Just as Mark thought, once one takes a step forward then others would definitely follow behind. More guards steps forward and gave accounts of various stuff the nobles did in this new land of his. The ones named were almost present in the ones kneeling and tied up as the Baron and his son were already dead anyways.
Mark had Melissa and the three new vampire ladies write down as well as gather the evidences provided by the guards. They were mostly farmers who were forcefully conscripted by the baron anyways so they did not show much loyalty to the deceased man. Mark also learned that the former baron liked to hire mercenaries to do most of his dirty work.
There were two groups which was present in the tavern in a nearby hamlet which Mark ordered to detain. It only took two hours as five of the men and women that followed him help in tranquilizing the targets. Mark had the kneeling nobles detained in a dungeon under the castle where they also found some imprisoned people which mostly accounted for women.
A secret room which was mostly from the son of the baron as it was decorated with writings about necromancy and forbidden magic. There he noticed the small idol of tzeenech meaning that guy resorted to contacting the ruinous god for knowledge which the vampires and other necromancers did not even dare to do.
Most necromancers worship the God of Death of the respective pantheon of their race but sometimes others become so obsessed in learning knowledge about magic that the tempting whispers of the Chaos god of Knowledge is heard within their ears and minds.
No wonder Mark read before in the Wiki that there was a Necromancer Lord in this castle in the future but was not discovered by wandering damsels or grail knights. Maybe that son of the Baron was able to hide his activities for a long time because of the various forbidden magic in the room.
Mark did not burn it as he would study these later so he would have more in depth knowledge of the magic of this world. As backward and dangerous the world of warhammer fantasy is, Mark could not deny that there were magic here that could indeed be useful, people just don't have enough imagination here to make use of magic without going cuckoo or something for knowledge.
Soon everything valuable was gathered by Mark as well as having the surrendered nobles as well as the imprisoned ones give him all their properties. Mark reasoned that if they were not given some sort of punishment then the Duke might not give them mercy which was just more bullshit from him.
But Mark did give some carrots after administering the stick, he hired these nobles to be some sort of officials that would work for him only in contract as another form of punishment. So the Duke could not find reasons to get rid of them as it would seem that their lives were now enslaved by Mark due to the contract.
It was a long night of threats and promises that made Mark tired of all the work, now he understood why most politicians looked tired as f*ck in TV. But Mark persevered as he made sure there were no loose ends as there will be more trouble coming now that there is an 86% chance his deduction coming true.
He had no trouble taking over the guards of his new fief and incorporates them to his forces. It was two days of sleepless nights as Mark had some of the men in his town arrive here to reorganize the new group of people under him. Having at least 15 kilometers distance from his own town to this castle made things troublesome but thankfully he now received the rewards of his sudden mission.
He now had extra anywhere doors from Doreamon that he could connect to the doors within his back yard which gave him easy access towards the town. He had the Butler golem return as to act like it was the one handling the town. Now Mark sat in the great Hall that was now cleaned by the maids and servants that woke up the morning after the raid.
They were all surprised how the castle changed hands in one night that they still felt that they were dreaming as they served their new lord. At least he seemed kind and better than the last one, Mark also made sure to screen the people here for any possible spies. Which surprisingly found to be none, this meant the nobles were quite careful to have hidden their plans from the Duke.
Too bad the vampires were able to infiltrate them which made Melissa know of the plans. Mark had taken the three new vampires to the backyard and also showed them the power of the omnitrix but it was not waybig that he used. He picked swampfire as he was curious about the effect if he used the blue grass martial spirit along with swampfire's plant control.
And it was there Mark awed them by making a 500 meter tall redwood tree which Mark made into a large tree tower with rooms and all. As knowledgeable the Vampires were, they have never heard of a dryad or treeman show such prowess in the Lore of Life or Life Magic.
Such feat were of great beings and Mark showed them how he could start fires which amazed them feeling that he was a dreadful being able to use three kinds of magic(Life, Fire and Beast which they thought Mark used for transforming)
Mark also slowly and subtly was hypnotizing them in feeling relaxed and not alert by giving off non hostile aura around him. Swampfire stinks but since Mark has the blue grass martial spirit the alien came out with a slight mutated appearance and gave off a more calming scent. The methane comes out if he uses fire though, but he gave off another scent when not in battle.
Now the four vampires stood behind him like lloyal servants as they have been persuaded to think that their Queen Neferata has no chance in defeating Mark. So they thought that if they help Mark then they might earn their sisters some mercy from Mark especially the one in front of them which was two of their sisters who came from the lands of nobles that were being purged by the Duke.
They were noblewomen married into nobles of Brettonia like them and they brought at least 50 men and women which were their thralls. The two were standing in front of Mark confused as to why their sisters were acting like loyal guards to the mortal man but they had heard the warning from Melissa earlier so they kept quiet.
Mark observed them as he sat there and looked at the side where the nobles that surrendered to him sat with the leading one to be a middle-aged noblewoman besides a young 12 year old boy. There was also the young girl who was recently married to the former baron, she still sat in a weird way which made Mark look at the scene amused.
He had given these people administrative jobs like documenting the families and people living in his fief. The organizational system here is so lax that he was able to discover lots of points that was exploited by the last group of nobles. Mark sat there and listened as a formality so there would be no rumors of an unknown group within his domain.
He had already sent a group of riders to deliver a message to the Duke of his success in capturing the Castle with only 15+ subordinates of him. He also told the guards how he captured the castle with only few people so they would spread the word of his feat.
This decision was made so that he people would have a peace of mind that the one in charge after the change of hands of the land in someone competent and strong. A deterrent of sorts as Mark felt this castle would face trouble soon, he needed something that would make people with ill intentions hesitate in the future.
He dismissed the newly arrived group and instructed Melissa in arranging a private meeting with the vampires and the two leading nobles that were left after this. Soon the thralls were incorporated into the guards and servants in the castle, Mark could hear the cries of weary men in the Bailey as he had his people give them a basic course of disciplined ethics.
Things were moving too fast that Mark was not sure if he could complete the remaining quest he has of gaining profit from the Elector count of Marienberg. He only has a few days left before the time limit but as long as a reply arrives he was sure he could finish what he offered in no time.
As Mark waited he took out the enhancement serum that he had been saving for a while. He was tempted to take it already as he felt it was a waste sitting there in his inventory.
"System." Mark said.
[???}
"Is my status accurate?" Mark never talked much to the system as he did not received any useful answers before. As his questions were mostly on what his purpose here or the endgame of the system.
[That depends, host need be reminded that the system is only using a generalization of your current physical state and existing skills. It is not entirely accurate if you base it when the system had to reevaluate the host as there were some things you have hidden yourself.]
Mark nodded as he remembered when his self-lock has disappeared before.
"So what's the point of giving me stats and such if I can't even add some point of increase my strength." Mark was confused about this as the golden fingers of other system users is that they could get godlike strength after saving up lots of points in a short time. But Mark's system did not have that, sure he has the store but he could not buy from the magical store as he had no achievement points yet.
Sure he could buy lots of stuff from the general store but there were also many restricted items. Mark was thanking his luck that he was gifted with an omnitrix which made things easier for him.
[It was just a general representation of the system in case the host does not understand his physical prowess. As for the adding points, the system has no such function as it finds that functionality is useless in the grand scheme of things. The Total war system is made as assistance for the host so it is also restricted and gives things helpful for the host only.]
[Having to add point mean that the system must lose some functions that were initially made for the host as he progresses. Adding points and stuff similar to that means that it was not your power to begin with. Total War System ensures that the host status is just a means to describe your overall progress. Does the host not want to see his status?]
"…" Mark was in contemplation as he did not have any confidence in how the system evaluates over all lethality of a being. Maybe it was just a general representation but Mark has no need for stats and all, it is useless in measuring things in Marvel and DC where common sense is always thrown out the window.