["That's exactly where the problem is."]
Blake, the Lord of Region Three, continued, ["A few days ago, the soldier Shakun sent to infiltrate Region Seven came back. I heard he barely escaped with his life. But ever since he returned, all kinds of strange things have started happening in Region One."]
["Then Shakun died, and his adjutant, Natan, became the new Lord of Region One."]
["You've all seen the pinned announcement, right?"]
["We have, but we already know all that,"] Player A replied, ["Can you tell us something we don't know?"]
["Isn't that what I'm about to do?"]
Blake, Lord of Region Three, said mysteriously, ["The current Lord of Region One isn't Natan anymore. It's a man named Jack. Because just a couple of days after Natan became lord, he left with a merchant caravan. He said he was going to become some kind of mage. Isn't that ridiculous?"]
["Something like that actually happened?"]
Everyone was shocked by the news.
But Blake, Lord of Region Three, clearly had no intention of giving up the spotlight. He continued, ["So tell me, isn't Region One cursed? But all of this only started after that soldier failed his mission in Region Seven and came back! Can you seriously say this has nothing to do with Ethan?"]
["Uh..."]
No one could refute Blake's words.
Then Orin from Region Four added fuel to the fire.
["Hah! I'm seriously starting to think Ethan is this game's favorite child! Even cheating for someone wouldn't go this far, would it?"]
["Giving him food, people, and all kinds of benefits is one thing, but you even helped wipe out every opponent Region Seven had?"]
["Why don't you just announce Region Seven the winner already? Why bother putting on this whole show?"]
Faced with Orin's accusation, the mastermind behind the scenes actually responded for once.
[World Channel Pinned Announcement: I'll tell everyone something you don't know either. The first stop of the random flood event happened to be in Region A7. But I have to say, the Lord of Region Seven really impressed me. He actually resolved the crisis easily.]
["What? Is that true?"]
["The flood that wiped out three whole districts... started in Region Seven?"]
["How did Ethan pull that off? I saw the video posted by the Lord of Region Ten. The flood crest had to be at least ten meters high. Unless you ran to the top of a mountain, there was no way to survive it."]
["But I never heard that any players in Region Seven died. Did Ethan somehow make the flood disappear?"]
["What exactly did the Lord of Region Seven do? Isn't he growing way too fast?"]
Everyone began discussing it nonstop.
Ethan silently watched the conversation in the World Channel. Only when the mastermind had pushed the topic to its peak did he finally step in with a perfectly understated boast.
Ethan: ["Nothing special. I just redirected the flood discharge outlet somewhere else. If any of you still want to come after me, feel free! Districts One, Five, and Ten are your warning."]
"..."
The channel fell silent once again.
Especially the Lords' Alliance that had been opposing Ethan, they were trembling with fear.
The Lord of Region Nine, Duma, then tagged Ethan.
"Lord Ethan... if I join your alliance now, is it still too late?"
"What do you think?"
Ethan replied with a cold laugh.
Just then, the rarely outspoken Lord of Region Six, Hubolt, suddenly spoke.
["Lord Ethan, I heard you're willing to lend supplies. Could I borrow one thousand units of food?"]
["If you don't have the ability, don't take on the job."]
Ethan replied with a single sentence.
At a time like this, anyone with half a brain knew that borrowing food could only mean one thing, they were preparing to take in refugees.
Every refugee required a reserve of one hundred units of food before they could be accepted.
After this cold wave and three days of polar night, aside from the freak that was Ethan, most lords no longer had any extra food.
Under normal circumstances, Ethan would definitely have considered how to charge outrageous interest on the loan.
But today, he had no intention of lending anything.
His manor was about to upgrade into a town. Right now, he lacked nothing except population. With a wave of refugees about to arrive, naturally, he planned to take in as many as possible.
Giving up population for a bit of petty profit now would be the truly idiotic move.
"My Lord!"
Just then, Guard Three rushed over to report.
"There are... there are a lot of people outside. They say they're looking for something to eat. My Lord, should we drive them away?"
"Let them in," Ethan ordered, "Keep order, and don't let the strangling vines kill any of these refugees."
"Yes, My Lord!"
Guard Three acknowledged the order immediately.
Ethan also hurried outside at once.
Watching Ethan leave, Mr. White looked stunned, "No way... was he really that accurate?"
The Dwarf Chief kept stuffing cockroach fairy legs into his mouth as he asked, "Accurate about what?"
"Earlier, Lord Ethan said people would come, and now they actually have," Mr. White licked his lips, "Then when he said he'd turn this place into a town... he wasn't serious, was he?"
"That... can't be possible, can it?"
The Dwarf Chief stopped stuffing meat into his mouth, doubt filling his eyes.
After all, turning a manor into a town wasn't something that could be accomplished in a short time, even with enough people helping to build it.