Back in the Main World, Green and Princess Mulesina received a hero's welcome at the Royal Palace. The Lorenzo Kingdom's senior nobles, officials, and prominent capitalists all attended the celebration, along with diplomats from the Divine Eagle Empire and clergy from the Holy Light Church.
Part of the reason was that they had held Void World 26 against the odds. More importantly, they had displayed astonishing strength.
Princess Mulesina had broken through to Mid Calamity Rank in the midst of battle, while Green had summoned two powerful Calamity Rank creatures in one go. Now no one dared say for certain whether he had a third—or even a fourth—Calamity Rank undead at his command.
As His Majesty the Emperor of the Divine Eagle Empire had said, every person and every nation deserved respect and rights commensurate with their strength.
So, at the welcome celebration, Green's identity as Wood Slater was formally granted the title of Duke of Northwest Province. He was also awarded nearly a third of the province as his territory, including Landon City.
In one stroke, Green became the landed duke with the largest territory in the Lorenzo Kingdom outside the royal family. Prady XIV had thoughtfully included Landon City and its surrounding areas, which Green had spent years developing, sparing him a great deal of trouble.
When the news reached Landon City, it caused little stir. For ordinary people, it was hardly a bad thing: with a lord above them, they would no longer pay taxes to the Kingdom's government. By the Lorenzo Kingdom's custom, lords generally charged a lower tax rate than the Kingdom did. It was a standard way for noble lords to win people over.
But inside the Wilson Family castle, the news left Viscount Paul and Vincent stunned.
Others did not know the truth,