Fang Zhen watched as Ande ran up to him.
"My lord, you protected Redstone Town, and the townspeople are deeply grateful," Ande said. "We've retrieved Montagu's weapons and armor for you. They're at my house, and you can pick them up anyti. As for this..."
Ande raised his right hand, pointing to the crystal bottle filled with a pale red grease. "This is the Extraordinary Item I promised you—the Magic Grease left behind by the first Town Mayor."
"Hm? Magic Grease? Not Magic Divine Oil?" Fang Zhen asked.
Ande scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "I rembered the na wrong. Father Matthew corrected . The words 'magic' and 'divine' can't be used together. Anything related to the gods is a Divine Art. My vocabulary isn't very large, so I got them mixed up."
Fang Zhen chuckled.
'That works. "Magic Grease" sounds much more respectable, and a lot less like so kind of snake oil. If it really were so "divine oil," he wasn't sure he'd want to sar it on his spear.'
Ande handed him the Magic Grease. "Sar this on a weapon and activate it with your own magical power. It will ignite with a Magic Fla that can't be extinguished by water or sand. It will continuously burn your enemies, but it won't harm the user who activated it."
Fang Zhen took the crystal bottle. 'That makes sense,' he thought.
'What activates the Magic Grease must be one's Spiritual Power—the kind he'd been training with his guidance technique. Everyone's Spiritual Power probably has subtle differences, like a unique spiritual frequency, creating a distinction as unique as a fingerprint. That difference must be what allows so magic to harm only others and not the caster.'
'Of course, that was just his theory. He'd need to learn more to confirm if it was actually true.'
He accepted the Magic Grease.
"My lord, I wish you a safe journey," Ande said to Fang Zhen, his eyes full of earnest sincerity. "I have a feeling you're going to beco soone more important than I can even imagine."
Fang Zhen smiled.
"Take good care of Redstone Town and let the people here live well," Fang Zhen said. "Viscountess Ashton will bring you much better days than you've had before."
Just then, the one-eyed female guard cracked her whip, and the carriage started to move.
Fang Zhen secured his gear bag, said goodbye to Ande, and drove off on his motorcycle, following the carriage.
Ande watched Fang Zhen's retreating figure for a long, long ti, until he was out of sight.
"You're going to be soone incredible. I'm sure of it," Ande murmured, as if speaking from the heart.
…
It took Fang Zhen nearly seven hours to escort Dalia back to the Ashton Territory.
The journey itself wasn't that long. They stopped at several farmsteads along the way, where Dalia successfully recruited many soldiers who had fled back to their hos.
Dalia had a keen understanding of the soldiers' mindset; she was a local noble, after all.
By the ti they entered the core region of the Ashton Territory, Fang Zhen and Dalia had amassed a small army of over sixty n.
Fang Zhen could see that having an army made Dalia feel much more secure.
Before nightfall, he led the army and returned with Dalia to the core region of the Ashton Territory.
The seat of the Lord of Ashton was a small city four to five tis the size of Redstone Town.
Fang Zhen made a quick comparison. 'The core of the Ashton Territory is about the sa size as Ellick Town from the Ancient Castle Caverns instance, maybe a little smaller, but not by much.'
At the heart of the city stood Ashton Castle.
Fang Zhen found this sowhat surprising.
'From what he knew, in this era, only high-ranking nobles, like a Count, would be able to build such a town and reside in a castle.'
'It wasn't unheard of for a Viscount to have the wealth to build a castle and a town, but it was rare.'
'He'd always thought of Viscount Ashton as a sowhat tragic figure, but now that he was here in the Ashton Territory, he suddenly felt the Viscount's power and circumstances hadn't been so bad after all.'
Dalia, inside the carriage, seed to guess his reaction. She opened the window and said to Fang Zhen, "I have a good idea what you're thinking."
"As you can see, the Ashton Territory is not poor. On the contrary, the Ashton Clan is a very old noble family. Several generations were skilled at managing their affairs, and they built this once-prosperous land with nothing more than a Viscount's title and fief."
"You didn't think I married Ashton without any consideration, did you?"
"The Ashton Clan's reputation has faded recently because decades of war in this region have drained our family's wealth. At the sa ti, the harvests have been poor. We've been barely able to balance our finances and debts, which is why others look down on us. But in truth, whether you consider our domain, our farmland, or the city we built, the Ashton Family is superior to both Montagu and the Baron von Territory."
"A noble family like the Ashtons—one that was once glorious, with a large population and rich farmlands, but now lacks wealth due to war—is precisely the kind that needs
the most. By marrying into the family, I not only gained a legitimate title, but also the greatest respect and a powerful voice."
Fang Zhen nodded slightly.
'He'd always seen Dalia as a very rational woman. It was impossible that she hadn't carefully considered sothing as crucial to a woman as marriage.'
'And Dalia's judgnt was clearly excellent.'
'The Ashton Territory had great potential; it was just in a temporary slump.'
'In terms Fang Zhen understood, Dalia had picked a growth stock.'
'In fact, if not for Montagu's frenzied attacks after his fall to depravity, Dalia might have been able to manage the territory even better with a few more years, restoring the Ashton Clan to its forr glory.'
"Let's go round up Montagu's remaining soldiers," Fang Zhen said.
Fang Zhen and the others arrived at the castle.
The castle was still under the control of Montagu's army.
Montagu had five Quasi-Knights under his command. One of them, along with two Attendants and several dozen grunts, was in control of Ashton Castle.
Fang Zhen had expected a fierce battle to retake the castle.
To his surprise, Dalia and Matthew simply shouted up to the defenders and presented Montagu's severed head. The Quasi-Knight, Attendants, and grunts inside all surrendered.
'Fang Zhen was a bit surprised. Weren't this Quasi-Knight's loyalty and spine a little too weak?'
Matthew, understanding that Fang Zhen might not know the unwritten rules of warfare between nobles, explained in a low voice.
"Warfare between nobles is like this. If a lord dies and his army has no other noble to lead it, it's considered disbanded."
"It's because nobles don't swear fealty to the King or so higher lord, but only to their direct superior. If the lord they serve is alive, betrayal is a shaful cri, punishable by being stripped of one's title. But if their lord dies, his subordinates are considered free n. It's rare to hear of anyone giving up their own future to avenge a dead master."
"Montagu is dead. That Quasi-Knight isn't a true Knight yet, so he isn't part of the nobility. If he wants to beco a real Knight and enter their ranks, he must find a new lord to serve. Right now, the only person here with a noble title is Dalia."
"If Dalia doesn't take him in, that Quasi-Knight will beco a roving bandit. Any noble could then send troops to destroy him. He'd have no salary, no ho, and no supplies. His life would be miserable. So, knowing Montagu was dead, surrendering was the only smart choice."
Fang Zhen found that quite interesting. 'After thinking about it for a mont, it seed perfectly logical,' he mused.
'So that's how noble wars work. You can even recruit the enemy's soldiers after the battle. It saves a lot on manpower costs. On a societal level, it's a much more efficient, low-cost way to operate.'
With that, his mission to escort Dalia was complete. Her army had now swelled to about one hundred fifty or sixty strong.
An army of this size ant she was safe, for now.
…
The night grew deeper.
Inside Ashton Castle.
In one of the main guest rooms.
Four or five candles flickered on an iron stand, illuminating the forty-square-ter room.
The room contained a reasonably comfortable large bed, a desk, a few chairs, and even so books.
Fang Zhen sat on the edge of the bed, hands clasped behind his head and feet propped up, taking in the authentic ancient castle experience.
This was the best guest room in Ashton Castle, second only to the lord and lady's chambers, reserved for visiting nobles.
'Ancient castles like this weren't built for comfort. They were war fortresses. The construction was mostly stone, making it sowhat dark and damp, with poor lighting. The air quality was barely acceptable. In terms of space, it wasn't even as comfortable as his own ho.'
'Even so, for this era, his room was quite good.'
'Nobles had to keep up appearances. The guest bed was large and filled with goose down, covered with a rare velvet quilt. The only problem was the tacky, bright red color.'
'No matter how you looked at it, the castle was ill-suited for living by modern standards. But for the people of this instance world's era, the material conditions here were excellent.'
Fang Zhen was relaxed, but he hadn't completely let his guard down.
Dalia had regained control of the Ashton Territory and taken back the castle.
The castle still held a good amount of supplies.
The castle's cooks and servants hadn't been killed. Though they were trembling with fear, they were all still alive. After Dalia, the lady of the castle, returned, the staff got to work, even managing to prepare a relatively lavish feast in a short amount of ti.
He, however, had made the excuse of having a poor appetite after the long journey. He didn't join the al, instead asking for so water and returning to his room, where he prepared and ate a self-heating military ration al.
'He would stay here for two days. Once Dalia had fully integrated the soldiers, he would set off for the Baron von Territory to find the spatial item.'
At that mont, Fang Zhen felt a wave of fatigue.
'After all, he hadn't slept in a day, and it was nearly midnight. It was only natural that he'd be tired.'
Just as he was about to blow out the candles and go to sleep, the door suddenly swung open.
A stunning figure walked in.
Fang Zhen's muscles tensed for a mont before he relaxed.
The person who entered was Dalia, wrapped in a black, hooded cloak.
Before he could say a word, Dalia let the cloak fall from her shoulders.
Fang Zhen's gaze froze for a mont.
Beneath the cloak, Dalia was bare from the waist up, save for a tight corset cinching her waist. Below, she wore nothing but a piece of black, sheer lingerie that barely concealed her most sensitive areas.
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