Chapter 36 Retreat
It has been nearly half a year since the end of the crusade between the Temple of Light and the Frost and Snow Empire.

During this period, the people in Locke's territory also accepted the fact that they had returned to the embrace of the Frost and Snow Empire.

Those who refused moved their families to the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light.

Locke did not stop these people.

The war is over and everything needs to be rebuilt. Locke County needs more people to participate in the construction.

However, Locke never thought that he could make choices for others.

In Locke's opinion, for the lower-class people, there is no difference between the Temple of Light and the Frost and Snow Empire.

The fate of the lower class people is only related to the nobles in their own territory.

If the nobles were less oppressive, the people would live better.

The more oppression the nobles have, the harder life will be for the people.

Whether it is the Temple of Light or the Frost Empire, there are always some arrogant and domineering nobles who do not treat the lower-class people as human beings, making the lives of the people in their own territories miserable.

Locke even felt that, to some extent, the Temple of Light was better than the Frost and Snow Empire.

In the Temple of Light, the search for a woman with a pure soul is open.

The high-ranking officials of the Temple of Light proclaimed in their own territory that those who could make the beads glow and emit heat were angels under the command of the Lord of Light. However, they died while fighting for the Lord of Light and were reborn in the human world.

They will use rituals to allow these women with pure souls to return to the realm of light.

As the couple who guide the angel to the earth, they will also receive very generous rewards from the Temple of Light.

In the Frost and Snow Empire, in order to conceal the fact that they were collecting women with pure souls, the top officials would usually humanely destroy all of the woman's relatives and friends upon discovery.

From Locke's point of view, neither the Temple of Light nor the high-ranking officials of the Frost Empire who hid in the dark and collected women with pure souls were good people.

However, with Locke's current strength, he can't do anything about such things.

What he can do is to guarantee some rights and interests of the people in his territory within his sight.

……

Locke and Feodor slowly descended from the sky into the lord's mansion. Because Locke and Feodor were flying, their speed was much faster than the soldiers stationed in the original camp.

At this time in the lord's mansion, in addition to some patrolling guards, there were also some servants tidying up the courtyard.

Locke and Feodor flew into the lord's mansion. Not only were they discovered by the people inside the mansion, but the other four captains also saw them.

Although they did not see clearly what the person looked like, they knew with their buttocks that the only person who flew to the city at this time was the real master of Locke County, Grand Duke Locke.

So the four captains immediately reunited and went to the Lord Locke's mansion to meet him.

"To the Grand Duke."

In the hall of the lord's mansion, four captains bowed to Locke.

"Well, I've seen it before. You guys did a great job on the construction of Rock City. I'm very satisfied."

Locke, who was sitting at the top of the hall, nodded slightly, recognizing the abilities of the five captains of the Tsunami Corps. "Grand Duke Locke, you are too kind. This is what we should do."

"Don't talk nonsense. Regardless of whether it is what you should do or not, I have said that if you complete this task, I will grant you the title."

"Now, you have completed your mission well. I can grant the five of you the title of Viscount in Locke Territory."

"Since Gasike hasn't come back yet, you should discuss among yourselves whether you want to become a noble in Locke City or a noble in Locke Territory."

"Once it's confirmed, it can't be changed later."

There is still a big difference between the nobles in Locke City and the nobles in Locke Territory.

This is like the nobles in the imperial capital and the nobles outside the imperial capital.

If Gaske and the other four choose to become nobles in Locke City, they will have a chance to fight for the two remaining earl titles in Locke and gain greater power.

A lot of the development of Locke Territory needs to be decided by the nobles in Locke City.

In other words, the nobles in Locke City have absolute power in Locke Territory.

If you choose to become a noble in Locke Territory, you will get a fiefdom in Locke Territory, and in this fiefdom, the noble is the king.

Of course, even the ruler of a fiefdom would be controlled by the Lord of Locke and would need to pay a large amount of taxes to Locke City every year. Moreover, with the same title, the status of the nobles from outside the fiefdom would be lower than that of the nobles in Locke City.

Of course, the so-called "low" mainly refers to the nobles in Locke City, who are close to the lord and are deeply trusted by the lord.

In this world where force is paramount, relying on the strong and borrowing their power to bully others can also be considered a kind of power.

After all, if there was a conflict between the two, it was obvious which side the lord would stand on.

If you offend a lord, he only needs to issue a few bans on your territory, and he can use high taxes to kill a noble who owns the fiefdom.

After the four captains left, Locke pulled Feodor into the training room in the capital city and continued his training.

He has never forgotten that in this world, only strength is the foundation of one's survival.

Locke's title of Grand Duke was a compromise with Ceres. At the same time, it also fulfilled his parents' aristocratic dream, allowing the two old people to spend their old age happily.

Three months later, Cole, who got the news from Locke, moved to Locke City with his parents and the entire Luci Chamber of Commerce. With Locke's support, he became the real manager of Locke City.

Among the five captains, Gasco and the other two, two of them chose to become Viscounts of Locke City to assist Cole in managing the entire Locke Territory.

The other three chose to become viscounts of fiefdoms, and they chose a connected location in Locke Territory as their own territory.

In this way, the two viscounts who stayed in Locke City were supported by the three viscounts who owned fiefdoms, and the two viscounts who were supported would also use the power in their hands to provide some conveniences to the three viscounts outside so that they could get more benefits.

This is pretty much how the nobles of Wakanda survive.

……

For the strong ones in the Holy Land, time has almost no meaning.

Occasionally using the power of the soul to check on the condition of his family, Cole was also able to manage Locke Territory very well. Locke no longer came out of the training room, and was only immersed in the understanding of the mysteries of the laws and the study of the soul.

(End of this chapter)