Hill watched the silent Boen and slowly said, "If you become a Mage, you can come to see me on your own. I won't arrange any followers by my side anymore. Besides you, I don't need any other servants."
Boen raised his head, his eyes reddening, "I'll go talk to Mom. Mom won't agree either!"
Hill sighed. Boen really had been following him too long and didn't know his parents well. Ever since he found out that Dean and Shani lacked the aptitude to become Mages and could only be ordinary people if they failed to become Knights, Lina and Locke's hearts had started to lean elsewhere.
During this period, Locke seldom went to manage the farm anymore; he was always cultivating his younger son. Hill had advised Dean to read more in the library, but Locke didn't quite agree. He thought that since his son couldn't become a Mage, he should work hard to train his body and strive to become a Knight.
Hill had List inform them that it was difficult to become a Knight in his domain.
Not long after, List discovered that Lina and Locke were grooming successors. When they first arrived, they wanted to manage everything, but later they left everything to those servants.
The two farms were actually handed over to two pairs of married servants. Lina had always said to carefully select the maids, but Locke ended up directly arranging for two male servants to marry the two maids and take over the farms.
List had already decided that once Lina mentioned leaving, he would leave two good-cooking maids in the tower as cooks. An Alchemist's Mage Tower didn't need that many people to begin with.
Hill knew Lina didn't dislike Boen, but as a parent, one always favors the weaker child. With the better path Hill had offered, without needing to give up on Boen, Lina and Locke would surely seize it.
Lina would definitely persuade Boen, so Hill said no more. Fran was still waiting for him, and he didn't think delaying would be alright.
He told Boen to wait for him to return and talk again, then turned and left.
As expected, Fran was already waiting at the living room door, and Adrian seemed to be about to come find him.
Adrian saw him and reproachfully said, "Why bother explaining so much to him? He'll understand eventually."
Hill smiled and said, "Boen has been with me since he was a child and never left. I haven't told him about this decision; he just can't bear to part with me."
Adrian nodded and said, "You've been good to him, and he has a conscience."
Fran turned his head impatiently and said, "Lead the way, spare us the nonsense."
Hill, leading Fran and Adrian, had just landed on that hill abundant with elemental power when Alice, accompanied by the black leopard Merkel, was already waiting there.
She tried to maintain her composure as she addressed Fran, "Respectable Mage Fran, Merkel does not wish to be your enemy and has decided to move to Hill's Domain to live. Would you allow him to take his belongings and leave?"
Adrian was almost shocked, "Hill, has your kindness spread to Magical Beasts now too?"
Hill glanced at him, "Alice was brought to me by you! I can't just kill her friend, can I?"
Fran asked sternly, "Just like that, he's moving over?"
Alice quickly replied, "I've discussed it with Hill. Any Magical Beast wanting to move to Hill's Domain must swear never to betray the domain and never to harm humans!"
Fran couldn't help but glance at Hill, "Has your Elven Bloodline reverted?"
Hill dared not make a sound.
Fran said irritably to Alice, "Hurry up and take him away."
Alice hurriedly meowed a few times at the black panther that was trembling and hiding behind her, only then Hill noticed that Fran had been suppressing the black panther with his magic power all along.
Merkel, under severe pressure, pulled out a very large bundle, trembling as he placed it at Hill's feet.
Hill quickly extended his hand to him, and Merkel nuzzled his palm while howling. After making his vows, he hurriedly pushed the package towards Hill with his claws.
Hill, toughening up under the peculiar gazes of Fran and Adrian, took the package away.
Then those two left Hill behind and ran off as if their feet were greased.
Fran said, "No need to survey anymore; it's a mixed mine. Just go and find the Elemental Node."
Adrian chuckled suddenly.
Hill touched the ring on his hand and quickly summoned several Earth Elementals.
The Earth Elementals began exploring downwards, and without hesitation, Fran flattened Merkel's hillside cave, his powerful magic compressing the land for miles around into flat terrain.
Adrian patted Hill's shoulder, "Your soft heart is terrifying! Lucky you're a Magician. Otherwise, our teacher would die of anger."
Hill responded, "What else besides Magical Beasts could live in my domain in the future?"
Adrian laughed, "That's true. Even Fire Element beasts wouldn't go."
Hill said irritably, "I used to think about building a perfect Mage Town. I drew so many design diagrams, all for nothing."
Adrian, without hesitation, reached out his hand, "Give it here. You won't need them anyway!"
Hill handed him a few design diagrams of a Western town. Adrian praised audibly, "This would entirely need to be built with magic! There's both plumbing and drainage. This complete living system must have taken a lot of effort indeed."
Hill remained silent. He based Adrian's design on Germany's Rothenburg with Y-shaped streets starting from a tall bell tower, linked by arches and houses with dark red roofs. The colors were vibrant, quaint, and elegant.
This was his favorite town during his travels in Europe years ago. Unfortunately, for Adrian, who lived in a fantasy medieval era, the water towers fashioned after onion domes and the broad underground sewers were of greater interest.
Fran came over and said to them, "This place is really suitable for building a Mage Tower. Once the Elemental Node is found, Adrian can stay here and command the Puppets."
Adrian waved the blueprint in his hand, "Teacher, why not build the small town as well? The caravan will be arriving in about half a month anyway."
Fran took the blueprint and glanced at it, "Not bad. They've agreed to leave their homes and follow us; we should prepare a good residence for them. He pointed at the Y-vertical section, this outer part is for the caravan. The blank space is a small square, right? Left side is for the apprentices, the right side is for later use."
Adrian silently calculated: "About 300 meters of forestland between the Mage Tower and the town should be sufficient, right? With all ordinary folk on the caravan's side, it won't cause any disturbance."
He looked up again at Fran, "If Hill's area is not open, should we build a road?"
Fran took out a map and looked carefully, "Don't connect it to his back mountain. This mountain chain leans toward his front left, so a road built downhill can directly lead to his valley."
Adrian said with a smile, "Although we flew over from his back mountain, we're actually closer to Saral."
Fran gave a cold huff, "That's not too bad."
Hill suddenly interjected, "The right side could be left for the Undead Tribe."
Fran could hardly conceal his surprise, "Do you really think William won't lose? Even in the God War?"
"The Undead Tribe is very dismissive toward gods. With enough benefits, they dare to brandish swords at gods."
"They are the race of the Main God!" Adrian was astounded.
"That one seems not to need devout followers; he prefers mutual benefits. The Undead usually just verbally invoke but respect the notion of 'you get what you pay for' more."
"How did you see that? I've observed for a long time and haven't noticed. They constantly shout about the Main God's blessing in everything they do!" Adrian asked curiously.
"You should look at their attitude towards William," Hill said indifferently, "They treat William more like they're dealing with a tavern owner giving out quests to adventurers. He's definitely set to be a future church head."
"Adrian, get ready. Make sure the houses on the right have proper defenses," Fran concluded, "No rush, though. Even if there are a lot of Undead People, and William is sure to win, they wouldn't arrive here before a year from now."
He looked again at Hill, "Are you sure the address you left will allow them to find it?"
Hill responded, "Each of them has an Alchemy Map, the Temple version."
Adrian coughed, "His Majesty truly is incredible. Perhaps the All Gods cannot even find Him? Relying purely on terrestrial followers, the Undead with all Professionals would indeed find it hard to lose. Do they have High-level Professionals?"
Hill answered, "Not that I've seen so far."
Adrian shrugged, "Then I'll get ready. When their High-level Professionals also start to appear in large numbers, we'll consider opening up."
Fran asked Hill, "Are you planning to let them into your territory?"
"No, I plan on building a small village in front of the valley, providing basic trade. There's nothing special produced there, so I doubt many people will visit."
Adrian asked, puzzled, "Then why are you insisting on opening a place?"
"The curiosity of the Undead Tribe could kill hundreds of cats. If they pass through completely enclosed territory, they would only want to peek at what secrets it holds."
"What about our place?"
"Just allow Mage Profession entry," Hill muttered internally,
"I really want to know how many Mages they have," Fran suddenly said.
Hill did not dare to respond and turned his head down, "The Earth Elemental has found the Node. Would grandfather like to go down and see?"
Fran raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you leading the way?"
"Grandfather can just go down directly, the Earth Elemental has opened a path," Hill said, "Once found, I'll just dismiss these few. I'm better off not knowing the exact location."
Adrian said to him, "You are being overly cautious. If necessary, we can bind a few Earth Elementals."
Hill laughed, "I'm just a small Magician. I can't handle grandfather's enemies."
Fran accepted this and took Adrian down.
Hill sighed and sat down on the ground. He didn't want Fran to interact with players and yet always feared Fran might choose the wrong side. His conflicted behaviors probably raised doubts in Fran and Adrian already.
At that moment, he felt being a Magician was a blessing. His awakened Earth-Wood-Water System were all Forces of Nature, deeply cherished by nature itself. His Elven Bloodline was also becoming stronger under nature's call.
Fran likely thought Hill was inspired by nature. That's good; a bit of mental preparation, and they won't be too shocked.