23: Alina's arrival

"Regarding the population issue, we must at least fill the city's capacity of thirty thousand residents first!"

Hearing Arthur talk about official business, the smile on Charles's face faded significantly, and he said seriously:

"Rest assured, Lord Arthur!

With these two Mountain Giants, our territory's power is the strongest among the pioneer territories in the Barren Plains, which means our territory is also the safest!

Once word of this spreads, I believe people will flock to our territory in an endless stream. You don't have to worry about the population issue at all!"

"Hmm! That's true, so I'll leave this matter to you!"

"No problem, my Lord. However, there is one more thing I would like you to decide on!"

"What is it?"

Hearing this, Arthur was somewhat curious about what Charles suddenly wanted him to decide.

"It's the name of this city. This city has never had a name, which makes it inconvenient to refer to.

Most importantly, a city with a name can better increase everyone's sense of belonging!"

Hearing Charles's words, Arthur thought about it for a moment and felt he was right, so he nodded and said:

"Let me think. This city is the first city under my command. In that case, let's call it 'Initial City'!"

"Initial City!"

After Charles muttered it to himself, he thought the name was good and complimented:

"That name is excellent. My Lord is indeed talented!"

Arthur felt quite comfortable with Charles's flattery, so he decided that as long as Charles had the ability to manage Initial City in an orderly fashion, he would not treat Charles poorly.

But on the surface, he still stopped Charles's behavior:

"Alright, you should hurry up and think about how to manage Initial City even better!"

"I will, my Lord!"

...Five days passed. Under Charles's effective dissemination...

The news about Arthur getting to know two Mountain Giants during his inspection, becoming friends with them, and bringing them back to his territory spread throughout the Barren Plains, and eventually even reached the Kate Kingdom.

Initially, almost no one believed it. After all, Mountain Giants were terrifying magical creatures that could easily reach the Earth Knight level; only a Sky Knight could defeat them.

And yet, two such terrifying existences had actually sought refuge with a Baron of a pioneer territory.

One must know that even the handful of Sky Knight powerhouses in the kingdom would find it difficult to subdue a Mountain Giant, yet now two Mountain Giants had actually been subdued by a Baron who was only at the Bronze Knight level.

With such a huge contrast, naturally, very few people believed it at first!

But as more and more people went to Initial City and saw the two protruding hills at the city gates, the truth of the rumors was clearly displayed.

After stunning countless observers, the title of 'lucky baron' also spread throughout the Kate Kingdom.

After all, given Arthur's strength and status, the fact that he could subdue two Mountain Giants could only be described as luck, hence the title 'lucky baron'.

However, at this moment, our lucky baron did not look as happy as the outsiders imagined; he even looked a bit worried.

The news of him subduing the Mountain Giants had reached the interior of the Kate Kingdom, so the neighboring Counts Fief had naturally heard about it as well.

To clarify the situation, Arthur's second elder sister, Arina, hurried over in person. After confirming the situation was true, Arina's mouth almost watered with envy.

After all, Arina was naturally bellicose, and seeing such violent creatures as the Mountain Giants made her eyes burn with greed.

But Arina also knew that Mountain Giants were not something she could control; even if Arthur gave them to her, Arina wouldn't dare take them.

So she could only satisfy her eyes and simply stayed in Initial City, refusing to go back.

As for the Count and others waiting for news from her in the Fierce Lion Territory, Arina indicated that they could just send anyone back.

This made life difficult for Arthur. With Arina around, some of his affairs were hard to manage, leaving Arthur looking quite distressed lately.

Having no other choice, Arthur could only find Arina:

"Second Sister, if you keep refusing to go back, Father and the others will worry. How about I let you experience standing on a Mountain Giant's shoulder for a bit of fun, and you can go back after you've had your moment of glory?"

"Third Brother, you're acting strange. You want me to go back so badly, are you hiding something from me?"

To this, Arthur could only put on an 'you're overthinking it' expression and explain:

"Not at all, how could I hide anything from you, Second Sister? I'm really just afraid Father and the others are too worried about you."

"If you don't want to say it, then forget it. But can you really let me stand on a Mountain Giant's shoulder? Would they agree?"

It seemed Arina still couldn't resist the temptation of standing on a giant's shoulder; by asking this question, she indicated her agreement to Arthur's plan.

Hearing this, Arthur showed a smile of a successful scheme:

"Then you've underestimated my relationship with Zoffy and Zog. Don't worry!

Actually, I promised Karona a few days ago that I'd let her stand on a giant's shoulder too. Wait for me a moment, I'll call her and we'll go to the city gate together!"

Hearing that Arthur had also promised Karona, Arina couldn't help but give him a knowing look, as if saying, 'I see through all your little plans, kid!'

Arthur knew Arina was getting the wrong idea when he saw that look, but he didn't object; after all, he did indeed have those thoughts.

It was just that he was currently a bit young to put them into practice, but deepening their feelings to lay the groundwork for the future was fine... Not long after, Arthur, Arina, and Karona arrived before the two small hills at the city gate.

Arthur shouted directly:

"Zog, Zoffy, wake up! I've come to bring you magic cores!"

As soon as Arthur's voice fell, those two silent hills began to vibrate. Then, under the shocked gazes of Arina and Karona, they transformed into two giants twenty meters tall.

At the same time, this move also triggered the shock of many others.

One must know that as the matter of the Mountain Giants spread, Arthur's Initial City became much livelier. The most obvious sign was the permanent population, which was already approaching twenty thousand.

It was estimated that in another week or two, all thirty thousand would be filled.

Liveliness meant many people coming and going at the gates of Initial City. Now, they were all stunned in place by the Mountain Giants' movement.

Arthur, meanwhile, took out several earth-attribute magic cores with a smile and tossed them to Zog and Zoffy. After the two had consumed them, Arthur stated the request for this visit:

"Zog, Zoffy, let me introduce you. This is my second sister, Arina, and this is my personal maid, and also my very good friend, Karona!"

Arthur felt that just introducing her as a personal maid didn't show enough importance, so he added 'friend'.

"Friend!"

The word Arthur said so casually stunned Karona. After repeating the word 'friend' in her mind, her face turned crimson at a speed visible to the naked eye.