Hobart understood. Letting the people of the territory know of the Lord's existence was a form of digesting the "Baron" in the Corrupted Baron Potion.
In other words, if the people of the territory acknowledged Hobart as their Lord, his Potion would be digested accordingly.
This method of digestion was not necessarily limited to one's own territory. If a Corrupted Baron opened a factory, as long as the workers acknowledged him as the factory owner, his Potion would be digested accordingly.
Come to think of it, opening a factory made it easier to digest the Potion than managing a territory. After all, workers drew wages and would certainly acknowledge their boss's status.
However, a Corrupted Baron was not merely about people acknowledging a leader; it also involved "corruption." Corrupting the hearts of those around him should be another way to digest the Potion.
Or rather, both "corruption" and "baron" had to be present for the Potion to be effectively digested.
In any case, Hobart was in an excellent mood the moment he got up that morning. He took out a Copper Lire from his pocket and flicked it to Shier. "A reward for you!"
Shier caught the coin. "Thank you, great Lord!"
Uncle was right. The Lord really does want us to spread word of his prestige. If anything like this happens again, I must make sure everyone knows about it!
Hobart said to Shier again, "Go buy breakfast, then notify Philip to come for an interview. Make some preparations as well. I'm going to inspect the territory today."
Shier agreed and was about to leave when both master and servant noticed a middle-aged man peering furtively inside from the doorway.
Shier smiled. "Lord, that is Philip."
"Let him in."
Philip had regular features and carried himself neither humbly nor