Originally, Isaac had wanted to escort her a bit further. Otherwise, he would feel too guilty about accepting the Magic Book. After all, he hadn’t really helped Angel much—he’d only traveled with her for the final stretch, offering her some protection under his family’s name.

However, based on their conversations over the past couple of days, Isaac had come to understand that Angel would have been fine even without him.

That was because a Witch Country, ruled by Witches, existed in this world!

The country operated on the principle of Witch supremacy and was always recruiting Witches from abroad. It was an exceptionally evil nation!

After all, few Witches were mentally stable. Expecting them to be lawful good was a complete fantasy!

They were chaotic evil!

This also went to show just how powerful the Witch Country was!

If they weren’t strong, they would have long since collapsed from all the trouble the Witches caused daily. That gaggle of Witches didn’t limit their chaos to the Witch Country. When it came to other nations, especially smaller ones, a Witch in a bad mood might turn the entire population into swine to be toyed with at her whim.

Or even slaughtered!

The Witch Country was only able to exist because they openly had three Demigods.

And that was just what was known publicly. It was impossible to count how many more Witches could burn away their life force to temporarily become Demigods!

So, as long as these lunatics didn’t try to destroy the world, the other major powers couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

And the Witch Country was who stood behind Angel.

Furthermore, they held her in high regard!

After all, she was a noble Origin Witch!

Thus, Isaac didn’t escort her for long before she was picked up by Witches from the Witch Country. The next time they met, things would likely be completely different.

Although Isaac still felt slightly indebted, he quickly put the feeling aside.

’Witches are all lunatics. It’s best to have as little to do with them as possible! In fact, it’s best to have no dealings with them at all!’

...

After parting ways with Angel, the travel speed of Isaac’s party increased dramatically.

There weren’t many of them to begin with—just him, Liu Li, Smith, and Barton, as the others hadn’t accompanied him to the Imperial Capital. All four were in excellent physical shape, so they could make good time when traveling at full speed.

Compared to the month-long journey there, the return trip took only a week, cutting the time down to a fourth.

They could have been even faster if Isaac had spent less time browsing the Magic Markets along the way. However, they weren’t in a particular hurry to get home, and gathering materials was also important. After all, while Lake Town’s selection was comprehensive, everything was sold at a premium and was far more expensive than buying locally.

"Hmm? We didn’t take a wrong turn, did we?" Back at the castle, Isaac froze, glancing back at the road they had just traveled in confusion.

’No, this is the right way. So what’s going on here?’

Isaac stared, utterly bewildered, at the heavily fortified castle. It now boasted several new arrow towers and pillboxes, and his mind was filled with question marks.

However, the moment he saw a section of a white tower peeking out from behind the castle, he understood. It must have been his older sister. When she delivered his laboratory, she must have seen how shabby the place was and decided to expand it for him while she was at it.

Sure enough, a moment later, a Quasi-Knight came jogging up to Isaac. He saluted before handing over a document.

"Lord Isaac, these are the new structures Lady Cheryl has added to the castle: four arrow towers and two pillboxes. Each pillbox is equipped with a Magic Crystal Cannon. Lady Cheryl has instructed that the ammunition for the cannons will be supplied by the territory."

Isaac was stunned. ’Magic Crystal Cannons... Those are weapons of mass destruction. Are they really for me?’

’Isn’t this supposed to be the heartland of the territory?’

Isaac stood on his tiptoes to get a better look at the pillboxes. After examining them from several angles, he confirmed that they could indeed only fire outward, not toward the castle. They definitely weren’t meant to be used against him.

"Tsk, tsk. Such overkill. It would have been much better if she’d just given me the money," Isaac muttered, shaking his head in resignation. He put the document away and walked into the castle.

As for getting the money instead...

’That was just wishful thinking. Where would the territory get that kind of money right now?

Even the landlord has no grain to spare.’

Back in the castle, Isaac sent Smith and Barton to see to their duties. After his long absence, many matters in the territory required his attention. First on the list was dismissing the local herb farmers.

The profits from Silver Moon Grass were too low, and he had other plans for the fields. Relocating the farmers would be a troublesome affair requiring Smith’s attention. On top of that, Isaac had also been granted the tax revenue from several nearby towns, which also needed supervision. Again, only Smith could handle it.

Compared to those two tasks, everything else—like reviewing the servants’ work—was practically a form of relaxation.

It was a good thing he had Smith. Otherwise, Isaac really wouldn’t have been in the mood to deal with any of it.

Barton, on the other hand, had fewer tasks than Smith, but his plate was still full. The main issue was that the Guard Team had doubled in size!

It now numbered twenty men!

The patrol schedules didn’t need to be redrawn, as the men had already organized that themselves. What Barton needed to do was establish his authority over the ten newcomers through sheer strength.

These men were elites who had previously belonged exclusively to the Solomons Family. And unlike Barton, who had retired after decades with no hope of a breakthrough, every single one of these ten Quasi-Knights still had the potential to advance!

They were practically geniuses!

And with genius comes arrogance. Naturally, they were dismissive of Barton, who had only become a Knight by taking a Magic Potion. In their eyes, they could have done the same if they’d been given the potion!

Therefore, to manage the Guard Team effectively, Barton first needed to have a ’friendly chat’ with them.

Meanwhile, Isaac took Liu Li to check on the little critters he was raising. For one, he wanted to see how they had grown during his absence. For another, he needed to teach Liu Li how to handle them, as these miscellaneous chores would be her responsibility from now on.

That’s right, Isaac had no intention of giving up on raising these creatures. The profit was small, but it was still profit. Once he scaled up the operation, it could become quite substantial. Every little bit counts, after all.

Unfortunately, without his personal care, the growth of the Demon Rats and Dragon Lizards had been rather average.

The Dragon Lizards in particular were unremarkable. They had only grown in size, with no change to their bloodline. This was to be expected, as the probability of a Dragon Lizard awakening its Dragon Blood was already extremely low.

Most people didn’t raise them to awaken their Dragon Blood anyway. The materials harvested from a Dragon Lizard’s body could turn a small profit, though it was just a small one.

But that was the reality of it. If it were that easy to strike it rich, would the opportunity have ever fallen to them?

The Demon Rats, however, were doing much better than the Dragon Lizards. He had taken great care of them back at the fortress, and even after being away for a month, their numbers had grown steadily. The population had now reached over five hundred, and the original Beast Breeding Arena was getting crowded. It would need to be replaced soon.

Furthermore, because of extensive inbreeding, issues were beginning to arise with their bloodline, and they needed adjustments before they could continue to reproduce.

Overall, though, the problems weren’t too serious!