Chapter 40: Chapter 39: The Second Meeting with the Subjects

The morning air on the mountain path was damp as two swift horses galloped along the trail.

The strong, well-built Guards on horseback had been handpicked by Ronin to deliver a message. They were headed to Lake Town to seek help from the Green Clan.

If Baron German was willing to lend them a Message Bird, the two Guards would return. If not, they would have to retrace their path back to Wushan Castle to deliver the letter.

They had already galloped for dozens of miles and were only two hours away from leaving the mountains.

But just then, two other swift horses came charging toward them from the opposite direction.

“It’s that Knight from yesterday!”

“From Sain Territory. What’s he doing here again?”

The two messengers’ hearts skipped a beat. They instinctively pulled on their reins, halting to clear the path for the newcomer.

The rider was none other than Philton Henry, the Knight Captain of Sain Territory. He hadn’t expected to run into people from Mountain Forest Town here.

Philton also came to a stop and asked, “Where are you two headed?”

The aura of an Advanced Level Knight made the two Guards nervous, but the thought that they had Baron Ronin, the Lord of Mountain Forest Town, backing them helped them remain relatively calm.

While ordinary people stood no chance against a Knight, if he were to kill them without reason, he would face enormous consequences once it was discovered. A hefty monetary compensation would be the least of it.

“Honorable Sir Knight, we are delivering a message for Lord Ronin,” one of the messengers replied.

Philton’s heart leaped at his words. ’Don’t tell me they’re delivering a message to Wushan Castle? And is it about the matter between Sain Territory and Mountain Forest Town?’

“Do you know what’s in the letter Lord Ronin asked you to deliver?” he asked hurriedly.

“Apologies, Sir Knight, but we do not know the contents of the letter.”

Philton’s brow furrowed slightly. He had come today precisely to resolve Sain Territory’s problem. If Ronin’s letter was indeed about this matter and he had sent messengers to deliver it, things would become very troublesome.

“Don’t deliver that letter for now,” Philton said.

Hearing this, the two messengers were startled, and their hearts began to race. ’This Sir Knight isn’t actually going to cause trouble for us, is he?’

“I’m sorry, but this is a task our Lord specifically assigned to us. Without Lord Ronin’s permission, we must see the letter delivered. Sir Philton, you wouldn’t try to stop us, would you?”

The two messengers were nervous, yet they remained neither servile nor overbearing.

After what they had experienced yesterday, and with Ronin’s instructions before they left, they knew they had to remain composed.

“Heh, no need to be so tense.”

Philton’s tone softened. “I am on my way to request an audience with your lord, Baron Ronin. The matter I wish to discuss may be related to the contents of the letter you’re holding. If you deliver it, it could cause your lord a loss of several Hundred Gold Coins!”

He was skilled at getting to the point. “If Lord Ronin finds out that you ignored my advice and caused him such a huge loss, do you think he’ll blame you?”

“This…”

The two messengers exchanged a glance. Now they were at a loss.

Seeing his advantage, Philton continued, “How about this? You two come back with me to see your lord. When we get there, I’ll tell him I was the one who asked you to return. I’m sure he won’t blame you.”

“Besides, if you still need to send a message later, I can lend you a Message Bird from Sain Territory. It’s much faster than traveling by horse.”

The two messengers were still a bit hesitant, but when they considered that this matter might involve their lord’s grand financial plans, they finally chose to compromise.

“Haha, good! Let’s go then. I’ll have to trouble you to announce me later!”

Philton laughed heartily, pulling on his reins to continue on his way.

“By the way, yesterday Lord Ronin mentioned you have an Advanced Peak Professional Knight among you. Is it that big fellow, the one built like a mountain?”

The two messengers said jokingly as they turned their horses around.

“That’s Lord Macken!”

“Lord Macken is incredible! It’s said that even if two or three Advanced Peak Knights ganged up on him at once, he’d still be undefeated!”

A serious glint flashed in Philton’s eyes. ’This Macken is a tough opponent. I’ll have to take him seriously in the future!’

In truth, he didn’t know that the messengers were only saying this because Ronin had specifically instructed them to during their morning training.

Whether it was people from Mountain Forest Town or outsiders, anyone who asked about the Guard Officer’s strength was to be given that exact answer.

…

Meanwhile, Ronin was leading Macken, Chahar, and the others toward the pasture on the west side of town.

The previous night, David and Tom had already announced that the Lord wanted to meet with his subjects, scheduling the meeting for ten o’clock this morning at the western pasture.

Ronin didn’t have many people with him at the moment. Ten of his injured Guards were recuperating, two had been sent out as messengers, and five were left to stand guard at the castle. That left only twelve Guards to accompany him.

Ordinary Guards had little combat effectiveness against a Transcendent. Ronin brought them along purely for the sake of appearances.

At this moment, the western pasture was a sea of people. The subjects had arrived early and were waiting.

Word of the new Lord’s arrival in town yesterday had already spread among the subjects. Although Princest was a traitor, this new Lord had killed so many people in one go; he was clearly a ruthless man.

How could they dare to make their Lord wait for them?

Now, basically all the subjects had arrived. Even those too ill to walk had been carried here by their families.

When Ronin arrived at the edge of the pasture, he was taken aback by the scene before him.

His first thought was: ’My god, why are there so many people?’

His second feeling was a surge of joy welling up from his heart.

’More people is a good thing! With a larger population, the difficulty of completing the [Population Prosperity] achievement will be greatly reduced.’

With Ronin’s appearance, the clamoring crowd instantly fell silent. All eyes focused on him, everyone afraid that making the slightest sound might displease their Lord.

It was the first time Ronin had ever been stared at by so many people; it was impossible not to feel a little nervous.

’But I’m a Lord now. I can’t lose face in front of my own subjects.’

He took a deep breath and strode toward the high ground—not a specially constructed platform, just a small, raised mound in the pasture.

’Alright, this meeting has absolutely no sense of ceremony.’

But there was no helping it. The event had been arranged in a hurry, and besides, Ronin didn’t have a Civil Servant.

The thought of it gave Ronin a bit of a headache.

A Civil Servant wasn’t like a servant; you couldn’t just recruit one so easily.

’To take on the role of a Civil Servant, one has to be literate, at the very least, right?’

Ronin looked over his subordinates. The thirty Guards, including David, were out of the question. Besides them, there were only Macken, Elron, Chahar, and Tom.

Chahar was the castle’s butler, and the others were all Transcendents. None of them were suitable for the role of Civil Servant.

After his thoughts had drifted for a moment, Ronin’s focus returned to the present. He glanced at Elron beside him, who understood the cue, immediately stepping forward and announcing in a loud voice:

“Subjects of Mountain Forest Town! The scion of the great Wushan Clan, the Lord of Mountain Forest Town, Baron Ronin, stands before you now! Whatever your status, bow to your Lord and offer him your loyalty!”

Elron had been reading a lot of books recently, including two knight novels with lines just like that. He was putting his knowledge to practical use.

As his voice fell, everyone began to bow.

The subjects who were Peasant Slaves all knelt on the ground, while the Free People gave deep bows to show their respect.

Ronin looked out and saw that the majority of them were kneeling.

But regardless of who they were, they all shouted in unison, “We greet you, my Lord!”

The simultaneous shouts of over a thousand people merged into a massive torrent of sound, enough to make one’s heart surge with emotion.

Ronin looked at this crowd of subjects, his heart filled with excitement. ’This is my foundation.’

“I accept your loyalty, my subjects!”

He responded in a loud voice, “From this day forward, we shall make clear our respective rights and obligations.”

Ronin didn’t need to waste time on pleasantries, especially not when addressing his own subjects.

“As my subjects, loyalty to Mountain Forest Town and loyalty to me is your first principle! You must work hard for me, and work to build up Mountain Forest Town!”

“As your Lord, I will exercise my rights, and I will also fulfill my obligations. I will grant you powerful protection, stable order, and an ever-improving life!”

After saying this, Ronin glanced at Elron.

Understanding the cue, Elron immediately said, “The light of our Lord will forever protect you all!”

As he spoke, he slowly raised his hands, which began to shine with a brilliant light.

This scene utterly shocked the people below.

Just then, a pillar of light shot from Elron’s hands, heading straight for an injured man in the crowd who had a bandage wrapped around his arm.

The crowd followed the direction of the light, their gazes fixed on the injured man.

The injured man froze for a moment, then let out a cry of joyful surprise. “My wound is healed!”

With an excited look on his face, he tore off the bandage. The people were amazed to see that the wound on his blood-stained arm had already closed.

“By the Seven Gods, what is this miraculous power!” The man looked up at Elron, his eyes filled with awe.

At that moment, however, Elron used the Flash Skill on Ronin.

At the same time, he cried out, “This is the radiance of Lord Ronin! He has permitted me to bestow this light upon you, to protect you!”

Bathed in light, Ronin now appeared as an endlessly mysterious figure in the hearts of these Peasant Slaves and Free People. They gaped, their eyes wide, as if they were looking upon a deity.

Macken drew his Longsword, and his Fighting Qi flared to life, sending a pillar of light soaring into the sky with majestic power.

“Let us cheer! Long live Lord Ronin!”

The subjects were stunned for a moment, then many of them came to their senses and began to cheer along.

The cheers were sparse and disjointed at first, but as more and more people joined in, they grew louder and more unified.

“Long live Lord Ronin!”

“Long live Lord Ronin!”

“Long live Lord Ronin!”

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