Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.

Pressing her back against the wall, Dorian continued to kiss her, his lips caressing hers while he grabbed her by the waist, his other hand grabbing a huge, possessive hold on her butt.

He could feel her immediate response in the low moans leaving her mouth.

Maria's erected nipples were just another proof that he could push the moment further.

Or at least, so he thought.

{Master, are you busy? I have news.}

Ciel's voice suddenly echoed in his head.

In a moment's notice, Dorian pulled away from the kiss, leaning his face to the side to further listen.

'Go on, you're not interrupting anything important.' As he spoke back, he gently placed his hand on Maria's cheek, soothing her.

The whole time, all Maria could register was the frantic, accelerated pounding of her heart against her ribs.

Ciel's voice echoed again:

{Master, a group of men have entered the territory, claiming they belong to the Yaima group and are currently threatening the villages for answers about something.}

A huge, devilish smile immediately played on Dorian's face upon hearing the newly delivered information.

In fact, even Maria, who was once blushing, couldn't help but throw Dorian a judgmental face, knowing he was most likely plotting something devious again.

…

"Sir Grak, please have mercy on us. We have nothing to give you this time."

The village head, a very good advisor to Dorian, bowed his head in shame right in front of Grak, the sub-leader of the terrorizing group.

Grak, still with a cigarette in his mouth, sat down casually on a small rock, holding a knife in one hand while his seventeen men stood stationed right behind him.

About seventeen men were scattered around the front of the village, each holding a weapon, hinting at their intimidating features.

Other than the village head, no other person dared to step out of their homes. Instead, they chose to watch from their windows, praying that their village head would end up being alright.

Unbeknownst to the Yaima group and Grak, it wasn't only the villagers that were watching them.

Scattered all around the place were Aurelian soldiers in stealth mode, watching everything and getting ready to respond if the situation were to blow out of proportion.

Grak, of course, could subtly sense the tension in the air. The fact that the villagers didn't seem to be panicking as much as he thought they should have set off immediate alarms.

Being a Master-ranked warrior gave him more than enough experience to realize the stillness was wrong.

"Say, I heard from one of my men that some intruders made their way into the city. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

The villager slightly raised his head at the question. "I am afraid not, we didn't see anything of the sort."

"Hm…" Grak went silent for a while, his eyes scanning the front of the village.

Just like the first time, he felt a sense of unease from the eyes watching him.

"Is that so? I also heard that a few of my men have been dying close to this area. Do you happen to know nothing about that as well?"

This time, Grak stood up, using his fingers to clean the edge of the blade.

The village head flinched a bit, considering taking a few steps back before answering.

"Uhm… we also heard something similar from the neighboring villages."

Grak chuckled. "You did. Awfully convenient, no?"

The village head gulped down his saliva and finally decided to take a step back.

Before he could take another step, Grak stretched his hand and grabbed the village head by the neck, immediately trying to squeeze the life out of the man.

Loud gasps from the other villagers watching echoed.

At some point, the wife of the village head dropped down to her knees in tears at the sight.

"Do you think I am a fool?" Grak pulled the man closer.

"You expect me to believe the bull crap you're telling me? Seems you are forgetting who you are speaking to."

All the village head could do was struggle to free himself, his feet dangling desperately in the air as he was getting lifted up. "I'll ask you one more time. Do you know who is causing all the killings of my men recently?"

Not a single word left the lips of the village head. Instead, he tried his best to hold his ground for as long as he could. He knew that Lord Dorian would most definitely come to their rescue.

It would be quite cowardly to rat out the people who were going out of their way to help them.

He couldn't do it. Not to the villagers who all looked up to him.

So, he chose to keep quiet, ready to take whatever would follow with that decision.

Grak, of course, soon took notice of this. It was obvious the village head had no intention of answering any of his questions.

Actually, all village heads in the Red District were chosen by the leaders of the Yaima group for the sole purpose of carrying out the orders given to them.

But this man seemed to be violating that rule.

Grak sighed, already making a decision in his head.

"Hey, old man. Just know you did this to your people." Grak looked to the bandit closest to him. "Take about ten women and ten men from this village. They'll be executed, and the rest will be taken to the mine."

The village head's eyes widened in shock as the bandits began to march towards the village, a sadistic smile on their faces.

"No, they had nothing to do wi—"

Bang!

Grak slammed the hilt of his knife right onto the village chief's forehead. The impact sent the man falling to the ground, unconscious, but bleeding rather heavily.

At the forefront of the scene, many of the bandits had begun moving towards the village entrance. However, they noticed something strange that caused them to immediately halt their advance.

The eyes that had been staring at them through the building windows since they arrived were still staring intently at them. They didn't move or panic; they were just staring.

At some point, the bandits had to stare at each other, making sure they understood how strange the situation was.

The single man who was at the very front, very close to the village entrance, gulped down his saliva at the uneasy feeling.

But just as he took yet another step forward—

Slash!

Maria erupted from the doorway, her red blade flashing silver. With one blinding, decisive strike, she sliced the bandit clean in half as she slid out, her movement spraying arterial blood across the packed dirt.

"It's an ambush!" Another bandit from the back yelled, warning the others.

Not even a second later, he received an arrow to the forehead from an Aurelian soldier hiding inside one of the homes.

Following that, more Aurelian soldiers—the elite Third Division—emerged from the houses, chasing from all areas, killing the bandits before they could even comprehend the counter-attack.

Grak watched this unfold with building rage, the sight causing him to clench his fist and grit his teeth. "What the hell is going on? Who are these people on my land?! No way! Is this an ambush? An ambush against me? No way!"

"Don't sound so surprised. You are up against me after all. This shouldn't be much of a surprise."

An unexpected voice echoed behind him.

Grak and the two other bandits close to him turned to check, and they could see Dorian standing there with a huge smile on his face, Ciel hovering at the side, her dragon wings spread out wide.

Upon seeing her, the two bandits froze in shock, wondering how she was able to float in the sky, not to mention how beautiful and deadly her wings looked.

Grak knew. It didn't take him long to understand. Most of his men were already wiped out, and the ones that remained were surrounded. A man oozing with an unnatural amount of mana was standing in front of him, and a woman with wings was floating beside him as well.

"It's you, isn't it? You are the one who sneaked into the city and began killing all my men in this region," he asked.

Dorian clasped his hands together, his gaze sharp. "If you know this, then there is no reason for me to waste time gathering information. Good, that saves me a lot of trouble." With his hands now resting on his waist, Dorian uttered the final command: "Ciel, kill the two unknowns. I need this man alone."

"As you wish." Ciel slightly bowed her head, then she pointed at one of the bandits.

They knew they were being targeted, so they reached for their weapons, willing to fight the woman on the spot. But just as they wanted to make an attack, two fast-moving laser beams shot out from Ciel's finger. It blasted their heads clean off instantly, causing their headless bodies to collapse to the ground with blood spewing onto the dirt.