The Mercenaries Luo An slowly shuffled along, carrying a heavy backpack, ignoring the gazes of those around him.
Roman underestimated the purchasing power of two gold coins, and at the same time, overestimated his own strength.
He initially thought that a mere twenty catties of black iron ingots would be no problem for his original body, which had been trained for a long time.
Then he bought farming tools for renovating the wheat fields, some crop seeds, some materials necessary for building upgrades, such as magic crystal stones and sunlight magic crystal, and a few chicks.
But he was wrong; after a long journey, the tens of catties of weight had already left him drenched in sweat.
Unable to cultivate Battle Qi, or awaken magic, he was, in the end, still an ordinary person.
Roman's eyes were a little dim, but he quickly shifted his thoughts to the chirping chicks on his back.
After seeing the Crimson Bristle Pig, he had a bold idea: if he introduced fast-breeding creatures into the beast pen for domestication, as long as they reproduced enough and quickly enough, he could completely use quantity to pursue that 1% chance of mutation!
With so many born, surely a few would mutate, right?
It was a pity he didn't encounter anyone selling rabbits and mice at the Rusty Belt Market; otherwise... just thinking about how he might, with a wave of his hand, unleash thousands of first-order magical beasts in the future, what Nelson, what Andrew, even if he couldn't use magic and had no Battle Qi, he could crush all those guys into dust!
Thinking of this, Roman's steps gained a renewed sense of motivation... "Young Master!"
The maid Rose looked at the sweating and panting Roman with distress, and with a pained heart, offered him a piece of linen cloth whose original color was indiscernible.
Although old, it was meticulously washed and still carried the fragrance of being sun-dried.
Roman didn't rush to take it; after glancing at Rose, who was completely unharmed, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Nothing happened, did it?"
Rose nodded slightly; she obediently hid in the administrative office, locked the door, and ignored all sounds from outside.
Only then did Roman straighten his somewhat bent back from the weight; on his way back, he didn't take a detour, openly allowing the working villagers to see the supplies he carried.
He would change these guys' perceptions; that incompetent lord, broken by debt and the death of his parents, was dead!
But first... "Here, look what this is."
Roman smiled and pulled out a brand new ladies' long dress from his backpack.
Rose's eyes widened in disbelief, speechless for a moment.
Her trembling right hand reached out then abruptly pulled back, wiping it on her old, worn dress before carefully caressing the soft fabric.
"Is this for me... for me?"
Roman looked at her reaction, finding it a little amusing, but his nose stung a bit.
"Of course, unless it's for me to wear?"
Without responding to the joke, Rose carefully folded the long dress, her eyes a little red.
She had personally watched her young master painstakingly recover from the tragedy of losing both parents, only to then encounter setbacks and difficulties at every turn in the territory's development, almost completely crushing him... Roman continuously sold off various family properties and ornaments, dismissed servants, fired teachers and advisors, changing from being proud and arrogant to merely getting by.
Rose had almost despaired.
Fortunately, fortunately.
Now, she saw a glimmer of hope again.
In truth, Roman wasn't the only one on the verge of collapsing.
Roman didn't say much; after a brief rest, he instructed Rose to continue hiding in the administrative office and not to go out, then he picked up his things and left.
The round trip to the Rusty Belt Territory took Roman a full day and a half.
He had left in the early morning, and now, upon his return, it was almost dusk on the second day.
Roman silently crept near the beast pen; the Crimson Bristle Pig was still grunting and lying on the hay bale, showing no reaction when it saw him approach.
He wasn't sure if it was the effect of the Lv1 beast pen, or if this Crimson Bristle Pig was a magical beast that mutated mid-way, and thus lacked wildness.
Aside from its somewhat strange appearance, it showed no other abnormalities, whether he stole its cubs or smeared mud on it to conceal it.
There was no aggressive reaction, and its emotions were quite stable.
This also made Roman somewhat relieved; if a first-order magical beast Crimson Bristle Pig were to truly go berserk or agitated, his small frame probably wouldn't be able to subdue it...
The sole remaining magical beast cub was still snorting and diligently eating, its size already noticeably larger than its siblings, with one pig occupying almost three spots.
While ordinary piglets also grew quickly, they had no way to deal with it and could only huddle helplessly to one side.
Roman's eyes flickered; just as he had said at the Golden Grain Merchant Guild, a first-order magical beast was no small fighting force!
Thinking of this, he immediately grabbed the little piglet that was still snorting and eating; although he didn't know anything about taming beasts, he at least needed this guy to recognize him.
He pulled out the beetroot and carrots he had prepared earlier; the little piglet, initially grunting discontentedly after being held by the scruff of its neck, saw new food offered to its mouth, glanced at Roman with its small, black-bean-like eyes, and then unceremoniously began to feast.
After doing all that, Roman didn't forget to feed the sow as well, then placed the six chicks in a corner of the beast pen, cordoning off a small separate area before leaving with satisfaction.
His destination for this trip also included a building.
【Boundary Marker Lv0 (Upgradeable)】
【Lv1: Weak deterrence against low-level magical beasts】
【Upgrade conditions: magic crystal stones × 3, territory population reaches 200 (achieved), engrave family crest on the monument (not achieved)】
Looking at the Boundary Marker covered in weeds and moss, Roman sighed almost imperceptibly, then pulled out the prepared chisel and carving knife to begin carving.
The Liershi family crest was simple: a shield-shaped base with a cracked stone at the center of the shield, symbolizing the determination to act as a shield and the will to overcome obstacles.
This was also the origin of the Lieshi Territory's name, but this glory had already become a broken shield and rotten stone paired with a waste in Nelson's foul mouth.
Thinking of that expression, Roman gripped the chisel tighter in his hand; he heard a faint wolf howl in the distance, or perhaps it was the harsh sound of wind passing through ravines and trees, but it no longer mattered.
He carved little by little, pulling out weeds one by one, and wiping away moss piece by piece.
The patterns on the Boundary Marker gradually became clear; he carved a crooked shield, and then a cracked stone in the middle of the crooked shield.
Roman didn't know how long he had been carving, only that when he looked up, the full moon hung high.
"Upgrade!"
Three magic crystal stones turned to dust in his pocket.
【Boundary Marker Lv1: (Upgradeable)】
【Current effect: Weak deterrence against low-level magical beasts】
【Lv2: Slightly reduces the impact of natural disasters, slightly deters low-level magical beasts】
【Upgrade conditions: magic crystal stones × 30, territory population reaches 1500 (not achieved), embed family crest on the monument (not achieved)】
It's done!
The distant, almost imperceptible wolf howl disappeared, leaving only the echoing sound of the wind... "This kid..."
Broken Sword Kane silently watched everything from the woods.
As Roman's sword skills teacher, he lacked long-term vision and could offer no useful advice for the territory's development.
Facing Roman, who couldn't pay his salary, and with a wife and daughter to support, he could only choose to temporarily leave and seek other means of livelihood.
Just as he had left the capital city before.
After falling from the realm of a Formal Knight, he lost the courage to speak out for justice.
He had initially thought this disheartened young man would, like himself, fall into ruin and never recover, but the situation seemed to be different?
Gently stroking the crooked carvings on the Boundary Marker, Kane's heart twitched; he felt as if a strong spiritual will was contained within those carvings.
"Is it his determination?"
Setbacks and blows can break scrap iron, but they can also forge fine steel.
Broken Sword Kane sighed and silently departed.
As long as Roman had hope of revitalizing the territory, he would surely come to him; he would wait until the very end.