Chapter 193: Chapter 192: Substantial Assets

Mountain Forest Castle.

“Tom, is what you’re saying true?” Steward Chahar’s voice was loud, his face a mask of disbelief.

Inside the room were Elron, Erin, David, and the Civil Servant, Wilson. Upon hearing the news Tom brought back, they were all both shocked and delighted.

“Head Steward, I wouldn’t joke about something like this!”

Tom, who had returned to Mountain Forest Town alone, had anticipated this reaction. He chuckled and recounted Ronin’s experiences in Wushan Castle.

The assassination in the Beast Fighting Arena, the Knight tournament, forcing Reisen to accept judgment—it all sounded both perilous and thrilling. David’s eyes filled with jealousy. ’If only I had been the one to accompany him this time,’ he thought.

“Lord Ronin is no longer just the Baron of Mountain Forest Town. He is now the Viscount of the entire Wubei Territory!”

Tom swept his hand in a large circle. “With Sain Territory as the border, the entire northern part of the Wushan Territory is now Lord Ronin’s domain!”

Everyone gasped. Wilson, who had lived here for many years, was especially stunned. He didn’t even know how vast the northern part of Wushan Territory was, and now it all belonged to Ronin?

’The Lord is truly…’

Wilson felt dizzy, unable to find the words to express his admiration.

Not long ago, he had just begun to take over the administration of all the villages, including Grey Soil Village. He never expected that the Lord would gain another piece of land so quickly—and it was Swamp Town, which had originally belonged to Baron Reisen.

The population of Swamp Town alone exceeded the combined total of Mountain Forest Town and its subordinate villages. Wilson could already foresee that his future workload would be immense.

But this didn’t dampen Wilson’s enthusiasm in the slightest. On the contrary, he saw a potential path for advancement.

If the Lord had a bright future, then as long as his followers served him with all their hearts, they too could achieve an exceptionally brilliant life!

It wasn’t impossible for him to change his social class, even as a Civil Servant.

In fact, Wilson wasn’t the only one who saw this clear path to success; Chahar did as well.

Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of becoming the head steward of a castle, a dream he thought would be incredibly difficult to achieve.

But after following Ronin, not only did he quickly move into a castle, but he was also promoted from a personal valet to a steward. And now, after such a short time, he was about to transform into the steward of a Viscount’s Domain.

It all felt so dreamlike that he could hardly believe it.

If anyone in the hall was relatively calm, it was Elron and Erin.

The former had spoken with Ridder and knew what the Lord had planned for his trip to Wushan Castle.

The latter wasn’t thinking too deeply about it. She hadn’t yet grasped the significance of Ronin’s promotion from Baron to Viscount of Wubei. She simply thought her Brother Ronin was amazing, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

Seeing everyone immersed in their excitement, Elron reminded them, “Tom, why don’t you tell us what the Lord needs us to do?”

Wilson and Chahar immediately snapped out of their joyful daze. ’That’s right,’ they thought, ’we have to keep pace with the Lord. We can’t afford to slack off.’

“The Lord wants Wilson and Chahar to go and assist him in taking over Swamp Town. I assume there are some matters to be handled.”

Tom continued, “Also, I need to inform the Commander to escort that assassin and all of Reisen’s Follower Knights to Swamp Town. The Knights from Wushan Castle will take them to Wushan City for trial.”

Elron nodded. “A few days ago, Ridder took nearly all the Knights from Mountain Forest Town to attack the Black-collar Tribe. To prevent Shadow from escaping, he was moved to Grey Soil Village for safekeeping. That assassin should now be imprisoned in the Black-collar Tribe’s cells along with Philton and the others.”

After all, Shadow was Bronze Level and possessed the ability of Invisibility. Any slight lapse in security, and he could have escaped.

Ridder knew the importance of this witness, so he had him moved to be watched under his own nose.

Tom glanced at the sky outside. There was still more than an hour until dark. “In that case, I’ll head to the Black-collar Tribe’s camp now to deliver this message to the Commander.”

“Let me handle it.”

David stood up. “I’ve been traveling between the two places frequently lately, so I’m more familiar with the mountain path.”

Elron agreed. “Tom, you should get a good night’s rest. You can take Wilson, Chahar, and the others to Swamp Town tomorrow morning.”

“Alright!”

Tom agreed with a smile. This would also give him time to see his mother, Leia, and share the news that he no longer needed to wear a mask.

…

For the people living in Swamp Castle, the change of lordship was nothing short of a catastrophe. Their good days were over.

Similarly, the people of Swamp Town were fraught with anxiety, not knowing how their new Lord would treat them.

Under Baron Reisen’s rule, most of them had managed to scrape by, working day and night for the Lord. Some had even managed to save up a little private property.

Now that the Lord had changed, how would the new one treat them? They were plunged into deep worry about their property, their safety, and their future.

To quickly quell the unease among Swamp Town’s residents and help them return to a normal state of life, Ronin tasked Mas and Baron Tarren with gathering all the town’s people the next day.

Unlike Mountain Forest Town, Swamp Town had a higher proportion of Free People. They had many questions, such as what had happened to their old Lord, the identity of the new Lord, and how he would treat them.

It was clear that the people of Swamp Town were more outspoken than the residents of Mountain Forest Town.

Ronin answered all these questions with great patience and friendliness.

He emphasized the crimes Reisen had committed, making the people realize that their former lord was a criminal, a man of wickedness.

At the same time, to further alleviate their panic, Ronin guaranteed that he would not infringe upon the private property of Swamp Town’s residents and would work to restore order and safety as quickly as possible.

Given Ronin’s special status as a member of the Wushan Clan, coupled with the friendly exchange, the residents of Swamp Town gained a basic understanding of their new Lord, and their anxiety and fear lessened considerably.

Next, Ronin planned to select a group of people from among them to help manage Swamp Town, such as recruiting new servants for Swamp Castle and hiring Political Assistants.

Using locals for management would, to a certain extent, increase stability.

As long as a stable environment could be maintained, it wouldn’t really matter to them whether the Lord had changed or not, once they were fully immersed in their work.

“Viscount, you are truly patient with your people,” Mas, who was by Ronin’s side, couldn’t help but remark.

In his opinion, placating the populace was something that could be left to subordinates. A Lord had no need to waste time on such matters.

After all, unless they were absolutely desperate, the people would not leave their land.

“This initial communication is still necessary.”

Ronin said with a smile, “It makes the people feel respected, reduces unnecessary misunderstandings and suspicion, and helps them quickly return to their normal lives.”

Mas nodded thoughtfully.

’It seems this newly-risen noble not only possesses extraordinary talent for Cultivation, but also has his own ideas about governing a territory.’

’No wonder his father holds him in such high regard.’

Around noon, Tom arrived at Swamp Castle with Wilson and Chahar. Accompanying them were five Political Assistants whom Wilson had recently trained.

Now that his own people had arrived, Ronin set his plans in motion.

The first order of business was a census. Every household and every person had to be registered.

Wilson had conducted censuses many times before, so Ronin didn’t need to instruct him on the details; he knew exactly how to handle it.

The second task was to inventory the assets within the castle, including grain, Weapons, money, and so on. Wushan Castle would not be taking these assets; they would all go into Ronin’s pockets.

They say crime is the quickest path to riches, but the wealth gained from seizing a castle was even more substantial.

Setting aside everything else, just take Reisen’s savings for example: a full three thousand four hundred Gold Coins. And that was just the cash, not including other assets.

Although Ronin had spent over a thousand Gold Coins in Wushan City to purchase materials for making Magic Scrolls, thanks to the rewards and tips he received at Wushan Castle, the number of Gold Coins in his Space Ring had now reached nearly seven thousand six hundred!

He hadn’t even realized he had become so wealthy.

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