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John studied the information appearing across the map, his gaze moving constantly from one marker to another.

Suddenly, a brilliant azure-blue marker appeared roughly 200 kilometers to the southwest.

A description appeared beside it.

[Fountain of Life (Legendary Resource Node): Produces an unlimited supply of Water of Life. Water of Life can be used to refresh the daily production limit of Resource Plots and irrigate special crops.]

John’s breathing briefly caught.

Water of Life? Wasn’t that exactly the material he’d just mentioned needing to upgrade his Resource Plots?

He hadn’t expected to find it only 200 kilometers away.

Unable to resist, John reached out and gently ruffled Sylvie’s head.

Her burgundy hair became slightly disheveled beneath his hand, the strands soft and silky.

”Sylvie, you’re amazing.”

His voice was so gentle that even he was a little surprised by it.

Sylvie’s shoulders shrank slightly as he ruffled her hair. She looked up at him with sparkling, catlike red eyes, unable to suppress the smile tugging at her lips. His praise had practically sent her floating.

After fidgeting shyly for a long while, she finally tugged at the edge of the blanket and changed the subject.

”Um, M-My Lord...”

”Hmm?”

”They all have their own rooms, but... where’s mine?”

John burst out laughing.

He patted the empty space beside him.

”Here.”

”This will be your room from now on.”

Sylvie’s face instantly turned so red it looked ready to emit steam.

She wanted to say something, but when she met John’s smiling eyes, she could only lower her head and whisper a tiny, ”Oh.”

Then, as though remembering something, she suddenly looked up again, her eyes curving into crescents.

”Oh, right, My Lord! I almost forgot. I prepared another surprise for you.”

”Just wait a moment.”

She threw off the blanket and climbed out of bed, hurriedly gathering her clothes from the floor and clutching them to her chest before darting into the bathroom.

The door clicked shut behind her.

Leaning against the headboard, John shook his head with a smile. He didn’t interrupt her little surprise.

A short while later, the bathroom door opened.

John raised his head—and his breathing stopped.

Sylvie stood in the doorway.

Her burgundy leather armor was gone, replaced by a black-and-white maid outfit.

A fitted black dress, a white lace apron, and a small white headband.

The skirt was short, revealing a pair of straight, shapely legs, with thin black ribbons tied delicately around her ankles.

John recognized it immediately.

It was the very outfit he’d designed to his own taste for her in his previous life.

He hadn’t expected Sylvie to remember it even now.

Then again, as an economic hero, she’d never lacked the resources to make something like this.

”M-My Lord...”

Sylvie clutched the edge of her apron with both hands, her cheeks flushed as she spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

”You... You said last time that you liked seeing me wear this...”

John didn’t answer.

He rose, walked over, slipped one arm around her waist, and swept her off her feet.

Sylvie let out a soft gasp and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Her long red hair fell over his shoulder, the ends brushing against the back of his hand and making it itch slightly.

With a soft click, the room’s lights went out.

...

The following morning, John opened his eyes.

The space beside him was already empty, though a lingering warmth remained.

Sylvie had always been an early riser, so this didn’t surprise him.

He stretched, threw on a coat, and headed downstairs.

The main hall on the first floor was empty.

He walked to the entrance and glanced across the territory.

Raistlin sat on a dead tree stump, his staff resting across his knees as he meditated with his eyes closed. Six-colored motes of light slowly revolved around him.

In an open space nearby, Bladeborne was practicing his swordsmanship.

One slash followed another, each sweep of silver-white sword light cleaving the morning mist in two. His movements were crisp and precise.

Hearing John’s footsteps, both men opened their eyes and looked over.

Raistlin gave a slight nod.

Bladeborne sheathed his sword and bowed slightly as well.

Seeing that the two of them weren’t fighting, John finally relaxed.

”Meet in the main hall at 8:30.”

After saying that, he turned and walked back into the castle.

Taking his seat at the head of the long table, he opened his system inventory.

John decided to sort through his stockpile first.

Most of the items were unremarkable. The main things he wanted to deal with were the four-star unit training authorization card and the four-star Unit Altar Stone.

Although he had no use for either item, he knew that other players would consider them extremely valuable.

John tapped the air with his finger and listed both items on the Trading House.

[Item: Four-Star Unit Training Authorization Card]

[Item: Four-Star Unit Altar Stone]

[Auction Time: Today, 12:00 PM]

[Starting Bid: 1,000,000 Basic Resources]

[Auction Type: Anonymous]

John sneered.

A starting bid of one million basic resources.

By his estimate, that was probably the entirety of the Judgment Alliance’s current treasury.

Knowing them as well as he did, he was certain they would pool the entire alliance’s resources to win the auction, then recruit smaller lords and charge them protection fees to recover the cost.

But if a fat sheep wandered right up to your door, why not slaughter it?

As for the lower-tier equipment he couldn’t use, John simply dumped it all into the system and exchanged it for gold coins at market rates.

Several notification chimes rang out as his gold coin balance climbed again.

By the time he finished taking care of these minor matters, footsteps sounded outside.

Sure enough, the time displayed in the upper-right corner of his interface changed.

[Godfall Battlefield Standard Time: 08:30:12]

The castle doors opened right on schedule.

Sylvie entered with several native residents, pushing a food cart. She wore a white apron, and her red hair was tied neatly into a high ponytail. Her face practically screamed, Go on, praise me! I dare you not to!

She walked over to John and naturally took the seat beside him. Beneath the table, she secretly hooked her little finger around his.

The covers came off the food cart.

One dish after another was brought to the table.

Golden-brown bread, hearty soup, seared meat, pickled vegetables, a fruit platter, and even a plate of steaming meat buns.

The spread was so lavish that anyone would have been stunned.

John stared at the tableful of food, nearly moved to tears on the spot.

Having a capable partner really was wonderful.

These dishes had undoubtedly been prepared under Sylvie’s guidance, with the native residents doing the actual cooking.

At long last, he could stop eating nothing but roasted meat and rough flatbread!

Raistlin and Bladeborne arrived on time as well, each taking a seat.

John looked around, raised an eyebrow, and asked, ”Ophelia hasn’t come again?”

He distinctly remembered reminding them all last night.

The others had no idea what he meant and stared back at him in confusion.

John’s expression darkened slightly as he suddenly recalled what had happened the previous time.

He stood up, went upstairs, and knocked on Ophelia’s door.

He’d practically mastered this entire routine by now.

Knock, knock.

A loud crash came from inside first, as though a chair had been knocked over.

Then came a flurry of hurried, chaotic noises.

Three seconds later, Ophelia called out loudly from inside, sounding a little breathless.

”Ten minutes! I’ll be right there!”

The familiar voice.

The familiar words.

John: ”...”

He returned downstairs and took his seat with an expressionless face.

Ten minutes later, footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Ophelia came downstairs, once again wearing her usual cold, composed expression.

She lifted her eyes—and immediately spotted the woman sitting beside John, cheerfully placing food onto his plate.

Ophelia stopped in her tracks.

Her dark golden slit pupils narrowed instantly.

That was her seat!