Chapter 33: Chapter 33: I was just joking.
"By the way, Lord Liam"
Irene's voice came from the side, pulling his thoughts away from the matter on his mind.
"Since you are the strongest member in our alliance, I will appoint you the position of a warlord"
"This position will grant you a certain amount of buff. It should be quite helpful for you"
Liam's attention was immediately captured by her words, and he turned to face her with a keen interest.
"A buff?"
"Yes, but since our alliance is still at level 1, the buff for the positions is still relatively weak"
"But for now, it should still provide some additional help for you"
Irene explained, a hint of apology in her voice as she commanded her maids to serve their tea from the side.
"What kind of buff is it?"
Liam inquired directly, eager to learn more.
"It will give you a 5% additional attack during a battle"
Irene revealed.
"5% additional attack?"
'It might not be much, but given my current level. It should help a lot '
Liam responded, his eyes gleaming with intrigue at the revelation.
"And the reason I am appointing you as our warlord is because of the upcoming plan I have in mind for our alliance base location"
Irene continued, her voice carrying a sense of determination.
"Pardon?"
Liam asked, his interest piqued by her words.
"To explain it, we will have to build an alliance fortress somewhere suitable on the map, anywhere is fine as long as the area suits our taste"
"This fortress will grant us control over the surrounding 30 kilometers area around it, establishing it as our alliance territory"
Irene elaborated.
"The more areas there are under our influence, the better it is for us, as it is one of the requirements to upgrade our alliance level"
"The higher the level, the more area can we claim to be under our jurisdiction. There are way too many benefits of having an area of our own that I simply can't list them if I want to"
"And the one good apparent thing about having an area is that we can freely build any buildings as much as we want under the scope of these areas"
"we may treat it as a joint coalition of cities under all of the lords within the alliances"
"this way, we can reduce the problem of overpopulation within our territory and instead build cities around the alliance's area to expand"
"Similar to the lord's territory, an energy wall will appear on the border of the claimed area, separating the unclaimed area"
"It will be easily noticeable to differentiate since the alliance area will be under a giant hue of colors that are scattered all over the place"
"Just imagine it, a city that stretched far and wide under our alliance area. The people smiling and everyone is happy!"
Irene explained with a smile on her face, her hand spread apart as if she was welcoming praise from Liam.
This rock-headed person simply sat still and sipped the tea silently, leaving her anticipation behind under the silence.
"Say... "
Liam added, his eyes suddenly became sharp and also quite curious as he posed his doubts.
"How did you know all of this?"
"Ah tha-"
And without even Irene being able to continue, Liam interrupted her words.
"After all, to know all of these extra details, you must either have done this before or... someone else had informed you of it?"
"And please, don't use the system as an excuse as if the oracle fell down through it."
"I know how the system works, it won't explain such details to the lord. They will always let us explore on our own"
"And to the fact that no one knows of this information within the global chat before you... "
"Even the legendary LordAskme didn't know this yet"
Liam paused, and gently placed the cup on the table. His legs crossed with one of his hands placed against the side of his head, overlooking Irene with a sense of curiosity within his eyes.
"It's strange, Lady Irene. You really are one strange woman"
"You are making me more and more interested in you"
"This..."
Irene fell silent for a moment under Liam's questioning gaze, her mind racing to come up with a plausible explanation.
Then, with a forced smile, she replied.
"This only means that I am useful to you. I have the knowledge to offer..."
"A-and I know a lot more that might be useful for you"
With this smile, Liam couldn't make up which emotion was it.
To him, it looks like she is crying and also smiling at the same time. Naturally, she won't tell her secrets easily.
Everyone has their own secrets, even him.
"Ohhh?"
Liam raised his eyebrows at her words, seemingly more intrigued.
"It is true, my worth in your eyes from now on is higher than ever"
Irene continued, trying to sound confident.
"S-see, I can be extremely valuable to you"
Irene puffed up her chest proudly.
However, Liam's next words immediately made her embarrassed and flustered.
"Yes, extremely valuable that I am actually thinking of kidnapping you right now and making you my wife"
Liam said with a harmless smile.
Irene blushed furiously, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"W-what?"
She stammered, taken aback by Liam's unexpected comment.
Irene's face flushed crimson at Liam's jest, a mixture of embarrassment and amusement evident in her expression.
"K-kidnapping me?... w-wife?"
She stammered, her voice laced with nervous laughter.
"Hohohoho! Please tune down the jokes, Lord Liam"
"I-I'm not sure if that's a compliment or a threat"
She added, attempting to lighten the mood. Fanning her face which was as red as a tomato right now with her hands.
Liam chuckled softly, his gaze warm as he reassured her.
"Don't worry, Lady Irene. I was merely joking. I wouldn't dream of causing you any harm."
Irene let out a relieved sigh hearing this, her tension easing slightly at his reassuring words.
"You certainly have a unique sense of humor, Lord Liam"
She remarked with a forced smile, though deep within...
'Why is this crazy bastard always thinking of kidnapping me!'
'Well... it's not like I will resist'
'Gah! Calm Down Irene, his handsome looks are temporary. Nothing lasts forever '
'B-but... he's truly handsome and he's strong too.
And he's totally my type '
'Irene! Stop fangirling!'
It was a whirlwind of thoughts deep within her heart.
"That I do"
Liam agreed, his eyes twinkling with amusement and also annoyance.
He had to stop teasing Irene for now since a certain being didn't like it and had been spamming the system prompt into his ears a thousand times already.
He hated this feeling of being spied on...
[The Lord, the divine of truth is warning the lord not to flirt with another woman in her absence]
[The Lord, the divine of truth is warning the lord not to flirt with another woman in her absence]
[The Lord, the divine of truth is warning the lord not to flirt with another woman in her absence]
[The Lord, the divine of truth is warning the lord not to flirt with another woman in her absence]
These messages had been barraging his mind for the moment he stepped into Irene's territory. It was as if, the so-called divine of truth doesn't like him to be any close to any other women.
No matter how cold-headed Liam is, it is still annoying to be pestered like this, and he cursed within.
'If you like me so much, then come down here to make me yours'
It was just a blurt out of annoyance, Liam didn't really think much of his words since he didn't take the so-called Divine of truth seriously.
After all, for every divine being, they shouldn't be able to enter the mortal world right?
Isn't that the normal setting for every story?
Powerful beings want to kill the protagonist, but due to restrictions, they can't descend into the world, thus allowing the protagonist ample time to grow.
However, what happened next caught him completely off guard.
The system prompt changed.
[I will be waiting for you in your bedroom]
"..."
"..."
"..."
The silence was deafening as Irene suddenly noticed Liam's odd behavior.
"L-lord Liam?"
Poof, Liam puffed out the tea from his mouth, startling Irene at the same time as she hurriedly asked.
"What?"
"I-is the tea bad? W-wait, let me get you another drink."
"No"
Liam raised his hand.
"I was just thinking of something else and accidentally choked on the water"
"I was careless"
Liam replied, trying to mask his surprise.
After pondering about it for a while.
'Then I will meet you soon'
'And also, I was just joking. Why is everyone taking my jokes seriously'
Shaking those thoughts away is almost impossible to do so, all Liam could do now is to put the matter at the back of his mind and refocus on the matter at hand.
He will deal with the so-called Divine truth later since judging from the system prompts reaction, the so-called divine truth doesn't have malicious thoughts against him.
Maybe...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone