Just after Nina finished mocking them, she turned her head and suddenly saw a clawing face right in front of her.

"Ahhh!"

The girl shrieked and fell onto the floor. Looking at Meg, who was clutching her stomach and laughing hysterically, Nina took a long while to recover before angrily complaining, "Miss Meg, you nearly scared me to death."

"Haha, my bad." Meg stuck out her tongue and crouched down apologetically. "The lord asked us to find some wooden blocks. It’s much easier to have the cooks chop the wood into smaller pieces anyway. Besides, who told you to scare those little servant girls first?"

"Hmph."

The two girls bickered and laughed as they carried the wooden blocks into the study.

"My lord, what are these for?" Tisiana looked at the pile of small wooden blocks in confusion.

Without answering immediately, Phield dipped a brush into ink and wrote the symbol "Ace of Spades" onto one of the blocks before looking up with a smile.

"The territory lacks entertainment far too much. I plan to recreate some tabletop games, things like cards or chess."

In isolated and terrifying places like the salt mine and iron mine outposts, people would absolutely go insane without some way to relax mentally.

"Go call Charlotte and Alice. I’ll teach all of you how to play. Right, Nina and Meg, you two can watch as well. These games will gradually spread throughout the territory. Maybe one day they’ll even be playable in taverns."

"Thank you, my lord."

The two maids were flattered beyond belief.

The rain still poured outside.

Meanwhile, in Dream City at the southernmost edge of Rick Province, beyond the south lay Radiance Province, the breadbasket of the Empire.

"That old bastard actually survived. What an absolute nightmare. How did he stay alive?"

Owen Ross stared at the letter in his hand in disbelief. Veins bulged across his hand from gripping it so tightly that the paper had nearly crumpled into a ball.

"Holo, your poison was completely useless! Do you know how much I added? It was thick enough to look like sesame paste, yet not a single person died. Instead, the old bastard’s condition improved."

A savage expression twisted across Owen’s face before he quickly calmed himself, speaking in a cold yet steady tone.

"I hope you can give me an explanation."

"That is indeed strange."

The room was pitch black. There were no servants or guards present, only a stuffed teddy bear standing before Owen.

The stuffed bear waddled clumsily around the room.

"Back when the attempt to poison Phield failed and the family blood soul that was practically ours shattered unexpectedly, I already felt something was wrong. Perhaps the family possesses some strange power neither of us understands."

The stuffed bear smacked one paw against the other, producing dull cottony thuds.

"What a shame my physical body is already dead. Otherwise things would be much simpler."

"Forget it. Adrian dying was actually beneficial." Owen crouched before the teddy bear and sighed. "Holo, find a way to kill the remaining family members. But more importantly, uncover the truth."

Holo sighed deeply.

"As an ancestor of the Ross family, the act of slaughtering my own descendants fills me with despair."

"My curse has already erupted six times. Time is running shorter and shorter."

Owen lowered his voice.

"It seems I’ll have to painfully kill every direct descendant of the family and collect the souls produced from their despair. In this entire family, only I possess the qualifications and ability to lead it forward and uncover the one responsible for the curse."

He stared at the stuffed bear.

"The others are far too short-sighted."

"Of course I believe in you. From the moment you came to the old castle to find me, I knew you were the only person in the family worthy of carrying everything forward."

Hearing those words, Owen looked extremely satisfied. He drew his longsword and stared toward the mirror hidden within the darkness.

"Ever since the old man visited the ancestral graveyard, the nightmares began. Perhaps we should investigate the ancestral lands ourselves. No... first we need someone to take the lead."

"Find a way to send second sister there. The family’s only fifth-rank Divine Chosen is under her command. If she doesn’t go, who else can?"

Owen’s voice turned icy.

"Right, when your dolls detected that despair emotion earlier, who else was present?"

"The Shadow World Sect, along with their Divine Chosen of slaughter."

The teddy bear maintained its innocent expression while strangely withholding the full truth.

"They’ve actually helped me a great deal." Owen sneered. "Find a way to contact them. Have them kill Phield too. He’s the most useless one anyway. Eliminate him first. Did he really think hiding in the northern frontier would keep him safe?"

After the rain stopped, inside Starnight City.

Phield set down his chess piece and stretched lazily.

"Let’s stop here for today. You should all get some rest."

"Fine, but next time I’ll definitely win." Charlotte reluctantly tore the punishment slips of paper off her face.

"I’m going to sleep. Chess doesn’t suit me."

Alice, who was practically covered in paper strips like a mummy, already felt depressed to begin with. Now she looked even more lifeless.

"Heheheh, a bunch of amateurs."

Phield was feeling extremely smug.

Arriving at the Grand Winery, Phield had the soldiers bring over the final surviving member of the Turtle School, namely the one who had constantly cursed out the others: Yago.

"I heard you’re the real scholar among them, while the others are all lunatics."

Phield questioned him slowly.

"That’s right. Back then I only wanted to join the Imperial Scholars Association. But you understand how things are nowadays. This isn’t an era where knowledge alone matters anymore. I needed connections and influence. It just so happened that only this bizarre school was willing to accept me."

Yago seemed to recall a horrifying memory.

"They forced me to bathe together with a group of snapping turtles. Those damned turtles nearly ruined my... ah, may the Goddess of Wisdom forgive me. I’m already finished."

"Ah?"

Phield was stunned.

No wonder George and his disciples all behaved like complete lunatics. Turns out there was an even more disturbing hidden side to them.

"What a pity. Even after sacrificing so much, I still never received a chance to display my true value."

Yago looked ready to cry. He waved his fists angrily, his brows twisted together.

"I want to duel them! I’ll shove their pig brains straight into a sow’s filthy rear end!"

"You’ll have your chance eventually, but please don’t harm the pigs here."

Phield changed the topic.

"Tell me about your value. I appreciate talented people and don’t care much about bloodlines. Perhaps you can find your place in Nightfall Domain."

"Really? I possess professional and systematic knowledge regarding both plants and ores. Not like them..." Yago grimaced awkwardly. "Not relying on those copper turtles they carry around."

The moment Phield heard the word ores, his eyes lit up.

"Have you ever seen limestone? A grayish-white stone that looks extremely ordinary. The soil around it is usually pale as well."

"Of course. Scholars call it Pale Stone. It’s one of the most common alchemical materials imaginable. I actually saw a deposit of it while traveling through Nightfall Domain. Does your alchemist require that material?"

Phield hadn’t held much hope, but the moment Yago gave a positive answer, he could barely believe his ears.

"You’ve seen it? Hurry, take me there!"