Chapter 77: The First Day Without the Protective Barrier’s Shelter Ends!
Author’s note: Hi everyone, I apologise for being away. My phone broke down – the screen burnt out – and I took it to a phone repairer, so it took a while before I got it back with a new screen.
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Four hundred million human lords had died since their arrival!
It should be noted that just a few hours earlier, there had still been over nine hundred million human lords remaining. In other words, more than three hundred million had been killed during the Beast Tide alone.
In truth, three hundred million human lords failing to defend themselves made more sense to Kaiden than those who'd died during the Novice Lord Protection period. The Beast Tide had been brutally difficult, and everyone had fought a savage war. Especially since Kaiden had already shed the instinctive human arrogance, so he knew just how weak his own species was in this world.
So that part made sense. But the death of nearly a hundred million lords despite the protective barrier's shelter... a number that massive was something he couldn't wrap his head around. Even if some lords had been careless enough to wander outside their borders themselves, the number was still far too high to make sense.
In truth, what Kaiden didn't know was that not all human lords had kept their sanity intact the way he had. Many of them, from the moment they arrived and realized they were in a world without laws, had begun revealing their darker, lustful, and depraved sides. Things like starving out summoned Territory residents, assaulting the females among them, and other far more twisted and degenerate acts were happening frequently.
Not every human lord stayed within bounds the way Kaiden did. The chaos they created drove down loyalty points, but the human lords didn't care, assuming their residents were nothing more than non-playable characters, obedient, designed to serve them. And that was exactly where their mistake lay. Once loyalty points dropped to a dangerous level, Territory residents no longer stayed as obedient toward their lord as before. In fact, many human lords met tragic ends at the hands of their own Territory's residents, all because they'd pushed far past every line.
In truth, the position of lord had never come without a cost or without responsibilities. What Kaiden hadn't expected was how many were ignorant of this simple fact.
"Forget it. I need to focus on my own affairs."
Kaiden shook his head, clearing away the scattered thoughts. The deaths of millions of human lords meant nothing to him — it wasn't as if he were some nation's leader. Either way, he still had a mountain of accumulated work to get through.
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Back to reality, beast corpses were being gradually gathered in front of the warehouses. Kaiden built four additional underground storage warehouses alongside the one on the surface, and dug a comfortable curved path leading to them.
Then he got to work on the mountain of accumulated corpses. He stepped forward and touched the nearest one.
[Analyze corpse? Yes/No. Note: Analyzing the corpse will yield most of its basic resources. Gains will be automatically placed in the Lord's inventory.]
A wave of nostalgia hit Kaiden as he read the notification. He remembered discovering this function purely by accident, back when he'd been curious about the texture of a large beast for the first time.
He first emptied everything from his storage, then selected analyze. The corpse vanished from the middle of the pile, and a new notification appeared:
[Analysis complete. You have gained: Barren Plains Wolf Meat Units (Common rank) ×18. Barren Plains Wolf Fang ×4.]
Kaiden only spared it a brief glance. The yield was lower, but immediate speed was what he needed right now. So he kept at it in the same way. Whenever his storage filled up with meat units, he'd go empty it out. The rest of the beast drops — fangs, claws, and so on — piled up off to the side, waiting for the Territory's residents to finish hauling the corpses before being distributed to the relevant workshops.
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Kaiden and all the Territory's residents kept working until nearly midnight, until they finally finished. Everyone was exhausted. They ate dinner quickly. Meanwhile, Kaiden promoted the militia soldiers to Elite Soldier rank, since all of them had reached the rank threshold during the battle. The rest of the work was postponed to the next day, and everyone went to sleep.
Not everyone, of course. The combat units stayed on a night shift rotation, guarding the Territory's borders from atop the walls. After all, there was no longer a protective barrier shielding them. Even the Lord's Hall had two Emerging Heroes assigned as guards at its entrance.
The moment he got upstairs, Kaiden took a long bath, finally managing to wash the blood off himself properly. He was completely exhausted, body and soul. So the instant he put on his sleepwear and lay down, Kaiden chatted briefly with Asra — whose presence in his quarters had become essential for ensuring his safety at night — then fell asleep.
His exhaustion kept the nightmares at bay, so there was no scene of him waking up suddenly, drenched in sweat, reaching for water.
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When he woke again, it was still dawn. Not that Kaiden had gotten enough sleep — quite the opposite — but it was because he had something important to take care of.
The moment she sensed movement, Asra, who'd been sleeping lightly at the side of his bed, woke and greeted him in a mature female voice:
"Good morning, sir."
"Good morning, Asra."
Kaiden smiled at his pet beast, then went to wash his face and felt refreshed.
"Master... I want... to wash my face too."
At that moment, Kaiden heard Asra's shy, hesitant voice ring out in his mind. He glanced at her quickly and found her eyes full of anticipation.
"Heh, of course, Asra. Come here, I'll help you with the water."
He let out a light laugh. It seemed his mentally mature pet beast cared about personal hygiene. He gestured with his hand for her to come closer.
"Really?... Thank you, sir!"
...
"Thanks for protecting me, you two."
Kaiden greeted the two Emerging Heroes who'd spent the night guarding his quarters. Then he looked out over his Territory. The sun hadn't risen yet, so all the torches along the walls were still lit at this hour.
Kaiden thought for a moment, then sent Asra on a special mission. He first told her the approximate coordinates of the territories surrounding his own, and asked her to check on their condition.
"Understood, sir."
Asra nodded. Before she took off, Kaiden warned her:
"Asra, just scout their situation from a distance. Your safety comes first."
His pet beast signaled that she understood, then flew off. Kaiden nodded. Asra could fly and was intelligent, so she could provide him with important, highly accurate reconnaissance information.
Kaiden didn't dwell on the situation of the lords around him. Once Asra returned, he'd naturally see the results. For now, he had something important to take care of. He'd woken up early specifically for it.
That something was a memorial ceremony. Fifteen soldiers had lost their lives while carrying out their duty of defending the Territory. So he needed to hold a memorial ceremony worthy of their sacrifice. It was the least he could do.
Just like the previous memorial, all the Territory's residents — except those on guard duty — were present.
He still needed to inventory the tide's spoils and the gold treasure chest. So once he saw everyone gathered, he wasted no time and began his speech.
End of Chapter 77.