2 – Yeongju System

Whirr.

Whirring.

A message pops up.

Emperor Batimus. As he awakens, the system sounds an alarm.

The alarm was a sound effect only heard when threatened.

The Emperor rose from his slumber.

He had been busy lately due to a recent problem.

Monsters of a type never seen before had appeared throughout the Territory. Monsters with blades that ignored shields and armor.

The commonality was that they directly generated ‘Blades’ from their bodies.

They even cut through weapons imbued with Sword Aura and Sword Essence, leading to the unfortunate incident of a Sword Master losing his cherished sword.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

The Hero Tournament.

Some of the top-tier Heroes had a falling out, causing the tournament to be temporarily suspended.

Besides that, there were reports of beings called Vampires appearing, but they suddenly stopped their activities, making them difficult to track.

Vampires?

Such beings existed?

He had seen records of a race that lived eternally, hidden among the nobles, but he wouldn’t have known the severity of the situation if he hadn’t heard it from the Summoned Heroes.

The situation was serious.

A race that lived eternally by drinking Human Blood.

Such a race had mingled among the nobles.

The thought alone sent shivers down his spine.

Moreover,

‘The Conquering King is also a headache.’

The Conquering King of the East was constantly eyeing the Empire’s land.

And recently, a new force had emerged in the South, suspected to be backed by a Great Devil.

He had thought that things would ease up by diverting some of the Knights from the weakened Northern Front to the South.

But it wasn’t so.

The Undead were a dam.

A massive dam.

A dam that had been preventing the change that had firmly suppressed nighttime activity.

The Undead were beings of annihilation that were virtually impossible to subdue without divine power.

When such beings roamed the continent at night, claiming it as their Territory, even the Empire, the Kingdom, and the mighty Conquering King avoided nighttime activities.

But now, the Undead’s activity had weakened.

This led to the Conquering King’s aggressive intervention.

The Blade Monsters.

The Hero Tournament.

The Vampires.

These three were also headaches, but they didn’t threaten the Territory to the same extent.

However,

The Conquering King of the East.

The Great Devil of the South.

These two were different.

Conquerors who coveted land.

Territory meant Possession of the Spirit Vein, and the size of the Territory was directly linked to national power.

They were the Emperor’s greatest adversaries.

Whirr.

Whirring.

The alarm sounded redly.

It was an alarm related to the Territory.

‘Is it the Conquering King?’

He looked, but,

It wasn’t.

“…!”

The Emperor woke up with a start.

The border adjacent to the Kingdom.

A red area flashed, signaling the birth of a new Territory.

The birth of a Territory.

It wasn’t being seized.

The Empire’s real Territory was connected like a dotted network of cities and villages.

Territory was a kind of domain.

It could also be called a Barrier.

Making it one’s own.

In that sense, Territory was the act of possessing the land’s Magical Power, the Spirit Vein.

On the Map, the Territory was marked with dots, creating an uneven pattern of areas in cities and villages, making the Map look mottled.

The closer to the capital, the larger the mottles.

Conversely, the farther away, the smaller the mottles.

And the land between the mottles.

It was the Monster’s domain, the Territory ruled by Monsters, the Lords, the Landowners.

In such a place.

A new Territory.

A Human Territory was about to be born, flashing redly to signal its potential birth.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed.

His wrinkles deepened.

It wasn’t a difficult matter.

Nor was it a fatal one.

If there was a possibility of birth, he could incorporate that person into the Empire and make them a noble.

But that would also be difficult.

The Territory where the possibility of a new Territory’s birth had arisen was already ruled by someone, and the extent of that domain was vast, its size indicating the Territory Owner’s power.

A powerful Territory Owner.

An Overlord.

This was the land of an Overlord.

The fact that a Lord Candidate had appeared in such a place meant that the Overlord’s wrath would be directed at him.

“….”

Under different circumstances, it would be something to celebrate.

The birth of a new Territory.

The birth of a new Lord.

The birth of the first Lord.

Welcoming them as a noble of the Empire would lead to an increase in national power.

It would be something to welcome.

But if an Overlord was involved, the story changed.

If he tried to intervene unnecessarily, things would get complicated.

It meant more work.

‘Even considering the Conquering King and the Great Devil, my hands are already full.’

He was short-handed.

Amel had also quit the tournament and disappeared somewhere, and there was no news from her.

If she were here, he would have ordered her to investigate the circumstances of the Lord Candidate and resolve the issue.

But she wasn’t.

He didn’t know why.

Where did she go?

Why did she leave without permission?

She disappeared without reporting to the Emperor.

As a Knight.

This was why Summoned Heroes were…

‘Well, Amel is part of the Great Devil Subjugation Unit.’

The Emperor thought of Amel.

Even as a Hero, she was under the Emperor.

His thoughts on that hadn’t changed.

But Amel’s martial prowess was not to be taken lightly.

Even if her usual level was lower than the Empire’s strongest Knight, her maximum performance surpassed the Empire’s strongest, so he had to be cautious.

She never died, after all.

She could go to the Temple as a soul and be resurrected.

It was difficult to bind such a powerful being with the sole reason of being the Emperor.

‘Still, she should at least answer my calls.’

He had registered her as a close aide and sent her messages, but so far, there had been zero replies.

What was the point of setting up a contact if this was the case?

“I have no choice.”

The Emperor decided to use the Knights he had been neglecting.

The Knights that Amel liked and that he had tried not to touch for her sake were the only ones available.

Officially, they were still the Emperor’s Possession, so he couldn’t not use them when needed.

They weren’t Amel’s Possession yet, after all.

The Emperor hastily summoned his ministers for a meeting, and

A decision was made.

“The Pibslo Knights will be dispatched for search reconnaissance and Monster ecology investigation.”

[Lord Candidate Qualification Granted.]

“…?”

Around that time, Amel was.

<Lord System>

[Level] [0]

She was bewildered by the new information window.

Covering half of her face with a blanket and acting haughty, she touched and manipulated the information window floating in the air.

It was linked to the [Map].

Rather, the [Map] had changed.

The UI of something called the [Lord System] decorated the [Map].

Like the interface of an RTS game, it emphasized the villages on the [Map] and displayed various information about the villages.

Current number of people in the village.

Current labor force of the village.

Current resources stored in the village.

Current happiness level of the village.

Current loyalty level of the village.

Current level of the village.

Etc.

It was as if she was watching a game where she developed her forces from an omniscient perspective.

‘I haven’t heard about this kind of function?’

A glance.

A message.

She thought about sending a message to Yuha, but she didn’t bother.

‘It’s not too late to do it when we meet in person later.’

Amel touched the information window and familiarized herself with the newly created system.

She selected Stillo Village to see what was possible.

There were tabs to upgrade labor force and defense force.

What changes if I upgrade?

She pressed it.

But,

<Unlock Condition>

[Lord Qualification]

“….”

How do I get that Lord Qualification?

She touched other things as well.

She could only view them.

Amel’s current qualification was Lord Candidate. Lord Candidates were only allowed to view the state of the village.

“Hmm.”

‘Still, whatever.’

She became interested.

She got up.

She didn’t know how to obtain the Lord Qualification, but,

[Owner] [Territory Owner Grand Wolf]

She would find out if she defeated this guy.

Being a Lord Candidate meant,

‘Isn’t it because there’s no place to be a Lord?’

“Should I start with an investigation first?”

If she looked at the state of the village that had [Grand Wolf] as its owner, surely the villagers would know who the owner of their village was?

“Haa~am.”

Amel rubbed her head.

Did she drink too much yesterday?

She felt like she hadn’t put down the alcohol all day.

She couldn’t understand why she drank so much to feel like this.

‘Well… it was delicious though.’

Stillo Village’s specialty was definitely a liquor that stuck to her palate.

It was not a good sign.

Let’s go out for now.

Amel opened the door and went out.

Polia was standing next to the door.

“Ah, did you sleep well!”

“…You don’t seem to be doing so well?”

“No, I’m not!”

“Dark circles under your eyes.”

“Ugh…”

Dark circles were cast under Polia’s eyes.

“Were you standing guard all night?”

“Yes.”

“You should have rotated in the middle. Well, we can fix that gradually, but go in and rest now. You’ll make another mistake in that state.”

“Y-yes, I will.”

Polia staggered back to her room like a Zombie.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

And Polia.

I’m not going to argue, but going in just because the protectee told you to is a disqualification as a bodyguard.

A gap is created next to the protectee.

Creating a gap is an automatic out.

Well, whatever.

We can fix it later.

In the first place, she didn’t even think she was being guarded.

She went downstairs, and

She could meet Leki.

“Have you woken up?”

“I’m awake. Haa~am.”

She yawned.

Her eyes were still hazy.

She rubbed her eyes.

“So, what happened?”

“The bandits have been gathered in the plaza and all have been neutralized. A significant number of villagers were hiding the bandits.”

“Is that so?”

“Most of them seemed to have been hiding them unwillingly, but more than half seemed to be in favor of the bandits. According to the bandits, the Village Chief was originally from the bandit group.”

“Heeh.”

The Village Chief was from a bandit group.

“I heard that he was able to become the Village Chief with the help of the bandits.”

“What is the Village Chief?”

“The Village Chief is no different from a small Lord. Villages under the protection of the country are one thing, but in mountain villages, the Village Chief is at the top.”

“….”

At the top.

“Isn’t there someone above that?”

“Are you talking about the Guardian Deity?”

“Maybe?”

Amel recalled the true owner of the village she had seen in the [Lord System]. It was just a race name, though.

“Is it a wolf by any chance?”

“Yes. The Territory Owner who protects this area is a Great Demon Beast of a wolf. We have been protected by that wolf.”

Leki continued weakly.

“But he’s gone now. He left his nest for some reason about a week or two ago.”

“A week or two ago…”

It was around the time she fought the [Doll].