“Clack, clack, clack.”

The urgent sound of a clapper rang out in the courtyard of Tie Mu City’s official academy, and a crowd of ten-year-old students rushed to gather at the appointed place, following the rhythm.

“Quick, quick, quick, assemble at the practice field.”

These children, each carrying a weapon slightly smaller than those used by adults, hurriedly ran through the corridors.

“Come on, Tilly, we’re late.”

“Wait for me, hey!”

Carrying his small knight’s sword, Tilly scrambled to catch up to the rest of the group.

“Line up, line up.”

By the time Tilly arrived at the practice field, several instructors had already lined the students up.

“Hurry up, you’ll be marked tardy if you don’t get in line now,” one instructor shouted at Tilly, who was straggling at the end of the group.

Tilly shivered at the yell and quickly joined his designated row.

“Phew, just barely made it,” Tilly thought, relieved he hadn’t been marked tardy. He still remembered the punishment he received last time with fresh horror.

Once the instructor was sure everyone was present, a young instructor stepped onto a platform. “Who grants us peace and prosperity?”

“Lord Richard!”

“Who grants us abundance and contentment?”

“Lord Richard!”

“You must all remember, your ability to learn martial arts and literature today is all thanks to Lord Richard’s benevolence.”

“May we pledge our undying loyalty to Lord Richard! May we pledge our undying loyalty to Lord Richard!”

The rowdy teenagers roared in unison, their voices filled with fervor.

Even Tilly, who often met with Richard, shouted along with the rest, perhaps even more enthusiastically than his peers. After all, he had admired his cousin Richard ever since he was little; this reaction was entirely expected of him.

“Very well.” The instructor raised a hand, and the excited youths slowly calmed.

“Instructors, lead your students out for today’s warm-up.”

“1-2-1, 1-2-1…”

Watching the orderly scene unfold, Richard nodded in satisfaction. This was a typical day at Tie Mu City’s public school. In addition to daily martial practice and literacy lessons, the students also needed to understand to whom they pledged their loyalties.

After all, it would be pointless to spend so much effort and money training talent that could not be utilized by the state.

These students, enjoying a systematic education that most commoners of this era could not even dream of accessing, naturally owed their loyalty to the state, which provided them with such an education.

At Richard’s insistence, in addition to traditional academic subjects and physical training, breathing techniques were also taught at the public school. The quality of education was high, surpassing that of many small nobles’ private tutoring.

Not only did the commoners within the territory take this chance, but now even the children of the Hunter family wanted to join and be educated alongside them.

Only in this distant Tie Mu City, under the rule of a daring and audacious lord like Richard, could such a thing happen.

After all, the nobility maintained an unspoken rule to control the spread of knowledge of breathing techniques. Not just anyone would dare challenge this form of unspoken nobility law.

The benefits of this practice were clear as well. After receiving six years of training at the academy, these children could develop into individuals with considerable strength, and the most exceptional among them could reach the level of quasi-knight.

Furthermore, they were also imbued with a certain degree of culture and management theory, allowing most of them to quickly assume the roles of junior military officers or local civil servants.

Now was the period of expansion for the Hunter family, and these loyal students with abilities far surpassing most people of their time became the vanguard for their expansion.

An urgent report interrupted Richard’s thoughts as he observed the new students training on the practice field.

“Sir, an emergency report.”

One of the Silver Rain Spiders approached Richard to deliver the message.

Richard decided not to continue observing the academy and walked toward the Boule Chamber, glancing over the intelligence report as he walked.

The Silver Rain Spider had directly approached Richard at the academy, which meant that something significant must have occurred; normally, minor matters would be left for Richard to handle upon his return, and they would not dare disturb him.

Upon arriving at the Boule Chamber, Richard discovered that his chief of intelligence, Colin, and head housekeeper, Eko, were already waiting inside.

“Sir,” Colin and Eko immediately stood upon noticing Richard’s arrival.

“Sit,” Richard invited them to sit after taking his own seat.

“Where is my father?”

“I’ve already sent someone to notify him,” Eko responded from beside Richard.

“Very well. Please wait a moment; let’s review this intelligence first.”

While they waited, Richard furiously digested the sudden influx of information.

The first piece of information was about Ronen’s inheritance rights. After Richard’s masterful manipulations, a bit of luck, and Lin Xuan’s assistance, the large territory of Weylin finally had no need to fear being stripped away by the kingdom, which was certainly something worth celebrating.

However, the second piece of information made Richard’s brows furrow.

A massive horde of orcs was marching from the Western Wilderness toward the northern lands. Generally speaking, Hunter’s territory was far enough away from the main cities that it wouldn’t be a primary target for orc tribes.

However, Hunter’s territory wasn’t deep enough in the interior to avoid being harassed by smaller forces, so it had been designated as part of the Sixth War Zone.

The Sixth War Zone included two viscounties and three baronies, with Hunter’s territory being one of the viscounties. On paper, it was the weakest war zone, though this “weakest” assessment did not take into account Hunter’s current monster-like strength.

In Richard’s eyes, the position of commander in chief of this war zone was quite interesting.

Richard quickly realized that this was an opportunity for reasonable expansion. Drifting Snow City had cooked up some flimsy command token, hoping to leverage the crisis to expand its influence. However, Richard intended to seize that command token and use it as an imperial edict.

The only thing left to figure out was how to get the title of war zone commander into his hands.

“Lord Richard, Viscount Souter is watching a circus performance. He said to let him know if you decide anything.”

After waiting for quite some time, Richard only received a message from his personal guard.

Richard couldn’t help but rest his forehead in his hand.

Forget it. With his father’s disposition, he’d likely just sit around twirling his thumbs if he came now.

The more the Hunter family thrived under Richard’s leadership, the more carefree Viscount Souter became. Now, he no longer even bothered to feign interest in governance.

“Ahem”

After clearing the awkwardness with a cough, Richard signaled to the two men that they should continue their work without waiting any longer.

“My lord, the Lancelot Family’s military council is not secret, so this intelligence is certain.”

“Mm.”

“Send someone with gifts to contact the fourth young master of the Lancelot Family. Have him help secure the title of commander of the Sixth War Zone for us.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Uncle Eko.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Ensure Tie Mu City’s stores are well stocked. Prepare for the worst, regardless of whether or not the cannibal tribes launch an attack.”

“Yes, my lord.”

This was but one of Richard’s many styles of operation: being fully prepared for any eventuality.

Soon, the two had identified their tasks and set off to make the necessary arrangements.

After delegating tasks, Richard personally inspected the encampment of the Flying Bear Army.

Although this army had been established for less than a month, it benefited from having excellent soldiers—they had all been selected from the farmers who had fought in the war against the House of Wil, and many of them were qualified junior officers.

The army’s overall battle capabilities were quite strong, and it was ready to fight.

As Richard inspected the camp,he assessed the Flying Bear Army’s battle capabilities.

Richard had a strong premonition that war would indeed spread to his territory.

When the pirates were terrorizing the region, he had received a mission from the System to eliminate them. Now, this attack on the cannibal tribe also seemed not to be a random event.

While his suspicions remained just that for now, they were growing stronger by the day. The Flying Bear Army may face its first difficult battle.