Morey Sebastian

Ye Wei'an thought the two people before him looked familiar.

The man in the lead was burly. Even dressed in black mourning clothes, he couldn't hide the contours of his muscles. He had a neatly trimmed gray beard, and a badly worn two-handed sword hung at his waist.

At his side was a young man with similarly gray hair and a resolute expression.

"Greetings, Lord Ye Wei'an," the bearded man said first, his voice rough and hoarse.

Ye Wei'an studied him, then nodded calmly. "It's been a long time, Sir Morey Sebastian."

"Oh! By Earthmother's womb, you actually remember my name?" Morey was taken aback, then laughed heartily, both surprised and pleased.

"You're Lina's father. Of course I remember you," Ye Wei'an said, giving him a graceful way to respond.

At that, Morey smiled even more broadly.

Of course, he couldn't have known that Ye Wei'an had recognized him by checking the personal information displayed by the system.

Morey Sebastian, Lv. 6 Totem Warrior (Bear)

As expected of one of the Firefall Territory's few great knights.

Totem Warrior was a subclass of Berserker. Its adherents believed that all things had spirits, and each tribe worshipped an animal spirit. They looked to these spirits as guides, protectors, and sources of power. The class was fairly common among the tribes of Rashemen.

Morey was the highest-level professional Ye Wei'an had encountered since arriving in this world.

Morey's smile faded, and his expression grew complicated. "Young master, to be honest, four years ago, when Lina went against Lady Selina's wishes to take care of you, I wanted to lock her in the cells. I thought that in a noble household, kindness without restraint would only bring her harm. But who could have guessed..."

He looked into Ye Wei'an's eyes, which glimmered with a blue-white light. "That girl's only in her teens, and already she has better judgment than her old man. That inconspicuous bastard from back then has actually become a Wizard. Since she chose to trust you, I, Morey Sebastian, have no reason not to take a chance."

He stepped forward and lowered his voice, his tone solemn and serious. "Ever since the old Baron fell seriously ill and that woman took control of the Firefall Territory, I've felt uneasy. All that woman cares about is money. She doesn't care a bit about honor, and I've been wanting to stop putting up with her for a long time."

Then he roughly yanked the young man beside him forward. "This is my son, Lina's younger brother, Volodya. I wanted him to follow in my footsteps, honor our family totem, and learn to channel the power of the beast spirit. But he insisted on believing the nonsense those Bards tell him and becoming some kind of 'knight.' What a traitor to the family!"

Though he grumbled, Ye Wei'an could hear the pride in his voice.

"Volodya, what are you standing around for?" Morey barked at his son, his face stern. "Don't you want to be a knight? Your lord is standing right in front of you! Go on, swear your loyalty to him!"

Volodya was much more reserved than his father.

He performed a formal, flawless knight's salute, then knelt on one knee and offered Ye Wei'an his sword. "Volodya Sebastian is at your service, my lord. Though I don't possess my father's mighty fury, my sword and shield will protect your banner."

Ye Wei'an looked at his information.

Volodya Sebastian, Lv. 3 Warrior

He was seven or eight years younger than Cain, but like him, he was a level 3 Fighter.

The Warrior subclass focused more on enhancing individual combat ability, while Purple Dragon Knights were better at leading troops.

That suited their family's style.

"It's an honor to accept your allegiance." Ye Wei'an took the sword and tapped it against Volodya's shoulders, completing the oath of fealty.

With their allegiance secured, Morey immediately asked, "Young master, since our whole family has entrusted our lives to you, I'll get straight to the point. What exactly are your plans?"

"Naturally, to recruit people and prepare for the settlement," Ye Wei'an said simply. "I plan to recruit a group of landless farmers in the Firefall Territory."

"My lord, forgive me for dampening the mood." Morey furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. "Twenty thousand gold coins may sound like a lot, but it's nowhere near enough to establish a territory."

"Establishing a territory takes money at every turn." He counted off on his fingers. "We have to build a fortress, buy farming tools and provisions, clear the trade routes... There are endless expenses. This amount will last us six months at most."

Ye Wei'an looked at him in surprise. "Didn't Lina tell you about our finances?"

"Tell me... what?" Morey asked, looking confused.

"The twenty thousand gold coins are only Father's contribution," Ye Wei'an explained. "On top of that, I also 'persuaded' Lady Selina to provide additional compensation: ten thousand gold coins, half the territory's weapons and armor, half its cattle and sheep, a year's worth of provisions for five hundred people, and various other supplies."

Morey stared in astonishment, then slapped his thigh and burst into thunderous laughter. "By Earthmother's skirts! Young master, you're truly something. You actually managed to squeeze meat out of that woman, who loves money more than life! I've led soldiers all my life, and I've never seen anyone make her give ground when it comes to money. Lina was right about you!"

"Not just money," Ye Wei'an corrected him. "I also got official authority to recruit. Besides farmers, I can freely recruit craftsmen, all sorts of skilled people, and even knights."

At that, Morey's expression turned serious instead.

"My lord, that's exactly what I wanted to warn you about. With your reputation, you won't have trouble recruiting a large number of destitute refugees and farmers who want a full meal. But if you're counting on taking a large, organized force of soldiers or a decent number of knights with you, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

"Oh?" Ye Wei'an raised an eyebrow. "Explain, my great knight."

"It's simple. The Firefall Territory may not be large, but most of the soldiers and knights here—or their fathers—served with the old Baron in the Purple Dragon Legion."

Morey spoke gravely. "Ordinary farmers don't know how dangerous the frontier is, but these soldiers do. They've seen travelers whose bones were gnawed by orcs, and comrades who died from the miasma. Without a tangible prospect they can see and touch, experienced veterans would rather spend their whole lives scraping by here than follow you into the wilderness to die."

Ye Wei'an raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Wizard. Doesn't that count as a good enough reason?"

"My lord, you're still too young." Morey shook his head with a wry smile. "Those soldiers and knights aren't like us Rashemi... To be honest, they don't like spellcasters all that much. In their eyes, Wizards are powerful, but they're also strange, need protection, and might drag everyone into some kind of disaster at any moment. You have a reputation for caring for your soldiers and rewarding and punishing them fairly, but that can only earn their respect. It isn't enough to make them put their lives in your hands."

He continued, offering earnest advice. "Young master, if you want those veterans to follow you, you need to find a way to make them believe, deep down, that they can survive on the frontier with you."

Ye Wei'an understood the implication behind Morey's words.

As a great knight who had spent twenty years in the military, Morey was forthright, but he was no simpleton.

A simpleton couldn't become a great knight of the territory.

His words were both a warning and a subtle attempt to establish how indispensable he was. Ye Wei'an had never led troops before. The surest way to make those proud soldiers obey him was to rely completely on Morey's reputation and put the great knight in command.

Ye Wei'an didn't call out his ulterior motive, but he had no intention of handing over command of his troops.

The wisdom of his homeland told him: "The great affairs of state lie in war and sacrifice."

If he wanted to rule in comfort, he absolutely couldn't hand military power to anyone else.

But how could he earn the soldiers' trust in the shortest possible time?

He suddenly remembered the map belonging to the Zhentarim that he'd found at one of their supply depots.

The Zhentarim were an old and powerful evil organization on Faerûn, founded by the evil god of tyranny, Bane, the "Black Emperor."

To the outside world, they often disguised themselves as a smuggling consortium called the Black Network. In reality, the Zhentarim were a criminal empire spanning the continent. They didn't just engage in trade and smuggling; they were also keen to manipulate other nations' politics through force and infiltration.

Most powers across Faerûn were wary of such an organization, especially a powerful monarchy like Cormyr.

The Obarskyr royal family, seated on the Dragon Throne, wouldn't tolerate an organization like that infiltrating the kingdom's government.

He'd wondered back then why the Zhentarim had so many secret outposts in the Hurek Forest.

Given Cormyr's strength, it shouldn't have tolerated anything like that.

Only after discovering evidence of the Amarisk Family's smuggling did Ye Wei'an understand what was going on.

So there was a traitor within.

Now, that map might come in handy.

"Sir Morey, I understand your concerns." Ye Wei'an wasn't angry at the man's doubts. "It's only fair that people don't trust a spellcaster who's never been on a battlefield. In that case, before I leave the Firefall Territory, I plan to make one last contribution to the family: I'll send troops to wipe out the bandit dens along the border and help my younger brother keep the territory peaceful. Please gather the soldiers and knights who want to distinguish themselves or see what I'm made of. Tell them I'll lead them out to suppress the bandits. I'll show them through my actions whether I can lead troops."

Morey's expression froze for a moment, and he looked somewhat embarrassed.

He'd meant to make Ye Wei'an realize the difficulty of the task and turn to him for help. That way, the Sebastian Family could secure an important position in the new territory.

He hadn't expected the young master to be so... naive.

"Well... the bandits around Firefall Valley aren't pushovers. They hide in the forest and they're very cunning."

Ye Wei'an kept looking at him with unwavering resolve, so Morey could only give in. "Since you have the courage for it, young master... Fine. I'll gather the brothers willing to take part and see who wants to earn some merit."

Lord Ye Wei'an is a Wizard, after all. They're only bandits, so nothing serious should happen, Morey thought.