124: Departure from Tulip Territory (4000 words)

"In this assessment, he killed two Bronze Rank 2 magical beasts, three Bronze Rank 1 magical beasts, and thirteen ordinary beasts."

"The second place is Marjorie, who killed one Bronze Rank 2 magical beast, three Bronze Rank 1 magical beasts, and fifteen ordinary beasts."

"The third place is Aier, who, along with Pierre and others, killed one Bronze Tier 3 magical beast, and independently killed three Bronze Rank 1 magical beasts and seventeen ordinary beasts."

"The fourth place..."

Soon, Red read out the corresponding assessment rankings one by one based on the compiled kill list.

The crowd's expressions varied; compared to the joy etched on the face of the second-place Marjorie,

the expressions of the first-place Sinclair and the third-place Aier appeared very calm.

However, their fists were clenched almost imperceptibly, clearly indicating that their inner thoughts were not as calm as they appeared on the surface.

Sinclair's inner thoughts: 'Killed two Bronze Rank 2 magical beasts, the Crystalline Tiger... what a formidable opponent.'

Aier's inner thoughts: 'To have killed two Bronze Rank 2 magical beasts... it seems my training isn't diligent enough. I'll start training an hour earlier tomorrow. Yes, that's decided.'

The others were unaware of the thoughts in their minds.

Pierre, having placed eighth, was overjoyed and snuck over to Marjorie's side, saying affectionately:

"Brother-in-law, you're amazing! You actually got second place. My sister will definitely be happy when she finds out and will surely reward you well."

"That goes without saying. You don't even know who your brother-in-law is."

Marjorie smiled smugly, very pleased with Pierre's address, and then said generously:

"After training ends today, I'll take you and Diliya out to celebrate properly."

"No need, brother-in-law. I'm going to celebrate with Rodrigo and the others. You should celebrate alone with my sister," Pierre said with a chuckle.

How sensible!

Marjorie gave him an appreciative look. Far from being annoyed by his cunning nature, he actually grew very fond of his future brother-in-law.

He was mischievous, yet knew how to conduct himself properly; it was impossible not to like him.

Lister, who noticed their little interaction, remained calm.

He was well aware of their current relationship, and as long as things developed normally, he naturally had no objections.

Soon, after a series of his motivational speeches, the group returned to Ironthorn Town accompanied by the setting sun.

Time passed quickly; four days had already passed since the end of the combat assessment.

Sinclair, Sejin, and Aier had all broken through again. The speed of the breakthroughs, especially that of Sejin and Aier, pleasantly surprised Lister.

However, Sinclair's talent was not weak either, just slightly inferior to the other two.

Besides them, Apprentice Knight Politt also successfully advanced to a Full Knight. Overall, his forces had strengthened significantly.

During this time, the development of Ironthorn Territory continued to progress steadily and rapidly.

With the arrival of the last batch of laborers, the workforce exceeded 1,000, significantly accelerating the renovation of Ironthorn Town and the construction of roads in the territory.

Under Lister's instruction, the Workshop had already produced a large quantity of bathing supplies, waiting only for the Cole Family caravan sent by Kim.

In addition to bathing supplies, Lister had also drawn up blueprints for many daily necessities, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and so on, all of which were produced by the Workshop.

This once again left Artisans like Malo marveling at his design talent.

However, besides the Workshop, what pleased Lister the most was that, thanks to the efforts of Forgemasters like Jimur and the Artisans, the Knight armor had finally been successfully forged.

Although production was currently slow due to the scarcity of Forgemasters, achieving the breakthrough from zero to one meant that future development would be much easier.

Jimur only needed to continue instructing those Artisans, and once the number of Forgemasters increased, Ironthorn Territory would be able to be self-sufficient in Knight armor.

Additionally, Rock and the others, who had escorted Kelvin to the Western Territory, had finally returned.

Lister provided appropriate rewards for their hard work on the journey.

However, what surprised Rock and the others was that after one trip out, there were so many more Knights and Soldiers upon their return.

Moreover, there were many extraordinary talents among them, and after hearing about what had happened in the territory during their absence, the three couldn't help but feel regret for missing out.

However, the three had no complaints; after all, they were executing a mission for Lister, and besides, they had received rewards.

Although there was a steady stream of good news, Lister's divinations over the past few days had returned to that 'half-dead' state.

Except for one or two pieces of divination information that were somewhat useful, everything else was very mundane and of little help.

After deep reflection, Lister realized that this was likely due to the limited potential of Ironthorn Territory.

After all, not to mention the remoteness of Ironthorn Territory, even the surrounding territories were not considered very good.

The fact that he had been able to gain many benefits from divination previously was largely related to other territories.

Now, wanting to be fully satisfied with just a tiny territory was absolutely impossible.

Therefore, simply to obtain more useful information from divination, he had to start expanding outward; he could not just stay in Ironthorn Territory.

Moreover, due to the previous accumulation of power and influence, he would not face any major problems even if he left the territory for a long time now.

After all, although the territory's geographical location was not great, fortunately, there were no major crises.

With the current number of Knights and Soldiers in Ironthorn Territory, unless there was an Orc Race invasion or a riot in the Hengduan Mountains, it was truly impossible for any accidents to occur.

Furthermore, regarding the governance of the territory, with a great talent like Brutus present, he could leave with complete peace of mind.

In the Lord's room, Lister, sitting in the main seat, looked at the crowd opposite him and instructed:

"In a few days, it will be Aetheria's birthday ceremony. I have already accepted Miss Daisna's invitation."

"Since it takes a few days to travel from Ironthorn Territory to Tulip Territory, I plan to set off this afternoon."

"Malo, I asked you to prepare the Distilled Liquor and bathing supplies in advance. Are they ready?"

Malo responded respectfully:

"Reporting to the Lord, everything was loaded onto the carts last night. There are a total of twenty wooden barrels of Distilled Liquor, sealed tightly; there won't be any problems."

"The bathing supplies have also been packed into a full large cart, which is more than enough for gifts and personal use."

"Well done. After you go back, arrange for someone to check everything carefully. You must ensure there are no mistakes."

Hearing Lister's praise and instructions, Malo nodded and said:

"Thank you for your praise, my Lord. I will definitely check everything thoroughly once I return."

Without further ado, Lister looked at Jimur and said:

"Jimur, in the coming time, Knight armor remains the primary production task. While ensuring quality, you must achieve the fastest speed possible."

"Currently, the new Knights of Ironthorn Territory are very much looking forward to your new armor."

"I will definitely do my utmost and will not fail the Lord's expectations," Jimur replied respectfully.

Nodding, Lister gave his final instructions:

"During this period while I am away from the territory, all matters within the territory shall be mainly handled by the magistrate, Hobbes."

"If there are any matters, consult with him first. Only after he confirms there are no problems should you proceed with implementation."

"Also, for this trip to Tulip Territory, Red, Spartacus, and Sejin—three Full Knights—along with five Apprentice Knights and several odd-job workers will accompany me."

"The Knight camp and the Soldier camp will be managed by Rock for the next few days. The training of the Knights and Soldiers must not be relaxed."

The crowd responded loudly:

"Understood."

Nodding, Lister dismissed everyone to go and prepare.

After everyone's figures had completely disappeared, he returned to his bedroom.

At this moment, the six little ones were playing happily, and the extra one among them was none other than the Griffin Raymond.

Although Raymond was Red's mount, because it had not grown up yet and Red was usually quite busy,

it was often left with Lister, allowing it to stay with Baize and the others.

Furthermore, because of its addition, Lihuo's status and position dropped another tier, even though Raymond had a gentle personality and no intention of stealing positions.

However, its naturally powerful bloodline would invisibly push it to a high position.

But Lihuo was also very happy; with a powerful boss looking out for it, what could be bad about that?

Looking at the three 'little ones' that had grown quite a bit, Lister felt full of anticipation.

During this time, Baize had broken through to Bronze Tier 6. If not for the fact that he himself had also made a breakthrough, reaching Bronze Rank 7,

Baize would be at the same realm as him. It had to be said that a magical beast with such king-level bloodline indeed possessed powerful talent.

And what made Lister feel most uncomfortable was that it didn't even need to train; it just ate and drank and broke through, which was simply incredibly easy.

Besides Baize, the Griffin Raymond and the Flame Ox had both reached the strength of Bronze Rank 1; their speed was not slow.

If placed in the poorest Baron Territory, these three little ones could probably reign supreme.

Looking at Baize, Lister instructed:

"I'm going out for a few days this time. You and the others, including Raymond, will guard the castle. If you behave well, I'll take you out to play next time."

Hearing that they would be taken out to play next time, Baize immediately let out an 'Awoo' and patted its chest, indicating that it was all on them.

The other little ones were also very happy, completely unaware that these were just words Lister said to appease them.

If he had simply told them they weren't going, they definitely would not have been pleased, but if he gave them a promise, they wouldn't mind.

However, Lister wasn't lying to them; after all, he did intend to visit the Western Territory later, and taking them along was inevitable.

At noon, the sun hung high in the center of the sky. Although the sunlight it shone was somewhat intense, it became soft and warm after passing through the thick clouds.

The gifts brought this time were loaded into several large carts, most of which were Distilled Liquor.

Of course, not all of them were for Count Elsid; Lister intended to promote and sell a portion of them in Tulip Territory.

After all, Tulip Territory was the largest and most prosperous territory in the northwest of the kingdom, and the closest to Ironthorn Territory.

Its population scale and caravan flow made it an absolutely great place to do business, given the unique characteristics of the Distilled Liquor.

If it could be promoted in Tulip Territory, not only could it sell well and make money, but it could also quickly spread its reputation through the passing caravans.

Although this would arouse the covetousness of many, since Lister was prepared to bring it out, he had already thought of a way to deal with it.

That was to cooperate with Count Elsid. He believed that with the quality of the Distilled Liquor and the business opportunities it revealed,

combined with his relationship with Daisna, Count Elsid would definitely agree.

Not to mention anything else, just the annual expenses of the three Great Knight Orders under Count Elsid were a terrifying figure.

Although Lister didn't know how much money Count Elsid could make in a year, surely no one would complain about having too much money, especially with this kind of highly profitable monopoly business.

As for whether Count Elsid would try to snatch his production instructions for the Distilled Liquor,

based on Lister's understanding of his past deeds and reputation, he was definitely not the type of person who would do such a thing, and furthermore, there was Daisna acting as an intermediary.

Soon, Malo, who had finished the final inspection, came to Lister's side and said respectfully:

"My Lord, everything has been checked, and there are no problems."

"To prevent possible accidents on the road, I also had people prepare two extra empty carriages for replacement use."

"You are thoughtful." Lister nodded appreciatively, and then, after sweeping his gaze over Thomas and the others who had come to see him off, he waved his hand and said:

"Depart."

Meanwhile, in Tulip Territory, Aetheria.

In the eastern region of the main city, inside a building with an exquisite appearance and a large footprint.

Looking at the messenger Soldier who had come from Ironthorn Territory, Sabrina Octavier, known as the most beautiful teacher at the Carter Merchant Guild Academy, looked somewhat puzzled.

She didn't remember knowing anyone in Ironthorn Territory, but the messenger Soldier before her was specifically looking for her by name.

And no matter what she asked him, he knew very little, only that he was there to deliver a letter to her.

With a puzzled mood, she opened the letter.

As her light blue eyes scanned the letter, ripples of emotion stirred in her pupils, which had been as calm as water.

A name that haunted her dreams appeared on it.

Brutus Donald!

Staring intently at this name, her mind couldn't help but think back to the beautiful memories from two and a half years ago.

'Brutus, what do you want to do after you graduate?'

'Haha, of course, to be a magistrate, to be an excellent magistrate who changes the existing legal flaws of the kingdom.'

'Hmm, I believe in your ability, but given the nature of those nobles, can you really realize your ambitions?'

'...I know it's difficult, but if I don't do it, and others don't do it, then what chance is there for change? And I don't believe that in such a huge kingdom, there isn't a Lord worthy of my allegiance.'

'Then which territory are you going to? Why not come to my father's territory?'

'Sabrina, I know you have my best interests at heart, but I don't want to use anyone else's power. Please believe in me.'

'Okay, I believe in you (Inner thought: I will wait for you).'