The Acquisition
Normally, a small acquisition process would take about a week. If you "help" the clerks financially—or simply bribe them—it might be done in three or four days.
But mine was a large acquisition, requiring a lot of processing, so it would take two weeks.
Since I looked rich and could potentially form connections with nobles, everyone worked in the best and fastest way they could. But because my motivations were questionable, I still "helped" them financially.
Yeah, I gave them bribes.
This didn't reduce the time, but it did remove unnecessary suspicions they might have had.
After two weeks, I finally collected the paperwork. Three copies were made: one for me, one for the count's administration, and one sent to the National Authority of Forests.
Since a lot of forested areas are not under any noble, an authority was created for them. This authority also holds some minor influence over areas under nobles.
The area I bought included the region I needed, a small section of actual forest, and a little area outside the Bald Head portion.
The total cost came to 395 platinum coins.
Yeah, I could have saved a lot of money, but out of caution, I "wasted" it.
And just like how prices vary depending on location—important areas are more expensive than areas of lesser importance—this region wasn't considered very valuable because it didn't have much use.
So, the area I bought was basically bigger than entire cities.
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Hiring Workers
Next, I hired a lot of people for digging—from many cities.
And I never hired too many from one company.
Why?
Think about it. Let's say my luck turns bad and some noble suddenly needs to hire workers. He goes to one company, but it's completely busy in the Bald Head area. He goes to a second—same story. Then a third—same again. Now he'll start investigating with interest.
To avoid trouble prematurely, I avoided hiring on a large scale from one company. Instead, I hired from many.
This also increased the cost, but that was the last thing I cared about.
That's why I told Uncle to sell—I needed a huge amount of money.
Now, you might be wondering: what if someone takes the Nature Force for themselves while digging and finds it first?
As if I'd take such a risk.
You'll see what I did. For now, I had announced publicly that I was building a mansion, facilities, and many other things. So, the digging was supposedly for laying the foundation.
I spent almost 30 platinum coins on the digging itself.
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The "Ruin"
Soon, news came.
A man from one of the companies approached me:
> "Sir, we've found a ruin. Do you want to give the contract for digging it to our company?"
I replied as though I had lost all worldly temptations:
> "No, just seal the opening of the ruin. Ruins are only weapons of war and bloodshed. My grandmother hated them. I will stop it as much as I can. I may be a merchant, but I value life more than money."
The man's eyes went wide, like they were about to pop out.
A ruin was so valuable that what I did looked like this: imagine the most beautiful woman lying on your bed, looking at you with lust, and you say:
> "Sister, let's play hide and seek."
Even if you swung the other way, it would still be unreasonable.
The man couldn't comprehend my thinking. He left looking as though he were wondering why an idiot got so lucky.
---
The digging itself took four days.
Now, you might wonder: why did I close the ruin?
Raven said to me:
> "Sir, there are various people keeping an eye on the ruin's opening."
Yeah, that man had informed some noble for money—and I knew he would.
Now no one could enter.
And as for myself?
I built a small shed near the entrance of the ruin.
Then at night, I went into action mode. I actively used my Sixth Sense and tried to feel inside the entrance. After twenty minutes, I teleported inside.
Then I brought all the Claw members one by one.
I had already bought a device for lighting. We walked through the ruin. It was empty but big.
Many paths were blocked and needed digging, but instead I used my Sixth Sense actively and teleported.
Yeah it was blocked too much so one couldn't dig all the way quickly. And I will reach him and kill him. So I wasn't worried about losing Nature Force
Now you might be thinking: I'll die if I teleport into a wall. So why do this? Why haven't I died yet?
You see, although humans hadn't entered yet, many insects and small creatures lived there. I could feel their intentions.
Since they don't have clear intentions, all I felt were illogical and unclear signals.
But after sensing many, many such "intentions," I learned where to teleport.
It still took twenty minutes each time because I was careful.
I teleported alone and bent my body to cover a small area—if the area is small, the chance of teleporting into a wall is less.
Then I would observe and come back to bring the others.
Now you might be thinking: why bring them?
Because there's always a chance of monsters living underground. Better safe than sorry.
But we hadn't encountered any yet.
We did this for three nights, since the ruin was big and I had to teleport with caution.
Finally, I did the same procedure for the nth time—feeling through the Sixth Sense and teleporting.
But this time, I didn't return to bring the others.
Because in front of me was a rainbow-colored haze.
I was so happy I couldn't stop myself from smiling.
I checked myself once for blood or traces of someone else's presence. Though there was no chance, my life depended on it—I couldn't take a risk.
Slowly, observing my surroundings, I moved toward it. It wasn't on any pedestal or anything—it was just floating at chest height.
I took a knife, cut my finger, and placed it inside the haze.
Soon, the haze entered me.
It took a few seconds to fully assimilate. Somehow, I felt all the other Nature Forces I had collected and this one joining together—like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle being solved.
I quickly went back to the Claw members and told them the ruin was empty. Of course, I brought them too to the empty room.
They believed me easily because we had passed through many empty rooms before. This time I took a little longer, but they didn't say anything.
Then, knowing where to teleport, I brought them out—two teleportations per person.
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The Confrontation
Morning came. And with the morning came many nobles, bringing many soldiers.
You see, I legally owned the ruin, so I had the rights to do whatever I wanted.
But nobles are greedy. They searched for anything that could help them take it away from me.
And there was.
Powerful people always try to take more than the rich, so they create backup plans even for the rich. But it isn't that easy. After all, the rich also want their share.
So for a noble to take something from the rich, what they want must be worthy.
The way to ensure this is to make rules that don't let nobles get too powerful compared to the rich in situations like this.
But ruins are a big deal, and nobles weren't going to leave it alone.
The count came forward and said:
> "Adrian Lewin, head of the Lewin Merchant Family, we suspect illegal and dangerous activities in this private property owned by you. So we are taking control."
Yeah—they blamed me for something illogical, with no proof.
But since they had no proof, many nobles needed to support the accusation, and they couldn't detain me without evidence.
In the first place, they didn't want to detain me. They didn't care about me. All they cared about was the ruin.
Now you must be wondering why they came so late.
That's why I closed the ruin.
They were also keeping watch and knew I wasn't opening it in secret.
So meanwhile, they were fighting.
Yeah, they were fighting over ownership—who would get what percentage.
Since, according to them, the ruin remained untouched, they fought as long as they could.
If I had tried going inside earlier, they would have come within hours.
I said:
> "Okay, show me proof."
That was basically me saying, 'You can't detain me.'
The count said:
> "That's why you are a free suspect—meaning you can travel as you see fit. But you can't enter this property to avoid tampering. Also, before you leave, let us check you're not taking any evidence. And leave these clothes—we will provide you with different clothes."
By the way free suspect means I can do anything now that I could before, including leaving kingdom. This is also something rich and powerful invented for their freedom if they were accused of something not too severe.
I rolled my eyes. I was sure all the nobles had at least two watchers—I could feel them. And yet they still had doubts.
I replied:
> "I will comply. But I don't wear cheap clothes. Bring the most expensive ones for everyone here."
Of course, my escorts weren't wearing anything very expensive, but if you're trying to loot us, you should have expected this.
We were searched, new clothes were brought, and we left my "private property."
By the way, they must have already researched me—my situation isn't good—so I don't think they'll return my property even after searching everywhere in the ruin.
Also, you might be wondering why I teleported every time I came across a blocked wall.
Well, if they saw dug-up remains, they'd instantly act against me—maybe even plant false evidence.