Denizens of the Territory

Since Landen became the Landen he is now, he had never left this bunker. It was laughable, really. As a lord of a region, his knowledge of his territory came solely from memories and maps. It was truly ironic.

When the previous Landen was still inhabiting this body, things weren't like this. Although the Minotaur Butler always found various excuses to prevent Landen from going out, he was, after all, just a servant, and Landen was the master. So, when Landen was determined about something, all the butler could do was obediently follow.

Thus, Landen at that time personally witnessed the Lizardfolk tribe and that nest of Mind Flayers.

Even though Landen's past life had been full of setbacks, it hadn't dulled his spirit. Becoming the lord of the Yumaas Region might have seemed like banishment to others, a decision Matriarch Isis finally made because she couldn't stand him, her bastard son. But to him, it was an opportunity, a chance for him to become independent and rise.

And the first step in his rise was to subdue these people who were nominally his subjects but were in reality just wild creatures. To become a true lord, or even a overlord like Matriarch Isis, it was impossible to do so without subordinates. Relying solely on his personal strength, his dreams would remain just dreams.

However, dreams were beautiful, but reality delivered a harsh slap to Landen—he had sent invitations to every tribe in his territory, but received no replies. Then, he thought of conquering them through force. But this idea was declared a failure even by the weakest group among them, the Goblins. Landen never expected that there would be someone with Black Iron strength among these Goblins. Not only that, but they resolutely refused any enticement, using their own lair as the battlefield and engaging Landen's forces in a war of attrition. In the end, Landen's side retreated from the Goblin lair, all of them wounded.

From then on, Landen never mentioned subduing those creatures again. And from then on, the Minotaur Butler began to use these creature uprisings as an excuse more and more often, restricting Landen's outings in various ways.

This situation began to change with Aila's arrival. Landen had always believed that the reason they couldn't even defeat a dozen Goblins was twofold: unfamiliarity with the terrain and a lack of good tools. If they had all carried various alchemical items back then, they would have won, even if they fought in the same place.

Unfortunately, this thought was once again interrupted by the occurrence of that incident. And this time, the poor predecessor even lost his life, and the Minotaur Butler used this as an excuse to completely restrict Landen's outings.

Of course, everything changed when Landen gently thrust that Steel Thorn into Janie's skull.

"My lord, Miss Janie she..."

"Old Niu, didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Uh, I wasn't talking about that. I just wanted to ask, what should we do with Miss Janie's body?"

"Oh, that. I was just about to ask you. Old Niu, do you know any way to preserve a body with its functions intact for a long time?"

"I'm very sorry, my lord. If you're talking about jerky..."

"Alright, you don't need to say more. Old Niu, let's do it this way. Go inform the Lari Brothers to get some good rest. We're going out tomorrow."

"But, my lord, outside..."

"I know what you mean, Old Niu. It's dangerous outside. But please understand, I am not an infant, but the lord here. This is not a request, but an order. Do you understand?"

"This... Alright, my lord. But, may I be so bold as to ask, where are we going? So I can make some preparations."

"Ah, it's not too far. Just to that nest of Mind Flayers. Prepare enough rations for two days, and that should be sufficient."

"Mind... Mind Flayers!?" The poor Minotaur Butler had already been through too much shock today. Hearing this, he couldn't control his expression. His bovine face displayed an extremely obvious, extremely human-like expression of shock as he exclaimed, "My lord, you intend to take Miss Janie's body... Oh, my god, my lord, it's understandable that Miss Janie offended you and was executed. But she was Vivian's confidante. If you send her body to those Mind Flayers, Miss Vivian will absolutely not let this go. If Miss Vivian punishes you then..."

"No, no, no, Old Niu, calm down, calm down! What do you mean I'm sending Miss Janie's body to the Mind Flayers? Are you having some kind of hallucination?"

"Bu... but..."

"It was before Miss Janie came to me that the accident happened. She was controlled by the Mind Flayers and became a Flesh Puppet. Not only that, but the Mind Flayers intended to harm us by controlling her. Fortunately, Old Niu, you were wise enough to discover this and thwart their plot. But unfortunately, we were unable to retrieve Miss Janie's body. And now, we are going to that nest of evil Mind Flayers, not only to retrieve Miss Janie's body, but also to punish those Mind Flayers!"

The poor Minotaur Butler had never seen someone lie with their eyes wide open like this. His already large bovine eyes seemed about to pop out of their sockets, and his mouth opened so wide that his Adam's apple was visible. After a long while, he stammered, "Regarding that credit, my lord, I'll pass. This is all your achievement, how could I possibly claim it?"

"Oh, oh, oh, my dear Old Niu, you still haven't understood one thing. Here, I am the lord, and what I say is an order. Do I need to say more?"

"No need, my lord."

"Then, do you have any other questions?"

"No, my lord."

"Very good, Old Niu. Then, please go inform the Lari Brothers. Also, prepare for our outing. Ah, right, also, please arrange Miss Janie's accommodation for tonight. Hmm, don't let the Lari Brothers know about this, understand?"

"Understood, my lord."

"Very good. May you have a pleasant evening, Old Niu."

Minutes later, in the small dark room where Aila was confined.

"Hi, student Aila, how has your day been?"

"Lo... Lord, what did you just say?"

"Ah, nothing. I just came to ask, do you really not want to die?"

"Of course not, Lord! I swear to my god, the accident you mentioned was truly not my doing!"

"Alright, alright, let's not dwell on this topic for now. I'll just ask you one thing: do you want to live?"

"Yes!"

"Very good. Then, follow me. Whether you get to see the sun again depends on your performance tonight."