Seclusion

Nearly half a year had passed since the punitive war between the Temple of Light and the Frost Snow Empire ended.

During this time, the people of Locke Territory had also accepted the fact that they had returned to the embrace of the Frost Snow Empire.

Those who could not accept it had moved their entire families into the Temple of Light's sphere of influence.

Locke did not stop them.

The war was over, and everything awaited renewal. Locke Territory needed more people to take part in its reconstruction.

However, Locke had never believed that he could make choices for others.

In Locke's view, to the common people at the bottom of society, there was little difference between the Temple of Light and the Frost Snow Empire.

The fate of the common people depended only on the nobles within the territory where they lived.

If the nobles oppressed them less, the people would live better.

If the nobles oppressed them more, the people would suffer more.

Whether in the Temple of Light or the Frost Snow Empire, there were arrogant and domineering nobles who did not treat commoners as human beings, leaving the people in their territories in dire misery.

In fact, Locke felt that, in some respects, the Temple of Light was even better than the Frost Snow Empire.

In the Temple of Light, the search for women with pure souls was conducted openly.

The Temple of Light's upper ranks proclaimed throughout their territories that those who could make the bead shine and glow were angels under the Light Lord God. They had merely fallen while fighting for the Lord God and been reborn in the mortal world.

Through a ritual, they would allow these women with pure souls to return to the Divine Realm of Light.

The couples who welcomed the descent of an angel would also receive exceedingly generous rewards from the Temple of Light.

In the Frost Snow Empire, however, in order to conceal their collection of women with pure souls, the upper ranks would generally wipe out all of a discovered woman's relatives and friends.

From Locke's perspective, neither the Temple of Light nor the Frost Snow Empire's upper ranks who secretly collected women with pure souls were good people.

But with Locke's current strength, he simply could not interfere in such matters.

All he could do was ensure certain rights for the people of his territory wherever his eyes could reach.

Locke and Fyodor slowly descended from the sky into the lord's residence. Since they had flown, they were much faster than the soldiers stationed at the former camp.

At this time, aside from a few patrolling guards, some servants in the lord's residence were tidying the courtyard.

Not only did the people in the lord's residence notice Locke and Fyodor flying in, but the other four battalion commanders saw them as well.

Although they could not make out what the arrivals looked like, anyone could have guessed that the only person who would fly into the Prefectural City at a time like this was the true master of Locke Territory, Grand Duke Locke.

Thus, the four battalion commanders immediately gathered together and went to Locke's lord's residence to pay their respects.

"Greetings, Grand Duke."

In the hall of the lord's residence, the four battalion commanders bowed to Locke.

"Mm. I saw it earlier. You have done an excellent job with the construction of Locke City. I am very satisfied."

Seated at the head of the hall, Locke nodded slightly, acknowledging the abilities of the five battalion commanders of the Tsunami Legion.

"Grand Duke Locke, you flatter us. It is only what we ought to do."

"Enough with that nonsense. Whether it was your duty or not, I said that once you completed this task, I would grant you noble titles."

"Now that you have completed your task well, I can grant the five of you viscount titles in Locke Territory."

"Gask has not returned yet, so discuss it among yourselves. Decide whether you want to become nobles of Locke City or nobles of Locke Territory."

"Once you decide, you will not be able to change it later."

There was still a major difference between nobles of Locke City and nobles of Locke Territory.

It was much like the difference between nobles of the Imperial Capital and nobles outside the Imperial Capital.

If Gask and the other four chose to become nobles of Locke City, they would not be without a chance to compete for the two vacant count titles in Locke Territory and gain greater authority.

Much of Locke Territory's development required the nobles of Locke City to make the decisions.

In other words, the nobles of Locke City held absolute authority within Locke Territory.

If they chose to become nobles of Locke Territory, they would receive a fief within the territory, and within that fief, the noble would be king.

Of course, even the ruler of a fief would be constrained by Locke Territory. Each year, they would have to pay a large amount of taxes to Locke City, and among nobles of equal rank, those granted fiefs outside the city held a somewhat lower status than nobles in Locke City.

Naturally, this so-called "lower" status was mainly because the nobles of Locke City were closer to the lord and enjoyed his trust.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, attaching oneself to the strong and borrowing their might to throw one's weight around could also be considered a form of power.

After all, if a conflict arose between the two sides, it was obvious which side the lord would support.

And once one offended a lord, all he needed to do was issue a few restrictions targeting that person's fief. High taxes alone could drag a noble with a fief to death.

After the four battalion commanders left, Locke took Fyodor into the cultivation chamber of the Prefectural City and continued his training.

He had never forgotten that in this world, only strength was the foundation upon which he could stand.

The title of Grand Duke of Locke Territory was Locke's compromise with Ceres. At the same time, it fulfilled his parents' dream of nobility, allowing the two elders to spend their later years happily and peacefully.

Three months later, after receiving word from Locke, Cole brought his parents and the entire Luqi Merchant Guild into Locke City. With Locke's full support, he became the true manager of Locke City.

Of the five captains, including Gask, two chose to become viscounts of Locke City, assisting Cole in managing the entire Locke Territory.

The other three chose to become landed viscounts, selecting adjoining locations within Locke Territory as their domains.

This way, the two viscounts remaining in Locke City were supported by the three landed viscounts, while the two receiving that support used the authority in their hands to provide the three viscounts outside with certain conveniences, allowing them to gain more benefits.

This was more or less how the nobles of the Vakanda Plane lived.

For Saint-level Experts, time had almost lost all meaning.

Occasionally using Soul Power to check on his family and seeing that Cole managed Locke Territory well, Locke no longer left his cultivation chamber, immersing himself solely in comprehending the Profound Mystery of laws and studying the soul.