Lord: I have built a witch's sanctuary.

Chapter 7 Building the Witch's Tower

Several hours later, night fell.

The second "Moment of Twist" arrived as scheduled, with violent, living snow sweeping across the entire North.

On the high tower of the neighboring Snow Eagle Territory.

Olivia stood by the window, not going to rest.

"Miss, you're being too cautious," the butler whispered from the side. "While it was right not to give out the seeds, leaving so much food... it's probably all for nothing."

"The demonic tide is exceptionally fierce tonight, and there are signs that it can break through the demonic fire. Without the Witch's Tower, that outpost won't last until tonight."

"There's no need to invest in people who are destined to die soon."

Olivia took a sip of hot tea and remained silent.

She simply gazed silently in the direction of the White Wolf outpost, as if waiting for some kind of confirmation.

Just then, at the edge of the dark snowfield, a strange change occurred.

A dazzling beam of light broke through the blockade of wind and snow, and then, the phantom of a majestic stone tower quickly solidified in the radiance.

The butler nearly dropped the tray, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets: "This...it's built already?! Built on the spot amidst the demonic tide?"

Olivia gazed at the newly built Witch's Tower, a hint of admiration flashing in her emerald eyes.

She turned around, put on her coat, and calmly gave the order:

"Prepare the vehicle. Take the seeds, and that batch of food that's almost overflowing from the warehouse."

"Once the moment of calamity ends, we will set off immediately."

The butler stammered, "Miss, what are you going to do..."

"Now that our neighbor has proven he's capable of protecting this land," Olivia said casually as she put on her gloves.

"Then I need to deal with my inventory too. After all, a small warehouse with too much stuff is a problem, isn't it?"

-

As the last living snowflake turned to ashes in the crimson flames, the suffocating and bizarre moment finally faded away.

Anna, not bothering to wipe the sweat from her face, darted through the snow like a cheerful little squirrel. In no time, she returned to Lorraine with a handful of deep blue crystals.

"Young master! Young master, look!"

The girl's eyes shone brighter than the crystals in her hands. "We coordinated even better this time! A full eight! Adding to our previous stock, we now have over twenty magic crystals!"

More than twenty magic crystals.

This huge sum of money made Anna's voice tremble as she spoke.

Just yesterday, they were worried about a single magic crystal, but now they have the resources to build the Witch's Tower and change their fate.

Lorraine smiled as she accepted the magic crystal, feeling the pure energy it contained. Then she turned around and looked at the empty snowfield next to the outpost.

"In that case, let's not let these stones sit in our pockets and get moldy."

Lorraine took a deep breath and took out the book "The Witch's Codex" from her bosom.

This time, instead of opening the book to ask a question, he placed all twenty magic crystals in a ring on the snow.

"In the name of the lord, by decree—"

Lorraine's voice was deep and solemn. As he directed his thoughts, the magic crystal on the ground instantly shattered, transforming into twenty dazzling blue beams of light that shot straight into the sky!

The earth began to tremble.

Anna gasped and instinctively tried to help Lorraine up, but was so shocked by what she saw that she couldn't close her mouth.

Where the beams of light converged, the snow melted and the frozen earth churned.

A spire made entirely of obsidian-like material, like a miracle growing from the ground, rose up with a roar!

The tower is not very tall, only three stories high, and its surface is engraved with complex and obscure runes. A crystal ball emitting a soft halo floats on the top of the tower.

The moment the tower was completely stabilized, an invisible ripple spread out from the tower, instantly covering an area of ​​100 meters in radius.

hum-

Anna, who was standing to the side, suddenly shuddered.

This feeling is amazing.

The magic power that had been depleted due to the battle was now being restored within the body at an astonishing rate;

The raging cold wind that blew into this area was no longer biting;

More importantly, her spirit seemed to connect with the tower, her vision became incredibly clear, and she could almost feel the movement of every snowflake in the wind and snow.

"Is this... the amplification from the Witch's Tower?"

Anna raised her hand, and the flame in her palm ignited with a "whoosh," more stable and intense than ever before.

"This is amazing..." she exclaimed, her face flushed with excitement. "Young Master, with this, I won't be afraid even if ten times more monsters come!"

Looking at the building in front of him, which was not tall but still appeared very majestic, Lorraine's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

In this northern wilderness, only with the tower can one truly have roots.

Back in the warm cabin, Anna poured hot water for Lorraine while glancing sadly at the empty snow-covered road outside the window.

"Young Master, Miss Olivia said she wanted to cooperate, but then suddenly left... Is she not coming back?"

Anna slammed the wooden cup down on the table, her little mouth pouting so much it could hold an oil bottle.

"They say the seeds haven't germinated properly, but really they just think our place is too poor and they're afraid of taking any risks. Those nobles, they never tell the truth; they're all like that."

Lorraine held the wooden cup, listened to the maid's complaints, and simply smiled without immediately refuting her.

He walked to the window and pointed to the faint tire tracks in the distance amidst the wind and snow.

"Anna, just you wait and see."

Lorraine's gaze was calm and resolute. "If I'm not mistaken, her carriage is already on its way back."

"Huh? Why?" Anna asked, puzzled.

"Because she was a smart woman, and even more so because..." Lorraine paused, recalling a few words about the female lord in the secret manual, "...she was someone who had truly experienced hunger."

As soon as the words were spoken, at the end of the snowstorm, a bright lantern broke through the morning mist.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar beast-drawn carriage reappeared in their field of vision.

Anna covered her mouth in surprise: "R-really back?"

When Olivia pushed open the gate of the outpost again, her expression was more solemn than before.

She didn't bring the noisy butler with her, but instead carried the heavy cloth bag herself down from the carriage, her gaze immediately falling on the brand-new Witch's Tower outside the window.

"Lord Lorraine, you have given me a tremendous surprise."

Olivia placed the bag on the table, untied it, and revealed golden wheat seeds inside.

"Now that the tower is up, we can get down to business. These are the 'Cold-resistant Barley No. 3' we mentioned before, not a single one missing."

"Miss Olivia, honesty is the prerequisite for cooperation."

Lorraine didn't touch the bag of seeds, but looked directly into the other person's eyes, her voice calm yet sharp:

"Although I have land and a tower, I must remind you—I am a bastard child banished by my family."

"This means that even if there is a bumper harvest, I will not be able to provide you with any channels for selling your produce. Under pressure from the Frostwolf Clan, no caravans will come here."

If you're hoping I'll help you sell this grain for gold, you're in for a disappointment. All I can offer is this land where the seeds can be planted and protected from monsters.

Anna, standing to the side, nervously gripped the hem of her clothes, fearing that these candid words would ruin the cooperation she had just secured.

However, Olivia laughed.

She placed her hands on the table, leaned slightly forward, and stared intently.

That's enough.

"What?" Now it was Lorraine's turn to be surprised.

"What I need has never been distribution channels; I have plenty of ways to solve those problems. What I need is simply the fact that food exists."

Olivia stated unequivocally, "Even if they just sit in the warehouse and get moldy, it's better than them not existing."

Lorraine narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the somewhat eccentric noblewoman:

"This doesn't make sense. Since this is your uniquely improved seed, which is your 'core technology'."

According to noble custom, you should have kept it hidden in your own secret chamber, under strict guard, instead of delivering it to an exiled neighbor on this snowy night, risking the leakage of your technology.

Lorraine took a step closer. "Why didn't you keep it a secret? Or rather, what were you after?"

A brief silence fell over the cabin.

The fire crackled and popped, its light illuminating Olivia's beautiful face, but failing to reveal the deep gloom in her eyes.

After a long silence, she slowly opened her mouth, her voice low and deep, as if she were recounting a distant nightmare.

"Lord Lorraine, Miss Anna, are you aware of the great siege of Black Iron City in the southern North ten years ago?"

Before the two could answer, Olivia continued speaking to herself, her gaze passing through them and seemingly landing on a point in the distant river of time.

"When I was twelve, I hadn't been adopted by my father, the Earl, and was just a wild girl living in the slums. At that time, a strange event suddenly became extremely long, the snow season lasted for a full four months, the city was besieged by monsters, and the farmland could not be cultivated."

"At first, people could still eat bread mixed with sawdust. By the second month, everyone on the street started boiling leather belts and gnawing on tree bark. By the third month... it was eerily quiet, and even the rats had been caught."

"By the fourth month, we were suddenly able to eat meat again."

"A large pot of meat soup was simmering in the center of the square. The meat was stewed until very tender and fragrant, almost melting into the soup."

"However, the number of frozen corpses that died of starvation by the roadside has inexplicably decreased significantly."

"No one dared to ask where the bodies went."

Anna couldn't help but cover her mouth. Although she had suffered in her family, this hellish scene still horrified her.

Olivia's face was a little pale, but her speech remained steady:

"At that time, I had a high fever and was huddled in a tattered blanket waiting to die."

At that moment, my foster father—that honest, simple farmer—brought me a flatbread. It was dark red and had a strange, rusty smell. He lied to me, saying it was relief food from the lord.

She raised her hand and touched her wrist, as if there was a scar there as well.

"I ate it and survived. When I woke up the next day, I saw my adoptive father lying by the stove with a deep gash on his wrist that exposed the bone, and he had bled to death... Only then did I realize what kind of dough that bread was made of."

Olivia took a deep breath, forcing back the tears welling up in her eyes, and when she looked back at Lorraine, her eyes were filled with only steely resolve:

"From that day on, I understood one thing—in this damned world, the real enemy is not the extreme cold of the North, nor those damned monsters, but hunger."

"The nobles hoard goods for profit and block technology for monopoly purposes. In my opinion, this is more hateful than monsters."

She pointed to the bag of seeds, her voice filled with passion:

"So I don't care about the channels or the secrecy."

I only wish these seeds could sprout and grow into ears of wheat. Whether in my territory or yours, if this wasteland produces even one more grain of rice, perhaps one less child will have to drink the blood of their own kin in the cold night.

"That's the reason. Lord Lorraine, is this reason sufficient?"

Lorraine remained silent for a long time.

The Witch's Codex led him to these seeds, but he never imagined that there was such a story behind them.

although.

He didn't know how to feed and clothe everyone in the world; he could only take care of himself and those around him.

That's enough.

Lorraine stood up, solemnly picked up the bag of seeds, and turned to hand it to Anna behind her.

Anna.

"Yes, young master!" Anna, whose eyes were already brimming with tears, immediately straightened her back.

"Let's grab the shovels and head down to the tower," Lorraine said with a smile. "Since Miss Olivia has placed her hopes in us, let's not keep these seeds waiting any longer."

……

A moment later, below the Witch's Tower.

The black tower exudes faint ripples of force, keeping the wind and snow at bay. Although the land around the tower base is still cold, it is no longer the impenetrable permafrost.

Anna knelt on the ground and carefully dug through the soil.

The moment her fingertips touched the soil, a strange warmth flowed into her body—it was the amplification granted to her by the Witch's Tower.

She felt the magic within her had never flowed so smoothly. A tiny flame ignited at her fingertips, precisely and gently warming each pit, dispelling the cold without harming the soil in the slightest.

"How amazing..." Anna excitedly turned to look at Lorraine. "Young Master, I feel like I have inexhaustible energy! Is this what it feels like to have the 'Tower'?"

Lorraine stood aside, watching this scene, and then glanced at Olivia, who was standing not far away, watching quietly.

Their eyes met in the air, without any extra words, only a tacit understanding.

"Plant it, Anna."

Anna nodded vigorously. She picked up the golden wheat seeds as if they were countless heavy lives, and reverently buried them one by one into the warm soil.

Looking at those rows of small mounds, on this cold winter night, whether it was Olivia, who was persistent because of past pain, Anna, who had just gained power, or Lorraine, who had already begun to plan for the future.

A long-lost feeling called "hope" welled up in my heart.