In this crossover anime, many ruthless and powerful figures reside in my territory.

"and many more!"

Lister called out to Melf and asked her.

"Has anything major about to happen in the territory recently that could involve the other dukes?"

Melf stopped and pursed her lips.

"Duke Dick will bring a delegation to celebrate my ascension to the dukedom, which is in accordance with the rites, therefore..."

Liszt abruptly interrupted the other person, emphasizing the point again.

"Sister! Remember what I told you before!"

"Furthermore, in such matters, we should not first consider whether it conforms to the 'rites and regulations,' but rather consider their purpose in doing this and whether they might benefit from it."

Melf nodded upon hearing her brother's sincere words.

Suddenly, she asked.

"Lister, so you've given up your purpose of inheriting the title?"

Lister remained silent until his eyes met Melf's, at which point he spoke.

"I want a group of people who love and support me, I want a territory where I can live more comfortably, and—"

"I don't want my sister to marry someone she doesn't love."

"It turns out I was right; at least my sister didn't become the wife of that Barlow family scion with a broken leg."

A light shone in Melf's azure eyes.

She smiled, her long golden hair fluttering in the wind.

"Thank you, I owe you one."

"You're welcome. I'll be happy as long as you don't try to steal my cake anymore."

The two smiled at each other, and then Melphine strode out of the study to meet their father.

Liszt, who remained in the study, took a deep breath and picked up the Zanpakuto at his waist.

The blade was drawn, its silvery edge reflecting the cold, blue eyes.

Hopefully, his guess is wrong.

Otherwise... he would have no choice but to kill someone.

Presumably Madara and Aizen wouldn't refuse to witness the mysterious power of this world.

Chapter 25 Groups Divided by Ideas

Lister, who came out of the study, originally wanted to find Madara, but when he opened the system to check the other party's location, he found that Madara and Aizen were constantly moving within the inner city, probably gathering information.

It's quite normal for a ninja and a cunning old fox to do this kind of thing.

Since that's the case, there's no need to look for anyone else.

So Lister went straight back to his large bedroom in the manor house, where Lena and Elsa were packing their belongings.

"Come out with me."

Without asking any further questions, the two women simply carried some short-handled weapons in their standard long maid outfits and rode away from the inner city with Lister.

"Sir, where are we going?"

"Let's go to the Church of Holy Light first."

Multiple churches would be built within large territories, distributed throughout the city. In fact, in urban planning, a church would be placed in every residential area.

The number of churches can indirectly indicate the prosperity of a city.

The Temple has gone to great lengths to ensure that every citizen of the United States focuses on the faith in the Holy Light; even indentured citizens can pray to the Holy Light in a side room of the church.

As far as Lister knew, only a very small number of orcs were able to gain the favor of the Holy Light and become Temple followers.

In his view, this was merely a measure by the Temple to give the orcs a glimmer of hope.

After all, one of the political correctnesses of the United States is human supremacy, and any alien race or half-human with alien characteristics is inherently inferior to humans in status.

Outside the church, a line of people prayed, with the human and orc lines clearly separated.

The orcs queuing in the open space beside the side hall had pale, thin faces and wore patched, faded clothes wrapped around their bodies.

Winter is coming soon, and they hope this winter won't be too cold, as long as no one freezes to death.

On the other side of the wooden fence, ordinary people dressed in simple but complete thick clothes were chatting and laughing, forming a stark contrast with those on the other side of the fence.

They knew that the cotton in their clothes and the wheat in their bread were mostly from orcs.

But what does it matter?

That's what they, as orcs, should do.

They come to church to pray in order to tell God about their contributions.

As long as they do good deeds and accumulate virtue in this life, and work hard without complaint, they can be reborn into a wealthy and noble family in the next life.

Those who are lazy, cunning, or commit crimes will be haunted by inferior foreign blood in their next life and will be destined to be laborers for life.

Lister and his two companions stood at a distance on horseback, seemingly in a different world from the rest of the group.

"grown ups……"

Lena's eyes showed a hint of reluctance.

"Lena, I know what you want to say."

"I've told you before, they are not our companions."

“In their eyes, you are the degenerate people who do not obey the rules set forth by the gods.”

"Even they themselves believe that the foreign blood in their bodies is sinful, so why should we do something that is both difficult and thankless?"

Liszt said calmly.

He knew from the beginning the importance of unifying the mindset of the territory, which is why he spent many years personally selecting the people who would help him expand the territory.

He had no intention of liberating the indentured citizens of the United States, nor did he have any plans to enlighten them.

The United States has four thousand years of deeply entrenched thought control, and the nation has stagnated for a millennium.

All he wanted was to establish his ideal territory, not to start a war in the country.

He hated war, especially war that was solely for the selfish desires of those in power.

Thinking about it that way, he's really lucky.

If you can find a huge basin with a suitable temperature, you can obtain the system and have the possibility of starting interdimensional trade.

Lister cleared his mind of his jumbled thoughts, activated his Copying Magic Eye, and used his farsightedness and X-ray vision to observe his surroundings, especially the reactions of the clergy inside the church.

"Lena, Elsa, have you found anything?"

At that moment, Elsa whispered.

"Master, some people in the human group are passing notes, and their eyes are looking at us strangely."

Lena looked completely bewildered.

Lister could tell from their expressions what they had been doing while he was silent.

Lena was mostly looking at his face, while Elsa was paying attention to her surroundings.

"Lena, be more careful. You're my captain of the guard."

"You used to be much more vigilant than you are now."

"Hold... I'm sorry."

Lena blushed slightly; she felt so safe and secure around Lister that she unconsciously relaxed.

At this moment, Elsa took the initiative to ask, her voice gentle and delicate.

"Master, are they from the Dark Court?"

"...Probably. One of my purposes in coming here is to see if the Dark Court is playing a role in fueling the flames."

“Those guys despise the Code of Law and the rites, and they spread their own belief that ‘nothing is true, everything is permitted’, saying that you can do anything without regard to the rules.”

"They're just a bunch of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome). If they hadn't been lucky enough to obtain the 'Shadow' training method, they probably would have been wiped out long ago."

"Back then, I was disguised and walking on the street, and they actually tried to recruit me face-to-face. I was amazed."

How does their leader select its members?

Lister cursed and swore at the brains of the group of shadow assassins.

Those guys have been wiped out by the Temple's forces several times, but because of the nature of shadow power, they can run incredibly fast, so they've never been completely wiped out.

It seems that their repeated successful escapes gave them confidence, and they began to openly oppose the United States, especially the Temple, one of the three holy sites.

In his view, these guys with brains survived because they did incomprehensible things and because they weren't valued by the Holy Land.

"Alright, now let's go take a look around the inner city."

"Master, have you found the information you are looking for?"

"Yes, but this isn't the place to talk."

The three rode their horses slowly along the road, like noble young masters out for a stroll with two maids.

In reality, Liszt was observing the structure of the inner city, checking for secret passages or the like.

The inner city of White Moon City is enormous, built on a hill, with walls over twenty meters high, but it is not a difficult obstacle for assassins to cross.

and……

The gloom in Liszt's heart grew thicker and thicker. By the time he had ridden his horse around the inner city walls, the sun was almost setting below the horizon.

The three returned to the inner city and encountered Chris, the guard who was stationed there, once again.

Lister looked at his opponent, his fist itching to punch him.

"...Chris, is there anything important coming up lately?"

Chris knelt down on one knee and said loudly.