"Are you saying that Ravenholdt Manor wants to be paid again before they'll agree to carry out the assassination?"
"Yes."
"Greedy fools. Ignore them. All the assassins under Jorach wouldn't be able to touch a hair on that man's head."
"Is that person really that powerful?"
"What's powerful isn't him, but the angel by his side."
"So, what's next?"
"Do nothing. Don't contact me again, no matter what, until I contact you!"
The lich's voice disappeared from the crystal ball. Herkul placed it back on its base, staring at it blankly. He wanted to present a great gift to the great Lich King before becoming a true lich, but unfortunately, he had failed. But was that young lord really that powerful? He had some doubts.
Even worse, Kel'Thuzad was clearly distancing himself from him. This close friend now seemed cold and ruthless, even forbidding him from contacting him—was he afraid that he would betray him?
Lich King above, he knew very well what he wanted. He would never return to the embrace of the Holy Light. Harkul's only thought was to become a lich and gain eternal life.
Harkul still wanted to wait for an opportunity. But since Aiden's visit to Dalaran, it had only been a few days before he sent people to take over the administration of Tarren Mill. Lordaeron's magistrate, Oakes, readily handed over power and had already returned to Lordaeron with his men to accept new assignments. Similarly, Dalaran had also sent a transfer order, requiring all Dalaran mages, including him, to return to Dalaran within a time limit.
Aiden sent an army of about five hundred men, along with more than a hundred administrative personnel, and completed the transfer of power in just a few days, making him the true ruler of this place.
Harkul had already packed his bags. He still wanted to find an opportunity to attack Aiden. He was confident that his archmage abilities would make the success rate very high if the other party was unprepared—unfortunately, Aiden himself didn't even come.
Kel'Thuzad hadn't contacted him these days either, so he had no choice but to return to Dalaran with his apprentice. However, on the way back, he thought that he had now become a hidden stake in Dalaran. When the Scourge descends on a large scale in the future, wouldn't he be able to play a greater role within the magic kingdom than assassinating a Aiden?
Thinking of this, Harkul suddenly felt enlightened—obviously, he still didn't understand his situation.
...
When Jaina followed Aiden to Durnholde, everything before her eyes was challenging her understanding—she had been to Durnholde before. Whether it was before it was destroyed, or after it was destroyed. In the past, this was just a huge concentration camp, filled with orc prisoners and humans serving the asylum. But now, various large machines shuttled inside and outside the castle, transporting large amounts of building materials in, and carrying large amounts of waste slag out. Under the hard work of the people, unique high-rise buildings were rising from the ground—these were real high-rise buildings, some already seven or eight stories high, but there were still giant tower cranes working on top, and it was unknown how high they would eventually be.
Other places in Lordaeron were not without towers. There were many in the city of Dalaran. But she knew that those spires were all made with magic, and their function was to serve the mages. But these in front of her were all built with pure building materials, but using a large amount of steel bars and something that Aiden called "concrete," a mixture of clay, lime, and sand.
"How tall can a building be built with this construction method?" Jaina asked curiously.
Aiden replied, "There is a completed 828-meter-high building in my hometown, with more than one hundred and sixty floors."
Jaina said, "Without magic?"
"Of course."
Jaina covered her mouth in disbelief: "How is this possible? Is Valoran's construction ability so strong?"
Aiden laughed: "No, no, you misunderstood. I'm talking about my hometown, not Valoran."
"Is there a difference? Aren't you from Valoran?" Jaina asked doubtfully.
"I said I represent Valoran, but I didn't say I'm from Valoran." Aiden corrected, pointing to Kayle beside him, "Look, Kayle is from the Eternal Kingdom. A plane far away from Valoran. My hometown is in another plane, but it was summoned to Valoran. There are many examples like us, but eventually we all gathered under the banner of the League of Heroes."
"How could they choose someone who is not from this world to be their commander? This is unbelievable!" Jaina's inherent thinking made it very difficult for her to understand such a thing.
Aiden shrugged: "This is also the question I want to figure out."
Kayle glanced at him and said, "Because you have the ability to save Valoran."
"Ah ha, is that so? You really have confidence in me. But I always feel like I'm just an ordinary person?" Aiden himself didn't realize that he had any special qualities. He felt that coming here was entirely because he clicked on the Valoran summoning option without knowing the situation, and then was tricked over.
Jaina said: "You don't need to belittle yourself. At least in my opinion, you are not an ordinary person."
Kayle also said: "You think you are ordinary, and think that what you are doing now can be done by someone else. But in reality, it is not the case. Most people can't do what you do, and most people in your current position would make a mess of things. As the commander of Valoran, you should have enough confidence in yourself."
Aiden stared at Kayle, was she defending him?
The last time she spoke so many words at once was in the throne room of Lordaeron. When the ministers of Lordaeron belittled him and slandered him, when Alliance leader Terenas distrusted him, Kayle rebuked everyone and loudly proclaimed his identity—the ruler of a million people in Valoran, the liege of all intelligent races, the object of fealty for over a hundred heroes—instantly shocking everyone, maintaining his dignity, and making his departure seem less pathetic.
In reality, less than one percent of the million people he envisioned have come to this world, and only five heroes have been summoned. Such power is insignificant in Azeroth. However, Aiden firmly believes that as long as he continues to work hard, those words of Kayle's will eventually become reality.
...
Gerald Bard finally returned to his hometown of Southshore. He would never forget that perilous journey from Southshore to Stratholme. Although he not only lost money on this trip, but also saw his wealth shrink by half due to the large compensation he had to pay to the families of the four men who died from the plague, he had completely come to terms with it after experiencing life and death.
Now his eldest son was married, and his daughter was almost of marriageable age. The only one who worried him was his youngest son. This little rascal had been mischievous since he was a child, and now that he was a teenager of fourteen or fifteen, he still fantasized about going on adventures and fighting wars, his heart full of longing for the outside world. But adventure and war could lead to death, and this brat didn't understand his painstaking efforts at all. He had always hoped that his youngest son would inherit his family business!
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In the days since his return, he had been going from street to street, bragging to his neighbors about his thrilling experiences—the paladin commander Dathrohan had, as promised, awarded him a medal, which greatly increased the credibility of his stories. The first thing Bard did every morning was silently touch the medal under his pillow, carefully wipe it clean after getting up, and then wrap it in fine silk and keep it close to his body.
In the past few days, rumors had spread that Durnholde Keep, north of the Hillsbrad Foothills, had welcomed a new lord, who was accompanied by several angels. Many people treated this as an after-dinner tale, but Bard took it to heart—wasn't this his savior, the holy angel Lord Kayle?
He was determined to visit the new lord in Durnholde. The place had been destroyed by the orcs' rebellion and must be in ruins. He decided to repay the kindness of the angel and the lord by moving his whole family there.
When he announced this decision at home, his wife exclaimed, "Are you crazy, Bard? That place is a ruin. Are we going to eat bricks there?"
"You don't understand. There's an angel there, you know? You haven't seen the horror of the plague. If some bad guys poison our food one day, we'll turn into ghouls! Mike, Truman, Goldman, and little Jack all died like that! Only the blessing of an angel can prevent infection. If it weren't for Lord Kayle, you wouldn't see me again! Do you want our sons and daughters to become walking dead? Even if it's not for money, for the safety of our family, we should move there!"
In the end, Gerald convinced his family. They sold most of their property here, including the store they had been running for more than a decade. Then, on a sunny day, the family took their luggage and drove to Durnholde by carriage.
But what they saw in Durnholde was completely different from what they had imagined—they almost thought they had gone to the wrong place.
The entire Durnholde had become a giant construction site. There were workers everywhere, as well as large machines that Gerald had only seen among the dwarves, transporting building materials. As far as the eye could see, there were tall buildings rising from the ground. Most of the buildings near the city walls were three stories high—this was already the height that only the houses of great nobles could reach. But in this city, it was the shortest. The further back towards the city lord's mansion, the taller the buildings became. He even saw a building that was eight stories high and still being built.
Heavens, a building so high, my legs would be weak just climbing up?
Gerald muttered to himself: Surely only peasants would live on the upper floors.
Obviously, his family was also surprised by the changes in this city. Just looking at the people coming and going here, the number of people was probably not much less than Southshore. It was ridiculous that they had originally thought there would only be a few hundred starving refugees!
Moreover, the management here was very standardized. Before entering, his family had undergone inspection and questioning. When they learned that they wanted to immigrate as a family, there were even special officials to handle the procedures for them. And these officials were very kind. He had thought that the middle-aged woman who had them fill out the form should be a errand runner, but who knew that others called her "Administrator"!
Gerald guaranteed that this was the kindest official he had ever seen in his life—uh, official lady?
Administrator Rebecca believed that they were the first foreign immigrants who brought investment, so she was very enthusiastic about this family. This meant that Valoran was gradually integrating with Lordaeron, which was very important for Valoran's integration into this world.
So when reporting on her work, she specifically explained this matter to Aiden.
When Aiden heard this familiar name, he immediately recalled this person. So he decided to meet Gerald Bard after their separation in Stratholme.
He never expected that this lucky merchant would bring him a piece of information that he currently desperately needed.