"There are so many people!" Sivis' expression changed.
In his system panel, the function of [Detecting Monster Clusters] was still on cooldown, meaning he couldn't use it again until after 96 hours.
In the short term, Sivis couldn't continue expanding the population of his territory.
If he could bring these civilians into his territory, along with the victory he would achieve by defeating the adventurer team, wouldn't he be able to quickly reach the rank of a Level 3 Monster Lord?
Indeed, showing goodwill to these civilians earlier had been meaningful.
A sense of joy filled his heart.
As for why so many people had gathered near his territory, Sivis was initially surprised, but then he thought it made sense.
The experience of undercover work these past few days had shown him that the entire kingdom had been struggling with poor harvests for years, while the nobles had introduced numerous new taxes. Sivis' territory was home to monsters, which seemed highly dangerous, but as long as the monsters didn't disturb the civilians' lives and offered some help, it would naturally attract countless people to come, bringing their families with them.
They couldn't survive anywhere else!
Sivis had seen the dire conditions of a few households living on the edge of his territory. The male and female heads of the household didn't even have two sets of clothes to wear outdoors and had to take turns going out. Their children were so thin they could barely be recognized, looking worse off than the Goblins.
No matter how much the Church spread fear about the horrors and evil of monsters, as long as they could survive a little longer, civilians would keep flocking to Sivis' territory.
"Letting civilians live near the territory is easy, but getting them to willingly join it is a bit harder."
Sivis frowned, thinking.
Becoming his subjects wasn't just a matter of verbally agreeing; their loyalty had to meet a certain standard.
"I'll have to force them a little, but the efficiency of turning them into official subjects will definitely be low."
Sivis calculated.
"My promotion probably won't be so fast."
After understanding the situation in the territory, he dusted himself off, preparing to leave.
At that moment, the old Goblin seemed to remember something and quickly stopped him.
"What's the matter?" Sivis asked.
The old Goblin took out a somewhat dirty envelope from behind him, with a golden swallowtail flower emblem on it. "A letter from the family." Sivis raised an eyebrow in confusion.
He took the letter and opened it.
The letter had been sent by a magical creature.
Sivis couldn't reveal his identity as a Monster Lord, but he could have the letter delivered to a civilian house near his territory, where it would be passed on to the Goblin.
After opening the letter, his expression instantly changed, his brows furrowing tightly.
The letter was written in the script of his past life, a language only Sivis and his personal maid Reina could understand. The contents of the letter were simple: "Master, your two siblings are plotting to take your assets from the family. When will you return?"
Siblings?
Plotting assets?
Two clown-like figures immediately appeared in Sivis' mind.
"Damn it!" His expression remained emotionless as he drew on his magic, burning the letter in his hand to ashes. A glimmer of coldness flashed in his eyes.
"Good, good, good! Conning, Flora, you've been making small moves in the family all this time, and now you want to touch my things!" His rage erupted in an instant!
"This is a death sentence!" Sivis' voice was laced with murderous intent.
Even though he had gained extra soul points from "Corpse Resurrection," without the family's resources, he couldn't strengthen his monster clan.
Without strengthening his monsters, if he encountered a stronger adventurer team next time...
Sivis couldn't guarantee that the new monster clans he discovered through the system would be stronger than the Stone Demon clan. If his territory were breached, this Evil God would die on the spot!
His family's "relatives" weren't just trying to take the assets Sivis had left behind—they were after his life!
"I'll deal with the adventurer team tomorrow, and then take care of that saintess. I must return immediately after that." Sivis' eyes were filled with determination, his face darkened.
He hadn't taken the resources with him before because it was too troublesome, and without the system, he couldn't strengthen the monsters. Sivis had thought he was as good as dead and figured it would be better to leave the money to Reina so she could live happily.
But then, those people in his family got ideas!
He quickly left the territory.
Along the way, the Goblin leader and the Crystal Stone Demon, who had originally wanted to show their loyalty, trembled in fear upon sensing the god's anger and quickly hid in the corner.
...
At that very moment, hundreds of kilometers away in Minnet City.
At the estate of the Dester family, to the southwest of the city, in a quiet courtyard.
The young maid Reina, dressed in a plain white maid uniform, stood with her arms outstretched, resolutely blocking the way.
"Master Conning, Miss Flora, all of these assets were personally stored by my master, and they have nothing to do with the family's funds. I cannot allow your people to enter and inspect them."
The girl's small frame, usually so gentle and sweet, now exuded an unyielding determination.
She gritted her teeth, emitting low growls, like a small animal forced into a corner, ready to bite.
Seeing this, the two young nobles, Conning and Flora, flanked by a group of servants, exchanged looks of impatience and annoyance.
They first tried to persuade her gently.
"Reina, I told you, some of the family's accounts don't add up. I just want to check if the supplies and gold that Sivis stored match the records. I won't touch his things," Conning said.
"Exactly, you're overthinking it. We're family to Sivis. We wouldn't harm him," Flora added in agreement.
Their words sounded nice, but in reality, they intended to send all these servants into the storeroom to check. If they weren't careful, they might end up emptying Sivis' entire stash.
But they didn't expect, nor did they know who had leaked the information, that Sivis' maid had actually taken up position at the only entrance to the storeroom.
Two days had passed, and Reina hadn't even blinked an eye, nor had she left the storeroom door for a single step. She had successfully disrupted Flora and Conning's plans.
Reina was now covered in dust, her face pale and drained, clearly exhausted, and her spirit was on edge, pushed to its limit.
Seeing this, Conning's expression changed, and he was about to lash out, but Flora smiled slyly at the corner of her mouth.
"Fine, you can stay here and guard it then."
After speaking, she gestured with her eyes, and immediately, numerous servants gathered around the storeroom, surrounding it tightly.
Isn't this just a waiting game?
Can you, alone, outlast all of us?
Reina, feeling the hostile gazes around her, licked her dry lips.
"Master, don't worry, I will guard your things."
The girl's vision was starting to blur.
She tightly gripped a green alchemical tool in her hand.
"They won't succeed."
"All these years, I haven't spent the pocket money you gave me, and I've just bought this..."
"At worst, I'll die along with those bastards!"
...
By the time Sivis returned to the tavern, it was already late at night.
However, the tavern was brightly lit.
As he pushed open the door, a wave of lewd sounds reached his ears.
A few adventurers, led by Johnny, were lounging around, each with a woman in their arms, some of them barely passable in appearance, laughing and joking crudely.
"Master, no, it hurts..." Along with the adventurers' rough movements, the women let out low, pitiful moans, too frightened to even scream aloud.
Sivis saw a young woman's body lying on the side, her neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Her hollow eyes stared blankly at a lit candle.
"There aren't this many prostitutes in Hanseter... they must have taken them by force," Sivis thought to himself, feeling disgusted at the sight.
Johnny and the others weren't particularly driven by lust. Having seen the world and enjoyed better resources, they viewed these poor farm girls not as objects of desire but as playthings to be used and discarded at will.
Sivis remembered seeing a few ragged old men outside the tavern, seemingly staring at it.
Earlier, he had guessed that these men might be hoping to scavenge some scraps from the adventurers, but now it seemed more likely that they were waiting to bring their daughters home...
"Except some of them may never make it back," Sivis thought, a wave of turmoil stirring within him.
By the adventurers' side, a well-fed middle-aged man, likely the town mayor, was laughing and drinking with them.
"Mayor Mark, thank you for your trouble. You even prepared some little gifts for us," Johnny grinned, his voice dripping with mockery.
"No trouble, no trouble at all. You all coming to clear the monster territory is a great help to me," the mayor beamed, eager to ingratiate himself with these nobles.
At that moment, Johnny burst into loud laughter. "So, our wizard has returned? How did the investigation go? Any results?"
Sivis, now standing beside the adventurer team, responded, "Of course, I've fully grasped the situation in the monster territory. We can easily crush them." He pressed his hands together, forming a blade-like gesture, and sincerely made a throat-slashing motion toward everyone present.