This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 99

Viscount Leitman had to seriously consider Ambrose's suggestion.

Paying a little gold and minerals could get the Dwarf King to send troops to assist him? If the price was right, it wasn't out of the question.

Currently, the City of Alchemy was in chaos. Small lords were annexing each other, while the grand lords held their troops, worried that moving first would lead them into a trap. On the surface, it didn't look too chaotic, but in reality, a storm was brewing.

Whenever the grand lords finally entered the fray, this land would descend into total war.

Once the Silvermoon High Court invaded, the situation would become even more complicated.

The Silvermoon High Court was a behemoth; the combat power of the Elf race was not something any single lord could withstand. Although Viscount Leitman believed in Talos, the Lord of Storms, being a lunatic didn't mean being an idiot; he could see the disparity clearly.

Therefore, the assistance of the Dwarf King was necessary. Moreover, in the early stages, he could leverage the Dwarf King's power to expand his territory as quickly as possible, accumulating stronger forces to deal with the Elf invasion.

Sigh, if only those elves weren't so arrogant. They refused to accept any conditions other than surrendering the territory, insisting on driving everyone away.

With this premise, cooperation became much simpler.

Viscount Leitman stated his willingness to accept this employment cooperation.

Ambrose was delighted. With the intent to cooperate established, the next step was pure bargaining.

The Dwarf King would pay gold to purchase land to settle the immigrants of the Golden Kingdom, calculated at a price of one million gold coins per hundred square kilometers.

It seemed a bit cheap, but the Golden Kingdom wasn't picky; as long as the area was sufficient, whether it was high mountains, canyons, or lakes, they calculated it at a unified price. Many wastelands unsuitable for human survival were unwanted anyway. As long as someone was sent to draw a circle on the map, and the handover occurred when the Golden Kingdom arrived, the contract was considered fulfilled.

Then, Viscount Leitman would pay gold and minerals to hire the Golden Kingdom's army to fight for him. Ambrose, as the middleman, was responsible for coordination. The specific price depended on how many troops Viscount Leitman needed and what types of units. Ambrose needed to draw up a new list to calculate how much he would make.

The key lay in the fact that the City of Gold spent money, and Viscount Leitman spent money, but neither side knew the other had spent money.

Simply put, the exchange of supplies and troops was theirs; Ambrose, the middleman, just took the gold and minerals. He truly had too much of a conscience.

This discussion lasted for most of the day before the method and amount of aid were roughly finalized.

Although both the Golden Kingdom and Viscount Leitman felt they hadn't earned much, Ambrose felt it was excellent. This would be a very successful cooperation.

In the magnificent royal palace of Salokmar in the Golden Kingdom, the Dwarf King had retired early to rest.

Over the years, with the Ryan Empire pressing step by step, the Dwarf King's spirit and body had deteriorated day by day. In recent years, major domestic affairs had been handed over to the Hand of the King, Hoffman Ironfist.

True to his name, Hoffman Ironfist's right hand was severed at the wrist and replaced with a fist forged of steel. It had been chopped off by a *Divine Smite* while fighting the Ryan Empire, but Hoffman had also killed three Paladins in the subsequent battle.

His valor won the recognition of the Dwarf King, allowing him to enter the royal family's view.

Later, Hoffman served as an administrative official for a time. The Dwarf King found him even more outstanding in handling government affairs and gradually promoted him to a trusted aide.

Until the Dwarf King's body couldn't hold on, the kingdom relied entirely on Hoffman Ironfist's management.

At this moment, Heggie Stone sat opposite Hoffman Ironfist, communicating with Ambrose through the Codex of the Undead, then relaying Ambrose's opinions to the Hand of the King.

Hoffman Ironfist said to Heggie Stone, "This friend of yours is a master negotiator. Every condition is just right, making it impossible for me to refuse."

Heggie Stone smiled and said, "Yes, truly precise."

Heggie Stone didn't say the second half of the sentence: Ambrose didn't give him, the middleman, even a sliver of a chance to earn a price difference.

In the previous discussions, the conditions Ambrose proposed were all things the Dwarf Kingdom could pay. It looked like there was room for negotiation, but as they chatted, Ambrose directly threw out several prepared prices. Heggie Stone looked at them and nearly ground his fangs to dust; there was almost no room for him to markup.

It wasn't that there was absolutely no profit, but it was far from what Heggie Stone had imagined.

Hoffman Ironfist pretended not to know this, only saying to Heggie Stone, "You and I have known each other for many years. Don't worry, I understand what a friend should do. It's just, exactly how many connections does your friend have in the City of Alchemy? If it's just a Viscount Leitman, it doesn't mean much for our overall plan."

Heggie Stone said, "You don't need to worry about this. No matter how many friends he originally had, they will increase rapidly now. The lords of the City of Alchemy have only two choices: either the Silvermoon High Court or the Golden Kingdom. Given the arrogant habits of the elves, we can rope in more than half of the lords ahead of time. The only thing to worry about is whether we have enough power to protect these lords.

"The Silvermoon High Court seems to have sent out all their Twilight Guards."

Hoffman Ironfist nodded and said, "I understand what you mean. Viscount Leitman is an example. We need to ensure his safety so others can see it; only then will they have the confidence to cooperate with us. I will send one hundred Dwarven Iron Guards to protect our ally."

Heggie Stone blinked, surprised. "That's quite an investment."

Dwarven Iron Guards counted as the royal family's special bodyguards, most skilled in protecting leaders and extremely proficient in counter-assassination. For Hoffman Ironfist to send one hundred Dwarven Iron Guards to Viscount Leitman showed a determination to bury a solid nail in the City of Alchemy.

"Old friend, are you really prepared to abandon the desert?" Heggie Stone asked. "Is the war situation that difficult?"

Hoffman Ironfist revealed a bitter smile and said helplessly, "We are indeed not the match of the Ryan Empire. Even with the most optimistic estimate, more than half of Salokmar's territory will fall. They have been training troops specifically for the desert environment all these years. Those young Paladins on the battlefield have completely adapted to the desert. We can only retreat beyond the Death Line of the desert, relying on those endless sandstorms to have a chance of stopping Ryan's invasion."

Salokmar was entirely located in the desert, with various city-states built around hundreds of oases, large and small.

The so-called Death Line was a thin line in the middle of Salokmar's territory. This location had a ceaseless sandstorm. A newly forged set of plate armor placed inside would be eroded into a sieve by the sand and gravel in less than two days.

Such an environment was so harsh that almost no living creature could survive there.

Salokmar could only cross this Death Line through underground passages left by ancient civilizations to achieve communication between the two sides.

Listening to Hoffman Ironfist, the dwarves in the Golden Kingdom estimated they would have to give up the territory north of the Death Line, then block the underground passages, using the endless sandstorms to resist Ryan's attack. This meant they would even have to abandon the Dwarf Palace before their eyes.

The war situation had become difficult to this extent. Heggie Stone couldn't help but show a worried expression.

The Ryan Empire was the natural enemy of all dark creatures. As Ryan became stronger and stronger, the living space for Heggie Stone became smaller and smaller. Once the Golden Kingdom of Salokmar fell completely, a vampire like him could only flee to distant places. Heggie Stone thought to himself that helping the Golden Kingdom now was helping himself. He put away thoughts of earning a price difference for the moment; better to help the Dwarf Kingdom survive this crisis first.

Hoffman Ironfist said to Heggie Stone, "It takes time to assemble the Dwarven Iron Guards and deploy the continental teleportation array. During this time, the Elf race won't do nothing. Remind your friend that before our Iron Guards arrive, he must protect this Viscount Leitman well."

Heggie Stone nodded, deciding to send those gargoyles to Ambrose today. Viscount Leitman was the key; the Elf race absolutely could not be allowed to assassinate him.

However, Heggie Stone's realization was still a beat too slow.

Just as Ambrose and Viscount Leitman had discussed all day and were about to finalize the deal, the people of the Elf race had lost their patience.

A person claiming to be an envoy of the Dwarf Kingdom chatted behind closed doors with Viscount Leitman for a whole day. The result could be imagined with one's toes.

Therefore, the Twilight Guards didn't wait foolishly. Instead, they forcefully demanded to meet with Viscount Leitman.

The Lord Viscount, who was calculating how much he had lost, naturally didn't want to pay attention to these arrogant elves. After indicating he had no time, the elves chose the most direct method.

The tower where Ambrose and Viscount Leitman were located was attacked by the elves.

At first, it was just dozens of crossbow bolts shot from the night sky.

Ambrose summoned his Golden Throne without hesitation, then spun the back of the chair around.

The arrows clinked and clanked against the chair back, all bouncing off.

When not using power, this was a chair made of pure gold. The back of the chair was nearly half a meter thick; even a magic cannon couldn't penetrate it.

But Viscount Leitman didn't have such good luck. Although he deployed a magic shield in time, several arrows still grazed his body, striking sparks on his chainmail. One arrow pierced his shoulder; it was unclear if it drew blood.

The elf offensive didn't stop there. Several agile figures emerged; the elves used *Misty Step* to teleport onto the tower, brandishing dual blades as they rushed toward Viscount Leitman.

"Damned elves! I will show you angry thunder!"

Viscount Leitman roared. Countless bolts of lightning surged from his body. The sound of his roar was tangible, threatening to knock the elves flying.

Three elves flew backward, but two others remained unaffected under the powerful sound wave, their scimitars about to chop into Viscount Leitman's body.

In the spark of a moment, Ambrose was preparing to intervene, but Viscount Leitman's strength was greater than he imagined.

Viscount Leitman raised the iron hammer at his waist. Blazing white lightning shot from his hammer, jumping repeatedly between the two elves.

The signature skill of a Storm Priest: *Chain Lightning*. These two unlucky elves took the full damage; they probably wouldn't survive.

Ambrose's speculation was completely accurate. When the lightning dissipated, the two elves who rushed to the front had turned into two lumps of charcoal.

Viscount Leitman crushed the head of one of the charred corpses with one foot, no longer needing to suppress his anger.

"Pass my order! Kill all elves!"