Before long, once the little incident was over, the darkness of night rapidly faded away.
The hazy light rose once more through the fog.
Colin took out the parchment and checked it. There were 451 survivors in the Regional Channel today, and fewer than a hundred deaths—a major improvement over the first day.
It was easy to foresee that a group of lords would come seeking his protection today. This was also an opportunity to expand.
"As for the other survivors who come seeking shelter and wish to join us, if they're still unwilling to hand over their Three Cores and surrender their items before using the Shield of the Just Knight to establish a bond with Mr. Colin, then they can't be brought into this territory."
"We can settle them at the other Temporary Outposts and provide them with basic protection for their lives. Even if they hand over their things, we must keep them under strict watch."
"We still don't know what form the disaster will take, so we must also prepare for the possibility that survivors might betray us."
This was the arrangement Roger had proposed to Colin during their discussion yesterday. He wanted to make sure no unsafe elements slipped into Colin's backyard, so he could support Colin at the front without any worries.
As for how to handle unfamiliar lords, Roger believed that everything had to be based on "loyalty."
They could be good people, but they couldn't be indiscriminately kind.
A crisis was approaching, and they didn't have the energy to deal with unnecessary "relationships." Everything had to remain under their control.
If those people wanted to join Colin and share in their gains, but weren't willing to offer their "loyalty"—
Then they could help them become loyal.
By now, with the preparations complete,