At that mont, Kaor was leading two forr mbers of the Turtle School as they surveyed and asured every parcel of land within Starnight City, laying the groundwork for its future developnt.
"By the Goddess! Why does my lord insist on designing so many canals, sewers, and public latrines?" Kaor stared at the blueprint, clutching his thinning hair in despair. "And what in the world is this water tower? Why would anyone store water so high up?"
The mont he finished shouting, he turned around and saw Phield marching into the city with an entire knightly convoy under escort.
Kaor rubbed his eyes.
"Am I still dreaming? Did I really just see my lord capture a whole group of knights?"
"You’re not dreaming, Mr. Steward."
Phield waved him over.
"Send people to search my prisoners. Strip every bit of supplies from the convoy. I want everything accounted for, even the breadcrumbs."
"These people are... holy crap, an armored pig! What kind of wealthy lunatic puts armor on a pig?"
Kaor’s jaw dropped as he pointed at Annie Rui, whose swollen face had beco nearly unrecognizable.
"That’s not a pig. Ahem... this is Mr. Annie Rui. He has inherited his father’s title. He’s no longer Little Fierce Stallion. He is now Baron Fierce Stallion."
Phield introduced him casually.
"He invaded my territory, attempted hostile actions against my domain, and even attacked first. He has now been captured, and all one hundred of these people are prisoners."
Invaded?
Have so conscience, will you?!
Annie Rui nearly rolled across the ground in anger.
No sane person would ever co to Nightfall Domain. If circumstances hadn’t forced him, he wouldn’t have given this cursed place a second glance.
And now Phield was accusing him of raiding?
Raiding what exactly?
There was nothing here except corpses!
"My lord, do you have to be this incredible?" Kaor grinned exaggeratedly. "This is a glorious victory! You defeated a famous baron. This deserves to be recorded in the family history. No, it deserves its own page in the family genealogy."
"It’s not that impressive. Just a casual victory."
Phield crossed his arms with an invincible expression.
"My opponent didn’t even have a Divine Chosen. The victory felt completely effortless, so there’s no need for a celebration."
Not all barons were equal.
The barons of Maple Leaf Domain and Bull Domain possessed fortresses, standing armies numbering in the thousands, and even third-tier Divine Chosen. They existed on an entirely different level from Baron Fierce Stallion.
"Go arrange the searches. Send the combat personnel to Kai for interrogation. The craftsn and blacksmiths should be brought to afterward. Those are exactly the kinds of people we desperately need. Also, give Mr. Annie Rui a potion. I have questions for him."
After drinking a healing potion and receiving dicinal treatnt, Annie Rui quickly returned to a more human appearance, though his bruised and swollen face remained particularly miserable.
"You actually reclaid Starnight City? That’s impossible."
Spitting the gag from his mouth, Annie Rui stared around the city in disbelief.
"It feels like a dream."
Two stone golems slowly carried timber, rocks, and long rectangular bricks before stacking them neatly into piles.
A snow-white spider crawled across the roof of a distant building, using silk threads to hoist barrels full of bread onto the rooftop. Above, workers chatted and laughed as they distributed food among themselves. Among them were even beastfolk with wolf ears.
Right.
The Divine Chosen who had escorted them back earlier had been a wolf-beastwoman.
"My God... monsters are actually living alongside humans."
Annie Rui felt his worldview shaking.
Phield chuckled.
"Don’t judge people by appearances. I’ve always liked giving people a chance when I don’t know them. If they fail to appreciate that chance, they simply disappear from my sight. Fortunately, most people haven’t disappointed so far."
After reclaiming Starnight City, Phield had not moved his residence there imdiately.
The city lacked grassy fields, and its environnt was still inferior to the Great Manor. Its only advantages were its towering stone walls and the buildings that remained standing.
"So the rumors outside were wrong after all. Everyone says you sold your soul."
"Not at all. In fact, this city is rely one part of my domain, and so are its people. Let’s talk inside the Lord’s Hall. At least there are chairs there."
Phield untied him and gestured politely.
"A knight’s recovery ability is truly impressive. You’re still talking after ending up in that condition."
And whose fault is that?
Annie Rui twitched at the corner of his mouth.
The movent imdiately pulled on bruised muscles, making him hiss in pain.
"If I’m not mistaken, sothing major happened in Bull Domain, didn’t it?"
"That’s right. It was an absolute catastrophe!"
At the ntion of Bull Domain, Annie Rui began trembling.
"The Shadow World Sect has already swallowed nearly half of the northern region of Rick Province, and nobody is stopping them!"
"Tsk. I knew it. No surprises there. That place has probably already beco a living hell."
Phield rubbed his forehead.
"So your concerns ca true. No wonder you’ve always avoided Bull Domain and maintained defenses in that direction."
Tisiana stared blankly at the lord who usually joked around with her every day, as though seeing him for the first ti.
"How did you predict it? And the provincial governor... surely he wouldn’t..."
"The governor?"
Phield snorted.
"That fool only cares about money and won. He’s probably too busy enjoying himself."
He lightly patted Tisiana on the head, signaling her to stay quiet.
That simple gesture deeply shocked Annie Rui.
What the hell?
He just silenced a Divine Chosen the way soone would calm a kitten.
"Y-you... how do you do that? Wait, isn’t that a Holy Light Divine Chosen?!"
Annie Rui nearly bit his own tongue.
"Remain quiet. I’m interrogating you, not the other way around."
Phield sat in the lord’s seat.
Though he was still only a young man and wore none of the elaborate robes of nobility, the pressure of authority radiating from him made Annie Rui feel strangely uncomfortable, as if his legs might give out at any mont.
"Tell everything you know. If you saw a dog, I want to know the color of its fur."
Phield took the Shadow World Sect extrely seriously.
He snapped his fingers.
"Tisiana, record everything."
"Yes, my lord."
Tisiana picked up a feather quill and carefully wrote down the date.
Her elegant handwriting made her perfectly suited for secretarial work.
Richard, the son of Baron Bull, was appointed Executive Number Ten by the rebels after murdering the old Baron Fierce Stallion. He inherited both his father’s title and territory, becoming the true ruler of Bull Domain.
Soon afterward, Fierce Stallion Domain, Arctic Sheep Domain, and Mountain Ape Domain all fell. Three additional Executives seized control of those territories.
Interestingly, they did not descend into madness as they had during previous uprisings.
Instead, they adopted a strategy of gradual infiltration.
They bribed the provincial governor and even continued paying imperial taxes as usual.
anwhile, Annie Rui repeatedly evaded pursuit while gathering loyal patriots who still supported the Empire, hoping to deliver news of the situation directly to Her Majesty the Empress.
But the rebels maintained an airtight blockade.
Left with no alternatives, Annie Rui secretly slipped past Bull Fortress and entered the deadly wasteland known as Nightfall Domain, hoping to escape by taking a detour.
"Hiss... now this is interesting."
Not only was Phield unconcerned, he looked delighted.
"Why do I sll the scent of profit?"
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