"My lord!"
The Fenris knights rushed over to Ghislain in a panic. Though they, too, were exhausted, none of them had suffered injuries as severe as Ghislain.
Ghislain smiled weakly and said, "You've all done well."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'll need some healing, though."
He pulled out a potion and drank it. Seeing this, the knights hurriedly pulled out their own potions and started pouring them over Ghislain.
By the time his clothes were soaking wet, Ghislain waved his hand.
"That's enough. You can stop now. The external wounds are fine. The real issue is the internal injuries—I need rest to recover from those."
"No, we still need to be thorough!"
"That's right! You're too important to take risks!"
Some of them simply unscrewed potion bottles and splashed the contents onto his face, clearly driven by mixed emotions.
For the record, Ghislain didn't have many facial wounds to begin with.
"…Stop it," he said.
"…Understood."
Once it was clear that Ghislain's life wasn't in danger, the knights finally breathed sighs of relief.
As Ghislain's breathing steadied, Gordon asked, "What are those things? Why did they all turn to dust so suddenly?"
"They vanished because that beast is dead. This area hasn't been fully corrupted yet."
"Corrupted?"
"The Rift warps the environment into one where those creatures can survive. That beast emerged to perform that task. Those creatures—Riftborn—don't belong in this world."
"…"
The knights were speechless. They couldn't make sense of what Ghislain was saying.
Noticing their blank stares, Ghislain shook his head slightly and continued, "That's all you need to know for now. You'll grow used to it in time."
"Then… what about the Rift? Why hasn't it closed yet?"
The Rift remained, an open void in the fabric of reality. The massive beast was dead, and the other creatures were gone—so why was the Rift still there?
The knights and soldiers looked at it with unease.
"For now, leave it alone. We can't close it yet. Surround it, monitor it, but do not approach it."
"What? Leave it alone? Does that mean no one can live here anymore?"
"Exactly. Something else is still inside. Once that thing is gone, the Rift will close. Right now, it's too big to come through the opening."
At those words, their faces grew pale.
The monsters that had already emerged were unimaginable in scale and power. To think there was something else still waiting inside…
And it wasn't coming through because the opening wasn't large enough yet?
The Rift seemed enormous already—just how massive was this other creature?
The mere thought was horrifying. Whatever was inside must be far stronger than anything they had faced so far.
Even after Ghislain had fought and defeated the creatures at great personal cost, it seemed as though an entire city might be lost.
The knights supported Ghislain as he stood. Rest was the most urgent priority now.
As they helped him to his feet, Ghislain turned his gaze back toward the Rift.
Ssss.
Within the Rift's void, an eye reappeared. Bloodshot and glowing red, it stared directly at Ghislain.
Ghislain looked back at it and smirked.
"We'll meet again soon."
As if understanding his words, the eye faded back into the purple darkness, becoming faint and indistinct.
And then…
The darkness obscured the eye completely, but it almost seemed to smile.
***
"What in the world happened?"
Count Selverk, the newly appointed administrator of the western region, was stunned to see Ghislain return in such a battered state.
Ghislain led Count Selverk into Linderstein's office.
This was normally the Count's seat of power, but with Ghislain's arrival, Selverk stepped aside.
After giving a brief account of the situation, Ghislain asked, "Were all the Rift sites in the western region dealt with?"
"Yes, we barely managed to subjugate them using the forces sent by Marquis Branford."
The Salvation Church had become increasingly desperate as their Rift locations were uncovered, making it harder and harder to suppress them.
However, outside of the southern regions, the military forces had overwhelmed them, eventually destroying their operations.
"Some sites were empty, but most of the locations you provided had those 'altars.'"
Initially, the altars had been called by many different names, but now everyone simply referred to them as Salvation Church altars.
Occasionally, Ghislain's information proved inaccurate—details he had learned before becoming the Mercenary King weren't always reliable.
But such cases were rare, and trust in Ghislain's intelligence remained high.
'There are still more out there.'
He was certain Rifts existed in places he hadn't discovered. The Rift in Finros territory had only recently emerged.
Soon, other Rifts would begin opening, one by one.
"Hurry and write the report," Ghislain ordered.
The knights who had been forcibly brought from Finros territory bowed their heads. Ghislain had intentionally brought witnesses to document what they had seen.
Shortly after, Count Selverk read the knights' statements and was visibly shocked.
"A-a monster with superhuman-level power? And creatures stronger than soldiers emerging continuously?"
"That's correct."
The Salvation Church wouldn't have offered sacrifices for no reason—they must have known something would emerge. But to think it was a monster stronger than a superhuman…
Just one could devastate multiple territories in the blink of an eye.
Ghislain handed a letter to Count Selverk.
"Send this to every lord as quickly as possible. I will deliver a separate letter to Marquis Branford myself."
"Understood."
As Selverk summoned a knight to relay his orders, Ghislain skimmed through the documents on the desk.
While it was important to share information about the Rift, stabilizing the western region quickly was equally crucial.
Soon, Selverk returned to report on the progress.
"The defeated soldiers have mostly been dealt with," Selverk said.
"Yes, distributing food seems to have quelled them quickly. It's thanks to your reputation."
Ghislain was known for accepting surrendering forces and providing them with ample food supplies.
Because of this, when the remnants of bandit groups heard that Ghislain had taken over the western territories, they surrendered en masse. His forces in Linderstein had swelled to nearly 30,000.
However, even with most of the bandits dealt with, stabilizing the western region would take time.
The people had suffered greatly under the exploitation of war, and some lords continued their atrocities.
Certain lords still enslaved and killed people at will, pillaging without restraint. Under such conditions, simply distributing food wouldn't solve everything.
"The immediate chaos has subsided. Now it's time to take decisive action," Ghislain said.
"What do you mean?"
"We'll need to remove a few of the more disruptive lords as an example and turn their territories into direct holdings."
"B-but…"
Selverk swallowed nervously.
Marquis Rodrick's lands had already become direct holdings of Fenris. The surrounding vassals had pledged allegiance and surrendered.
If Ghislain began removing them now, it would spark tremendous backlash.
"That would tarnish your reputation significantly. Other lords may refuse to surrender to you in the future," Selverk warned.
"I understand. I don't plan to remove all of them—just a few of the worst offenders as a warning."
"Do you really have to go that far?"
Fenris had already claimed the most fertile lands in the western region. By taking time to stabilize the area, they could secure enormous benefits.
The peripheral lords who hadn't sided with Marquis Rodrick were relatively minor players.
But Ghislain shook his head firmly.
"If I could afford to take my time, I would. But right now, we're dealing with a situation that involves countless lives. We can't let a few selfish individuals ruin everything."
That was a fair point. The existence of the Rift had been exposed, and the cult was running rampant. A civil war with the duchy was inevitable.
Even with perfect coordination, it wouldn't be enough—having such individuals around would only increase the damage for everyone.
With a solemn look, Ghislain gazed at Count Selverk and said, "The Rift cannot be dealt with half-heartedly. Everyone must stay alert and move as one. This isn't an individual fight."
Count Selverk couldn't argue any further. The rights of the lords were important, but clinging to those rights at the cost of losing everything would render them meaningless.
If everyone died, what good would those rights do?
"I have no intention of letting my people and myself suffer just to accommodate the whims of some cruel lords. Do you understand? I'll only remove those who truly deserve it."
For Ghislain, that was a lot of explaining—more than he usually offered. It was the best he could do for Count Selverk, who was both a deputy for the western region and a high-ranking noble.
"…Understood. So, what should we do?"
From Ghislain's mouth flowed a series of policies.
"Our administrators will identify the lords to be made examples of. Send in the army and deal with them immediately."
"Relocate people from small villages to cities and fortresses to prepare for the Rift's monsters."
"Redirect all resources toward producing food and war supplies."
"This will create plenty of jobs. Provide sufficient food as compensation for the common folk."
"Expand the military. Use resources more generously than ever to strengthen the army."
The policies Ghislain had implemented in Fenris were laid out one after another. As he spoke, Count Selverk's face grew paler.
"H-how can we execute all of this at once? The administration is in shambles—we're barely maintaining public order as it is."
"Don't worry. Our team specializes in handling such things. Fenris's administrators are already here, aren't they?"
"Well, yes… but they're currently focused on assessing the western situation and addressing urgent issues—"
"They should be done by now. Hey, bring the person in charge."
At Ghislain's command, the knights moved, and soon a man entered the office, smiling.
"My lord, it's been a while."
The man, grinning from ear to ear, was Billy, a friend of Claude's and an administrator.
He had been dragged into service after being conned by Claude at the academy and had since been overseeing Fenris's administrative affairs for a long time.
Having gone through countless challenges, Billy had become capable of reorganizing entire territories.
"It's been a while. Is everything ready?"
"Yes, we've identified the lords who will be made examples of. We've only selected those who frequently kill their own people and embezzle our supplies. There shouldn't be much backlash, and the justification is clear."
"Good. Handle them accordingly and send administrators to take over. Count Selverk will provide the troops. What about the rest?"
"We've also identified cities and forts to relocate people to. There's enough land and population for expansion, so if we offer reasonable wages and hire workers, we can quickly reorganize. Plans for repairing old facilities and building new ones are also in place…."
Billy began outlining the complete restructuring plan for the region.
Hearing this, Count Selverk's jaw dropped.
"A-amazing. To think you've already prepared this much… do Fenris administrators ever sleep? Come to think of it, their lights are always on at night."
"…"
"If only our own administrators worked as hard as Fenris's."
'They'd all die,' Billy thought, barely holding back tears.
Alongside the administrators, priests sent by Piote were also stationed in Linderstein. Their job was to wake up exhausted administrators when they collapsed from overwork.
In any case, the plan was solid. If it had worked in Fenris, a resource-starved territory, it was bound to succeed in the resource-rich west.
Satisfied, Ghislain nodded with a smile.
"Request anything you're short on from Fenris. Especially food—don't hesitate to distribute it freely, as the west is still suffering from the aftermath of the war."
"Understood."
Fenris had reached a level where its food production surpassed that of any other region on the continent, let alone the kingdom.
By distributing it liberally, public sentiment would stabilize quickly, and plenty of people could be mobilized for labor.
Turning to Count Selverk, Ghislain said, "Focus on public safety using the military. You've heard reports of new bandits appearing near the west, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have."
"Don't waste effort trying to subjugate them. I'll bring my army and sweep them away myself. Focus solely on maintaining order and defense."
"Understood."
Ghislain continued coordinating with Count Selverk and Billy, addressing various smaller matters.
With Billy's extensive experience in Fenris, stabilizing the west would be manageable.
It was now time to prepare for something more critical.
"Did you bring the medicine?"
At Ghislain's question, Billy nodded gravely.
"Yes, but it's nowhere near enough for everyone in the west."
Despite Fenris's frantic production of medicine, there wasn't enough to distribute to all the people.
Ghislain nodded, as if that were only to be expected.
"For now, prioritize soldiers involved in combat. The shortage can't be helped."
Count Selverk, looking tense, asked, "We're also following the provided formula and gathering as many ingredients as possible to produce more. But… is it true? Will that really happen?"
Count Selverk had recently been briefed on Ghislain's concerns. Although he was complying, he found it hard to believe.
Ghislain, understanding the skepticism, nodded calmly.
"Yes. We must prepare for the epidemic."
Because it's only the beginning of the tribulation.
[T/L: Please support me and read 385 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]