The Grotesque Hero Character

"Ding! Congratulations, Lord, on completing your mission to defend your territory. You successfully defeated the invaders who attacked your castle."

"Mission rewards are being distributed: castle upgrade once, 200 merit points."

Reiner was in high spirits. Not only had he won the war, but he had also gained a huge amount of merit from the two battles. Now, with the mission rewards being distributed, a smile involuntarily spread across his face.

"Sir Cord, please tally our losses and send the report to me. Let the soldiers rest for three days. After three days, we will gather the soldiers and attack Goer Castle. Baron Lobean is dead, and his castle will be mine."

"And to my knights, I will reward you according to your merits. The squires will become true knights with their own fiefs!"

Reiner declared this in front of everyone, and everyone had delighted expressions. The Moreland Family's squires were all the eldest sons of knights who already held fiefs. Their acquisition of fiefs would strengthen their families, serving as a form of reward.

Goer Castle consisted of one castle and eighteen villages. While its territory was not as large as Morland Castle's, its population density was higher. After all, when the Krad People raided south each year, they first passed through Morland Castle, meaning Goer Castle suffered less destruction and even had a larger population than Morland Castle.

Furthermore, and most importantly, Goer Castle also had an iron mine. Otherwise, Baron Lobean would never have been able to arm an army similar in size to Morland Castle's with a territory so much smaller.

With Goer Castle now in his possession, Reiner now had another iron mine. He could now not only craft equipment for his own army but also continue to supply iron ore to the Empire's interior.

Currently, the Empire was in turmoil because the Emperor had been bedridden for years, leading to lords acting recklessly. Many lords who previously held grudges and conflicts of interest were now on the verge of open conflict. Furthermore, some nobles were even eyeing the imperial throne.

As a result, the instability throughout the Empire caused the prices of strategic resources like food and steel to skyrocket. Previously, Reiner had used the steel produced from his territory's iron mine to forge armor and equipment, so he hadn't sold much to the interior, missing out on a huge fortune.

However, with the acquisition of another iron mine, he could now imagine the speed at which he would accumulate wealth.

That being said, Morland Castle's economy was still quite primitive. Money wasn't used very often. The Lord had manpower, timber, and grain at his disposal, and even soldiers' wages could be paid in kind.

Not just Morland Castle, but the entire Northern Territory of the Empire was largely in this state. Aside from the Empire's interior or more commercially developed regions, currency was rarely used.

It was still too early to talk about these things. What he urgently needed to do now was to quickly bring the ownerless Goer Castle under his control. Fortunately, the heavy snow had blocked the roads, and the Krad People's invasion had also kept lords in various regions uninformed. Otherwise, Reiner wouldn't dare give his soldiers time to rest. If they rested for three days, Goer Castle might be carved up by other lords.

After making these arrangements, Reiner returned to the castle to comfort his family, valets, and maids. At the same time, he also needed to spread the news of his victory over the Krad People throughout his territory.

This would cause his prestige to skyrocket once more, and everyone in the territory would wholeheartedly submit to his rule.

"Oh! Holy Father bless, you're finally back, my Reiner!" Lady Moreland, dressed in a pale purple gown, embraced Reiner, her voice trembling.

She had initially opposed Reiner going to fight the Krad People due to her worry, and although her son had eventually convinced her, as a mother, she couldn't help but worry about her son venturing into danger.

And with her son not yet returned, other lords began attacking the castle, which terrified her, a mere woman. Her husband had already died from illness, and if she lost her eldest son now, there would be no meaning to her life.

"Uh…" Reiner had been an orphan from a young age, without parents. While he initially found it hard to adjust to having a mother here, he later grew to cherish it. However, with his mother suddenly expressing such intense emotion, he was somewhat at a loss.

"Don't… don't worry, Mother. Haven't I returned safe and sound?" He could only use his limited vocabulary to comfort the mother of this body.

Reiner was overwhelmed by his mother's tearful complaints, leaving him flustered. After finally managing to appease her, Reiner breathed a sigh of relief and lay down on his bed.

In his excellent mood, he had no desire to sleep. Seeing a faint glow appearing on the horizon, Reiner had a thought and opened the System interface.

"System, open the hero gacha interface!"

"As you command, Lord. Opening the hero gacha interface now."

The System's robotic voice sounded, and a roulette-like gacha machine appeared before Reiner. He carefully observed the ten randomly appearing characters on the roulette.

When he saw one particular character, he immediately sat up from his bed, completely stunned by this character.

"Holy crap! This is even possible?!"

He was utterly flabbergasted, his eyeballs practically popping out of their sockets: "Oh my god…"

A description of the character appeared on Reiner's retina: "General Kentro Aves, a powerful commander from Calradia, a legendary god of war. It's commonplace for him to fight a thousand enemies alone on the battlefield, and he has never been defeated. Loyalty: 100, Personality: None, Overall Rating: Top-tier Hero."

"General Aves! Holy crap!" Reiner couldn't help but curse from his bed. In his previous life, as a model youth raised under the red flag, he rarely swore, but the immense shock he felt involuntarily made him blurt out a couple of expletives.

Who was General Aves? Any player who had played Mount & Blade would likely know. On the battlefield, he was invincible; no enemy soldier could remain standing in his wake.

Yet, despite being a general, he was also one of the rare merciful individuals. No one who fell under his hand would die; all were merely knocked unconscious, not killed.

That's right, he was essentially a cheat code, specifically designed by the game company to lower the game's difficulty for players.

He had never dreamed that the System would materialize a string of code into a hero character. Looking at General Aves before him, Reiner's heart burned with excitement. If he could acquire General Aves, then he would have nothing to fear. Wouldn't becoming invincible be just around the corner?

"System! Initiate the gacha immediately!" Reiner said urgently, eager to obtain General Aves.

"As you command, Lord! Initiating hero gacha now!"

As soon as the System finished speaking, the entire roulette began to spin at a speed Reiner couldn't perceive. After spinning for a while, its speed gradually slowed, and Reiner could slowly start to see each hero.