Gill smirked and took it, and Baku dragged Epo forward, his claws threateningly on his neck. The enemy crowd cleared the way like a wave parting, easily allowing the two of them to reach the gates.
In fact, considering the sheer number of them—there were hundreds if not thousands of them compared to the two of them—if they were brave, they might have had a chance to rescue their lord.
But they were cowards who only thought of surviving themselves; how could they risk their lives for someone else?
"So the war is over now?" Baku asked, dragging Epo a bit more harshly due to his impatience. "When do we go to Gochi?!"
"Later," Gill said as he walked briskly, making Baku grit his teeth a bit. Epo could only cry as he tried to keep up with the large half-orc. He at least needed the decency to be walking rather than literally dragged helplessly.
Gill nor Baku cared for the man's psyche at the moment.
Epo gritted his teeth as he glared. "The token…" he mumbled. "Since you're going to merge our territories, let me tell you the people will only follow my orders!"
Gill rolled his eyes. "Do you think we'll be interested in your poor village? Please, we're just taking it to keep you from doing anything weird."
He struggled and wanted to make a bit of trouble but then the hand holding his back felt painful and he realized the half orc was slowly stabbing him with his claws!
"Stop struggling," the half-orc said, his voice low and raspy and sent terrified shivers down his spine. When the half-orc's oddly colored pupils shifted to stare at him, Epo really ended up peeing. "Or I'll stab you by accident."
If it was the victim's own fault, then the attacker—even if they were beyond the level cap—would not be affected.
And so, Epo had no choice but to get dragged helplessly, walking with pants wet with pee.
The group entered the walls and closed the gates, and Baku threw Epo at the plaza in front of the Center. The citizens looked in awe as the war ended up finishing so early. Even the aborigines couldn't help but admire.
Epo gasped as his face met the floor. He pushed himself to roll to the side, only to see his spies were there, all completely beaten up and half dead.
The spies he planted here were not few, nor were they weak for the level of villages. However, they all seemed to have been handled? What about the enemies? How much damage had they managed to do here?!
"Damn it…" he cursed, face red.
Gill walked above him and then handed the token to Silvia to handle. She blinked, a little surprised, but she nodded in the end.
She looked at it for a moment in thought, before turning to look at Epo with a sly smirk.
"Do you want it back?"
Epo blinked and many villagers, including the other aborigines on their side, looked at her in surprise.
The Alterrans, though, took it for granted.
While Alterra didn't have a rule banning citizens from getting the lord token, not a lot of people would actually strive to get one—at least not after experiencing the comfort and lifestyle in Alterra.
Everyone knew owning a territory was a massive endeavor that may not be worth it.
If they were the lord, would they be able to make it as amazing and nice as Alterra? No, right? Why would they want such a money-burning thing?
Worse, Lords could be hunted down! Cringe.
And a poor village like Epo? Eh, no way.
This was especially true for Gill. One of the things found out during his stay in Iron Mountains was that Administration work was definitely not for him.
Similarly, Silvia and the others liked their current lives. Owning their own territories was simply a hassle to them.
Epo looked at her in disbelief. He also looked at Gill and saw his face didn't seem surprised either. "Y-You mean that?"
She nodded. "We can sell it to you for 5000 gold."
"WHAT?" he gasped, the bit of hope that lifted his heart suddenly becoming an imaginary heavy rock that hit him from above. "I don't have that kind of money!"
"We can do payment terms for you. You will pay us 500 every month," Silvia said with a sly smile. "Of course, we can sell it elsewhere."
Epo bit his lips. He really wanted to cry. What to do now?! 500 every month was still a huge amount. That was most of the revenue of a small village! No, even more now that their manpower had halved!
"You will also sign an oath that you, or any other lord getting the token, that you will not harm—directly or indirectly—Iron Valley or any of its associate villages."
"That's not in my control!" What if his father took it back after this failure? Worse, he might give it to someone else!!
"Then, if you don't do your best to stop it, then you'd die."
She was so sly and few people had seen this side of Silvia.
Rowan smiled, thinking she's really cute.
"You have 1 minute to decide," she said. "A lot of nobles higher up would be interested in having their own territory—even if it was as poor as yours."
Epo couldn't speak for a while. Couldn't they let him think for longer?!
"FINE!" he yelled out in a hurry. "ORCSHI—"
His voice died down when he saw a redhead covering his hands with flames, as if ready to touch his mouth and shut him up with it.
Anyway, Epo was taken to the Village Center for an oath, with the other people he had there becoming System Slaves.
And so, another source of funds was secured, as added funding for the development of Iron Mountains.
Before letting the lord go back via the array, Silvia went over with Rowan next to her.
"Before you go, I'd like to add something.
"We are still kind," she said. "Your first payment will be next month. You'll need all the money you can keep the next few weeks."
Epo only thought they were referring to money needed because their manpower had halved.
Soon, he'd find out there that there was another much more terrifying enemy coming, and they would really be thankful for this bit of mercy.