Chapter 22-Dawson Duchy

Late at night, within a quiet study, there is a desk with a lit lamp from atop it, flickering with dim light.

There was a hook-nose, skinny man with a violet hair. This man was flipping through a thick book under the dim light of the lamp. But suddenly, "Knock, knock, knock." The sound of knocking on the door was heard.

"Enter."

The hawk-nose man, didn't even look up, continuing to flip through the book.

The door swung open, a handsome looking golden-haired man walked in as soon as he enters, he shut the door then bowed respectfully.

"Lord Praetor, Ernst forces, had already taken over the prefecture city of Cod."

The hawk-nose man was the awe-inspiring Praetor of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Radiant Church, 'Osenno'.

Publicly, the Holy Emperor was the leader of the Radiant Church in the light but in the dark, their leader was Osenno. The church whitewash its action to make itself looks pure. When dealing with experts, they had the Ecclesiastical Tribunal carry out missions with extreme ruthlessness. Their leader, the Praetor within the Radiant Church, had power and authority equal with the Holy Emperor.

"Oh." Osenno continued flipping his book.

The golden-haired man said respectfully. "During the attack of enemy soldiers, our believers were asking for our help, but our forces did not even assist them. Our believers will surely lose their faith this time."

Osenno closed the book that he is currently flipping. "Loss of faith in the city of Cod was just a small matter. What's important now is, are they going to conquer all our territory or they will stop now? As of now, we can't do anything to them, Ernst was very powerful. Unless our Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows join forces to fight him, we may have a chance of victory."

The golden-haired man was at a loss. He wants to giving up the city of Cod. "Lord Praetor, are we really going to up the city of Cod?"

Osenno looks seriously at the golden-haired man, he knows what he was hinting at. "That's right, we shall do nothing for now. If we fought Ernst now, we will suffer tremendous losses. When that happen, our forces will be weakened. Other forces like Cult of Shadows might attack us and our Radiant Church will become a secondary force."

The golden-haired man nodded and replied respectfully. "Yes, Lord Praetor."

One month after the prefecture city of Cod was reorganized, a new duchy was established. The name of this duchy was 'Dawson Duchy'. The Dawson Duchy consist of one big city and nine small cities. The capital of Dawson Duchy was the former Blackdirt City, now called Dawson City.

Inside the duchy mansion meeting room, the Dawson family was seating around a big table and having a meeting.

"Now, that we have already established our duchy. What is our next step of the plan? Are we to conquer other cities to form a kingdom like what we discuss before?" James said to everyone.

Everyone looks at Ernst direction. As the strongest combatant in their family, they want to hear his opinion first.

Ernst nodded at everybody, he smiles and said. "Before we discuss the next step of the plan, let me tell you first how important the city of Cod to our next step in the plan. There is a magicite gemstone mine three hundred kilometers in the east direction of the city of Cod. To be precise, it is just outside Nifeng City."

Everyone eyes in the meeting room is starting to get bigger in astonishment. They are not new about the information of the magicite gemstone mine. The Dawson Conglomerate have a smaller mine in the past, but it is now empty. They are surprise to know they have one in their duchy.

"Little darling, how big is this magicite gemstone mine you have discovered?" Out of nowhere, Sarah ask in curiosity. As a magus, she knows the importance of gemstone. If it can be embedded into a magistaff, their spell will get stronger and casting time will be shorter. Besides, on financial side, it was more expensive than magicite cores.

Ernst smile grew bigger. "Not much. The length of the mine is about twenty kilometers, while its depth is unknown. Inside there are countless high and top grade gemstone. My initial estimate of its value is around three hundred billion gold coins. This magicite gemstone mine is the largest in the entire continent."

"What!"

Everyone was shocked. Even James and Sarah, who suddenly stands from their chair. A three billion gold coins was an enormous wealth. If they can excavate and mine it, their duchy will be one of the richest territories in the continent.

Ernst let his family members digest the shocking information about the gemstone mine, but they need to be reminded about the consequences of having it in their duchy.

"Now, don't be happy too early." Everyone stops thinking about the mine, they listen to what he was about to say.

"Listen first, the gemstone mine in our duchy was like a hot potato. When the news about the mine leaks, the forces of Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows will want a share of the mine. Even the nearby Rohault Empire and O'Brien Empire will be tempted. The worst case is, these forces will attack us and take the ownership of the gemstone mine. As you know, for these forces, the importance of gemstone was too great. Especially during war. They even prohibit the sales of gemstone on a large basis.

Each one seems poured by a bucket of cold water. Yes, that's right. If the news was to be leaked, they will be the common target of the nearby forces. Some of them already think of the problems about owning the mine, while others think about the benefits of having the largest gemstone mine.

James already knows the consequence of owning the mine in their duchy. "Yes, this is indeed an issue. Let's use our people to excavate and mine the gemstone to keep the news from being leaked. Though, this is just a temporary solution at least we can get much gemstone as possible. We must prepare a war, as we can't hide the information about the gemstone mine forever. As you know, there are many spies of Radiant Church lurking in our territory."

"Milord is right. Since the magicite gemstone mine was near the city of Cod. If a war breaks out, this city will be turned into a battlefield. We need to renovate the city of Cod into a fortress. In our duchy, we have a total of ten legions and each legion have twenty thousand soldiers. Since we have only a few number of soldiers, we will focus on the defense of the city walls. We need many magicite cannons, as many as possible." Douglas suggested his idea.

Everybody nodded and agreed with Douglas, but Steward Greg seems to think of another problem. His voice sounded in the meeting room. "What if Saints enter the battlefield? We only have young master and Nadia who are capable to fight them."

Ernst smiles towards Steward Greg. Roger, who was silent the whole time and, listening to everyone, begins to speak. "You don't have to worry about the Saints participating in the battlefield. Saints only appears if there is no other solution. In the battlefield, if Saints participate, the war will become a life and death battle. We have also to consider the shamelessness of our opponents. What if they not only lusted gemstone mine but also wants to eliminate the young master? We are all aware that the Radiant Church had an enmity with the young master. Their forces alone were not enough to suppress the young master. So, there's a big chance, they will join forces with the Cult of Shadows to attack us. But you don't have to worry too much, we still have our young master to fight them."

"There's more, the former citizens of the city of Cod are firm believers of the Radiant Church. During the war, they might become spies, instigate a rebellion or even attacks our people. We must reorganize them to different cities in our duchy who are loyal to us to avoid them causing trouble in the incoming war." Andrea, who was Ernst and Anna's former personal maid, is good at administrating their duchy also gives her suggestion.

"Clap" "Clap" "Clap" "Clap" "Clap"

Ernst claps his hands on everyone's suggestion. He smiles and nodded towards Steward Greg, Roger, and Andrea. "It's nice that everybody is concern our territory. Don't worry too much. If war really breaks-out and Saints participate, as long as I'm here, I can solve everything with my power."

"That's right!" Everyone thought. As Ernst was of the most powerful Saints in the continent. As long as he stays in the duchy, any problem can be solved.

Ernst continued speaking. "Let's do everything as you said suggested." He stands and pointed at the map and encircle a certain location. "Build a castle here. This castle will serve as our headquarters and home. When you become Saints, I will tell you a secret hidden in this place." Ernst mysteriously smiles at them.

"Now, that we already founded a duchy, let me add a few rules. Theserules must be observe every time, violators will be punished. First, building churches and preaching inside our territory is not allowed. Second, violence and killing is not allowed. Lastly, slavery is also not allowed. I want our territory to be preposterous, powerful, and peaceful. I hope every citizen will not have to worry about their safety in our territory, even they walk on the street at night alone, no one will harm them. When other cities and duchies noticed of how good our territory is, they will voluntarily surrender to us." Ernst had paused as if he forgot something, he looks towards Andrea. "What about the progress of the academy?"

Andrea smiles and started to talk. "Young master, the plan for the academy was already finished. It is located in the Forbes City. We have invited famous artisans and craftsman from all parts of the continent and are ready to build the academy. With the assistance of Dawson Conglomerate, the news of our plan to build an academy was known to countless people. Plenty of teachers are interested in applying in our academy."

"Excellent!. Start the construction as soon as possible. I want our academy to be the best in the entire continent who produces magus and warriors." Ernst was happy about the news.

Everyone continued their discussion about the gemstones mine and how to run their duchy better.

Six months after the founding of Dawson Duchy, many changes occurs on the territory. Roads were built to connect every city, buildings were built one after another, many jobs were made for the citizens of the duchy.

The citizens lives were getting better and better, their lives now were one hundred times better compare to the past. Since violence, killing, and slavery was prohibited, every peoples life is peaceful. Although, there are still some cases of violence, the violators were punished severely and were kicked-out from the territory as an additional punishment. Soldiers patrol from time to time with smiles on their faces around every city.

Every citizen behaves well and did not cause any trouble. Who wants to be kick-out from the territory? Outside, the Dawson Duchy was very chaotic and the peoples condition were poor. Even the nobles inside the duchy did not dare to be arrogant, while outside their mansion.

The construction of the academy at the Forbes City was almost finish, and it will be ready for operation in a few months.

Due to good management, job opportunities and safety in the Dawson Duchy, allowed many people from the outside to migrate. Because of this, three duchies closest to the Forest of Darkness voluntarily surrenders to Dawson Duchy.

Inside the pocket dimension where Linley discovered in the original canon, Ernst was siting cross-leg in meditation. He was training in this place three months ago. In here, he can perceive the Elemental Laws a hundred times faster than the outside world. He was training in the Laws of the Earth. Since childhood, he trains in the Profound Truth of the Earth based on Linley's training. Presently, he only needs a final push to fuse the two layers of vibration into one final layer, then he will become a Deity.

In the past three months, he also fuses his insights on the Profound Mysteries of the Laws of the Earth such as the Earth Essence and Strength, Earth Essence and Throbbing Pulse of the World, Strength and Throbbing Pulse of the World. He learned from original canon that fusing Profound Mysteries early on will be easier than fusing it when you become a Highgod. Ernst was doing similar things, though he only fuses his insights on the same Elemental Law. The power of his attack after fusing his insights were very strong.

Ernst opens his eyes. "I've been meditating in this place for three months now and it is getting unproductive and I feel I hit a bottleneck. I need to go outside. I have no idea about what happen on the gemstone mine, maybe the news had already leaked this time." The pocket dimension was just below the newly constructed castle. Ernst name it 'Blackshadow Castle', same name with his sword. They build an underground tunnel ten meters from the entrance of the pocket dimension to Ernst study room. Now, aside from Ernst, James, Sarah, and Nadia knows about the pocket dimension.

Arriving at his study room and walking around the castle, he noticed a tense atmosphere. The servants and guards seems in panic and worried. He uses his spiritual energy to locate his parents and sister. He only perceives his mother and sister. After locking their location, he quickly moves towards them. When he is nearing them, he saw his mother and sister with worries.

"Mother!" "Anna!"

Sarah and Anna both look at the familiar voice direction. Upon seeing Ernst approaching them, they felt the burden on their shoulders were lifted.

"Thank goodness. You are finally here. If you come out later, I will go and fetch you up." Sarah said with worries.

"Mother, what happen? Did the news about the gemstone mine already leaks?"

Sarah nodded and said quickly. "A few days ago, the news about the magicite gemstone mine was indeed leak. Our people caught the spies, but some escape. The Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows joins force and declared war on our duchy. Your father, Douglas, and Roger together with their magical beasts are now guarding and preparing for battle at the city of Cod. Our elite forces are now also there."

"Brother, do you think we can win this war? According to the report, there are at least one million and five hundred thousand soldiers on the enemy side, They are now marching towards the city of Cod." Anna said with a trembling voice.

"Mother, Anna. Don't worry too much. I'm here now." Ernst smiles with confidence and hugs them both. "I assure you that we will repel and defeat the enemies. Just stay here and don't worry about the war. It's time to teach the Radiant Church and Cult of Shadows a good lesson that they will never forget. Wait for the good news." Ernst hurriedly left the Blackshadow Castle and flew towards the city of Cod.

"Nadia, come back! Enemies are approaching our territory."

"Master, I'll be there right away." Nadia answered back through their mental link. She was staying at the Forest of Darkness currently, fighting Saint-level magical beasts.

Ernst arrives in the city of Cod. He saw the soldiers was very tense. He walks directly to the command center where his father, Douglas, and Roger were holding a meeting with military officers.

Ernst opens the door. He enters the meeting room with a smile. " I'm not late. Ain't I?"

"Hahaha!"

Knowing that it was Ernst who came, the tense atmosphere were finally eased. James, Douglas, and Roger couldn't help but to laugh hard. The military officers look at Ernst with reverence. They know that theiryoung lord was legendary Saint-level combatant that defeat countless Saints in O'Brien Empire two years ago.

"It's good that you came earlier." James stands and pat his on the shoulder. Now that Ernst is finally here, they have a big change to win this war.

Ernst sat down on the chair. "Tell me the situation here." Ernst casually asked.

"The situation was not good. Based on our scouts, the enemy soldiers from the joint forces of Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows is about one million five hundred thousand soldiers. The enemy was led by two 9th rank Arch Magus. Besides, there are Saints staying on their command center overseeing the situation. I'm not certain how many Saints there are, but it surpassed twenty. Their main force is now marching towards here, and might cross the river tomorrow. There are already floating bridges across the Liuyan River built by their joint forces. Their advance army set up a camp just besides the river. Our citizens were already evacuated. Thankfully, we already prepared six months ago against such attack. As of now, we have prepared one hundred magicite cannons, divided equally for the south and east gates." James tells every important information he knows.

Ernst nodded and assure them. "In this war, don't worry about the Saint-level combatants, I will deal with them. Fight as you like. As long as you don't die, I will heal you into full health. If the soldiers die on the battlefield, our duchy will take care of their families. As long I'm still alive, no one can bully their family members."

The military officers in the meeting room hearts felt warm. For the incoming war, they aren't concerned about their lives, but worried about their families if something to happen to them in the battlefield. Now, their young lord assured them, they have no burden anymore.

After a few hours of discussion, the meeting finally ended. Ernst left the meeting room and walk around the city walls. Suddenly, a familiar aura is approaching him.

"Master. I'm back!"

Nadia shrink her body into a small size and land on Ernst shoulder.

"How's your training in the Forest of Darkness?"

"Master, the training is okay. I just fought Saint-level magical beasts on the Forest of Darkness. But those guys are too weak. They couldn't compare to the Saint-level magical beast we have fought before on the Mountain Range of Magical Beast." Nadia tells her experiences with some bragging.

Ernst knew Nadia was exaggerating her story. "Now, how many fire feathers can you turn into? And what about your Velocidragon construct made of 'Essence of Fire' I taught you before?"

Nadia was about to exaggerate again, but after hearing his master's question, she composed herself and said. "Master, currently, I can only make myself in two fire feathers. I can swap places between the two fire feathers. About the Velocidragon construct made of Essence of Fire, it was very far from my real self."

"Don't force yourself too much. Actually, your understanding is deep enough. Just don't be lazy with your training. After the war, go to the pocket dimension and meditate. I guess you will get insight during this incoming battle."

"Yes Master."

"In this war, we will face many Saints, both humans and magical beasts. Don't hold back. Kill the enemy as fast as possible and don't show mercy."

"Master, I understand." Nadia becomes excited, hearing she can fight and kill enemies.