He had no choice now but to flee and seek someone powerful enough to shield him.
With that thought, Hadley made his decision at once.
"Go fetch Karl immediately. Send more men as well. No matter what, stop them!"
At the mention of the young master, the knight turned to carry out the order.
He had barely taken a step when something round rolled against his foot.
He looked down.
A blood-soaked head stared back at him.
The knight's mind went blank.
"Y-Young Master!?"
Hadley spun around at the scream.
A white figure stood in the doorway. With a casual swing of his hand, he slammed a mercenary straight into the wall.
The man's body sank several inches into the stone. Whether he lived or died was unclear.
A knight, drenched in blood and riddled with wounds, stood there like something dragged back from hell itself, staring coldly at the lord whose face had gone stiff with dread.
His gaze shifted slightly and caught sight of several soldiers stumbling toward the chamber, panic written all over them.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, it felt as though time had frozen.
The air was thick with the metallic stench of blood, heavy enough to choke on.
No one spoke.
Only strained breathing broke the silence.
At last, the lord seemed to wake from a nightmare.
"Sir Knight, please believe me. I bear no grudge against Caria."
Nolan's expression did not change.
"Then why did I hear that you intended to take my life?"
"It was a misunderstanding. You must believe me."
"A misunderstanding? I don't think so."
Nolan's voice was calm, but it carried no warmth.
Realizing that pleading would not save him, the lord's face darkened. Desperation hardened into resolve.
"Carian Knight, I know you have some skill. But do not forget, I am a lord of the Golden Dynasty. I am not defenseless."
He drew the sword at his waist and charged with a shout.
In Nolan's eyes, the movement was almost clumsy.
After only two steps, the straight sword was knocked from his hand and sent spinning through the air.
Nolan reached out, seized him by the throat, and lifted him clean off the ground.
It happened so quickly that the guards rushing forward did not even have time to react.
The lord dangled there like livestock ready for slaughter, legs kicking uselessly in midair.
"Spare… spare me!"
Terror twisted Hadley's voice beyond recognition.
A warm stream ran down his leg. He had lost control in his fear.
Too strong.
How could a Tarnished this powerful be completely unheard of?
Someone like this should have a name known across the Lands Between.
He looked at Nolan, who was smiling faintly, and a chill ran through him as something clicked into place.
"You… what are you doing this for?" Hadley demanded, eyes wide.
Only now did he understand that the man before him was no reckless brute relying solely on strength.
A Tarnished with such terrifying power would never have let his son go without reason.
This had been deliberate.
"You need to know?" Nolan replied lightly.
Then his voice hardened.
"Hadley. Order your men to lay down their weapons. Now."
With his life held firmly in Nolan's grip, Hadley had no choice but to bow his head.
The order spread quickly.
Militia forced into service and villagers who had sought refuge here out of desperation slowly lowered their farm tools and crude weapons.
Once outside the fort, the full scale of the manor became clear.
The estate was packed with people, easily over a thousand.
Among them were able-bodied young men, but also women, children, and frail elders.
Only a few hundred were fighting-age men. Horses numbered only in the dozens.
Not wealthy, but far from destitute.
As the command to disarm took effect, the panic gradually subsided.
These people were tenant farmers or refugees from nearby villages.
In peacetime, they worked the lord's fields.
When war came, they were pressed into service and sent to die.
The nobles lacked neither runes nor land.
What they valued most beyond that were laborers who were cheap to sustain and easy to discard.
Nolan's gaze swept over the crowd.
"Do you understand that the one truly responsible for your suffering is this lord you serve?"
A man hurriedly stepped forward.
"My lord, surely you jest. If not for Lord Hadley taking us in, we would have starved long ago. How would we even have food?"
The moment he finished speaking, he met Val's sharp stare.
He flinched and shrank back at once, like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Anyone bold enough to defend Hadley at this moment was clearly not an ordinary villager.
Nolan slowly shook his head.
"Do you know what your so-called lord has been doing?"
Another voice rose from the crowd.
"He gave us shelter. He gave us a way to live."
More voices followed.
"Yes, sir, please show mercy. Spare our kind and benevolent lord."
The refugees' pleas echoed through the courtyard.
"Fools."
Nolan's voice cut through the noise.
"You were never meant to become anyone's servants. You were never meant to starve."
"All of this is because your lord is greedy and hungry for gain. It is his ambition that brought you to this state."
Hadley felt his body tremble as he listened.
The raids on surrounding villages had always been carried out in secret.
Not a whisper had leaked.
How did this Carian Knight know?
If word spread, even powerful nobles would struggle to avoid consequences, let alone a minor lord like him.
True, this was an age of war. Law was not always enforced.
But if another lord seized on this as leverage, it would be disastrous.
Who would pass up a chance to claim more land?