In the Northern Frontier's bitter winter, the domed houses of Red Tide City were already as warm as spring.
Bradley sat up and slowly rolled his shoulders, producing a faint clicking sound.
"Ugh... these old bones are getting less obedient by the day." Muttering, he picked up the robe beside his bed, draped it over himself, and unhurriedly brewed a cup of warm tea.
Looking after his health had become a daily habit, not to live longer, but to handle his duties with a clearer head each day.
Now past sixty, he had once been the Calvin Family's old steward in the Southeast Province, spending his entire life dealing with nobles.
He should have begun preparing for retirement four years ago, then enjoyed a comfortable old age with the Calvin Family.
Instead, a single command from Duke Calvin had sent him to the Northern Frontier to investigate demon marrow ore.
Once he reached Louis's territory, Bradley discovered that this previously unremarkable young master was indeed doing well, though plenty of gaps and disorder remained in the local administration.
Louis had also personally asked him to stay and help develop the Red Tide Fief.
Bradley had originally intended to help the boy for a year or two at most, then return to the Southeast to retire once Louis had found his footing.
But his stay had stretched into four years.
He had watched that young man, Louis, single-handedly hold everything together through blizzards, epidemics, and riots.
He had seen how Louis forged a crowd of refugees, slaves, and defeated soldiers into the orderly city it was today.
How, in just a few years, Louis rose from a Frontier Baron to an Earl-and the Northern Frontier's actual ruler.
And before Bradley knew it, he had become Red Tide City's chief administrator, ranking