Conquering His Cold Heart

Chapter 654 Niflheim gnomes (2)

Choosing to conclude the earlier spat Frost moved straight to handing down the gnomes' first mission.

"Right now our territory is starting its evolution. Our quaint little camp will become a full blown territory, a city state that can hold its head high amongst our neighbours. For that to happen I am in need of your talents, your gifts in regards to craftmanship."

A range of prideful and hopeful smiles grew across the Niflheim gnomes' lips and in response Frost retrieved a rolled up parchment from his robes and handed it to one of the C-rank gnomes.

Displayed on the parchment were his plans for the territory, the intricate details of the large defensive wall, the military buildings, farms, new businesses, residential sections as well as several improvements that had been discussed for the inner area which was the current grounds covered by the Camp.

There was also a few other details that had been added which Rana and the rest were kept in the dark about. Information that Frost trusted only in the hands of his own forces and them alone.

"I need all of you to assist the monsters as well as the territory's residents in completing this ambitious venture….you have two weeks to get at least 80% of the wall completed, the other works you can take your time with, but the wall must be done within the assigned timeframe." Frost reiterated his strict timeframe, accepting nothing but success.

"The head of the local labourers guild is taking prime point on this project; I want you to work along side her and her team….if she proves to be less skilled than she lets on you can takeover as the primary but until then follow her instructions." Though having to follow the orders of a sapient didn't sit well with their pride, the Niflheim gnomes didn't snub her outright.

If Rana had the skills to back up her position then they'd gladly follow her, gnome hierarchy was based not on strength but on ones skill with their craft.

"We will not fail you master." The one who received the plans took the role of temporary head, speaking for the rest of the gnomes standing behind him.

Frost smiled and nodded his head finding the look in their eyes most aggregable.

"First of all however we're going to have carry out a little play." Frost thus relayed to them all about his little ruse as well as a few rules they needed to follow while acting within the Camp in comparison to within the Dungeon.

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Ten minutes later Frost with the three C-rank Niflheim gnomes walking by his side and the twenty lesser gnomes falling closely behind left through the Dungeon's branch exit and made their way towards the Camp, appearing as though he and his entourage were originating from the Glacial mountains.

The group at first didn't cause too much of a commotion given that such groups frequently travelled through the mountains' southern entrance however once they drew closer to the Camp it was impossible for their uniqueness to go unnoticed.

"Is that Lord Frost and…..gnomes?" A middle-aged merchant who was in the middle of a large transaction of goods was the first to catch sight. He was quickly followed by another and then another. Soon there was a gaggle of onlookers staring at the prideful looking gnomes walking by Frost's side.

Though not everyone knew of the legends of the gnomish people they knew how rare they were.

Eventually Frost and the gnomes made their way before Rana and her labourers, many of whom were in complete awe as they approached.

"To think I'd get to work alongside side an actual gnome, my father will likely die of envy when I tell him." One labourer muttered under his breath.

Rana handled herself with a bit more decorum than her jaw-dropped subordinates, but she was no less excited. A powerful desire rose to the surface, she wanted to test herself against these gnomes, to test the extent of her own talent and experience.

"Rana I'll leave my subordinates in your capable hands." Frost lightly smiled as he placed the Niflheim gnomes under Rana's control.

"Urg..a..a…sure." Still in disbelief Rana barely managed to get a word out before the three C-rank Niflheim gnomes stood before her.

"We look forward to working with you Miss Rana."

"….." There was an awkward silence wherein Rana looked back and forth between the three gnomes and Frost. Her heart was madly beating, and her mind was awash with shock, awe, confusion as well as an intense pressure. In the background a labourer was so shocked that he lost his balance and fell straight to the ground.

Eventually however thanks to her vast experience Rana managed to calm herself and take hold of the head gnome's outstretched hand, shaking it firmly. "Glad to you have you and your comrades on board, please let me know if there's anything you find disagreeable, I'm eager to hear your thoughts on our little project."

Those with similar interests could always find some level of common ground. Redirecting their attention to the building site Rana and the three Niflheim gnomes starting chatting away like old friends. A scene Frost expected.

'Haaaaa with this a major problem has thus been solved' Frost internally sighed before he and Yuna returned to the Lord's manor. Though he had no problems getting dirty with manual labour there were some things that only he could do as the territory's Lord.

The Niflheim gnomes quickly settled in alongside Rana's skilled labourers as well as the hired help and volunteers. With hundreds of skilled bodies on the job the wall's foundations were completed within a matter of days, successfully keeping to Frost's stringent timescale. Alas the foundations were the easiest to complete given the elevation and materials on hand.

It was the next phase that met with a few issues.

"Sorry Frost I can only get my hands of 70% of the requested materials and they're going to cost an arm and a leg." Calder said across the communication crystal.

Despite his fast acting, generous offers and wide-spanning connections it didn't take long for the merchant tycoons to get word of Frost's plans.

With such blatant demand these merchant kingpins restricted the local supply in an attempt to both please the upcoming new ruler of Northrend as well as make a very generous buck.

While Calder was rather well connected and particularly skilled these tycoons were competitors of his grandfather, Sebastian. With the old man gradually stepping down it was a prime opportunity for them to take his throne rather than letting it safely fall into the hands of a young pup like Calder.

"Haaaaa it's alright just buy what you can, the price does not matter." Frost felt a headache coming on but a hiccup such as this was one he was prepared to handle.

"Understood…..sorry Frost."

"No need to apologise Calder, we never expected to avoid rattling the hornet's nest in the first place. 70% is still a fair chunk, we'll find some way to make do." Frost waved his hand and smiled absolving Calder of his guilt before ending the call.

"Yuna can we cover the excess with DP?"

"With the additional people coming to the territory with the promise of work our daily income has certainly increased but so has our expenditure, we're barely managing to cover our initial projections." Yuna replied through a thick stack of documents.

"So no."

"It's unlikely."

"Haaaaaa, either we need to cut back on a few of our investments or find a reliable source of materials. With Calder striking out with the local merchant groups we'll have to place our hopes on the foreign market. Kranor's already giving us quite the generous stipend at a reasonable price but what about the other enclaves in the area or the nations bordering Northrend?"

"Kranor's mayor said that our deal with them is rather unique as enclaves tend to avoid dealing with outsiders and if they do, it would generally be with longstanding and highly reliable kingdoms such as the three flower kingdom."

Frost just didn't have enough of a relationship with those that dwelled within the glacial mountains. Even if he managed to contact and set up a pricey deal with a nation such as the three flower kingdom by the time the materials actually arrived the two week deadline would be over. The same could be said for the nations beyond the Northrend empire.

Frost's need for haste greatly limited the options available to them.

"Tsk, well we have at most 3 days to come up with a worthwhile solution by then the lack of materials will start to seriously affect our progress."

3 days later Frost, Yuna and the council failed to come up with a solution to their material shortage thus threatening to drag out the wall's development.

In such little time there was nothing to be done thus Frost prepared to cut back on a few things, so he'd have piece of mind while away.

Just when he was about to declare the changes however a ronso guard arrived with some surprising news.

"Huh Luna's here." It wasn't that shocking that an old friend would come and visit him but normally they'd inform ahead of time through their communication crystals. Luna's appearance was thus quite unexpected.

Though Frost was incredibly busy he was more than willing to make some time for Luna however the moment he stood up from his chair a strong sense of unease passed over his heart and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.