Chapter 167 Approval Required for Buying a House as a Noble?
What was the black mine? It's a deep vertical mine where ore, people, and supplies were transported by ropes.
Sometimes workers even slept in the mine to extract more ore. Food and candles were sent down daily, and shifted change every ten days to prevent miners' mental breakdowns.
Omar, of course, knew about such mines. It was the reason he screamed for death. A pampered noble sent to toil in the darkness, how long could he endure such torment?
As for the black mine prepared by Henry, it was an abandoned one with minimal output. To avoid wasting manpower, Henry repurposed it as a prison for the condemned. Food could only be obtained by mining, exchanging ore for sustenance, or facing starvation.
Once inside, there was no way out. It's either suicide or finding every possible way to survive, with no other options. As for escaping? There's an iron fence above the mine shaft.
The method of digging a tunnel from the bottom of the mine to the surface to escape, which would take at least ten years. To survive in the dark mine for ten years, one would likely go insane.
Henry was currently reviewing intelligence gathered through covert means, thinking, 'It seems this Riley is quite capable and has a good mindset. He is a talent.'
The report contained Riley's personal information, including how he treated civilians in Solanis and the reasons for his conflict with Baron Omar.
"Henry, are you planning to keep him?" Mila asked in surprise.
"No, I won't keep him. It all depends on his own choice," Henry replied, "A person's opportunities and choices depend on their vision. This is also a kind of test."
"That's profound!" Mila said, stuffing a few pieces of dried fish into her mouth.
She was a bit annoyed that she couldn't understand some of the things Henry said, unlike Ellie and Willow, who quickly grasped his meaning.
Riley was now feeling a bit lost, standing in front of the castle gate, the words of the guard echoing in his mind.
The guard said, "You can go now. Henry has investigated and you are free to go."
"Innocent?" Riley looked at his hands. So, the bandits were stopped? It was a mistake to deliver the letter to the wrong person, but it turned out well.
He had no face to return to Solanis, no, he didn't want to go back to Solanis at all. Riley never expected that the bandits were actually organized by Baron Omar.
During the eight days he spent in the dungeon, he had thought a lot. What kind of existence were the nobles? They could trample on the commoners and treat them like cattle and sheep.
He was just a prospective noble, not a true one, and he couldn't understand the actions of the nobles. How dared Baron Omar do such a thing?
So, Riley was confused. He didn't intend to go back to Solanis, but he hadn't thought about where to go.
'Victoria, I'm really sorry.' He thought to himself.
Riley looked at the dusk sky. If everything went as expected, he might be at home, holding Victoria and sleeping.
Unfortunately, everything was ruined by Baron Omar. Riley didn't know that Baron Omar was now in the black mine. After all, capturing Baron Omar was a covert operation.
He walked on the street, watching the commoners with smiles on their faces, starting to gather the wheat that had been laid out on the ground. It was getting dark, and there was dew at night. Everyone was busy putting the wheat into the sack so they could be stored in the warehouse the next day.
"It's great!" Riley stood on the side of the street, silently watching everything. He didn't see any sorrow on the faces of the commoners. This was incredible. As we all knew, although the autumn harvest wheat made the commoners very happy, which also made them very worried because they had to pay a wheat tax. The wheat tax in Solanis was eighty percent, and every time the commoners paid the tax whose faces twisted in reluctance.
"Hey! It's really you, Riley." Suddenly, Riley's shoulder was tapped, and he turned his head in surprise to see a familiar figure, a plump... a plump Brandon.
"It's Lord Brandon, what are you doing here?" Riley asked in surprise.
Riley was often sent by Baron Omar to visit other cities, so Riley had been to Hyratos many times because it was a bustling city. That's how he met Brandon.
"I didn't expect it to be you, Riley. What? Are you on a mission to Eldoria this time?" Brandon said with a smile.
"It's really hard to say." Riley said with a dejected look.
"What's on your mind?" Brandon patted his big belly and said, "Come, let's go to my house for a drink."
"This..." Riley hesitated, thinking that he didn't know what to do, so he nodded and agreed, "Then I'll take you up on that."
"No big deal. You're my first guest to my house." Brandon said with a smile.
Riley reacted and quickly asked, "Lord Brandon, did you just say 'your house'?"
"Yes, my house." Brandon looked at the commoners coming and going on the street, and he said casually, "I have given up the fight for the title of Baron in Hyratos and decided to settle in Eldoria."
"This..." Riley widened his eyes.
"Is it hard to believe?" Brandon walked lightly and said calmly, "After you understand this city, you should have a similar idea to mine."
"What?" Riley was a little dazed, why, was this city very special?
Brandon talked with Riley along the way, and it took ten minutes to arrive at Brandon's home.
"Lord Brandon, is this your home?" Riley looked a little stunned at the two-story small building in front of him.
The gray-white exterior of the building looked square and unremarkable, not like a place where a noble would live.
"The second floor is my home, but it's over 2150 square feet, which is considered one of the larger houses in Eldoria." Brandon's face shook with fat, full of pride. "This is also approved by Lord Henry after I went to him to request it."
Riley was completely dumbfounded, when did a nobleman have to get approval to buy a house? And it's just a 2150 square feet house.
"Eldoria is different from other cities, you will be surprised after you understand it." Brandon laughed lightly.
