Sudden Attack

After a quick tour of the territory's farmland and finding no issues, Roland left with the other two.

In the following period, Roland didn't rest, inspecting all the watchtowers around the territory.

Following Neil Bergman's surprise attack, Roland had immediately established four watchtowers around the territory, with people on guard duty around the clock.

As soon as any fleet was spotted approaching Rising Light Island without authorization, an alarm would be sounded immediately.

After the establishment of the four watchtowers, the effect was quite significant. Although no enemies attempting to attack Rising Light Island were found, several groups of Magical Beasts were discovered.

Thanks to their warnings, Rising Light Island suffered no major losses during the several Magical Beast attacks encountered in the past three months.

It wasn't until nightfall that the three of them, Roland included, hurried back to their residence.

After an afternoon of inspection, Roland was generally satisfied with the territory's development and acknowledged James's capabilities.

"Steward James, are you interested in becoming the Administrator of Rising Light Island?" Roland asked with a smile.

"This?" James was greatly surprised.

He clearly understood the significance of an Administrator.

While the most crucial element of a territory was its Lord, the most important systems beneath the Lord were the administrative and the military-political systems.

The head of the administrative system was the Administrator.

Their power within the territory was almost second only to the Lord.

However, the position Roland was offering was the Administrator of Rising Light Island, not the Administrator of the entire territory, and there was a considerable difference between the two.

The former's authority was limited to Rising Light Island, while the latter would mean the Administrator of all Roland's future territorial administrative systems.

James, Artur, and Fili, among others, were well aware of Roland's potential. Roland would absolutely not remain confined to just Rising Light Island.

With the exorbitant profits generated by his talent as an Apothecary, Roland had a high probability of becoming a true Noble in the future.

This was why James, Fili, and the others, despite being sent by Leslie to assist Roland, had enthusiastically thrown themselves into the development of Roland's territory.

Their aim was to gain Roland's friendship, a friendship that might represent the friendship of a Master Apothecary or a Noble of the Kingdom in the future.

The benefits for them were immense.

Thus, James fell into deep contemplation.

If he weren't Leslie's subordinate, he would have accepted the offer of Administrator of Rising Light Island immediately, even if it was just that.

But unfortunately, he was Leslie's man, and managing the territory's affairs for Roland was precisely the task Leslie had assigned him.

However, accepting the position of Administrator of Rising Light Island granted by Roland would, to a certain extent, be a betrayal of Leslie.

This made James hesitate to make a decision.

James knew more than Roland about the power of Leslie and the Oroko Family behind him.

Seemingly sensing James's concern, Roland patted his forehead, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Right, you are still Leslie's subordinate after all. How about this: I'll grant you the position of acting Administrator for now. After I communicate with Leslie later, you can make your decision."

Upon hearing Roland's response, a hint of joy appeared on James's face, and he quickly bowed and replied, "Thank you, my Lord, for your understanding. This subordinate will certainly do his utmost to assist you."

Hearing James change his address to Roland so tactfully, Roland smiled and said nothing more.

However, from James's reaction just now, Roland deeply felt the gap between himself and Leslie.

James had once been a steward in one of Leslie's merchant fleets, yet he hesitated so much when faced with the promise of an Administrator from Roland.

Clearly, in his heart, his loyalty, or perhaps fear, towards Leslie far surpassed that towards Roland.

Nevertheless, in the time that followed, after receiving the position of acting Administrator of Rising Light Island from Roland, James displayed even greater enthusiasm.

Not only did he meticulously plan all sorts of construction projects for Rising Light Island, but he also continuously provided Roland with suggestions for developing the territory and accelerating its growth.

Seeing James's powerful work ethic, Roland was overjoyed.

Following suit, he appointed Artur as the acting deputy captain of the guard, temporarily commanding fifty members of the guard.

Fili was appointed as the commander of the Rising Light Island fleet. Although currently, they only had four fishing boats, which was quite meager.

Both were extremely satisfied and had recently immersed themselves in their respective duties.

However, Roland made no mention of O'Neal, who was currently the strongest in the territory, seemingly forgetting his existence.

Roland's attitude caused O'Neal to feel a hint of disappointment, and he could only train the guard members more diligently to demonstrate his value to Roland.

Roland had not forgotten O'Neal; in fact, he valued him the most among the group.

Back when they faced Scarface Henry, O'Neal was the only one who steadfastly stood in front of Roland. Roland had never forgotten that scene.

Moreover, O'Neal was fundamentally different from the other three; he had no connection to Leslie whatsoever.

Therefore, Roland naturally valued him more and wished to find a suitable opportunity to fully win him over, rather than giving him temporary positions like James, Artur, and Fili.

As time slowly passed, it was suddenly July. Due to its proximity to the Frozen Realm, even the hot summer had little impact on Rising Light Island.

Instead, the temperature was moderate, making it a veritable summer resort.

The more than 1,200 mu of farmland were already bearing abundant fruit. In less than a month, they would be ready for harvest.

However, just then, Roland suddenly received some bad news.

Roland, who was inspecting the farmland that day, suddenly saw Ryan running over in a panic.

"Young Master, something terrible has happened! Our Magic Herb Garden has been attacked by Magical Beasts."

"What? Where did the Magical Beasts come from? Is Alice okay?" Roland's face instantly sank, and anger flickered in his eyes.

After all, the watchtowers around the territory could basically monitor the entire territory from all directions.

Under such circumstances, the Magic Herb Garden was still attacked by Magical Beasts, which made Roland suspect that the guards at the four watchtowers might have been negligent.

Facing Roland's two consecutive questions, Ryan swallowed hard and quickly replied, "Young Master, I'm not very clear where these Magical Beasts came from, but Miss Alice is fine."

Upon hearing this, Roland breathed a huge sigh of relief. He knew that now was not the time to dwell on the guards' issues, so he immediately gathered his men and rushed towards the Magic Herb Garden.

When Roland arrived at the Magic Herb Garden on the small hill to the west, he saw that the ten acres of Magic Herb Garden were now in ruins.

The Water Flowers that had been planted earlier, after more than half a month of growth, had already formed buds, but now they had all disappeared.

Even the Water Element Magic Crystal that Roland had buried in the ground was gone.

Seeing this scene, Roland couldn't help but become furious, his eyes flashing with ferocity.

"What kind of Magical Beast did this? Damn it, they even dug up my Magic Crystals?"

However, the next moment, upon seeing Alice walking quickly towards him, Roland quickly controlled his expression and appeared calm and collected.

"How are you? Are you injured?"

Seeing the worried look on Roland's face, Alice was taken aback, a complex expression appearing in her eyes. However, she then shook her head.

"I'm fine."

"It's good that you're fine. A little financial loss means nothing to me."

"???" Seeing Roland's two instantly shifting personas, the people around couldn't help but secretly admire him.

However, upon seeing the playful look in Alice's eyes, Roland couldn't hold back any longer and asked through gritted teeth in a low voice, "What exactly happened?"

"Young Master, the Magic Herb Garden was attacked by a group of Green-Haired Turtles."

"Green-Haired Turtles possess the strength of Level 3 Magical Beasts, and there were over a dozen of them. Ryan and the others were no match for them, so I ordered them not to resist," Alice explained.

Roland did not mind Alice's decision to give up resistance after hearing this.

After all, compared to the Magic Herb Garden, Ryan and the others were more valuable.

"Level 3 Magical Beast, Green-Haired Turtle. They are a communal Water Element Magical Beast, gentle in nature, rarely attack humans, and possess the innate spell Water Shield, which can form a barrier of Water Element around themselves with decent defensive capabilities."

After hearing Alice's explanation, Nuwa instantly transmitted information about the Green-Haired Turtles to Roland.

After reviewing this information, Roland's brow relaxed slightly. After all, Green-Haired Turtles were considered low-level Magical Beasts and posed no threat to Rising Light Island.

However, Roland's heart was still burning with anger as he looked at the devastated Magic Herb Garden.

Ten Water Element Magic Crystals, hundreds of Water Flower seeds, worth over two hundred gold coins, all destroyed in a single day due to the negligence of the guards.

"O'Neal, can you give me an explanation? Why did the watchtowers not issue a warning even after the Green-Haired Turtles had finished attacking the territory?"

Hearing Roland's cold questioning, O'Neal immediately broke out in a cold sweat, extremely nervous.

"Apothecary Roland, please rest assured, I will thoroughly investigate this matter and will definitely give you an explanation."

"Young Master, the Green-Haired Turtles might not have entered the territory through the sea," Alice suddenly said at this moment.

"What? You mean they didn't come from outside?"

"Then where did they come from?"

"They might have come from this small hill," Alice guessed, her tone not entirely certain.

"The small hill?"

"Yes, although I didn't see them arrive, they retreated into the small hill when they left."

"So I suspect there might be a passage on the mountain that leads directly to the sea."

Hearing Alice's analysis, Roland's expression grew even more grim.

If there really was such a passage on the mountain as Alice suggested, it would undoubtedly be a significant threat to the territory's safety.

It would mean that Magical Beasts could launch attacks from within Rising Light Island at any time.

Roland could not tolerate this, so he immediately led O'Neal and the others towards the mountain.