"Have you heard? The Red Tide Fief attacked Viscount Zachariah's territory."
"What? They resorted to force over the land exchange? Isn't that going too far... is he planning a rebellion?"
When the news first broke, it shook the entire noble circle in the southeastern Northern Frontier.
In council chambers and reception rooms, whispered discussions spread like wildfire.
"Even for the Red Tide Fief, that was far too reckless."
"Who would dare negotiate with him now? Today it was Zachariah. Will it be me tomorrow?"
Many had already begun drafting anonymous letters of denunciation addressed to the Imperial Capital.
Every line brimmed with accusations of "forcibly seizing territory," "threatening violence," and "violating imperial agreements."
Suspicion, fear, anger... quietly took root among nobles and traveling merchants.
The Red Tide Fief's prestige seemed poised on the brink of collapse.
Until the Red Tide Fief publicly displayed the items recovered after the battle.
Bodies were carried outside the city, one after another-the remains of Snow Oath stragglers, with Snow Oath brands still faintly visible on their arms.
Alongside them were fragments of shattered stone idols retrieved from the altar.
Viscount Zachariah had not merely worshipped an Evil God in secret. He had even used human sacrifices as a medium to summon it.
And so, before those letters of denunciation could be sent, they were held to candle flames and burned to ash.
"...So that was what happened."
"He actually colluded with remnants of the Old Snow Kingdom and worshipped an Evil God..."
"Red Tide has done us all an enormous favor."
Public opinion reversed in an instant, and the prevailing sentiment changed completely.
People no longer spoke of the "land exchange dispute," only of "Evil God infiltration" and "the poison of the Northern Frontier."
After all, exterminating the Snow Oath was an unquestionable political