A Forceful Declaration

Romain spoke, his voice ringing out loud enough to carry far beneath the open sky.

"I am Romain Armor-Splitting, Lord of Sigg Town, and your ruler from this day forward!"

"You must understand that this land—all land—now belongs to me!"

Peasants had no land. Everything they could see belonged to the nobility, a fact that would have seemed utterly terrifying to a modern person.

Freemen were called free, yet they could only rent land and pay rent in coin, labor, or goods. They could never truly own land of their own.

There was an extremely strong personal dependency between nobles and tenants.

And oppression had no end.

"You are ignorant and foolish, and you have committed unforgivable offenses."

"The fish in the rivers, the plants on the mountains, the beasts on the ground, and the birds flying through this sky all belong to me."

"Now, I shall exercise my rights. I shall reclaim ownership of this land, reorganize everything, and never allow you to waste my resources so recklessly!"

"Furthermore, for decades, you have entered the mountains without permission to chop wood, poach, and fish, violating noble law. Every one of you must pay a fine of one Gold Coin!"

Romain sat atop his tall horse, his back to the blinding sun. His entire face seemed submerged in shadow as his indifferent gaze swept over the vast crowd below.

After living in this world for more than a decade, he had learned little else. But he had mastered the lofty airs of a noble to perfection.

Before leaving, he had requested three years of tax exemption rights from Grand Duke Armor-Splitting.

That meant that for the next three years, he could manipulate and squeeze these fools however he pleased without answering to anyone.

It was as though someone had pressed pause on the scene. Not a sound could be heard.

Then, suddenly, the crowd erupted.

"No... no..."

"Please, my lord, show mercy! We can't afford the fine..."

"Please show mercy..."

"No, one Gold Coin? That's madness..."

"You are willing to give Slaves wheat porridge. In your eyes, are your own farmers worth less than Slaves?"

Pleading cries and miserable wails rose one after another. Everyone begged, collapsing like stalks of wheat. Countless imploring gazes gathered upon him, and some even let out a Great Roar and lunged forward!

Shing!

The sound of blades scraping against scabbards.

The crisp, smooth ring of metal suddenly resounded in everyone's ears, sending a jolt through their hearts and raising goosebumps all over their bodies.

To their horror, the two noble knights in full armor behind Romain had drawn their greatswords at the same time.

Mounted on warhorses, they remained silent, gripping their swords in both hands. Their cold, gleaming tips pointed toward the sky like two ruthless killing machines.

The peasants who had tried to rush forward and beg for mercy recoiled again and again in fright, terrified that blood would splash forth the next moment.

Romain remained unmoved and continued, "But I will give you two choices: either pay the fine, or obey my arrangements."

Did they really have a choice?

One Gold Coin was a denomination they had never even encountered. Even copper coins were precious to them.

"Also, you are to send every child in your household between the ages of five and fifteen to my manor."

After the bombshell of one Gold Coin, everyone had become numb to this order.

Romain added, "All merchants, step forward before me."

Based on the information Mol had sent him, Romain discovered that commercial trade in Sigg Town had begun to take shape. Where there were more people, there would be all sorts of needs.

Although Sigg Town was surrounded by towering mountains and land travel was difficult, its waterways were well developed and could support basic commercial transport.

The Bro River split into two tributaries. The first passed through Silver Dragon Canyon and Sigg Town, while the other bypassed Silver Dragon Canyon.

However, Silver Dragon Canyon was filled with hidden reefs and violent currents, making navigation somewhat risky.

As a result, few merchants came to Sigg Town.

After quite a while, the merchants of Sigg Town seemingly realized they could not avoid this ordeal. They squeezed through from the rear of the crowd, deeply uneasy.

Romain looked down at the merchants before him. "I know some of you are not from Sigg Town, but your business activities were conducted without my permission, and you did not pay commercial taxes. You should be punished as well."

"Yes, my lord," the merchants replied with miserable expressions.

Romain was not overly harsh with them. He said, "You will not need to make up your past commercial taxes for now. But from this day onward, your business activities must meet my requirements."

At that moment, a young merchant suddenly spoke.

"My lord, all your demands are reasonable, and we will obey you. The mountains are your property, and we are all thieves stealing your belongings. But why do you set your sights only on thieves while letting the true bandits in the mountains go free?"

Romain looked toward the young merchant who had spoken. He knew his hardline attitude might have stirred some dissatisfaction in these people. Someone was actually speaking for the farmers?

"Who are you?"

"Morey Perea, Son of Celine, offers you his respects, Lord Romain!" Morey said, bowing deeply.

Morey had a rather handsome face and appeared to be in his twenties. Having traveled year-round, his skin was bronze, and he wore a well-tailored long robe. His attire and bearing clearly did not belong to a merchant of Sigg Town.

Celine Pereya was a renowned great merchant. Romain had heard the name before.

Great merchants had countless children, so encountering an illegitimate son was hardly surprising. He might prove useful someday.

Romain gave a cold snort and said with indifference and arrogance, "I will investigate everyone thoroughly. I will not let a single one of those hiding in the mountains escape. Whether thief or great bandit, no one—no one—will use my resources within my territory without paying a price!"

Then he looked back toward the crowd.

"From today onward, I forbid you from farming my fields. All the land you cultivated before must be left fallow! Guards will watch you. Whoever dares cultivate the fields without permission, I will execute him! Tomorrow is only the beginning. From now on, you will accept my rule and unconditionally obey every order I give!"

These people knew nothing about land. If they did not change their methods of production, a day's work would be wasted effort.

Next, Romain drew in his abdomen, puffed out his chest, and a fierce breath like fire and steel burst from deep in his throat. He declared in a sonorous voice:

"I will repeat myself: I shall exercise my rights and reclaim all land in Sigg Town. Every resource shall be completely under my control. I declare that your former way of life and farming has changed! I will redistribute everything, and I will grant you no indulgence whatsoever! You have only obedience!"

With that, he pulled the reins and rode away beneath everyone's watchful eyes.

Mol stared at everything that had happened, drenched in sweat. He wiped the perspiration from his pale face.

At once, he understood Romain's earlier strange behavior. This is the noble style I know.

But he had heard of draining a pond to catch fish. He had never seen anyone dig three feet into the ground for them.

Mol felt as though even his heart was trembling.

Could Sigg Town ever return to what it had been?