Proofread by Thomas F
"Take care of the fortress, Cardin," I said as I mounted on Tempest.
"I will guard it with my life, my lord," he replied. I have seen what he could do in the battle and after, and I am confident in his ability to lead the fortress as long as Navr doesn't get serious.
I nodded, and a moment later, Tempest neighed and shot forward, leaving only lightning behind him.
Soon, we reached the group of riders waiting ahead, and I activated Fleetbound Synchrony.
They have changed their beasts, taking the endurance kind. The ones we had used earlier were so tired they couldn't move for the rest of the day.
These ones are slower, but that's not a problem. Tempest could make them fast.
He had a rapidly increased speed, taking the beasts with us. Within a minute, our speed was achieved incredibly. Tempest is moving faster than he did the first time we rode.
He had become more confident and understood his speed.
Except for coming in just to eat and sleep, he had spent all his time outside. I let him, with the skill I could sense him, and besides, it is very hard for him to harm himself.
Yes, there are people here who could kill him, but he would not let them.
They might be stronger than he is, but I have not heard anyone say they are faster. Still, I know there are many skills, and I asked him to stay away from people.
Even if they seemed harmless.
'There is a message from Chief Robin; he has received the response from Grimvale.' She informed.
A relief flooded in my head; she did not mention what kind of response he had received, but I could tell with her words and tone.
I have been waiting for this for the past few days, and I thought he would not agree.
He hadn't agreed yet; we will negotiate the terms, or this might be a ploy to make us wait longer. That is unlikely, but we would be careful.
The non-aggression agreement will help me tremendously. I need time to grow; having one less thing to worry about will be a game-changer.
There are threats everywhere. I need a stronger dominion, both militarily, financially, and administratively.
It needs to be safe, wealthy, and stable. It is the only way I will be able to attract more money, talent, and powerhouses to my dominion.
It's a cycle.
The three days here had gone by quickly; I wish I could have stayed longer, but I could not.
There is a lot to do; there is barely half a month before the inauguration in Inam and the closure of Velvet Garden.
I have a lot of things to do. One of the most important things is sending an overseer to the Inam to watch the legacy. I haven't yet; I wanted to give them some freedom while also watching how they did things.
Now, it's time, and I already have a person in mind.
Time passed, and we rode through the wasteland at incredible speed. It feels amazing. I wanted to do this in the three days I have been in the fortress, but I could not.
Aside from riding him in the battle, I did not get time to ride Tempest.
Soon, something big came into view, and as we got closer, it grew larger; it's truly huge.
"That is one massive caravan," said one of the riders, and I smiled. I saw the train of carriages; there are hundreds of them, with hundreds of riders.
The caravan is holding thousands of people and belongings. Five thousand, two hundred and fifty-two to be exact.
These are farmers, with a minority of them craftsman and labourers. These are the farmers I promised to the nobles when they signed the new laws.
This is the third batch, actually; the biggest one.
The first has only a thousand people, the second has two and a half thousand, and this one has five thousand people. They will become the new citizens of the baronies.
This will be the last batch of this week.
We have a lot more people, but baronies didn't have an unlimited supply of housing and other resources to meet the needs of so many people.
Though they are moving faster, many barons are already contacting merchants, mages, and construction companies to build housing, farms, and other facilities required to house the population.
'The nobles seemed desperate for the people,' said Zela, looking at the caravan.
'Starved actually,' I replied.
They want far more and want me to send more than they could handle. They have a large territory and a mercantile mind; they know prosperity, such a number could give them.
Most importantly, the large number of people will finally make them feel like a true lord.
My connections have already told me that many of them have started contracting with architectural firms specializing in urban development.
'They have ambition, but will their houses support them, after they signed the laws?'she asked, and I smiled.
'Yes, they are a little angry over it, but they will not abandon them.' 'These territories, the places where they could operate without restrictions; it is their backup against volatility in the empire. They will not abandon it,' I replied.
My own family is going to invest a lot of money in Leila's territory, despite cutting her off from the family.
Like every mercantile house that brought territory, House Silver had also wanted backup. They want their house to live, if not in the form of a mercantile house, then as a noble.
Like people on earth, people here, too, are peculiar about the names and legacies they leave behind.
My aim is to send nearly all the farmers here, aside from those willing to become labourers, miners, or others. I am also sending craftsmen, such as blacksmiths.
They will need them to have a comprehensive development.
I am planning to help them as much as I can. They are my subjects, and I should, but most importantly, the more developed and prosperous they become, the more they will help me.
I need taxes, and baronies could provide a lot of them if developed well.
Soon, the caravan passed by, and we kept moving until I saw the group of riders. They are not riding; they are staying, their eyes locked on the sky.
Soon, we spotted a few more groups.
'Sky is secured,' informed Zela. I had waited for it; I could not do it on the first day; I didn't want to reveal all my cards to the monsters watching from above.
"My lord, be careful," said Colonel Rain.
This time, the man didn't try to stop me; he knew it was useless, I was going to do it. "I will," I replied and deactivated Fleetbound Synchrony.
Immediately, the weight on Tempest disappeared, and he shot forward even faster.
Every second, his speed increased until he became as fast as the wind. I could feel him pushing himself at the greatest speed; he could.
Now it's time to use the last skill. I have used all the Rider Class skills that I have, except for one.
Lightning Gallop.
It is the skill that advanced from Phantom Gallop.
I activated the skill, and his speed increased immediately. He became lightning, becoming faster and faster.
Tempest begins to gallop at an unbelievable speed. That, despite Lord Eyes, everything seemed to blur. It is incredible. Beyond incredible.
I just watched, shocked, but there was a big, toothy smile on my face as I rode with the speed of lightning.
This is the power of Lv. 40; it's a powerful skill which had become even more powerful with the weight of my class. My lord class is really powerful.
I have met a lot of nobles, and I have not seen a single person with a class more powerful than mine.
The only one I had felt might have been more powerful than me was a Lord of Owlspring. I cannot get a good read on him, even when he entered my legacy.
It was when it was Grade III, but even now, it will be hard see through him.
The man is powerful, and from what I heard, one of his hereditary artifacts is similar to Bell's. It helped him avoid scrying or other methods that would snoop on him.
Such artifacts are extremely rare, and most of them are in the hands of the powerful houses.
They might be as useful as offensive artifacts, but once a dire need arises, they can be lifesaving. As Bell's has, if not for it, she would have died long ago.
I need artifacts, offensive more than anything.
Cardin desperately needs one. I have seen his battle and how he had to use everything against Vaessa, while I am sure she had been holding some of her strength.
He wouldn't have such a hard time if he had the artifact in his hand.
Currently, I need two; one for Cardin and the other for Harrods, but artifacts don't fall from trees. Even the essence isn't enough to buy them, since those who have them don't want to sell them.
Especially the nobles, the people who have the most artifacts.
It is an honour and a family legacy; they have these artifacts in their family for generations. It is what makes them so attached to them.
I have been offering a large sum of money to the nobles who are barely scraping by, living on loans, but they are not willing to sell. Hell, I am even willing to rent it for a huge sum, but they are unwilling.
Still, I might be able to succeed now that people are dying and their artifacts are being stolen.
It rarely happened when the emperor was alive, not only because his agents would hunt them down, but also because he had powerful skills.
If any artifact of his noble subject were stolen, he would know and be able to track it down.
It said that even suppression artifacts didn't work.
Well, I don't know how true it is, but he was emperor. Also had the same class; it is considered one of the strongest classes.
So, anything is possible.
I pushed those thoughts away and focused on riding. I should enjoy it, because I will reach the city and once more, the weight of responsibilities will return on my shoulders.
Time passed, and soon the silhouette of the city came into view.
It made me kind of disappointed, but also glad. I missed it and missed the people.
A minute later, I turned off the skill, and when we were a few miles away from the city, Tempest slowed down as we reached it, until we finally stopped at the gates where Valentina was waiting with a group of people.
"Welcome back, my lord," she said.