After Erwin had hurriedly eaten some bread from the table, he and Onean set off for Count Onen's manor together.

Christine told him that she wanted to bring her father over from Lomu, but Erwin told her that he had already sent Georgina to pick up her father, and that they were most likely going to arrive soon.

Christine was rather taken aback to hear this. She knew that Erwin and her father had never seen eye to eye with one another, and she wasn't expecting Erwin to be so thoughtful.

"Don't look at me like that. Being thoughtful is just one of the ways that I get little girls to fall for me," Erwin said with a sly grin.

"That's true," Onean said with a smile as she stood beside Erwin, as if to confirm his statement.

Christine looked at the stunning couple before her, and she sighed internally, There's probably no couple more fitting for each other than them.

This was Erwin and Onean's second visit to Count Onen's manor, but on this occasion, their mindset was completely different.

On the previous occasion, they had been guests, but this time, they were the ones in control.

Even though Erwin had gone an entire night without sleeping, he was still quite energetic. This was mostly owing to the fact that he had washed his own face with cold water earlier, so he was feeling a lot more alert. He inspected the outside of Count Onen's manor with an intrigued expression, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry to go in. At the same time, he was thinking to himself about the unpredictability of life and the unreliable nature of wealth.

However, he wasn't here to take Count Onen's property.

The Monge Riders mercenaries standing on guard duty outside the manor immediately identified Erwin, and they hurriedly opened the gate for him.

On this occasion, there was no butler to welcome Erwin and Onean.

Shiba had also set up some men in the front courtyard, so there were people guarding the entire path to the manor. Erwin had instructed Shiba not to let anyone get away, and Shiba had taken this order very seriously.

Erwin's main target was Onen. As for the other nobles, he didn't pay much heed to them. Speaking of the captured nobles, after Lia's rousing speech, those nobles had been released right before the eyes of the tens of thousands of people gathered, but not before they had been thoroughly denounced by the crowd. Lia gave them three days to leave the city of their own accord, and after all of the humiliation they had been through, they were most likely too embarrassed to stay in the city even if they had been allowed to.

Turan was of the opinion that Erwin had departed in such a hurry in order to extort these nobles out of their property.

He thought that Erwin was the type of person who would say something, only to do something else entirely, but in reality, he had underestimated Erwin here. While drafting the core agenda, Erwin had proposed the importance of personal property, so he naturally wasn't going to go against his own words here.

As soon as Erwin and Onean arrived in the front hall of the manor, they were immediately greeted by Shiba and Bracken.

"No one's stolen anything, have they?" Erwin asked with an indifferent expression.

"Rest assured, we've been keeping a close eye on everyone," Shiba hurriedly replied.

"We've been abiding closely by your orders, Mr. Erwin. There are quite a few valuable things in this manor, but none of our brothers have taken anything," Bracken added.

Erwin nodded in response, then patted Shiba on the shoulder. "You did very well over in Tellier. I've already prepared the 10,000 Loonies that I promised you."

"I was only following your instructions," Shiba replied with a respectful bow.

"Alright, take me inside to see Onen."

...

The entirety of Count Onen's manor was in a state of panic and unease.

All of the female servants in the corridors were already feeling quite fearful, and their nerves certainly weren't eased by the arrival of Erwin and his group.

Erwin met Onen in the same study as last time.

At this point, Onen had already changed into a loose-fitting purple robe, and he was sitting by himself on the sofa with an absentminded expression. Judging from the dark rings around his eyes, it seemed that he hadn't slept at all the entire night.

His eyes were completely glazed over as he stared at the natural light that was passing through his window, and he was completely oblivious to the arrival of Erwin and his group.

Erwin and Onean entered the study, while Shiba and the others were instructed to stay outside.

"Have you still not grown accustomed to your new identity?" Erwin asked in a mocking voice after closing the door to the study, then made his way over to several floor-to-ceiling windows before parting all of the curtains.

In the blink of an eye, the entire study was brightly illuminated, so much so that even the dust particles fluttering through the air were clearly visible.

Onen covered his own eyes with an annoyed expression, clearly agitated by the bright light pouring in through the windows.

"Can you not just leave me alone?" Onen asked in a displeased voice, and his throat was very parched and hoarse. There were several opened bottles of red wine on his tea table, but he clearly hadn't drunk much from them. He was most likely extremely thirsty, but he didn't seem to be able to feel it.

"Didn't you say that you were going to banish us? Why did you send your men to surround my manor instead?" Onen asked with a cold expression.

"Let's not talk about that for now. I want to hear what your plans for the future are," Erwin said as he sat down casually in front of Onen. Meanwhile, Onean began to flip through the books on the bookshelves in the study. She was already struck by the urge to look through these books last time, but at the time, she had only been a guest, so it was inappropriate for her to intrude.

"What does that have to do with you?" Onen asked with downcast eyes.

"I was just curious," Erwin said with a smile. "You weren't like this to me last time I visited."

This was an extremely infuriating statement from Erwin. However, the lives of Onen's entire family were in Erwin's hands at the moment, so he didn't dare to lash out.

"You may be kicking us nobles out of Zans for now, but do you think there's nowhere for us nobles to survive from here onward?" Onen asked as he took a glance at Erwin, and judging from the tone of his voice, he seemed to still be convinced that Erwin would only be able to take over Zans for a short period of time.

"You're not thinking about going to Duke Eru for refuge, are you?" Erwin asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why not? He's my brother-in-law, why can't I turn to him?"

"Have you forgotten what Theresa did on the battlefield?"

"I'm sure she had her reasons," Onen replied in an indifferent voice, and it was clear that he had pondered a lot during the past sleepless night.

In the wake of the battle on the Canston Plain, Onen, Mackney, and Duke Eru had also suffered losses to different extents. Among them, Onen had suffered the severest losses, having had his forces completely wiped out. At the same time, the Universal Church Freedom Army emerged out of nowhere to benefit immensely from the battle. Hence, for Duke Eru, who had also suffered heavy losses, he would've most likely been eager to welcome Onen with open arms. Even though the Wild Ax Legion had been completely decimated, Onen still held a great deal of wealth.

If Onen were to take all of his valuable belongings with him before going to Duke Eru for refuge, there was a decent chance that he'd be able to make a resurgence.

However, Erwin wasn't concerned about that in the slightest.

Erwin nodded in response, seemingly very much in agreement with Onen's viewpoint.

"Having said that, it's not a good feeling to have to live under someone else. If you go to Newfando after being kicked out by the commoners of Zans, there's definitely going to be a lot of nasty stuff being said behind your back," Erwin said with a concerned expression, suddenly seeming very considerate of Onen's feelings.

This was indeed something that was weighing on Onen's mind. He was used to being the ruler of Zans, and it would certainly be a brutal transition for him to have to seek refuge from his brother-in-law.

Onen was naturally aware that Erwin wasn't actually concerned for him, so he rolled his eyes at Erwin before averting his gaze.

"I told you yesterday that the times were going to change, but you didn't understand the full gravity of my statement," Erwin sighed.

"What are you trying to say?" Onen asked as he turned to Erwin with tightly furrowed brows.

"Let's be candid here. For you, the most important thing is to be able to continue to live like a noble, isn't that right?" Erwin asked. "Does it really matter if you continue to hold your title as nobility or not? Isn't it far more important to you to continue to live as the envy of others?"

Onean was in the process of flipping through a book, and she couldn't help but falter slightly upon hearing what Erwin had said. She began to dissect Erwin's statement, and her mind drifted away from the contents of the book.

Onen was also silent for a while before finally replying, "That's... quite a unique way of looking at things."

"Is it not true, though?" Erwin asked.

"I suppose it's not incorrect," Onen replied with a slight nod.

"I have a way for you to continue to lead the same lifestyle as you did before," Erwin declared in a straightforward manner.

Onen looked straight into Erwin's eyes, and he felt like Erwin wasn't trying to swindle him.

"Are you going to betray the Universal Church?" he asked as his eyes widened in shock. That was the only viable way he could think of for Erwin to follow through on his promise.

Erwin immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this, then shook his head in response. "The universal equality that Lia is advocating for was my idea in the first place. How could I betray myself?"

"What are you going to do then?" Onen asked with a perplexed expression.

"I can't elaborate at the moment," Erwin replied. "You'll have to trust my word on this."

Onen was starting to grow a little skeptical upon hearing this.

"How many Loonies do you have left?" Erwin suddenly asked. It was an extremely sensitive question, yet he was raising it as if he were asking Onen what he was planning to have for lunch.

Onen looked back at Erwin with a complex expression, unsure of how to respond.

"I know you must be thinking that I'm after your wealth," Erwin said with a smile, but his smile then abruptly faded as he continued, "If you think that, then I'm afraid you're severely underestimating me."

Onen faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, he could sense that Erwin's ambitions went far beyond seizing the wealth of a count.

Erwin pursed his lips as he cast an indifferent gaze toward Onen, then said, "If I really am after your wealth, you won't be able to make it very far out of Zans at all."

Onen nodded in response. He had full confidence that Erwin was capable of doing that if he chose to.

"Why are you helping me?" Onen asked with a befuddled expression.

"Let me explain something to you first. I am of the opinion that each person's private property is not something that can be encroached upon, and that's why I've come to you with the objective of having a civilized discussion and negotiation. I don't want the City of Freedom created by Lia and me to be a bandit organization. Also, it may sound like I'm only helping you, but in reality, I'm also helping myself. I'll admit that I really do need the Loonies in your possession."

Onen immediately understood what Erwin was referring to. "You need a large sum of Loonies to support your newly established regime, is that right?"

"You can say that, but it's not entirely true."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Onen was starting to grow very frustrated with Erwin's ambiguous statements.

"I can reveal some of the details to you," Erwin said as he cast his gaze toward Onen. "Like I just said, the era of nobles is a thing of the past. Similarly, the era of powerful churches is also a relic of the past. Regardless of whether it's the Universal Church, the Holy World Church, or any other religion, none of them will define the future."

"Alright, then what is going to define the future?"

Erwin smiled as he picked up a napkin from the tea table, then drew a Loony symbol onto it. After that, he tore off the napkin and waved it around in his hand, causing it to rustle audibly.

The smile on Erwin's face was a sight that Onen would never forget for the rest of his life. He felt as if he were looking into the face of a smiling demon, and just the mere sight of it was sending chills running down his smile.