67: The neighbor arrived, new situation

In the five baronies of the Red River Valley, only Renn's family remained unchanged, still holding their ground.

These four new Barons had come from afar and all passed through the Red River Territory. Could Renn not show some courtesy?

At the very least, as Ross said, he should invite these passing Barons to a dinner to build some rapport.

Noble banquets weren't just simple meals; they were expensive. Renn had made a windfall recently and had some money, but he was by no means wealthy. He had no intention of spending money on neighbors he had never even met.

So he thought of waiting for these four neighbors at the stone bridge. Once he caught them, he could talk to them directly and establish a presence, which was both economical and polite.

As a fellow Baron, personally waiting for them at the stone bridge gave them plenty of face.

It worked out exactly as Renn expected. From the moment he met Alistair, the four Barons were very satisfied with his personal welcome. Especially after Renn engaged in some social flattery upon meeting, the newly appointed Barons all had a good impression of him... 'Thank you very much, Baron Renn. I'll trouble you to look after my cargo ships. Once I've settled into my territory, I'll definitely invite you to Redwood Territory as a guest.'

Paris chatted with Renn with a smile.

'We're all comrades from the Border Defense Army, no need for such formality, Baron Paris.'

'We'll be neighbors from now on. If you need anything, just say the word at Red River Fortress. I, Renn, will help however I can.'

'Hahahaha!'

'That's good. You're right, we're all on the same side!'

After a round of practiced flattery, Renn finally saw off the last new Baron, his old acquaintance from the Border Defense Army, Paris.

From welcoming Alistair to seeing off Paris, Renn had been busy since late last night until now. It was evening again.

'Finally over!'

'It's been a long time since I've had to socialize like this; I'm really not used to it!'

Renn stretched and rode Reck back to Red River Fortress.

The Red River Valley suddenly had four more Barons, making the quiet place lively. Through simple interaction, Renn gained some insight into his new neighbors.

Among the four, Paris had the shallowest foundation, with no deep family background. This was evident from the fewer people and supplies he brought compared to the other three Barons.

But Paris was also the least ambitious. Renn could see he just wanted to settle down in Redwood Territory and live a quiet life.

Paris kept introducing his son to Renn, wanting them to build a good relationship. This showed Paris planned to retire.

In his room, Renn placed Paris's marker on the map where Redwood Fort used to be.

Before him was a map of the Red River Valley, redrawn by Renn with more details to show the situation more clearly.

'Those two from the Lambert and Horn families seem difficult to deal with. They're very wary of me. They brought a lot of supplies and people; it seems they want to make a name for themselves to show their families.'

Renn placed the markers for the Lambert and Horn families where Black Iron Fort and Rye Fort used to be.

These two Barons from Earl families weren't as warm as Paris, but Renn didn't mind. They couldn't affect him for now.

'Finally, the Son of the raging bear!'

Renn picked up the Raging Bear Family's thunder emblem and pondered over the Grand Duke of the Raging Bear's blood descendant.

'How strange!'

'Clearly the Grand Duke's own son, yet he has no Magic Bear with him, and it seems he hasn't practiced the Grand Duke's Thunder Battle Technique. Is he out of favor?'

Thinking of Alistair's frail body, so different from other raging bear descendants—he was almost an anomaly.

If not for the signature purple hair and the massive entourage, including a hundred-man squad of Black Blade Knights, Renn would have thought he was an impostor.

'Out of favor because of his health?'

'That shouldn't be it!'

'If he were out of favor, why would he bring so many resources and people!'

Renn was still shocked by the fleet he saw today.

By his estimation, Alistair brought no fewer than 20,000 people, mostly young, strong Serfs.

Over a hundred ships of supplies; worth at least 100,000 gold coins.

Plus a hundred-man squad of Black Blade Knights and at least three Silver Rank knights.

These were just the visible things. He estimated there were more hidden ones, like Magic Stones, Magic Cores, Enchanted Equipment, and so on.

Alistair definitely had spatial equipment, and his spatial ring surely contained these rare resources.

Based on what Alistair brought, Renn saw no sign of him being out of favor.

The supplies and people brought by the other two Barons from Earl families weren't even half of what Alistair had, and Paris had even less.

'Truly strange!'

Renn couldn't figure it out, but he didn't obsess over it. After placing the thunder emblem in the center of the Rock Crystal Territory, he stared at the map.

'With four more Barons and tens of thousands of people, the Red River Valley is truly becoming lively!'

Through the map, Renn seemed to see the vast Red River Valley with countless people farming and living.

On the other side, Paris had arrived at his territory and was organizing the unloading and construction of a temporary camp with his son, Victor.

Looking at the busy crowd, Victor thought of the Red River Territory they just passed; the neat farmland left a deep impression on him.

Seeing his own territory in ruins, he felt a bit envious of Renn.

'Father, how long do you think it will take for us to build our territory to be like the Red River Territory?'

'My son, the Red River Territory reached its current scale after nearly two hundred years of development by the Derrick Family. Although it suffered heavy losses in the war against the Fel Orcs, it's still not something we can compare to.'

'Restoring the Redwood Territory to its former glory will require the hard work of two generations.'

Paris said seriously, 'Our family is just too poor. We spent all our savings and could only buy over three thousand Serfs and enough supplies.'

'If we had the abundance of people and supplies like Lord Alistair, it wouldn't take more than a few years to reach or even surpass the level of the Red River Territory.'

'Lord Alistair!'

Victor shook his head.

'He is the Grand Duke's descendant, Father. Let's not compare ourselves to him.'

While Paris and his son were busy in the Redwood Territory, the former castle sites in the Black Iron Territory and Rye Territory were also bustling with activity.

In the Black Iron Territory, Dario sat in a tent, coldly watching the busy Serfs. He had already assigned tasks to the butler and only needed to wait for the temporary camp to be completed.

With his family's support and his own savings, he brought over ten thousand Serfs and a large amount of supplies. The camp would be finished in a few days.

But his attention was elsewhere, replaying the scenes he saw that morning—the neat farmlands of the Red River Territory.

'Those must be Nest Farmers!'

'I didn't expect Renn, a Baron in this remote area, to possess an ancient relic like a lair core.'

Thinking of those unique farmlands and the farmers whose techniques far surpassed ordinary Serfs, Dario, who had seen Nest Farmers in his family's Sub-plane, quickly guessed their identity.

'How does that Renn dare to break the Millennial Iron Rule?'