Chapter 531 Don’t You Dare!
As soon as Stephanie’s words trailed off, Andonara became upset.
Keenly noticing the chilly atmosphere, Stephanie immediately turned her head and said, “I’m not trying to separate you and Roland, Anna. It’s just that if Roland goes to my territory and takes you away as well, there will be no one to protect me here in the capital. Who else do you think I can trust now besides you two? My damned ghost of ex-husband is now a lich.”
She made a good point. Andonara hesitated. She wanted to be with Roland more than anything, but Stephanie was one of her few friends.
“Then stay here and protect her.” Roland smiled. “I can teleport back to see you every few days, and you can meet me in Motasos County when you are free.”
Andonara looked at Roland, then at Stephanie, and finally said, “All right.”
Seeing her agree, Stephanie was relieved and full of smiles.
Roland then handed over all the equipment in his Backpack that belonged to Andonara.
It was a set of epic equipment he had made.
It was probably on the level of purple equipment.
But if this purple equipment Roland had made were put on the market, it would be a bargain if the full set didn’t sell for 300 to 400 gold coins.
After leaving the capital, Roland took the map and used Human Cannonball to fly to Motasos County, and then found the city of Motasos in the middle of the territory.
It was a large city with a population of one million.
It was surrounded by seven small cities with a population of 100,000 and more than thirty villages.
In Fareins, there were many cities with a population of one million.
And as the First Princess who was most likely to inherit the throne in Fareins, there was a reason why Stephanie’s territory allocated territory in Motasos County.
First of all, the city’s proximity to the capital of Fareins made it particularly easy to get from one city to another in a day and a half by carriage.
The second reason was the abundance of horses here!
It was one of the five major horse-breeding regions in Fareins.
Half of the territory of Motasos County was prairie, seven small cities, and more than thirty villages, all of which raised horses.
With horses, there was cavalry… In this world, cavalry was the height of warfare.
The presence or absence of cavalry, its number and strength, determined whether you fought with attrition tactics or simple annihilation. Countries without cavalry units, or with very weak cavalry units, could hardly extend their advantage in victory, even if their infantry was strong The old king of Fareins gave this territory to Stephanie with the true intention of making her his heir.
Roland landed from the sky and went into the city, and after walking around a bit, he found that the security of the city was fine. He walked for three hours and only saw three incidents of group fighting.
There weren’t many beggars on the roadside either.
It seemed that Stephanie had done a good job of managing the area.
Roland found the mayor’s residence and showed the appointment letter to the soldier guarding the gate.
Seeing the seal on it, and Stephanie’s handprint, the gatekeeper immediately invited Roland into the mayor’s residence.
Like any other territory, the mayor’s residence was essentially a large castle. Nearly a hundred elite, heavily armored infantry soldiers were stationed inside, while cavalry and other troops were on standby in the rear of the castle’s barracks.
The main hall of the castle was the council hall, with a high stone throne above the steps, behind which was a huge portrait of a woman.
In a low-cut dress, Stephanie, sitting sideways —a white waterfall could be seen indistinctly – looked dignified and noble, with a touch of sex appeal.
It was a nice painting, and it had already brought out seventy percent of Stephanie’s charm.
Roland had just stood there for a while when a middle-aged man dressed in a long black uniform and dressed quite professionally came over. He bowed to Roland and then said, “I heard from the guards that His Excellency has brought the First Princess’s appointment letter?”
After showing the appointment letter again to the middle-aged steward for a moment, the bit of doubt in the middle-aged steward’s mind immediately disappeared.
He bent down a little lower and said in a low voice, “May I ask what the temporary lord’s honorable name is?”
“Just call me Roland.” Storing the letter of appointment into his Backpack, Roland said, “Help me notify the sheriff, tax collection officer, internal affairs officer, and all the officers related to the local defense to come here. I want to see them… Tell them, within one hour, I want to see them here, and whoever does not come on time, I’ll dismiss him.”
The middle-aged steward trembled and immediately retreated.
Roland, on the other hand, slowly walked up to the platform and sat down on the stone throne.
He began to browse the forum.
This was a very entertaining way to pass the time, and for Roland, time passed very quickly.
In about half an hour, two people had already come in.
However, they just found their seats and ignored Roland.
Even though Roland knew they’d arrived, he didn’t say anything and continued to browse the forum.
As time went by, more and more people came in.
When almost an hour had passed, eight people had already sat down in the main hall.
These eight people sat below, whispering, and even looked at Roland from time to time, arrogance in their eyes.
Roland waited a little longer, and seeing that no more people came in and that the time was just right, he closed the forum.
He sat up straight, and the eight people below saw his movement, but they all ignored it, still talking among themselves.
Roland snapped his fingers, and two huge blue Hand of Magic appeared, clapping lightly. The sound was as heavy as the beating of a drum, attracting the eight people’s gazes.
Roland asked the middle-aged steward standing beside him, “Is everyone here?”
The middle-aged steward was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from below, “All are here.”
Hearing this somewhat raspy voice, the middle-aged steward stopped talking and took two steps back.
Although Roland did not look at the middle-aged steward, his mental perception ability was amazing, and the steward was no more than three meters away from him, so he noticed something strange about him immediately.
It seems that something’s wrong!
Roland stared at the man who had just spoken.
The man was wearing a relatively loose nobleman’s formal dress with blue trim and silver background, a somewhat peculiar style of dress in Roland’s eyes.
But after a closer look, he found that the other man was wearing magic equipment.
Seeing Roland looking at him, the man stood up, bent down slightly, and smiled. “Sir, the new temporary lord, we are all here.” “Then introduce yourselves. After all, we are going to spend quite a long time together, so let’s start with me first.” Roland smiled. “I am Roland, a Golden Son, and I have been entrusted by the First Princess to manage all the affairs of Motasos County. All right, you’re next.”
“Since the steward has already confirmed the appointment letter, we will not read it. We trust the steward’s loyalty to the royal family.” The man standing stroked his stubble and said, “I am the captain of the cavalry regiment, Judson Fareins.”
A last name of Fareins?
Descendants of the royal family!
Seeing this man state his name, the others stood up and stated their names as well.
After the eight people introduced themselves, Roland also had a first impression. The three officials involved in government affairs did not have any reaction to Roland’s arrival.
They were neither happy nor sad.
The remaining five people, who were all in charge of the military, were not friendly to Roland.
And two in particular, Judson and the other one in charge of the city defense, Tuttle Gram, seemed to have an antagonistic intent toward Roland.
After hearing this, Roland swept his gaze over the eight of them and finally said, “You don’t have an archery regiment here?” The First Princess Stephanie had the right to recruit troops, and with her ability and character, she would have created a perfect army.
Archers were so useful that it was impossible not to have them.
At this time, Judson said indifferently, “No, but the captain of the archery regiment has not been feeling well recently and has been lying at home recovering from his injuries, and it is difficult for him to take the field. For the time being, I will also be the captain of the archery regiment.”
All eight of them smiled in unison, and it looked like they were planning something, but Roland felt that they were laughing at him.
It was a Mage’s intuition.
“Then Mr. Judson you’ve worked hard.” Roland nodded. “I will visit the captain of the archery regiment later sometime, but for now let’s get down to business.”
They looked at Roland silently, and the indistinct scorn on the faces of the five men leading the troops remained.
“The First Princess has entrusted me to manage all the affairs of the territory. Including you all!” Roland swept his gaze over them and said in a slightly cold tone, “Within this entire territory, from now on, my words are the same as the First Princess’s—you must all obey.”
The other party was in a confrontational mood, so Roland naturally wouldn’t show enthusiasm for their coldness.
Besides, before he came here, the First Princess had already said to punish whoever disobeyed; there was no need to worry about her.
Stephanie was now very clear on things.
A Mage who could build a floating city in the future, and who was already preparing to work on it now, she could imagine how powerful and rare this would be. In comparison, the few officials in her territory, no matter how talented and capable they were, were not worth mentioning.
Judson felt Roland’s oppression targeted toward him. He frowned and said, “Even if your orders are wrong?”
“Of course.” Roland smiled. “I’ll decide whether the order is correct or not, not you.”
Judson looked a bit upset.
At this time, the city protection official, Tuttle, slowly stood up and sneered, “Brat, don’t be too arrogant. Even if the First Princess makes you the temporary lord, we don’t agree.”
Roland laughed aloud. “When did the First Princess make a decision that required your approval? Do you think you’re part of the royal family?”
These words hit the nail on the head. Tuttle was speechless. But he was only upset for a little while before he smiled again.
He felt that the pretty Mage had a sharp tongue and that he would not be able to argue with him, but the five of them were of one mind and did not need to take cues from the temporary lord to act.
Even against the First Princess, they felt that, together, they could slightly sway her will.
Roland looked at Tuttle. “I’m the temporary lord, that’s already a fact. Whether you accept it or not doesn’t matter. Anyway, I don’t have any expectations of you. At worst, I’ll replace you.’
After a few seconds of silence, a murderous aura suddenly spread.
Judson gritted his teeth and stared at the temporary lord. “Don’t you dare!”
The other four military officials, who trained soldiers, jumped up almost simultaneously and pounded the table hard.
