My territory is filled with block creations.

Chapter 23 Killing someone to silence them is impolite; can't we discuss things properly?

Startled by the sudden turn of events, Raymond breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the person in front of him wasn't there to attack him. He quickly recovered and, adopting a calm and even somewhat aloof demeanor, said, "Then I'll have to see what your village has that's worth buying."

As soon as Raymond finished speaking, Thorne patted his chest and said, "Yes, my friend, yes, my name is Thorne, and I am the lord of this territory. I believe my territory will definitely give you more than just a few surprises."

Raymond silently scoffed to himself. He admitted that the man in front of him had some skill in building such a high village wall with just a dozen or so villagers. But to call himself a lord over such a small area was truly laughable.

However, on the surface, he still wore a polite smile: "My name is Raymond, nice to meet you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a villager, wanting to emulate Lester and Doug, volunteered to Thorne for an important position in order to increase his standing in the lord's eyes.

Unfortunately, a merchant is still too important to this village that has just come back to life.

It wasn't that Thorne didn't trust them; it was just that given the villagers' level of education, Thorne could easily guess the outcome with a simple mental simulation.

So I'd better do it myself.

He immediately waved his hand, signaling the villagers to return to their posts. Those who were on duty were on duty, those who were building the city wall were building the city wall, and those who were digging dirt roads inside the village were digging dirt roads so that stone brick roads could be laid later.

Today, this businessman friend of mine came to receive us personally.

This is a good option for Raymond, at least judging from the village chief's educational background, it seems to be the pinnacle of education in the village. As for the other villagers, from those who didn't graduate from prenatal education to the Mechanical Church... wait, the Mechanical Church?

Raymond was taken aback. He looked at Alex, who was holding a wrench and fiddling with a bunch of mechanical gears that he couldn't understand, on an open space by the river.

Only members of the Mechanicus could understand these massive gears that could crush a person with a single burst of force.

So isn't something wrong here?

Autumnwind Town wants a member of the Mechanical Church to take charge, so the town's lord's mansion, other nobles, and several major merchant guilds need to pool their money and sign a contract with the Mechanical Church.

First, buy a big, bulky machine that's practically useless and that even the Mechanical Church can't sell.

Then, by using a money offensive and humble toasts, they could get the deacons of the Mechanical Church to add an agreement to the deal that would grant church members the status of resident engineers.

Raymond glanced at it... After looking around, Raymond continued to ponder in his mind, "What makes a member of the Mechanical Church so special that they only have 11 people in the village?"

Those bastards in charge of personnel at the Royal Capital Mechanical Church should be dragged out and beheaded for 15 minutes, and beheaded vertically, no less.

And if there are members of the Mechanical Church here, then it's highly likely that the weaving machine was made by her. Not necessarily, after all, the village chief next to her doesn't seem like a normal person either; he might have some skills.

After all, this really concerns my commission salary, so it's best to find an opportunity to ask about it.

Just as he was pondering how to subtly inquire about anything related to cloth, the village chief, who was walking ahead, spoke up rather directly, almost like a human.

"First of all, I think you should take a look at the cloth produced in our village. You really can't find anything better for miles around."

Thorne is now willing to risk everything for his territory. Before this, he never imagined that he would be able to follow someone he had only known for less than two minutes to boast about the things he made.

And most importantly, his boasting skills are extremely poor.

Fortunately, the businessman in front of me was very accommodating. As soon as I finished speaking, he showed me a look of great interest.

This eased his tension a little, and he led Raymond directly towards the village warehouse.

Upon reaching the warehouse, Raymond was somewhat surprised. Putting aside whether the size of this village matched the behemoth before him, he had initially thought it was some large, enclosed factory building.

So, the village chief next to me is a true infrastructure freak? Never mind, I can't think about that anymore, business is more important.

Thinking this, he followed Thorne into the warehouse, and his brows began to twitch uncontrollably.

I won't comment on the mountain of rolls of cloth in front of me, after all, I'm not a professional. But what's with those rows of bows that I caught a glimpse of out of the corner of my eye?

Is that something a village should have? And besides the bow, there are many other things: swords, axes, pickaxes, and hoes.

However, the material looks rather dark and doesn't appear to be made of steel.

Thorne then noticed Raymond's intense, veiled gaze, and the latter smiled slightly, saying, "Let's put the cloth matter aside for now. I'm a little curious about the performance of those tools. Why don't you pick one up and try it out?"

This was Raymond's own clever idea: by having this two-meter-tall, burly man wield an axe to chop wood, he could judge whether the man was a skilled fighter by observing his efficiency and the way he applied force.

That way, if things fall apart later, I'll have more confidence to change my plans and leave no survivors. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory.

When Thorne heard Raymond's request, he neither agreed nor disagreed, since he needed Raymond's help now. He picked up an axe and said, "Then come with me to the forest not far away."

The two left the warehouse and headed towards the nearby forest. Along the way, Raymond didn't forget his duties.

They could see the cloth, but they hadn't yet seen the machine that made it.

Thorne shrugged indifferently upon hearing this answer. Who would have thought that the cloth was actually hand-wrapped by him? But he certainly couldn't say that.

People in this world don't have that strange, handcrafted obsession, believing that what they forge themselves is always better. In contrast, they have more faith in products made by mature industrial assembly lines, and cloth is a prime example of that.

Thinking of this, Thorne didn't hold back: "There's a machine by the river that produces wool yarn. That machine is the first step in making wool fabric. Let's start by looking at the first step."

As he spoke, he was mentally calculating what kind of words he should use to deal with the person in front of him. Then the two of them arrived at the edge of the forest, where a huge tree, as thick as an adult's waist, stood right in front of them.

"We'll see later then. Let's check out the performance of this axe first." After Raymond finished speaking, Thorne didn't hold back and swung his arm to fight. With three dull thuds, a tree as thick as an adult's waist fell straight down.

The forest was very quiet, except for a strange thud from Raymond. Thorne's three axe blows had cleared his eyes.

Raymond thought that Loren's initial plan was pure bullshit!

Why can't we discuss things properly?