Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System. - Chapter 235

Chapter 235: A deadfall look.
“I will kill the Witch of Evernight, even if it is the last thing I do.”

Her words did not seem like a joke.

The conviction in her voice was heavy, carrying a weight that settled uncomfortably in the room.

Suddenly, without Dorian having to utter a single word, Ravina grabbed him by the hand.

SHer grip was tight, bordering on painful, and a terrifying smile spread across her face as she spoke yet again.

“My Lord, I understand why you are worried. But I can handle this. Please, just leave this in my care. Whatever it takes, I will be useful to you. That is my sole purpose in this life.”

“Is that so…”

Dorian placed his hand on Ravina’s head, ruffling her hair gently. A smile formed on his face, even though it was entirely forced.

“I understand that you want to help, and I appreciate your devotion. But you are pregnant, so I need you to take it easy. Do not strain yourself unnecessarily.”

Ravina nodded her head immediately, her eyes never leaving his.

“I will.”

Dorian stared at her a little longer.

The expression on her face was far worse than before he had thought about being intimate with her.

In that moment, there was no doubt in his mind.

This was the exact same look he had seen on Yahoshi’s face in the past. It was a look of obsession masked as love, a devotion that bordered on madness.

“I will be going now. Don’t do too much.”

“As you wish.”

With a last fleeting smile, Dorian exited the room. He could feel her gaze burning into his back, watching him until the door clicked shut and he was finally out of the room.

Once Dorian had gotten outside, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. The air inside the room had felt suffocating.

The first thing he did was find a tall building where he could sit to clear his head a bit. He needed distance, and he needed perspective.

He climbed to the highest peak of the castle, settling on the edge of the roof.

Of course, Ceil was right beside him as well. She moved like a shadow, silent and unobtrusive.

She did not say much. Instead, she sat at the opposite side of the roofing tiles, looking up at the stars in the sky and the glowing moon that illuminated the sleeping capital below.

Although she remained silent, she could see the stressed look on her master’s face.

It indicated he was thinking hard about something, his mind racing through a dozen different scenarios.

Rather than the devilish, confident smile that would normally be on his face, he had a different look entirely. It was one etched with worry and deep-seated doubt.

[Notice: Your stress level is increasing. Caution is advised, as it could lead to fatigue soon.]

The system notification rang in his mind, breaking his train of thought.

‘Don’t I have three different kinds of mana in my body? I am a being of immense power. You are telling me I am weak to simple stress?’

[That is correct. Mental fortitude is separate from magical capacity.]

‘You are seriously not helping here.’

He focused his gaze on the empty streets below and the bright magic lights that shone over the pathways.

This was the world he had wanted ever since he reincarnated. It was a world he could not get in his former life.

Here, he was well-respected and known. He had the freedom to bring his ideas to a world that would appreciate them over and over again.

Even if it meant trading his status as the Dragon Monarch, he was more than willing to do so, as long as he could keep this ideal world intact. He wanted to be a builder, not a destroyer.

Now, it didn’t seem like that was the case anymore.

Whether he wanted it or not, the universe was clearly pushing him onto a single path. It was a path of conflict, war, and bloodshed.

‘I haven’t had a single wink of sleep today. And I still have to make my way back to Sualan before the workers wake up so I can give them their instructions for the project.’

Weighing down the tasks he still had to take care of, Dorian could not help but sigh aggressively.

He wiggled his hands and legs, shaking out his limbs as though trying to physically expel every ounce of frustration he was feeling in that moment.

Finally, once he was satisfied that he had regained some composure, he slowly stood to his feet. His gaze swept over the entire capital, his eyes sharp and calculating.

‘Raphael. Resource Gathering.’

[…]

[Would you like me to activate the skill?]

‘Why else would I have called it out?’ Dorian squeezed his face a bit, annoyed by the redundancy.

[Understood.]

[The skill Resource Gathering has been activated.]

[Target required…]

Looking toward the distance, his fist clenched as he prepared his next words. He replied with a single name.

‘Yahoshi.’

Since he had a perfectly clear image of her in his head, the system would have no issue using the skill to the best of its ability.

[Target has been identified.]

[Target has been found.]

In the blink of an eye, Dorian spotted it.

A familiar golden light manifested, stretching from the bridge of his feet. It shot out like a laser, cutting through the night sky.

It extended all the way toward the outskirts of the capital, spreading as far as another region entirely.

It pointed directly toward a region known to be in the land of the former Duke Valerie.

Dorian narrowed his gaze a bit, analyzing the direction and distance.

‘So that is where she is hiding. Closer than I expected.’

It was no wonder she was able to visit Maria and Seraphina so easily and yet make no effort to see the man she had once dated.

If she was this close by, then her worries were far too little, since she could always monitor him from a distance.

Dorian sighed, rubbing his temples.

‘Even in this new world, she stresses me out. Raphael, scan for witches as well. I need to know the scale of the threat.’

[As you wish.]

[The skill Resource Gathering has been activated.]

[Target class has been registered.]

[Targets have been found.]

To Dorian’s immediate surprise, the result was not a few isolated lines.

Multiple golden streaks exploded from his feet, scattering toward every corner of the kingdom like a fractured spiderweb.

There were far more than he had imagined.

Dorian stared in silence at the hundreds of golden lines radiating from him, each one pointing toward a potential witch.

The sheer number was staggering. It was far more than he had ever anticipated inhabiting the kingdom.

It wasn’t just a few isolated individuals hiding in the shadows; this was a coordinated infestation.

His shock quickly turned into a grim realization as he traced the patterns of the light.

The golden streaks were not evenly distributed. They were concentrated, forming a defensive or perhaps an offensive perimeter.

Most worryingly, a significantly dense cluster was focused directly on his own territory, the Aurelian Duchy.

‘They’ve already surrounded us,’ he thought, a cold knot tightening in his stomach.

The visibility and brightness of the lines indicated they were close, actively operating, and organized.

If the witches were already massed in his duchy, they were either preparing to strike or using it as a central base of operations.

This wasn’t a problem he could postpone any longer. His original plan of slow, careful expansion and observation was now irrelevant.

He was already under siege.

He took a deep, shaky breath, the worry etched on his face deepening into a hardened resolve.

Ceil, sensing the drastic change in his mood, shifted slightly. Her gaze was still fixed on the stars, but her attention was entirely on him, ready for a command.

‘Raphael, narrow the scan. Focus only on the Aurelian Duchy. I need an exact count and precise locations.’