[I had a little problem (My phone turned off, so obviously the alarm didn’t go off. I slept for eight hours instead of the thirty minutes I’d planned. Accumulated fatigue is hell.)

Because of that, I only had time to prepare one 1,500-word Chapter.

***

"Where’s master?" The cheerful voice of a woman with short hair echoed down the hallway just as Selene was leaving the master’s room.

Waiting for Selene were four women—her sisters—all fourth-stage mages of incomparable beauty, each possessing a unique charm capable of taking any man’s breath away.

Behind them, lined up in disciplined silence, stood another hundred women, each possessing a unique beauty and all third-stage battle mages.

That was the masterpiece of their master—a powerful and numerous battalion of mages, forged for a single purpose: to serve Ethan Darkwall until death.

They had been raised and molded for this since Ethan’s birth, adopted at the age of ten, and, though he himself had no idea of it, each of them had been prepared to be a loyal guard and also a perfect wife—even if they hadn’t been actively trained to serve him in bed.

Obviously, no man had been allowed to touch them, even though they were all approaching thirty.

The five in front, who had come into contact with Ethan much earlier in their lives, were the leaders of this magical defense battalion, all at the fourth stage.

They represented a moderate force within the Blue Tower, but one that was nonetheless quite formidable.

Even the royal family of the Kingdom of Blazing Ice would treat them with the utmost respect.

If they knew that women of this caliber were being sent to serve merely a young man known as the shame of the Darkwall family—despised and disinherited—they would likely be outraged by the absurd level of waste.

By way of comparison, the entire Darkwall family had fewer than ten third-stage mages and a single fourth-stage mage.

If David Darkwall knew that his "useless" son would be accompanied by such a formidable magical contingent, he would beg on his knees for the young man to return to the family, without a shadow of a doubt.

Ethan’s mother remained, for the most part, isolated in her magical tower.

How could he have even imagined that she had been gathering strength for something like this?

And how had she managed to bring together so many talented individuals? Did she possess some special artifact for that?

The five leaders were understandable—after all, they had served her for over fifty years—but those one hundred women, all reaching the third stage before the age of twenty-eight, were simply absurd.

"She’ll stabilize her mana heart first. She should leave in about a week, so we have to get a head start," Selene replied in a firm voice.

"Oh... considering the Master’s speed, she’ll get there before us even with a week’s head start. We have to hurry!" the other woman replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Her hands traveled up her body until they reached her breasts—two full, round globes like ripe melons—squeezing them tightly.

The soft, heavy flesh spilled between her fingers, overflowing the sides of her hands and spilling over the top of her neckline.

"I wonder if Master Ethan will still be in love with my breasts... he used to love grabbing them when he was little, hehehehe... now he’s a grown man, isn’t he?" She sighed, a mischievous gleam dancing in her eyes.

"No horny!" Selene shouted, delivering a light punch to the top of the head of her naughty youngest sister’s—a gesture completely devoid of any real force.

Despite the "reprimand," a soft smile persisted on Selene’s lips, and a faint blush spread across her cheeks, betraying the thoughts running through her mind.

She lowered her gaze to her own breasts, indisputably the largest among all the sisters—two generous, heavy mounds that stretched the fabric of her robe almost to the point of tearing.

She was curious about that, too, actually.

"Let’s hurry, I want to get there before the mistress!" a third woman declared, her face equally flushed.

They all nodded and, without wasting any time, made their way toward the tower’s exit.

It was time to see the adorable young Master Ethan once again!

***

"On your feet!" Doran’s powerful voice echoed across the courtyard, and the thousand kneeling soldiers rose as one.

With that, Goldenveil now had two thousand soldiers under its banners, with another five hundred stationed in Windmere.

Doran watched them for another brief moment before raising his voice.

"I am Doran, commander of the Goldenveil armed forces. From now on, I am the one who commands your lives and your deaths. Only the words of Lord Ethan and his wives are above mine. Is that clear?"

The soldiers, who were still taking a moment to process everything that was happening to them, stared at Doran with complicated expressions.

They sensed all the information the system had deposited directly into their minds, and now, finally, they were beginning to grasp the new reality surrounding them.

After a brief moment, one of them spoke up, and the rest followed in unison.

"Yes, Commander Doran!" they declared, their collective voice reverberating off the barracks’ walls.

A smile that was both pained and cheerful played on Doran’s lips as his eyes swept over each row of soldiers.

They were all already armed with decent-quality swords and leather armor.

It was acceptable for the time being, but they would obviously need much better equipment to reach the level of Goldenveil’s current regular forces.

Fortunately, Ethan would soon resolve all the issues related to armor and weapons soon.

It was good to have more loyal men under his command, but a pang of pain gripped Doran’s chest as he thought of the task ahead of him to organize them all.

He wanted to go home early today, but it seemed his wife would have to suffer by waiting a little longer.

"Organize them and appoint leaders among them," Ethan said with a smile, pulling some superior magic cores from his spatial ring—the ones Alice had extracted and the ones he’d received from the system.

"Once you’ve got everything organized, train them alongside the other five hundred recruits. Once they’ve learned the basics of the Golden Dragon Emperor’s fencing, send them to hell." Ethan declared firmly.

That many pure superior magic cores should last for months, perhaps even years of use of the Hell’s soldier portal.

Those words sent a chill down the spines of all the soldiers present.

Doran’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, and he nodded as he carefully collected the magic cores.

"I have a few things to settle with Garrick. Take care of them and..." Ethan pulled a bottle third stage green fairy wine from his inventory, along with another item—a pair of keys.

"My lord... what is this?" Doran’s face was filled with confusion.

"It’s the key to my former mansion. The wine is a gift to celebrate your and your wife’s new acquisition." Ethan flashed a broad smile. "Soon, I’ll use my ability to transfer the mansion to the noble district, and you’ll be able to move in."

For a moment, Doran was completely speechless.

His eyes trembled slightly, but in the end he nodded, turning his gaze back to those men with an even steadier expression.

That was the reward for his loyalty.

His lord was indeed fair and generous.

If his loyalty hadn’t already been at 100%, it would certainly have risen even higher at that very moment.

Ethan simply went on his way, striding quickly through the barracks until he reached the forges.

The place had room for a few dozen blacksmiths, and now, with the ten dwarf blacksmiths working there, only twenty spots remained available.

"Garrick, come here. Tell your men to stop working," Ethan declared firmly as he entered the courtyard, the heat from the forges hitting him in waves along with the rhythmic sound of hammers striking the red-hot metal.

Carefully arranged, there were already five other suits of armor laid out there, though not all of them were finished.

Ethan let out a heavy sigh.

Soon, he planned to carry out a complete renovation of the Goldenveil military barracks, spending at least one hundred thousand gold coins on the project.

But for now, obviously, he still couldn’t afford that luxury.

Still, he could certainly expand the blacksmith’s shop specifically and put the two hundred fifty dwarves he’d won from the gacha system to work immediately.

Ethan’s eyes fell on Goldenveil’s status screen, and a smile formed on his lips.

[Name: Sacred City of GoldenVeil

Type: Large Village

Population: 7,423

Population Loyalty: 91%

Houses: 2,425 (1,424 occupied)

Prosperity: Prosperous

Attractiveness: Extremely Attractive

Population Growth: +177/Week (Increase attractiveness and prosperity to gain more residents)

Lord: Ethan GoldenVeil

Knights: 0

Average Level: 0

Army: 2,000 Soldiers

Average Level: 33

Guard Loyalty: 95%

’The Divine Wall of GoldenVeil’ Status: 3,120,990/3,120,990

Treasury: 21,000 gold coins (-2,205/month)

Upgrade requirements: 2,425/2,500 houses, 7,423/10,000 inhabitants, 10,000 gold coins, Lord at Viscount level or higher]

Without hesitation, he spent another two thousand gold coins to expand the GoldenVeil Guard’s forges.