Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 8 Fiery Red Serpent
Without further ado, Su Mu left the logs in the square and took Forrest back to the forest farm.

At the entrance, I saw a bloated fat man who looked rather hurried.

"Oh dear, why isn't Su Mu back yet? Hurry up and finish the handover, I still need to go to the castle for dinner."

He criticized arrogantly, while the managers of several forest farms around him echoed him humbly. Everyone knew that he had powerful backers, so being transferred was no big deal.

"Lord Ruhr, aren't you being a bit too hasty? You want to leave before the handover of the forest farm is even complete."

Seeing Su Mu arrive, Ruhr looked unhappy: "What kind of handover is this? I've wanted to leave this godforsaken place for a long time. Everything's packed. I'll have about ten people move it to the Marquis's territory. You can decide what to do with the rest yourself."

After saying that, he directed the carpenters to pull more than ten horse-drawn carts and prepare to leave. Judging from the large and small bags of things, they had reaped quite a harvest from the forest farm over the years.

The carpenters, forcibly conscripted, all had dark circles under their eyes and were exhausted, barely able to stand. Wood had been working intensively logging for the past few days, day and night. They thought the week was over, but now they were being used as cart drivers, driving hundreds of miles.

Su Mu tossed an account book to Ruer: "Don't rush off yet, there are some lingering issues that need to be addressed by the adults."

Ruhr took the ledger, his face darkening. It detailed recent timber deficits, raw material commissions, and shady trade practices, all of which had been handled by him.

Having been a forestry owner for so many years, Ruhr was no pushover either. He quickly understood Su Mu's meaning: "You think you can bring me down with these things? You think you're so great just because you inherited some scraps? It's fine if everyone hands over the business amicably, but if you try to do this, we'll see who suffers in the end."

In truth, Ruhr, the lumberjack, was a very shrewd man with powerful connections. After several years, seeing that the profits were dwindling and the location too remote, coupled with the looming war, he decided to leave. This year, he reported to the castle that he wanted to return.

Therefore, Baron Eugen was able to use the city lord's decree without encountering any obstacles. Otherwise, the interests behind Ruhr alone would have been very difficult to handle.

They thought Su Mu had already offended the town mayor and others, and wouldn't dare to cause any more trouble, but they never expected him to cause such a big problem as soon as he arrived.

Do you still recognize him?

Su Mu pulled Forrest to the front. His body was covered in blood, which was hidden by his big beard, so Ruhr didn't really recognize him.

"Forrest, your right-hand man from a few years ago!"

Ruhr first tried hard to recall, then finally remembered, but asked with a look of surprise, "Oh, Forrest, I remember now, what's wrong?"

Upon meeting him, Forrest trembled all over, his clenched fists brewing a storm, but he calmed down the moment he heard Ruhr's words.

All the suffering, the tragic life, and the inner demons that nearly killed him were insignificant in the eyes of the forest owner, Ruhr.

"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

Forrest covered his face and laughed loudly.

"All carpenters will have three days to repair the carpentry work, and will be paid as usual. They cannot leave the site and must wait for the next production task."

The forest ranger and the carpenter pushing the cart looked at Forrest in astonishment, as if they had heard a fairy tale.

Su Mu, however, said with certainty, "Forrest is my deputy, and his words represent my instructions."

With the new forest owner's guarantee, the carpenters naturally obeyed, hastily abandoning their carts. Already exhausted, they feared another trip would kill them on the road. The foremen, on the other hand, gasped, nervously watching the two powerful figures before them.

Ruhr screamed in exasperation, "No way! I'd like to see who dares! These things of mine are extremely valuable and must be delivered to the Marquis's territory on time. If anyone dares to delay, they can forget about working in the forest forever!"

"Idiot! What's wrong with being three days late? What's wrong with everyone taking a break?"

Forrest pressed closer and closer to Ruhr.

"Why don't you hire someone to haul away the things you embezzled yourself, instead of making the carpenters do it?"

"You even have to move your pee basin? Do you think you'll die of constipation on the way if you move it three days later?"
"Hey, I'm asking you, you idiot!"

Forrest lifted the 200-pound Ruhr with one hand and gripped his neck tightly.

Upon being promoted to hero, even non-combat professions experience a leap in physique and strength. The spearmen Wood ambushed today, unaware of the situation, believed it was Baron Eugen's assistance, but in reality, Forrest handled everything.

Ordinary people are utterly powerless against heroes.

Ruhr flailed his limbs in mid-air, his face turning a liverish color, and he was on the verge of suffocating.

Forrest threw him heavily, landing Ruhr on his wooden cart, his face landing squarely in the chamber pot.

"Bastard!"

At the last moment, Forrest spared his life. Having killed the former forestry owner in front of everyone, Eugen couldn't explain himself to the castle. Forrest could disregard the nobles' opinions, but he had to consider Sumu's situation. He clenched his fists, his eyes reddening, and turned to leave.

Su Mu coldly looked at Ruhr and handed the ledger to a supervisor: "I will give this evidence to Baron Eugen. I can't control how the castle convicts you, but if you dare to set foot in the Cangmu Forest again, I won't let you off so easily."

"roll!"

Several servants helped Ruhr up and hurriedly carried their master away to prevent the two fierce men from getting angry again.

Once things calmed down, the carpenters and foremen looked at each other, raised their hands high, and cheered with joy!
After a week of working day and night, who would want to travel a hundred miles to transport those miscellaneous items? If it weren't for the pressure of life and having a family to support, why would they risk their lives without daring to utter a sound? We are human beings too!

Although it was unclear how Su Mu managed the forest farm afterward, the carpenters kept this incident in mind.

……

After resolving the matters at the forest farm, Su Mu wandered through several turns and entered the familiar tavern, where he saw a man in armor drinking alone.

The fiery red liquor rippled in the glass, and there were already more than a dozen empty glasses on the wooden table, yet the man remained sober.

Su Mu slowly sat down, took a sip, and found it spicy and stimulating, just like the romance of summer in a small town.

"Thank you!"

"There's nothing to thank me for. You've signed a contract of servitude, and you'll be working for me from now on."

After being promoted to hero, Forrest gained some understanding of skills, and he vaguely sensed the bonus from the basic governance skill.

"I'm just a poor carpenter. If it weren't for your help, I would never have known who a hero was, let alone taken revenge. As long as you pay me my wages on time, my life is yours!"

"You'll never get rid of your greedy habit! Hahahaha."

Forrest (Architect): Attack 1, Defense 1, Spell Power 2, Knowledge 1.

Loyalty 92 (Influenced by gratitude, will unconditionally carry out your decisions), Charisma 50, Element: Earth.

Features: Safeguarding wealth, trustworthy

Su Mu patted Forrest on the shoulder, but did not blame him at all.

A person's personality is hard to change, especially one like Forrest, who has a particular reason for it. Managing such a talent would be more helpful in improving his governing skills. Su Mu had a premonition that when Forrest fully utilized his logging-like abilities, that would be the time for his governing skills to advance.

He personally molded the people that the nobles were unwilling to use.

"Eugen must have bled a lot over this."

The promise with the Baron was the treasure, and after Forrest's promotion, he never saw the treasure again. Combined with Eugen's support at the last moment, he guessed what had happened.

"This treasure has a good foundation. Even after helping you advance, it will still retain some spiritual energy, which is just right to fool the Baron."

"Having this old fox's support will inevitably come at a price, but as long as we control the forest, treasures will flow in continuously in the future."

Su Mu was confident, and Forrest was also infected by his momentum.

Kuraki Town is definitely not Su Mu's focus, and even Langlit Castle is not his goal; he is a man with lofty ambitions.

So Forrest said no more, lest he seem pretentious, and slowly drank a large glass of wine.

"The Fiery Red Serpent was the first drink I shared with my late wife when we first met."

My consciousness was in a state of chaos, tainted by magic; the only name I could remember was this.

"I'll drink again afterwards, but I won't get drunk!"

The setting sun shone through the wooden window onto Forrest's face. The burly and fierce man's eyes were blurred by the wind and sand of time; he looked haggard and heartbroken, and dared not turn his head.

Su Mu silently raised the red snake and drank it all in one gulp.

The wine was gone, and the bronze cup shattered.

"I swear in the name of the consul that I will give you the opportunity to take revenge."

(End of this chapter)