The Lolicon Lord

Romain returned to the shabby manor.

He suddenly remembered something.

Turning to Green and Aaron, Romain asked, "Do you want to pick codenames for yourselves?"

Green looked curious, while Aaron was somewhat confused.

"Do you want us to become titled knights?"

Only powerful knights who had made great achievements or earned widespread renown received famous titles.

For example, one hundred and fifty years ago, the first Grand Duke Armor-Splitting had been exceptionally valiant. He drew his bow and shattered a red dragon's scales, earning the title "Armor-Splitting."

That title later became the surname of the Armor-Splitting Family.

Generally speaking, only extraordinary individuals above the fifth rank with tremendous accomplishments qualified for such a title.

A proud expression appeared on Green's face. "Though becoming a titled knight in the future will be easy for me, I have to admit there's still a tiny little gap between me and that right now."

Green lightly gestured with his thumb and forefinger.

Romain explained, "No, it has nothing to do with strength or status. It's just an alias."

Green had originally been quite pleased, thinking Romain believed he had the potential to become a titled knight.

But this was it?

Losing interest, he gave Romain a strange look and asked, "Then can my codename be Green?"

Romain fell silent. The look Green gave him, as though he were caring for an idiot, made him deeply uncomfortable, yet he could not really lash out.

With a dark face, Romain pointed at Green. "You can get lost."

Green scratched his head and turned to leave, unable to figure out what Romain was up to. Why give him a codename when he had nothing better to do?

Having learned from that, Romain did not ask Aaron.

Green was right. Since they already knew each other well enough, there was no need for aliases.

So Romain opened Apostle Management, found their character panels, and directly named their codenames Green and Aaron.

Sigg Town.

The bomb Romain had dropped left everyone stunned.

Not long after Romain left, all of Sigg Town erupted into an uproar.

Most people sought out Agricultural Officer Mol, as though clutching at a lifeline.

A farmer pleaded, "Lord Mol, do all five of my children have to work at the Lord's manor? Our family can't farm the land with only two people..."

"Is the Lord going to reduce all of us to Slaves...?"

"Why won't he let us farm today? This is the best time to till the fields. If we don't plant anything, what will the Lord eat this year...?"

All sorts of noisy voices poured into Mol's ears at once.

He felt as though he were being drowned by a crashing tide of sound, like a small boat caught in the open sea.

"Shut up, all of you!" Mol roared, his face turning red.

Seeing Mol's fury, the crowd gradually quieted.

The fat all over Mol's body trembled as spittle flew from his mouth. "Do you think I can change Lord Romain's mind? Stop dreaming! Stop dreaming! What am I? What the hell am I in front of a Noble Lord?!"

What could he do? Aggrieved and miserable, he could only stomp his feet in rage.

"If I could change Lord Romain's mind, I wouldn't just make him rescind the order. I'd have every last one of you damned Commoners executed, so I'd never have to stay with you pigs again!"

Mol shoved through the crowd and stormed away.

The crowd looked at one another. They were gripped by intense fear and panic at their Lord's proclamation. There was no pretended gentleness, no amicable attitude—only direct, naked violence and forcefulness.

They could only treat the Agricultural Officer they had once known as their sole lifeline.

According to the land-rent contracts, they Freemen could farm freely as long as they paid their taxes.

Yet their Lord had reclaimed all the land. In this matter, Romain, as a noble, had violated the law and would be punished by the King.

But with the emperor so far away, how could the Black Iron King in the royal capital know what had happened here?

Besides, nothing like this had ever happened in these lands.

No noble would prevent farmers from working the land. They valued grain even more eagerly than most farmers did.

After all, they only needed to keep urging farmers to cultivate more fields and hand over more grain.

The two sides did not stand on equal footing. Nobles could violate contracts, while farmers were deeply dependent on their land-rent contracts.

Now that things had come to this, would their Lord become even harsher toward them in the future?

It was not as though they had never heard how miserably farmers outside lived. Rumor had it that in some places, farmers even had to eat dirt to survive.

For the entire afternoon, Sigg Town's farmers gathered together, discussing what exactly the Noble Lord intended to do tomorrow.

They did not possess great wisdom, but they certainly had no shortage of petty thoughts.

Most farmers knew it was impossible for the Lord to reduce them all to Slaves.

They could farm vast stretches of land and worked efficiently. Only their hands could ensure the Lord had soft, fragrant white bread to eat.

Some believed this was simply meant to cow them. As long as they showed enough obedience in the future, the Lord would surely leave them a way to live.

At this time, the merchant Morey returned to the docks of Sigg Town.

Morey had visited Sigg Town before while opening trade routes. He had noticed that Sigg Town possessed astonishing potential for commerce. If developed, the results would be unimaginable.

It was simply that Sigg Town had lacked a Lord in the past, making development too difficult.

Now that it had a Lord, one descended from Grand Duke Armor-Splitting, it was hard to say what changes might occur in the future.

He was the son of a major merchant and had dealt with many nobles. He knew all sorts of methods nobles commonly used to better squeeze every grain of food from farmers.

Thus, Morey could tell that Romain was applying pressure through violence. The method was simple and completely undisguised.

He was certain the winds in Sigg Town had changed.

If possible, he hoped to establish long-term trade here. Perhaps it would help his business.

But he had not come on this trip to conduct business.

That was merely a cover.

Morey boarded his merchant ship.

Inside the Ship Cabin sat a figure entirely shrouded in a black robe. From her posture, it was clear she was a woman.

When she saw Morey return, Shasta raised her head. Beneath her hood, only her vivid red lips and pale chin were visible.

"Did you find her?"

"No." Morey took out a crystal-clear Amethyst and said helplessly, "Could your intelligence be wrong? I asked around everywhere..."

Shasta said coldly, "Useless!"

Morey took a deep breath and replied helplessly, "I don't have your methods. The new Lord's arrival has thrown Sigg Town into chaos. Everyone is talking about Romain Armor-Splitting. I can't find a second topic."

Shasta asked, "What did he do?"

Morey briefly recounted what had happened that day.

Shasta's voice was filled with intense disgust. "I know some nobles have strange tastes, but most of them do it in secret. He's being far too blatant, isn't he? He won't even spare farmers' children!"

Morey stared at her in astonishment. "You took him for a clergyman from the Church?"

Shasta frowned. "Isn't that what it means, sending so many children to his manor? And he wants both boys and girls. Noble tastes really disgust me!"

Morey looked at Shasta incredulously. He had told her so many important things—how had she connected them to that...

Then, considering her identity, Morey had to admit Shasta's reasoning was perfectly understandable.

But he did not believe the man was a lolicon Lord. If he truly had that sort of preference, he would not have waited seven days so leisurely before doing this one thing.

Yes—leisurely, yet decisive!

That was Morey's first impression of Romain.

As the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Armor-Splitting, what had he not seen? Even if he had been exiled to this wilderness, he should not be setting his sights on those children, and in such large numbers at that. Something was clearly wrong.

Could he be preparing for war?

A noble's War Knights were generally chosen from talented children and trained from a young age.

But could Sigg Town support so many people?

Even if it could, there was no need.

Especially the matter of abolishing the old land-rent contracts and taking all the land into his own hands. It made Morey feel inexplicably alarmed.

This place had a poor location. Even Kant Territory, the nearest territory, was more than a hundred li away, with wilderness lying between them.

Though Sigg Town was not truly cut off from the world, it was surrounded by several steep mountains. The waters of Silver Dragon Canyon ran swiftly, and hidden reefs were everywhere.

Could he be planning to carve out a road through the gaps in the mountains leading to the outside world?

But the workload would be enormous. He would even need to cut through parts of the mountains. Morey felt that Sigg Town might not be able to open such a road even in twenty years.