Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Population Breakthrough

After the intense, fast-paced offensive, Ronin’s life slowed down once more.

Although life in Purple Fruit Village wasn’t as comfortable as in Mountain Forest Town, Ronin had to spend a great deal of time and patience teaching Horn two planting techniques: the Mulberry Tree Cutting Method and the Grafting Method. He especially needed to demonstrate the latter, which he had only ever seen others use but had never tried himself.

Over the past two days, Ronin had also inspected the reclaimed fields of Purple Fruit Village. He selected ten acres and designated them as the Sang Plant Base.

Growing mulberry trees also required the Ridge Cultivation Method. However, compared to wheat, the ridges for mulberry trees needed to be slightly higher. Ronin taught this method to Horn in advance, also telling him to maintain a distance of about eighty to ninety centimeters between each plant.

Of course, verbal instructions could only serve as guidance. The extent to which the mulberry tree expansion could be implemented would depend on Horn’s practical skills.

’Seeing how serious he is, even taking detailed notes, there’s still reason to be hopeful.’

Ronin didn’t expect this project to be completed within a year—that would be unrealistic.

He was only seventeen this year. Time was on his side, and he had plenty of it to improve conditions and eventually bring silk out of these mountain forests.

「Three days later」

In the afternoon, Ronin arrived at the northernmost edge of the Purple Fruit Tribe’s territory, accompanied by Horn.

Wubei Forest Land was quite large, and vast expanses of land stretched even further north, but no humans lived there, let alone any Wilderness Tribes.

“So you’re saying that some fleeing nobles once took their people north, put down roots, and formed tribes just like yours? But eventually, all those tribes vanished without a trace?”

Standing on a high slope, Ronin gazed northward. He could almost see the ocean’s waves crashing on the horizon.

It was said that the northern border of Wushan Territory was the ocean, but it had always remained undeveloped—which was rather unusual.

’Logically, shouldn’t a coastal area be more prosperous?’

For example, Sharp Horn City was Wushan Territory’s main port city. Dennis Port connected Wushan Territory to the Oduin Kingdom, facilitating incredibly frequent trade and contributing an untold amount of Gold Coins in tribute to Wushan Castle each year.

The fact that the northern coast was surrounded by the sea yet remained undeveloped was quite surprising.

He spread out a map to take a look. It was possible that the protruding northern region was too isolated, with long trade routes to other places. Combined with the lack of any discovered profitable resources, this could explain the absence of human presence in the north.

“Yes, my Lord!”

Horn said, “I once explored the north myself. There were indeed traces of human activity. I saw wooden and stone huts, and there were many bones on the ground, but I didn’t see any people.”

He recalled the memory, a hint of panic appearing on his face. “I felt that the people there had disappeared in an unnatural way, so I didn’t dare to venture any deeper.”

’Is that so?’

Ronin frowned and looked at his Guard Officer, Macken, who was standing beside him.

Macken understood. “Rest assured, my Lord. When I have the time, I will lead a team to thoroughly scout the northern lands and mark out any dangerous areas in advance.”

Ronin nodded. “Purple Fruit Village has existed safely for many years, so even if there are dangerous areas, the impact shouldn’t be too great. As for the scouting mission, let’s consider it after you’ve been promoted to Bronze Knight.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Horn stood to the side, listening to the conversation between master and servant, and felt a little strange.

Reaching the Bronze Level was no easy feat. Some people remained stuck at the Advanced Level Knight stage for their entire lives.

But listening to these two, it sounded like a sure thing—as if it were a very simple matter.

’Could this Macken already be on the verge of a breakthrough?’

Horn recalled the scene a few days ago when Macken had completely crushed Sleirein. He nodded to himself. ’It’s really possible.’

CLIP-CLOP, CLIP-CLOP…

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, the men looked up and saw Erin and Jenny riding toward them.

Ronin had given three of Sleirein’s warhorses to Jenny’s family. They had been learning to ride for the past two days and seemed to have gotten the hang of it.

Before long, the two horses arrived in front of the group.

Erin dismounted nimbly and said with a smile, “Brother Ronin, your Civil Servant, Wilson, is back from the Grey Soil Tribe.”

After spending a few days together, the little girl Erin could no longer resist the temptation to call him ’brother’ and had finally said it out loud.

“Oh?”

Ronin smiled. “It sounds like Wilson has finished registering the people of the Grey Soil Tribe.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Jenny dismounted. “Wilson said he needs to report his work to you. Also, Juliet has followed your instructions and brought back a large bag of the Grey Soil Tribe’s specialty, ’Grey Soil.’”

Cyan Bamboo Village’s specialty was bamboo, and Purple Fruit Village’s was silkworms and mulberry trees. Ronin was very curious to find out what exactly this “Grey Soil” that Babulin and the others had mentioned truly was.

“Let’s head back then.”

Ronin was getting impatient. He took Erin’s horse, mounted it, and asked, “Little Erin, want to come up?”

Erin’s face flushed red. She hesitated for a moment before saying weakly, “I-I’ll just ride my mother’s horse.”

“Hahaha~”

Ronin burst out laughing. Teasing the kid brought him a bit of amusement. ’It’s a shame she’s still so young,’ he thought.

“Macken, you accompany Erin and the others back.”

He wheeled his horse around and galloped toward the village.

A short while later, he arrived at the main hall, where Wilson and Juliet were waiting for him.

As soon as Ronin entered, the two men quickly stood up to greet him.

Juliet said, “My Lord, Ridder asked me to inform you that everything in Grey Soil Village is proceeding smoothly. All the villagers know that you are their master, and you can go for an inspection at any time.”

“I understand. You did an excellent job stabilizing the situation in such a short amount of time!”

Wilson handed over a prepared register. “My Lord, this is the result of the Grey Soil Tribe’s census. Compared to Cyan Bamboo Village and Purple Fruit Village, the Grey Soil Tribe has more artisans.”

He elaborated, “I made some inquiries. They have three carpenters alone, and one of them is likely on par with William. In addition, there are two masons and quite a few able-bodied men.”

Ronin laughed. The Grey Soil Tribe had clearly prospered by bleeding its allies dry; they were indeed much stronger.

“Wilson, your skills are getting more and more impressive.”

He offered a word of praise as he took the register.

As soon as the parchment was in his hand, system text appeared before his eyes—

[“Population Prosperity” achievement unlocked! Attribute Points +50, Energy Essence +100]

Grey Soil Village had a population of 455. Combined with the populations of Mountain Forest Town, Cyan Bamboo Village, and Purple Fruit Village, the total number of subjects under Ronin’s rule had now reached 3,180, surpassing the three-thousand-person threshold for the achievement.

Ronin casually opened the achievement interface, where the information had been updated:

[Population Prosperity]: Reach a registered territorial population of 5,000. Reward: Attribute Points +100, Energy Essence +200

The required number hadn’t increased by a huge amount—only another two thousand. ’It doesn’t seem too difficult,’ he thought.

If Ronin conquered the Black-collar Tribe and purchased some more slaves, he might be able to complete this achievement.

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