A Century Old Priestess

"Arise."

Asher said as he sat down.

"Have the plans been made?" He asked.

"It has, your lordship," Alec said.

"You have less than a month and two weeks to conquer those territories. Where is Uriah? He's a treasured scout and should be among your troops."

"I brought him along, Your Lordship." Lambert said oftly.

Asher nodded.

"Good."

After discussing with them for a brief moment, the commanders left, and as they marched out of the stronghold, thousands gathered to see them off.

Standing before one of the sacred hall's windows, Asher looked at his pet beast, which was at the forefront of the troop, with a smile on his face.

"Will they hurt my father?"

Aquilia asked from behind.

"If he doesn't surrender, yes, but since I gave my word, he won't be killed."

Asher responded without turning his head to look at her.

Aquilia's pupils shook.

"What do you want me to do for you then?"

Asher turned to face her.

"What?"

He raised an eyebrow.

Aquilia tilted her head. "Well, you made me your mage commander. What do you want me to do?"

"Ah, I see. Let's talk about the teleportation channel you created. How many people can it teleport at once?"

"It can transport five individuals to any teleportation channel as long as you are granted access."

"So through the channel you built, can I get to the Eternal Imperial City?"

Aquilia blinked.

"You can, but if constantly the elemental crystal will be exhausted in 2 months."

Asher shrugged.

"I see."

"I plan to head to the imperial city to claim a better title; I seek to be more than a baron now."

Kelvin smiled when he heard that.

Aquilia's eyes widened. She was puzzled as to why Asher would say that in her presence, knowing she wasn't completely loyal to him.

But after thinking about it, Aquilia realized that even if she wanted, she couldn't harm Asher. He had already grown to a level where the lords of the wastelands were no threat to him. At this point, only Count William could stand against him.

But... she kind of liked her current position. To make it even better, there were great meals that did wonders to her body, internally and externally, and Asher had an ability that did a wholesome upgrade to everything about her, especially in boosting her rank!

Also, she could understand what Asher was trying to do. Once he conquers the baronies, Count William will be aware, and there might be a confrontation. Having a higher noble title gave Asher an advantage, and if he could acquire it from the imperial family, he would have their backing.

This would make the noble friends of Count William passive.

A higher rank would make it more appealing to strike an alliance with him, but being restricted to a mere baron had lots of disadvantages.

Currently, the first stage of Asher's ambition was to become a duke. But first, he must grow higher than a baron.

"You need to meet the emperor or one of his sons and convince them to grant you a greater title."

"I don't need to convince anyone." Asher's response made Aquilia and Kelvin stunned.

Asher turned to face both of them.

"I'll vaguely relay to them the forces I have gathered, and as usual the imperial family would want to use the Ashbournes as a blade. We once put them into power; we can bring them back into that power. Do you think I need to convince a family with that mindset?"

Aquilia couldn't believe what she was hearing while Kelvin shook his head with a small smile. He knew Asher wasn't wrong.

Aquilia, who had no idea of their history, was the confused one.

"Prepare. You, Alex, and I shall head for the imperial city tomorrow. Kelvin, you'll be my regent, so take care of Nineveh and Ashkelon until I return."

Kelvin recoiled. Asher was once again pushing all the work on him.

Did this young man want him to die early?

"But my lord, it's the start of the new month. You haven't placed your seal on the..."

"You're in charge now. You can do it."

Asher smiled at Kelvin.

Kelvin covered his mouth and coughed lightly. "My Lord, I would like to speak to you personally."

...….

When everyone left, including the BloodBlades, Asher crossed his arms, facing Kelvin.

"It's about the town we spotted 30 kilometers away."

Asher knit his eyebrows.

"What about it?"

"Our scouts have been slowly uncovering more about it. That town is more than what we thought. Indeed, it's not under a lord, but it's been guarded by a temple."

Asher frowned.

"A temple?"

"Yes, there are temple guards clad in plate armor around that town. Not just that, but their land is strangely rich, so rich that they have a large olive farm and are bountiful in pure oil."

Asher tilted his head.

"They have olive trees?!"

Pure oils were so valuable in Boundless that it could become an exclusive trade for him if he managed to upgrade them to become unique; his oil would be sought after by many nations!

People would line up to buy his oil.

Oil had various uses; it could be used in cooking, it was used to light lamps, for cosmetics, perfumes, and for medicines.

It could become a trade so big that he would be wealthy enough to support the increase of his troops.

Each King Swordsman recruit cost 100 gold coins! And this was just a guardian-grade troop, there were other higher grade troops!

"How big is their olive farm?"

"According to our scouts, it's about 5 kilometers big, but there's more important news than that."

"What could be better than this?!"

"They have been under the rule of a woman, a priestess to be exact, and she isn't human."

Asher walked to his stone throne and sat down.

"Go on."

He supported his chin with his right arm.

"I made the scouts investigate further, so they lured and captured a young man who revealed that their town has been under the protection of this being for a century."

"A century!"