Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

As Rowan focused more on the women, a memory fragment was triggered in his mind. In the memories, he saw Elara and the other women being dragged away by Glenwood soldiers.

At the same time, their stats were revealed to him.

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[ Name: Elara ]

[ Occupation: Farmer ]

[ Special Skill: Farming (F) ]

[ Status: Pissed ]

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[ Name: Sansa ]

[ Occupation: Cook ]

[ Special Skill: Master of Ingredients (F) ]

[ Status: Disgusted ]

----

As he studied their stats, Rowan noticed that three of them were farmers, while the other two were cooks. Given the village's lack of development, tailoring, cooking, and farming were the main occupations for women, while 70% of the men were farmers.

As he mentally noted this, he couldn't help but be concerned about the expressions on their faces, which clearly displayed hate and disgust toward him.

'What did I do to deserve such hatred from these women? I can't recall anything in my memories where I offended them,' Rowan wondered as he looked at their faces.

"Elara, I have fulfilled my promise," D'andre said to Elara.

Elara only nodded in response, then returned her sharp gaze to Rowan.

Seeing her sharp gaze, D'andre couldn't help but pity Rowan.

"Lord Rowan, did you really agree to become friends with Glenwood after all they have done to our people?" Elara couldn't hold back her emotions any longer and spoke up.

Rowan looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. He was about to reply when she cut him off, continuing to berate him.

"Why would you make such a decision despite all they have done to us? You were supposed to take after your father and become a notable ruler who wouldn't cower in the presence of strong enemies.

Do you have any idea what those people have done to us? They made us nothing but slaves to fulfill their wishes, making our lives miserable, and yet you decided to accept their vassal decree!"

Elara went all out, speaking her mind on the issue. The other women joined in as well, revealing their disgust toward his decision.

Rowan listened to them with a deadpan expression. He wanted to tell them that their perception of him was just a misunderstanding, but seeing how angry they were, he thought it better to hear them out.

As they continued ranting about Glenwood, Rowan picked up bits of useful information they dropped.

As he was gathering the information, suddenly a challenge was triggered.

----

[ A Minor Challenge Has Been Triggered ]

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[ Challenge: Improve Relationship with the Returnees ]

[ Details: Five of your followers' favorability has dropped to hatred (-80% favorability). You must raise their favorability to surpass friendly level (80%) to earn rewards. ]

[ Reward: 500 Evolution Points ]

[ Deadline: 3 Hours ]

NOTE: Favorability updates will be reflected regularly until the quest is completed or the deadline is reached.

---

Rowan didn't pay much attention to the challenge, as he already planned to improve his relationship with them. And to do that, he just needed a few minutes.

"Calm down," he said with a light sigh.

Following his words, the women stopped talking, their chests heaving with visible anger as they looked at him.

"You didn't even give your beloved Lord a chance to welcome you back from that damned place... So now that I have your attention—welcome back," he smiled at them.

[ Your followers look at you with dumbfounded expressions ]

[ Your followers wonder if their Lord is sane ]

[ -5% favorability ]

[ Favorability has dropped to 85% ]

As expected, they were all shocked, giving him puzzled expressions.

Even D'andre couldn't help but wonder what sort of plan Rowan was scheming to handle the situation. He already knew that Rowan wasn't a dumb Lord who couldn't handle situation so he was really interested on how he was going to solve this issue.

"This is a serious matter, Lord Rowan," Elara said, her voice wavering slightly. "We need answers, not welcomes."

"Answers to what questions exactly? Since you returned, you've been speaking nonstop, and you've asked more than ten questions, so be specific about which one you need answers to," Rowan responded almost immediately.

[ -3 favorability ]

[ -2% favorability ]

[ Favorability has dropped to 80% ]

"Did you really agree to the vassal decree with Glenwood?" one of the women asked.

"Do you really think I'm so naïve as to agree to such a relationship?" Rowan asked.

'That's exactly what they think of you, bro,' D'andre thought to himself, looking at Rowan with an amused expression.

As for the women, they were shocked.

"But the soldiers said you agreed to the decree and even intended to invite their Lord to our territory for a feast?" Elara said, shocked. She clearly recalled the conversation between Waga and Lord Fagin that day.

"Those were all lies I told that day to prevent the soldiers from taking more of our women," Rowan replied.

[ Your followers are shocked by your unexpected schemes ]

[ Your followers feel bad for praying that you get eaten by bears ]

[ +25% favorability ]

[ +20% favorability ]

[ +15% favorability ]

[ +15 favorability ]

[ +5 favorability ]

[ Favorability has improved to 0% (Neutral) ]

The women were all smiles after hearing his response.

"This is a great relief, Lord Rowan!" one of them sighed, placing her hand on her chest.

"We thought you had given up on our people. We're glad that wasn't the case."

One by one, the women smiled happily, but Elara kept the same expression on her face, refusing to break her frown as she still wasn't fully convinced.

"What were your plans for us, Lord Rowan?" she asked.

'This one is going to be a tough nut to crack. She doesn't look friendly at all,' Rowan sighed as he prepared his answers.

He started by telling them how he had only recovered from his illness less than a week ago. Then he went on to inform them of how he had been worried sick about them, how he worked hard to train the soldiers, and how they had been preparing to storm Glenwood and free them. He even went so far as to lie about how he didn't get any sleep and skipped all his meals just to ensure their safe return.

His story was so emotional that some of the women began wiping their tears with their shirts, their eyes red with remorse and regret. They regretted not believing in him sooner and laying all sorts of diabolical curses on him.

Even Elara, who was emotionally strong, became weak in the face of such a wonderfully crafted story. Her eyes turned red, and she regretted hating him.

[ +70% favorability! ]

[ Favorability has improved to 70% ]

Seeing their reactions and their current favorability toward him, Rowan smirked and decided to drop the bomb that would solve it all.

He made his expression as sad as it could be, clenched his fists, and his eyes turned red with revenge and other emotions.

He stood up from his seat and declared in a firm voice, "They have wronged our village by committing such evil against you, and we will make them pay with their blood. I personally shall bring that Lord to you five to do as you see fit, so he will realize that messing with our beautiful ladies is something he should never have considered."

....

AUTHOR NOTE: Thanks for reading guys, next chapter in 3,2...1