main market!" Although Tlatoani did not know the council's bottom line and did not have an accurate assessment of the prime location, he instinctively haggled:

"At least... at least a life-sized gold statue, to give you this place!"

"Too much! At most one-third! If you don't

sell it to us, no one else can afford it!"

"Half!"

"If it's half a gold statue, then this land must belong to us forever! Even if Tlatoani changes, as long as the Eagle God and Serpent God exist, this land must belong to us forever!"

"That's not acceptable! At most ninety-nine dry seasons and ninety-nine rainy seasons!"

"This time is too short. Will your Eagle God and Serpent God only live for ninety-nine years? At least nine hundred ninety-nine dry seasons and nine hundred ninety-nine rainy seasons!"

"Then... we need more gold! One... no, two life-sized gold statues!"

After much bargaining, Grand Mage Vicks and Tlatoani finally bought a prime area near the main market and three regions with the most abundant energy and stable geology by the highland lake.

In total, the area exceeded 100 square kilometers, enough to build three mage towers and their supporting facilities, surrounding the capital of the Eagle God's Kingdom.

Even this did not use up a third of the debt shortfall. Grand Mage Vicks wiped his sweat and continued negotiating:

This time, he planned to secure the port below, the river connecting the port to the highlands, and the strongholds along the river!

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