Chapter 126: Chapter 125: Meeting the Baron

On the morning of the eighth, after leaving David, Wodun, and Dandy to guard the town, Ronin led his remaining men out of Mountain Forest Town and headed north.

Ronin had established a plan on his last return trip to connect Mountain Forest Town, Cyan Bamboo Village, Purple Fruit Village, and Grey Soil Village with a road. Because of this, the logging team had prioritized felling the trees on either side of this planned route.

After more than a month, the trees on both sides of the small path leading out of Mountain Forest Town had been cut down, revealing the outline of a mountain path about two meters wide.

Although this two-meter-wide road was currently not even a mile long, and its surface was far from smooth, it was still a great improvement from his last time passing through.

Ronin believed that after issuing the new decree encouraging his subjects to fell trees, the extension of this mountain road would accelerate.

Since the negotiation time set by Ridder was three days away, they had plenty of time, and Ronin was in no hurry.

He stopped for two hours when they passed through Cyan Bamboo Village.

Previously, when Ronin had returned to Mountain Forest Town after conquering the three Wilderness Tribes, he had put Horn and his wife in charge of Cyan Bamboo Village’s defense. Meanwhile, agricultural matters were still being managed by Siris, the former steward of Willie Knight.

Ronin rode his Cloud Stepper through the fields of Cyan Bamboo Village to inspect them. He found things to be in decent order and saw that the vegetable fields hadn’t been neglected. Affirming Siris’s competence, he appointed him village chief and planned to have Wilson bring people over later to provide guidance on agricultural matters.

After the brief inspection, the group set off once more, arriving at Purple Fruit Village by evening.

Besides bringing Jenny to the Grey Soil Tribe, Ronin also planned to rest here for a night to recover his Spirit.

In his conversation with Horn Knight, Ronin learned that he had recently prepared about half an acre of land to serve as a Mulberry Field, just as instructed.

At this rate, the task of clearing about one and a half acres for Mulberry Fields would be completed by January or February of next year.

When Horn learned that Ronin was transferring Jenny to Grey Soil Village, he expressed his desire to go with her.

Ronin didn’t have the heart to refuse. After all, his arrangements were separating Horn’s family of three across three different locations, which was somewhat inappropriate.

However, he still required Horn to arrange the affairs in Purple Fruit Village properly. The one and a half acres for the Mulberry Fields had to be ready by next year, and the scale of silkworm cultivation had to be expanded.

The group set out again at the crack of dawn the next day. Since everyone was on horseback, and there was a frequently traveled road between Purple Fruit Village and Grey Soil Village, the journey was much easier.

A little over an hour later, they arrived at Grey Soil Village.

“My Lord, welcome!”

Ridder, who had received an advance report from Tom, came out of the stockade to greet them. Behind him were a group of Transcendent beings including Babulin and Juliet, as well as a few guards.

“It’s been a while, Ridder!”

Ronin greeted him with a smile. “You handled the provocation from the Black-collar Tribe exceptionally well. I commend your decisiveness and courage!”

“Thank you for your praise, my Lord!” Ridder replied with a smile.

After praising Ridder, Ronin briefly greeted the others.

“Has there been any unusual movement from the Black-collar Tribe in the past two days?”

“Not at the moment.”

Ridder answered, “I’ve already arranged for two Reconnoitre Cavalry to be stationed on the mountain outside the village to keep watch on the other side. If anything happens, they’ll report back immediately.”

Ronin nodded to himself. Ridder’s arrangements were thorough.

’Looks like they’ve probably notified Baron Reisen and are waiting for him to make a decision. We’ll just have to see if he shows up this time.’

He asked, “What about that Finris you captured? I heard he’s an Advanced Level Knight. How is he now?”

“Finris was slightly injured during the fight that day. We haven’t given him any food or water for the past two days, so he’s half-dead now. He doesn’t even have the strength to try to escape.”

Ridder wasn’t paying much attention to Finris anymore. He was more concerned with what the Lord planned to do next.

“My Lord, if Baron Reisen comes in person, should we eliminate him outside the village?”

Ronin could see that if he gave the order to move against Reisen, Ridder would carry it out without hesitation. His eyes shone with ample confidence.

“No, now is not the time.”

Ronin shook his head. “You might not know this, but that Reisen is already a Bronze Knight.”

’I don’t have a direct sense of a Bronze Knight’s actual combat strength yet. Besides, the Sain Territory has a Knight Squad. Their power is on a completely different level from a few Wilderness Tribes.’

’Setting that aside, I still lack a proper pretext to declare war on a Baron’s Domain. Even if I defeated him, it wouldn’t be enough to make Wushan Castle strip him of his territory.’

’He couldn’t just kill him. Nobles generally have immunity; without an absolute reason and pretext, they aren’t killed so easily. If I want to survive in these circles, especially while I’m not strong enough, I have to play by the rules.’

’Furthermore, killing him wouldn’t mean the land would become mine. It would only push me into the spotlight.’

’After all, a Baron of Mountain Forest Town who could take out a Bronze Knight and a Knight Squad—would anyone consider him weak?’

“My purpose in coming here this time is threefold. First, to see the Sain Territory’s attitude. Second, to negotiate a non-aggression pact. And third, to discuss a price and see how many Gold Coins Baron Reisen is willing to pay to ransom his men.”

Ridder understood. “I understand, my Lord!”

The group entered the main residence. They had just sat down for a sip of tea in the makeshift fortress when Ronin heard a Reconnoitre Cavalry scout shouting from outside, before he even had a chance to ask about the construction progress in Grey Soil Village.

“Commander, people are coming from the Black-collar Tribe’s direction! A lot of them!”

The scout froze for a moment in shock when he entered the fortress and saw so many people. He snapped to his senses upon seeing Ronin and exclaimed, “Greetings, my Lord!”

Ronin nodded in acknowledgment. “Since they’ve arrived, let’s go out and greet them. Ridder, mobilize all the Guards and have them follow us out of the village!”

“Yes, sir!”

Mounted on his horse, Ronin looked back at his own troops, his heart swelling with emotion.

Besides the twelve Transcendent beings including himself and the twenty veteran guards who had remained, Ridder had also trained a militia of about fifty men here.

Although some of them were only armed with Ironwood Long Spears and didn’t even have Iron Swords, they showed a modicum of discipline and looked intimidating enough.

’If only I could expand a force like this to over a thousand men…’

Ronin thought to himself, greatly looking forward to the day that would happen.

The troop moved at a slow pace. As they rounded a bend in the mountain, reaching the spot where the enemy had previously planned to build a watchtower, Ronin saw a large, formidable procession coming down the mountain path opposite them.

The knight at the head of the procession was tall and imposing, riding a large horse and wearing thick Armor that was clearly of high quality.

Flanking him on his left and right were two other knights, also impressively equipped.

’Those three must be Baron Reisen and his elite knights.’

Behind them were ten Knights, thirty-six Cavalry, ten Archers, and sixty Infantry.

Ronin’s eyebrows involuntarily twitched.

’Damn, Baron Reisen actually mobilized a standard Knight Squad!’

Ridder’s brow furrowed. The enemy’s strength somewhat exceeded his estimations. If a fight broke out, it would be a hard-fought battle with heavy casualties.

Behind them, the Guards were extremely tense.

Although they had conquered three Wilderness Tribes along the way, those victories had come without much effort. When had they ever clashed with a true noble’s forces?

Now, faced with what felt like an overwhelming army bearing down on them, their throats were dry with nervousness.

As for the militia at the rear, it was a wonder they were still standing in formation.

’Our elite strength is decent, but compared to the Sain Territory, the gap in our rank-and-file troops is significant.’

Ronin took all of this in, knowing full well the gap between his forces and the enemy’s.

He simply raised his hand, signaling for everyone to halt and wait for the other party to approach.

Soon, the men from Sain Territory came to a stop thirty meters away.

Baron Reisen spoke, his voice carrying clearly, laced with Fighting Qi. “Baron Ronin, I didn’t expect we would meet here!”

“The last time I saw you seems to have been at a banquet back in April or May. I recall we were discussing the punitive expedition against the Black Gold Brotherhood. You were still the heir of Wushan Castle back then.”

Ronin took a deep breath. He didn’t use Fighting Qi, merely raising the volume of his voice.

“Baron Reisen, you have an excellent memory!”

As he spoke, he was also sizing up the opposing forces. It would be a lie to say he felt no pressure, but he couldn’t let it show.

“But today is the first time we meet with me as the Baron of Mountain Forest Town.”

A look of disdain flashed in Reisen’s eyes. He lightly kicked his horse’s belly, breaking away from his formation and trotting toward Ronin.

“Since we are both Barons, you should know that provoking a more established Baron’s Domain comes at a price.”

A cold sneer formed on his lips. “If you have the courage, then come forward and speak with me.”

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