108 - 113

Chapter 108

Chapter 108 The Pitiful Grandmaster Ciroba Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Here's the 4th sponsored chapter of the week albeit a little late. It was made possible thanks to Tyler L. once again from the USA! The queue is finally cleared as well at 10/20 so stay tuned for the regular chapters in a day or two.

Later that day, Lorist had something at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite remember.

After the shipment convoy had been sent off to the Redriver Valley Bastide, Jim bade Lorist farewell and returned to his post at Poplar Coast with the rest of the mercenaries. However, he also asked Lorist nervously if they would be allowed to buy a few chain mail as the mercenaries were quite envious of how well-equipped the Norton soldiers were.

After asking for Hansk about the amount of armor they had, Lorist decided to sell 20 sets at 70% of the price at 6 gold Fordes each before sending the grateful mercenaries off.

With the resources at the Redriver Valley Bastide being unexpectedly plentiful, Lorist had no choice but to delay his plan to have every available person work on the walls and slow down the construction process to carry out the transportation.

The first few shipments that were sent to the construction site were mostly green vine glue because Shadekampf believed that it was one of the most important resources the dominion needed for its development. He understood that it was even more paramount given Lorist's choice to continue building a city in the valley.

Lorist had once asked Butler Boris why the Kenmays Family stockpiled so much green vine glue. The butler replied confidently that the Kenmayses had an contract with the Romon Empire to purchase 100000 buckets of green vine glue from them every year. That was why it was only natural for there to be around 30000 buckets of it at Redriver Valley Bastide, which was supposed to be the home territory of the Kenmayses.

There was one small accident during the transportation of the glue though. One carriage filled with buckets of those had its axle damaged right in front of the construction site, much to Old Man Balk's dismay as it was directly in the way of the supply route for the materials around the site. He responded by finding a few other people to attempt to push the carriage to aside, but the force and vibration had caused one huge bucket of green vine glue to splash all over the place including Old Man Balk's face, causing him to get a good smell and taste of the material.

All of a sudden, Old Man Balk stood there with his whole body drenched with glue before he quickly went to look for Lorist and pulled him to a corner where there wasn't anybody else. Carefully checking his surroundings to make sure they were alone, he secretly told Lorist, "Milord... I think I know where this glue can be found..."

Initially weirded out by Balk's sudden erratic actions, Lorist laughed in understanding once he heard the explanation. "I also know that. It's made in the Romon Empire, isn't it? You don't have to be so secretive about that. Isn't that common knowledge?"

Balk once again looked around before he said in a low voice, "That's not it, milord. I mean to say that I know where we can find green vine glue within our dominion."

"You mean we might be able to find and produce green vine glue in our own dominion?" said Lorist in a surprised tone.

"Yes, milord. A little more than 10 years ago, when I was on my way to boil seawater to harness salt for the family, I came across some herbs. But when I started picking them, I accidentally fell into a cave somewhere around the area. I thought I was a goner for sure, but fortunately for me there were huge vines with intertwining leaves all over that cave which allowed me to climb out and somehow retain my life. Before I started climbing, I lied down on the ground for some rest and noticed a peculiar quality of those vines. For some reason, it was moister than most plants I've seen and there weren't any insects around them. Apart from some decaying leaves on the ground, I couldn't even see a single ant. I was quite hungry at that time and had nothing better to eat or drink, so I bit into those vines and sucked out some of its secretions to sustain myself, but I stopped after tasting its extreme bitterness.

"That cave was a rather large one and I couldn't find the exit after walking around, so that's when I decided to try climbing those vines and halfway up the deep cave, I cried out for help. It was fortunate that some of my friends were looking for me, so they dropped a rope for me to hold on to while they hoisted me up. Due to consuming some of the secretions of the vine, my stomach hurt for quite a long time and I only managed to recover after spending quite a sum to purchase some medicines from Master Dunbarsen of Wildnorth Town. From that day onward, i've never forgotten the taste of that liquid that caused me so much pain. And just now when I got a slight taste of the green vine glue, it was exactly the same as that liquid I drank so many years ago..."

"You mentioned that it was very moist down the cave?"

"Yes."

"And that there weren't any insects or even a single ant at all?"

Balk continued to nod earnestly.

"The vines were also rather huge relative to others you've seen elsewhere?"

The old man then stretched his arms upward, indicating that it was easily taller than he was.

Lorist stroked his chin in deep thought. According to Old Man Balk's description, it does seem that those vines are similar to those found in the Romon Empire. If that is true, then the dominion will have one more resource to capitalize on for its development. We can also sell or trade them with others for some other resources if we have a surplus...

"Old Man Balk, keep this secret between us for now and don't tell anyone else. When we finish construction the outer wall of this valley, I will accompany you to that cave you mentioned and verify whether those vines were indeed glue vines," Lorist said.

Balk nodded and replied, "I understand, milord. I didn't tell anyone else about it just now either and went straight to you first."

"Good, let's leave it at that. For now, we have to complete the wall first."

...

By the time Butler Boris returned with his family to the construction site along with the convoy, he also brought Lorist some good news: he and Shadekampf had discovered a hidden room back at the bastide which stored up to 100000 gold Fordes and 120000 imperial god coins. Coupled with the multitudes of silver and copper coins within, there was at least 200000 gold Fordes' worth of money over there. That report had caused Lorist immense joy as he thought, the quickest way to wealth is indeed taking it from others... And merchant families like that should have the most amount of money...

...

After resting for around 20 days, Ovidis had returned to his former energetic state. Given that he was sick of lying around in bed for days, he pestered Lorist endlessly to allow him to go to the Redriver Valley Bastide for some exploration and even did a few somersaults to show Lorist that he had completely recovered. Having no other choice, Lorist arranged for Ovidis to lead the next batch of carriages and soldiers to take Reidy's place.

...

After seeing Ovidis, Lorist suddenly remembered the one thing he had neglected to do: he had yet to punish Grandmaster Ciroba, who had ruined his plan before it was put into motion. After asking some guards, he got to know that before the ambush, the metal armor equipped soldiers had all forgotten about Grandmaster Ciroba after being told to find a place to hide from sight. That was why he had managed to sneak out to alert the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew on that day.

Currently, Grandmaster Ciroba was dragged in front of Lorist like a sack of dirt by two other guards. Seeing the kneeling and shivering old man, Lorist asked, "What's up with him?"

One of the guards replied, "Milord, I think he's terrified of you..."

"Me? How is that possible? I've only just thought about him earlier today, how would I have the chance to go out of my way to frighten him?"

"It's true, milord," replied the guard. "Right after the battle that day, a few of us wanted to look for this cursed old guy to give him a good beating. But when we found him, he was crouched on the ground muttering something about seeing a demon. It was not long after that we understood that he was referring to you, milord. After giving him a sound thrashing, we tossed him back into his cell. Some of my friends reported that this pile of crap of a grandmaster was having severe nightmares that caused him to spring awake screaming about demons in the middle of the night while also begging for your forgiveness so that you wouldn't eat him alive... After that, some of us used your name to frighten him when we had nothing better to do and every single time it caused him to cry nonstop. It was fun while it lasted..."

Grandmaster Ciroba's experiences had been quite unfortunate during that span of time. Initially, he was naturally elated to find out that the Norton Family was going against the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. Being a famed architect of the Iblia Kingdom and a citizen of Windbury City, he had long heard about the reputation of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew and had even worked with them on several occasions. He believed that the Norton Family's forces would definitely not be able to match that mercenary crew given that they had went out of their way to set up such an elaborate plot to ambush them.

He thought that if the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew was able to defeat the Nortons, then he would soon be able to regain his freedom. That was why he was willing to take the risk to reveal the ambush to the crew before he was knocked unconscious by Ovidis.

The real crux was Ovidis's relatively light strike, which caused the grandmaster to wake up before the battle had ended. As he had wished, the Nortons were in full-on conflict with the mercenary crew. Having learned not to reveal himself so easily lest he get knocked unconscious again, the old man didn't go out of his way to cheer for the mercenaries and opted to spectate the battle while hidden.

As a person who had no experience on the battlefield whatsoever, Grandmaster Ciroba had only just found out about the cruelty and bloodshed present in any conflict. The only things he knew about war was those depicted in novels about fictionalized knights and heroes who gloriously led their armies to defeat their adversaries and returned home with beauties in their arms to live out the rest of their lives in happiness and bliss. But when he heard the agonized cries and saw the blood spurting out of the slaughtered mercenaries, he puked on the spot. To avoid having to see that sight again, he turned backwards just in time to see Lorist killing the two Gold ranked shield-bearers.

After that, the grandmaster witnessed Lorist rushing into the crowd of people and killing the mercenaries without breaking a sweat. Quickly losing count of the mercenaries who had died by Lorist's sword, Grandmaster Ciroba felt a chill down his spine. Quickly, he realized that he had made a grave error in offending a fearsome being like Lorist.

By the time Lorist had decapitated Crew Leader Adams, Grandmaster Ciroba had completely despaired. The image of the blood-covered Lorist had been burned deep within his mind, causing him to constantly fear his retribution for spoiling the plot. Deep within his psyche, he had already considered Lorist to be some kind of fearsome demon...

After he was beaten up by some guards and tossed back into his cell, he never had a good night's sleep as every time he tried to close his eyes, he would start to imagine the countless soldiers without heads or limbs crawling up to him, eventually melding together to form Lorist's blood-covered silhouette that would proceed to torture him endlessly.

The first time Grandmaster Ciroba awoke from that nightmare, he quickly begged for mercy and forgiveness. But that didn't stop the dreams from continuing. Had he been by the side of his family, there was little doubt that his mental condition would recover over time.

But at that time, he was locked up alone in a cell and the guards that watched over him were mostly ex-bandits who delighted in tormenting him after they discovered the one he was so desperately begging forgiveness from was Lorist. Their mean antics included pretending to have received Lorist's orders to cut off his legs, genitals, nose or ears and even fry him in boiling oil, all of which caused the old man to be terrified to the depths of his soul. Eventually his nightmares grew to be even more fearsome, causing the state of his mind to become even more brittle to the point that he lost all will to move after being told that he was being brought to see Lorist.

Conflicted, Lorist felt that he wouldn't be able to punish Grandmaster Ciroba given that he was already in such a fearful state that his bladder and rectum had relaxed and released their contents before Lorist even said a word.

Lightly fanning the stench away from his nose, Lorist said, "Take him away and help him wash off..."

But before he finished, Grandmaster Ciroba seemed to have misunderstood and quickly hugged Lorist's leg before he begged, "Milord... Don't... Please forgive me and don't fry or grill me! I'm not tasty at all! Milord, I can be very useful to you alive... I can build... Yes, I can build castles... Houses... Anything you want! Please don't eat me...."

As his pleading got louder and louder, the people at the tents not far away scrambled over and thought that something had happened. Reidy and Paulobins even thought that Lorist was in some sort of trouble and was in need of help.

With a grimace on his face, Lorist looked at the guards and said in an exasperated voice, "Look at you guys... You've really gone too far with this..."

The guards all had an innocent look on their faces as one of them said, "Milord, this is not our fault... Who asked him to be so much of a coward..."

Tired of arguing with them, Lorist shook the groveling old man off his leg and warned, "Get up. If you don't, I'll really start grilling you alive."

"Please milord... No..." said Grandmaster Ciroba as he quickly stood up.

"I'll give you a chance to make this up to me," said Lorist. "First, go take a bath to clean yourself up and report to Miss Telesti when you're done. Help her with the construction of my castle and I'll forgive you if you do well. Otherwise..."

Lorist revealed his two rows of gleaming white teeth and said, "You know what will happen..."

With an audible thump, the old man kneeled quickly and said, "Milord, I will definitely do my best until you're satisfied..."

"Reidy, take him away for a bath and bring him to Miss Telesti. Grandmaster Ciroba will be her subordinate in the future," Lorist instructed.

Chapter 109 A Meeting with Telesti Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Time flew by and one month passed fleetingly. There had already been 20 or so shipments carried out from the Redriver Valley Bastide to the construction site, but Shadekampf reported that only half of the resources within the bastide had been transported over and said that it would require at least another full month before they would be able to fully transport everything. Apart from asking his men to increase the speed of the shipment, there was nothing else Lorist could do. Not to mention that many carriages had been damaged during the course of the shipment and there were currently more than 100 or them awaiting repairs.

It was a rather pleasant day, at least to Lorist, as the first outer wall had been completed. Currently, Lorist was standing atop the new wall which was around 7.5 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide. Its length was around 86 meters with two other walls extending at right angles from both ends, effectively forming into a '|_|' shape.

The main difference between this outer wall and the one at the other end facing the Norton Family's dominion was that Lorist had borrowed elements from Ancient Chinese architecture to build blockhouses[1] on the face of the walls with each extending outwards from the wall by 2 meters and having a width of 5 meters while extending upwards to 1 meter above the wall itself, causing the whole stretch of the wall to look rather imposing.

Patting on the crenels of the wall, Lorist felt rather satisfied. Now that they had completed the construction of that essential defensive structure, there was no worry that the construction site would fall into the hands of others easily. What made Lorist curious was the fact that not a man from the Kenmayses have been detected recently according to Josk's reports, even though they had just increased the frequency of the patrols recently. It was as if the Kenmays Family had completely forgotten about the Redriver Valley Bastide. Logically speaking, upon getting to know that the viscount's bastide had been occupied, it only made sense for the Kenmayses to be wary and scout the surrounding area for any more of the Nortons' movements. The fact that Josk hadn't found anything like that was definitely a sign that something fishy was going on.

That shouldn't be possible... Unless... The Kenmays Family still haven't received news about the occupation of the bastide. Was that even possible? Lorist thought as he laughed. That would be too good to be true... Oh well, I shouldn't ponder upon it too much. We'll cross the bridge when we come to it. It's already fortunate that I managed to get so many benefits from their bastide, so it would be going too far to hope for such an ideal scenario.

"Old Man Balk, have you finished planning the arrangements of the construction of the second wall with Miss Telesti?"

Balk who was standing beside him replied, "Miss Telesti had tasked me to first lay the foundations for the wall but stopped me from doing anything else as the details of its design still hasn't been confirmed yet."

"I see. Then I guess I should go pay her a visit," Lorist said.

Telesti was within the center of the 5 buildings on the wall as usual. When Lorist went inside, he bumped into Grandmaster Ciroba. Letting out a frightened cry, the old man ran to the corner of the room and curled up into a ball as sounds of dripping water could be heard. It seemed that his bladder had loosened from his terror once again.

Annoyed and feeling a little awkward, Lorist thought, how many times has it been? Every time I come to visit Miss Telesti, Grandmaster Ciroba would become like that. And then there's Little Vinny...

As he had expected, Lorist heard Vinny's startled gasp. "Mistress... Not good! The man-eating demon is here again..."

A snicker rang out within the room...

Lorist walked into the room with a gloomy expression without giving Grandmaster Ciroba any heed. Ever since that old man started working under Telesti, he would keep repeating that Lorist was a man-eating demon, and the others all knew that the old man behaved as such because he was completely terrified of Lorist. However, Telesti's young maidservant, Vinny, thought it was funny and even secretly went up to ask Lorist whether human flesh was delicious. At that time, he was in a rather playful mood and opened his mouth wide to pretend to bite Vinny, only to send her scurrying away in terror. Ever since that time, Lorist had properly cemented himself as a demon in Vinny's mind.

"Ouch!" Vinny's pained cry rang out from within the room. "Mistress, why did you hit me?"

Telesti said, "Why else would I hit you? How can you believe in something as ridiculous as that? You even ran inside my room and messed up all my models!"

"Mistress, I'm really not kidding. At that time, he almost ate me alive... Oh no, he's coming in..." said Vinny before she crawled under Telesti's chair to hide.

While Telesti was initially seriously trying to reprimand her maidservant, upon seeing Lorist's defeated expression, she gradually let muffled chuckles until she could no longer hold back and laughed out loud.

"Am I really that funny?" Lorist said, dissatisfied.

"Haha... Hahaha... Man-eating demon... Hahaha..."

Lorist could see Vinny poking her head around from underneath the chair and suddenly felt in the mood to make a scary face while raising both his hands clawed, as if he was about to leap straight at her...

"Eeep!" Vinny squaeled in a terrified voice. Feeling unsafe despite being behind her mistress, the young maidservant took the risk and ran straight out of the room and closed the door tight behind her.

Seeing that, Telesti's laughter got even more severe to the point that she was banging on the table involuntarily.

"Hey, have you laughed enough now?" Lorist asked Telesti who was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.

"Enough... Hoho... I want to stop... too... Pffft! But... Every time I look at you... I can't... Stop laughing!" stammered Telesti as she tried her best to catch her breath.

Annoyed and slightly pissed, Lorist started thinking of what he could do to make her stop.

Circling the table and pulling Telesti up suddenly, Lorist planted a kiss onto her luscious lips before she managed to react.

Her laughter finally stopped, but she was equally stunned as well. With both her eyes opened wide, she continued to stand there in a daze and only managed to react when Lorist teased her tongue with his own.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Lorist in pain. "What did you bite me for?"

Telesti pushed Lorist aside and breathed raggedly with her cheeks flushed red and said, "Milord, that's far too rude of you."

"Just call me Locke," he said. "Well, at least I managed to get you to stop laughing..."

"Locke, you should give up on any notion on courting me..." said Telesti with an embarrassed expression. "I've already taken an oath in the name of Siminglyde that I would continue my mother's research and will stay single for the rest of my life. I want to become an impressive scholar..."

Siminglyde was Grindia's God of Knowledge and Wisdom and his shrine was rather special even among the other deities worshipped by the people of the continent. It was shaped like a circular tower that was rumored to be based after the Magi's towers in the ancient times.

"Alright," Lorist said. "Then I give my best wishes that you will fulfill your dream one day and become the most influential scholar that you want to be so much. Can we now talk about the serious matters?"

Telesti sat down with her face still blushing and said without looking directly at Lorist, "Milord, what have you come here to talk about?"

"I've heard Old Man Balk that you still haven't decided on the design of the second wall. Why is that so?"

Upon hearing Lorist's serious tone, Telesti forgot about what had happened previously and said, "It's like this. The main reason is that Grandmaster Ciroba feels that if we continue to build the second wall as we have planned, the protruding part of the blockhouses would be a little troubling. Let me bring you to the models so the grandmaster can explain it to you."

"Forget it, he has already wet himself after seeing me once. I don't wish for him to have to change into another pair of pants again," Lorist said.

Telesti giggled as if she had thought of something and rolled her eyes at Lorist before she stifled her laughter and reached out for her tea cup, only to notice that it was already empty.

"Locke, please ask Vinny to pour me some tea." Telesti had used Lorist's nickname without much thought, but after she noticed it, her face flushed red again and she avoided looking directly at him.

"Alright," said Lorist as he opened the door to do as she said.

But right after he pushed the door open, Vinny's head almost bumped straight into Lorist's chest.

"What's wrong, Little Vinny?" said Lorist as he caught her to stop her from falling.

But this time, Vinny wasn't afraid of him anymore. After seeing Telesti safely sitting behind her desk, Vinny let out a breath of relief and said, "Sniff... Mistress... Vinny shouldn't have forgotten about you and left you alone in the room with him... Thank goodness you weren't eaten! Oh no! Vinny is caught by that monster! Mistress... save me..."

Upon noticing that she had been 'captured', the maidservant started making quite a ruckus.

"Stop fooling around, Vinny. Pour me some tea and bring me a basin of water for me to wash my face. After that, call Zanben to bring the model of the wall over here," Telesti said.

Seeing Vinny carefully circling around Lorist as she brought the tea, Telesti almost broke out into laughter again. Lorist on the other hand was suppressing his desire to tease Vinny once more and stayed seated without messing around.

"Oh, mistress, why is your face all red? It looks rather pretty this way..." said Vinny.

"It's all your fault for closing the door. The heat that caused my face to flush up..." said Telesti in an attempt to cover it up.

Lorist shook and chuckled upon hearing that while Telesti rolled her eyes to Lorist again in a fit of embarrassed rage.

...

After Zanben brought the model over, Lorist came to understand that his plan for the blockhouses had caused them quite some trouble. Castles in Grindia usually didn't have blockhouses that protruded from the walls itself but rather ones built atop the walls. Most city walls had blockhouses built on the front and back of the top part the walls to increase the their defensive capabilities.

The blockhouses protruding out of the wall that Lorist had asked to build wouldn't be a problem if it was only one wall, but they would definitely impede the construction of the second outer wall. The fact that the second wall had to be three meters taller than the first wall was even more of a problem.

The model Zanben brought over was modified to accommodate for that structure by giving a slight slant to the stairs that connected the blockhouses to the walls. While it did not impact its defensive capabilities much, it did look less aesthetically appealing.

Telesti said, "Look, milord. This design looks rather ugly. That's why Grandmaster Ciroba was very against it and believed that the blockhouses should be built individually instead of having them connected to the walls. But that would significantly lessen the defense..."

Lorist pointed at the model and said, "Then just build it like that. What I want is strong defense and not looks. If the second outer wall gets breached, we can easily close the main gates of the blockhouses of the first wall and effectively lock the enemy out. That way, we will also have more time to retaliate against those who have made their way beyond the second wall. If we separate the blockhouses, once they get conquered, the first inner wall wouldn't be able to hold out for long."

Telesti furrowed her brows and said, "But milord, it does look far less appealing like that."

"That's alright, just build it according to this model as I say. I will allow you to decorate the valley city as you please when we start working on it, but this wall only needs to be practical and tough. I will look forward to how beautiful you can make the city in the future," Lorist said.

"Okay, milord. Then we will begin construction according to this model," said Telesti while looking a little crestfallen as she waved for Zanben to put the model back.

"Milord, do you have anything else you need me for?" Telesti asked.

"Of course I do," Lorist said. "Vinny, you don't have to be so scared of me you know. Why don't you leave the room for a bit?"

"Nope, Little Vinny can stay here," said Telesti as she denied Lorist's suggestion without waiting for Vinny's response.

"But mistress, Vinny is really scared..." said Vinny.

Telesti held her arm and said quietly, "Um, Little Vinny... I am a little scared myself. So, I need you to accompany me..."

"Alright, mistress. Vinny will stay by your side..." said Vinny bravely before she gave Lorist a look and scrambled behind Telesti's back.

"Milord, if you have anything to say, don't hold back," said Telesti while lightly thumping the table to stifle her laughter after she looked at Lorist who was squeezing his eyes in an attempt to frighten Vinny.

"Oh, I was thinking whether you could spare some manpower to build two taverns in the area planned for the business sector," Lorist said.

Telesti widened her eyes in curiosity while awaiting Lorist's explanation.

"It's like this. didn't I say that I would give the slave laborers their freedom after the shipment operation is completed? That means I will need to pay them a salary when the time comes. But how would they spend the money at the construction site? That's why I think building some taverns and gradually developing the business sector would be important for the laborers to have a taste of true freedom," Lorist said.

"Milord, even though freedom doesn't only include being able to spend the money you earn, I will seriously consider your proposition. But at the moment, the immigrants forced by you to move from the Redriver Valley Bastide are currently staying there. Where do you think we should move them?"

Lorist pointed at the map on top of the table and said, "Over here right behind this first inner wall. Set up a camp site over here. Apart from the defense unit soldiers, have the rest of the people move outside the walls to camp during the night and have them move back into the wall when the construction begins during the day. This way, not only can we continue the construction without interruption, you will also be able to start developing the business sector. That will also increase the security by preventing any thefts during the night as it is getting harder to monitor the resources that are being shipped over as they increase day by day."

Telesti nodded and said, "Milord, even though it will still increase our workload, you've finally come up with a reliable plan. Good for you."

Lorist was completely speechless at that remark.

[1] A defensive fortification with holes to allow defending troops to fire at enemies from cover. See Wikipedia

Chapter 110 Intermission Prev ChapterNext Chapter

"Milord, the transportation of supplies from the Redriver Valley Bastide has been completed and that place has been burned to the ground. Here is the list of things we brought over from there," said Shadekampf while holding a thick stack of beastskin documents.

Lorist however was speechlessly staring at the carriages of the last convoy that was slowly entering from the gates at the walls that seemed to be carrying broken metal pots, dirty clay apparatus as well as some worn out old rugs, dismantled windowsills and broken mops...

"What are you collecting all these junk for?" Lorist asked

"Milord, even those worn out and old things can still be used as cleaning supplies..." said Shadekampf.

"Then what are those carriages over there carrying? The stuff looks rather heavy..." Lorist said as he pointed to a few carriages in the distance.

The last few carriages seemed to be far slower than the rest and appeared to be carrying things of substantial weight.

"Those, are tiles milord... I removed them from the main hall of the manor and thought that we could use them for our own castle when it is completed," said Shadekampf.

Lorist made a thumbs up and said, "I say, the next time you see Charade, you can proudly tell him that you've learned everything he has to teach and has graduated from being his disciple!!"

Seeing Lorist turn and leave, Shadekampf got hold of Reidy and asked, "What did milord mean by that? It's not like I took Sir Charade as my master... What did he mean by graduating?"

Reidy burst out in laughter instantly. Having been by Lorist's side for quite a long time, he wasn't a stranger to his complaints about Charade's petty and stingy attitude and understood Charade's personality very well. After giving it some thought, Reidy said seriously, "That is milord's way of praising you for being as calculative as Sir Charade and being a great supervisor..."

...

Lorist and Josk were currently within a large tent enjoying some steaming-hot macks. That was also something they had in abundance as the Redriver Valley Bastide had quite a huge supply of it. Apart from giving Telesti two large jars of it, Lorist claimed the rest for himself.

"During the past month, the 7 people I've caught nearby the Redriver Valley Bastide were all ambassadors of noble families from the surrounding area ranging from those who were interested in starting friendly relationships, those who wanted to engage in trade and some who came to request for help. there were even a couple of them who were there to request marriage alliances with the Kenmays Family. I locked them up and only released them before we set fire to the bastide," reported Josk.

"Weird, why hasn't the Kenmays Family sent any scouts yet? That really boggles my mind. Don't tell me that they still haven't received news of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew's demise and still doesn't know that we've occupied the bastide? That can't be..." Lorist said as he scratched his head in confusion.

...

In actuality, Lorist was correct. The Kenmays Family did indeed not know about the bastide's occupation. Of the three unfortunate mercenaries that managed to get away, the one who got shot by Josk's arrow died moments later while the other two split up during their escape. One of those unlucky fellows actually somehow made his way into a warzone between two noble families. The soldiers who were hiding and preparing for an ambush thought that the mercenary was one of the enemy's men and ordered for the archers to turn him into swiss cheese.

The other mercenary traveled for a day and found a village where he could rest for a bit. It didn't take long for him to notice that there were only women, the elderly and children among the inhabitants of the village as most of the youths and men were forcefully conscripted into war. Taking advantage of the absence of men, the mercenary coerced the villagers to provide him with delicacies and women for his pleasure. To the Iron ranked mercenary, the people of the village were not his match and there wasn't anything he had to worry about.

What he did not know were the customs of the people of the Northlands. Northlanders were usually friendly and welcoming to guests and would offer them decent hospitality. But people who were less than welcome usually wouldn't be able to leave alive. While the mercenary thought that he was completely in control of the village and was flirting with two women after the hearty meal he had, one of the women got up and poured him a tea. Feeling quite burned from all the alcohol he had consumed but still not letting his guard down, he only drank the tea after seeing the woman drink some herself.

However, right after he finished his drink, he could see two cold smiles from the women's faces. Even though he understood that something was wrong, his arms and legs suddenly felt numb and wasn't able to exert much force. In the end, that mercenary was buried alive by the seemingly defenseless people of the village who even managed to profit a little from the weapons, armor, mount and other belongings he left behind.

That was how the famed Feathersoar Mercenary Crew of the Iblia Kingdom vanished without a trace. Under the impression that the crew was guarding the bastide, the viscount didn't feel worried at all about its safety and only focused his efforts on negotiating with Duke Loggins in hopes that his force of 2000 would be allowed into the Northlands.

If they split the force up into multiple smaller parts, they would've been able to enter the Northlands discreetly long ago. However, the Kenmays Family didn't do that because of the Second Prince's suggestion to use the presence of the force as a warning and obstacle to the duke's unification of the Northlands. The Kenmays Family also wanted their army to arrive at the Northlands glamorously to impress upon the other nobles the rise of the family so that they would no longer set their sights on taking advantage of the Kenmayses.

The greatest flaw of Duke Loggins was his indecisiveness. However, for some reason, this time he had stood firm on not letting the Kenmays Family's 2000-strong force enter the Northlands. Even though the duke's very own Northland Army had about 20000 soldiers and was easily ten times more numerous than that of the Kenmays Family, and not to mention that the Kenmays Family had always been on rather respectful terms with the duke given that the cousin sister of Viscount Kenmays was the duke's mistress, he was quite unyielding of his decision and the two parties had already been negotiating for more than three months.

Given that Viscount Kenmays was a busy man, he didn't have the time to pay any attention to the happenings within his own domain. For the past three months, he had been busy gifting valuables and women to the duke's subordinates so that they may help put in a good word for him. During his stay at the duke's mansion, he had also humbled himself to butter the duke up by doing menial chores such as pouring his tea. In the end, due to the pressure from the Second Prince and the Kenmays Family's efforts, the duke had finally signed the agreement to allow the Kenmayses' army to enter, with the condition that the army would listen to the duke's every command.

After receiving the permit, Viscount Kenmays sent it to his father who was residing in Windbury City so that their army may proceed to the Northlands as soon as possible. On the other hand, he instructed his attendants to send a message to his dominion to notify the head supervisor of Redriver Valley Bastide to make preparations to receive the force and its deployment to the Norton Family dominion to make them submit to him once and for all.

By the time the three of Viscount Kenmays's attendants arrived, all of them were stunned speechless upon seeing the burnt remains of what used to be the Kenmays Family's headquarters. Not a soul could be seen: even the immigrants living at the town nearby had all vanished. The attendants looked at each other before the eldest and most senior of them decided for one of the attendants to return and notify the viscount of the bad news and the other to check on the construction site to see if it was still under the control of the Kenmays Family while he himself would go investigate the surrounding area to find out who the perpetrator was.

...

"Milord, you no longer have to worry so much about the Kenmays Family. After all, we've already taken everything they have. Since news doesn't travel fast in the Northlands, it's far better to sit tight and wait to see how things turn out. What will come, will come. And if it doesn't, it's not like we have nothing better to do than wait aimlessly for it, right?" said Josk before he took a sip from his cup.

Lorist tapped on his thigh and said, "You're right, Joe. I'm just not used to this. Back in Morante City, I was able to know what happened around the continent clearly by reading the papers. But after returning to the dominion, it's like I've suddenly turned blind: other than the small piece of land around the area, I am not informed of anything going on outside it at all. It really isn't pleasant to sit and wait for the enemy to arrive. I really dislike this feeling of leaving everything to fate."

Josk placed the cup in his hand down and said, "Why don't we talk about something else? Milord, I've heard rumors that you've been courting Miss Telesti. Is that true?"

Seeming a little down upon hearing that, Lorist said, "Yes, but I failed. Telesti's dream is to be a venerable scholar and she has decided to remain single for the rest of her life to stay focused and doesn't want to have any children to take time away from her work..."

For the past month, Lorist had visited Telesti on multiple occasions in an effort to woo her. But Telesti was far from defenseless: she would always be with either her butler or her maidservant Vinny. Once when they were both alone, before Lorist was able to try anything, Telesti called Zanben into the room with them, much to Lorist's frustration. During that visit, Lorist brought the two jars of macks to Telesti's place. Determined to wait for Zanben to leave the room, he started making some macks for himself. In the end, after consuming so many cups that he had lost count, Lorist gave up and left because he could no longer hold his bladder. It was from that day onwards that the rumor of the dominion lord courting Telesti started to spread.

"Being single, huh... It sounds rather good. I want to be single for life as well..." mused Josk.

"Forget it, you better find a wife and form a family to pass down your legacy. I don't want the Divine Marksman to be history during the generation of my heir. Also, after I announce the freedom of the slave laborers, I want you to pick out a company's worth of men to be trained into longbowmen and crossbowmen. Currently, one of the most glaring weaknesses of our force is our underwhelming ranged attack capability. While many of our soldiers know some degree of archery, it is far from reliable to be employed on the battlefield. If we had a squad of longbowmen or crossbowmen back when we faced the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew, we would have had far fewer casualties," said Lorist in a serious tone.

Josk nodded and said, "Milord, I understand. However, most of the slave laborers are common folk who haven't awakened their Battle Force. I'm not sure my training regiment would suit them..."

"This is no issue. I will still stay here at Firmrock Castle for around 20 days. Even though the situation at Maplewoods Bastide is a little urgent, I can still afford to delay my return for a bit. I will use this time to teach the slave laborers to awaken their Battle Force. As they have been working rough labor for long periods of time, most of them have strong and healthy bodies. WIth a little more physical training, there is a good chance that a huge number of them will be able to awaken their Battle Force. You can then pick a couple of them from the ones who succeed to train. As for longbows and crossbows, I've already asked the father-son arbalists[1] to prepare some. They promised to make me some simplified crossbows that can be used in training within a month. Proper crossbows would require more time to make and won't be ready until next year," Lorist said.

"Alright, simplified ones will do. Even though the range, power, durability and accuracy are considerably lower, it would be more than enough for its intended purpose. Milord, it's a shame that the main convoy still hasn't arrived yet. Otherwise we would have as many weapons as we need," Josk said as he sighed.

"That's right. I kind of miss them too. Darned fatty, I haven't received any news about the convoy for more than three months already. You'd think they would send someone to notify us about their status..." complained Lorist.

...

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" Elsewhere, Charade let out three loud sneezes.

"Hehe, and you just said that fat people don't feel cold. You should wear some more clothing just in case you get sick," teased Els.

"I'm not cold at all. It's just that somehow my nose started to itch. Someone must be talking bad about me behind my back," said Charade as he took the blanket Els handed him to wipe off his snot.

"Good Sol! Fatty! Don't be so gross!" said Els as he snatched the blanket back from him and handed it to a guard who was passing by and said, "It's a reward for your hard work."

"We only have enough for one each person. Don't you go take one more after giving it away," said Charade while eyeing Els.

"I'll see if you dare to stop me. If you don't give me another one to replace the one you dirtied, I will even take your wife's," Els replied.

"..." Charade was troubled as he knew Els was definitely capable of doing what he just said. "Gosh, I give up. Go take another one then by the time we set up camp."

"But still... Those sneezes of mine were definitely not normal. Somebody must have been cursing me," said Charade, not willing to let the subject go.

Els laughed and said, "Why would you think that people wouldn't? During the three months we were at Geldos City, do you know the moniker the nobles gave you? Charade the Skinner. You won't believe how many of them were cursing you day and night for taking so much of their stuff that you're practically skinning their family alive. Do you recall the nobles who gathered up to send us off on that day that even hired drummers to make a grand spectacle? They weren't cheering for our safe journey but rather their salvation from a miserly demon like you..."

"Those nobles can say whatever they want. It's not like what they say or think will actually hurt me in any way. I am a knight of the Norton Family, it's only natural for me to put the family's interests first," Charade said righteously.

"Hey, do you think that the person who's talking behind your back might be Locke? It's already been three months and we're still wandering around the Redlis Kingdom. We've really took too much time to depart. Even though it's been a month since Potterfang conquered Benz Citadel[2] with our army, it would still take us at least 20 days before the convoy will be able to reach there," Els complained.

Upon hearing Lorist being mentioned, Charade went silent for a while before saying, "We had no choice in that matter. After occupying Geldos City, the amount of supplies we have to manage has only increased. There was also the training of the newly-formed combat units and the reorganization of the convoy as well as the collaboration with Viscount Tim and the Peterson Merchant Guild to handle. We also had to deal with the conflicts between the various nobles..."

"That's right. And you managed to weasel some more stuff from them, right? Right now, apart from weapons and equipment, they are already on the brink of running out of food. I bet they were itching to fight each other for it the moment we left..." said Els sarcastically in an effort to ridicule Charade's methods.

"But if we didn't do that, would we have been able to sustain all 50000 people of the convoy? I'm sure that Locke would understand this as well as the delayed date of departure for the convoy considering its huge scale of over 4000 carriages," Charade said.

"Fatty, I miss Locke. I wonder if he's doing well right now. If we arrive at the Andinaq Kingdom without issues, do you think I can leave first and head to where Locke is?" asked Els.

Charade nodded and said, "I guess that would be fine. It is about time we sent someone to tell him that we're fine and the journey is progressing without problems..."

...

[1] Arbalists: Crossbow makers. See Chapter 86 for mention of the father-son ballista/crossbow craftsmen.

[2] Benz Citadel: See Chapter 57.

Chapter 111 Breakthrough Prev ChapterNext Chapter

It has been three months since Lorist had left the Maplewoods Bastide. It was already the sixth month and the weather was getting warmer gradually, thus relinquishing the need for winter clothing.

The first thing Lorist did after arriving was to go see Butler Gleis to give him a brief on the situation at Firmrock Castle. After the completion of the wall, Lorist had a few stonemasons carve out large characters of the castle's name onto it, hence officially setting the name of the place in stone quite literally.

To the old butler, it was already a great shame for the Norton Family bastide to have been under siege by the Kenmays Family that one time. After hearing about the resources they had taken and the state of the burnt down Redriver Valley Bastide, the old guy couldn't help but drag Lorist to the family's forbidden area to let the Norton Family ancestors know that the current heir did not let their hopes down and had successfully wiped clean the humiliation they had been forced to endure.

Slightly regretting informing the butler of the good news, Lorist could only push the butler's wheelchair into the cavern hesitantly and tried his best to not breathe the stench in. After listening to the old butler's ramblings for a whole hour, Lorist was finally allowed to leave.

Arriving at the building he usually stayed in, Lorist noticed that Supervisor Spiel was standing at his door and waiting for his return with a big stack of beastskin documents in his hands, obviously eager to report to him about the happenings within Maplewoods Bastide during the past three months of his absence.

Waving his hands in annoyance, Lorist said, "Don't you see that I'm quite worn out after my travels? Tell me about that tomorrow. Also, Supervisor Spiel, I've brought back lots of supplies on this trip so you should go see Shadekampf and make an inventory of those first. Additionally, don't interrupt my rest for tonight. Notify Knight Pajik and Supervisor Kedan to come here tomorrow as we will need to meet up to discuss something. I also want to be briefed on the status of the defense squads as well. Oh, and if Supervisor Kedan is at Poplar Coast, I want you to ask him to return to tell me about the situation there."

"Um, milord, would you want to ask Lady Pesha to come over as well?" Spiel stammered.

"Why would I call her over? She has given me nothing but trouble so far..." said Lorist as his gaze sharpened. "Did she cause any more trouble during the three months I wasn't here?"

"She didn't..." said Spiel in a panic. "That's definitely not the case. Ever since she was taught a lesson by you, Lady Pesha has been cooped up within her quarters. Apart from accompanying the illegitimate son of the late First Young Master, she has been practicing her swordsmanship day and night. Well, I only mentioned her because she is technically a knight of the family. It wouldn't be good if... Um... If she were to miss an important meeting like this..."

"Supervisor Spiel, I hope you understand that the child you mentioned is the bona fide descendant of my elder brother and not just some illegitimate child. Also, it's not that I'm leaving Pesha out of the important matters of the family; raising my brother's son is definitely a great contribution. As for her swordsmanship practice, I am pretty satisfied with that. At least she is not ignorant of her shortcomings and understands that she has still room to improve. Do you have anything else you want to say?" Lorist asked with a solemn expression.

"That's all, milord. Your subordinate shall leave now," said the supervisor as he bowed and left.

...

Pushing open the door to the guest room, Lorist saw Belnick, who was previously reading a book by the window, getting up hurriedly and paying his respects.

Lorist said, "It's alright, cut the pleasantries. Sit down. Let me see how much you've recovered."

Belnick sat down once again and placed his right hand on the table. Having been acquainted with how his lord checked for ailments and illnesses, he was quite curious with the technique Lorist used. However, he was under the impression that pulse-reading was a new medical technique that was being commonly used in Morante City, so apart from some fascination, he didn't think too much about its eccentric approach.

Lorist took a glance at the book Belnick was previously reading; titled 'The Journey of the Sage', the book was about one of the many legends that were passed down from the age of the Magic Civilization. It was part of the collection Lorist had brought back when he first arrived at the Northlands.

"Milord, I apologize for borrowing this book without permission. Recuperating alone in this room is really far too boring, so I couldn't help myself when I saw Irina dry some of the books under the sun," said Belnick.

"It's alright, you can read it as you please. Just make sure you don't lose it," Lorist said as he took the book and used it to prop up Belnick's outstretched arm before he proceeded to read his pulse.

"Your condition has gotten far better than before. Have you started training your Battle Force already?" Lorist asked.

"That's right, milord," said Belnick. "When I felt my energy returning last month, I tried to give Battle Force training a try and was surprised to notice that it has already returned to normal. I've been doing that daily ever since."

"It's better if you stop training in the standard military Battle Force technique. Right now, your body is still a little weak, and the Battle Force technique taught in the military taps into one's innate potential. Your current condition is less than ideal for it. You have a wood attribute Battle Force, right?" Lorist asked.

"Yes..." said Belnick as he nodded.

Lorist placed a high-ranked Battle Force manual on the table and said, "In the future, train in this technique. I trust that you'll be able to break through to the Gold rank within a year."

Surprised and elated, Belnick looked at the Battle Force manual on the table that was titled 'Viridian Battle Force' and said, "Milord... I... I..."

"What? Touched? Take it and train hard in that technique. I heard that the wood attribute Viridan Battle Force has a great healing property and will definitely be ideal for your condition. You can start serving me well when you reach the Gold rank."

"Yes, milord. I will definitely not let your expectations down," Belnick said with a resolute expression as he made a knight's chest salute.

...

After going upstairs, Lorist saw the maidservant Irina bow to greet him. "Milord, welcome back."

"Thanks, Irina. Prepare some bath water for me and notify the staff at the small kitchen to get some food prepared," Lorist said as he placed his two swords onto the table. Ever since Pesha attempted to snatch his swords away, Lorist had refrained from putting them onto the blade rack and carried both with him everywhere he went, not letting them out of his sight.

"Yes, milord," said Irina before she went into the mini bathroom in the bedroom to bring out a huge maple wood bathtub and ignited the fireplace before placing a kettle on top of the metal rack to start boiling some water.

Seeing Irina's busy form, Lorist started to wonder if he could try to build a solar-powered water heater. The principle was simple: he only had to get his hands on a large metal water tank and paint it black so that it absorbs the heat from sunlight more easily. The only problem is that he did not have access to any iron or copper plates. It wasn't possible with this world's current technology to make thin metal sheets, so the water tank he had envisioned would definitely be nothing short of a super heavy steel slab if he really commissioned one from the local smith. Forget it, he thought. Given that he had his own personal maidservant, there was no need for him to personally prepare all those things and go out of his way to make a new invention.

Within a few short moments, the bath water was prepared and as Lorist comfortably squeezed and settled into the bathtub, he saw Irina cleaning up the clothes he removed.

"Irina, come here," Lorist said.

Irina started shivering and caused two of Lorist's garments fell out from her arms.

"Come help me scrub my back," Lorist instructed.

With a flushed face, the maidservant gingerly approached as her petite body shivered ever so faintly.

Arriving by the side of the tub, Irina carefully took a bar of soap made from soap pod and started rubbing Lorist's back with it.

Soap pod[1] was a kind of plant that was commonly available on the Grindia Continent. It was said that the plant had been used to make soap bars since ancient times. Soap made from that plant had a kind of fragrance that also helped to refresh the body and mind after using it in a bath.

After applying some soap, Irina used a fine linen cloth and started cleaning away...

"Irina, it's about time you cleaned the front..." Lorist said.

The maidservant did not make a single sound.

Lorist turned himself around only to see Irina shivering by the side of the tub.

With a sly smile, Lorist pulled Irina straight into the tub with him.

"Oh no, my clothes..." said Irina as she shivered.

"Oh, now that your clothes are dirty, I think they need some cleaning too," said Lorist as he stripped the wet garments off her body.

Closing her eyes and biting her lips, Irina allowed Lorist to continue working her clothes off without a sound. When she was completely stripped, she continued to shiver on in Lorist's embrace.

As Lorist's hands started caressing her body all over, the young maidservant laid her head on Lorist's shoulder and felt her body getting hotter by the moment. Every time her master's hands passed her sensitive spots, she would let out soft moaning sounds.

Finally unable to hold it back, Lorist stepped out of the tub stark naked and carried Irina towards the bed.

With her face flushed and eyes closed, Irina reminded Lorist, "Mi-milord... You still haven't had anything to eat yet..."

"Hmm, I've decided to have you first..." Lorist said.

...

By the time Lorist awoke, the sky had already gone dark with the silver moonlight passing through the window and illuminating Irina's sleeping form on the bed, making her seem like a serene jade sculpture masterpiece. Already fast asleep on the bed, remnants of her tears could still be seen on her fair face.

Putting a blanket on her and wiping her tears clean, Lorist started to reflect on his previous actions. The girl wasn't like him and didn't have her Battle Force awakened, so there was no way she would be able to endure intense intercourse with him. Even though she teared up as she neared her physical limits, Irina still had to accept Lorist's lust that was pent up for 3 whole months before she fainted out of exhaustion.

I really can't be so reckless anymore in the future in case she starts developing a trauma towards intercourse. Even though this should've been a pleasurable thing for both parties, there wouldn't be a point if it always ends up like this... However, Lorist wondered why he somehow felt an urge to bring Irina into bed every time he saw her shivering look and found her reluctance rather stimulating.

Gosh, I gotta stop thinking about that. It must be all those mature movies I've seen in my previous life. Otherwise, why would thoughts about bondage, whips and dripping candles pop up in my head, thought Lorist as he slapped his forehead twice while chanting 'I'm not a pervert' a couple of times to calm down. Putting on a sleeping gown and going to the windowsill, Lorist stared outwards into the distance.

Further away, Whitedeer Mound could be seen blanketed with a veil of silver. A number of white deers could be seen hopping around in joy while displaying their grace and beauty, as if they were acting out a silent play. As Lorist continued to witness the breathtaking scene, he felt his emotions calm down and his restlessness seep away into nothing. Almost subconsciously, he got into the horse stance and started training in the Aquametal Technique.

When Lorist was still at the Dawn Academy, he took advantage of the life-and-death battles during the expedition to the Relic Islands and finally broke through from the Bright Stage to enter the Dark Stage. However, Lorist had no clue how to progress his training from the Dark Stage onwards as he had not reached that level even in his past life nor had he received any instruction from anyone who had. Without a single clue, he could only fumble in the dark and find the way to train for himself. Lorist believed that it might take a couple of years, maybe even more than ten, to reach the latter part of the Dark Stage. There was not much Lorist could do except for training with his usual routine as often as he could to hope for some improvement. As for reaching the legendary Transformative Stage, Lorist didn't hold much hope for it.

But at that night, as Lorist started training and circulating his ki according to the Aquametal Technique, it was as if he had been transported the bank of a limitless azure lake. The water within the lake was tranquil without a single ripple to the point that it even seemed reflective like a mirror which caused Lorist to feel boundless freedom. From the mirror-like lake surface, Lorist could view from a third-person perspective his battles with the Silver ranked instructors on top of the dueling platform. Gradually, the mirror kept on dividing and each one of them showed scenes of Lorist's battles which eventually displayed the scene where Lorist killed the two Gold ranked assailants back in Morante City and gradually shifting to the battles he had experienced during his journey north.

As he silently watched the battles, Lorist started gaining new insights. Never had he been able to so clearly seek out every weakness he had displayed from his past battles and improve upon his own mistakes. The scenes even included those of the defeat of the twin Gold ranked shield-bearers and the decapitation of Crew Leader Adams.

A loud sound of breaking glass could be 'heard' by Lorist from the core of his being, and following that, he felt a sudden wave of bliss and relaxation as if his body had been rejuvenated after shedding its old husk. He could hear the whispers of the wind around him and upon opening his eyes, he could see every detail of Whitedeer Mound in the distance with perfect clarity.

Gradually standing up, he noticed that his whole body was covered with sweat with a slight stench emanating from his drenched sleeping gown.

Seeing Irina sleeping soundly in bed, Lorist took a couple of new clothes and silently went downstairs to the well in the yard to give himself some good wiping down to clean himself up.

Just as he was returning upstairs, Lorist bumped into Patt, who was just about to exit his room. "Milord, it's you. I was wondering who just went outside. Huh? Milord, you look a little different..."

Lorist smiled and asked, "How so?"

Patt furrowed his brow and gave it some thought before he said, "Well, somehow you look far more invigorated than usual. That's right, invigorated and energetic are the best words to describe how you seem right now."

[1] Soap pod/Soap bean (Gleditsia sinensis) See Wikipedia.

Chapter 112 Blissful Night Life Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Within the main hall, Lorist was listening to the reports of Supervisor Spiel. "This year's wheat seem to be growing rather well. After collecting the harvest during the seventh month, we will have our men plant some asparagus which can be harvested during the tenth month. Right after that, we can plant winter wheat after the harvest at that time. It was fortunate that milord had brought back the carriages you borrowed. Otherwise, the harvest will prove to be quite troublesome."

Feeling bored, Lorist resisted the urge to yawn. He wasn't too interested in the details about the farms.

"Milord, the warehouse has an abundance of food, fine and rough textiles as well as furs..."

As Spiel's voice echoed throughout the room while he read out the whole ledger, Lorist sighed inwardly and thought that it would probably be lunch time by the time he finished hearing all of Spiel's reports. Looking to his side, he saw Patt letting out a huge yawn and thought, that darned fellow...

At another corner, Pajik could be seen toying with the tea cup within his hand and seemed as if he wasn't focused on what Spiel had to say. Supervisor Kedan on the other hand was looking at the wall opposite them as if there were a blooming flower growing out of it. What about Reidy? Huh? Where did that kid disappear to? Gosh it sure is easy to get away when you're sitting by the door... Whatever. Out of everyone present, only Shadekampf seemed to be paying attention and even mumbled as his fingers flicked nonstop like he was taking into account what Spiel had reported.

After Lorist finished his third cup of tea, just as he was about to go to the lavatory to relieve himself and slack off for a bit, Supervisor Spiel finally finished reporting everything he needed to from the thick pile of beastskin documents. Letting out a relieved breath, Lorist was disappointed to see Spiel take out another pile of beastskin documents out of nowhere.

Ugh, will this ever end? Lorist finally stopped the supervisor and said, "Ahem, Supervisor Spiel, as the dominion lord, I am very satisfied and appreciative of your efforts. After that, you can report the rest of the inventory to Shadekampf and only give me a summary of that when you're done.

"Knight Pajik, tell me about the status of the defense units."

Regaining his focus and sitting straight, Pajik said excitedly, "Milord, the basic Battle Force technique that you taught is far too convenient for helping others awaken their Battle Force, so much more so than the Krissen Empire's military Battle Force technique. During the past three months, aside from the men who followed you out of the bastide to serve as coachmen, 173 out of the 300-odd men who remained have successfully awakened their Battle Force. However, the way to practice the technique you taught is a little different from that of the military Battle Force, so I hope you can show us what to do next to progress forward."

"I understand, I will personally go and teach them the rest every afternoon starting three days later. Even though the basic Battle Force technique is simple, it can only be trained to the peak of the Iron rank. They must train in the military Battle Force if they want to progress further. After all, the Krissen Empire's military Battle Force allows one to train up to the Silver rank. Knight Pajik, I need you to pick out some men from those who have awakened their Battle Force to form a unit for longbow and crossbow training. The local defense company must have at least one ranged attacking squad. We will use the crossbows we have within the bastide for them to start some preliminary training before we send them off to Knight Josk at Firmrock Castle for some further instruction," Lorist said.

"Yes, milord. I will do as you instruct," acknowledged Pajik.

Turning to Supervisor Kedan, Lorist asked, "what's the current situation at Poplar Coast?"

During his stay at Firmrock Castle for a little more than a month, Lorist received some news about the coast from a messenger. According to the man, Wildnorth Town had already sent out somebody to the bastide to prompt Lorist to begin the construction of the new town as soon as possible and mentioned that the people of the town had prepared lots of resources and manpower to contribute to that undertaking. Supervisor Spiel told the people of the town that the lord was overseeing the construction of the fortifications at Morgan Hills to resist the Kenmays Family and said that it would take some more time before a decision could be made.

As a result of that, half a month later, a messenger from Wildnorth Town visited Lorist at Firmrock Castle to request the construction of the new town to begin. Lorist thus sent Supervisor Kedan to start gathering construction materials at the site of the new town in preparation for the construction.

Supervisor Kedan laughed and said, "Milord, it was just as you had expected. Poplar Coast is currently as chaotic as it can be and the four great families of Wildnorth Town have started antagonizing the smaller families to the point that diplomacy and negotiation would no longer help. That is especially so with the garrison force members who have been kicked out. Most of them feel strongly that they have been cheated by the four great families and hate them with a passion. Just as you had instructed, I didn't bother to settle any of the conflict as I managed the preparation work so that the four great families can handle it themselves. There was even a small riot two days ago which ended with a couple of people getting injured..."

"What of the mercenaries?" Lorist asked.

"The mercenaries are doing quite well themselves. Apart from defending the spot they are stationed at, they didn't mingle much with the people of Wildnorth Town. Aside from some trouble from flirting with the town's womenfolk, there isn't anything to worry about. After Jim and the rest returned, they started scouting the area to familiarize themselves with the terrain," Kedan reported.

"After a few more days, I will also head to Poplar Coast. Supervisor Kedan, you can put the issue of WIldnorth Town aside for now and tell the mercenaries to finish scouting the terrain as soon as possible to pick out a suitable place to build the military base. Only after we finish constructing the base can we further divide and conquer the smaller families of Wildnorth Town to be able to use them in our favor," Lorist said while stroking his chin.

"Yes milord. I understand what I have to do," Kedan nodded and said.

"That settles it. Let us have lunch before we adjourn the meeting."

...

"Reidy, where were you all this time? Help me carry that box on the carriage into my room," Lorist instructed when he saw Reidy walking into the yard of the building.

"Yes, milord."

When Lorist reached his room upstairs, he noticed that Irina had awoken and was currently scrubbing the floor. Upon seeing him, she hurriedly got up and lowered her head to greet him. "Milord... How are you..."

"I'm fine, Irina. But you don't look too good yourself..." Lorist said as he took the cleaning cloth from Irina's hand and tossed it into the wooden bucket nearby.

"Mi-milord... Did... Did I... Do something wrong again?" asked the girl as she started shaking in fear.

Using the bridal carry to hoist the young maidservant up, Lorist got to the chair beside the windowsill and sat down. "Irina, I don't think that you did anything wrong. In fact, I like how you always try so hard, and that's fine. But remember, you're my woman, so you should leave rough chores like these to other servants. It'll be enough for you to dust off the study table and make the bed. If you have nothing better to do, you can take a nap or try doing some makeup. Or if you're bored, you can even learn to make some desserts..."

"But mi-milord..." stammered the young maidservant who was still in Lorist's embrace. "I... I'm just a maidservant... and doing these i-is perfectly normal... The things you s-said just now are things no-noblewomen do..."

"Even though you're my personal maidservant, to others, you're not that much different from a noblewoman, understand? I will find another two maidservants who will do what you tell them to."

"But mi-milord... We ca-can't house two more pe-people within this room... And... The bed is a little too s-small for three people..."

"Hehe..." Lorist started to chuckle out loud before he flicked Irina's nose and said, "I wonder what goes on in that head of yours. Do you think that I'm some kind of sex demon? I won't go to bed with just any maidservant. I lay with you only because I like you and you're special. The two maidservants I will find can sleep in the guest room. I think there are two empty guests rooms on the second floor, so we can use one of them for their lodging. In the future, let them handle the cleaning work. You only have to supervise them."

After seeing the girl's ears turn red from his laughter, Lorist playfully gave one of them a little bite, causing the maidservant to stiffen completely within his embrace before she started to shiver again.

Irina's meek state caused Lorist's urge to rise, but after recalling how rough he treated her the day before, he tried his best to suppress it and said, "Irina, I'm really sorry about yesterday. You must have had it rough. In the future, please tell me if you're at your limits and don't endure it silently. I feel like a beast every time I see the tears on your face. Once again, I apologize."

The maidservant stared at Lorist frozen at that sudden, unexpected apology. "N-no... It's my bad for being so useless... There's no need for milord to apologize..."

"It's only right for me to apologize for my mistakes. Irina, I will no longer treat you that roughly. I really don't want to see you cry anymore..."

The young girl didn't say anything more and only snuggled herself tight against Lorist's chest...

"Ahem, milord. I've brought the box upstairs."

Lorist had actually long noticed the sounds of Reidy coming upstairs, but he was too lazy to move and thought that hugging Irina felt rather nice. The girl on the other hand was like a frightened rabbit who squeezed out of Lorist's arms and stood beside him, not knowing what to do in that awkward situation.

"Put the box onto the table. Irina, give that kid the chain mail I removed yesterday. Reidy, go downstairs and polish the mail for me before bringing it back up and accompany me to check on the defense unit later," Lorist said.

"Hehe, milord... How long do you want me to polish it? I'm afraid that I'll be too quick and bother you two once again..." Reidy teased.

Lorist gave him a stare and said, "You've interrupted us already. We'll be leaving as soon as possible. Go do your thing and mind your own business, sheesh..."

Opening the box and bringing out an intricate jewelry case, Lorist said, "Irina, this is a gift for you. Put it on and let me have a look."

That was one of the spoils they looted from the Redriver Valley Bastide. There were quite a number of chests filled with women's clothes and jewelry that seemed to be erroneously delivered to the bastide. It was meant to be used as gifts for some of Viscount Kenmays's noblewomen guests during his parties to win their affection, but it had been accidentally shipped to the Redriver Valley Bastide by the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. WIth the viscount being so busy obtaining permission from Duke Loggins for his army to enter the Northlands for the past couple of months, he didn't have time to host any parties or banquets and left the items at the bastide, causing them to be shipped back by Shadekampf after the bastide's occupation.

Lorist opened the box and took out a necklace and motioned for Irina to take it.

With her glazing eyes filled with yearning transfixed at the sapphire necklace in Lorist's hands, Irina still said unwillingly, "Mi-milord... That... that is far too precious for me to own... I... I can't take it..."

"Something like this is nothing precious. Remember, you're my woman, so it's just natural for you to dress up to impress. The clothes within the larger box over there mostly contain clothes that I've picked according to your figure. Try them out. You can give them away if they don't fit you. Also, these jewelry are yours as well so take care of them," Lorist said as he smiled.

"O-okay... Thank you.... Milord..."

"Then I'll be leaving now. Oh, don't forget to look for two other maidservants to help you out. If you don't know who to pick, you can ask Supervisor Spiel to do it." As Lorist headed downstairs, he could hear the maidservant's surprised cheers of joy that she tried her best not to let out in his presence.

...

Irina seemed in a pretty good mood for the whole day and it was still evident from her expression after Lorist returned that night.

After helping out Lorist with his bath, the girl wrapped herself up in a towel before she snuggled into Lorist's chest on her own accord.

A little surprised, Lorist asked, "What's going on? Aren't you usually pretty hesitant about this? Why so proactive all of a sudden?"

Still snuggled against Lorist's chest, the maidservant muffled, "Thank you... milord..."

Taking the towel off her with a smile, Lorist gently put his member into her body and moved slowly as he teased her little ear...

The girl gradually let out soft moans of pleasure...

And their joyful cries resounded throughout the whole room...

...

Awakening from the chirps of the birds from outside the window during dawn the next day, Lorist noticed a weird feeling on his lower body. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw Irina inspecting his erected member and lightly poking it with her finger once in a while as if she was wondering how something like that managed to send her to heaven and back the night before. Probably reminded of how the whole thing could enter her body, she measured the length with her fingers and placed it against her crotch only to widen her eyes in surprise and disbelief that something that huge could fit wholly into her body.

Unable to hold it in, Lorist exploded with laughter.

Noticing that Lorist was awake, the maidservant blushed and tried to leave the bed only to be stopped by Lorist. "Don't go, let me teach you how to make me happy..."

"Open your mouth and go closer... Yes, wrap your tongue around it like you would a sausage... Move up and down...

"Ouch, don't bite it with your teeth, idiot... It hurts... Do it like before, yes, that's good. go on...

"Tired? Alright, let me continue..."

Lorist put the girl on the bed and once again entered her...

...

Bringing his two swords with him downstairs as he head to the yard, he saw Patt and Reidy busy training the guards.

"Alright, time for my second morning exercise..." Lorist said in a good mood before he looked at the sky and thought, the weather's great today...

Chapter 113 The Chosen Location and the Duel Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Lorist walked into the campsite of the mercenaries together with Patt and Reidy.

Stopping his horse, he saw Supervisor Kedan and the two mercenary leaders, Hausky and Jim, heading his way.

The reason Lorist had visited the place was to decide on the location of the construction of the military base near the intersection point of the two mountain ranges so that they can start building it immediately. According to Kedan, the mercenaries have already picked a spot and were waiting for Lorist's agreement.

Upon entering the tent, Hausky brought out a beastskin map to show Lorist where they picked to have the base built. However, the maps the mercenaries used which they made themselves and were rather nonstandard, causing Lorist to take quite a while before he was able to figure out that it depicted the terrain of the mountains.

"Let's go check it out on site," Lorist said.

It took 3 hours of travel on horseback to arrive at the intersection point from Poplar Coast. Unlike the terrain of the opening at Morgan Hills, one of the mountain ranges stretched over the other from the front with the opening sandwiched between the two overlapping sides. Beyond the opening was a small river and a dense forest which stretched all the way into the area of the Magical Dragon Mountains.

The place the mercenaries picked was a cliff which was nearby the small stream. However, Lorist shook his head and revoked that decision entirely and said, "Hausky, did you think that I would pay you mercenaries so much just to have you guard a surveillance outpost all the way here? Did you think your job would be finished after lighting a signal fire upon noticing the barbarians? What I want you to do here is to form the first line of defense. If you detect a small number of barbarians, you should take the initiative to eliminate them, hence the reason for the reward bonus I offered. While the spot you chose is no doubt good for defense, you would lose all ability for the first strike since the barbarians would have run off far away by the time you descend from the cliff."

With a slightly flushed face, Hausky argued, "Milord, our numbers are few and it will definitely be an insurmountable task to defend against large scale barbarian invasions. Surely you wouldn't wish for us to all die over here... If we're up there, even though we wouldn't be able to mobilize that easily after discovering signs of the mountain barbarians, at least we will have a better chance at survival."

Lorist laughed out lightly and said, "Wrong. The true danger only presents itself if you are stationed on top of that cliff. Let me ask you a simple question. Where do you intend to obtain water from up there?"

"Milord, isn't there a small stream not far away from the spot? That was the main factor which prompted me to choose that place in the first place. If we get besieged by the mountain barbarians, we will be able to retrieve water from the stream to hold out longer periods of time..."

"Don't think that your enemies are idiots. Even though the mountain barbarians are savages, that doesn't mean that they can't think. Where would you get your water if they block or redirect the stream?"

Hausky only listened without being able to offer a counter argument.

While they would still be able to tough out a food shortage by killing and feeding on their horses, they wouldn't be able to last more than three days without water. Lorist's point instantly pointed out the fatal flaw in the mercenaries' choice.

"Check out that spot," Lorist said as he pointed at the couple of small hills that were in the distance.

The largest of the hills still seemed to have some signs of habitation from some time ago. Supervisor Kedan explained that for the past hundred or so years, the Norton Family had wanted to build a military base and an alert outpost at the intersection point just like Lorist had wanted so that they would be better prepared to face the barbarian threat. However, they had failed for three times in total and the signs on the largest hill was what was left of one such attempt to set up a base roughly 60 years ago in which only 4 out of the 20-odd family soldiers returned alive.

"Then, we'll pick that spot. It's not more than 80 meters from the stream and it would be quite easy to secure a water source by building a well nearby. Thus, the largest problem is solved," Lorist said as he made his decision.

"Milord, what would we do about the defense then?" asked Hausky whose expression had turned dark after hearing what Kedan told Lorist just moments ago.

"Hehe, don't you worry. I won't have you defending a poorly-built base. I'm prepared to build two towers over here and surround them with a wall roughly 8 meters tall. You also don't have to worry about the manpower and materials required to build it and only have to be in charge of the security during the construction. Within a month, you will have a strongly-fortified base at your disposal," Lorist said.

Even though Hausky wanted to say something else, Jim thumped his chest in a salute and said, "Milord, as long as you build a base here, we will definitely defend it to the best of our ability and not let the barbarians invade your dominion."

...

After deciding on the location to build the base, everyone took some time off to relax. Lorist was prepared to rest up for 2 hours before returning. As expected, the mercenaries were skilled in surviving in the wilderness as shown by their hunting and fishing prowess. It didn't take long before they returned with quite a huge haul and started grilling food by the stream.

With an impatient expression, Jim dragged Hausky and brought the other mercenaries to Lorist.

Jim said agitatedly, "Milord, I've told them that you managed to defeat Crew Leader Adams with a single move but they didn't believe me and even said that you probably caught him off-guard and exhausted after the long battle he had fought. They also wouldn't believe that you were able to kill so many Feathersoar mercenaries because you aren't even a Silver rank and dared to challenge you to a duel..."

Lorist tossed the chicken bone from his hand and stood up before he laughed and said, "They can believe what they want. Why should I care?"

"But milord..."

Hausky stopped Jim from saying anything else and bowed to Lorist before he said, "Milord, please don't fault Jim for this. That happened because he kept praising you for days after his return and nobody else was willing to believe him. Adams was a very formidable and famous mercenary within our circle and his two adopted sons have an even more fearsome reputation than he does as the twin shield-bearers. It's only natural for the rest to find it hard to believe that you have defeated the two of them together in combat according to Jim. That's why, if you don't mind, could you show us lowly mercenaries your swordsmanship that is so highly praised..."

"You guys..." Patt was already enraged and ready to reprimand the mercenaries harshly.

"Patt!" Lorist shouted for him to stop and waved his hand. "Alright, I happen to have extra time on my hands after all. Let's have a duel. Leader Hausky, mercenaries are not lowly at all, I hope you remember that. Back in Morante City, I also worked as a mercenary for around 6 years. How about this? I want you to pick out ten men whom you think have the best swordsmanship to duel with me. It's okay if they are Silver ranks as well."

Under the impression that Lorist would face them off one-by-one, Hausky and the rest of the mercenaries started picking the participants and felt that even if Jim had exaggerated the facts, Lorist must have some sort of ability after all for him to dare to accept the challenge.

Given that they understood the abilities of their comrades well, it did not take long for nine mercenaries to be picked out to stand together with Hausky. The rest of the mercenaries surrounded the group and started betting on how many Lorist could defeat with Jim as the dealer. The rest of the mercenaries who participated in the operation at the construction site alongside Jim had all bet on Lorist's complete victory.

"Reidy, lend me your sword," Lorist said.

Given Reidy's above average strength, Lorist had fashioned a heavy sword for him. As it was only a friendly duel with some of them being Iron ranks who still weren't able to infuse their Battle Force into their weapons, Lorist didn't intend to break their weapons with his more durable swords lest any of them have hard feelings left over after the duel. Using Reidy's heavy sword which was far less durable than his own would prevent any damage to the mercenaries' weapons.

After giving the heavy sword a few swings, Lorist said with a satisfied tone, "Come at me all at once."

"Huh?" The mercenaries were all stunned to find out that Lorist hadn't challenged them to one-on-one duels but instead wanted to fight them all at once.

"Since milord has requested it, we will act accordingly. Everyone, don't get distracted and show milord the best of your abilities lest we disappoint him..." said Hausky while feeling rather pissed. He's underestimating us too much, isn't he? He chose to fight the ten of us all at once and even went out of his way to not use his own weapons... He probably doesn't even consider us to be a threat at all...

As their leader, Hausky took command during this duel. He first sent a few of the mercenaries to test Lorist out so that he would be able to gauge his true abilities to be able to formulate a proper strategy to use against him.

However, with but a few moves, the four mercenaries who were sent to engage with Lorist had all slumped to the ground. It happened so quickly within sheer moments that Hausky wasn't able to clearly see what Lorist did.

Right after that, Lorist rushed over to the six remaining mercenaries and the two in front hurriedly slashed at his silhouette. This time, Hausky managed to get a close look at the scene: Lorist parried the two of their strikes and moved in between the two mercenaries right after that. The mercenary in front fainted and wobbled to the ground after Lorist struck the back of his head with a backhand flick using the flat of his blade.

The mercenary behind suddenly noticed that Lorist was too close for comfort and quickly attempted to retreat backwards to regain some distance. Unexpectedly, after the mercenary stepped a few inches back, the sword which Lorist had previously retracted flashed past the chin of that mercenary, causing him to fall face-first towards the ground unconscious.

Surprised, Hausky thought, that's way too fast! Within moments, six of the ten mercenaries had already collapsed with only four including Hausky still standing. Hausky quickly commanded the Silver rank and the two other Iron ranks to quickly get into a defensive formation to face Lorist's assault head-on.

The formation was diamond-shaped with the two Silver ranks lined up front and back and the two Iron ranks flanking the two of them. If the one at the front of the formation got attacked, he could retreat backwards to allow the two diagonally behind him to flank the attacker and switch places with the one directly behind him and take turns to hold off the enemy. That formation was only normally used when fighting against magical beasts.

But being a human being and not a magical beast, Lorist definitely wouldn't attack only one target at a time. He circled around the formation quickly in an unpredictable manner and lashed out against the two Iron ranked mercenaries instead. As a result, Hausky and the other Silver rank were put in an awkward position of trying to help the Iron ranks defend against the strikes, thus rendering the formation useless. It ended up becoming a battle between Lorist and the three mercenaries with the other one not being able to do anything due to being blocked off by the rest.

As Lorist fought, he started to move to his right faster and faster and one of the Silver ranked mercenaries could no longer hold up against his incessant strikes and took a mistaken step backward, causing the whole formation to reveal a fatal weak spot which Lorist didn't hesitate to budge into.

Sensing that something was off, Hausky intended to strike with his sword but was obstructed by his comrades. The moment he hastily moved aside to get into a better position, he saw the three of his comrades falling to the ground with the only one left standing in front of him being Lorist.

Looking to his left and right, Hausky dropped the sword in his hand and said bitterly, "It's our loss..."

During that duel, Lorist didn't use an ounce of internal energy and relied mainly on footwork and swordsmanship to gain victory. He could have used his internal energy to completely crush the mercenaries head-on, but that would be causing them to lose to much face. Lorist wasn't too keen on hurting their confidence and pride as it was merely a friendly duel and not a life-and-death battle.

...

After witnessing that amazing battle, the mercenaries who were watching with amazement disbanded. However, Hausky remained and asked, "Milord... I have a question..."

"Go ahead and ask away," Lorist said as he tapped on the rock beside him, signalling for the mercenary leader to sit down.

Without giving it much thought, Hausky took his seat and said, "Milord, I understand that the Norton Family is rather formidable right now and the Kenmays Family really poked their noses in the wrong spot this time. I am really thankful that my crew managed to get out of that hellhole early so that we didn't have to face off against you. What I don't understand is why the formidable Norton Family want to hire a crew like us? I've always been wondering if your true intention is to send us to our deaths..."

"Was that why you picked that spot on the cliff to build the base? Tell me the reason you think the Norton Family is formidable. The reason I decided to hire your crew is precisely because I have nobody else who are better suited for this purpose," Lorist said.

"No other people? That can't be the case. Milord, among the laborers building the town at Poplar Coast, over 200 of them have awakened their Battle Force, not to mention the garrison squad of 200 men which have a few Silver ranks among them as well..." Hausky said agitatedly, obviously doubting what Lorist had just said.

Letting out a bitter laugh, Lorist said, "Leader Hausky, no wonder you suspected me. But didn't you notice how weirdly those men you mentioned behaved towards the Norton Family? I can tell you the real reason, but I need you to promise that you won't spread it around as it's quite embarrassing for the family."

After hearing Lorist explain the nature of the relationship of the Nortons with the people at Wildnorth Town, Hausky seemed to have understood it all. "Mi-milord... I really don't know what to say. I've never heard of anything remotely similar to this situation... Your ancestor was far too gracious and benevolent to those people. It was truly their fortune for having met a dominion lord like him. Conversely, it's precisely because he was a dominion lord like that which allowed a garrison force as audacious as that to be formed."

"I, on the other hand, can understand the intentions of my ancestor for making that concession. Surely you know that the Northlands lack people the most among many other things. Even if they were the lowest dredges of society ranging from thieves, bandits and murderers, they were one of the most precious resources in the Northlands. What my ancestor intended was for them to settle down and lead a stable and peaceful life under his rule while serving the family. That was why he set those favorable conditions. Nobody back then expected a loophole like that to cause a problem that would exacerbate generation after generation into what we have today..." Lorist sighed.

"But I'm sure that with your power, you can wipe out the garrison force of Wildnorth Town, right? Knight Josk can hold off their Silver ranked fighters and we will be able to help out as well..." Hausky said.

"If I rally up all the soldiers of the family and have your cooperation, there's little doubt that I'll be able to wipe the garrison force out. However, I feel that the price of doing so will be too high for us to bear. Don't look at me like that. No matter how strong I am, do you think I can take on more than a thousand people solo? There's also the fact that many people of Wildnorth Town is quite close to some of the members of my family. Many of those living within Maplewoods Bastide have relatives among the residents of Wildnorth Town. I'm worried that a forceful approach would cause even more strife among those within the family. Even though the garrison force is rather impudent, they're still subjects of the Norton Family in name and we can't justify wiping them out if we have no concrete evidence on their treason. That's why I can only endure and cross the bridge when the time comes. I for one can't wait for them to rebel so I can have an excuse to wipe that cancerous tumor once and for all.

"Then, I'm sure that you have a plan in mind, right? I understand. A couple of days ago, a number of youths with awakened Battle Force asked to join our crew to become mercenaries. I was worried that it would cause some conflict so I declined their request," Hausky said.

"It's alright. If they're willing to live the tough lives of mercenaries, you can allow them to join. After a certain amount of time, the family will also pick a number of them to form a new defense unit. Letting them build the military base here is but a test for them..." Lorist said.

"Okay. Thank you, milord. Please be assured that we will definitely stay firmly nailed on this spot to become the first line of defense against the barbarians for the Norton Family," pledged Crew Leader Hausky.