Chapter 363: Ritual to Earn Debt Points

"And she left just like that," Helen said, turning to Ryan. The black-haired warrior lowered her defensive stance, though her face still showed clear annoyance at the unexpected visit.

Lise and Alicia appeared before Ryan in the courtyard. They had stepped out of the interior corridors once Irnina left, quickly assessing that the area was safe.

"I don’t like her curiosity toward you, young master," Lise chimed in, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. The dragoness glared at the empty space near the tree with total contempt. "I definitely don’t like that dragoness."

Ryan remained unfazed by his powerful subordinate’s overprotective and territorial attitude. He maintained his relaxed posture, knowing perfectly well that these types of interactions would be inevitable from now on.

"It doesn’t really matter much," Ryan replied in a completely stoic tone. "Nowadays, many beings will have that kind of curiosity about me."

"You are right about that, Your Majesty," Alicia chimed in, nodding her head as she stopped just a few steps away from him. "We now have eight days for you to prepare for the meeting with the demon kings, Your Majesty."

While the young wolf gave her reminder about the impending Walpurgis, another gentle presence joined the group in the outer courtyard.

"I believe we need to tailor appropriate clothes for that day," Irina suggested, walking up to them with an elegant stride. The elf princess evaluated Ryan’s usual clothes with a critical gaze. "Ryan must look like a true king in front of the others."

Right behind the elf, a much more energetic figure approached the conversation with a smile full of absolute confidence.

"And I will be his escort, so you should prepare something for me too," Mirian commented as she approached the group. The blonde archer came to a sudden halt, puffing out her chest with pride as she volunteered herself for the important diplomatic role.

Helen turned her head immediately and shot her a dark glare.

"No way, I’m going to be his escort," Helen interjected, baring her teeth with obvious annoyance at her companion’s blatant attempt to steal the position she considered her own.

Alicia sighed softly at the predictable, noisy territorial dispute that was about to break out between the two humans.

"Technically, you both are," Alicia said with a kind smile, calmly raising a hand to stop the argument before it could start. "Even so, you cannot go. You must fulfill your duties here in Kowarre, isn’t that right, Your Majesty?"

Ryan nodded without hesitation, completely agreeing with his personal assistant. The castle and its lands could not be left without their main defenses under any circumstances.

"Hey, why are you interfering?" Helen and Mirian complained in unison, scowling at the wolf girl for ruining their grand plans.

"Even so," Ryan continued, cutting through the complaints with his deep voice to bring the focus back to the real strategic issues. "I will think carefully about that when the time comes. Do you have any news about Beatrice and Karol?"

Alicia took another step forward, adopting a completely professional posture to deliver her report.

"They are already on their way," Alicia reported confidently. "The mission went well, so they will be bringing good news for you."

"That sounds good. I think we’ll have to speed things up," Ryan said, already mapping out the next steps in his calculating mind. "I want the material extraction from the Ignis lands to begin as soon as possible."

Lise tilted her head, surprised by the sudden urgency in her leader’s words.

"Young master, are you thinking of traveling right now?" the dragoness asked.

"Yes, I will head to Ignis this afternoon," Ryan confirmed directly.

Alicia shook her head immediately, worried by the immense administrative workload her king was taking on personally without any rest.

"But Your Majesty, it isn’t necessary for you to go," Alicia insisted. "I can take care of managing all of that for you."

Mirian smiled broadly and backed the beast girl’s suggestion, ready to jump into action and avoid being stuck bored in the fortress.

"She’s right, Ryan. Leave it in our hands," Mirian suggested, pointing a thumb at herself.

Ryan looked at them in silence for a brief moment, then rejected the idea with absolute coldness.

"No. If I left it in your hands, with the exception of Alicia, it would all be a complete disaster," Ryan stated with an honesty that left no room for doubt.

"Hey," Helen grumbled, crossing her arms, deeply offended by the obvious lack of faith in her organizational skills.

"Besides," Ryan continued, ignoring the black-haired swordswoman’s obvious tantrum. "The territory I want to visit is right on the border with Erhes Valley, remember? Where our first mission was supposed to be after we left the S-rank dungeon."

Mirian blinked a couple of times and nodded, perfectly recalling the chaos they had caused in that distant city.

"Yeah, I remember it very well," Mirian said, pointing directly at her companion. "Helen destroyed a tower when you disappeared from the city."

"Idiot, you were the one who did it," Helen defended herself instantly, raising her voice to deny the destructive accusation and glaring furiously right back at her.

"Yeah, whatever you say," Mirian replied, shrugging and turning her back, completely unbothered by the warrior’s anger.

Lise watched the loud and immature behavior of the two human women and let out a long, heavy sigh of disbelief.

"These two are complete beasts," Lise said in a completely deadpan tone.

"You shut up," Helen and Mirian grumbled in unison, shooting the tall dragoness a glare full of hostility.

Seeking to restore peace and efficiency to the group, Irina picked up the main thread of the logistical conversation.

"But my lord, who do you plan to take with you, then?" Irina asked.

"Now that you mention it, aside from the elves who will be extracting the materials, you and Chloe will come with me," Ryan decided, pointing at the blonde elf. "Naturally, Beatrice and Karol will also come, though they haven’t arrived yet."

Irina nodded, immediately accepting her role in the expedition to the lands of fire.

"Me, Your Majesty?" Chloe suddenly spoke up. The former holy knight was just arriving from inside the castle after finishing her duties, hearing her name just in time to be caught off guard by the travel assignment.

"We’re being excluded again," Mirian complained to Helen in a deeply discouraged tone, her shoulders slumping as they were left off the main team once more.

Alicia ignored the archer’s constant complaints and prepared to carry out her administrative duties.

"I’ll go prepare everything then, Your Majesty," Alicia said with utter certainty.

"I also need you to do something else," Ryan stopped her, raising a hand.

All the women present stared at Ryan in complete silence, uncertain of what kind of sudden order or task he was about to issue.

’This is a good time to strengthen myself using my debt system,’ Ryan thought, coldly assessing the valuable resources he now had at his full disposal in the fortress. ’Now that I am the king of these lands, I have something specific in mind.’

With that in mind, Ryan ordered Alicia to have every inhabitant of the castle and the villagers at the foot of the mountain gather outside their homes in approximately thirty minutes.

Ryan pointed to a specific, wide-open area down below—a large, level patch of dirt where everyone could gather comfortably without being tightly packed together.

His order was absolute, with no exceptions for rank. The new demons working inside the castle, the expert blacksmiths, and every single member of the small, growing town at the foot of Ryan’s mountain castle were required to attend.

He did this with the firm intention of establishing his authority over all his new subjects and allies. There, in front of the masses, he would clarify several things regarding the nation’s situation, their possible alliances, and the potential conflicts ahead.

Thirty minutes later, the massive clearing was completely packed with people. Hundreds of silent, expectant gazes locked onto the imposing figure of their leader, waiting to hear his words in the freezing mountain air.

Ryan spoke in a strong, authoritative voice about his plans to craft weapons and grimoires to fortify their military defenses. He then expanded on their trade with the humans, aiming to secure long-term, stable resources for the city.

Finally, he spoke about the Walpurgis, the impending meeting with the demon kings. However, throughout his entire speech, he was very careful not to mention a single word about the surprise attack they would be launching against the Geizan nation.

Once all the citizens and workers were informed of Ryan’s plans, a sort of ritual took place.

One by one, every inhabitant of the growing city had to step forward and swear their loyalty to Ryan. And as part of the ritual to ensure that obedience and commitment, the person received a magical buff from him.

Immediately after applying the skill, Ryan would give them a direct verbal order to trigger the system’s automatic debt collection.

Beatrice, Iris, and Karol returned from their mission in the middle of that lengthy ritual. They stared at the massive line of people gathered in the clearing and joined the event without hesitation.

With the goal of farming a massive amount of stat points that day, Ryan kept at it, repeating the tedious, mechanical process with every single individual.

It took at least four continuous hours to finish going through the entire crowd.

The bright blue system notifications didn’t stop chiming and floating in front of his eyes every single second. That incessant digital noise and the repetitive screen-reading left Ryan feeling deeply mentally exhausted by the end of the day.