152: Chapter 152 Coredin

Early morning, the biting wind howled, and winter birds chirped.

The footsteps of winter had already half-stepped into the Ironthorn Territory. The chill swept across the entire territory like a warm-up, turning the vast expanse a hazy white.

Despite this, the bustling atmosphere of Ironthorn Town remained undiminished. The face of every serf was filled with passion for the new day.

Lister, who had risen early, returned to the Lord's chambers after having breakfast.

Accompanying him were Red, Brutus, and Odinton, who had been summoned by Thomas. Sitting in the main seat, Lister looked at Red and asked, "Red, have the arrangements for the new round of Soldier recruitment been made?"

Red took out a piece of Shuttle Paper and handed it to Lister, saying, "Reporting to Lord Lister, yesterday I worked with Brutus and magistrate Odinton to draft the recruitment details and arranged for people to post them."

"Before coming here, Locke had already taken the arranged Knight examiners and staff to Ironthorn Town to carry out the recruitment work."

Lister looked at the contents on the Shuttle Paper in his hand and nodded without saying much.

The official system of the entire territory might not be called perfect yet, but it had reached a quite impressive level.

In terms of administrative governance, there were Brutus and Odinton, along with a group of strictly selected officials at all levels.

In terms of military governance, there were Red and Locke, as well as the sub-divided Knights and Soldier squad leaders.

With the two sides combined, the administrative and military aspects of the Ironthorn Territory could run and be managed very well.

For this kind of Soldier recruitment work, Lister only needed to give a general order. The three of them would naturally produce a detailed plan, which he would then finalize.

To put it bluntly, Lister now truly resembled the lord of a territory; he didn't need to do everything himself and only needed to oversee the overall situation.

Lifting his head, Lister turned his gaze toward Brutus and Odinton and asked, "Brutus, Odinton, how are the preparations for the series of supplies needed for the trip to the Western Frontier coming along?"

The two exchanged a glance, and Odinton spoke up, "Reporting to Lord Lister, the relevant supplies and personnel required for your journey to the Western Frontier have been mostly dispatched."

"We are now just waiting for the final inspection. Barring any accidents, we expect to set out the day after tomorrow."

"Mm, thank you for your hard work," Lister offered a word of appreciation from the heart.

The three said solemnly, "This is all as it should be."

Since he had already discussed the administrative arrangements for after his departure with Brutus and Odinton, Lister didn't say more on that front.

Putting away the Shuttle Paper, Lister looked at Red and instructed, "Red, you will still lead the team for this trip to the Western Frontier. Sejin, Aier, Bulk, Hill, Sinclair, Rodrigo, Pierre, Bertrand, and Vegetius will follow, along with ten Bronze Rank 2 Knights and thirty Soldiers."

"As for Spartacus, he currently has other tasks. I will notify him later based on the specific circumstances."

"Regarding the defense of the territory after our departure, Locke will have full leadership and will consult with Brutus on important matters."

"Understood," Red respectfully complied.

Nodding, Lister then offered several points for improvement based on Brutus's routine report.

After it ended, Lister took the three of them to the Ironthorn Town magistrate's office.

At Philemon's request, Lister had arranged for the temporary residence of him and Bruel's group to be here.

Since the production and loading of the ironthorn whiskey had been fully prepared long before Philemon arrived, Philemon did not stay long and hurriedly set off to return.

In truth, Philemon was also very curious about the Ironthorn Territory and wanted to stay for a few more days, but he couldn't withstand the impatience of the merchants in Aetheria.

Therefore, he had to rush back with the ironthorn whiskey; otherwise, being late would cause some losses for the upcoming sales.

After all, ironthorn whiskey was currently in its most critical initial development stage. Promotion and sales during this phase were a race against time, allowing for no slack or carelessness.

Scanning the dozens of wagons of ironthorn whiskey, Lister nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Philemon and said, "Lord Philemon, if you have any further needs, you can raise them with magistrate Hobbes. He will do his best to satisfy them."

"Good, many thanks, Lord Lister. Farewell," Philemon thanked him with a smile and immediately leaped onto his horse.

Seeing this, the lead knight Bruel looked at Lister and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Lister. If you have the chance to come to Aetheria in the future, I will treat you, Red, and the others to a drink."

“Haha, good, I’ll remember that. Safe travels.” Lister laughed heartily.

Without further words, Bruel gave the order and turned his horse to start moving. Philemon and the convoy behind followed slowly.

Watching Philemon and the others depart, Lister led Red toward the military camp, while Brutus and Odinton returned to the magistrate's office to handle the administration at hand.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the day for Lister to depart for the Western Frontier arrived.

According to his requirements, all the supplies and personnel needed for the trip to the Western Frontier had been dispatched and prepared, and after a strict inspection, there were no issues.

For this trip to the Western Frontier, besides taking Odinton, Red, and other personnel primarily responsible for pioneering, he also brought Thomas, Flora, and a few other maids. The rest were some physically fit handymen.

Originally, Lister didn't want Thomas to follow. After all, they were headed to the unpioneered wasteland of the Western Frontier, and winter was approaching.

Lister didn't want Thomas to suffer any physical ailments due to the cold winter, but Thomas insisted on coming along.

As Lister's butler, Thomas had watched him grow up ever since Lister was born. One could say that the center of his life was Lister.

—

If he were made to leave Lister, he would instead feel at a loss, so Lister had no choice but to agree.

As for Flora and the other maids, they likewise did not shrink back because of the environment in the Western Frontier and insisted on following.

However, Lister did not let all of them come. He left some maids in the Lord's Castle to perform daily cleaning duties and add a bit of life to the place.

At the same time, there would be Knights arranged by Locke patrolling the castle's perimeter every day. Any maid entering or leaving the castle would need to be inspected.

Of course, to ensure that Thomas, Flora, and the other maids remained healthy after reaching the Western Frontier, Lister had them undergo a resource bath for physical enhancement.

Lister had plenty of such resources in his hands now, all from Daniel's "treasure vault." Their value wasn't exceptionally high, but ordinary people couldn't afford them.

It could be said that for the upcoming trip to the Western Frontier, Lister had made almost every preparation he could. He hoped that everyone going to the Western Frontier would return whole with him.

The cold wind whipped past his ears. Lister glanced at the crowd before him, said nothing more, and stepped into his carriage.

Although he was already a Silver Knight, his status was still that of a lord. Riding in a carriage was the most normal thing.

As for the idea that being a Silver Knight and riding in a carriage instead of riding a horse himself was pretentious, he didn't care in the slightest.

As a lord, besides increasing his own strength and power, wasn't the most important thing knowing how to enjoy himself?

Seeing that he had entered the carriage, Red, at the very front of the convoy, gave a large wave of his hand, and the grand procession began moving toward the west.

The team Lister brought this time seemed to have quite a few people, but in terms of supplies, besides the essentials, there wasn't much else.

Furthermore, on the road, he could put all these supplies into his storage ring, greatly reducing the travel time.

After leaving the Ironthorn Territory, the speed of the convoy slowed down noticeably, but under Lister's instruction, the speed remained quite fast.

According to Lister's estimation, if they traveled at full speed, it would take about ten or so days for their group to reach the fortress city of the Western Frontier.

And it was indeed as he thought. After traveling rapidly for just under half a month, the group finally arrived at Coridinglo, the fortress city under the jurisdiction of the Western Frontier Marcher Count, Theodore Ferdinand.

Before even entering Coridinglo, on the road approaching it, Lister saw many lord convoys like his own, coming to pioneer the Western Frontier.

Due to the promulgation of the "new western frontier pioneer order," almost every territory in the kingdom had sent their scions.

Many of these territories were located far away and had spent a lot of time on the road, only just managing to reach the Western Frontier.

Of course, most of them were unwilling to come to the Western Frontier, so they would linger on the road for a while.

Those pioneer lords who had not yet taken up their posts were all hoping in their hearts that the kingdom would change the pioneer order, even if it was just a delusion.

As for Lister, if it weren't for the fact that the Ironthorn Territory was not far from the Western Frontier, he certainly would not have come, and he had the capital to say so.

As the full view of the great Western Frontier fortress city, Coridinglo, slowly unfolded before the eyes of Lister and the others, the slight sense of boredom in the hearts of those who had traveled for half a month vanished without a trace.

Compared to Aetheria, Coridinglo was quite a bit smaller, but it still looked very grand and carried an added oppressive sense of slaughter.

Lister's convoy did not have a particularly large number of people, being escorted by twenty Full Knights and thirty Soldiers. Although not the largest among the surrounding lord convoys, it still attracted many eyes.

In particular, the neat formation of the twenty Full Knights like Red, as well as the powerful aura emanating from them, caused some lords in the surrounding convoys to lean out of their carriages with looks of amazement on their faces.

The Soldiers guarding the city gates naturally noticed Lister's convoy as well, but they showed little wariness.

As the convoy slowly came to a halt before the city gates, Lister stepped down from the carriage and approached the guard, saying mildly, "I am the Lord of Ironthorn Territory, Baron Lister Howard. Having received the kingdom's permission via the Western Frontier Free Pioneer Order, I have come to pay my respects to Count Ferdinand."

Hearing this, looks of surprise appeared in the eyes of several guard Soldiers.

What surprised them was not how noble Lister's status was, but rather that a lord like Lister, who already had an enfeoffed territory, would actually come to the Western Frontier to pioneer.

They had been in the Western Frontier for so long, and this was truly the first time they had seen such a situation.

One had to know that in a place like the Western Frontier Pioneer Territory, although the value of pioneering was not small and there were many undeveloped resources, the unknown dangers one had to face were numerous, and one also had to endure the onslaught of foreign races and tribes.

Therefore, most pioneer barons were unwilling to come. This could be clearly seen from those pioneer barons who were lingering halfway for a long time.

If the royal family were not too powerful, many territories simply would not follow this decree. After all, the ratio of effort to reward probability was completely disproportionate.

Although they couldn't quite understand Lister's thinking, the guard Soldiers couldn't help but feel a sense of respect for his courage in actively coming to pioneer the Western Frontier.

After conducting a strict inspection, the guard Soldiers opened the gates for them.

As the convoy slowly entered Coridinglo, the environment inside the city appeared before the eyes of Lister and his group.

The streets were wide, but the road conditions were poor, full of potholes, and the mud on the ground suggested they had recently experienced heavy rain.

The houses on both sides were mostly built of stone and wood, appearing simple and dilapidated. There were even few pedestrians on the road; besides the Soldiers in animal skin coats responsible for patrolling, there were only commoners in coarse hemp clothes.

The former had indifferent expressions, their faces carrying the exhaustion of being long-tempered on the battlefield, while the latter appeared somewhat numb, and every pedestrian's pace was hurried.

The entire city was permeated with an atmosphere of slaughter and oppression, much stronger than the feeling seen outside the city.

Before visiting Count Ferdinand, Lister's group first found a luxuriously decorated inn to stay in.

Although they could have gone to the official inn specifically set up for pioneer barons, Lister still chose not to go.

First, there were too many people at the official inn, which would easily attract too much attention. Second, the conditions at the official inn were not particularly good. He had money now and didn't want to wrong himself.

After arriving at the inn, Thomas continued to exercise his skills as a butler, leading Flora and the other maids to quickly clean the rooms once more.

Various living supplies, food, and so on were all laid out one by one, giving Lister the best stay experience.

After resting for a while, Lister took Red and Odinton to Count Ferdinand's mansion.

After the Soldiers had reported his arrival, a middle-aged official quickly came out from the mansion to welcome them: "Lord Howard, please follow me."

Under the official's guidance, the three of them stepped through the heavy gates, crossed a low-key corridor, and arrived at the Count's office.

After knocking on the door and receiving permission, the three of them entered the room.

Aside from being quite large, the interior of the room was very low-key, just like the outside, with no sense of luxury.

Behind a large desk sat a middle-aged man with regular features and skin that bore a deep sense of the vicissitudes of time.

The man exuded a powerful sense of pressure, like a domineering magic beast lion king. He was the ruler of Coridinglo, the Western Frontier Marcher Count, Theodore Ferdinand.

Theodore, who was processing documents, lifted his head and looked at the three of them. Especially when he saw Lister, a deep smile appeared on his originally stern face.

“The little guy from the Howard family has grown up so fast!”