The City Lord's Manor was still brightly lit late at night.
Although the busiest period of the autumn harvest had just ended, Earl Stark's workload as the city lord of Bunta City had not diminished in the slightest.
Unlike his predecessor, Count Samo, who preferred to delegate authority to his subordinates, Earl Stark preferred to keep all power in his own hands, making every decision himself, large or small.
He enjoyed the feeling of having power under his control.
The price he paid for that, however, was being far busier than Count Samo had ever been.
After finishing a small meeting, he returned to his office in the City Lord's Manor and began reviewing official documents without taking a moment to rest.
Thanks to the outstanding results of this year's autumn harvest, Bunta City had received special praise from both His Majesty the King and the Agriculture Bureau. Earl Stark himself had also received a commendation from the Kingdom Parliament, greatly enhancing his reputation both within the kingdom and within his family. He had become yet another rising political star in the Stark Family.
But Earl Stark himself knew perfectly well how inflated those results were, and how much outright falsehood they contained.
To prevent any of it from coming to light, he had to spend even more time and energy tying up loose ends.
He also knew perfectly well that although his family and its allies had pushed him into this position, replacing Count Samo as the lord of a city, the burden he carried was immensely important. Countless eyes among the families opposed to his own were fixed on him. If he made even the slightest slip, a furious storm would inevitably descend on him.
Before his departure, Duke Stark, the head of the family and his own