4: Ironthorn Collar

Dusk settled, and the Red clouds were like fire.

The caravan, illuminated by the lingering glow of the sunset, cast long, slender shadows.

The further they ventured into the Ironthorn Territory, the more rugged and difficult the road became, and the fewer travelers and carriages they encountered.

Sitting inside the carriage, Lister swayed from side to side, the constant violent jolting from beneath his seat almost shaking his soul out of him.

"Good heavens, if every journey is like this, I'll be shaken to death sooner or later."

"Once we reach the territory, roads must be built," Lister declared with determination.

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Of course, this was both for himself and for the development of the territory. As the saying goes, 'to get rich, first build roads'.

Smooth and unobstructed roads can greatly enhance the efficiency of communication between the territory's residents and other territories, benefiting the economy, trade, and more.

Although the road was tough, there were no further bandit attacks along the way.

This made Lister somewhat doubt if his judgment regarding the previous bandit attack was mistaken.

Or perhaps bandits simply didn't want to come to this godforsaken place?

...Holy Light Calendar, October 7th, 888.

On the evening of the third day after Lister's transmigration, his caravan finally arrived at the heart of the Ironthorn Territory, Ironthorn Town.

From a distance, the not-so-large, somewhat dilapidated town in the twilight shimmered with faint lights, and wisps of cooking smoke drifted with the wind.

On a sizable high slope behind the town, an ancient-looking, moderately sized castle stood in the center, with only one road leading up and down.

The caravan slowly entered the town, immediately attracting almost everyone's attention.

Seeing the luxurious carriage in the center and the unique emblem flag on it, they knew... the lord of this land had arrived.

Soon, the caravan reached the castle gate. Lister, who had been jolted for three days, immediately 'jumped' out of the carriage.

After stretching his body, which felt like it was about to fall apart, he looked up at the castle before him.

Although the castle's exterior was a bit old, it was still intact, which brought him some relief.

At least he wouldn't have to spend money building a new castle; otherwise, his meager funds wouldn't last even a few days for construction.

At this moment, Thomas, who was attending him, spoke:

"Young Master Lister, it's getting late, and you've been in the carriage for three days, so you must be tired. You can wash up and rest first."

"As for the local magistrate, you can meet with him and make arrangements tomorrow."

"Your maids and attendants, this old servant will arrange them as soon as possible. Do you have any specific requests?"

"No special requests."

Lister said with a smile, "Thomas, just handle it as you see fit. I trust your judgment."

He hadn't brought many people with him for this assignment to the territory. Besides his butler Thomas and Knight Captain Red... there were only two other knights, four Apprentice Knights, eight cavalrymen, and twenty-four infantrymen. Not a single extra person was brought.

Not being able to afford more was one aspect, and there were two other reasons.

Firstly, many had died when he followed his Viscount father in previous campaigns, and secondly, many were unwilling to continue following him.

As for knight squires and laborers, those infantrymen served dual roles. Red was assigned two, the other two knights one each, and the Apprentice Knights none.

This was the minimum setup, and the treatment was not as good as during the Viscount's era, but even so, the monthly maintenance costs were very high.

Therefore, Lister's primary task now was to make money. Although he could collect taxes from the territory... from what he saw upon entering the territory—the barren land and sparse population—how much tax could that bring him?

So he had to come up with other ways to make money to sustain the territory's operations, otherwise, the luxurious life of a noble lord would vanish into thin air.

After a few words with Red, he went straight into the castle.

Due to the bumpy carriage ride, he hadn't slept well for two nights, so he absolutely needed a good rest now.

The castle had a total of four floors, including the basement, and the interior was quite spacious.

The first floor housed the great hall, kitchen, and rooms for the butler and servants. The second floor contained the library, meeting rooms, and rooms for the lord's family... The third floor was the lord's private space, with a resting room, bathroom, office, etc. As for the basement, it served as a storage room and armory.

After washing up, Lister went to the lord's bedroom on the third floor. The personal living space was large, and the bed was also very big.

And looking out the window, the view was excellent. Above was the rising silver moon, and below was a panoramic view of Ironthorn Town.

For a moment, it gave him a feeling of having 'the world' in his grasp, though this 'world' was still too small for now.

Lister didn't rush to sleep, as he hadn't performed divination today.

Yesterday's divination had been quite annoying; none of it was useful.

It was either about animals in heat or giving birth, or some trivial gossip—it was practically a replica of the village busybody.

With a thought, the ancient book appeared out of thin air. As his index finger lightly tapped the 'All' button after divination, a large amount of text appeared on the blank page.

[Divination 1: Tomorrow night at 23:20, Bessie David, the Ironthorn Territory magistrate, and Jeremy Neil, the Treasurer, will secretly transport 300 gold worth of embezzled funds out of the territory.]

[Divination 2: As winter approaches and the weather grows colder, a group of seven Black-Haired Wild Boars from Ironthorn Forest, seeking food, will enter the Ironthorn Territory at 2:08 AM two nights from now, causing numerous casualties.]

[Divination 3: Five Black Dog Orcs from the Black Dog Clan, an Orc beast tribe northwest of Ironthorn Territory, will infiltrate Viscount Connor Kimmler's Territory late at night five days from now, causing over a dozen casualties before disappearing without a trace.]

Just seeing the first divination message, Lister couldn't help but exclaim, "Good heavens, 300 gold! How many commoners must have been exploited, and for how long, to accumulate so much?"

"My entire fortune is only a little over nine hundred gold. In comparison, aren't they practically one-third of a noble lord?"

No wonder when he passed through Ironthorn Town, he saw through the carriage window that most of the commoners looked sallow and emaciated. It turned out that the flesh on their bodies had all turned into the fat in the magistrate's belly.

It truly echoed an old saying—when the tiger is away, the monkeys will claim kingship.

He wasn't sure if such things were common in the Pedan Kingdom, but encountering such corrupt nonsense on his first day in the territory, and from two of the most important officials no less, he was certainly very displeased.

Although he wasn't a saint, these 'villains' who oppressed the common people and undermined his foundation absolutely needed a good 'lesson'.

Others might 'kill a chicken to warn the monkeys', but he now had to 'kill the monkeys to reassure the people'.

He continued to look at the next two divination messages. They were still not good news, but he didn't consider them much of a threat.

Although Black-Haired Wild Boars are highly aggressive, with proper precautions, they would merely be his dinner. It was a good opportunity to get some wild game to eat, having just arrived in the territory.

As for the Black Dog Orcs, he had no memory of them. Most defeated Orc Race were usually killed, with only a very small number possibly being captured.

Although Orc Race were difficult to deal with, the ones in the divination message weren't causing trouble in his territory, not to mention that Viscount Connor Kimmler's Territory was separated from his by a Baron Territory.

He didn't believe these few Orc Race could commit crimes across different regions.