45: A banquet was held, and meat was eaten.

One of the three Great Dukes of the North, and also the strongest, wealthiest, and most mysterious, was the Grand Duke of Cold Wind.

The Grand Duke of Cold Wind established the Cold Wind Territory only five years after the first Duke of the North, the Duke of Stag; both were ducal territories established a thousand years ago when the kingdom was first founded.

The Duke of Stag came from the local forces of the North, while the Grand Duke of Cold Wind originated from the royal family of the Kingdom of Asriel; the first generation Grand Duke of Cold Wind was the younger brother of the first Golden King, Asriel.

After the Grand Duke of Cold Wind took root in the Cold Wind Territory, his descendant family took Cold Wind as their surname to distinguish themselves from the Golden Royal Family.

Although the surname changed, the bloodline would not; the communication between the Cold Wind Territory and the Golden Plains was far closer than that of any other nobles in the North.

Backed by the Golden Royal Family, the strength of the Cold Wind Territory could well be imagined.

More importantly, the Grand Duke of Cold Wind also occupied an ancient ruin—the Cold Wind Spire. Relying on the Cold Wind Spire, the Cold Wind Territory could continuously cultivate ice-element mages and other ice-element supernatural Professionals.

The Cold Wind Territory possessed the only Mage Academy in the entire North, and the number of mages in the Cold Wind Territory was far greater than the combined total of the other two Great Ducal territories in the North.

The spire motif set against ice patterns was the family crest of the Cold Wind Territory, as well as their most obvious mark.

"Damn, how could it be something from the Cold Wind Family?"

"This is a bit troublesome!"

Renn muttered.

"Whatever, what's in my hands is mine. I'll take it back first and see!"

The item was a bit of a hot potato. If the Cold Wind Family discovered that Renn had taken property belonging to their family, it would be fine if they just took it back, but he feared there would be other troubles.

Renn didn't believe that a behemoth like the Cold Wind Family would reason with a small figure like him, especially since the current Grand Duke of Cold Wind didn't have a very good relationship with Renn's liege, the Grand Duke of the Raging Bear.

However, while there might be a bit of trouble, it was negligible compared to what he had gained, so Renn didn't dwell on it further.

After taking stock of the items in the spatial ring, Renn didn't study the magic books on the shelves or other miscellaneous items. Instead, he packed all the items he had just picked out in the grotto into the spatial ring.

Then, Renn went to the Shadow Leopard's corpse, first taking out the mana core from within the Shadow Leopard to store separately, and then stuffing the Shadow Leopard's corpse into the spatial ring as well.

Every part of a Silver Rank magical beast was a treasure. Just now, Renn was worried about how to bring this Shadow Leopard back, but now, he didn't have to worry anymore.

After packing all the loot, Renn downed a bottle of low-level recovery potion. While recovering from his injuries and replenishing his battle qi, he circled the grotto again to see if there was anything he had missed.

In a corner of the grotto, Renn actually discovered another small gain.

Over a dozen magic plants were growing in a corner of the grotto. Renn didn't recognize what species of magic plants they were, but that didn't stop him from digging them up by the roots.

After circling a few times and finally confirming that everything in the grotto had been packed and taken away, Renn left the Shadow Leopard's lair with satisfaction.

It had taken Renn a day and a night to chase the Shadow Leopard all the way here.

After spending some time looting in the grotto, three days had passed by the time Renn returned to the Red River Territory.

Outside Red River Town, Renn stopped and thought for a moment before taking out the Shadow Leopard's corpse, intending to personally drag it all the way back to Red River Fortress.

In Red River Town, the commoners, who had been worried for the past few days, suddenly saw Renn dragging the Shadow Leopard's corpse towards them step by step, and the entire Red River Town instantly erupted in excitement.

They had all known for the past few days that a magical beast was attacking people near the territory, and the beast's strength was very high—even the lords of the territory's Guard Army were no match for it. Thus, the commoners were very anxious, fearing they would be attacked while out working.

Now, seeing Renn return dragging the magical beast's corpse, their anxious hearts completely settled.

"Is that the magical beast that attacked the farmland three days ago?"

"It's so big, it looks so fierce!"

"So what if it's powerful? Wasn't it still killed by the Lord?"

"Long live the Lord!"

As Renn returned to the territory dragging the Shadow Leopard's corpse, the originally lifeless Red River Territory suddenly came alive.

The commoners' admiration for Renn could no longer be described in words; in their eyes, their Lord was an omnipotent god.

The commoners followed Renn all the way, cheering and venting their joy, until they reached the gates of Red River Fortress.

On the other side, Fornal and all the management personnel of the Red River Territory breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Renn return safe and sound. Compared to the commoners, they had spent these three days in fear.

Although they learned from Chris that the Shadow Leopard had been defeated by Renn and even its tail had been cut off,

Renn had been gone for three days on his pursuit, and everyone was still incredibly nervous, fearing that something had happened to him out there.

The most important person in the entire Red River Valley was Renn. If something happened to him, the Red River Territory, which had no heir, would have to change masters, and by then, the fate of Fornal and the others would be unknown.

Especially Fornal, who had been constantly praying for Renn's safe return over these three days.

Every time he saw Chris and the other members of the Guard Army, he blamed them in his heart for letting Renn pursue alone, but Fornal only cursed them inwardly and didn't say it in front of Ross and the others.

Now that Renn was back, the worry on everyone's faces—whether it was Fornal, Ross, or Chris—vanished.

Everyone at the gate of Red River Fortress bowed respectfully to Renn, their eyes full of admiration as they looked at Renn and the Shadow Leopard's corpse behind him.

"Welcome back in victory, Lord!"

"The Lord is brave and invincible!"

"Lord, you..."

The praises of the crowd were endless, but Renn waved his hand to interrupt them.

"Alright, enough with the useless words."

Renn set down the Shadow Leopard's corpse and drew his sword, cleanly decapitating the Shadow Leopard with a single strike.

Then he turned to Ross and said:

"Hang the Shadow Leopard's head on the castle gate for three days for all to see, then take it down."

"Take the rest of the body back to the barracks. We're having an extra meal tonight!"

Ross and the others could hardly believe it, staring at Renn with wide eyes.

"Lord, take it all to the barracks?"

The flesh and blood of a Silver Rank magical beast would be sold by the pound in the Iron Wall Fortress or Rage Bear Fortress, costing five or six silver coins per pound.

This Shadow Leopard was not small, weighing about a ton and yielding around 1,200 pounds of meat. If it were sold, just the meat would be worth sixty or seventy gold coins.

A few pounds of Shadow Leopard meat was worth as much as Ross's monthly income.

"Of course. Let the brothers eat their fill. This Shadow Leopard's strength had reached the Silver Mid-rank, and its flesh is extremely rich in energy. I estimate the brothers' strength will improve significantly after eating it."

"However, be careful when processing it. The leopard skin and those claws must be preserved; they are precious supernatural materials that can be used to make magic equipment."

"After eating the meat, the leopard bones should also be kept; they can be used for medicine."

"Sigh, it's a bit of a pity. The leopard's blood has all drained out and spilled on the road. What a waste."

"Lord, that's not what I meant. I meant that the Shadow Leopard's flesh is very precious. Are you really going to distribute it?"

Ross confirmed once more.

"Of course, distribute it all. Do as I say!"

"This time, the soldiers did well, and the territory's losses were minimal. Especially Chris and the others, who performed exceptionally well. This is what the soldiers deserve."

"Take it away. I'm hosting a banquet tonight. Fornal, have all the managers and scholars come as well. Everyone will eat leopard meat together."

Hearing Renn's arrangements, Fornal hesitated to speak several times.

In his view, the Shadow Leopard should have been sold entirely, and the gold coins obtained placed in the Derrick Family treasury.

However, Renn spoke very resolutely, and he didn't dare to stand up and say no now.

Fornal lowered his head and responded softly:

"Yes, Lord!"

Renn warmly waved to the commoners gathered at the gate of Red River Fortress, then returned to the fortress amidst their cheers.