Inside the most important guests Building - Reception hall
After a few formalities in front of the building, Robin and his company entered, followed by the Patriarch and a few old men
Almost none of the elders or high officials in the family remained in Jura city, as all the saints went to war except the patriarch, one of them was killed and the remaining three remained in the lands of the new family - the former Duchy of Tinley - thus currently, there is only the patriarch and Billy who returned with Robin
The same thing with the Knights, most of them are in the new lands, and only a handful of them are left to work on stabilizing the old family's lands, mostly are elders who can't join the army... and most of them are in the same room with Robin now.
Everyone here is high in both age and status, they all saw Robin at least once when he was still young, after seeing him again in the same appearance, age, and level of training, they just couldn't hold themselves and some of them tried to ask him about what happened to him since he left
He gave them brief and general answers about his time in the cave, And that he gained special wisdom in his time there
But he refused to disclose any personal details such as the law he chose for himself and how he kept his body and cultivation, etc...
And no one tried to pressure them either, the patriarch even took the initiative to end the discussion and change the topic lest he gets angry and leaves them again.
After a while of casual chatting, the Patriarch asked, "Robin, what do you intend to do now?"
Every one of the elders went silent and waited patiently for Robin's reply, this was the reason why all the elders were gathered here, they know very well that it is the source of the talismans and the source of the glory and pride they live in now.
Whatever he says now will determine the future of the family in the coming period.
"Hmm, Honestly even I haven't made up my mind yet about the next big step... If you were waiting for me to make large quantities of talismans and continue our conquests alongside the Bradley family, I'm afraid I am going to disappoint you." Robin shook his head
Everyone was disappointed when they heard this, they really wanted to push this glory to the max if they could, but the patriarch hurried and spoke, "It's okay, the lands we currently own are more than enough to make us prosper for the next few hundred years, who needs to expand more? Haha."
"Right right, a few years ago we were worried about losing the title of Earl or even the family's demise, thanks to you we got to this point.. what more could we ask for?" Another elder added
"Rest Robin, live your life, complete your studies, and forget about wars, you have already raised our heads above the clouds!"
When Robin heard this, he smiled automatically and felt that he did not make a mistake with his return...
whatever the reason is behind their attitude, whether it was really familial love, or for fear that he would depart again, or recognition of his previous grace upon the family...
At least here the relationship is not purely commercial, he can relax and do nothing if he wants to...
Robin nodded and added, "As I said, I'm not going to make talismans in mass anymore, but I didn't say I wouldn't contribute to the family's glory... Please listen, I have tentative plans for something big, and if it goes as planned the family will jump into a completely different place." "
Everyone present changed their looks from a satisfied smile to an excited one at once, one of them quickly asked, "What are those plans, Robin?"
"Not now... the most important link in my plan is not complete yet, but I need your help with the initial steps and prepare the stage for me until I complete that missing link."
"How do we help?" Billy quickly asked
Robin's eyes turned completely serious and he spoke, "I want cultivators with strong souls that are at least above average... a lot of them!"
they were amazed at his request, they thought he would ask to train more soldiers or something, but cultivators with strong souls? none of them could have foreseen that...
the patriarch was the first to reply, "Cultivators with strong souls that are at least above average, hmmm... in the family currently there is only one other than you whose soul can be considered above average, he is 19 years old and he is at the eighth level, is that enough?"
"No! If there is no one else in the family, then bring in more from outside, gather cultivators with strong souls from the other small families in Jura City, set up high-salary recruitment events for people from the Duchy of Alton and then the other duchies
Recruit senior knights who are no longer able to fight and bring them with a suitable salary, when you finish subjugating our new lands, arrest anyone with a strong soul and bring him here… think of something, I want many.. many of them!"
Robin's words shocked those present, "This... how many people do you want exactly?!"
"Come on! am I not clear enough? The more, the better!"
"But a recruitment of this size is not easy at all, you even want to get cultivators from other duchy and not any cultivator either, you want them in a particular category that is a *strong soul*... that will require a lot of money, and we…" The patriarch's features were twitched.
The war undoubtedly brought them many spoils, but it also took many expenses, a lot of armors, shields, and weapons were destroyed and many horses were killed... all of that needs replacement
The war also left many orphans and widows in the family, who will also need some sort of pension to stay alive
and they also have to complete the reconstruction of their army, which was destroyed in the war about 13 years ago, it wasn't as urgent before, but now their lands have spread wide... it became almost a duchy!
to tighten control over their old and new lands they need a bigger army.
Good lands may open up a new source of income for them, including mines, crops, trade, etc., but they also have to spend almost all of this on preparing an army to maintain the stability and protect it before the twenty years non-aggression treaty ends.
Robin understood what the patriarch meant without any need for further explanation, "Don't worry about the money, I won't produce large quantities of runes for wars but Zara and I can draw a few high-level runes for sale to nobles, or even sell a few spirit Revitalizing pills...
The Burton family is really famous for the talisman anyway, It would not be strange if we do a permanent auction here in Jura City for those who want to buy talismans, and we will never find a shortage of buyers!
Ah, I almost forgot, in the wagon there are 520 thousand gold coins that Sage Albert paid me, take them and assign them into a good course."
"Wh-.. What?!" the patriarch almost lost his mind when he heard the number, that is.. a lot!!
Smiles returned to shine on everyone's faces... Finally, poverty that has been their partner for thousands of years will be expelled from their homes!!
The patriarch then nodded excitedly, "That is wonderful, as long as you can secure the money, we can collect the cultivators, any resources, whatever you want... Do you need anything else we can do for you?"
"Currently I don't want anything else, everything will depend on that next missing link, I will decide what's next after I succeed or fail... I just need some blank scrolls and books that I can use in my research and I don't want anyone to bother me for any reason during the coming period until I finish what I want. to do... Ah right, I think the coming period will start a campaign to subdue the inhabitants of our new lands in Dolivar?"
The patriarch was surprised, "Oh, how do you know this? There are indeed some riots happening now in our new territory and your uncle David has already begun to move the army across the lands to subdue the local population."
"Good, send Caesar, Peon, and Theo to take part in the subjugation wars and give them battalions of their own to gain more experience and integrate into the army...
and tell uncle David that Peon and Theo are my adopted kids now just like Caesar, so please treat them according to this." Robin nodded.
"No problem! the army will surely be pleased when they see them again" No one had any objection, actually, they rejoiced that those two are also of their family now, they all knew the heroic roles played by the three in the Great War, It was only right that they both have the same standing as Caesar!