Chapter 29: 29 Administration Officer Prinster

Chapter 29: 29. Administrator Prinster

The two factions confronted each other across a distance of dozens of meters, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.

At first, the guards on Ronin's side were not entirely sure why the Baron wanted them to take up their weapons.

But when they heard the newcomer speak in such an ill-mannered tone, they seemed to understand.

At this moment, their admiration for Ronin deepened; the Baron was truly a divine figure to have anticipated such a situation.

Administrator Prinster sat astride his horse, looking up past Ronin at the sword-wielding guards, whose number matched his expectations at roughly thirty, which gave him a surge of confidence.

"Lord Ronin, you may not know this, but I have served as the administrator of Mountain Woods Town for nine years. Over these years, even when the harvests were poor, and even when we were raided by barbarian tribes and the magical beasts of the Black Mountain, I still managed to pay ten gold coins worth of taxes to Black Mountain Castle every year."

This ten gold coins did not necessarily mean actual coinage; equivalents were included as well.

Though it did not sound like much, for a mountain town with a population of less than a thousand to yield such revenue annually was indeed commendable.

Ronin nodded slightly. "You have done quite well. It was precisely because Black Mountain Castle recognized this capability of yours that they entrusted this town to your management for nine years."

He could not yet fathom what measures the opponent intended to take, so offering a few casual compliments was harmless.

"Heh, yet now, a place I painstakingly nurtured for nine years is to be handed over to a notorious, worthless piece of trash like you!"

Prinster's gaze shifted, turning predatory and aggressive. "I refuse to accept this!"

"Why should nobles dare to strip away another's achievements so easily? Why must my things be surrendered to a useless fool who is toyed with by women?"

He roared in fury, "Why?!"

"Silence!"

McCain drew his longsword and looked at Ronin. "My Lord, let me go over and kill him!"

Ronin shook his head, signaling McCain to hold his hand for the moment.

As a transmigrator, he could somewhat sympathize with the man's feelings.

Though Prinster had not been the lord of Mountain Woods Town all these years, he had been no different from one; asking him to acknowledge a new master now was bound to be psychologically jarring.

Yet sympathy was one thing; allowing someone to usurp his own property was absolutely out of the question.

"You were sent by Black Mountain Castle to manage Mountain Woods Town, but it does not belong to you. Whether you rage or roar, you cannot change the rules, for this is how the world works, ruled and dominated by the nobility! If you want a domain of your own, the first thing you must do is offer your loyalty to a noble."

"But I understand you."

Ronin shifted his tone. "If you dismount right now and accept me as your master, I can overlook your insolence today. So long as you pledge fealty to me, perhaps one day you, too, can become a baron just as I am now."

"Perhaps!"

Prinster slowly drew the sword at his hip. "But I have a better proposition."

The atmosphere plunged toward absolute freezing point as killing intent began to bleed into the air.

"Speak," Ronin said.

Prinster pointed his sword at Ronin. "I can kill you right here, and then continue serving as the administrator of Mountain Woods Town."

"Oh? And you do not fear retribution from Black Mountain Castle?"

Prinster laughed uproariously. "Wild beasts and magical creatures frequently roam the road to Mountain Woods Town. With only a novice knight and thirty infantrymen by your side, perishing under the claws and fangs of a magical beast is only natural."

Evidently, the man possessed detailed intelligence on Ronin's forces; it was highly likely that this information had been dispatched to Mountain Woods Town the moment Ronin left Black Mountain Castle.

If one were to claim that Prinster had informants inside Black Mountain Castle, Ronin would find it hard to believe.

The administrator of a mere mountain town possessed no such vast capability.

Thus, Ronin was exceedingly curious as to where the man had acquired this intelligence.

He scrutinized the burly, mounted men surrounding the administrator; these four did not seem ordinary, could they also be novice knights?

Yet it seemed improbable for a small mountain town of just a few hundred residents to produce so many extraordinary individuals.

Ronin attempted to bait some information out of him.

"Your plan does possess a certain feasibility. However, I see only twenty or thirty men on your side; whence comes this supreme confidence that you can slay me so easily?"

As he spoke, he glanced back over his shoulder. "In terms of numbers, my side holds the advantage~"

"Haha, you truly are as foolish as Wiggins! If numbers decided everything, would your Black Mountain Castle not have crushed the Black Gold Brotherhood? Would you not have pulverized the Hyde Family?"

Prinster's expression filled with disdain. "Yet the reality is that Black Mountain Castle is powerless against everyone!"

The more he spoke, the more exhilarated he became; defying noble authority and trampling upon aristocratic dignity were things he had long yearned to do, and today he finally could.

"To tell you the truth, I myself am an intermediate knight, and I have four novice knights by my side. In the face of absolute power, you are no different from sheep in a pen."

He eagerly anticipated the look of sheer terror on the face of this eldest grandson of Black Mountain Castle upon hearing such an array of forces.

Yet he discerned only a fleeting trace of surprise on Ronin's face.

Ronin was indeed surprised.

Before setting out, the people of Black Mountain Castle assumed that Mountain Woods Town had at most one or two extraordinary individuals; who could have foreseen that there were not only five extraordinary figures here, but even an intermediate knight among them.

The intelligence-gathering capabilities of Black Mountain Castle were truly abysmal, leaving them practically blind regarding Mountain Woods Town.

But then again, it was entirely possible they had never cared about Mountain Woods Town in the first place; as long as the annual tax of ten gold coins arrived, they left the region entirely to its own devices.

This was precisely how a fading noble house gradually lost its grip on power.

"I shall say it once more, Prinster, and let those behind you listen closely as well!"

Ronin regained his composure. "Before blood is shed, I can pardon your insolence today. But if you persist in disregarding your own lives to challenge my authority, then do not blame this newly arrived lord for dealing in death."

Across from him, Prinster's face darkened completely.

Having ruled Mountain Woods Town for so many years, he had not heard such disrespectful words in a very long time.

For years, he had longed to see panic and dread upon a noble's face, desperate to prove himself superior to them.

Yet Ronin showed no such weakness; instead, he was turning around to shake the resolve of Prinster's own men.

He noticed that some of his guards truly seemed to waver; after all, the concept of nobility was deeply ingrained in their hearts, and they well knew they belonged to the domain of Black Mountain.

This conversation could not be allowed to continue.

Steeling his resolve, Prinster barked, "Archers, loose!"

The three archers did not falter; to them, nobles were distant and abstract, whereas the administrator was real, providing them with a privileged life.

They swiftly drew and notched their arrows; in a mere two seconds, the shafts leaped from the strings.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

McCain took the lead, charging forward.

Spurred by his battle qi, the radiant glow upon his longsword flared violently.

With a single sweeping strike, all three arrows were severed and clattered to the ground.

Prinster's pupils contracted sharply, his expression shifting to one of shock. "How is this possible... how do you have an intermediate knight?"

Now that the battle had commenced, there was no further need for idle talk.

Ronin quickly barked his commands: "Leave Prinster to McCain—remember to keep him alive if possible, I still have use for him!"

"Elrond, see to the wounded immediately."

Luo Ning pointed his long sword and commanded: “All troops, attack!”

McKen echoed loudly: “Traitors deserve death!”

The gallop of hooves was urgent, with McKen, Luo Ning, and David leading the charge, rushing straight into the opposing camp. Behind them, twenty-nine guards also surged forward.

Only the wizard Elron and the manservant Chahar remained behind, not advancing.

Princeton did not expect that the enemy would initiate the charge, and with them positioned uphill while he was downhill, the terrain was not favorable.

However, once the battle had begun, there was no need to dwell on positioning issues.

“Attack!” he roared, bursting with fighting spirit, his presence imposing.

On this main road, a great battle erupted among sixty to seventy people.

(End of this chapter.)