The fragrant scent of incense made from dried wild herbs drifted through the small wooden cabin, situated far from the bustling free market.
Late morning sunlight filtered through the narrow windows, hitting the wooden floorboards and casting golden shafts of light filled with dancing dust motes. Lloyd Weston sat cross-legged on an old cushion. Before him sat 'Elder Aura', the blind old woman who served as the spiritual pillar of the Verdant Domain.
Frank stood outside the cabin, arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe, strictly performing his usual duty as a bodyguard.
"You made the right decision, Lord Lloyd."
Elder Aura spoke in a hoarse voice. Her wrinkled hands slowly poured hot herbal tea into an earthen cup. "Letting those bandits go was a wise choice, much better than trading precious gems for pebbles... Baron Reinhard wants you to lose your temper and resort to violence so he can justify using the laws of the Veltyne Empire to crush our domain."
Lloyd took the teacup. The warmth from the earthenware helped ease the biting cold at his fingertips.
"It's like choosing to put the 'Main Quest' on hold for now," Lloyd replied, blowing on the hot steam rising from the tea. "If our level isn't high enough and our resources aren't ready, rushing straight at the boss will only result in a Game Over. I had to take a step back to farm for loot and build a stronger base."
The old woman smiled faintly. Although she didn't understand strange words like 'Quest' or 'Boss', she grasped the core of the young noble's thoughts.
Lloyd placed the teacup on the low table, his deep blue eyes flashing with seriousness.
"But the reason I came to see you today isn't about Baron Reinhard, Elder Aura," Lloyd began, his voice dropping lower. "I want to continue our conversation... the one we had that night in the Western Forest. The night you told me that I'm not the first person to possess a fragment of the [RTS Master System] , or what you call the 'Primordial World Management System'."
Elder Aura paused her hand as she was about to pour tea for herself. The atmosphere inside the cabin suddenly felt heavy.
"What is it you wish to know?" the old woman asked in return, her voice as faint as the whisper of the wind.
"You said that the past system holders became drunk on power and used it for destruction..." Lloyd frowned, his brain rapidly processing past information. "If they had the power to see the world as numbers, possessed a [Tech Tree] window that could conjure technology out of thin air, and had [Micro-Management] to perfectly control armies... they should have built the greatest empire and ruled this world by now."
The former world champion leaned forward. "But the reality is, this world is still divided into four major powers... What happened to the players... I mean, what exactly happened to those system holders? Were they ganged up on and killed? Or defeated in a war?"
Elder Aura closed her eyes for a long time, as if digging up memories from legends forgotten for thousands of years.
"They were not defeated in war," the old woman shook her head slowly. "And none were ganged up on and killed. According to the ancient records of the Forest God Cult, those who wielded fragments of this power were so strong that no army in the world could stand against them. They built magnificent empires, plundered resources, and oppressed the people with heartless rules..."
"Then why are they no longer here?" Lloyd asked immediately.
"Because they... 'disappeared'."
"Disappeared?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, disappeared? Did they die?"
"Not death in the sense that we understand it," Elder Aura opened her clouded eyes and stared at Lloyd. "No corpses, no traces of a final battle, not even a grave to remember them by... On the day they reached the absolute pinnacle of their power, their empires collapsed overnight, and the existence of the system holders vanished without a trace. As if they were erased from the pages of history... as if they never existed in this world to begin with."
Lloyd sat stunned, his breath catching in his throat.
A chilling sensation shot up from his spine to the nape of his neck. The gamer's brain began to interpret the phrase 'erased without a trace' in its own way.
"An Account Ban...?" Lloyd thought in horror. "Or was their data wiped from the server? Does this world have a hidden 'Defeat Condition' that triggers without any prior warning?!"
If the previous system holders vanished because they abused their power, or did something that violated the system's 'Core Rules'... that meant Lloyd was walking on an incredibly thin tightrope!
Not only did he have to survive real-world enemies like Baron Reinhard, but he also had to be careful not to accidentally step into a death trap set by the [RTS Master System] that could permanently delete his existence from this world!
"Thank you for telling me this, Elder Aura," Lloyd stood up slowly, dusting off his pants. "It seems that playing this game... requires me to be far more careful than I originally thought."
Lloyd stepped out of the cabin. The bright sunlight outside made him squint. Frank, who was waiting, quickly stepped up to him.
"You don't look so good, My Lord," Frank noted with concern.
"I'm fine, Frank. Just lost in thought," Lloyd brushed it off. "Let's head to the Town Hall. By now, Sir Marcus has probably brought the trade ledgers over and is waiting to talk my ear off until his throat goes dry."
The two walked through the bustling free market. Merchants bowed in deep respect to the young Baron who had turned their lives around. Lloyd smiled and nodded in return as a courtesy, but the phrase 'vanished without a trace' kept echoing endlessly in his mind.
When they opened the door to the accounting room in the Town Hall, they were greeted by the sight of Marcus Gray standing with his head down, frantically scribbling numbers onto a large wooden board. Sweat drenched the back of his silk coat.
"Sir Marcus, working hard since early morning, I see," Lloyd greeted him as he walked over and slumped into his designated chair. "Anything exciting about today's trade numbers?"
Marcus flinched slightly. He quickly put down the chalk in his hand and turned to bow. "Oh! Baron Lloyd! I've been waiting for you! Today, it's not just the revenue numbers that are exciting. I have some top-tier 'intelligence' that my merchant network just managed to dig up!"
"Intelligence?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "About Baron Reinhard?"
"Exactly!" Marcus slapped the wooden board with a loud smack. "After we started using adventurers to escort the caravans and opened up the Western Forest route to avoid ambushes... Do you know what happened to the treasury of the Baron's estate?"
The middle-aged merchant flashed a wide grin, his eyes sparkling like someone witnessing a business rival going bankrupt.
"I sent a familiar merchant friend to cozy up to the captain of the guards in the regional capital..." Marcus explained eagerly. "It turns out that Baron Reinhard is currently bleeding money heavily!"
Lloyd intertwined his fingers on the table. "Explain in detail, Sir Marcus."
"Yes, my Lord! As we know, Emperor Gregor of the Veltyne Empire just ordered an increase in tax quotas to maintain the army. Baron Reinhard thus had to pour massive amounts of gold into hiring heavy infantry and destruction mages to bolster his prestige, hoping to curry favor with the capital..."
Marcus pointed at the red numbers he had just written on the board.
"But the problem is! His main source of income comes from collecting toll taxes from traveling merchants... And right now, over half the merchants in the region have gradually rerouted to trade in our Verdant Domain instead!"
"The enemy's Supply Line has been cut off from the outside..." Lloyd muttered, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Exactly, my Lord! Plus, three days ago, the Baron wasted money hiring illegal mercenaries to ambush us, but you outsmarted them and sent them packing with nothing to show for it!" Marcus laughed heartily. "Right now, Baron Reinhard's treasury is severely depleted. He doesn't even have enough money to pay the wages of his destruction mages!"
Frank, who was standing and listening, slammed his fist into his palm with a loud thud. "Serves him right! Let him go bankrupt!"
But Lloyd didn't look as happy as he should have. His deep blue eyes narrowed, his brows furrowing tightly. A sharp headache returned when he pieced together two seemingly unrelated sets of information in his mind.
Baron Reinhard was suffering a catastrophic loss... lacking budget... and was about to be punished by the Veltyne Empire over taxes!
"Sir Marcus..." Lloyd kept his voice low, and the cheerful atmosphere in the accounting room suddenly turned freezing cold. "If a starving hound is backed into a corner with no escape... what do you think it will do?"
Marcus froze, the smile slowly fading from his face. "Uh... it would probably... lash out wildly."
"Correct." Lloyd stood up and slammed the table. Bang!
"Since Baron Reinhard has no money to pay his soldiers and no money to send taxes to the Empire... his only way out is to 'plunder' the wealth of others to cover his own debts as quickly as possible!"
The young Baron pointed at the map of the Verdant Domain spread across the table.
"And seizing our booming domain, with its well-stocked granaries and new trade routes, is his easiest and fastest way out!" Lloyd concluded the situation decisively. "He's not going to wait to find a legal excuse, nor is he going to play the game of sending bandits for sneak attacks anymore..."
Lloyd turned to look at Frank, his eyes blazing with the fires of war.
"He's preparing to send his 'Standing Army' to crush us in a full-scale assault... and it's going to happen very soon!"
Lloyd's resolute declaration was like a block of ice thrown into the middle of the conversation.
"A standing army..." Marcus Gray repeated, his voice trembling. The ledger in the middle-aged merchant's hand dropped onto the wooden table with a thud! The cold sweat that had just dried up broke out on his forehead again. "L-Lord Lloyd, Baron Reinhard's army isn't some ragtag group of day-laborer bandits! Those are highly trained heavy infantry. Plus, he has 'Destruction Mages' who can blow stone walls to dust in the blink of an eye!"
The worldly-wise traveling merchant swallowed hard. "Even if we have a few dozen E-rank adventurers in the guild, or if we have Sir Frank who is as strong as a boulder... but if we have to clash with hundreds of cavalry and magical fireballs, it's no different from throwing eggs at an iron wall!"
Frank, listening nearby, gripped the shaft of his trident so tightly his veins bulged. His massive body trembled—not out of fear, but from the frustration that despite his immense strength, he couldn't protect the domain from a large-scale threat like this all by himself.
"If they dare step foot in here, I'll stand as a decoy!" Frank gritted his teeth. "I'll use [Iron Fortress] to absorb all the attacks, giving the villagers time to flee into the forest..."
"Stop with the suicidal thoughts right now, Frank."
Lloyd barked, his voice calm yet absolute. His deep blue eyes glinted coldly. "As a commander... I would never entertain the thought of throwing an 'SSR-tier unit' away in a stupid death just to buy time. And I absolutely refuse to lose a single villager or even one sack of provisions."
The former RTS world champion raised a hand to massage his throbbing temples. His mana status bar had dropped to 15/100 from using the [Micro-Management] connection system the day before. His body was entering a state of accumulated fatigue. Freely opening the map or spamming inspection skills right now would be sheer suicide.
Lloyd closed his eyes, pulling himself into 'Deep POV', the deepest cognitive state of a strategist.
The enemy has greater numbers, higher destructive power, and thicker armor... Lloyd rapidly calculated the comparative stats in his head. If they fought head-on in an open plain, it would be a hundred percent defeat. In base-building games, if you got 'Rushed' by heavy armies in the early game, the only way to survive was to lure the enemy into a 'fortress' specifically designed as a Kill Zone!
Lloyd opened his eyes. His gaze was completely devoid of hesitation.
"Frank, go get Notch and Sylvie here right now. Tell them we are convening the first-ever 'War Council' of the Verdant Domain."
The giant young man accepted the order with renewed vigor before sprinting out of the accounting room. Marcus watched Frank leave, then turned back to look at Lloyd with eyes filled with a mixture of hope and trepidation.
Less than ten minutes later, the door flew open again.
Notch, the Orc builder, walked in covered from head to toe in cement dust. He was followed by Sylvie Evergreen, the Elven girl, who leapt in through the window instead of using the door, deliberately being a nuisance.
"What fun stuff do you have for us now, Mr. Commander?" Sylvie sat swinging her legs on the windowsill, chewing on a blade of dry grass. "I was just taking aim at a wild ostrich. If this is boring, I'm going back to my hunt."
"Is a matter of life and death for this domain fun enough for you, Sylvie?" Lloyd smirked, before unfurling a large, roughly hand-drawn paper map onto the accounting table.
"Listen up, everyone." Lloyd lowered his voice, and the lighthearted atmosphere in the room instantly turned tense. "Baron Reinhard is economically cornered, and he is preparing to send his standing army to invade our domain in the next few days."
Notch's eyes widened until they nearly popped out of his head. The Orc's stout body trembled. "Th-the standing army! The Empire's armored soldiers?! But... but we only have a low wooden wall and a fence that was just recently repaired, My Lord!"
"That's exactly why I called you here, Notch."
Lloyd pointed to the map, specifically at the southern and eastern borders which served as the main entrances to the village. "You have three days. I want you to build a 'Secondary City Wall' overlapping the original one. But this time... absolutely no flat wooden planks."
The Orc builder frowned. "No wooden planks? Then what should I use? We don't have enough quarried stone."
"Use whole red pine logs. Bury them into the ground to create a 'Palisade', with sharpened tips pointing outward at a forty-five-degree angle." Lloyd explained the principles of an anti-cavalry defense line. "Dig a trench in front of the wall as deep as you can. Stick sharpened wooden stakes at the bottom... Then build a ten-meter-high 'Observation Tower' at both corners of the wall. Sylvie will be stationed up there."
Sylvie let out a long whistle. "A ten-meter tower? If so, my effective range will cover all the way to the edge of the forest. I'll be able to pick off their vanguard before they even catch a glimpse of my face."
"Correct. It will be your 'Sniper Nest'." Lloyd nodded, before turning back to Notch. "The tools and steel that Sir Marcus just bought this morning, you have unlimited access to them. Double the food rations from the storehouse for the laborers. Have them work in rotating night shifts... Can you do it, Notch?"
Notch swallowed hard. Grey sweat trickled down the sides of the giant Orc's face.
Inside his head, he was using his [Genius Architect (SR) ] talent to calculate structural stress, the volume of topsoil to be excavated, and the required timeframe. Myriad numbers spun wildly in his brain.
"Three days... with the manpower we have..." Notch bit his lip. "It's highly unlikely, My Lord... But if we use a pulley system, and have Sir Frank help carry the heaviest red pine logs... I think we might miraculously finish it just in the nick of time!"
"I don't need miracles. I need results," Lloyd fired back definitively. "Get to work."
"B-but My Lord..." Notch lowered his head, his voice trembling and full of deep-seated worry. "If Baron Reinhard really sends soldiers... and if the Empire finds out that an 'Orc' like me is the head foreman for a human noble's city wall construction... they'll definitely use it as an excuse to come down on you even harder. Veltyne law strictly forbids humans from hiring unaffiliated Orcs for engineering work..."
Notch's words plunged the entire room into silence.
Orcs on this continent were branded as nothing more than slave labor or savages. For Lloyd to grant Notch absolute authority in city construction was a severe slap in the face to the Empire's regulations.
Lloyd gazed at Notch, who was trembling with fear that he would be the cause of his master's ruin. The young Baron slowly stood up, walked over, and firmly patted the Orc's dust-covered shoulder.
"Remember my words, Notch..." Lloyd spoke with a powerful voice, completely void of hesitation. "In the kingdom I am going to build... the laws of the Veltyne Empire mean nothing. Only those with 'ability' get to be leaders, not those with 'pure bloodlines'."
Lloyd met the Orc builder's eyes. "You are the 'Chief Engineer' of the Verdant Domain. If anyone has a problem with you being an Orc... tell them to take it up with Frank's sword and Sylvie's bow."
Tears welled up in Notch's brown eyes. He sniffled loudly before dropping to one knee on the muddy floor. "I... I will build you a wall that no army can ever breach! Even if it costs me my life, I won't let anyone lay a finger on your lands!"
The stout Orc stood up, fired up with determination, before dashing out of the room to prepare the equipment and immediately mobilize the laborers.
Lloyd watched Notch go. A faint smile appeared on his face. Entrusting someone with responsibility was the best way to boost 'Morale' in a ruling game.
"Alright. Now that the defense team has started their work, it's time for..."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Before Lloyd could finish his sentence, the warning bell from the observation tower at the front of the village rang out!
It wasn't the rapid, frantic ringing of a monster attack. It was struck slowly, with a heavy rhythm... the signal announcing the arrival of 'high-ranking guests' from the capital!
"What's happening?!" Frank immediately drew his trident, ready for action.
"Pant... pant... My Lord!"
Tim, the messenger boy, sprinted into the accounting room, panting heavily. His small frame tripped over the threshold, sending him rolling into the dust, but he frantically scrambled back up to his feet. Tim's face was deathly pale. In his hand, he tightly clutched a proclamation sealed with the golden wax crest of the Empire.
"A cavalry... a squad of twelve heavily armored cavalry... they are at the village's front gate!" Tim stammered, gasping for air.
Marcus's eyes widened. "Has Baron Reinhard already marched his army here?! Why is he so much earlier than we anticipated?!"
"N-no, it's not an invading army, Sir Marcus!" Tim swallowed hard, holding up the rolled parchment in pure terror. "They said... they are 'Special Inquisitors' from the capital! They brought a 'Royal Edict' from the Imperial Court!"
"The Imperial Court?" Lloyd furrowed his brows tightly. The splitting headache came back to haunt him. "What does the central court have to do with this? What kind of alchemy is Baron Reinhard pulling now?"
"They sent someone ahead to declare the accusations, My Lord..." Tim's voice trembled, tears welling in his eyes. "They said Baron Reinhard filed an official petition to the Empire... accusing Lord Lloyd of amassing rebel forces and harboring an 'unaffiliated Orc' whose behavior poses a threat to the security of the Light God Cult... They specifically named 'Sir Notch'!"
A chilling silence gripped the hearts of everyone in the accounting room.
Marcus Gray's knees gave out, and he collapsed back into his chair. "A 'Hybrid' tactic... th-they're attacking us with the law combined with military intimidation! Using the crime of hiring an Orc as an excuse gives them one hundred percent justification to march in and 'inspect' our domain!"
Lloyd clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his flesh.
He knew exactly what their 'inspection' meant. The moment those heavy armored soldiers stepped past the village fences, they would claim the right to search the storehouses, confiscate the gold, and arrest anyone who resisted. And Lloyd wouldn't be able to order Frank or Sylvie to fight back at all, because doing so would equate to a direct declaration of war against the 'Imperial Court'!
"Using the pretext of illegal racial employment... to send troops in to spy on us and legally destroy us from the inside, huh."
Lloyd muttered through gritted teeth. His deep blue eyes flashed with a freezing, furious intensity unlike anything before.
If he closed the city gates and refused the inspection, the Verdant Domain would immediately be branded as a rebellion, and the Baron's main army waiting at the borders would march in and crush them without mercy.
But if he opened the gates to welcome them... it would be the equivalent of inviting a pack of wolves into the house to slaughter the lambs in their own den!
"It seems... I truly underestimated the shamelessness of the Veltyne nobles." Lloyd flicked his cloak and marched straight toward the door of the accounting room, his expression unreadable.
"My Lord! What will you do?!" Frank hurriedly chased after him.
"Prepare to welcome our guests," Lloyd answered fiercely. "Since they want to play politics... I'll step down and play with them until the bitter end!"
A clash of intellect and power, with Notch's life and the sovereignty of the Verdant Domain on the line... was about to begin right at the city gates!
(End of Episode 13)