Chapter 903: Unstable Music Note

Chapter 903: Unstable Music Note

After Rhode began constructing his territory, everything went on smoothly, no matter the gathering of magic monster nests or guiding the Order Refugees. Come to think of it, this was the first time he felt how influential a dragon soul heir could be over its people. The Order Refugees should have been more wary in their first meeting with him, but they braved mountains of daggers and seas of flames for all of his orders—of course, this was exaggerating, but their obedience to his commands were certain.

Judging from this aspect, Rhode confirmed that there was absolutely a problem with Lilian's dragon soul powers. If her dragon soul powers were as powerful and obvious as his, wouldn't a word from her turn Sonia into her loyal subordinate immediately?

Rhode initially thought that things would continue smoothly. But... This evil world apparently wouldn't grant him that wish. There were no internal issues which meant that externally there would be problems. However, he just didn't expect that the problem would come from the Munn Kingdom.

When he got this intelligence from Gillian, he was baffled. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten about something.

Question one: Where is his territory located?

Answer: Right below the Munn Kingdom.

Question two: Left was west. Right was east. Up was north. What was down there?

Answer: South.

Question three: What was the border region connecting Rhode's territory and the Munn Kingdom?

Answer: The Southern Port.

"... That group of bastards. I regret not slaughtering every single one of them earlier on when I had the chance."

Rhode leaned back on the chair and placed his feet on the table before him. His eyes were filled with obvious murderous intent. According to Gillian, the Southern Port held relatively high hostility toward this new territory that appeared out of nowhere. Not only that, but also within a short period of time, everyone knew that Rhode was the overlord of the Void Territory thanks to the news spreading within the Southern Port.

It was due to this that there were lots of rats that went to the Land of Atonement, to which Gillian followed the vine to get to the melon. Although it wasn't specified, Rhode wasn't that foolish to believe that the Southern Port was 'innocently' spreading news about this. It was apparent from their deep hatred toward him that they would stir trouble. However, Rhode didn't expect that they were this brazen.

If he thought about this earlier, he would have asked Lydia for the Southern Port territory to smash these clowns into mash. However, this was just his wishful thinking, after all. If he could turn back time, he still wouldn't have chosen the Southern Port. If Lydia were to hand over the Southern Port to him in the past, it would take him a lot of time to suppress the internal enemies and other opposing forces. Besides, they were still people of the Munn Kingdom no matter what. Under Lydia's watchful eyes, Rhode couldn't possibly slaughter to his heart's content. There was a saying that a boneheaded teammate could do more harm than the most formidable opponent. If Rhode were to select that tattered land of the Southern Port earlier on, perhaps he would still be plagued by this 'internal disease', not to mention opening new territories now.

But even with millions of considerations done, he didn't expect that the boneheaded teammate still managed to strike...

His head was in immense pain after hearing this news. He predicted that with his identity, his relationship with the Southern Port wouldn't be anywhere near peaceful. However, he didn't expect them to betray this quickly. He instantly felt that his decision to not slaughter his way to the Southern Port when he disguised himself as the Necromancer in the past was a huge mistake.

Great. He didn't get the EXP and troubles were here knocking on his door.

But there were still benefits in this. The southern clowns also reminded him to be mentally prepared when he faced the Southern Port in the future. No matter what, most of his traffic routes were linked to the Southern Port as the transfer hub. If the southern clowns were to mess with the merchants, there would definitely be troubles ahead.

However, blessings never came in pairs. After realizing the problem with the Southern Port, Rhode discovered another problem that was floating on the surface.

What exactly was his relationship with Lydia?

Rhode initially thought that he could be like the Country of Light or other territories; maintain a superficial subordinate relationship with Lydia. But in fact, he was running an independent territory. This was naturally convenient for both parties because Rhode was the one who risked his life to develop the territory. He didn't inherit the land from nobles and wasn't bestowed it either, which meant that Lydia held no rights in control. On the other hand, he was her honorary knight and could maintain a decent relationship.

But...

That was built based on the foundation that the territory was under the protection of the Light Dragon Soul.

He didn't expect that the dragon soul protection of his territory would be under the Void Dragon instead. In the game, he didn't approach Marlene and unlock the tinder seal together. Back then, he only triggered the ordinary Light Dragon Soul protection, which explained why he always subconsciously believed that his territory would definitely be under the Light Dragon Soul.

But the situation was entirely different now.

After inheriting the Void Dragon Soul, his identity became the 'Dragon Soul Heir'. No matter if he were the 'overlord' or 'king', its worth didn't change. He was the dragon soul heir, one of the five creator dragon souls, and this way, his relationship with Lydia became much more amusing.

No matter how great Lydia was, her identity was still the Archangel and would always be below the dragon soul heirs. Rhode became one of the dragon soul heirs so he couldn't possibly bow to Lydia anymore. On the contrary, he also couldn't meddle with affairs in Lydia's territories. If Rhode's dragon soul protection wasn't from the Void Dragon but from the Light Dragon instead, he could raise objections with Lydia regarding the Southern Port as a subject. But now, he would be in suspicion of 'interfering with the internal affairs of another country' if he did that.

On the other hand, this also reminded him that perhaps due to the change in his identity, the higher-ups in the Munn Kingdom would switch their attitudes toward him. He was no longer a people under the light dragon soul protection, which made their standpoints subtle. Besides, apart from the Senia Family, he didn't interact with other higher-ups in the Munn Kingdom. But even if he did, it also wasn't appropriate for him to express goodwill with his current identity, was it?

This instantly left him in a conundrum. This wasn't a problem about his emotions toward the other party but more of an issue of standpoint. What was more tragic with his current identity was that despite being the dragon soul heir, he didn't have too many capable subordinates. Although he was surprised to know that the six Deity Wardens were followers of the Void Dragon, he only had Marlene, Christie, and the strange Alice. Even if Marlene wasn't one of the six Deity Wardens, she was still one of his most important members. On the other hand, even though Christie could communicate with the other 'Christie', they weren't the least bit interested in politics. As for Alice, ever since Grandia was built, she had been holed up in the library and reading all day.

But Rhode also discovered from a certain angle that the three Deity Wardens were similar with him. They were the kind of people who led and handed tasks to the subordinates. The only one who could help him was Marlene and this wasn't based on the wisdom inheritance of the Deity Warden. Instead, it was her experience and knowledge as 'Marlene Senia', the heir of her family.

At this moment, Gillian, Ann, and the others couldn't enter the Void Territory due to the absolute wall of Order. Rhode could only leave operations to Marlene and Lize. On the other hand, the humanoids—Haze, Rain, and Heart—would be responsible for the Order Refugees.

Rhode felt completely helpless at the cruel reality that he owned a group of powerful subordinates who weren't capable in politics.

As for how he should resolve the problem regarding his relationship with Lydia and Munn Kingdom, it was hard to say. No matter what, he was still officially the overlord under the Munn Kingdom and occupying its space. Ever since the start of history, there wasn't one dragon soul heir who was also the overlord of other territories.

He was sure that the Light Parliament definitely wouldn't miss this chance to sow dissension. They surely would make an issue of this matter. It would be for the best for them if the relationship between Rhode and Lydia could be smashed.

Come to think of it, perhaps it was the Country of Light who orchestrated the entire incident using the Southern Port. Currently they were occupied with their own internal affairs and lacked time to mess with the Munn Kingdom, so it wasn't surprising that they released dogs for some crunches, right? If not, who would have the guts to stir trouble when the south was only recovering from the damages of their internal battles?

"Have you decided on what to do, Master? If you want to raise the rebel flag, you must tell me in advance, okay?"

Gillian's chuckles were as sweet-sounding as ever. But her content was still ridiculous.

"I think this is quite interesting since you have always wanted to ensure Miss Lydia's safety, isn't it? Master? How about you add her to your harem of women? If you work hard, you can turn an Archangel into an adorable young lady in any way you want. When that happens, you can just devour the whole Munn Kingdom and resolve all your problems."

"That is also an option if I'm capable enough. But if you want me to do it now—it seems like you don't want me to live much longer, huh?"

Rhode's brow twitched and he let out a scoff. Although what Gillian said was indeed attractive, he wasn't that foolish to fall for it when the Country of Light and Country of Darkness were eyeing them covetously. He would only lay his hand on his only ally if he had gone bonkers... No matter what, it was still crucial to maintain a friendly relationship.

"You see. That's the problem with you, Master."

Gillian laughed.

"But I've got to remind you, Master. The Country of Light, Country of Darkness, Munn Kingdom, Country of Law, and other territories are noticing your territories. After all, it's impossible to not be noticed after that huge commotion. But you're fortunate that the border of your territory isn't connected to the Country of Darkness. If not, we will have more troubles in the future. Ah, by the way..."

Suddenly, Gillian thought of something.

"According to that little bitch, the Light Parliament seems to have formed an investigations team."

"Investigations team?"

Rhode asked.

"This reminds me of the reminiscent past. Why? Do those forgetful idiots want to 'investigate' my territory?"

If the Country of Light had such an intention, Rhode wouldn't mind venting his frustrations on them. He would be more concerned if he were to have dealings with the Munn Kingdom. But he wasn't afraid of the Country of Light whose reputation had been diving and was breaking out in riots due to the election. Moreover, the entire Void Territory was his territory, which meant that Canary and Mini Bubble Gum could roam around freely. Canary could destroy five ordinary military armies with just a single finger.

"It's a pity you guessed it wrong this time, Master. According to the little bitch, the investigations team's mission is the same as yours."

"Same?"

Rhode asked in astonishment.

"Don't tell me that the Light Parliament also intends to send men to open up other land of chaos?"

"That's right, Master."

"This is interesting... I didn't expect the Light Parliament to be in a mood for that now. Or I should say... that they are still capable of that?"

Rhode had to admit that he was astonished when he heard this news. Everyone knew what the land of chaos was like. Back then, all of his subordinates firmly objected when he announced to open up the land of chaos. Rhode led his elite mercenaries, more than a hundred Bow Knights, and coordinated with the natives and almost perished in the Chaos vortexes. With the current state of the Country of Light after being pounded by the Undead Army, where could they find their manpower from?

Could it be that they are tempted by my success?

This wasn't entirely impossible. There were countless treasures after a land of chaos was opened including magic monster nests, magic crystal mines, rare magic herbs, and the attractiveness of the territory itself. Perhaps the Light Parliament might really take the risk and send people for it? No matter the results, perhaps this news could shift the attention of the people from the riots.

After ending spiritual communications with Gillian, Rhode shut his eyes and pondered in silence. Currently, the hardest problem was the relationship between his territory and the Munn Kingdom. However, he had some solutions up his sleeves and if they didn't work, he could count on Lilian to alleviate his relationship with Lydia. After all, this innocent little girl was much easier to manipulate than Lydia. Besides... Sonia was by her side which was great news for him.

"Phew... What a headache..."

Rhode rubbed his forehead and at this moment, someone knocked on his door.

Knock knock knock.

"Come in."

Rhode sat up and gazed at the door. The door gradually opened and a slender young lady appeared behind it. Her silver long hair draped softly down her shoulders.

The young lady lowered her head and bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Is anything the matter, Rain?"

Rain was one of the three Spirit Swordsmen humanoids and possessed the Soul Messenger talent-tree built. Perhaps due to the rare opportunity for Rhode to meet others of the same class, he guided the humanoids in their training personally whenever he was available. Moreover, perhaps due to the fact that he also had the Soul Messenger talent-tree built in the game, his guidance for Rain was most meticulous. Of course, part of the reason was that Rain's talent rule was 'healing' which he was totally envious of as a player. Although Rhode had been in this world for a long time, his essence as a player didn't change at all. He couldn't resist the thought of seeing the wonderful results of a Soul Messenger's enhanced skills and the 'healing' talent rule working perfectly together. Of course, he had to admit that the humanoids learned pretty quickly. No matter what he taught, Rain learned the quickest and the smartest student was always the teacher's favorite.

"N-No... Your Majesty... Erm..."

Rain began to fluster which Rhode swept a curious look at her. Then, the young lady lowered her head in fear.

"... Your Majesty, this may sound rude... But I hope... Your Majesty will be responsible for me!"

"..."

Rhode instantly froze to the spot.