Chapter 3 - Southern Frontier City

"I just have to play the long game."  Arno said while staring at the lady who was unconscious because in the midst of all the struggle, she began to say things along the lines of "Don't sacrifice me", "I don't want to give birth to Demon spawns'', and his personal favourite was "Am too young to die".

"Maybe I should have been more gentle." Arno let out a sigh, however despite his feelings on the matter he still had to give her a sudden blow to the carotid artery to knock her out. As he did not need people thinking he was a cultist, a train-wreck yes, but not a cultist. Just the thought of having Ghost agents in his backyard made him shudder.

"Vas." Arno called his old butler who would steal glances at the lady from time to time, then proceeded to look at him. However he kept a professional appearance at all times.

"Yes, Milord." Vas replied with a slight bow.

"How many mana-crystals do we have at home?"

"Mana-crystals, Milord?, I believe we have about six to seven currently in the treasury." 

Vas was at this point out of the loop as his master had never cared about his financial status ever since he became the lord of this Barony, even when Vas would report cases of theft. Arno would be more concerned about whether or not the bottles of alcohol in the treasury were stolen. And if that was not the case he would not bat an eye as he would go back to his drinking.

But now, he actually asked how many mana-crystals they had, was this really the Arno he spent two years with in this wasteland?

…

The Southern Frontier Barony was infamous for many things, but it is also incredibly famous for its celestial view of the garden of stars in the night sky. Despite the stars being myriad in nature. They all had names, and all were special in some way or form. But the ones that were the prized flowers in this garden were the twin moons that overshadowed these stars.

However under such a majestic scene there was the not so majestic Southern Frontier City, a pigstel if you could try to summarise it in one word. With faeces and piss being present in the heavily populated areas, that only helped the strong scent of decay that held the city in a chokehold.

But the same can not be said about the not so polluted areas, as they were decently clean if you did not take into account the sand that would try to enter your house every now and then. But in totality it was a shit-hole.

Or at least that is what ran through Arno's mind as he watched the city through the window of his carriage. But little did he know he was also being watched.

…

Eventually Arno's carriage arrived at his grand manor house, which was more a fortress than an actual manor house, that was located in the centre of Southern Frontier City. The reason for this tied into the fact that this city was not designed to be a city, but a military fortress whose sole purpose was to keep the northern nomadic tribes of Frontier at bay. 

But after 'the Great Charter' was established by the tribes' leaders and the commander of the fortress, this fortress began to slowly grow into a makeshift city where most trade would take place. 

However, that was before the commander's descendants, who were now nobles, began to increase taxes on merchants and tribesmen who visited the city.

They used the city as their personal playground where they would kill and forcefully sleep with any women or men they wanted without reciprocations and that was what they just did on a regular day. When festivals came around women would ensure by all means that their children did not leave the house.

This caused a lot of merchants and tribesmen to avoid coming to the Frontier unless absolutely necessary. This did not change when Arno took power.

And not because they did not know about him being the new lord. But because, at that time Arno's infamy was only a sprout when comparing it to what it is right now. Small but still there. This was reason enough for them not to risk being bullied. Which proved to be right call.

"Vas, do not forget to fetch me those mana-crystals. I really want to see if they will explode. I will be in my chambers." 

Arno said as he walked out the carriage with the lady in his arms, while proceeding to enter the manor house with a few guards in tow. Leaving Vas in carriage with a perplexed look on his face, which eventually returned to a professional demeanour once more. As he thought to himself.

"Maybe I am just over-thinking things, only His Highness would try to blow up mana-crystals for fun."  Vas then proceeded to leave the carriage and turned to the two guards that would usually accompanying him and said.

"Inform the guards to be on full alert. Let no one near the Lord. And if your men hear anything out of place while guarding his room you have my permission to break the door down, His Highness' safety is top priority." Because if the young lord did not take his life seriously, Vas would take it.

"Oh yes, and summon Heins to my office."

Meanwhile as Arno got to his room he carefully opened the door so as not to wake the lady up, and turned around to the men behind him.

"Try not to touch yourselves while I am in here, as no lady wants to have that unpleasant experience." To which the men in their heads said. "But you are about to do something worse." However they would like to keep their heads so they said nothing and began to guard the door. 

To which Arno just smirked and closed the door to his room, as he then laid the lady on his bed. Then he proceeded to sit next to her as he waited for the final verdict.

…

~knock, knock…~

"Come in." And just like that the final verdict came in the form of an old man holding a cloth that was wrapped around something, that was causing it to glow neon green.

"Good work Vas, now leave." Arno said as he took the cloth from Vas, who only bowed his head. Then proceeded to leave the room not before stealing a glance at Arno's latest victim one last time, as she seemed to be asleep. But he said nothing as he did not want to get bitten again.

[*Ding* Vista Cores detected, would Lord Commander like to convert them into points ? <Y > or <N > ] 

A notification popped up as soon as Arno touched the cloth, however he did not want to waste any more time. So he immediately chased Vas away as he did not know what would happen to him if he accepted the request. Worst case scenario he gets tortured by the system again, which would force him to allow Vas to put more surveillance on him.

<Y >

As soon as he clicked on Y. The bed, the lady, and the whole room began to metamorph into multi-colored clouds, as notifications began to appear in front of him.

[*Ding* Converting…]

[*Ding* Congratulations Lord Commander, you have acquired 1080 points.]

" Oh, Thank god!"  Arno sighed in relief after he heard that notification without being tortured again.

[Congratulations sir, your theory worked.

Now let me show you the current units available at your rank.] Guide said, and immediately when he said that the clouds began to drift apart only to reveal a shroud holographic figure in the distance. And when Arno laid his eyes on it a screen popped up in front of him.

[ Loan Sword Ashigaru(Rank 0 lifeform)(200) <40pts >: These foot soldiers carry katana: swords renowned for their razor sharpness and cutting power. The ashigaru form part of the main battle line and, once enemy infantry has been sufficiently weakened by missile troops, the ashigaru charge in and engage in melee.]

" You have to be kidding me right, only one unit? Do you have a vendetta against me or something?" 

Arno asked while squinting his eyes as if to make sure what he was seeing was the truth. Because despite having the ability to create stone-cold killers for his own protection, that did not mean he was safe in this world. What is a normal army of Ashigaru going to do to a dragon? 

But that was not even the main reason for Arno's annoyance, the actual reason was the rules that were put in place on him by the System after his Guide introduced itself.

[ 1. Warriors are to adhere to their oath at all times.

  2. Jurisdiction shall not be breached by all members of the War Force except for certain entities such as the Lord Commander; unless said jurisdiction is assaulted by external forces then this rule can be temporarily suspended.

  3. All warriors are to follow, protect and enforce the dominion of their jurisdiction at all times.

  4….]

All these rules to Arno were like someone giving you a loyal pet snake, not after taking out all of its venom because Hylton believes that snakes should only be allowed to use their venom when the System deems it necessary. Your life is at risk Lord Commander? Well tough luck because you only have a limited amount of units. You have a lot of points but you need a specialist? Well tough luck because that type of unit is not available to you at your current rank, you better start using your screwdriver as a hammer.

[ Sir, I understand your frustration but there is nothing that can be done, these rules were created by the High Council to avoid Lord Commanders unjustifiably warring against each other, howe- ] Arno's Guide tried to calm him down, but was cut off by Arno.

"No, I get it, this is how it works." Arno said while messaging his temple as he then inhaled a good amount of air in his nose, before exhaling it all out.

" Okay, then how many are we able to produce?" Arno asked after calming himself down.

[ That would depend on whether or not you would want them at their peak strength or not. Because if Lord Commander needs them to have reached their peak strength, then 1350 Loan Sword Ashigarus, however if Lord Commander would need them at their standard strength, then that would be 5400 Loan Sword Ashigarus, Sir.]

"That's not as bad as I expected." Arno muttered to himself as he began to analyse his situation.

 "And our limit?"

[ With our current rank, that would be 5 000 soldiers, Sir.] 

" And what are the requirements for a promotion?" 

The moment Arno asked, a notification appeared in front of him, however this time it was as big as a jumbotron scene.

[Rank promotion requirements:

 Invalid.]

[*Ding* Host has not chosen a Lord Commander type.]

"Wait, ain't I already a Lord Commander?" Incomprehension overtook Arno's mind after he had taken a good look at the notification, which just threw a curveball.

[Well the reason for this is beca-] Guide tried to explain the situation to Arno however he was cut off once again, but this time it was actually the System.

[ *Ding* Warning: Danger towards the Host's life has been detected.]

[*Ding*As a precautionary measure the system shall now evict the Host from his mind space.]

[ Eviction shall now commence in:

3

2

1… ]

As those notifications went off, the clouds began to turn scarlet red as the space began to dissipate. While that was happening Arno began to taste a hint of blood in his mouth, which only grew stronger as the space began to disappear more and more. Until all he could see was bronze coloured eyes under a black mask.

[*Ding* Eviction has been successful.]

[*Ding* Warning: The Host's life is currently under siege.]

'What the…" Arno thought to himself as he felt a sharp pain to his gut, causing him to instinctively look at the cause. Which was a dagger logged into his gut by the mask man, who continued to take it out not before inserting it again a couple of times in quick succession.

[*Ding* Treat level evaluation: level 1.]

[Treat is too high to be handled with the Lord Commander's personal strength, Requesting emergency creation of special unit: Hanzo's Shadows.]

[*Ding* Warning: Commander has not met required conditions for Building unlock of the unit, therefore the cost of the unit will be several times the original cost, including the Lifeform Rank increase. Would you like to proceed with the request?]

[Yes.]

[*Ding* Request accepted.]

Arno's vision was getting a bit hazy at this point, as he heard more notifications go off as well as Guide. However he momentarily forgot about that for a minute as a blue light began to appear above him, which caused the masked man to take ten steps back. As the light began to materialise four humanoid figures, who revealed themselves to be male and female, of no clear descent, with muscular features kneeling .

[*Ding* -910 points.]

"Kage." They said, which caused the masked man to firmly grip his dagger in an attempt to control his fear, not because of the Oni masked individuals who were clearly covered in black. How could he not recognize fellow assassins but because of the pressure that weighed him down.

"Kage, your vital signs are dropping steadily, however before assisting you I must neutralise the threat." One of the Shadows said to Arno who was barely standing up at this point, as he could only just nod. Seeing this, the shinobi nodded back as he then proceeded to break his salute right after turning around to face the assassin.

"You are to be neutralised with immediate effect for the attempt on the life of a high ranking officer…" The man's eye began to glow bronze as he walked closer to the assassin, and a bronze ninjatō* began to materialise in his hand while the pressure the assassin felt only grew stronger. 

"As well as attempting to destroy the dominion that governs this jurisdiction…"

Not knowing what to do as he scanned the area in order to find something to help him escape. That's when he revealed a huge grin under his mask as he found the figure of a woman on the bed, a long shot but it was better than nothing.

"You have no rights."

"Rights, what are those?" He scoffed internally while putting his full attention to the target in front of him, but that was until the shinobi appeared right before his very eyes. Fear and pain gripped his mind as he experienced a gut cheek that made his back bend in mid air. However before he could even acknowledge the compromising situation he was in, he felt a huge amount of pressure being applied to his neck. 

"You don't deserve my blade."

Out of pure instincts he tried to remove the cause that was closing all of his airways, but all he felt was the hand of another as realisation hit him. Causing him to look up and see bronze eyes that stared at him with the same glint he would to all his past targets. The irony was suffocating as his vision began to become a blur before he lost consciousness forever.

"Mission Complete." Was the last thing Arno heard before he lost consciousness, only to find himself in bed with the lady the next day.

….

ninjatō* : is alleged to be the preferred weapon of the shinobi of feudal Japan, described in one contemporary portrayal as carried on the person's back, specifically horizontally at a height of around that of the person's waist.

Was that not a good chapter or what? 

What do you mean 'what'? Did you see the ninja? I know you saw the ninja. And you still say 'what'. 

Okay, how about this. You go to my p.a.t.r.e.o.n and you will find more chapters that are better than this one. I promise you. 

Sales pitch?😅 Why would you assume that? Am just concerned about whether you like the fanfic or not.🙂 It definitely not about the money🫠😅

Total War : Shogun in another world/ 5 chapters ahead.👹👺