The Lord Is Too Overbearing

Randalvine.

While the students were still being led out of Raneil Barony by Basil, the news of Ruttenhale Barony's fall, and the Demons' advance to Woster County was finally broadcasted in the capital of Braxtein Kingdom.

Everyone was appalled upon hearing the news, before thanking their fate for being in the safest place in the Kingdom, the capital city, Randalvine. Needless to say, there were also some people who were still alarmed regardless.

Those people were mostly the Nobles of Woster County, who had abandoned their territory, and the people who had an extremely cautious nature.

The extremely cautious people were afraid of the outcome of the war they had predicted. They judged that their King had made a mistake by sending the Five Princes to BA-32; it was nothing but a waste of resources.

The Nobles were, of course, now afraid of losing their territory. They had abandoned their territory to escort their family to Randalvine, fully believing that the Demons wouldn't be able to advance to Woster County.

Now that the Demons were proven to be capable of doing the very thing they thought the Demons couldn't do, all of them were urgently running in their way back to their territory.

They were cowardly in nature, but when they saw there were many people with them, they wouldn't think much to participate. After all, the Demons were still in their way—they hadn't reached Woster County yet.

There were still some time for them to prepare their Viscountcy or Barony for the upcoming battle as long as they were quick enough to arrive at their territory. Running away even though there was still a chance to win would be stupid of them.

To simplify the matter, they were driven by their greed, which was sadly a pretty normal occurrence amongst Nobles.

As the saying goes however, not everyone is the same. There were also some Nobles, which means very few of them, who were genuinely worried about the fate of the people staying in their territory.

"Mother, why do you have to go?"

"I am sorry, sweetheart. I can't just leave our people behind."

"But, Mother... We are supposed to spend our time together! It's—it's not even a week yet!"

"I am really sorry, Julia. However, this is my responsibility as the Viscount of Chilston."

One of the Nobles who were genuinely worried about their people's fate was Viscountess Diana Chilston, the mother of Julia Chilston who was a friend of Shirley Cobham, Basil's step sister.

"Jules..."

Shirley couldn't say much upon witnessing the scene. She, on top of no longer having a mother, also didn't have that strong of a bond with her late mother.

She couldn't understand Julia's dilemma of letting her mother go to the battlefield; she knew she wouldn't feel any of that if she was in Julia's position. As such, the only thing she could do was reassuring her friend.

"Believe in your mother."

Looking at the undoubtedly attractive mature woman in front of her, Shirley couldn't help but admire Diana's look. Diana was covered in armor that still left her with some mobility—she looked like a Valkyrie ready to go on a killing spree.

One would think that having a Mage daughter meant being a Mage oneself—it was normal to think that way, but the case was different with Diana. Unlike her daughter, she was a proud Peak Stage Yellow Core Knight.

"I still can't believe that Miss. Diana is such an outstanding Knight..."

"Fufufu. There is no need to flatter me, father-in-law."

"I am not your father-in-law."

Diana merely laughed softly at Danzel's quick retort as she turned her gaze to Julia who was still hugging her like a koala. She smiled sadly, before caressing her daughter's head.

"Listen, I am not going to fight all of the Monsters by myself—I have many people to help me." Staring deeply into Julia's eyes, Diana continued, "I will return safely, so can you give me your trust?"

Julia silently stared at her mother with eyes stained with tears for a couple of seconds, before eventually nodding her head. She let go of her hug afterwards, then wept silently in front of her mother.

"I—I will trust you... So, come home safely."

"Technically, I am coming home now—okay, I am sorry for being insensitive here. Fufufu." Diana stopped her joke then laughed when she noticed Julia's unamused look. "Kuhum! Let us meet again when everything ends."

Diana smiled softly, then gave a light kiss to Julia's forehead. She then turned to Danzel and bowed politely at him.

"I will leave my daughter in your care."

"To think that this day has finally come..." Danzel reminisced about the talk they had in the hotel's lounge room, before shaking his head bitterly. "Don't leave your daughter too long—she is still your responsibility."

"I will keep that in mind."

Danzel hummed in acknowledgement and Diana bowed politely once again. Giving a last goodbye to Julia, she turned around then rode the High Grade Hexapod Horse she had specially purchased for the battle with the Demons.

Neigh!

As she kicked the horse, it galloped like a flash. It didn't take long until the people lost the sight of her and the horse.

'Fufufu. Will I be able to meet my first love at first sight? He is such a capable person, there is no way he doesn't participate in this battle. Ah, I will use this time as my chance to capture his heart.'

While the people Diana left behind admired her in their heart for the brave thing she was willing to do for her people, said person herself had her own purpose of doing so.

It was quite difficult to decide whether she came to Woster County to save her people or to meet her crush whose heart already belonged to someone.

...

Southevile Viscountcy, Fortescher County (South).

"Achoo!"

"How can a Mage catch a cold? Aren't you embarrassed at yourself, Chester?"

"Ah, sorry, Master Blake. I don't have a cold; I just suddenly felt the need to sneeze. My sense was telling me something terrifying would come in the near future."

"I heard that hallucination is one of the symptoms of cold."

"I really don't have a cold..."

Blake looked at Chester weirdly, and Chester merely shook his head bitterly. They were quick to forget the matter however, since they had already arrived at their destination—one of the Three Sacred Grounds, Southevile Viscountcy.

Unlike what one would expect from a Viscountcy that normally, at least, encompassed an area of 300 square meters—two times than the average area Barony encompassed—Southevile Viscountcy looked like a rice field.

"Well, are we going to harvest some rice here?"

"Amazing... I can't detect the Magic Barrier."

Of course, the two Mages were fully aware that what they saw wasn't actually what it was. [Reality Altercation]—the highest level of Bewitchment that was cast upon the Viscountcy was the reason of what they were seeing.

Unlike the others, who were still unaware of the Three Sacred Grounds, the two Mages were already made aware of the Grounds' existence. According to how the Bewitchment worked, they should be able to enter the Viscountcy with that information.

"Master Blake, why are you hesitating?"

"Although my instinct says it is clear, I can't fully believe my instinct this time—who knows what years of living peacefully can do to my once sharp instinct. I can't help but doubt the existence of the Grounds now."

"What are you talking about, Master Blake? The King has said it himself—he gains nothing by lying to you about such a thing!"

"Are you sure he won't gain anything by lying to me about such a thing?" Blake raised his eyebrow. "Look at me, Chester. Who am I?"

Realization quickly dawned on Chester as he recalled how Anthony viewed Blake and many others.

Blake was an outstanding Mage, who had refused the title of Nobility for 30 years straight. Having ruled the Kingdom for such a long time, it was normal for Anthony to develop an illogical paranoia.

There were many competent individuals, though not as many as the existing Nobles, who had always refused the offer of being one of the people in power. While in their view they did that to have a laid-back life, Anthony might view them as a potential group of rebels.

As such, using the current chaotic situation as an opportunity to kill them all, potential rebels, was the wisest thing a King should do. Forcefully telling them about the non-existent Three Sacred Grounds was one way to do it.

Upon reaching to that conclusion, Chester stepped back in disbelief. He had only thought to himself for three seconds, but he had developed an urge to come home in that just three seconds.

"That's a good reaction."

"What?"

As Chester faced Blake with an extremely confused face, Blake merely smiled at him while nodding in satisfaction.

"I was just messing with you, but I like your decision of assuming everyone is your enemy."

"Were you messing with me, Master Blake?"

"Do you think I would tell you if I wasn't?"

"Huuh... Thank goodness! I thought you wanted to bring me to death with you for a second."

"You would have been gone a long time ago, if that had been the case."

Blake shook his head in amusement before touching the Magic Barrier he could barely feel in front of him. He didn't feel like he touched anything, but when he stretched his hand forward, he couldn't see his hand any longer.

"Let's go, Chester."

"Yes, Master Blake."

"Remember, you can only trust yourself. When the time comes where you think that you can't believe the people around you, trust yourself—don't even put your trust in me."

"... I will keep that in mind."

Blake understood pretty well that Chester didn't actually listen to everything he said, but he didn't want to scold Chester for that. There would come a time where Chester would do what he said instinctively—he was sure about it.

As they stepped into the barrier, they were greeted by a different wind, different atmosphere, different scene, and a different mood.

They had heard that the Viscountcy was filled with a hundred people or so, but the only people they could see inside were the tense unaffiliated Mages and Knights—their fellows—and the young man in his mid thirties greeting them.

He had a dirty blond hair that was neatly swept to the right, a handsome face, and a sufficiently muscular figure to complement his looks.

The people felt something familiar about the person in front of them, but they couldn't tell who the person was until they heard his voice.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to Southevile Viscountcy."

Charles Blois, the family killer, had reappeared as a confounding variable after 10 years of disappearance.