The Lord’s office in that place was exactly as Ethan had expected.
Small, dusty, infinitely superior to Alice’s house, but still pathetic compared to his father’s office.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the desk, ignored the pile of documents, and sat down in the armchair, motioning for Alice to stand beside him.
"My lord!" Alaric and Ulric immediately knelt before him, bowing their heads, their faces slightly contorted.
If only it weren’t for that damn priest who arrived in the village a few months ago and announced the coming of the golden Lord...
Alaric, who didn’t follow his father’s suggestion to simply kill that man right away, was certainly the one who regretted it the most now.
But neither of them showed that regret. Not yet.
"You must have a map of the region here, right?" Ethan asked, settling into the armchair.
It didn’t look like it had been abandoned for months. Someone, for sure, still used it.
"Certainly, my lord." Old Ulric replied, his staff tapping the floor at an irritating rhythm as he walked toward a shelf.
From there, he took out an old scroll and placed it on the table.
When Ethan opened it, he couldn’t help but let a bright smile spread across his face.
The eternal forest was vast. It stretched for millions of square kilometers, completely filled with monsters and races whose hatred for humans was ingrained in their very bones.
One wrong move would likely be an invitation to certain death.
Fortunately, despite still being surrounded by monsters, the GoldenVeil settlement couldn’t be better positioned.
It lay exactly at the junction between a long chain of mountain ranges and the meeting point of the enormous Azur Lake and the Solene River.
All of this formed a narrow passage, only about five kilometers wide, which made blocking it extremely simple.
It was something that would only be valuable in the distant future, but it still made Ethan extremely happy.
"First, we need to survive," he muttered.
The map began to lose accuracy after the first fifty kilometers, but it still contained a lot of important information.
Hunting, fishing, and gathering areas. Safe routes. And, above all, about three goblin settlements: one to the east and two to the west, surrounding the settlement completely.
"Do you have any idea how many goblins inhabit these camps?" Ethan asked Alaric.
"About 700 in total, my Lord." The captain of the guard declared proudly, puffing out his chest beneath his leather armor. "We have ambushed them as much as possible and reduced their numbers. Don’t worry, we will soon attack the camp to the west, it is the weakest."
"The Lord should just relax for now. I promise that-"
"No." Ethan shook his head. "Withdraw your men. In a month, we will attack the camp to the west. I will lead the attack personally."
"Ethan... that..." Alice’s lips parted at his side, but in the end, she remained silent and lowered her head.
Alaric clenched his jaw. Veins bulged in his neck as he fought the urge to throw himself at Ethan’s throat right then and there.
He glanced sideways at his father, who only nodded silently.
"Yes, my lord." Alaric knelt without taking his hand off the hilt of his sword.
His eyes quickly flicked up to Alice before returning to the floor.
That damn smooth talker...
He had barely arrived and already he was not only at the side of the woman he coveted, but wanting to take control of his men as well.
Alaric used every last ounce of strength to control his anger.
"You are dismissed. I will take a look at the supply warehouses shortly." Ethan leaned back in his chair, motioning for them to leave.
[Alaric’s opinion dropped 20 points]
[Ulric’s opinion dropped 8 points]
Ethan barely paid attention to the notifications. His gaze moved to Alice.
His hands slid down to her hips and, with a quick movement, pulled her onto his lap.
His face immediately sank into the neckline of her dress, deep, warm, fragrant, and soft.
"Ethan!~ We can’t... not here~" Alice gasped, her fingers sinking into his golden hair as she pressed him against her.
"I know." He smiled, lifting his face slightly. "I just needed that..."
"And besides, this is my office now. Who’s going to stop me?" he declared.
So this was how her father felt, huh?
Having his own place wasn’t so bad.
Alice paused for a moment, bit her lower lip, and then simply grabbed him, pulling him against her in a huge breasts.
Why was her heart so heavy? She had barely known this man, all they had had was a single night of sex.
It was... strange.
She clenched her fist, grabbing golden strands of his hair between her fingers.
"You don’t have to go with him. Alaric is your subordinate now, he can handle it..." She murmured, clearly anxious.
Ethan heard the words, but didn’t respond for several long seconds.
In his life on Earth, he had been just an ordinary young man, addicted to grand strategy games.
Perhaps not the most reliable source of information for these things, but certainly enough to not be a complete layman.
"He plans to kill me soon. Neither he nor his father can be trusted," Ethan said, his voice slightly muffled by Alice’s breasts against his face.
His hands on her buttocks slowly opened before closing again, grabbing as much of her perfect, soft flesh as they could.
"I need to take a look at his men and find someone worthy of being the new captain of the guard."
Before Alice could even respond, he sealed her lips with a kiss.
When they parted, he patted her butt.
"You can clean my—" Ethan stopped himself. "Our room. I have important things to take care of."
Alice blushed, but in the end she just nodded shyly and left.
With a sigh, the young man looked away to another corner of the office.
It was time to finally take a look at this gacha system.
His cheat couldn’t be bad, right?