Roman called himself lucky; this panel arrived just in time!
If it had arrived a little later, if he had hesitated for a moment, if he had decided to wait a bit longer... he might have missed the sow's delivery, and the newly born piglets would also likely miss this opportunity. He would only be left regretting with a recently delivered sow and a pile of piglets.
But there weren't that many 'what ifs.' This time, he made it!
Looking at the sow grunting on the straw pile, Roman felt a surge of excitement.
He felt like he was playing a gacha game.
The sow's belly was huge, indicating many piglets were gestating inside. As long as he was lucky enough for one of them to become a Magical Beast... he would be set!
His debts would have a hope of being repaid, and many crises could be resolved!
Roman looked expectantly at the sow's belly in the animal pen.
But after grunting for a long time, it slowly began to grow larger, dark red bristles grew from its spine to its tail, and at the same time, a faint smell of burnt fire elements began to diffuse around it.
"Wait, why are *you* the one mutating, you fellow?"
Roman looked at all this in surprise. Could it be that the upgrade just happened to refresh the status of creatures in the animal pen, and he drew a gold card?
He tried hard to recall his knowledge of various Magical Beasts, attempting to identify what Magical Beast it was transforming into.
"Ah!"
Someone next to him was equally shocked and let out an involuntary cry.
"Who's there!"
Roman's eyes widened, and he drew his sword. In his distraction, he hadn't noticed someone approaching!
But although he hadn't cultivated Battle Aura, his swordsmanship wasn't for show. If anyone dared to covet this miraculous encounter now, they would first have to contend with the longsword in his hand!
However, when he turned around, he found the person was Rose. She was staring at the mutating sow with a shocked expression, slumped on the ground, holding a feed bucket, and stammering, unable to speak coherently.
"Young... Young Master, this... this is..."
Roman breathed a sigh of relief, pushed his thoughts aside, quickly stepped forward to help her up, and whispered a warning.
"Shh, don't make a sound. I noticed something was off when I was repairing the fence yesterday. This sow really does have a problem!"
Rose fearfully snuggled into his arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"Is... is this a Magical Beast?"
Roman nodded gravely, gently patting her back to comfort her.
"This is a Magical Beast, a Crimson Bristle Pig."
His longsword pointed directly at the grunting sow. If the other party showed any signs of harming someone, he couldn't hesitate. Indecision would only lead to trouble.
But after the sow mutated, its belly churned, and a small piglet struggled out from its rear. Roman's expression was strange; with memories from two lives, he had never seen such a scene.
Soon, another piglet crawled out, and it had the same dark red bristles as its mother!
"We got a hit!"
Roman tightened his grip on the sword, his heart surging, but he maintained a calm expression on his face.
As if hearing his strong heartbeat, Rose couldn't help but look back, and upon seeing the bloody scene, she immediately turned her head away again, leaning her entire body against Roman.
Her heart was beating a bit fast.
Soon, the grunting sow finished giving birth. There were twelve in total, and two of them clearly looked like Magical Beasts.
Their backs and tails had the same dark red bristles as their mother, and they were stronger than the other piglets. They immediately snatched the best feeding spots upon birth and buried their heads in eating.
If he wasn't mistaken, it was highly likely that the successful upgrade of the animal pen caused the sow inside to mutate, which in turn caused the young in her belly to also mutate!
Roman continuously calculated the potential output of the animal pen before him. Based on his memory, a single first-order Magical Beast core could sell for at least ten gold coins, and the Magical Beast's flesh, bones, and hide all had value.
A first-order adult Magical Beast carcass, if its core wasn't extracted, could sell for about half a gold coin, which is around fifty silver coins. Live ones might fetch a slightly higher price, but not by much... And his total debt amounted to a massive one hundred twenty gold coins!
Although he didn't expect to pay it off all at once, if he didn't have the Development System, he would never be able to turn his life around, only able to use his territory and noble status to repay the debt!
When the territory consultant was still around, he calculated that the territory's annual income was a total of fifty-seven gold coins and sixty silver coins, with about twenty-six gold coins actually received. Without deducting other expenses, he would have to repay it for six years even if he didn't eat or drink.
This was without counting interest, without counting the inexplicable man-made disasters that appeared in the territory, without counting new exorbitant taxes, and the territory also had to ensure good weather and no other accidents.
"Young... Young Master, are... are we... rich?"
Rose stammered, interrupting Roman's jumbled thoughts.
"I... I heard when I went to Rust Belt City to sell things a few days ago, someone sold a Magical Beast cub, I don't know what kind, for... for over ten gold coins!"
Rose's mood gradually calmed, and her speech became much smoother. Her tone seemed to carry a hint of longing, but Roman was somewhat silent.
What kind of cub could sell for over ten gold coins?
Perhaps only a baby dragon would be possible.
"This is giving himself hope..."
Roman was silent. These past few days, he had indeed been overly despondent, unable to sleep or eat properly.
Rose had already tried her best to make "Young Master Roman" happier.
He saw the faded dress on the young girl in his arms, with several new patches on it.
Several spots had even been patched twice, or perhaps more.
To prevent him from noticing, she tried to sew them in inconspicuous places, maintaining a semblance of dignity in front of others.
It was one thing for the original owner not to notice, but how did he not notice either?
"Yes, we're rich."
Roman said softly.
"Then... then next time Lord Andrew comes, I... I won't have to hide anymore, right?"
Rose asked timidly, somewhat hesitant, seemingly afraid that this question would provoke a fragile sense of self-esteem.
Roman just remained silent.
Because he truly had nothing, the original owner had dismissed all his servants, and only Rose secretly stayed behind, without salary and without leaving. Even so, she wasn't well-regarded.
"No, you won't. From now on, you can stand openly before them."
"That's great!"
Rose was a little elated. She had always been proud of her identity.
Even in the dilapidated Lieshi Territory, where no one had high hopes for the newly appointed lord, she did everything she could to the best of her ability. She naively believed that as long as she worked hard enough and was dutiful, things would surely develop in a good direction.
Roman released Rose, not looking at the young girl's flushed cheeks, but quickly scanning his surroundings, confirming there were no extra eyes.
It was already getting dark, and the night watchmen would soon begin their patrols. Wandering outside at this time was not something a proper resident should do.
Except for the Lord.
Tomorrow morning, he planned to sell one of the Crimson Bristle Pig cubs to obtain some liquid capital. He needed money to restart the territory's development, and the territory system also needed money to upgrade buildings.
Everywhere was clamoring for sustenance.
But he couldn't openly exchange it under the identity of Roman, Lord of Lieshi Territory. He had a vague premonition that the death of the original owner's parents might not have been so simple.
And perhaps in the darkness and silence, some people did not wish for Lieshi Territory to prosper and develop, nor would they allow him and Rose to live better lives.
He needed to go with a different identity.