Chapter 291: A Maddening Letter from a Stranger

Phield quickly found Tisiana, who had been anxiously waiting for them.

Rosalia once again hid herself within the Greatsword of Gluttony. After defeating two members of the Imperial Guards, she needed to remain even more cautious now.

"Seeing that you’re both safe puts my mind at ease."

Lowering her praying hands, Tisiana happily winked at Phield.

"Did you run into any pursuing enemies?" Taking a flask of water from the carriage, Phield drank while asking about the situation. "We’re severely lacking manpower right now. Everywhere needs people."

"We didn’t encounter any enemies, but two slaves tried to secretly escape, so I killed them on the spot." Despite her gentle appearance, Tisiana’s methods were ruthless. "You were right. Our military strength is far too weak. We’re struggling even to guard prisoners and war spoils."

No matter how powerful Divine Chosen were, the core of warfare would always revolve around manpower. Otherwise, situations like this would happen, where even guarding captives and spoils required Divine Chosen to personally intervene.

"We need to expand the army. We’ll need soldiers for patrols and guard duty in the future. Let’s head to Maple Leaf Territory first and buy more slaves."

Phield felt a headache coming on. There was never enough manpower or food.

While traveling, they took inventory of their gains.

The biggest reward from Wind Tour Territory was seventy thousand gold coins, most of which came from the vaults of wealthy merchants. Some rich men were truly wealthier than the local lords themselves.

The second major gain was a massive amount of plate armor and weaponry. Most of it was outdated or heavily worn equipment, but the quantity made up for it. They had acquired more than two hundred sets of leather armor, fifty-two sets of scale armor, and even five intact cavalry plate armor sets.

The third gain was a batch of eagle eggs, though nobody knew what kind of magical beasts would hatch from them.

Only after safely arriving at Maple Leaf Territory did Phield finally relax.

Walking beside him, Tisiana reminded him, "After this purchase, I think we should avoid coming to Maple Leaf Territory for a while. This place is no longer safe."

The nobles were not idiots, nor were they rigid NPCs. With the consecutive Gray Mist incidents and the attack on the Imperial Guards, it was easy to predict that the entire High Castle Province would soon become a heavily monitored region under the Empire.

Even without evidence, someone like Phield, who constantly entered and exited the Gray Mist, would quickly end up on the list of suspects.

As for publicly exposing himself and single-handedly fighting the entire world, it sounded cool, but it was neither practical nor necessary.

"Exactly. I already have a plan."

Seeing Tisiana lower her gaze with a worried expression, Phield chose not to dwell on the hardships ahead and instead encouraged her.

"Don’t worry about losing our trading capabilities. I’ve wanted to stop coming to Maple Leaf Territory for a long time anyway. Those bastards scam my money every single day."

"Damn it, they’re constantly playing trade barrier games with me. But now we also possess Third-Tier combat power. I can sell my goods to whoever I want, and I can buy things wherever I want."

If Rosalia were human, he would even gain legitimate political influence in internal affairs.

Possessing a Third-Tier Divine Chosen was enough to influence the operation of the Empire itself.

Hooking an arm around Tisiana’s shoulder, Phield grinned.

"I’m planning to buy the land deed for Dawnfall Domain. Once we own two baronies, we’ll basically have two accounts. You can play whichever one you want."

"Hahaha."

Tisiana burst into laughter, swaying beautifully as she laughed.

"You haven’t even finished digesting Nightfall Domain yet, and you’re already eyeing someone else’s territory."

"Nightfall Domain is the food in my bowl... the bread on my plate. Dawnfall Domain is still sitting in the oven. I’m planning to spend ten thousand gold coins to buy the land deed for Dawnfall Domain. Technically, that place belongs to the Fierce Stallion family."

Land in the northern region had already become worthless. Ten thousand gold coins were enough to purchase an entire barony. In other provinces, even a hundred times that amount would not suffice.

Phield was not joking. He had realized that a single barony was no longer enough to support so many Divine Chosen, at least not for now.

The energy of the entire territory was probably being devoured by Ashina alone, while the other First-Tier Divine Chosen showed almost no growth whatsoever.

"If only the territory’s energy could be quantified into data... forget it. I’ll figure it out slowly."

Shaking away the thought, Phield sent people to purchase slaves and grain while he finally took the opportunity to read the two letters he had not checked earlier.

One of them came from Sherry Gassina, whom he had not contacted in quite some time.

"Honorable Baron Phield, for the sake of the Empire and stability, please report the movements of the undead tide to me as soon as possible. In addition, a close female friend of mine has become very curious about your territory. Once you feel the timing is appropriate, please inform me, and I will visit together with her. Whatever you require, I will also do my utmost to satisfy."

"Oh? Someone actually still thinks about me."

Tisiana smiled gently.

"My lord is quite popular."

Although Sherry’s intentions were primarily for the stability of the Empire, the fact that she expressed a desire to visit still made Phield rather happy.

However, asking him to report the undead tide’s movements felt somewhat overstepping.

He was a legitimate baron. She had no authority to command him.

"If they can come here for trade, that would naturally be even better."

After pondering for a moment, Phield frowned.

"But the Shadow World Sect is nearby. If the rebels discover that Nightfall Domain has a safe zone, we’ll easily become a target."

Nodding in agreement, Tisiana spoke bluntly.

"They’re nothing but lunatics obsessed with slaughter and destruction. Mm... they even eat people. If they discover our territory, the pressure on our defenses will increase tremendously." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Yeah. Maybe we should take the initiative and find a way to locate members of the Shadow World Sect, then eliminate them."

The fact that Phield occasionally impersonated the Shadow World Sect did not mean he held any goodwill toward those madmen.

"I’ll invite Miss Sherry over once the surrounding area becomes more stable."

Putting Sherry’s letter away, Phield opened the second letter.

Inside lay a gold voucher worth one hundred gold coins.

Phield was stunned.

"What the hell is this? Don’t tell me this is some kind of sign-in reward package. Someone’s actually giving me money?"

"Don’t make it sound like your popularity is that terrible, Phield. You’re actually a pretty decent person. Maybe it’s a provincial subsidy."

Tisiana opened the envelope and mischievously stuck out her tongue.

"I’ll read it for you."

"Forget about subsidies. The Governor of the North has been dead for ten years already."

Phield silently complained.

"As for Her Majesty the Empress, she probably only remembers I exist whenever there’s a war."

"Ahem, I’m about to read the letter now. Lords aren’t allowed to interrupt."

Tisiana used the tone of someone humoring a child.

"Dear Baron Vigor Elixir, I extend to you my highest respect. Thanks to the Vigor Elixir you created, I managed to... um... charge through and knock unconscious three female mountain goats during a Rampaging Ewe Competition, earning first place with outstanding results... I wish to share this glory with you. This is part of the prize money. From a stranger."

Tisiana read the letter haltingly.

She swore she had never seen such an absurdly bizarre letter in her entire life.