The Lord's office in that place was exactly as Ethan had expected.
Small, dusty, infinitely superior to Alice's house, but still pathetic compared to his father's office.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the desk, ignored the pile of documents, and dropped into the armchair, motioning for Alice to stand beside him.
"My lord!" Alaric and Ulric immediately knelt before him, bowing their heads, their faces slightly contorted.
If only it weren't for that damn priest who had arrived in the village a few months ago and announced the coming of the golden Lord...
Alaric, who hadn't followed his father's suggestion to simply kill that man right away, was certainly the one who regretted it the most now.
But neither of them showed that regret. Not yet.
"You must have a map of the region here, right?" Ethan asked, settling deeper into the armchair.
It didn't look like it had been abandoned for months. Someone had clearly still been using it.
"Certainly, my lord." Old Ulric replied, his staff tapping the floor at an irritating rhythm as he shuffled toward a shelf.
From there, he retrieved an old scroll and placed it on the table.
When Ethan opened it, a bright smile spread across his face before he could stop it.
The eternal forest was vast. It stretched for millions of square kilometers, completely filled with monsters and races whose hatred for humans was ingrained in their very bones.
One wrong move would likely be an invitation to certain death.
Fortunately, despite still being surrounded by monsters, the GoldenVeil settlement couldn't have been better positioned.
It lay exactly at the junction between a long chain of mountain ranges and the meeting point of the enormous Azur Lake and the Solene River.
All of this formed a narrow passage, only about five kilometers wide, which made blocking it extremely simple.
It was something that would only prove valuable in the distant future, but it still filled Ethan with a quiet, buzzing satisfaction.
"First, we need to survive," he muttered.
The map began to lose accuracy after the first fifty kilometers, but it still held a great deal of important information.
Hunting, fishing, and gathering areas. Safe routes. And, above all, three goblin settlements: two to the east and one to the west, surrounding the settlement on all sides.
"Do you have any idea how many goblins inhabit these camps?" Ethan asked Alaric.
"About 700 in total, my Lord." The captain of the guard declared proudly, puffing out his chest beneath his leather armor. "We have ambushed them as much as possible and reduced their numbers. Don't worry, we will soon attack the camp to the west. It is the weakest."
"The Lord should just relax for now. I promise that..."
"No." Ethan shook his head. "Withdraw your men. In a month, we will attack the camp to the west. I will lead the attack personally."
"Ethan... that..." Alice's lips parted at his side, but in the end, she stayed silent and lowered her head.
Alaric clenched his jaw. Veins bulged in his neck as he fought the urge to throw himself at Ethan's throat right then and there.
He glanced sideways at his father, who only nodded silently.
"Yes, my lord." Alaric knelt without taking his hand off the hilt of his sword.
His eyes flicked quickly to Alice before returning to the floor.
That damn smooth talker...
He had barely arrived and was already not only standing at the side of the woman Alaric coveted, but reaching for control of his men as well.
Every last ounce of strength went into keeping his rage contained.
"You are dismissed. I will take a look at the supply warehouses shortly." Ethan leaned back in his chair, waving them toward the door.
[Alaric's opinion dropped 20 points]
[Ulric's opinion dropped 8 points]
Ethan barely paid attention to the notifications. His gaze moved to Alice.
His hands found her hips and, with a single fluid motion, pulled her down onto his lap. The generous weight of her settled over him as he buried his face into the soft, warm neckline of her dress, her skin flushed and fragrant, the full swell of her breasts pressing against his cheek.
"Ethan!~ We can't... not here~" Alice gasped, her fingers sinking into his golden hair, her grip tightening even as she pressed him closer.
"I know." He smiled against her skin, lifting his face just enough to breathe. "I just needed that..."
"And besides," he added, glancing up at her with calm certainty, "this is my office now. Who's going to stop me?"
So this was how his father felt, huh?
Having his own place wasn't so bad.
Alice paused for a moment, bit her lower lip, and then simply pulled him back against her chest, crushing his face into the deep, pillowy softness of her huge breasts. They yielded around him as she held him there, warm and impossibly soft, her heartbeat steady beneath all that plush flesh.
Why was her heart so heavy? She had barely known this man. All they had shared was a single night.
It was... strange.
She tightened her fist, golden strands threading between her fingers.
"You don't have to go with him. Alaric is your subordinate now, he can handle it..." she murmured, her voice low and clearly anxious.
Ethan heard the words but said nothing for several long seconds.
In his life on Earth, he had been just an ordinary young man, addicted to grand strategy games.
Perhaps not the most reliable source of information for these things, but certainly enough to not be a complete layman.
"He plans to kill me soon. Neither he nor his father can be trusted," Ethan said, his voice slightly muffled against the soft press of Alice's breasts.
His hands rested on the wide, generous curve of her buttocks, fingers slowly opening before closing again, gripping the supple, yielding flesh as deeply as they could.
"I need to take a look at his men and find someone worthy of being the new captain of the guard."
Before Alice could even respond, he sealed her lips with a kiss.
When they parted, he gave her backside a firm pat, the impact sending a brief, rippling shockwave through the lush flesh beneath his hand.
"You can clean my..." Ethan stopped himself. "Our room. I have important things to take care of."
Alice's cheeks flushed pink, but in the end she just nodded shyly and left, the soft sway of her hips lingering in the doorway before she disappeared.
With a slow exhale, the young man turned his gaze to the far corner of the office.
It was time to finally take a look at this gacha system.
His cheat couldn't be bad, right?