Little Tyrant Doesn't Want to Meet with a Bad End Chapter 540.2: Related to Him (2)

But things were different now.

An oddball who actually cared about governance and economic development was born in the Ascart House. By following the economic blueprint Roel had crafted, the Ascart Fiefdom took its first step toward prosperity. Consequently, the Ascart House became wealthier than it had been in the past thousand years.

Even so, deploying the exorbitant fortress barrier was still a painful decision to make for someone who had lived his life counting every penny. If not for the disastrous situation he suspected he was in, Roel would have rather personally patrolled the city walls every night.

“Lord Roel, we have completed the primary calibration. Should we deploy the fortress barrier?”

“…”

After spending an hour on calibration, one of the spellcasters walked up to Roel and respectfully requested his command. Roel quietly gazed at the massive magic tool below, not saying a word.

It was a long time before he raised his eyebrows and asked, “How much will it cost to activate that thing?”

“I’m afraid that it might cost a little more, since it has been a while since the fortress barrier was last deployed. Our people estimate it to be around 150,000 gold coins…”

“Lord Brother!”

Roel’s body shook the moment he heard the number. His response evoked a shocked exclamation from Alicia, and Anna rushed forward to support him.

150,000 gold coins? You’re telling me that it costs 150,000 gold coins just to start the barrier?

Roel had to take a couple of deep breaths before he finally managed to get his raging emotions under control. Even though he thought that he had already mentally prepared himself for this, he still felt like someone was scraping meat from his heart.

This price was too much for him to take, especially since there was a chance that it might go to waste.

Roel first looked at the dull sky above, then at the worried folks around him. He spent a moment in dilemma before finally deciding to prioritize safety. Thus, he took a deep breath.

“…Activate it, but keep the resource depletion at t

…