After receiving the order, Val turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
If his warhorse had been faster than the champion himself, he might have tried to find a chance to escape.
But reality was brutally unforgiving. The knight before him was monstrously strong, so strong that Val did not even dare entertain such hopes.
He had no desire to be blasted by that terrifying Lightning Spear until not even ashes remained. For now, the only thing he could do was give everything he had and prove that he still had value.
"Are we really just letting him go?" Vyke frowned and asked Nolan.
Anyone nearby could tell you who Val was with a casual question.
As a retainer of the Morton family who followed Hadley around and helped him oppress others, he had naturally committed many vile deeds.
"Of course he should die."
Nolan paused for a moment, then thought it over carefully.
After recalling the conversation, he confirmed that he had never once said anything about sparing Val's life.
As the Promised Consort, he prided himself on keeping his word.
"Once the Morton family's affairs are settled, take him out hunting from time to time. Looks like he could use the exercise."
Vyke considered it for a moment. Then surprise appeared on his face as he stared at Nolan, clearly not expecting the knight to have such a ruthless side.
He had only just arrived and might have seemed somewhat simple, but simple did not mean foolish.
Some of the enormous beasts deep in the forest could kill an ordinary person with a single swipe of their paw.
Nolan slowly turned his head.
A trace of amusement flickered in his deep eyes, and a faint smile curled at the corners of his lips.
In a relaxed, slightly teasing tone, he asked,
"What's wrong? Do you think I'm the bad guy now?"
Looking at that face, Vyke blanked out for a moment. Then he shook his head firmly and replied,
"No. You are absolutely not a bad person."
"No… I should say you're a very, very good person."
"We have no right to forgive anyone on behalf of the dead."
Those were Vyke's true thoughts.
Someone like Val, steeped in crime and cruelty, deserved no mercy.
Killing him would only feel satisfying.
A pleased smile appeared on Nolan's face, and he nodded in approval.
This young Tarnished might be kind-hearted, but he was not so stubborn that he could not understand reason.
A man like Val was nothing more than wasted air in this world.
Nolan patted the young Tarnished on the shoulder and said with a smile,
"Vyke, next you should choose some suitable people from among the villagers willing to stay."
"Teach them horsemanship and spear techniques so they can at least gain some ability to defend themselves and fight."
"Huh? What are you planning to do?" Vyke asked in surprise.
"Don't you think the two of us alone can accomplish too little? We're going to change this world."
Since when did our goal become this ambitious?
A flicker of doubt crossed Vyke's mind.
But the thought vanished almost as soon as it appeared, drowned out by the surging ambition rising in his chest.
Vyke felt his blood stirring. Straightening his posture, he responded loudly,
"Yes, I understand."
It was a noisy, bustling night, full of excitement and activity. Time slipped by quickly and quietly passed before anyone noticed.
A brief display of martial strength lasting only a few minutes could inspire awe and fear, but it was not enough to truly secure the wavering hearts of the villagers.
Runes, however, along with abundant stores of grain, acted like magnets that firmly drew their attention.
Once again, the members of the Morton family laid bare the greed hidden within human nature.
They already possessed mountains of wealth, enough for their descendants to live in comfort for hundreds of generations.
Yet their hunger for money and material riches never faded. No matter how much they had, it was never enough.
In stark contrast, Nolan appeared remarkably generous.
These runes were far from enough to meet his own needs, so he simply took a portion and distributed them to those who needed them.
Of course, this was not charity without conditions. Anyone who wanted these coveted resources had to pay a corresponding price.
Either farm the land, or join the army.
A manor was not like an ordinary village. Every piece of land belonged to the nobility, and every villager was little more than a tool for them.
With overwhelming strength, Nolan had temporarily taken control of this place.
He distributed grain and runes, and even allocated land for the villagers to cultivate.
At the same time, he searched the manor for slaves and selected several Misbegotten blacksmiths to forge a batch of weapons.
Those weapons were naturally meant for soldiers.
Before this, the so called militia barely had real weapons at all. Most of what they carried were assorted farming tools.
Some of them did not even have proper tools, forced to rely on crude wooden sticks scavenged from somewhere, barely good enough to ward off danger.
Using materials purchased with runes, Nolan also had two sets of fine armor forged.
He intended to stir up trouble in Limgrave, and continuing to act under the identity of a Carian Knight or a Dark Moon Knight would not be appropriate.
If a Tarnished fought Demigods, it could be framed as fulfilling the order to hunt down traitors. But if Caria intervened directly, it would become an international incident.
After spending several days sorting through the spoils of war, Nolan had just begun to relax when Val hurried over.
"My lord, Baron Will's troops are approaching the manor."
Nolan frowned.
He had seen that name before, among the piles of old and new books on the long table where Hadley handled his affairs.
The man was a minor lord bordering the Morton territory. His domain was even smaller than the Morton family's, consisting of only a single village.
"They say he's pursuing a fugitive named Nepheli. That Tarnished killed a group of tax collectors on the official road within his territory... ah, no, a group of vicious bandits."
Good grief. Are all of you nobles running bandit businesses on the side?
Nolan found himself speechless. These people all used the exact same trick. Old or not, as long as it worked, they did not mind repeating it.
A business with no cost and enormous profit. Who would not want a piece of that?
And controlling a stretch of official road meant merchants passed through constantly. The runes in a merchant's purse were far greater than what villagers could ever offer.
"But things are probably not as simple as they appear."
Nolan thought quietly, lightly stroking his chin.
After all, this was still the territory of the Morton family.
If someone had truly committed a crime and needed to be arrested, it should have been handled by the Morton family themselves.
Sending a private army into another lord's territory was clearly improper.
Seeing Nolan thinking, Val quickly began flattering him.
"My lord is truly wise and sharp eyed. I thought the same. Baron Will must have other intentions."
"Go on."
Val still wanted to live a few more days, so now was the time to prove his worth.
"If you ask me, they may be testing the waters. As you know, those around you could just as easily be enemies as friends."
"Neighboring lords always keep a close watch on one another. He must have heard some rumors somewhere and came to investigate under this pretext."
"The Morton family controls five villages. That's not a small number."
Val finished with that final remark, his tone carrying a deeper meaning.