Boom!
Asher, stained by his sister’s blood, walked into Duke Mormont’s courtroom, where the Duke, Count Adamos and his son were.
From their dressing, Asher knew the lords had retired for the night but the incident pulled them out of their beds.
Still, his expression was as cold as when he faced Nephis.
“Lord Asher…” Duke Ohad called out, seeing Asher’s unpleasant expression.
“I sat in the comfort of my room and my only sister was nearly killed. There were no guards in the vicinity, why is that?”
Duke Ohad took in Asher’s cold, sharp words with a little smile on his face.
Then his expression became solemn. “It’s a scheme probably to destroy our alliance. There is no reason for me or Lord Eric to harm your sister. Do you think there is?”
Asher breathed out, his eyes narrowed. “I doubt. But I did sense animosity from your son.”
Duke Ohad raised an eyebrow. “My son?”
“Yes. The son of Lady Jessica and the Count of Demas, Kohath Mormont. At the ball my sister showed signs of fright the moment he appeared.”
Lord Eric frowned.
“Lord Asher.” He said meaningfully.
Asher ground his teeth. “I’ll leave him with a warning. Should this repeat itself…”
He held his tongue. It would be best the Duke interpreted the rest himself.
“I assure you. It won’t happen again.” Duke Ohad breathed a sigh of relief but inwardly, he wanted to throw Kohath into the dungeon.
He wasn’t a fool.
Somehow Levi left his cell, somehow no guard saw it, somehow the soldiers designated to guard the garden were nowhere to be found?
All this meant there was an inside man!
And who else other than the man that had threatened Mary several times. Kohath had met him because of Mary but was rebuked.
However, it seemed Kohath didn’t know when to stop.
Asher turned heel. He stopped, turning his head toward Lucas.
“Thank you. You are welcomed to Ashbourne county at any time and I owe you for my sister’s life.”
Lucas without looking at him nodded.
Just as Asher reached the door, Count Eric cleared his throat.
“Lord Asher, I might have found a solution for your population situation.”
Asher raised an eyebrow. His eyes darted over to Duke Ohad and his expressions showed the duke had knowledge about this.
“With the population in the Wildlands exhausted in months of war, there are no large populations in these parts but you can buy from Everad.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
“Slaves.”
“There were once free people but due to wars and other unfavorable conditions they became prey to the slave traders of Everad. Besides, those people raid towns on neighbouring islands or mainlands and sell them.”
“!”
“They can bring them through my port, you don’t have to worry.” Duke Ohad spoke.
Count Eric nodded.
“I want professionals in blacksmithing, sewing, architecture, masons, miners, and those with the most miserable physique.”
The last request puzzled the lords but then they remembered the miraculous Evergreen olive oil and other wondrous farm products in Ashbourne county that can transform the body of an ordinary farmer into that of an iron-ranked soldier!
This meant that Asher could purchase tens if not hundreds of thousands of slaves because these were the ones no one wanted.
“I see.” Duke Ohad couldn’t help but approve with a nod.
…
After Mary’s injury was taken care of, Asher returned to his domain to make preparations for the incoming population.
So far the county has 455,000 people, a massive number for a mere county but his domain was so large that all he needed was the title of a count to consolidate this massive domain as his.
Right now, as a count he was the guardian of the wall but Aaron Nethaneel, Second Highness of the empire could grant other nobles landed rights but they would be below him.
Asher wanted to start developing the county. Build roads, massive farms, massive expansions on cities and even creating settlements since he planned to have a million plus population!
It was time to start a full scale development so his domain would be a paradise when the time of darkness arrives.
For that to happen, two things were crucial. An elite army and a robust economy.
Asher wanted an independent rulership like Count Adamos and Duke Mormont but for now he was under the prince.
To others this was stupidity but to Asher it was an opportunity. A title bestowed by the prince would be stronger than those who gained from other lords.
The reason was because the Empire had existed since the First Age. It held more weight, more influence and longevity.
Even if the empire were to fully crumble, the title wouldn’t!
That didn’t mean if the empire was conquered, the title would remain. In fact then, the title was nothing but a death sentence because with it one can always have claims to rulership!
By the time they reached Nineveh, Mary, who thought she was already numb to shock, gasped at the sight of the grand walls.
Even with other great fenced cities in the domain, Nineveh still stood apart.
Although it had a small population of 60,000, the complexity of its walls made Nineveh, a stronghold, would be extremely daunting to face.
After a series of upgrades, the stronghold now sat at the top of a hill! With only one wide path leading to the plains.
This meant any attack had to come through one way as the other sides of the mountains were rugged and falling from there would only mean as there were earthen spikes all around the hill, except for the front gate path.
Seeing Mary’s reaction to Nineveh, Asher chuckled.
“Even if every city is conquered, I don’t plan for Nineveh to be listed amongst them. The walls are plastered with green clay making them extremely sturdy and smooth. Not even a ballistic bolt can go deep enough to get a firm grip.”
Mary looked at him, appalled.
“In there the finest knights in all of Ashbourne are trained.”
“Finest?”
“Yes. They are the same as the knights escorting us. The paladins.”
“What makes them stronger than their counterparts?”
“Their brutal training method. Each of them has to be able to kill beasts of their rank to ascend from basic paladins to advanced paladins and finally transcendent paladins.”
Hearing all these, Mary couldn’t imagine the strength of these paladins but from Asher’s description they had to be quite imposing.
“Asher, I have something I wanted to speak to you about.”
“Oh? Pray tell.”
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Mary looked at Asher, right into his burning eyes.
“I want to open a school.”