Chapter 49: Chapter 48: A Surprising Discovery

Ronin began another inspection of his territory, accompanied by three Professional Knights.

After yesterday’s disappointing experience, his expectations for today were greatly reduced.

Today, he didn’t want to continue inspecting the farmland. Instead, he headed west, wanting to get a clear understanding of the western geography before winter set in.

Unlike the east, the land to the west had more rolling hills and relatively fewer flat areas.

As Ronin walked, he noted down the prominent geographical features on a sheet of parchment, giving them names.

For example, the natural lake before him was situated between three mountains in a natural depression. It wasn’t large, estimated to be about five or six hundred square meters.

According to Tom, the lake contained several species of wild fish. Princest had even sent men to fish here, and it was much easier than fishing in Mountain Forest Lake to the east.

Because it was relatively close to Wushan, Ronin named it “Wushan Lake.”

Following Wushan Lake further west, they began to enter the Wushan Mountain Range. Technically, that area did not belong to Ronin’s territory.

However, no other noble wanted to develop a territory in this area, so there was no issue with Ronin making use of its resources.

“Before I came to Mountain Forest Town, Holwart, the butler of Wushan Castle, told me that the previous Baron here took his family on an outing in the winter and died under the claws of a Magical Beast!”

Ronin said, gazing at the increasingly dense mountain forest as he recounted what he had heard. “Macken, when winter comes, I’m leaving the Magical Beast problem to you. You’d better get me a few Magic Beast Hides!”

Macken, clad in Armor, thumped his chest heavily. “My Lord, I am very confident!”

Ronin laughed heartily.

’It was just past the 15th of the eighth month, with four months still to go until winter. By then, Macken won’t just be an Advanced Level Knight; he should be in the upper-middle ranks among Advanced Level Knights, right?’

That level of strength would be enough to deal with ordinary Magical Beasts, unless a massive one appeared, like what happened to the previous Baron Green of Lake Town.

“Tom, do many Magical Beasts come down to attack the town in the winter?”

As someone born and raised in Mountain Forest Town, Tom was well-qualified to speak on the matter.

“It’s true that some Magical Beasts come down from the mountains to forage in the winter, but rest assured, My Lord, it’s not as exaggerated as that butler claimed. Most of them are wolf- or boar-type beasts. It’s rare for exceptionally powerful Magical Beasts to appear.”

Tom continued, “To prevent attacks from Magical Beasts, Princest arranged for the wheat fields and cleared wastelands to be in the east. The crops to the west are primarily flax, and relatively few people live there, so the losses wouldn’t be too great.”

’Ronin gave Princest a mental thumbs-up. The man had finally done something that benefited him.’

“That may be, but the pasture to the northwest is my ranch. The cattle, sheep, and horses will all be kept there. The Guards need to be careful on their patrols. Don’t let the beasts from the mountains eat my livestock!”

Ronin currently had 126 sheep, 35 horses, 6 dairy cows, and 24 Black Water Buffalo. It wasn’t a large number, and since half of them were acquired from outside, losing even one would be painful.

“Rest assured, My Lord. Starting tomorrow, I will arrange for a few Guards to patrol this area!”

As Macken followed Ronin on the inspection, he wasn’t just casually looking around. As the Guard Officer, he was contemplating the territory’s defense arrangements.

They currently had three major security threats: the Wilderness Tribe, Magical Beasts, and Sain Territory.

Compared to the unpredictability of Magical Beasts, the Wilderness Tribe and Sain Territory were the primary concerns.

Therefore, Macken planned to commit more manpower to those two fronts. As for the Demon Beast Mountain Range to the west, he only needed to arrange for a few people to patrol and notify the Guards to come for support if anything happened.

Ronin nodded. “After the inspection is complete, I want you to think about a defense plan for the territory and report it to me.”

“Yes, My Lord!” Macken accepted the order.

The group chatted as they walked, and following a small mountain path, they soon entered the rolling mountains to the west.

The mountains here were much taller than the ones to the south. Looking into the distance, one could see an even taller mountain range—that was Wushan.

The forests here were dense, with tall, evergreen trees like pines and cypresses, as well as low-lying shrubs and scattered patches of grass.

As the master of these mountain forests, he truly didn’t have to worry about lumber.

’It’s a pity other people don’t lack wood either.’

The territories of all the nobles in Wushan Territory had plenty of mountains. Who didn’t have wood?

He couldn’t make money just by selling wood, and long logs were difficult to transport on the mountain roads.

Crafting the wood into new styles of furniture might sell, but the transportation problem remained, and the designs would be easily copied.

“Look at the path ahead. It’s clean and free of weeds. Someone obviously walks it often.”

Ronin pointed at the winding mountain path. It was over a meter wide, and the sparse weeds at its edges suggested it was frequently trodden. “Who comes here frequently?”

Logically, this area was already outside the borders of Mountain Forest Town and posed certain dangers, so not many people should have been coming here.

“My Lord, the town’s commoners often come here in groups of three or five to cut firewood!”

Tom knew this path well. “Before you came to Mountain Forest Town, My Lord, Princest didn’t allow the commoners to randomly chop down trees within the town. If people wanted to build houses, they either had to pay Princest a certain amount of money or provide labor. Otherwise, their only choice was to come here to the mountains to find wood.”

The flowers, grass, trees, mountains, and rivers within the territory all belonged to the Lord. If the commoners wanted anything, they had to apply to the Lord and offer something in exchange.

Failing to apply and pay with money or labor was against the law. If discovered, not only would the goods be confiscated, but the offender would also face severe punishment.

Ronin sighed to himself. ’The common people of this world are truly pitiful. They have control over so few means of production.’

Even now as the Lord, he couldn’t just declare that the trees in Mountain Forest Town could be cut down at will. But as a Transmigrator, he felt it was necessary to resolve this “dangerous” situation.

He didn’t want his subjects to end up in the mouths of Magical Beasts just for a bit of wood. Compared to a tree, a laborer was far more valuable.

“Tom, do many people from the town come out this way?”

Ronin urged his horse onward, following the mountain path deeper into the woods. “Are there any particularly dangerous places or Magical Beasts further in?”

“Only the bolder ones come out here. Most of the timid ones don’t dare to, so they have to entrust the bolder folk to help them in exchange for some payment.”

Tom continued, “I’m not sure about especially dangerous places or Magical Beasts, but My Lord, there is a special place.”

“Oh?” Ronin’s curiosity was piqued.

“My Lord, up ahead is a large Black Forest. The trees there are exceptionally hard. A normal Stone Axe can’t even make a dent, and even with an Iron Axe, it takes a great deal of effort to chop one down!”

Ronin’s eyes lit up.

From yesterday to today, he had been hoping to discover something unique, but reality had been a constant disappointment.

’But now, has something special finally appeared?’

“Take me there!” he said quickly.

The place Tom mentioned wasn’t far. After traveling for about a mile, Ronin saw a Black Forest.

It was a widespread forest composed of peculiar trees with black trunks, over ten meters tall and fifty to sixty centimeters in diameter.

Ronin reached out and touched the bark. It felt much smoother than pine bark, not very rough at all.

With a sense of anticipation, he drew his Longsword and swung at the trunk.

With a CLANG, perhaps because he hadn’t used much force, his sword was actually repelled.

He examined the point of impact closely and found that his strike had only left a faint mark, with no sign of even breaking the bark.

Ronin’s eyes brightened. ’Is it really this hard?’

He quickly waved Macken over. “Come on, Macken. Let’s see if you can cut this tree down in one blow.”

Macken was very confident. “My Lord, a tree is still just a tree. No matter how hard it is, it won’t withstand a full-power strike from my sword!”

As he spoke, he walked over to the trunk and gripped his Great Sword with both hands. Fighting Qi flowed along the blade, emitting a faint aura of power.

With a deep shout, Macken swung violently at the trunk.

CRACK!

The immense impact caused the Black Iron Tree to shake violently. Macken’s greatsword wasn’t repelled; it broke through the bark and cut thirty centimeters deep before it could go no further.

An Intermediate Knight in their mid-to-late stages, using a sharp sword with a full-power strike, had failed to cut down the tree. This was a testament to its hardness.

Macken was blushing, having lost face in front of his lord, but Ronin began to clap happily.

“Excellent, excellent, excellent!”

Wood this hard was a rare find, and its value would not be low.

“It’s called the ’Black Iron Tree,’ right?” Ronin asked.

Tom bowed. “No one has named it, My Lord. We call this the Black Forest, and we call the trees ’black trees’.”

“Then from this day forward, it shall be called the Black Iron Tree.”

Ronin was quite pleased. “Come on, Knights, chop one down and bring it back for me to study.”

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