Now, the Twelve Lords were:
The Twelve Lords (by species)
1. Dark Elf
2. Dwarf — Borin Stonebeard
3. Giant
4. Undine
5. Dragon — Vorynthal, the Magic Lord
6. Werewolf
7. Vampire
8. Demon
9. Fox Spirit
10. Lamia
11. Lich
12. (Now) Adrian Lewin
---
The Undine congratulated me.
"Congratulations, Adrian Lewin — the Twelfth Lord of the Coalition of Twelve Lords."
I smiled.
"Thank you."
Undine addressed all the lords.
"If there are no further matters to discuss, let's end the meeting."
No one answered. They simply stood up and left.
Now, only Undine and I remained seated.
She sighed softly.
I then said farewell to her and left for my hotel.
---
I soon reached my hotel. Approaching the receptionist, I said,
"Can you send a message to my escorts to meet me?"
The receptionist nodded and agreed.
I went to my room. After a short while, I heard a knock and opened the door.
Standing outside were all the members of my group. I asked them to come in.
"So, how were you all?" I asked.
Emma replied on behalf of everyone,
"We were having fun."
Raven, frowning, asked,
"So, how did it go?"
I showed them my ring.
Raven's and the others' eyes went wide.
They understood immediately what it meant.
Emilia asked,
"Sir… you're now the Twelfth Lord?"
I smiled and said,
"Yep."
Hmmm.... Maybe I talk to them more I should send a message to uncle.
I then sent a message to my uncle:
> "Uncle, come to the territory of the Twelfth Lord in the Coalition of Twelve Lords."
Turning to my team, I said,
"Let's depart for my territory tomorrow."
Everyone nodded.
They didn't seem too concerned — after all, no one in this world dared to act against me… well, at least most wouldn't.
Brock then said,
"Well, I suppose no one has told you… your little fight claimed the lives of fifty people."
I looked at him silently.
Lucas sighed and added,
"We're in a good area, so you haven't noticed yet, but many buildings in the outer districts collapsed. Quite a few people died — some even from the shockwaves alone."
Well, what could I do? I did feel sorry for them, but I hadn't directly aimed at anyone.
The indirect consequences were… hard to control.
I said to everyone,
"Well, for now, let's go to the market. Everything's on me."
Everyone immediately perked up, looking excited.
---
We first went to a restaurant.
Honestly, it was mostly my idea — I hadn't eaten since the day of the fight. Even on that day, I could barely eat, since I had to rush toward the castle.
We all ate heartily. When the time came to pay, everyone turned to look at me.
I smirked and said,
"Pay with the money I gave you before I entered the castle. Did you think I'd forget?"
Their expressions soured, but they still paid — and even returned the leftover money to me.
Then, we went to the market.
Everyone shopped without caring about the prices.
They even bought new weapons and armor — which, honestly, wasn't a bad idea, since weapons are expensive and hard to come by.
We were still moving between shops when I heard a voice:
"Father, there! It's them!"
I turned and saw the young master who had once tried to take our Sky Dogs. With him were his father and five knights.
Finding us must have been easy — after all, there can't be many people with red eyes.
Filter that down to a red-eyed boy with five escorts, and we stood out like a beacon.
And confirming whether we'd entered the city? Simple — just ask the guards if six Sky Dogs came through.
As soon as they approached, the knights looked at me.
Their expressions shifted instantly — from alertness to terror.
They quickly saluted.
"We salute the Twelfth Lord!"
The young master's father looked confused but wasn't foolish enough to think the knights were joking about a lord's title.
He immediately pushed his son forward and said,
"My lord, I came here to surrender him to you."
Like hell you did.
The young master, still naive, tried to protest — but his father struck him down, knocking him unconscious.
I just waved my hand and said,
"Leave."
They fled instantly.
As for anyone wondering how the knights knew me — well, if you think logically, I killed an S-Rank mage.
So naturally, a knight of even higher rank would have been dispatched to subdue me — and the only place that could happen was among the Fifth Lord's forces.
Every knight under the Fifth Lord had seen me in the castle.
The Claw members just smirked.
They were starting to enjoy bullying others a bit too much.
I shook my head.
We continued our shopping, and later, we had dinner before returning to the hotel.
Then, I went to my room and rested.
---
More than a month ago…
In the office of the Duke of the North,
there was a hurried, loud knock at the door.
Normally, the Duke would have been angry — but he knew the guards stood outside, and only the butler was allowed to enter without being called.
If the butler was in such a rush that he risked angering the Duke, then the situation had to be urgent.
The Duke ordered,
"Come in."
The butler entered and spoke without any greeting:
"Master, the royal family's carriage has been spotted."
The Duke frowned.
"Was it…"
He couldn't even bring himself to say it — to ask if the king himself had come.
The butler nodded.
The Duke immediately gave orders:
"Prepare meals. Inform all family members, all knights, and all soldiers. Send messages to anyone who should be present for the greeting but isn't. Also, notify all shopkeepers — if anyone from the royal convoy buys anything, we will reimburse the cost. They must not demand payment."
Normally, such precautions weren't necessary.
But the Duke knew — if the king came personally, and without prior notice, then this was no ordinary visit.
The Duke quickly went to the gates to oversee the welcome himself.
Soon, a luxurious carriage bearing the royal emblem arrived.
All the knights stood in formation, their swords held at an inclined angle — a gesture showing that their blades could not be raised in the king's presence.
Every kingdom had its own traditions, after all.
The carriage stopped. A royal knight hurried forward and opened the door.
The king stepped out — and immediately stared at the Duke.
The Duke noticed the lack of royal decorum.
Even as king, there were still protocols — meaning, he couldn't just command nobles at whim. What he was doing now wasn't extreme, but it was certainly unsettling.
The Duke took a breath and smiled.
"Your Majesty, it is an honor to welcome you personally."
Though his greeting was brief, he had his reasons.
He knew the king had come to talk — and it wouldn't be wise to delay.
He continued,
"Your Majesty, please come inside."
Quietly, he told his butler,
"Clear everyone out."
The butler froze for a moment, then obeyed.
Soon, only the Duke and the King remained in the room.
The King began,
"Duke, the Lewins are now completely gone. I won't blame you for failing — after all, you even sent your vice-captain. But the results are… not favorable."
The Duke swallowed.
"What happened?" he asked.
The King said,
"As I feared, many foreign forces tried to seize control of the market. I had to step in personally. The merchants didn't take that well."
The Duke understood — the king had come to claim compensation, perhaps even to exploit the situation for personal gain.
It was better to yield voluntarily than to let the king start the negotiations.
The Duke said,
"I have small businesses across the kingdom, and a few abroad. I'd like to donate them to the crown."
The king understood what that meant — the Duke was offering up several of his merchant groups, many of which had absorbed the assets of others. The Lewins were supposed to be the largest of these but Duke failed.
The king hadn't expected such a concession, so though he couldn't turn it entirely to his advantage, he at least managed to cover his losses.
He nodded, then left.
The Duke knew that the king's quick departure meant that things weren't improving much — but still, it was better than nothing.
He returned to his office and summoned the butler.
Before the butler arrived, he took several documents out of his safe.
The butler entered and bowed.
"Are there any orders, Master?"
The Duke handed him the documents.
"Transfer ownership of all these businesses to the royal family within a week."
The butler looked troubled, but the Duke added,
"Do it — even if we have to invest some of our own funds."
The butler nodded and left.
Edward Payens, who had been standing silently behind the Duke, frowned and asked,
"Master Richard, is there a reason for such haste?"
The Duke laughed, though there was no joy in it.
"His Majesty came in person — but he was rather careless this time. Something's wrong with that brat, and I don't want to deal with the fallout. I'm cutting all ties with that merchant family."
Edward nodded. He, too, could sense that something wasn't right.
The Duke — Richard Medici — continued,
"That's also why I was generous with my apology… which His Majesty, of course, completely missed."
Duke Richard Medici sighed deeply.