Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 73 Valentina

Vilan leaned back in his chair, letting his mind wander.

But just a moment later, he couldn't help but open his eyes again, constantly recalling what had just happened.

"The Greedy Baron, he truly lives up to his name, like a venomous snake, wanting to devour anything he sees. Is this guy determined to eat me up?"

Vilan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

He wasn't afraid of Gareth, but Iron Anvil Territory was still in its development stage. If he didn't have absolute confidence in confronting the cavalry, the losses to the territorial guard would be enormous.

Every soldier in the guard was Vilan's precious darling, and he would be heartbroken if even one of them died or was injured.

Just as he was thinking, there was a knock on the study door, and Igris's voice rang out.

"Lord Vilan, may I come in?"

Still waiting for Vilan's reply, Igris pushed open the door. Seeing Vilan's thoughtful expression, she asked curiously, "Is something wrong?"

Vilan shook his head slightly. "It's nothing. Is there something you need?"

"Yes! I want to introduce you to someone!" Igris nodded excitedly.

……

In the refugee settlement, Vilan, protected by two guards, followed Igris into a small wooden hut.

He was no stranger to this place; he had even been here once before.

That was the first time they received refugees. A poor little girl was placed here alone because of a bad cold, and Vilan told Igris to take good care of her.

Vilan didn't pay any more attention to the matter after that. Since Igris hadn't reported it, it meant that the little girl's cold was gone.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked in, he saw a thin girl with fair skin and black hair sitting on the bed.

Upon seeing Vilan, the girl instinctively gripped the edge of the bed, pressed her legs together, and lowered her head, trembling.

Vilan was somewhat surprised; the girl was in better condition than he had imagined. Unlike when they first met, she was filthy and smelly, and had changed into a brown woolen jacket. Her face was also very clean, and she didn't look like a refugee at all.

Vilan walked up to the girl and asked as gently as possible, "Is your cold getting better?"

The girl pursed her lips, timidly raised her head, and nodded heavily, saying, "It's all better now! Thank you, Lord Vilan. Without you, I would surely be dead."

"That's good. I wasn't much help; it was Igris who took care of you. Now, tell me, why did you call me here?"

Vilan looked at Igris with some helplessness. The latter had been mysterious the whole way and hadn't said anything about what she was going to do.

Igris didn't say anything. She just took out a thumb-sized, low-level green magic core from her pocket and put it in the girl's hand.

"Show it to Lord Vilan just as we did before."

"Um!"

The girl nodded emphatically, then looked at the things on the table with a determined expression.

Vilan then noticed that on the only table in the room, there was a rusty piece of iron.

"What are we going to do?" Vilan asked instinctively.

Iglesias shrugged. "You'll find out soon enough."

The next second, the girl on the bed suddenly stretched out her right hand, and a black magic seeped out from her fingers, quickly wrapping the iron plate on the table.

Vilan stared wide-eyed at the scene in disbelief.

This girl can use magic!

Before she could react, the girl puffed out her cheeks, as if her whole body was exerting force to drive black magic.

Then the piece of iron on the table flew up. Under the influence of magic, the entire piece of iron bent downwards and slowly folded into a completely twisted angle!

Once the metal piece was completely unrecognizable, the girl withdrew her magic, and the metal piece fell to the ground.

A bead of sweat trickled down the girl's forehead. She weakly raised her head, her eyes filled with tension and anticipation.

At this moment, Vilan's mouth was agape, completely at a loss for words.

"Snap!"

Igris clapped her hands and said proudly, "This is Valentina's magical talent; she seems to possess some kind of ability to distort and deform objects."

It was only then that Vilan finally realized why Igris had asked for so many low-level magic cores; they were for this girl.

Vilan gave Igris a meaningful look, then stepped forward and said to the girl, "Your name is Valentina?"

"Um!"

"This doesn't sound like the name of a serf girl."

"I... this is the name Lord Hagson gave to his daughter. My father thought it sounded nice, so he gave me the same name."

Valentina's voice was soft, but there was no embarrassment in her tone; on the contrary, she was very proud of the name her father had given her.

Vilan nodded gently. "That sounds beautiful. When did you find out you had magical talent?"

"It was Sister Igris who told me. She even gave me a lot of stones to train with, saying that they might be useful for Lord Vilan..."

Upon hearing this, Vilan turned to look at Igris, but the latter suddenly blushed, snorted, and turned her face away.

Vilan smiled and felt a warm feeling in his heart.

He continued, "Can you only distort objects into different shapes?"

"I...I don't know...I haven't tried anything else yet..."

"It's alright, Valentina, would you like to become my maid? Just like Igris," Vilan suddenly said.

Valentina was stunned, momentarily incredulous.

She felt that she was just a lowly serf girl, how could she be qualified to be Lord Vilan's maid?

Before she could answer, Iglesias said, "Of course, but her salary can't be lower than mine."

"That's for sure."

Vilan nodded, but then he saw Igris cross her arms again, looking at him with a righteous expression. "But don't you think my salary is a bit low? I have more than just the duties of a maid."

Vilan was both amused and exasperated. So this guy wanted a raise, huh?

He nodded. "Okay, the maids' wages have been increased to 5 silver coins. Don't think it's too little. Miss Gardener has done so much work, so you'll get extra bonuses."

"That's more like it. So, how about it? Valentina's magical talent is quite useful, isn't it?"

Igris stared wide-eyed, her expression praising Valentina, but her eyes held the cunning of a kitten, yearning for human praise.

Vilan shrugged. "Who knows? It might not even work."

"what?"

"Thank you anyway, my hardworking gardener."

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Igris blushed again and quickly avoided Vilan's sincere gaze.

"This time it's from the bottom of my heart, thank you." Vilan said sincerely, then looked to the side, "Miss Valentina, come with us to the castle, I still have some ideas that need to be verified."