Edgar rubbed his tired eyes and looked down the fortress wall.

The murky grey-black fog began to cover the entire place with its eeriness.

Last night, Edgar had spent hundreds of Nightmare Stones defending the fortress.

’That lizard is definitely trying to fuck me over.’

Leaning on the fortress wall, Edgar thought to himself.

’There is no way those monsters would be that disciplined without a leader.’

The blonde boy looked down at the staggering number of bull-like monsters lying dead outside the walls.

The smell of burnt flesh and charred hide still lingered in the air.

Entire sections of the battlefield had been blackened by the flamethrowers.

Even though Edgar had an absolute victory over the monsters, it still bothered him.

Despite the sheer strength these bull monsters had, the most they achieved was damaging a small part of the Fortress Wall.

Their attack was nothing but a waste of both numbers and strength for the Nightmare commander.

’...Why?’ Edgar thought to himself. ’Why would it do something so stupid unless...’

There was something that he gained from this battle, and the two things Edgar could think of were: depleting his resources and gathering information.

’...What a pain.’

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the theory became.

The Nightmare was spending its army as a way to learn more about Edgar.

’At this rate, the bastard might know my fortress better than I do.’

A bitter smile appeared on Edgar’s face, which he quickly hid.

Walking down the staircase, Edgar looked around and found a young boy feeding the horse.

"Andrew!" He called. "Come with me."

"Coming!"

The young boy quickly washed his hands and hurried over.

The two of them walked out of the fortress to examine the damage caused by the Nightmare Bulls.

The two continued walking until they reached the damaged section of the Fortress Wall. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The crack wasn’t large. If compared to the overall size of the wall, it was barely noticeable.

Even so, Edgar crouched down and carefully examined it.

’Hmm, they hit this area multiple times, but still it didn’t amount to much.’

That made Edgar wonder how utterly strong his fortress was.

Standing up, Edgar pulled out his status screen and willed the damaged part to repair itself.

A familiar prompt immediately appeared before him.

---

⟨Level 1 Fortress Wall⟩

Current Integrity: 97%

Damage Detected

Repair Cost: 2 White Nightmare Stones

⟨Confirm Repair?⟩

---

Edgar stared at the prompt for a moment.

"...Only two?"

He had expected something much higher.

Without hesitation, he confirmed the repair as two Nightmare Stones flew out of his pocket.

Milky-white liquid flowed toward the damaged section of the wall.

The crack visibly shrank, and within seconds, the stone became smooth once again.

After completing his work, Edgar looked at the countless corpses of the Nightmare Bulls.

A smile appeared on his face as he turned to look at Andrew.

"Get to work."

Andrew, who was admiring the smooth wall, smiled back.

"As you wish!"

Without hesitation, he walked inside to bring out the cart and the horse.

Edgar let out a sigh and walked back inside the fortress as well.

There wasn’t any particular thing that he needed to do today.

So, he decided to have a few hours of sleep before continuing with his day.

’I really need to work on my sleep schedule.’

Edgar grumbled and threw himself onto the bed, closing his eyes.

It only took him a few minutes to fall into a deep sleep.

---

Knock!! Knock!!!

"Young Master!!"

The crooked, heavy knocking on his door made Edgar groggily open his eyes.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.

’...How long did I sleep this time?’

Another knock followed.

"Young Master! It’s important!"

Edgar sat up and rubbed his face.

"Coming."

Getting off the bed, he walked toward the door and pulled it open.

The old face of Oswald greeted him, looking rather on edge.

"...We have guests." Oswald whispered, stepping aside. "They are from the Yamhad Clan."

Edgar’s sleepiness immediately vanished.

"How many?"

"...Five." He replied. "The one leading them is an old elder."

’...Why is an elder here?’

The blonde boy quickly splashed some water onto his face before walking outside.

The moment he stepped into the open area, he noticed the visitors.

Four guards stood around an old man in a semicircle, guarding him from every side.

The old man’s back was slightly bent with age. Wrinkles and freckles filled his aged face.

His eyes looked around the fortress with disbelief.

It was as if he had seen his entire worldview crumble right before his eyes.

Edgar quietly turned the ballista and flamethrower toward their direction before walking closer.

It was a suitable move, but it didn’t get past the guards. They also quietly put their hands on the hilts of their swords.

The old man quickly got a hold of himself and bowed slightly to Edgar.

"I hope my unannounced visit didn’t cause you any problems."

"State your purpose." Edgar replied flatly.

Straightening his back, the elder continued,

"My name is Roland Yamhad. I serve as an elder of the Yamhad Clan. I came because our Clan Head wishes to establish communication."

"Communication?"

"Between neighboring fortresses."

Edgar nearly rolled his eyes.

’Bullshit.’

Without missing a beat, he replied,

"You are here to examine my fortress."

The old man gave a polite smile. He bowed slightly and responded,

"That was part of the reason, yes."

’Now, how do I decline his offer?’

Edgar rubbed his temples as he kept looking at the guards around him.

He was really interested in knowing how good they were compared to his weapons.

The old man keenly noticed the disinterest in Edgar’s eyes.

"Before you reject the offer, hear me out, please." The old elder hurriedly said. "Just for visiting our Clan Leader, we will provide you with five hundred Nightmare Stones!"

"..."

Edgar quietly looked at the old man without a word.

After a while, he replied,

"I will get the stones with no strings attached."

"I assure you." The old man nodded vigorously. "I will uphold my promise, and may the goddess herself strike me down if I don’t."

Edgar relaxed and turned to look at Andrew.

"Pack your things." He smiled. "We are visiting the Yamhad Clan for a while."