Little Pink Starfish

Pei Sen heard a very loud “Should we slash?” from a player. Honestly, it ruined the atmosphere quite a bit—even he couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless.

Fortunately, the players hadn’t received the quest yet, so Sadin hadn’t become an attackable target. Otherwise, those players wouldn’t have bothered asking—they’d have already rushed in with swords swinging. Not all players had the patience to sit through “cutscenes.”

Even though they’d grown attached to some NPCs by now, they were still just as enthusiastic about cutting down any boss they could attack.

It was perhaps another kind of “love or hate, nothing in between.”

Sadin was initially furious, then suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of grievance. The way everyone looked at him made him feel wronged—an emotion he hadn’t experienced in decades.

He thought to himself: I’m not that bad, am I?

He had obeyed the Duke’s orders—the Duke was the young master’s father. Just like any knight should be loyal to their lord, wasn’t it natural for the young master to follow the Duke’s commands?

Besides, even though the young master was sent to the distant Lanno Territory, everything in the Golden Rose Manor was the best. It was a life of sheer extravagance, all provided by the Duke.

In Sadin’s eyes, Eagle looked more like a rebellious and disobedient child.

“Is that what you think, Sadin?” Eagle suddenly asked. “That everything I have was given to me by Burke Angre, so I have no right to disobey him?”

Sadin looked at him in surprise. This young master was too clever.

Eagle smiled faintly. “Even though I don’t bear the name of Esmia, I have Esmia blood in my veins. Do you understand what that means, Sadin? It means I’m born entitled to the highest standards of nobility in the Kingdom of Esmia. Even if Burke Angre isn’t my father, I’d still be entitled to a life this luxurious.”

“Sadin, everything I’ve used came from the royal capital—including those servants and stewards I first drove away. Do you think that was all given to me by Burke Angre, that Grand Duke who now runs the kingdom’s internal affairs? You’re wrong.”

“That was the basic entitlement of a royal descendant.”

Even Viscount Frey, who had once attempted to assassinate Eagle—after his father was executed by Leiser and lost all power—still lived in luxury, even without his once-rich territory.

Because he bore the name Esmia.

Eagle should be grateful to Burke Angre, yes—for not withholding what was rightfully his. And he should thank Princess Carolina, for giving him the Esmia bloodline and securing the position of lord of Lanno for him.

But beyond that, his parents had shown him little care.

This world revered bloodlines. Sadin wasn’t unaware of Eagle’s noble birth—he knew Eagle would never live the same hard life as commoners. But emotionally, he was inclined to side with the Grand Duke, and so felt Eagle was being ungrateful.

In fact, Sadin firmly believed Burke Angre had sent Eagle to Lanno for his own good.

He was the Duke’s knight, and the Duke was the core of his belief.

Eagle looked at Sadin and said, “Go back to the royal capital. Tell my father I don’t need a steward who doesn’t pledge loyalty to me. Leave.”

Within a short span of time, Eagle had quietly won over a few people—for example, the captain of the guard, Kames. Even Ichabod, he felt, could be kept on.

But not Sadin. Eagle knew full well that nothing he did could shake Sadin’s loyalty to Burke Angre.

That loyalty was unbreakable.

Sadin wanted to say he wouldn’t leave, but at that moment, he was already surrounded and isolated. It chilled him to the core. Even if he returned to the manor, things wouldn’t be the same.

As a steward, if no one obeyed him, his title meant nothing.

Previously, nothing in Lanno Territory was reported to the lord without going through him. Sadin had no desire to manage everything, but it was at least a symbol of his status.

Now, in such a short time, everything had changed.

“You’ll regret this, young master,” Sadin said through clenched teeth.

Eagle remained calm. “I won’t. And once you leave, don’t come back.”

He was even cutting off Sadin’s path of return, leaving him no way back.

Sadin was a proud man. His face darkened. He knew if he returned like this, the Duke would certainly scold him. But staying here would be even worse. If he didn’t leave, the Bix clan maniacs might attack him next. Even though he was stronger than Kesso, Kesso’s pitiful defeat showed how crazy these people were. They didn’t care how strong their targets were.

Sadin looked at the tall, composed figure and realized his biggest mistake wasn’t the knights, the clergy of Atwell, or the guards.

It was the Bix clan—represented by Pei Sen.

That strange race that had suddenly appeared was the true foundation of Eagle’s transformation.

Sadin clenched his teeth. “Fine. I’ll go.” He gripped his sword tightly, the veins bulging in his arms, betraying his inner turmoil.

Being driven out in such a manner—there was no dignity in it.

And next, it was Kesso’s turn.

Their rivalry over the years had ended with no winner.

The final victor was Eagle, standing there with a serene expression—the same spoiled boy they had once looked down on.

At that moment, Sadin suddenly realized: the young master had first used him to deal with Kesso, and then drove him out. Now, the Golden Rose Manor—and all of Lanno Territory—was firmly under Eagle’s control.

No one could challenge him anymore.

He was now a real lord—not just one in name.

Could it be that Eagle had planned all this from the beginning? That today’s incident with the Frost Maple knight was just the perfect excuse?

After hearing about the knight, Eagle immediately left Casey City. He probably knew the Duke wouldn’t want him associating with anyone from Frost Maple. In other words, he had already anticipated this.

And Sadin, following the Duke’s orders, would certainly try to stop him.

Everything that followed was just a matter of course.

Sadin didn’t look back at the young master’s faint smile—it was disorientingly beautiful. In a short time, that spoiled, temperamental child had vanished.

Standing there now was an elegant young man, shrewd and unpredictable, of noble Esmia blood and Lanno grace.

Kesso was dead. Sadin was gone. From today onward, Eagle was the undisputed ruler of this land.

And he was only fifteen.

A chill suddenly ran down Sadin’s spine. It reminded him of Emperor Leiser in his youth—since then, Burke Angre had never been a match for him.

Even though Leiser had always been physically weak, he had a terrifying presence.

At that moment, Sadin realized Eagle was nothing like the Duke—except in appearance. In every other way, he resembled the man now seated on the throne.

His uncle, Leiser Esmia.

“I’ve lost this game,” Sadin exhaled. “I need to report back to the Duke. His son… has truly grown up.”

He couldn’t keep playing.

Eagle watched Sadin walk away. He sincerely hoped the man would never return.

Initially, Eagle hadn’t planned to immediately expel Sadin—after all, with the Mage Association still a threat, Sadin could have been a powerful tool.

But just now, Eagle sensed Sadin’s killing intent toward Pei Sen.

And that made his decision.

If Sadin didn’t leave, he would have to die.

Eagle would allow no one to harm Pei Sen.

Nearby, Lin Xing—who had just been brought in—was completely confused. He had no idea what was going on.

But he could sense the disappointment of the strange race that had saved him.

What were they disappointed about? That they didn’t get to fight that terrifying greatsword wielder?

Didn’t they know how strong someone like that was?

From Lin Xing’s perspective, these foreigners weren’t even sword fighters—they were weak by comparison.

He had never seen players in action and didn’t understand their disappointment.

From their point of view, a BOSS with “generous rewards” written all over him had just walked off. They didn’t even get a chance to fight. Of course they were upset.

“No quest?” they muttered in frustration.

At that moment, Eagle turned to Lin Xing and asked, “You’re the knight from Frost Maple Territory?”

“Yes, esteemed Count.”

Pei Sen was observing the bandages on Lin Xing—impressive work. Those were definitely high-grade bandaging skills. Pei Sen himself only knew intermediate bandaging, and that was after squeezing out every last bit of potential from his old max-level account before transmigrating. That was the highest level he could comprehend.

Looking at the other players’ level of skill now, he guessed that person must have been a doctor in real life to grasp such high-level bandaging.

Meanwhile, Lin Xing was carefully taking a letter out from his chest, but due to his heavy injuries, the letter had been completely soaked in blood. The moment he saw its state, his expression changed drastically.

The letter… was completely stained in red. Was anything still legible?

Lin Xing’s face went deathly pale.

At Eagle’s signal, Pei Sen took the letter and opened it. After a quick glance, he looked at Lin Xing with a sympathetic expression.

This loyal knight had risked his life to deliver a message—but the thin piece of parchment was now unreadable, smudged into a mess of blood.

Lin Xing nearly fainted, but Eagle said, “It’s fine. He probably didn’t intend for the letter to be the important part. This is what really matters.”

Inside the envelope, aside from the letter, was a golden crest. Lin Xing had assumed it was meant to help gain the trust of Lanno’s lord.

Eagle had been conferred the title of Count of Thorned Rose, and he lived at Golden Rose Manor. The Lanno family’s emblem was a golden thorned rose. This crest delivered with the letter was the family emblem of Lanno.

Pei Sen didn’t understand the message the crest carried, but he could feel the magical energy embedded in it.

It was a magical item.

Without hesitation, Eagle crushed the crest between his fingers, and Lin Xing immediately understood.

Normally, a noble family’s crest couldn’t be casually destroyed—doing so was a great insult. But now that Eagle was Lanno’s ruler, he had the right.

“Clever idea, turning the crest into a magical item,” Eagle remarked.

As he spoke, the shattered emblem turned into a trail of fine gold dust and formed two lines of text before Eagle’s eyes.

“Kid, want Frost Maple Territory? I’m going to join my wife. If you show up at Red Maple Castle within a month, the territory is yours.”

A small crest couldn’t store much text—this was its limit.

Pei Sen read the words and his expression changed.

What did this mean? Eagle’s uncle was giving him the entire Frost Maple Territory?

Eagle looked contemplative. He turned to Lin Xing, “Is your lord’s health in poor condition?”

Lin Xing shook his head. “Lord Sweg is a strong ex-mercenary. He’s always been in good health.” Despite some old injuries, they’d long been nursed back to health by the late Lady Red Maple using rare medicines and tonics.

“Then… are the Red Maple family members trying to kill him?”

Lin Xing didn’t want to judge. Those people were, after all, relatives of the original Red Maple Marquis. But after some thought, he said, “Even though I was ambushed multiple times while delivering this message, I don’t think they’d kill the lord. Lady Red Maple was a formidable figure, and after her passing, most of us loyal knights pledged allegiance to Lord Sweg. Maybe some will try to usurp him, or target us loyalists, but as for killing him? Not now.”

His reasoning wasn’t baseless. Lady Red Maple had just passed away, and Frost Maple Territory was in a precarious, unstable state due to its rapid expansion. The Red Maple family wouldn’t be foolish enough to create a power vacuum now—it would only plunge the territory into chaos and waste all the effort the Lady had poured into it.

No matter what, Lady Red Maple had designated Sweg as the lord. She held far more prestige in Frost Maple than her late husband, and the current Red Maple relatives were no match for her legacy. Even if they were powerful within the territory, they wouldn’t challenge her posthumous will just yet.

In a few years, when things had settled, maybe. But not now.

Hearing all this, Pei Sen was puzzled. If that was the case, why had Sweg said he was going to join his wife? Did he mean… he was going to die?

Eagle muttered, “That guy’s going to commit suicide for love…”

Pei Sen: “……”

Suicide for love?

Yeah, that was probably the only explanation. Sweg didn’t care about Frost Maple. Even though Lady Red Maple had left it to him, he never cared about this kind of thing.

If he had wanted to be a lord—or cared at all for noble power, status, or luxury—he would never have run away from home in the first place.

A proper noble, running off to become an adventurer and mercenary in a neighboring country? That’s not something a normal noble would do. Most couldn’t stand that lifestyle.

If not for running into Lady Red Maple, maybe he’d have spent his entire life dancing on a knife’s edge as a free mercenary.

Eagle chuckled, “Those two lines he left me—so carefree.”

The wording was utterly un-noble.

Glancing at Lin Xing again, Eagle said, “Rest up. When you’re healed, take me to Red Maple Castle.”

Pei Sen looked at Eagle in surprise. He knew the young master would probably decide to go to Frost Maple Territory—but to say it so firmly, without hesitation…

That would be very dangerous.

The Red Maple family members wouldn’t harm Sweg, but they certainly wouldn’t welcome Eagle stepping foot on their land.

The ornate carriage began to roll again. Those following Eagle clearly treated him with much more deference now. Even Sadin had been driven off—there was no one left to follow but Eagle.

Meanwhile, the players were still thinking about what Eagle had said—Red Maple Castle?

This had to be the beginning of another major event!

Frost Maple Territory… the system would probably set up a respawn point there, right?

Players were thinking practically. Participating in big events usually meant generous rewards.

“Quick, while that knight’s still recovering, let’s grind hard for a few days, level up!”

“Yeah! I’m going to farm contribution points and swap out this junk armor!”

“Let’s go, forget Starfall Plains and dungeons—we need to grind!”

“But the little count didn’t say when he’s leaving… we’ll need to watch the knight and see when he recovers.”

“Shouldn’t take too long. Anyway, time’s tight. Let’s all rush quests while we can.”

…

The players’ enthusiasm for the construction tasks in Casey City and Arzi Town hit an all-time high, pushing the progress bars far faster than before.

In the City Lord’s manor, Lady Mary was reviewing documents. After pausing for a moment, she sighed.

She had only received news of Sadin’s dismissal afterward. If she had been there, she would’ve tried to dissuade the young master. Though she knew, by now, he probably wouldn’t have listened.

“The young master has changed so much…” Mary murmured.

She had been with him since he was little, but now, she could barely recognize him.

And now, as the lord of Casey City, Mary realized running a city was much harder than she’d thought.

After the deaths of Wallis and the Dragon Star Knights, the City Lord’s office had been left with barely any administrative staff. Mary had taken over the office but was barely better off than a lone officer.

In the end, the only people she could count on for help were the hardworking, unpaid Bix clan.

They’d come to her office to take on all kinds of tasks, enthusiastically helping with city construction. Even with other matters, they were usually quite reliable.

But Mary knew in her heart—they weren’t her people.

The more she interacted with them, the stranger she felt they were.

Yes, the Bix clan were hard-working and cheap labor. But their behavior was unpredictable.

They also had an odd sense of pride—bordering on arrogance—that Mary couldn’t quite grasp.

She had tried to recruit some of them, hoping to control the city more effectively, but it was useless.

They never offered true loyalty.

Mary sensed they carried a strange superiority.

They probably wouldn’t be loyal to anyone—yet somehow, they were loyal to the young master.

Those two things didn’t add up.

Take the Lin Xing incident. Mary believed she had treated many Bix clan members well—with kindness, generosity, and careful oversight—but she had still failed to win them over.

These proud, unruly people were too arrogant to appreciate kindness. Not a single one of them truly became hers.

Even when the Frost Maple knight arrived in Casey City, she didn’t hear about it until after Eagle showed up.

It left her feeling both defeated and bitter.

“Is it really because of Pei Sen?” Mary didn’t understand.

Since leaving Golden Rose Manor, her access to its internal affairs had weakened—but she still knew that people now assumed Pei Sen had fallen for the young master.

Mary felt uneasy. “I must talk to the young master. He can’t get involved with Pei Sen.”

Even though Pei Sen was handsome, he was still a lowborn foreigner—and a man.

Then she instructed a servant, “Tell the Bix clan to bring that Frost Maple knight to the manor for recovery.”

“Yes, milady.”

Not long after, the servant returned with a distressed look. “Lady Mary, the Bix clan refused. They said the knight is too injured to be moved and should recover in the residence he’s currently in.”

Mary: “……”

She knew it!

These foreigners were never obedient—even to her as the city lord!

They only obeyed Eagle because of Pei Sen.

They were loyal only to the young master.

And now, all over Lanno, there were strange and unsettling Bix clan members everywhere.

Mary was deeply frustrated and saddened by this reality.

…

Nearby, a few players stood guard outside a residence.

“Did he leave?”

“Yeah, gone.”

“That city hall servant had such a smug attitude—so Mary’s the new antagonist, huh?”

“Don’t know. She seems okay most of the time.”

“Just another quest-giving NPC. Who knows what she’s up to? Don’t forget, the Bix clan gave every NPC a full backstory. What if she’s secretly up to something?”

“Right. What if she’s trying to move Lin Xing to sabotage the little count’s plans?”

“Exactly. We have to make sure Lin Xing stays safe, or we won’t be able to go with the count on the major event quest!”

“Yeah, let him rest here peacefully.”

As for Lady Mary… just a generic city-builder quest NPC.

Honestly, no player took her seriously.

Besides, that servant came with no quest. No one was going to listen.

And even if there was a quest—it could’ve been a trap. Players hadn’t forgotten how a guy named Claude once accepted a wrong quest and had his rewards nerfed permanently.

Playing Bix Magic Cube required brains.

The players thought they were being clever and cautious—not easy to fool.

Lady Mary important? Not at all.

She might not even rank above those commoners in Casey City who built their graves.

And this was perhaps why—without Pei Sen—players were never able to connect meaningfully with the continent’s nobles.

The players were very practical. The nobles didn’t understand them—and never would.

In their eyes, all “NPCs” were equal. There was no such thing as status.

Unless, well… if a noble happened to be especially good-looking.

As for true loyalty? Yeah, no chance.