Chapter 103

"Instead of this, I plan to invite Professor Hainuo to come and come back to Baron with me."

"Vice Dean Hainuo?"

Eiko startled.

The Vice Dean of the St. Marian Academy, Haino Antria, is a seventh-tier Holy Word Master. It was he who taught Caslathdi his Holy Word Teacher training.

When Caslathdi left the academy, the vice-principal asked if she needed help, as he knew she wanted to compete for the throne. However, Caslathdi didn't want to expose Haino's existence so soon.

After all, a seventh-tier Holy Word Master is a well-known figure in the Northern Continent, and Haino also has a lot of connections, which can bring her a great advantage in battle.

She is going back to the Imperial Capital right now. Although she shouldn't encounter any danger in theory, there are always exceptions, aren't there?

In critical moments, at least the teacher can protect her.

"Will she be willing to come?" Eiko a little worried, after all, the whole empire now knew that their Her Highness the Princess was a candidate for the last place.

"I asked before, and the teacher agreed. I'll write her another letter later."

Caslathdi hasn't given up yet. She feels she can still fight, so her current strategy is... to try to survive! As long as she lives, the territory in the Southern Territory is nominally hers. And when Ryan expands the territory in the future, who can say she isn't qualified to Empress?

So, please, Ryan!

Master Ryan is reading a report.

If you were to ask him what his first kiss with 'Shally' tasted like, it would be sweeter than Choco Ice Cream.

However, 'Shally' didn't lose out either. This was Ryan's first kiss, which he had saved up for two lifetimes. Who says only a girl's first kiss is precious and a boy's isn't?

Um... speaking of which, 'Shally,' could you perhaps get a little more... into character next time? Your battle-ready aura is making me a bit nervous.

It really comes down to character design. Ryan thinks that 'Ina' and 'Vainay' would be much better in this regard, but then again, who says you have to be shy to do this?

The idea of dating her, making her blush, and then saving the world—that's nonsense.

Let's go back and find 'Lin Qi' and see what she's like. The Silent Nun, wait, isn't it a bit like hentai when Nun does this? Something's not right... Ryan quickly shook his head, dismissing the strange thought.

Although I lost my first kiss, Lin Qi, your position as my first wife will never change!

So...

Let's continue reading the report.

After putting on a good show with 'Shally' in front of Caslathdi, Ryan went straight to the mayor's office to deal with the problems left behind by 'Ina' these past few days.

After all, she is the acting mayor, so Ina can decide most things. As for the things she can't decide, she leaves them for Ryan to handle.

"Well done, Ina."

In less than an hour, Ryan finished his work.

Only one hour! So many days have passed, this is amazing, Ina, you are my favorite!

Don't underestimate the mayor's job. Only an incompetent lord would spend his days indulging in debauchery and partying. If you want your territory to develop well, hard work and dedication are indispensable.

"And you two did a great job too, I'll give you a raise later."

'Ina' also has two secretaries by her side.

They were all promoted by 'Ina' later. As for the original ones, the two were not very capable, but they were good at other things, but they were not qualified to be the mayor's secretary.

"Thank you, Lord Ryan."

The two secretaries went out to work, and after a while, 'Shally' came in. Ryan and the three of them discussed the next steps for the development of Kosotoya in front of them.

After they finished discussing it Ryan suddenly realized a problem—why did I even have to discuss it with myself?

"The main thing is that some things are easier to explain face-to-face... um, that's how it is."

The situation in Berman City has basically stabilized. The question is how to develop Kosotoya after its reconstruction. Too much population has been lost, and the returns are not proportional to the investment in the short term. Even with 'Shally,' the war goddess of the Southern Territory, in charge, it will be difficult.

As for Nade City... it's time to take that place over. Although Lord Nick has always been obedient, it's never reassuring to rely on someone who isn't one of our own, and more importantly, his abilities are too poor.

It doesn't matter whether he's there or not; it would be the same even if you put a pig on there.

Ryan thought for a moment and decided to give Nick a dignified way out. He would have 'Shally' talk to him later and buy his title for 100 gold coins.

A wise man knows when to yield, and I believe Lord Nick is also a wise man; otherwise, Ryan would have had to find a way to make the other party passive and dignified.

"I'll take care of it right away."

'Shally' readily accepted the job. She had plenty of money; she hadn't even spent all the gold coins she'd just brought back from begging in the Kainter Kingdom. If she really ran out, she could just go to Nade City and get some for Nick. There's always a way to overcome difficulties.

However, the question remains: who should become the lord of Nade City? That place isn't actually that important, and there's no need to waste Alts binding it. Ryan's idea is to promote 'Ina' to the position of 'Grand Steward' so that she can handle all the official business in these territories in the Southern Territory.

Anyway, Ryan doesn't plan to do it himself.

In his past life, he played a game where a character known as a genius made a whole bunch of his own dolls and then delegated all the tasks to them. Ryan thought that was what a smart person should do.

How can one expect to personally take up arms and fight every day, doing everything by oneself?

"Huh? How could I be so stupid? I could have just asked Vainay for someone."

Ryan slapped his forehead, only then remembering 'Vainay'. Using mental abilities to recruit loyal subjects was a sure thing. Three-legged toads were hard to find, but two-legged people were plentiful.

"Let me see... from Kells to here, and then to here... if we can take these ten cities, the situation in the entire Southern Territory will basically be stabilized." Ryan studied the map for a while.

The biggest problem wasn't how to conquer territory, but rather that the Empire's legal protection of nobles was too biased. The death of any noble would definitely attract attention, which is why Ryan thought of taking over Nade City by purchasing titles.

But what about other places? There are definitely still a lot of the Second Prince and Fourth Prince's factions around here. If we try to do something to them, we'll probably be discovered. Assassination is even worse. If one dies, it will attract attention. If two or three die, even a fool can guess that it's Ryan's side trying to expand his power.

Rising from humble beginnings, breaking free from this predicament is indeed not so easy... Ryan stroked his chin, his gaze falling on the territory to the right of Kells.

That was the territory of the Count Lanster. The other party was the mastermind behind Thomas's attempt to seize the title. However, Lanster belonged to the Fourth Prince's faction, and the real mastermind was the Fourth Prince.

Unfortunately, the unfortunate fellow's funds will soon be seized by the Old Emperor... Speaking of which, with the Old Emperor doing this, these filial children must have some thoughts, right?

If you don't inherit your father's property, are you going to keep it and carry it into your coffin?

However, Ryan suspected that the Old Emperor might have found a way to prolong his life. After all, there are plenty of people in this world who live a long life. If one is Chosen of the Gods and becomes a being close to a god, it would be difficult to die even if one wanted to.

If that's the case, then the Augustus Empire becomes interesting. In fact, if everyone unites against the Old Emperor, Caslathdi might actually have a chance.

Holy crap, the Princess stood up! Is she going to stand up from the children's table?

"Let Vainay. If she can take over this territory without fighting, then half of the Southern Territory will be mine."

Ryan was planning his next steps. He could leave these tasks to them, but he had another important matter to attend to—taking the Princess to St. Gero City to find 'Lin Qi'.

The situation in the Western Territory has basically stabilized. There's no news from the Imperial Capital for the time being, but that's none of Lin Qi's business. All she needs to do is get Magana to agree to a ceasefire.

As for the Old Emperor, others will naturally take care of that.

So soon 'Lin Qi' will return to the Gate of Janus, Ryan wants to take advantage of Caslathdi's last chance to go there and see.

This matter was also agreed to by Caslathdi. In fact, she not only wanted to use the power of Gate of Janus, but also because St. Marian Academy was located in St. Gero City. She originally planned to bring her teacher back with her. Since she was going to see 'Lin Qi' this time, she might as well take the opportunity to go back to the academy.

Although St. Marian Academy appears to be a noble school in the center of the continent, it is actually a training institution for 'Supernatural Being'. It contains an Inner Court where only those with superhuman qualifications are admitted and trained by the academy.

Using the excuse of going to the St. Marian Academy to delay for a few days, her old father probably wouldn't have anything to say.

However, Caslathdi received a magical letter from the academy that day, informing her that Haino had gone on a long trip and would not be back for a few days. So she decided not to rush and would first take care of the 'aftermath' in Berman City.

Caslathdi was still considering how to help Ryan solidify his position in the Southern Territory after she left. The title hadn't been approved yet, so should she just buy it? But who would dare to sell it if the Old Emperor didn't agree?

After much thought, Caslathdi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of Magana.

She had originally sent Ryan over to recruit forces in the Western Territory, but the resurrection of that Iron-Blooded Grand Duke completely disrupted her plans, and she truly dared not cooperate with the rebels.

But now that Gate of Janus has intervened, even though the hatred remains, the Western Territory is still nominally Augustus's territory. Caslathdi thought it best to have Ryan secretly accept Magana's offer of recruitment.

In this way, with the Western Territory forces helping Ryan guard the area, any problems can be easily resolved.

"Magana is capable, but she's too blindly confident, always thinking she can conquer everyone. Unfortunately... Ryan is destined to be loyal to me." Caslathdi thought the plan was perfect. Magana did everything she could to help Ryan get rid of the obstacles in the Southern Territory, but in reality, she was working for her.

Thinking of this, Caslathdi felt much better.

On the other side.

Master Ryan also leaned back comfortably on the sofa, had his secretary pour him a cup of coffee, and then opened the game.

What a rare afternoon tea time!

With no annoying dwarf Grand Duke bothering him and no Princess coming to his aid, everything was left to 'Ina' to handle, so he could just relax.

The game starts, and you switch to the 'Vainay' character interface.

When 'Vainay' checked the AFK logs last time, she seemed to have found something very special.

"Level 29 already, soloing is so fast."

I glanced at the character's attributes; the level was steadily increasing, much faster than 'Lin Qi' had been back then.

It's worth noting that 'Shally' is only level 32 now... However, the leveling speed does slow down considerably after reaching the third tier. 'Lin Qi's' rapid rise is mainly due to becoming Saintess.

At this time.

Within the cracks of the Inner World.

'Vainay' stood on a scorched hillside, holding the Staff of Withering. Beside her stood six tall, one-horned demons with blood-red skin, ferocious faces, and sharp, terrifying claws.

[The Chaos Demon of War, 'The Exile'. Elite lv30]

Six level 30 elite monsters!

Further away was a demon stronghold, and then Ryan saw a notification pop up on the game interface—

You have discovered the War Altar.

"Huh?"

"It's this thing."

An altar is a sacrificial site in the game. Altars of different Outer Gods are prefixed with their representative terms, such as the 'War Altar' for the Blood God and the 'Dark Altar' for the God of Death.

Unlike the one 'Shally' encountered in Cazorla, the one in the Chaos Space is the original version; the Heretic all created imitations of these.

Naturally, in such a place closest to the Outer Gods, the War Altar often brings even more terrifying power.

The reason why altars in the game are of interest to players is that these places often spawn 'Great Demon', and there is a certain probability of obtaining good items after defeating them, and they may even unlock clues to hidden professions.

Some players just like to take the crooked path, disdaining Janus and the Sun God, believing that this world will eventually be ruled by the Outer Gods! —Hurrah!

Among the Four Great Outer Gods, the Faith Path in the Blood God and the God of Desire are the most popular. The former offers a fun combat experience, while the latter...

Because many of the hidden professions through the Desire Faith Path have the ability to boost a character's favorability and 'sensitivity', and then reveal special hidden CGs, the Desire God is also known as the 'God of Lust', and those who switch to the Desire Profession are called 'Old Perverts' by players.

"I wonder what's inside."

Ryan was quite interested in this thing. The things in the War Altar were naturally related to the Blood God. He wasn't really looking forward to the hidden class, since that wasn't so easy to get. But getting some good stuff would still be pretty good.

Soon, 'Vainay' led six subordinates toward the War Altar.

"A level 35 monster? That's a bit too high."

The altar was teeming with demons from the Blood God Legion, but fortunately, the minions 'Vainay' had subdued were all level 30. She advanced little by little from the outside, using six elite monsters to form a defensive wall in front of her.

Ryan discovered that the demons of the Blood God Legion had a characteristic: they loved the thrill of battle and didn't think much. Six elite exiles attracted all the firepower, while the little 'Vainay' hid in the back and was completely ignored.

It took half an hour to clear out the monsters around the War Altar.

The blood of the dead demons flowed on the ground, gradually gathering in the grooves of the altar, eventually outlining a mysterious pattern.

[The great Blood God's Kin, Butcher Barton of the Blood Hand...]

A prompt popped up in the game, but it wasn't the system's text prompt; instead, it was 'Vainay' chanted directly.

Ryan was also surprised to learn that she could chant hymns, proving that even Soul Singer is still Singer...

Wait, why can Soul Singer Path of Death preside over a ritual for the blood Divine Path?

Ryan felt as if he had been shot in the head, and then things started to get strange. As the chanting continued, crimson mist spewed out from the altar, and the thick air seemed to drip blood.

This process lasted for almost ten minutes before stopping, and then a huge figure appeared in the blood mist.

This is a bloated, obese man whose body is covered in stitches of blood. One of his eyes is rotten, and his rotten teeth are enough to make anyone lose their sanity. What's even more frightening is that this guy's big belly is also a mouth full of sharp teeth!

He held a knife in his right hand and an iron chain in his left, his whole body bathed in a mist of blood.

Ryan saw the guy's information through the system notification.

[Blood Hand Butcher 'Barton's Shadow'. Lord lv35]

"It's probably something like a clone." Ryan wasn't surprised. Blood Hand Butcher was one of the four Great Demons of the Blood God Legion. It would be a miracle if his altar appeared in a group of level 35 monsters.