Sudden Attack

Roland made a round of the farmland in the territory and, finding no problems, left again with the two of them.

Over the next while, Roland tirelessly inspected all the watchtowers around the territory.

After Neil Bergman's sneak attack, Roland had immediately built four watchtowers around the territory and assigned guards to watch them around the clock.

The moment any fleet rashly approached Rising Light Island, they would immediately sound the alarm.

After the four watchtowers were built, their effects were quite obvious. Although they had not discovered any enemies attempting to attack Rising Light Island, they had detected several groups of magical beasts.

Thanks to their warnings, Rising Light Island had suffered no major losses during the several magical beast attacks over the past three months.

It was not until nightfall that Roland and the other two hurried back to the residential area.

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

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

"This?" James was greatly shocked.

Clearly, he understood very well what it meant to be a governor.

The core of any territory was naturally its lord, but beneath the lord, the two most important operational systems were administration and military affairs.

The head of the administrative system was the governor.

His authority within the territory was almost second only to the lord's.

However, the position Roland was offering was governor of Rising Light Island, not governor of the territory. There was still an enormous difference between the two.

The former's authority was limited to Rising Light Island, while the latter meant becoming the governor of the administrative system for all of Roland's future territories.

As for Roland's potential, James, Artur, Fili, and the others all understood it very well. Roland could not possibly have only Rising Light Island as his sole territory forever.

With the astonishing profits brought by his talent as an apothecary, Roland had a great chance of becoming a true noble in the future.

That was why James, Fili, and the others, though merely sent by Leslie to assist Roland, had thrown themselves into the construction of Roland's territory with such enthusiasm.

They did so to gain Roland's friendship. In the future, that friendship might represent the friendship of a Master Apothecary, or even the friendship of a kingdom noble.

The benefits to them would be immense.

Thus, James could not help sinking into deep thought.

If he had not belonged to Leslie, then even if Roland had only promised him the position of governor of Rising Light Island, he would have agreed without hesitation.

But unfortunately, he was Leslie's man. Helping Roland manage the territory's various affairs had been the very task Leslie sent him to perform.

Yet accepting the position of governor of Rising Light Island bestowed by Roland would, to a certain extent, be betraying Leslie.

This left James unable to make up his mind for a long while.

Regarding Leslie, or rather, the Oroko Family behind him, James knew their strength far better than Roland did.

As though he had seen James's concerns, Roland slapped his forehead, seeming to suddenly remember something.

"Right, you are still Leslie's man after all. How about this? I'll first appoint you as acting governor. Once I've spoken with Leslie in the future, you can make your decision then."

Upon hearing Roland's answer, a trace of delight immediately appeared on James's face. He hurriedly bowed and replied, "Thank you for your understanding, my lord. This subordinate will certainly do his utmost to assist you."

Hearing James tactfully change the way he addressed him, Roland smiled but said nothing more.

However, James's reaction just now made Roland keenly feel the gap between himself and Leslie.

James had once been nothing more than a steward in one of Leslie's merchant caravans, yet he had hesitated so much even when Roland promised him the position of governor.

Clearly, in James's heart, his loyalty to—or fear of—Leslie far surpassed anything he felt toward Roland.

However, after James received the position of acting governor of Rising Light Island from Roland, he displayed even greater enthusiasm in the time that followed.

Not only did he plan every aspect of Rising Light Island's construction extremely thoroughly, but he also continuously offered Roland all kinds of suggestions for developing the territory and accelerating its growth.

Seeing the powerful work ethic James had displayed, Roland was immediately overjoyed.

So he followed the same approach and appointed Artur as the acting deputy captain of the guard, temporarily placing him in command of fifty guards.

Fili, meanwhile, was appointed commander of the Rising Light Island fleet. Although they currently only had four fishing boats, which was rather pitiful.

Still, the two of them were extremely satisfied and had recently thrown themselves wholeheartedly into their respective duties.

As for O'Neal, currently the strongest person in the territory, Roland showed no reaction at all, as though he had forgotten he existed.

Roland's attitude inevitably left O'Neal feeling somewhat disappointed. He could only train the guards even harder, trying to demonstrate his value to Roland.

Roland had naturally not forgotten O'Neal. In fact, he valued him the most among them.

Back when they faced Scarface Henry, O'Neal alone had resolutely stood in front of Roland. Roland had never forgotten that sight.

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

Thus, Roland undoubtedly valued him more. He wanted to find a suitable opportunity to completely win him over, rather than give him a temporary position like James, Artur, and Fili.

As time slowly passed, July arrived in the blink of an eye. Due to its proximity to the Frozen Realm, even the scorching summer had little effect on Rising Light Island.

Instead, the temperature was pleasant, making it a perfect summer retreat.

The more than twelve hundred mu of farmland were already laden with fruit. In less than a month, the time for harvest would arrive.

But at that moment, Roland suddenly received some bad news.

While Roland was inspecting the farmland that day, he suddenly saw Ryan running over with a panicked expression.

"Young master, this is bad! Our Magic Herb Garden has been attacked by magical beasts."

"What? Where did the magical beasts come from? Is Alice alright?" Roland's heart immediately sank, and anger flashed in his eyes.

After all, the watchtowers around the territory could basically monitor every direction throughout the entire territory.

Under such circumstances, the Magic Herb Garden had still been attacked by magical beasts. Roland could not help suspecting whether the guards at the four watchtowers had neglected their duties.

Faced with Roland's two rapid questions, Ryan swallowed hard and hurriedly replied, "Young master, I'm not sure where these magical beasts came from either, but Miss Alice is unharmed."

Roland immediately let out a huge sigh of relief. He knew now was not the time to hold the guards accountable, so he quickly gathered his men and rushed toward the Magic Herb Garden.

When Roland arrived at the Magic Herb Garden on the small hill to the west, he saw that the ten mu of magical herb fields had become a complete mess.

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

Even the water-element Magic Crystals Roland had buried in the ground had vanished without a trace.

Seeing this scene, Roland flew into a rage, his eyes filled with murderous light.

"What magical beasts did this? Damn it, they even dug up my Magic Crystals?"

But the next moment, when he saw Alice walking swiftly over, Roland quickly controlled his expression and put on an unconcerned look again.

"How are you? Are you hurt?"

Seeing the concern on Roland's face, Alice was momentarily stunned, and a complicated look appeared in her eyes. Still, she shook her head.

"I'm fine."

"As long as you're fine. A little financial loss means nothing to me."

"???" Seeing Roland switch between two completely different attitudes in an instant, those around him could not help secretly admiring him.

However, when he saw the teasing look in Alice's eyes, Roland could no longer hold himself back. Gritting his teeth, he asked 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 more than ten of them. Ryan and the others were no match for them, so I ordered them not to resist," Alice explained.

After hearing this, Roland did not mind Alice's decision to give up resisting.

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

"Level 3 Magical Beasts, Green-Haired Turtles. Water-element magical beasts that live in groups. They are mild-tempered and rarely attack humans. Their innate spell is Water Shield, which forms a barrier of water elements around their bodies and provides decent defense."

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

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

But when Roland looked again at the ruined Magic Herb Garden, fury still surged within him.

Ten water-element Magic Crystals and several hundred Water Flower seeds, worth more than two hundred gold coins, had all been destroyed in a single day because of the guards' negligence.

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

Hearing Roland's icy questioning, O'Neal instantly broke out in a cold sweat and became extremely nervous.

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

"Young master, the Green-Haired Turtles may not have entered the territory from the sea," Alice suddenly said.

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

"Then where did they come from?"

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

"The small hill?"

"Yes. I did not see them when they arrived, but when they left, they retreated into the hill."

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

After hearing Alice's analysis, Roland's expression grew increasingly grim.

If it was truly as Alice said, and there really was such a passage in the mountain, then it would undoubtedly pose a major threat to the territory's safety.

It would mean magical beasts could launch attacks from inside Rising Light Island at any time.

How could Roland possibly tolerate that? He immediately led O'Neal and the others toward the mountain.