"It’s called instant construction... I can turn gold into any structure instantly. Four upgrades and two new structures per month. Amazing, isn’t it?" Ethan answered Arwen’s question, a slight hint of pride evident in his voice.

He didn’t hide anything from her, since he didn’t think it was necessary.

His ability was already common knowledge in Goldenveil, and, well... Arwen was his wife now.

"Oh..." Arwen’s green eyes sparkled, a refined curiosity dancing in her gaze. "How much did that cost?"

Even from where she stood, she could feel the imposing magical density of the arrays already humming along the walls, weaving a translucent dome that stretched above the entire length of the palace.

That couldn’t have been cheap.

"One hundred and fifty thousand."

"Huh?" Arwen turned her face slightly, her eyes filled with a glimmer of disbelief. "One hundred and fifty thousand?"

One of the few things that hadn’t changed in this world from ancient times to the present day was the type of currency used.

Gold coins.

The Cathedral of the Three Goddesses itself, when it was built, had required a colossal national investment from the entire elven people, especially to gather the materials needed for the arrays.

She turned her gaze back to the palace once more.

One hundred and fifty thousand gold coins wouldn’t even be enough to pay for the gates of a palace like this.

What kind of absurd ability was that?

"Yes." Ethan nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Let’s go. It’s time to introduce you to the other wives and start getting ready for the move."

His hands slid down to the high elf’s delicate waist, strong fingers curving possessively over the sinfully curved line of her hip.

Arwen asked no further questions, merely letting out a soft sigh as she leaned slightly toward him, her body tilting subtly into the firm warmth at his side.

Her eyes shifted, catching sight of another human approaching.

He was a man in his thirties, with a firm face, masculine features, and a dignified bearing.

Doran, commander of the Goldenveil armed forces.

He paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the gigantic palace before letting out a soft sigh.

Every time he thought he had grasped the limits of what his lord was capable of, he found himself surprised once again.

"My lord!" Doran bowed in respectful reverence. "Are you moving now? Should I send men to prepare everything for the move and secure the place?"

"Prepare some men for the move, but guards won’t be necessary." Ethan replied calmly, gesturing toward the silver-winged paladins. "Aurora and her warriors will handle the palace’s protection until Evelyn is ready to form her own guard. Also, let Garrick know that I’ll be coming to see him soon."

"It shall be done, my lord!" Doran declared firmly.

His eyes rested on Arwen for a brief moment, and upon noticing Ethan’s hand firmly on her waist, he bowed respectfully. "My lady."

Without another word, he set off to carry out the orders.

He had come only to confirm whether anything would be needed after the construction of his lord’s gigantic new palace.

As for the fact that his lord was, once again, surrounded by beautiful women and, apparently, had taken another wife... well, that thought didn’t even cross Doran’s mind.

On the contrary, he was genuinely pleased with his lord’s willingness to sire yet another heir.

With a slight sigh, he quickened his pace.

He was quite busy trying to recruit five hundred new men for the Goldenveil army, and he needed to carry out those orders quickly so he could return to work.

Ethan paid no mind to Doran’s departure.

As ordered, the paladins took up defensive positions around the palace and the cathedral, their eyes following the departure of their high priestess and master as she walked alongside Ethan.

Interestingly enough, of all of Goldenveil’s population, the most shocked turned out to be the players.

In total, Goldenveil was home to fifty players, all belonging to the same group.

They were led by a golden-haired paladin, with a beautiful woman known as SnowBreath and a serious-looking, aged ranger serving as vice-leaders.

Their shock stemmed not only from the colossal size of the new structure but also from the system notifications that popped up before their eyes.

[A cathedral has been built in Goldenveil! In three months, the cathedral will be ready, and players will be able to respawn and be born freely within Goldenveil’s territory.]

Everyone’s eyes lit up—partly out of excitement, since they would no longer need to rent rooms at the tavern to respawn, and partly out of concern.

For now, the Eternal Forest wasn’t a place heavily explored by players, being a mid-level zone where only those above the third stage could reach.

They, being the only ones there, had taken full advantage of this exclusivity.

They had already captured several third-stage beasts and thousands of second-stage beasts, selling the carcasses to Ethan for absurd profits.

This, combined with the quests they had managed to complete at the adventurers’ guild, quickly raised their fortune to over ten thousand gold coins.

It was enough to buy the guild creation token they needed, but not enough to actually found the guild. To do that, they were still short tens of thousands of gold coins.

In three months, when thousands of players flooded the streets of Goldenveil, everything would become much harder to obtain, and the competition would be fierce.

For a moment, everyone fell silent until, suddenly, an idea struck them.

Seo-ah hadn’t been worried about any of that. All she wanted was to go back to hunting beasts and leveling up. Yet a sudden shudder ran down her spine as she felt all those eyes falling upon her.

The best way to avoid worrying about the competition was simply to secure the support of the local ruler.

In total, Tales of Estria already had four major guilds established.

All of them, without exception, had only been able to form so quickly because they had secured the support of a ruler.

"So... little sister SnowBreath..." One of the women in the group approached from behind, gently placing her hands on Seo-ah’s shoulders, a sly smile curling at her lips. "Have you ever heard of the sacrifices a woman makes for her family?"