(Altura)

“I suppose you wouldn’t know that.” Duke Reinar said, sighing, “There are twelve Treelings besides Aswelth. Five Grand Dukes, Three Sect Leaders, Two Royal Elders, One Grand Marshal, One Merchant Lord. The five Grand Dukes are the most famous and the ones with the most influence.”

“The Merchant Lord and Grand Marshal are influential only in the economic and military sections of the Kingdom respectively. The Three Sect Leaders on the other hand mostly keep to themselves but emerge every once in a while to recruit disciples.”

“The two Royal Elders are Treelings fostered by the royal family, one is known to guard the Library and the other guards the Treasury. The one you need to worry about is the five Grand Dukes, all of them have an eye on the heir position and will not like you getting any stronger. Is there anything else?” Duke Reinar finished.

“No, Father.” I replied.

“Good, then I will get back to my work. I’ll try to send a few people your way.” Duke Reinar said as the pebble shut down. And now to deal with the refugees.

I went out of the treehouse and into the hall, where refugees had already finished eating.

“Tell me, Marcus, exactly how many people are there inside this group of yours?” I asked.

“A few thousand, your grace, though a large number of us are miners and their families, we have numerous people from other professions-” Marcus began before I cut him off.

“Do you have an exact number?” I asked. Now that protection wasn’t a worry anymore, I wanted to get this over with quickly. Since certain people wanted me to fast-track things, I would fast-track so fast that they couldn’t keep up.

“No, your grace.” Marcus replied, now nervous.

“Fine, can you tell me, in short, why you decided to come here?” I asked, I was pretty sure it was going to be that they were escaping from some Xianxia tyrant.

“Cilanthra was a harsh place to live in, your grace, we felt we would be better off in the duchy.” Marcus replied. And we have it! Well, he wasn’t direct about it, but he went from the greener and richer lands of Cilanthra to this avalanche prone valley of mine. What made a place harsh was easy to assume.

“Very well, your application is approved, get some guards to assign you some housing. There should be plenty considering that I did order people to build them when I left.” I said, dismissing them. The refugees rushed off, happy. And that was one thing out of the way.

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Cilanthria, Count’s residence.

The Count was furious, his hands shaking as he held a piece of paper in his hand. Air currents emerged from between his fingers, shredding the paper. Turning to a quivering man standing before him, the Count said.

“Are you telling me that not only did several thousand miners, no not just miners, there are people of all occupations in there aren’t there? Yes, not only did a few thousand Cilanthrians leave this city, but also successfully escaped to the valley. To make it even more fictitious, a Treeling of all things emerged in the valley. Do you have any idea what a Treeling is? That is the level you get your own duchy you fool.” the Count finished.

The Count was just about to have the man beheaded when a ringing sound was heard from beside him. Suddenly alert, he picked up the communicator, its pebble-like shape still new to him. It had been a gift from his Duke last summer, a device that would allegedly let him call the Duke anytime he wished.

“Did you receive the news Rellit?” a voice the count recognized called out. It was Gerrin, Marquis of Farenwall and his immediate superior.

“Pardon me, your excellency, but what news?” The Count asked back.

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“That a Treeling appeared in the valley next to you.” Gerrin said.

The count looked at the man he had almost executed with questioning eyes, “But assuredly, that is false information, your grace?” The Count asked.

“Not quite, the news has yet to be officially confirmed, but rumor is that the Grand Duke himself emerged from seclusion an hour before when it happened. That should tell you how serious this is.” Gerrin replied.

“And what would you have me do, your grace?” The Count asked if the Marquis was calling him then it was only because he wanted something from him.

“There must be some of your little spies in that valley, perhaps you could get some of them to tell you what is going on in there?” Gerrin said, revealing the real reason for the call. The Marquis wanted to present the Duke with some secret information to gain rewards. Fool, being the first to give information was not as easy as he thought.

“I must apologize, your excellency, I have no information to give. I was myself unaware of this development till you told me, I assure you that if I do gain any information then I will inform you at once.” The Count replied.

“Make sure you do.” Gerrin replied as the pebble’s light went out. ‘How interesting, perhaps this escape wasn’t such a bad thing after all, I wonder how many of my people managed to get in.’ The Count thought as the man that was quivering before him slowly sneaked away.

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Altura

I looked at Aswelth as he took his seat across from me. I had commandeered one of the Treehouse as a sort of war room. It was small enough for it anyway.

“Archduchess, I take it that you have something to say to me?” Aswelth asked.

“Yes, I have decided to share my plan for the duchy.” I replied. “But that is for after Kerrin joins us.”

“Well, that shouldn’t take long at all, your grace.” Aswelth said, “Kerrin is almost here.”

I raised an eyebrow at that, “Taking advantage of our newfound powers are we?” I said.

“Yes, and they have told me some very interesting things.” Aswelth replied.

“Oh? And what is it that you found so interesting?” I asked.

“I found the smuggler’s tunnel, your grace, it was hidden about five hundred meters deep in the ground. The smugglers must have a good Earth affinity cultivator among their number, there is no other explanation for why they could do this.” Aswelth replied. Now that was interesting. Very interesting in fact.

“And what are you going to do about it?” I asked.

“Just send it to Labor for now, your grace, the Royal Inquisitors there should send someone to check it out eventually.” Aswelth replied.

“Are you really sure you want to write that letter? While I am sure it would be entertaining, I am not sure, it would be nice to shock them with a letter from a Treeling.” I asked.

“Yes, your grace. I am quite sure.” Aswelth replied. Well, best to leave that to the person that actually something about it. Thankfully, Kerrin entered the treehouse right about then.

Kerrin began bowing to me before I stopped him, “Stop it Kerrin. Just sit down, we have things to do.” I said.

Kerrin promptly sat down, and I began explaining my plan.

“First, as a result of Aswelth breaking through the King has included this duchy in the accords of Celerin. That means that we can’t declare war on any of the Treeling forces”- that earned a snort from Aswelth, guess even he thought that us declaring war on a Treeling forces was hilarious. - “and that Kerrin will be going to the Capital to serve as courtier.”

“Um, your grace, you are aware that all the courtiers are peak Plant Stage cultivators?” Aswleth said, interrupting me.

“Yes, I am. That is why I have gotten Kerrin a timeline of several months to reach there, not only that but the King has promised to help Kerrin become a peak Plant stage cultivator.” I replied.

“Now, I have prepared this route”- I removed a badly drawn map made by none other than me- “This way, it shall not only take you several months to get there, but also look like you are actually on the way there, just taking detours repeatedly.”

The map was really the route Kerrin took in the original plot, it had taken me a few hours, but after cross-referencing with Altura’s memories, and the girl had been made to learn every landmark, I had managed to piece together a working version of it.

“I will gladly accept this charge, your grace, and, um, on that note. I would like you to know that I have reached the Late Stage of the Sapling realm. Last night a particularly vivid dream had me awaken some kind of bloodline.” Kerrin said to blank stares from me and Aswelth.

Ah, the legendary MC cheat shows itself. But speaking of level ups, shouldn’t I have gained some Qi from taking Aswelth in as my retainer?

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System, when and where did I ask you to start archiving my level ups?