Ximengsi Continent’s southern region, outside Steinbeck Fief in the vicinity of Lawrence River
Clyde and Light Church’s two saintesses, “Punishment Saintess” Tiffany and “Radiance Saintess” Maria,” met Lucifer who waited for them at the bank. Lucifer had an unsophisticated expression. However, as if she had used some kind of perception obstructing magic, Tiffany and Maria were unable to detect that this Lolita was one of the old enemies of Light Church.
Under Lucifer’s direction, Clyde’s carriage crossed the floating bridge to arrive at the center of Steinbeck Fief, Stanley City. During the past few days of Clyde’s absence, Steinbeck Fief had undergone no big changes. The demonic creatures lingering about the fief’s periphery had already returned to the place from which they had originally been summoned from through Lucifer’s evil magic. Now, the security of the fief had significantly improved.
However, there were still no refugees willing to come and settle here. Although Princess Saras had set out very favorable migration conditions, Steinbeck Fief’s terrifying reputation had spread for a long time, and no one dared to risk living here. As for the mother country, Adrian Empire, they had never done anything from the start. After handing Steinbeck Fief to Clyde’s party, they hadn’t even investigated the new Suzerain. In any case, they didn’t expect this barren land to bring them any benefits. It was enough so long as someone else took it over and removed this embarrassment from the empire’s annals.
On the surface, Stanley City was lawless because there were no guards responsible for defending the city. Naturally, this was just a superficial illusion. Lucifer’s bloodkin familiars continuously protected the city from the dark. Before Clyde had returned, many groups of bandits who had attempted to plunder the city had left their bones at the periphery of Stanley City. After being targeted by bloodkin familiars, not even their corpses could be left to their descendants.
Tiffany and Maria looked somewhat cautious. Although they didn’t see any guards, the odor of blood surrounded Stanley City. Many a grand fight must have occurred here. Just because they couldn’t see any corpses didn’t mean that nothing had happened. However, Steinbeck Fief didn’t have any residents, so had those bandit groups been killed by magical beasts? Puzzling this out, the two saintesses warily followed Clyde inside the palace.
Within, Princess Saras and Princess Natalie hosted a banquet to receive the visiting Light Church saintesses, Tiffany and Maria. Witch Ista and Princess Sigrid didn’t attend this banquet in order to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings since they couldn’t hide their aura, unlike how Lucifer could.
Light Church had always held neutral position. They didn’t care about the system a nation followed. Since the kingdoms of Princess Saras and Princess Natalie had been mediocre kingdoms, they had not been the focus of Light Church’s intelligence. Since this was the first time Tiffany and Maria had heard of them, they didn’t know of their unfortunate pasts.
What made Clyde relieved was that Light Church’s saintesses had no detest for slavery. They were just a little curious, nothing more because at present, those naked palace maids were the only residents of Steinbeck Fief. The two saintesses were curious because these maids’ wicked erotic states were normally something only a male Suzerain would like.
According to the application data they had seen, Clyde was not the Suzerain. The Suzerain was Princess Saras. A female Suzerain wouldn’t have this kind of strange hobby. Generally, only male Suzerains made maids wear nothing. Tiffany and Maria looked at Princess Saras with probing gazes. No matter how they watched this blonde beauty, she didn’t resemble a female Suzerain that liked girls. Then again, looks could be deceiving.
Those beautiful maids all had backgrounds as adventurers and mercenaries. They had significant combat power. If one looked past their current bare states, a perceptive observer might realize that they could beat down many thugs bare-handed. They were different from normal slaves who rarely had such a high combat power. After all, if their combat power were high, they would easily rebel. Thus, most masters didn’t like slaves with high combat power.
“Tiffany, Maria, you are welcome to build a church here. Our fief will completely bear the funds. As for workers, they cannot be recruited so quickly. I hope you two can wait.”
“Saras, I hope you all can carry out the construction as quickly as possible. After a month, Light Church will send a review team to inspect the buildings. If they are not up to standard, then everything will be hard to handle!”
Taking advantage of the time when Princess Saras was discussing with Light Church’s saintesses, Clyde came to a balcony and found Lucifer gazing at some distant scenery. Lucifer had already detected Clyde’s arrival, but she hadn’t turned around. Instead, she continued to appreciate the distant scenery, seemingly thinking over some major issues.
“Big brother Clyde, the strength of those two big sister saintesses cannot hold a candle to big sister Valkyrie Cynthia. As long as I…”
“What are you thinking? Lucifer, don’t make a move on them. If by chance Light Church discovered it, it would be troublesome.”
Clyde knocked Lucifer’s head in warning, but Lucifer just made a funny face and temporarily gave up the evil plans she had cooked up for the pair of Light Church saintesses. This wicked Lolita was the true backstage manipulator of Steinbeck Fief. Princess Saras and the others just bore empty titles. The real power lay in Lucifer’s hands.
“Big brother Clyde, the issue of gaining residents is not easy to resolve. Big sister Saras’s idea is good, but the conditions given to those refugees are too much: exempting them from forced labor and military service. In addition, they don’t even need to pay rent for a year. Is she a Suzerain or a philanthropist?”
“Indeed, Princess Saras is too kind-hearted. She cannot deal with these matters that require negotiating. Younger sister, did you think of a better method?”
“Of course, simply subjugate them directly. I appreciate the slavery system of Clark Alliance. We can leave Big Sister Natalie as the person in charge of this morally difficult matter.”
“Isn’t that a bit wrong? We are a vassal country of Adrian Empire and are regarded as a member of Victor Alliance.”
“From the start, Adrian Empire has never truly helped us as a vassal state. Besides, this place is surrounded by the nations of Clark Alliance on four sides. There is no problem in following the local customs.”
Regarding the resident issue, Lucifer’s proposal was oversimplified and crude. She incited Clyde to subjugate some nearby cities and towns and directly force them to migrate here. This was Clark Alliance’s customary means and would rapidly replenish the population. In this area, there were many neutral cities, towns, and tribes. Called the Barbarian Race, every nation targeted them.
The Barbarian Race was good at hiding and fighting in forests. The average army was useless against them since they would be whittled down in the forests. Clyde’s party, however, was different. With Lucifer’s Bloodkin familiars providing reconnaissance support, they didn’t need to worry about not finding the hiding positions of the Barbarian Race.
