An Irrefutable Argument

But Carbanog wasn't one to back down so easily.

...Let's just skip past that.

Tae-hyun quickly sidestepped the difficult topic and turned his gaze back to Count Marchetti. He had to at least make the man somewhat useful!

"Listen closely, Count Marchetti. I'm going to write this down for you, so memorize it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Count Marchetti nodded with surprising compliance. Though he possessed a foul temper, once he recognized Tae-hyun's superior standing as a high-ranking noble, he began to obey. Had he not accepted Tae-hyun's authority, he would have adopted a dismissive attitude, completely tuning out whatever was said.

"Even if you can't collect all the taxes, you must not evict your citizens."

"Even if... taxes... are not... fully collected..." Count Marchetti diligently scribbled it down.

"Charging ten times the transit fee of other territories is absurd. Lower it."

"To how much, sire?"

"The exact same as the other territories!"

"I see. Transit fees... same as... other territories..."

"And construct a Temple of Archisus in your territory."

"Yes. A Temple of... Archisus... in the territory..."

"And donate your entire fortune to it!"

"?"

"???"

Both Tae-hyun and Count Marchetti snapped their heads around.

Did Your Majesty say that?

I didn't go that far.

Tae-hyun was a thief with a conscience. Even if he demanded a donation, he would have stopped at half! The one who had demanded the entire fortune was none other than Galakpad.

"Galakpad?! When did you get here?"

"I have just rushed to your side, Your Majesty!" Galakpad declared, his voice trembling with deep, passionate loyalty. To an outsider, he would have looked like the ultimate loyal subject, but Tae-hyun was suddenly seized by a wave of dread. Why on earth is this guy here instead of staying in Bolone County?

"Your Majesty! I have just returned from conquering Ernesto County!"

"...????"

Conquering? What now?

The Atali Kingdom was shaped like a peninsula. To the north of the central Capital—Tae-hyun's territory—lay roughly five other fiefdoms. In the far northeast was "The Valley." To the northwest was Bolone County, which had been occupied by the Archisus Crusaders after its count's death. Similarly, in the northwest, Bonazo County had quickly surrendered and was now occupied by the Power Warrior Guild. The remaining two were Marchetti County, situated directly above the Capital, and Ernesto County in the northeast!

Tae-hyun had just secured a vow of loyalty from Marchetti County. That left only Ernesto County. Previously, Tae-hyun had told the Guild Alliance, "Hey, go raid Marchetti County and Ernesto County." However, the Guild Alliance had focused almost entirely on Marchetti County. Why? Because Ernesto County bordered "The Valley"!

In the Guild Alliance, they didn't even refer to it by its proper name. They called it "that valley" or "the place that must not be named." Fearing that Tae-hyun might pull some underhanded trick on them, they had avoided the area entirely, or at most, merely poked around before retreating. As a result, Tae-hyun hadn't paid much attention to it either... but what was this about a conquest?

"While Your Majesty is working so tirelessly to behead the tyrant Count Marchetti and liberate the citizens of his county..."

"Hey! Hey!" Tae-hyun quickly clamped a hand over Galakpad's mouth. What was this lunatic blathering about when Count Marchetti was standing right behind them, perfectly alive and well?! Sure, Tae-hyun had briefly contemplated whether or not to slice the count's throat, but he hadn't actually done it!

"How could I, your humble servant, sit idly by?! I, Galakpad, led the Archisus Crusaders straight to Ernesto County!"

"You absolute lunatic!" Tae-hyun shrieked, unable to contain himself. He was already walking on eggshells to avoid raising the suspicions of the other nobles, and this guy goes and pulls a stunt like this?! At least Bolone County had the excuse of a demon invasion, but Ernesto County didn't even have any demons!

"Have no fear, Your Majesty!"

"...?" Tae-hyun paused, thrown off by Galakpad's sheer confidence. Did the man actually have a solid justification?

"Is not Count Ernesto, who refuses to believe in Archisus, practically a demon himself?"

"..."

Tae-hyun buried his face in his hands. "...Show me the footage."

The Archisus Crusaders had executed the siege of Ernesto County with absolute perfection. It was so needlessly flawless that it only made Tae-hyun more annoyed! You guys aren't supposed to be this competent! Why did these people, who usually fumbled in every conceivable way, suddenly perform like elite soldiers only at times like this?

The Archisus Crusaders had split their forces into two groups for the assault. The players who had already infiltrated the county positioned themselves at key points throughout the castle, waiting. The moment the main force of the Crusaders, led by Galakpad, arrived at the castle gates, the hidden players set fires everywhere and raised a massive battle cry! Caught completely off guard by the sudden ambush, Count Ernesto failed to mount any proper resistance and was dragged out of the inner keep.

Galakpad didn't care whether his opponent was a count or a duke. He wasn't called a fanatic for nothing.

"..."

Having finished the video, Tae-hyun buried his face in his hands and let out a long, heavy sigh. I was too naive... He should have disbanded the Archisus Crusaders the moment the siege of Bolone was over!

Ugh... Tae-hyun groaned internally. He was trying his best to act like a proper king by soothing and placating the local lords, only for his followers to go and pull off such an explosive stunt.

"So, who is currently ruling Ernesto County?"

"Well..."

In effect, Tae-hyun had seized control of the entire northern and central regions of the Atali Kingdom. Before he even realized it, he had become a massive landowner! The southern nobles are definitely going to band together now.

Their wariness was at an absolute maximum! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It was to the point where they would probably throw someone out just for uttering a word starting with the letter "A".

Pat, pat. Count Marchetti stepped closer and patted Tae-hyun on the back. "Do not let it trouble you too much, Your Majesty."

"Count Marchetti...!" Tae-hyun felt a small wave of emotion. "Yes. I suppose I can take my time to persuade them. Since nobles like you and Count Bonazo are still alive and well, if I speak to the southern nobles reasonably..."

"Pardon? No, can't we just kill them all?"

"..."

The Elite Warrior Band clapped their hands at his words. Clap, clap, clap, clap!

"Any noble who dares defy the King deserves to die!"

"Count Marchetti really knows how things work!"

"...You people must never, ever hang out together."

Galakpad and the Archisus Crusaders. Power Warrior and the Engineering blacksmiths. Count Marchetti and the Elite Warrior Band. These were combinations that, if left together, would undoubtedly trigger a catastrophe!

Tae-hyun stopped lamenting and began to assess the situation. What was done was done; there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Well, it's definitely profitable. Having subdued or won over the northern lords of the kingdom, Tae-hyun's king-related stats were shooting up rapidly.

When did my Terror hit 11,000...? It wasn't just 10,000; it was already at 11,000! Then again, considering his Reputation was in the high 90,000s and rapidly approaching 100,000, it wasn't all that shocking. He certainly had been playing in a way that warranted a high Terror stat!

The skill granted alongside the title allowed him to temporarily become the Avatar of Terror. The duration would increase as the skill level rose.

...? Tae-hyun tilted his head. Just looking at the description, it was hard to grasp what kind of skill it actually was. It's a title skill unlocked at 10,000 Terror, and I got the first-ever bonus for it, so there's no way it's bad, right?

That hit strangely close to home! Is it a wide-area debuff skill that lowers morale? I already have plenty of those. Skills that broke the enemy's morale and struck terror into opposing parties were highly effective in large-scale battles, but they were typically rare and difficult to acquire.

But Tae-hyun was a different breed. He was the only player who had raised his Speech skill to the highest rank! While other players struggled to obtain even one such skill, Tae-hyun possessed Intimidate, Confusion, Threaten... At this point, he practically had a full demagogue set. I'll test it out later. First, let's check on the situation in the south.

Ugh. Just as he had expected! Just don't march up here. If they simply huddled together in their own territories, it wouldn't be an issue. But if they led their mercenaries and order of knights northward, things would become incredibly messy. A civil war! Su Ning and the Guild Alliance would be absolutely thrilled, clapping with both their hands and feet!

Whew. Thank goodness. Reports were coming in from guild members stationed in various territories. Fortunately, the nobles weren't marching their armies out; instead, they were reinforcing their walls and constructing fortresses. They were clearly terrified that Tae-hyun might launch a preemptive strike! But they had nothing to worry about. Tae-hyun was already overwhelmed just trying to manage the territories he currently held. The gold he had earned from this quest would vanish in the blink of an eye. Managing a fief was a bottomless money pit.

"By the way, Your Majesty."

"What is it?" Tae-hyun asked as the Elite Warrior Band approached.

"We heard that those who colluded with the demons have fled back to their own kingdom. Are we not going to pursue them?"

"Ah, that." Tae-hyun pondered for a moment. But is there really any need to attack the Auston Kingdom right now?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The Guild Alliance was already fractured and severely weakened. They had fallen far behind in the competition among major guilds. If anything, he needed to keep an eye on the newly emerging giant guilds; there was no reason to waste energy on the Guild Alliance now. Besides, as long as the Guild Alliance exists, they'll just keep fighting amongst ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠themselves... There was no way the Guild Alliance would get along with the guilds formed by the high-ranking players who had split off from them.

"I don't plan on pursuing them for now."

"May we ask why, sire?"

Tae-hyun thought about fabricating a grand excuse, but laziness won out. He didn't have any plans to visit the Asbian Empire anytime soon anyway, so why not just give it to them straight?

"I'm just too busy."

"Ah, indeed." The Elite Warrior Band nodded in immediate understanding.

...?

Both Tae-hyun and Carbanog were utterly dumbfounded!

He had never expected this level of blind faith! Tae-hyun nodded with a bewildered expression. "Y-yes. Thank you for trusting me."

Tae-hyun moved on to his next task. He wanted to prepare as much as possible before seeking out the quest for Archisus's Authority. His primary goal right now was to produce more, and faster. To achieve this, Tae-hyun headed toward the Valley, where the Demon Forge was located.

"The Valley is quite heartwarming today as well."

"Very heartwarming indeed."

"Right? Heartwarming, isn't it?"

Everyone avoided eye contact. It was just another typical, chaotic day in the Valley!

Freid, the demon who had recently settled down here, was shouting at the top of his lungs to attract customers. Tae-hyun's party ignored him and walked inside.

Saruon, the demon blacksmith, greeted Tae-hyun warmly the moment he saw him.

"Avatar of Archisus! It has been a while... Gaaah! Gusion?!"

What on earth was the son of a Demon Duke doing here?!