Newfando.

Erwin's army had reached the foot of the city, and he had taken Theresa hostage. Duke Eru was standing atop the city wall, listening to Erwin describe the objective for his "visit", and he was at a loss for what to do.

He was weighing up his options between his daughter's life and his current position of power, and it was proving to be quite a dilemma for him.

Erwin shook his head with a resigned expression and decided to give him some help in making his decision.

Thus, he wound his arm around Theresa's waist, then appeared right beside Duke Eru in the next instant using his space split technique.

The soldiers on the city wall were extremely alarmed to see this and immediately surrounded them from all directions.

However, at this point, Erwin and Duke Eru were separated by a distance of no more than 10 feet, so he could take Duke Eru's life at any moment. Thus, the soldiers on the city wall could only look on and didn't dare to do anything.

Duke Eru's eyes widened as he turned to stare at Erwin with an incredulous expression.

He then turned his gaze toward his own daughter, upon which he was greeted by an unexpected sight.

He had thought that his daughter had to endure horrific torture, thereby leaving her in a weary and broken state, but to his surprise, she was looking happier and more energetic than she had in years!

What was even more astonishing to Duke Eru was that even though he was surrounded by countless Newfando soldiers, Erwin was still in such a relaxed and playful mood that he was playing with Theresa's hair with his fingertips, watching her golden locks glisten under the light of the sun while also inhaling its fragrant scent, which was being carried to him by the light breeze.

Duke Eru knew that his daughter had always been extremely averse to being physically intimate with other men, but she didn't seem opposed to Erwin's actions at all, and that was very bizarre in his eyes.

After looking closer at his daughter's expression, he detected a hint of concern for him in her eyes, something that he hadn't seen in years, and it seemed that she was also silently telling him to surrender.

This was something that Duke Eru had completely failed to anticipate, and it was also the factor that had the most significant sway on his decision thus far.

He couldn't understand why his daughter was giving him such a look.

From Theresa's perspective, she was doing this out of what little affection she still had for her father.

She knew that given Erwin's personality, if her father continued to resist, there was a very good chance that Erwin would put an end to his life right here and now.

It had to be said that Theresa's assessment of Erwin's character was very accurate. Perhaps Erwin's resolve would waver in the face of beautiful women, but when it came to dealing with other men, he was extremely calculated and objective, so much so that it was almost a little cold-blooded. In particular, tens of thousands of lives were at stake here, so it was even more important to be ruthless and decisive.

"Do you really have to think for that long?" Erwin asked as he took a glance at Duke Eru. "I only agreed to Theresa to put on this show to save some dignity for you."

After that, Erwin casually blew into Theresa's ear, instantly causing a deep blush to appear on her face. At the same time, he rested his hand across her throat as if he were threatening to strangle her, but he was doing so with such lazy nonchalance that it was clear he wasn't actually going to hurt her.

Through his words and actions, he was telling Duke Eru that he didn't even need to threaten him with his daughter's life. Instead, he could easily put an end to his life at any moment, so he really wasn't in any place to be opposing Erwin.

Duke Eru certainly wasn't the brightest individual, but even he could see what Erwin was implying.

Thus, after pretending to ponder the situation for a while longer, he finally heaved a resigned sigh. "Don't hurt my daughter. If you want the city, then you can have it."

Erwin and Theresa were both quite relieved to hear this.

Erwin didn't want to have to kill Theresa's father in front of her. After all, he still wanted to maintain a pristine image of himself in Theresa's heart.

As for Theresa, even though she looked down on her weak and useless father, she still didn't want to see him be killed.

Seeing as Duke Eru himself had already surrendered, the 20,000 soldiers defending the city naturally didn't dare to attack Erwin and his forces.

...

Thus, the Universal Church Freedom Army was able to capture Newfando without a fight. In addition to Tellier, which had already joined the City of Freedom, the City of Freedom now encompassed the entirety of the Boll Dukedom. This was going to have a massive impact, regardless of whether it was in the spheres of politics, military affairs, or religion.

If the City of Freedom were to stop expanding here, then its impact would still be quite limited. However, Erwin and Lia's ambitions extended far beyond this, so there were going to be even more massive changes taking place in the future. From here onward, the battles were only going to become more brutal and ruthless. Just as Erwin had said, all revolutions were built upon the foundation of countless human lives. Each future conquest and expansion of the City of Freedom would bring about immense bloodshed.

After entering Newfando, the first thing that Erwin did was to reassign the 20,000 troops that had just fallen into his hands, splitting them apart before integrating them into the units of his army in order to prevent them from being able to stage any collective rebellions in the future. After all, both Duke Eru and Theresa were still alive, so there was no guarantee that these people wouldn't rise up in revolt someday to try and reinstate their former masters into their original positions of power.

Theresa was naturally aware of what Erwin was concerned about, but as a slave to Erwin, there was nothing that she could do to interfere with Erwin's decision. In this situation, praise had to go to Onean for her foresight. Having relegated Theresa to the position of Erwin's slave, all she could do was stay by his side with absolute loyalty and obedience, unable to go against his wishes or do anything that would hurt him.

Aside from integrating the Newfando troops into his existing army, Erwin's top priority was to ensure that the people of Newfando felt safe and assured after the takeover. At the same time, he had to promote the doctrine of universal equality and freedom upheld by the City of Freedom. In order to do so, they would have to confiscate the territory of the nobles, distribute the land among the people, establish household registries, and implement a series of other policies. This was a massive workload that couldn't be completed just by his subordinates alone, so he immediately sent out a messenger, carrying a message for Lia to travel to Newfando as quickly as possible.

After all, as the archbishop of the Universal Church's southwestern parish, he was the highest-ranking religious leader of the City of Freedom, and his arrival would offer the people of Newfando a great deal of reassurance. There was no way that Lia could've anticipated that Erwin would've taken over Newfando in such a ridiculous fashion.

Even Mackney, who had been observing the unfolding situation this entire time, was so shocked that he had almost fallen off his chair. No matter how he pondered the situation, he couldn't understand why Theresa had done what she had done.

...

As the capital city of the Boll Dukedom, Newfando was a far larger city than Zans, making it perfect to be developed as the future core religious or military region for the City of Freedom. That was the next step in Erwin's plan.

Christine had already thought ahead of Erwin. As soon as Newfando was captured, she immediately purchased several shops that were situated in prime locations in the city, expanding the Ubiquitous Firm's business to the newly conquered city. Given that development, it most likely wasn't going to take long before the blessed notes became a prevalent form of currency across the entire Boll Dukedom.

Standing atop Mount Buellen, which was situated at the center of Newfnaod, was Fort Breeze, from which one could see the entire city.

After visiting Fort Breeze once, Erwin immediately developed a liking for it, and at some point in the future, he planned to move the headquarters of the Universal Church Freedom Army from Count Onen's manor in Zans to Fort Breeze.

This wasn't the first time that Erwin had taken over someone's property for his own base of operations. However, he wasn't so brazen and blatant that he took Fort Breeze for himself. Instead, he treated it as the property of the Universal Church Freedom Army. As always, he was making sure to be extra careful when it came to things like this in case his actions spoiled the reputation of the freedom army. As a leader, he had to consciously resist the innate desire for materialistic affluence at all times, and so far, he was doing a great job in this regard. With him leading by example, the 10,000 troops that he had brought with him committed no transgressions toward the people of Newfando, and that was another benefit of abiding by a solid code of morals and ethics.

At this moment, Duke Eru, who had handed the city over to Erwin, was still under house arrest in Fort Breeze. Erwin knew that Theresa was going to have to approach him to speak about this eventually, and he was waiting for her to do so.

Once Erwin had completed all of his official duties for the day, Theresa quickly snuck into his office. At this point, Fort Breeze had already been reorganized by Erwin, and what was once Duke Eru's study had become Erwin's office.

After entering the office, Theresa sat down onto Erwin's leg without any hesitation, having no qualms whatsoever with using him as a human cushion.

"Can you ask for a favor from you?" she asked in a careful voice while closely observing Erwin's expression.

"What is it?" Erwin asked, even though he already knew why she had come to see him.

"Can you spare my father's life?" Theresa asked with a wry smile. "I'm not that close with him, but I still don't want to see him be..."

An amused look appeared on Erwin's face upon hearing this. "The look on your face right now reminds me of your cousin, Faya. She also came to me with the exact same expression."

The only difference was that she had begged him for an entirely different favor, but Erwin chose not to tell Theresa that.

"You look like you're really enjoying this process," Theresa said with a hint of displeasure in her voice.

"Not really," Erwin replied with a smile. "Don't worry, as long as your father doesn't do anything out of line, I won't do anything to him."

"Really?" Theresa asked as she turned to Erwin with a skeptical expression.

"You have my word," Erwin said as he looked back at her with a serious expression.

Theresa was finally convinced upon hearing this.

"I've already sent someone to pick up your uncle. Once he arrives, get your father to take him and all of the nobles in the city to make a public declaration to the people of the city, telling everyone that they're willing to give up their status as nobles, acknowledging the City of Freedom's declaration of freedom, and announcing that they'll be following the doctrines of the Universal Church from now on."

Theresa knew that Erwin wasn't going to settle down so easily, but having said that, his demands weren't unreasonable. It was naturally going to fall onto her shoulders to convince her father to agree to these terms.

All of a sudden, Erwin shook his head with an amused smile on his face.

"What is it?"

"To think that the high and mighty daughter of Duke Eru has to come and beg me for favors. This is truly a fantastic feeling," Erwin said as he put on a smug expression.

"Say what you want, I'm just your slave now anyway," Theresa said as she glared at Erwin with a resentful expression, and tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

Erwin hurriedly wound his arms around her waist upon seeing this. "Don't take me seriously, I was just making a joke."

Theresa turned her face to the side with an indignant expression, but a slight smile was playing on her lips.

She then thought about what Erwin had just said to her, and a surprised look appeared on her face as she asked, "Has my uncle not declared his stance yet?"

"Do you think he'd still be alive if he hasn't?" Erwin replied in an indifferent voice.

"Then why are you getting him to come here?"

A smile appeared on Erwin's face as he replied, "He still has around 1,000,000 Loonies in his pocket. If we want to oppose the entire Delair Dukedom, we're going to need his financial support."

"You seem to have a really good grasp on the wealth of other people," Theresa scoffed as she rolled her eyes at Erwin in a disdainful display.

"I've already organized all of the property in this fort that belongs to you and your father into a single room."

"Even I'm yours already, what's mine naturally also belongs to you as well."

"What about your father's belongings?"

"Fine, you can have it all," Theresa said with an exasperated roll of her eyes.

"I'm not some thief or bandit who would take things from others without any compensation. I will offer you shares in the Ubiquitous Firm according to the number of Loonies that you provide to me." After that, Erwin gave Theresa an explanation of the connection between the Ubiquitous Firm and the City of Freedom.

Theresa was very touched to hear this. She knew that Erwin was only willing to tell her such an important secret because he had full trust in her.

"It looks like you and Lia don't share as solid a relationship as you make it out to be," Theresa remarked.

"I'm sure he must have some ways to keep me in check as well," Erwin said with a smile. "To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Relationships that are built on nothing more than trust are extremely tenuous."

A thoughtful look appeared in Theresa's eyes upon hearing this, and she nodded in agreement after a moment of contemplation.

Right as the two of them were chatting with one another, Onean made her way into the room.

"I didn't get her to become your slave so you could waste all your time cuddling with her," Onean said as she cast a cold gaze toward Erwin.

"It sounds like your jealous," Theresa said as she raised an eyebrow in a provocative manner.

"Perhaps I'd be jealous of that red-haired witch, but you're flattering yourself if you think I'd be jealous of you," Onean scoffed with a mocking expression.

An enraged look appeared on Theresa's face upon hearing this, and she slammed her palm down onto the desk. It was clear that she had come off second-best once again in this brief exchange.

Meanwhile, Erwin was watching with a great deal of amusement. Never did he think that Onean would pay a compliment to Lana, especially in a situation like this.

However, at the same time, Erwin had no choice but to admit that Onean's sharp tongue was unmatched. Even he often found himself powerless to rebuke her sharp insults.

"Have you sent people to the border?" Onean asked as she turned to Erwin.

"I sent Chinba and Georgina along with 1,000 cavaliers," Erwin replied as he took a glance out the window. "It's been quite some time since they set off, so they should be arriving soon."