Chapter 355: Preparing for the Next Sector

Once the others had left, Cassian turned to Nessa with a serious expression.

“I’d like to meet Matriarch Elowen Fenwick.”

“Huh?” Nessa blinked at him. The wine was still making it difficult to think. “You like women as old as my great-grandmother?”

Cassian tapped her forehead with a knuckle.

“Ow!” She covered the spot with both hands, her eyes watering. “You’ll knock what little sense I have left out of me!”

“I want to discuss business with her. The new sector opens in half a month.”

Despite his exasperation, he reached over to rub her forehead.

“Come on. Did that really hurt so much?”

But Nessa was no longer thinking about the tap. The words new sector had cleared a good deal of the fog from her head, and excitement lit her face as she grasped what he meant.

“I’ll contact Great-Grandmother right away!”

She hurried off, then stumbled over her own feet.

“Tomorrow!” Cassian called after her.

——

Early the next morning, Matriarch Elowen Fenwick arrived in Cassian’s Domain with more than a dozen women from the family. Seren and Susie were among the familiar faces accompanying her.

Given Cassian’s present standing, there was nothing improper about the matriarch coming to visit him herself.

The Fenwicks had a large pool of experienced female Human Lords. That made the family an excellent match for the Eclipse Chapterhouse and its recruitment requirements.

Elowen might have been Nessa’s great-grandmother, but she carried herself with a mature grace that made Cassian look twice. A protective glow surrounded her, marking her visit through an Observer Passage under Tier III Steward authority.

She stepped forward and bowed with careful courtesy.

“I’ve heard a great deal about you, Lord Cassian. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Please, sit.” He gestured to a chair, then went straight to the point. “I have another two thousand Eclipse Chapterhouse Blueprints.”

They were already prepared. Producing this batch through the Hall had cost twenty million Muster Fortune from his accumulated reserves, at ten thousand per blueprint.

Elowen had barely settled into her chair before she froze.

Two thousand?

The previous gift of five hundred had kept her awake for days. Now he had another two thousand ready?

Even a Lord who had worked backward from a troop to recreate its recruitment building should not be handing out blueprints in such quantities.

Around her, mouths fell open. Seren and Susie looked just as stunned as the others. None of them believed he would joke about something like this.

Elowen rose abruptly.

“From this day forward, the Fenwick family of the Homeworld will follow your lead.”

That was quick.

Cassian had expected a favorable response, but the firmness of her pledge still surprised him. A moment later, he understood.

When Edran had seen his Five Elements Temple, he had stopped treating Cassian as a promising junior and started treating him as an ally.

Now Cassian had more than the Temple. He was Humanity’s Paragon, the foremost Human Lord of the new sector. The Fenwicks had long survived by finding powerful protectors, and Nessa had already given them a close connection to him.

Why would they refuse?

Pleased with Elowen’s decisiveness, he continued just as directly.

“Sector 667 opens in a little over a dozen days. Many of your family’s experienced Lords descended to help us in Sector 666, giving up their old Domains. Once they’ve exhausted what they can achieve here, they’ll need somewhere to start again.”

He waved a hand.

Tens of thousands of the items he had set aside the previous day appeared before them: Hero Sigils, Troop Sigils, Domain Advancement Writs, and other supplies that would be useful in a new sector.

“These, along with the blueprints, are for your family’s newcomers. I’ll keep the stock set aside here until it’s needed.”

Elowen’s eyes shone as she took in the collection.

“With these supplies and two thousand Chapterhouse Blueprints, our Lords in Sector 667 will become a force worth having in only a few years. You have my word.”

Cassian nodded.

The life of a Lord was measured in centuries. A hundred years from now, a single year’s difference between two sectors would mean very little.

Divine Province would eventually lose people. Some would die; others would retire from the sector. He needed new Lords who could take their places, and the opening of Sector 667 was an opportunity to begin preparing them.

The items before him would not bring in much money by his present standards. In a new sector, however, they could give Fenwick Lords a start comparable to the children of royalty.

Even Darian had only been allowed to bring Epic items when the sector opened.

The family’s compatibility with the Chapterhouse made them a good choice. The other reason was simpler: Cassian did not have many choices at all.

*However strong I become here, I still have no real foundation in the main world.*

He was considering that when Nessa suddenly raised her voice.

“Cassian, look at the Homeworld Channel! Those shameless bastards!”

His eyes narrowed. Odette’s warning from the previous day immediately came to mind.

He opened the linked provincial announcement. There it was, posted in the name of the Homeworld Council.

[To promote friendly relations between Fivefold Heaven and the Homeworld Realm, the Western Beacon has submitted the following proposal: donate the Five Elements Temple currently held within the Homeworld Realm to Fivefold Heaven.]

[In return, Fivefold Heaven will offer places for Human Lords to pursue further training within its Realm.]

[In recognition of Divine Province’s outstanding contribution to the battle for the Five Elements Temple, Divine Province will receive an exclusive one percent of these places. The remaining places will be allocated among the other 364 Provinces.]

[The proposal is now open to a vote. Governors, please cast your ballots.]

A voting panel appeared beneath the announcement.

Cassian had expected something like this. He could hardly be bothered to get angry.

“How thoughtful. They even remembered to give Divine Province special treatment.”