At the Lord's Manor roughly halfway up the mountain, Hobart saw the blaze on the mountaintop.
The fire was indeed enormous, turning even Full Moon Lake red. It was as though the sins and ugliness of this fief were burning away.
Hobart estimated that not only Viscount Teuton on the other side of the lake could see it—half of South Colson could probably see it as well.
The bigger the fire, the better the effect!
Hobart then began considering his next move. The Gnostic Society had shown no reaction at all, forcing him to remain cautiously on guard.
To that end, he took the Cursed Jade blessed by the Desire Mother Tree from the Country of Disorder. If the Gnostic Society wanted to get rough, he would not mind giving them a little "blessing."
At the same time, he had seized all the Lord's authority. Next, it was time to begin his own rule.
However, Hobart had never found documents such as household registrations or population records in the Lord's Manor. Only after asking did he learn that there was simply no custom of keeping household records in this mountainous region.
Then the next step had to be conducting household registration. Only by knowing how many people lived in the territory, how they were distributed, and what the age ratios were could Hobart govern effectively afterward and keep the use of human resources within a controllable range in future projects.
After "activating" the Oil Painting, Hobart fell asleep while deep in thought.
At Viscount Teuton's residence across the lake, the thirty-something Viscount Teuton, still in his prime, watched the blaze across the water without saying a word.
At last, a subordinate drenched in sweat ran in to report, "Lord, we found out. The new Baron on the other shore