The Fret family was not just the family who knew how to handle the resource metal, they could also produce weapons themselves. A lot of these weapons were superior to the weapons the upgraded Weapon Store produced.

For them, who had to go through many wars within a short period of time, this was an invaluable asset.

The Fret family held the technology of combining their metal to black iron, creating a superior Class D weapon. Even if his own weaponsmiths use them, all that happened was the black metal getting wasted or weakened. Those ores were not cheap, and seeing them wasted genuinely pained him.

Since they were in a war at least once or twice a year, it was extremely difficult for him to recover the losses. They had to strengthen their defences, and that meant weapons.

Every blacksmith in that family swore an oath with that family too, so there was no way for him to steal talent.

At the same time, the bastard managed to amass his own army that was well-equipped. After the first war, the rest of the war was won mostly due to the Fret family’s help.

And they never moved without a lot of things in exchange.

Every war they assisted in, they demanded some things or oaths, exemptions, and so on that ultimately built up their family’s influence in the war.

He reckoned that had Serao not hidden the Token well, they would’ve taken it long ago.

In a recent war, Serao had to make a lot of concessions and oaths to make him move and do his best in that war, which was why he was so arrogant now.

At the time, he had just lost a war after refusing to succumb to his demands for the first time.

In that war, he forfeited his brother and his son, and his sister-in-law was taken away as a slave.

As for the Fret family, they had left the territory line before the war, so none of them turned to slaves even after the territory lost.

Serao, in contrast, was simply not in the right mind to handle another war.

While the territory was still recovering, slowly, another declaration was thrown in, and at the time, only the Fret Family was intact and had enough military prowess.

Although the matters of the previous war was suspicious, he could only depend on them, and he had to beg for their help in a humble manner. The only thing he could not give them was the Token itself, knowing that he would die a horrible death as soon as he dared to do so.

Lords could not steal from their people’s spaces or anyone’s spaces and wallets. He could only make rules, but if he kicked the family out, he’d be defenseless.

They might even ally with enemies.

He was the Lord, and he was being pushed around like this, he only had himself to blame.

Anyway, this much power allowed the Fret family to control the territory even without a token. They would even order him to demand a beautiful bride for his son. Now, he wanted more than one because the young man’s virility was apparently very strong.

So, other than that poor sacrificial girl from Illyan, Orny was now asking for his niece!

This niece...was the only blood relative he had left after the wars!

They promised to take care of her well, but if he did not take the deal, but he knew it doubled as a hostage as well.

He had already been pushed around so much, losing so much ground, was he really willing to sacrifice even more?

Should he just give away the token...?

"Milord, there are guests who wish to see you."

...

Serao gaped at the sight. First of all, the Illyan bride was right there, instead of going to her husband. And then, right next to her...was the heir of Illyan?

Their guards, though seemingly masked, also seemed formidable despite their average levels. It was interesting.

They also promised him a lot of things! If true, then he could really let go of this Fret bastard!

"But they’re one of the founding families. Their foundation is strong."

Unlike him, a weak Lord who had grown weaker over the past years, his forces had thinned out a lot during the past wars.

"Delay the weddings first, and then when you get the technology, you can just kick out the patriarch, and then threaten everyone else to behave."

"Since you will have the upper hand already, you can ask their guards to work for you instead, otherwise, they would be imprisoned for insubordination." This was an additional force for wars. The Fret family trained them and equipped them well. How could they be wasted?

"They might be under oaths, but it was likely a simple oath."

Oaths were a bit difficult to implement and set, especially for people past level 20.

For guards like these, it was likely just a non-betrayal oath for it to work for a long time. Working for others did not count explicitly as betrayal, so it should be fine.

This was especially so if they were assigned to a task that was meant to protect the walls and the territory, which was actually an extension of protecting the family instead.

"About the payment..."

He was embarrassed. He did not have enough funds to fund such a power.

This was where the Glens would be helpful. The Illyan side was too volatile now. As long as they could set it up so not only the Glens would benefit, but Illyan as well—as long as they followed Wilem’s demands—then Althea knew their job was done and they could finally leave.

"You can simply bring over the metal to the Glens to send to their ally for processing. Give as much as you can for free," Althea said with a mysterious smile.

"If they are satisfied with the amount, maybe they can give you more than just the technology for the alloy."

"Perhaps they could give you enough power...so you can recover your own home."