But things were different now.

An oddball who actually cared about governance and economic development was born in the Ascart House. By following the economic blueprint Roel had crafted, the Ascart Fiefdom took its first step toward prosperity. Consequently, the Ascart House became wealthier than it had been in the past thousand years.

Even so, deploying the exorbitant fortress barrier was still a painful decision to make for someone who had lived his life counting every penny. If not for the disastrous situation he suspected he was in, Roel would have rather personally patrolled the city walls every night.

Lord Roel, we have completed the primary calibration. Should we deploy the fortress barrier?

After spending an hour on calibration, one of the spellcasters walked up to Roel and respectfully requested his command. Roel quietly gazed at the massive magic tool below, not saying a word.

It was a long time before he raised his eyebrows and asked, How much will it cost to activate that thing?

Im afraid that it might cost a little more, since it has been a while since the fortress barrier was last deployed. Our people estimate it to be around 150,000 gold coins

Lord Brother!

Roels body shook the moment he heard the number. His response evoked a shocked exclamation from Alicia, and Anna rushed forward to support him.

150,000 gold coins? Youre telling me that it costs 150,000 gold coins just to start the barrier?

Roel had to take a couple of deep breaths before he finally managed to get his raging emotions under control. Even though he thought that he had already mentally prepared himself for this, he still felt like someone was scraping meat from his heart.

This price was too much for him to take, especially since there was a chance that it might go to waste.

Roel first looked at the dull sky above, then at the worried folks around him. He spent a moment in dilemma before finally deciding to prioritize safety. Thus, he took a deep breath. 24062

Activate it, but keep the resource depletion at the minimum, he said with gritted teeth.

Yes, Lord Roel.

Upon receiving the order, the spellcaster quickly left to prepare for the deployment of the fortress barrier. Roel subconsciously averted his gaze to avoid watching the moment his 150,000 gold coins disappeared with a poof, though deep down, he understood that he had made the right decision.

The safety of his loved ones naturally took precedence over material possessions like money. On top of that, he believed that there were ample reasons for him to deploy the fortress barrier.

The injuries sustained by the Spiritsense Hatchling had alerted Roel to the possibility of an aerial attack. Since then, he had been thinking about how he could deal with enemies in the sky. While there were plenty of anti-aerial means on the Sia Continent, most of them werent optimized to be utilized on the scale of an army.

Large-scale aerial battles were pretty rare, after all.

Of the limited army anti-aerial means, the one that boasted the greatest effectiveness was none other than the fortress barrier.

Roel had to repeatedly remind himself that he had already considered all aspects of the matter and that this was the best decision he could make at hand so as to assuage his bleeding heart. Heaving a deep sigh, he turned his eyes toward the fortress barrier magic tool and prayed that this relic passed down by his ancestors would be enough to tide him through the next few days.

Things should be much better once I regain my connection with Artasia and the reinforcements from the Theocracy and Rosa arrive. Just three days more Roel murmured under his breath.

While Roel was doing everything he could to assuage the unease he felt, in the distant eastern border where the Knight Kingdoms Saint Fran Fortress stood, a heavily-armored knight gazed out of the bedroom window, feeling perplexed by her recent bouts of nervousness.

It had been half a year since Wilhelmina arrived on the barren eastern border.

When she first arrived here, she often felt tense and couldnt sleep well at night, knowing just how close she was to the battlefield. But after having been through several bloody battles, she had started to adapt to life on the frontlines.

The frontlines were a place where the most primitive law of nature, survival of the fittest, thrived in its full gore. The weak were mercilessly gutted while the strong were decorated with medals of glory.

As a knight of humankind, Wilhelmina had sworn to protect her race with her life, which was why she always gave her 120% on the battlefield. There was hardly any time for her to stop and ponder things, which made it baffling that she had started feeling nervous all of a sudden.

Is it overexertion? Have you been feeling stressed recently?

In a strikingly minimalistic room inside the fortress, Teresa patiently listened to Wilhelminas problem before scribbling down a few probing questions in her notebook. Her tightly pressed lips indicated her worry for her close friend.

Wilhelmina Cambonytes reputation was enormous in humankinds united army.

Last autumn, in the very first large-scale battle against the deviants, there was a fatal miscommunication among the different armies stationed at the frontlines. It created an opening that the deviants wasted no time exploiting.

In this critical situation, Wilhelmina stepped forward and covered the opening. She fended off the deviants before swiftly leading the Knight Kingdoms army on a counterattack. Her strategic cavalry assaults on the enemys flanks dispersed the enemys forces, allowing humankind to turn the tables and achieve a resounding victory.

That battle shot Wilhelmina to stardom.

Many soldiers on the frontlines came to learn her name and started paying attention to her. As her achievements grew, she came to be known as one of the Three Heroines of the Eastern Border, where she was put on the same pedestal as the Austine Empires Imperial Princess Lilian and the Saint Mesit Theocracys Princess Nora.

No matter how unfazed Wilhelmina was toward such matters, it was hard for her not to be weighed down by the expectations that others pinned on her. In the first place, she had always been competitive from a young age, refusing to admit defeat to anyone else.

That was also what Teresa suspected to be the cause of her nervousness.

Wilhelmina quietly pondered that possibility. Moments later, she shook her head.

Probably not. There were barely any fights in winter. It shouldnt be exhaustion or stress.

Are you certain?

Theres no need for me to lie about this.

If thats the case the only other reason I can think of is that youre bothered by his intimate relationship with the others.

!

Those words written on the notebook had Wilhelmina widening her eyes. She subconsciously averted her gaze, and the room plunged into silence.

Teresa quietly stowed away her little notebook before heaving a quiet sigh.

A year had passed since the Challenger Cup. Within this year, Wilhelmina had changed at a pace faster than she did in the past decade, be it in terms of her personality, appearance, or strength. The reason behind all these changes could be traced back to a single personRoel Ascart.

In that spectacular fight that had captured the worlds attention, Roel had, with his own hands, shattered the shackles binding Wilhelmina. That was also the event that spurred the two of them to resolve their differences and become both friends and comrades.

That would have been a beautiful tale of blossoming friendship if not for the fact that Teresa knew that Wilhelminas heart hadnt been calm since then.

The Dawnbringer Order might have been an immature organization, but it was still the fruit of Wilhelminas labor. Yet, when Roel requested a merger, she didnt hesitate to accept his offer and even gave up the leadership position.

Admittedly, Rose of Dawn was much more inclusive, which enabled it to wield influence and power far beyond what the Dawnbringer Order could have ever hoped to attain. Nevertheless, it was still bewildering how Wilhelmina had entrusted everything to Roel without any reservation.

This was at odds with Wilhelminas conservative to the point of being inflexible personality.

It wasnt too hard for Teresa, who had been Wilhelminas older sister for many years, to fathom her underlying feelings. However, Wilhelmina stubbornly refused to admit to it.

I am only his friend and comrade. His relationships are none of my concern, Wilhelmina replied with a low voice after a long moment of silence.

She shot to her feet to flee, as if she could escape from her feelings that way.

Teresa heaved yet another sigh as she grabbed Wilhelminas hand to stop her. All of a sudden, another thought surfaced in her mind, and she quickly scribbled on her notebook.

Could your nervousness be related to his circumstances?