This time, when Ethan left the prison, he wasn’t covered in blood. Quite the opposite.

A soft smile played on his lips as he waved to Doran, who had been listening from outside the whole time, signaling for him to take care of the body.

"We must prepare to expand the guard, my lord," Doran said, his voice firm and respectful.

Ethan nodded, folding his arms as he gazed up at the gray sky hanging low over the village.

"I know... Next month, I’ll improve the barracks. Through the winter, we’ll intensify the militia’s training. I want at least five hundred men ready to fight by the time the snow melts, even if they aren’t active members of the guard."

He paused for a moment, his gaze drifting toward the distant tree line.

"Healthy, childless women can train to become archers as well. But they will not be sent to the front lines."

Doran nodded in silence at his words, though a flicker of confusion crossed his weathered face.

The notion of training even the women left him uneasy, but, in the end, he could only agree with his lord.

He, too, had no wish to risk their lives on the front lines.

Fighting the enemy face to face was a man’s job, after all. Even so, they could serve well enough in the rear, tormenting the foe with an endless rain of arrows.

Soon after, Ethan stepped out of the barracks, the gentle smile fading into something bitter as the icy autumn wind bit at his face.

This would be Goldenveil’s first and most important winter under his command, and he couldn’t afford to falter for even a moment.

That damned Alistair had inherited a town of four thousand, complete with strong defenses, reliable food supplies, and control over two other settlements of five hundred souls each.

Since then, those numbers had swelled to the point that the barony of Whitefall now boasted a population of seven thousand.

Ethan didn’t doubt for a second that his rival could muster three, maybe even four thousand soldiers, depending on how old or how young he was willing to stretch the draft.

He knew he surpassed the other Golden Lords in talent and development, yet Goldenveil’s meager population remained a big disadvantage.

He needed to grow that population as quickly as possible, and with it, his army. Only then could he hope to defend what he had built.

With a soft grunt, he stopped in front of a small tent and bought bread from an old woman whose gentle, aged eyes followed him with a grateful smile.

After a brief nod, he set off toward his mansion.

Upon arriving, he handed the loaves to the five maids waiting at the door, keeping only one for himself before heading up to his office.

The space was, naturally, very different from his previous one.

Perched on the top floor of the mansion, it was graced by a large window that offered a view of all of Goldenveil. Its walls were lined with shelves crammed full of books and scrolls.

Two large sofas circled a low conference table at the center, and in the far corner stood an elegant black leather armchair, pulled up to a desk buried in documents.

Ethan settled into the chair and began sorting through the pile. For the most part, the papers were drafts of the legal system being crafted by Ron’s hired man, amounting to roughly a hundred pages in total.

He hadn’t reviewed them yet, but he would soon go through each one.

First, though, he let his gaze fall on the Goldenveil information screen.

[Name: GoldenVeil

Type: Small Village

Population: 1051

Population Loyalty: 88%

Houses: 490 (490 occupied)

Prosperity: Good

Attractiveness: Good

Population Growth: +26/Week (Increase attractiveness and prosperity to gain more residents)

Lord: Ethan GoldenVeil

Knights: 0

Average Level: 0

Guard: 50 Light Infantry

Average Level: 25

Guard Loyalty: 90%

’Stone Wall with Battlements and Parapets’ Status: 12090/12090

Treasury: 14,420 gold coins (-330.50/month)

Upgrade requirements: 490/250 houses, 1,051/1,000 inhabitants, 100 gold coins, Lord at Baron level or higher]

[Goldenveil’s population has reached 1,000 people, and you can now establish a barony! Make the upgrade to unlock new unique system features and establish your own territory!

Price: 1,000 gold coins]

Before anything else, Ethan clicked to upgrade Goldenveil, spending a hundred gold coins. A faint pulse of golden mana rippled through the city, raising its aura and mana density by roughly five percent.

He then checked the requirements for the next upgrade.

[Upgrade Requirements: 490/1000 houses, 1051/5000 inhabitants, 1000 gold coins, Lord at Viscount level or higher]

He could easily tell that elevating the village to a full city would require at least ten thousand inhabitants.

Still, he didn’t dwell on it for long. Without hesitation, he clicked to form the barony, spending another thousand gold coins and watching his wealth plummet to just thirteen thousand.

The next moment, just as had happened with the city upgrade, a pulse of mana spread outward, this time far stronger than before.

Over eight hundred square kilometers were swept up in a golden glow, and regions as far as sixty kilometers from Goldenveil were drawn into the territory, their mana and aura rising to match the base density set by the domain’s level.

That came out to about half of Goldenveil’s current reading, which was still far richer than anything found beyond its borders.

[You have successfully founded the Barony of Goldenveil!]

[You have unlocked a new system feature: Luck and pity]

[You have unlocked a new system feature: Geopolitical Map]

[The Instant Build skill has been improved! Monthly upgrades: 2 → 3]

[Name: Barony of Goldenveil

Territory: 800 square kilometers (Build and further develop your territory to continue expanding.)

Population: 1,051

Capital: Goldenveil

Cities under command: 0/0

Villages under command: 0/3

Fortresses under command: 0/5

Knight Orders: 0/1

Knights: 0

Average Knight Level: 0

Regional Army: 50 infantry soldiers

Average Regional Army Level: 25

Defense Level: Miserable

Control: 15%

Regional Loyalty: Extremely High

Stability: Low

Natural Resources: Extremely Rich

Monthly Regional Revenue: -330.50

Regional Treasury: 0

Taxes Received from Settlements Under Control: 0]

Ethan’s eyes lit up at the sight of so many system notifications, and he nearly leapt out of his chair in sheer excitement.

There was so much to examine, but what drew his attention first was the geopolitical map option.

Without hesitation, he clicked to open it, curious to see whether it would resemble the resource map.