All the residents of Rosalind City, numbering more than a million, heard Aldrian’s voice. They stepped out of their hos and establishnts. Even those unaware of the events at the teleportation station now realized that sothing significant had occurred.
At this mont, they saw nurous troops from the second prince’s faction lying unconscious for no apparent reason. It seed to be the work of the one whose voice they had just heard.
Those who had long wished to rebel against the second prince’s faction but lacked the courage suddenly found themselves emboldened. They began approaching the fallen soldiers, dragging their bodies toward the teleportation plaza.
After making his announcent to the entire city, Aldrian turned his gaze toward the teleportation station operator, who was hiding behind one of the buildings and cautiously peeking at him.
"Hey, you. Cut off any connection between the teleportation portal and the other cities," he ordered.
The operator was stunned for a mont but quickly followed Aldrian’s command.
"Y-Yes, sir," he responded before hurrying to shut down the teleportation formation from the main control panel beside the portals. This control panel allowed the operator to manage all the primary functions of the teleportation formation.
He then cut off the energy supply from the energy stone storage, causing the teleportation formation to lose its power source and beco completely disabled.
The people had already begun gathering at the teleportation station, and upon arrival, they finally laid eyes on the mysterious Aldrian.
Old Man York, who had been watching from the sidelines all this ti, could only admire Aldrian’s decisiveness and strength.
Aldrian looked at the crowd and raised his voice.
"For a while, this city will be isolated from the outside world because we have cut off the teleportation connection. By doing this, we can hinder the second prince’s ability to mobilize his army to the southern region of the empire and, more importantly, prevent his retaliation against all of you."
"I can only imagine what would happen if he sent soone here to investigate and found his troops in this state. The punishnt on this city would be severe."
He paused briefly before reassuring them.
"However, do not worry. It won’t be for long. At most, within two weeks, I will be finished with my business, and we can restore the teleportation connection. Until then, I ask for your patience."
After Aldrian’s announcent, murmurs spread through the crowd as people discussed his decision. Most leaned in favor of his plan and expressed their support.
"We’ll hold on until then, sir! If it’s just two weeks, we still have enough supplies in the city and its surroundings to sustain ourselves."
"Yes! It’s far better than being controlled by those bastards from the second prince’s faction. They’ve restricted our lives too much."
"They take most of our supplies and wealth to fund his war. We’ve been struggling for months, but thanks to your intervention, Your Excellency, we can finally focus on rebuilding our economy and sustaining ourselves."
"Thank you for your help, sir!"
"Thank you, Your Excellency!"
Voices of gratitude echoed through the crowd, and as Aldrian listened, he began to sense their power of faith.
"Your Excellency, if I may ask, what business do you have here?" one of the townspeople inquired.
Aldrian walked toward Old Man York and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"The liberation of Rosalind City," he said before vanishing with Old Man York.
The crowd stood in stunned silence. The liberation of Rosalind City? They all knew that Rosalind was under heavy siege by the second prince’s forces. Was this mysterious man planning to take on an entire army by himself?
Crazy!
And yet, they had heard of a similar madness not long ago, in Caritas.
News had spread that Caritas had already been freed from the second prince’s grasp and was now under the rule of a new city lord. That city lord was none other than the mysterious swordsman who had thrown the entire continent into upheaval, a man capable of fending off tens of thousands of the second prince’s troops with nothing but his sword.
However, so people in the crowd felt sothing click in their minds. They were the ones who had been near Aldrian earlier when the soldier asked where he had co from, and they had heard his answer—Caritas.
They exchanged wide-eyed glances. Didn’t that an...?!
Aldrian, however, paid no attention to their reactions. He was now inside a grand estate in the wealthy district, which served as the residence of the town lord and the place where he had sensed the faith of the entire town converging.
Aldrian decided to make this entire town his domain. It would beco his first domain in this region and his safe haven.
Since the second prince’s forces had occupied the town and executed the town lord, this estate had beco the residence of the commander overseeing the entire legion stationed here. That commander was the high grand duke stage cultivator whom Aldrian had just crippled.
After realizing that Aldrian was the one whose voice had echoed across the city, the maids and butlers in the mansion simply let him enter, their hearts filled with admiration and respect for the man who had liberated their town from the second prince’s forces.
Old Man York didn’t know why Aldrian had co to this place, but he remained silent. He simply followed Aldrian into a room where the forr town lord had seemingly spent most of his ti working.
Old Man York watched as Aldrian stood motionless in the center of the room for a few seconds before stepping out.
His actions were truly bizarre, making Old Man York wonder what he had just done.
"Let’s go. We’re heading to Rosalind," Aldrian said as he walked past him.
-----------------------------
While Aldrian was already on his way to Rosalind, the situation in the city was anything but promising.
Following Baron Rosalind’s orders to preserve the city’s energy stones, they had cut off the teleportation connection to other regions, effectively isolating the entire population. This self-imposed isolation left them with limited access to information, which was essential for their strategy.
To gather intelligence from the outside, they had to risk lives, sending people through the blockade undetected just to obtain the news they deed important.
Supplies were also running dangerously low, forcing the people to ration carefully just to survive another day. Economic activity had co to a complete halt—there was no stimulus, and in such dire circumstances, no one was willing to spend what little they had.
It could be said that the situation in Rosalind City was even worse than the blockade in Weilmar City.
However, despite these conditions, the people of the city still placed their hope in their leader—the head of the Rosalind Barony. Baron Rosalind was a ruler whom many were willing to follow. His willingness to communicate with commoners and his readiness to help those in need had earned him the trust of the masses.
Beyond his leadership, he was also a formidable cultivator at the emperor stage, which was highly unusual since the highest cultivation level found in most baronial households was the king stage. Typically, those at the emperor stage were found in ducal or grand ducal households. This peculiarity had long raised questions about Baron Rosalind and his barony.
With his strength and his family’s past achievents, the previous emperor would have deed the Rosalind Barony worthy of being elevated to a grand duchy. Yet, the fact that it remained a barony suggested the existence of a secret agreent between the past emperors and the past Barons of Rosalind, an unspoken pact that had kept its status unchanged all this ti.
Many believed that the Rosalind family’s leaders throughout history had deliberately avoided attracting too much attention from other noble families, choosing to stay out of political affairs.
However, that very decision led to the city’s current siege, as Baron Rosalind refused to take part in the second prince’s coup. When the second prince invited him to join his cause, Baron Rosalind rejected the offer without hesitation, declaring that the Rosalind Barony would remain neutral.
That refusal did not sit well with the second prince. To him, a powerful neutral force like the Rosalind Barony was still a potential threat to his authority. Viewing their neutrality as a risk, he designated the barony as a hostile force.
From that day on, whether they wished it or not, the Rosalind family was dragged into the civil war, aligning with the opposition faction.
-----------------------------
In the center of the city, a hill covered with lush trees overlooked the surroundings. At its peak sat a grand mansion where the baron himself resided. With its vast gardens and dense greenery, the mansion had a refreshing and serene atmosphere, undisturbed by the city’s commotion.
The mansion’s employees could be seen diligently carrying out their tasks, occasionally pausing to converse about their future.
"I heard that Lord Raz had to cut another expenditure to preserve the energy stone reserves."
"Yes, I heard that too. Since we need to repair the city barrier after the last battle, he had no choice but to make that decision."
"Sigh... I truly wonder if we can survive this ordeal. At this rate, the barrier will last at most another month before it collapses. I can only imagine Lord Ivan’s headache right now, worrying about the city’s fate."
"Yes, too. I just hope we can find a way out of this."
The maids spoke in hushed tones as they walked through the garden toward the mansion, careful not to let others overhear them. However, unbeknownst to them, the very lord they spoke of could hear them clearly from afar as he stood inside his room.
He let out a sigh and turned to the woman standing behind him.
"Are you sure you want to do this? It will be quite dangerous."
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