Facing everyone’s curious gazes, Marvin coughed.

"It’s a secret."

Madeline’s eyes opened wide. She wished she could just take out her whip and make that annoying man beg for forgiveness!

But when this kind of thought appeared in her mind, she suddenly felt an acute pain.

Marvin smilingly said, "As long as you don’t do anything to violate the command contract’s rule, it won’t harm you."

"Right?"

Madeline’s face blanched in distaste.

She suddenly turned and swept her gaze through River Shore City’s army.

They were all silent.

White Gown Collins forced a smile, spreading out his hands.

The Heavenly Sword Saint was sitting there and apart from Marvin, no one could pass him!

"I’ll become a Legend one day!"

Madeline took a deep breath, watching the Heavenly Sword Saint. "I’ll completely clean this place out afterwards!"

That man gently replied, "Sure."

Madeline wanted to let it all out.

She was very annoyed.

There were very few men she couldn’t handle in River Shore City!

Relying on her intelligence and charm, who knew how many men were bewitched under her skirt.

However, she met two men unmoved by her during the attack on the Scarlet Monastery.

She wasn’t a match for the first one, his strength way to high. And the second one was tricky.

Thinking of this, Madeline angrily ground her teeth.

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her instructions. Marvin was leisurely walking to Isabelle’s side.

"Retreat!"

Madeline held her breath for a long time before finally giving this order while unwillingly taking a glance in the direction of the hidden path as it disappeared.

River Shore City’s army began to slowly leave the Scarlet Monastery.

They still failed to clean out this place after all.

But at least the Demon God Enforcers and other monsters wouldn’t appear near River Shore City anymore. To Madeline and River Shore City’s inhabitants, this could be considered a consolation prize.

...

On a steady carriage, Marvin was leaning on a cushion, relaxing.

Collins still had that calm appearance. Apart from when he was completely helpless facing the Heavenly Sword Saint, most of the time he displayed a calm and relaxed look.

He didn’t even ask what Marvin got from the underground floor.

After a long time, the old fox unhurriedly mentioned, "Regarding that gold mine, when do you intend to exploit it?"

Marvin thought a bit before answering, "Shouldn’t be too long. I’ll reorganize the territory when I go back this time, and then I’ll gather an army…"

"Relying on adventurers I presume." Collins was blunt, but he was right, Marvin’s territory was extremely lacking in the fighting side.

Marvin calmly said, "Jewel Bay has many experts."

"They will come as long as they get paid."

Collins nodded. "Looks like you found a shortcut leading to Jewel Bay?"

"More or less." Marvin smiled and said, "In short, in at most two weeks I’ll gather them."

"Good, two weeks later it is," Collins agreed. "But an Ogre tribe isn’t easy to handle. If there is a certain amount of losses amongst my subordinates, I’ll withdraw from the battlefield."

"Rest assured, I have a plan," Marvin said confidently.

That Ogre tribe migrated to that place because they couldn’t survive in the Shrieking Mountain Range.

Ogre Fighters were innately at the 2nd rank, but their fighting strength was extremely fierce. To deal with this tribe of roughly twenty Ogres without a Wizard, they would need at least an army of two hundred.

Using information under appropriate circumstances; this was tactics.

In short, Ogres were a kind of extremely gifted lifeform, but most of them wouldn’t advance very high.

There had been only a few Legend Ogres in all of Feinan’s history. As for Half-Legends, there were surprisingly a lot of them.

‘To develop White River Valley, I need to get rid of that Ogre tribe.’

‘That is the only way to open up the coastline territory.’

‘Once I establish a port, trading with Jewel Bay would be even more convenient.’

‘White River and Pine Cone River are also some of the main rivers in the continent. As long as I make use of them appropriately, it would speed up the entire territory’s development.’

‘The key part is still food and manpower…’

In the cart, Marvin was thinking of the next step of his plan.

But at that time, a Teleportation Portal suddenly appeared.

"Do you need me to close it?" Collins asked. "Since we are allies, the fees will be halved."

Halved? Wouldn’t that be a quarter of the gold mine?

Marvin gave a hollow laugh. "No need."

Now that he had the command contract in hand, he wasn’t scared of Madeline trying anything bad.

Collins shrugged, allowing the woman to come in through the portal.

"Baron Marvin!"

Madeline approached with a serious expression. "I think we need to have a chat."

...

Outside River Shore City, Marvin and Madeline took a stroll.

Isabelle looked like a daughter from a previous marriage, walking two steps behind Marvin.

"Your loot, I already sent people from the logistics team to move it to your White River Valley."

"Apart from this, I still added a few gifts, including food, clothing and some craftsmen your castle town is lacking."

"I think my sincerity doesn’t need to be said."

Madeline stopped and looked at Marvin. "Tell me, what did you get in that underground floor?"

Marvin first thanked her.

And then remained silent.

He hadn’t thought of a good way to answer to Madeline’s question.

Her longing to become a Legend, Marvin could naturally see it. But he also knew about the 3rd page of the Book of Nalu.

The Heavenly Sword Saint’s little brother was originally a good and honest person, but because of this page, his mind got twisted, becoming insane.

He ultimately turned into a Lich and tried in vain to ascend to become a subordinate under the Slaughter God.

The book of Nalu was a very frightening thing, and it could transform someone.

If it was the 6th page, Marvin might consider it and hand it over to Madeline for some bargaining chips.

Just like he did for Hathaway.

But this 3rd page...

‘This is [Destruction]...’

Marvin had a bit of a headache.

If Madeline got [Destruction], regardless of whether she died or advanced, neither her death nor her advancement was something Marvin wanted to see.

If she advanced, the command contract would become ineffective. At that time, who knew how many misfortunes he would meet.

If she died, then it would trigger great chaos in River Shore City.

Furthermore, the most frightening outcome wasn’t death, but turning insane… River Shore City and White River Valley were so close. Marvin hoped this force would stay stable.

At least until he was capable of annexing this power, he would keep the status quo. Otherwise it might threaten the safety of White River Valley.

Thus he was caught in a dilemma.

...

"You took away that Book of Nalu, didn’t you?"

Madeline was smart, and guessed from Marvin’s hesitation.

"You are afraid that I’ll take my revenge after advancing to Legend, aren’t you?"

Her voice suddenly became very gentle. "Trust me, it won’t happen."

"I am yours now."

"As long as you want."

Suddenly, the originally extremely seductive succubus looked like a sweet young lady.

Her expression became very pure, even somewhat shy.

"Please, give it to me. All of me is yours."

"Including River Shore City, everyone will listen to your orders."

"If you think that’s not enough, we can join hands to open up new lands. River Shore City and White River Valley would do another expedition to open up new towns, and we could get an even higher noble rank from the Southern Wizard Alliance. Count Marvin? How about this title?"

"All of this is easily obtainable."

"As long as you give it to me."

After saying this, she softly held onto Marvin’s shoulder.

Madeline was still a bit taller than Marvin right now.

She had a shy expression on her face. If others saw, their heart would skip a beat.

Marvin only felt it was funny.

Please! You are a Succubus... Acting so pure, is it really suitable?

How could he have expected that she would suddenly kiss him?

Marvin froze.

Command contracts could only restrict harmful behavior, but nothing would restrict intimate behavior.

‘Damn! Did I just get forcefully kissed?’

Marvin was about to struggle, but at that time, he suddenly felt his own lips quickly becoming exceptionally cold.

A mysterious rune appeared on his lips before quietly imprinting onto Madeline’s lips.

The latter’s expression changed.

But it was already too late.

A cold breath came out from his lips, and as Marvin watched in shock, it flew over and froze Madeline!

‘This is…’

Marvin thought of many possibilities, before his mind stopped on one delicate face!

In his memories, on that balcony, that little girl kissing him.

Hathaway!

...

As expected, when Marvin forced a smile while turning around, he was met with the cold young face of Hathaway.

"Are you fond of that Succubus?" she coldly asked.

Marvin shook his head, stuttering, "No I…"

Hathaway interrupted, "Then why did you not kill her, signing a command contract instead?"

Marvin felt speechless. "Why would I want to kill her?"

Hathaway was silent.

She was currently in her 16 year old form. Her temper felt quite different.

But Marvin felt like he had a huge headache.

"This is… Jealousy?" Isabelle on the side curiously asked.

If the little girl hadn’t talked, they wouldn’t have noticed her.

Hathaway took a quick glance at Isabelle and her expression became even more gloomy. "Who is this little girl?"

"Baron Marvin, you are quite the womanizer…"

Marvin took a deep breath and spread his hands, indicating Hathaway to calm down.

Then he considered which words to use before cautiously asking.

"Will every girl I kiss turn into an ice sculpture?"