Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Return Journey

The next morning, Ronin and Macken, guided by Juliet, arrived at the territory of the Grey Soil Tribe, which had been renamed Grey Soil Village.

It was clearly the strongest faction in the Tripartite Alliance. As the front line facing the enemy, Grey Soil Village’s large population was merely what was on the surface.

The proportion of able-bodied laborers here was extremely high, while the population of those over fifty was extremely low. Ronin wasn’t sure if they had all died off or been transferred to Cyan Bamboo Village and Purple Fruit Village.

For Ronin, the more able-bodied young adults here, the better. They could manage Grey Soil Village effectively, and he wouldn’t have to transfer people over from Mountain Forest Town.

In addition to its population, Grey Soil Village also had quite a few defensive fortifications.

Sleirein’s residence, in particular, truly resembled a nobleman’s castle. Though a bit small, it had an outer wall made of wooden palisades, as well as sturdy towers and a keep constructed from earth and stone.

Without the intelligence and strategy provided by Jenny to lure Sleirein and his men out, capturing this place would have certainly taken considerable effort.

After arriving in Grey Soil Village, Ronin had lunch with everyone, as arranged by Ridder.

Once business here was concluded, he would return to Mountain Forest Town, leaving Grey Soil Village under Ridder’s management.

In fact, it wasn’t just defense—anything that came up here could be entrusted to him.

’Someone with Proud Sun Level aptitude who could never betray me is well worth cultivating,’ Ronin thought.

’Letting Ridder gain some experience in Grey Soil Village now means that when my territory expands in the future, I can absolutely make him a Governor.’

’In fact, it’s not just Ridder; Elron and Macken could also fill that role.’

By appointing these three, Ronin wouldn’t have to worry that they would grow distant and aloof from Wushan Castle after becoming powerful, just as Ossen had.

Of course, Ronin was merely entrusting Grey Soil Village to Ridder’s management; he was not granting it as a fief.

’Whether I’ll need to grant fiefs and Noble Titles to my followers when I become a Viscount or Count in the future is a question worth considering.’

’To be honest, I prefer centralized authority over a feudal system.’

In the afternoon, thanks to Ridder’s prior arrangements, Ronin met with all the subjects of Grey Soil Village in his capacity as a nobleman and their lord, making it clear to them who they were now to pledge their loyalty to.

Drawing on his experience in Mountain Forest Town, Cyan Bamboo Village, and Purple Fruit Village, Ronin was now able to naturally deliver a rousing speech to his new subjects. He not only quelled their apprehension and unease but also instilled in some of them hope and anticipation for the future.

These people’s concerns were not complicated. ’As long as their new master doesn’t sell them, kill them, or starve them, everything else is fine.’

Whether they would work diligently or just slack off later was a matter for another day.

“My lord, this is the place where the Grey Soil comes from.”

After his meeting with the subjects, Ronin was led by Ridder to the northeast side of the village.

“I’ve done a brief survey. Starting from this hilltop, it extends north for several miles. If you dig down just four or five meters, you can see this type of earth—the Kaolin you mentioned.”

In his spare time in Grey Soil Village over the past two days, Ridder had conducted a simple survey, knowing Ronin was interested in the Grey Soil.

Although digging four to five meters deep would be difficult for an ordinary person, he was able to manage it by using his Fighting Qi and Longsword.

’So this deposit extends for at least several miles,’ Ronin thought.

Ronin gazed at the hilltop. While it didn’t sound enormous, the area hadn’t been fully surveyed, and there were still many uncertainties.

Regardless, the current quantity of Kaolin was more than enough for Ronin’s initial development needs.

“When we have time, conduct a proper survey to determine the full extent of this deposit,” he instructed.

“Yes, my lord.”

Ridder had learned from Juliet how much importance the Lord placed on Kaolin, but none of them knew what the soil was actually used for, and they were all very curious.

“My lord, how do you plan to use this soil? Are you going to make pottery?”

Ronin gave a mysterious smile. “It would be a great waste to use this only for pottery. Just you wait, Commander. Its value is beyond what you can imagine.”

Ridder felt that this young Lord before him held endless knowledge in his mind. He suspected the purpose of this Kaolin was yet another subject that fell outside his own expertise.

“Since this soil is so important, we should protect it. Does that mean we should stop cultivating the wheat fields nearby?”

Ronin thought for a moment. “Halt all farming within half a mile of this area for now. If an area of farmland doesn’t touch the deposit, we should continue to use it.”

“Also, have a few men bag up several sacks of Kaolin. I want to take them back to Mountain Forest Town for research.”

Ronin knew the general process for making Porcelain, but he also knew there was a huge gap between ’knowing’ how and actually ’producing’ it, a gap filled with many problems he would have to solve through trial and error.

’Once I’ve perfected the method, I’ll establish a Porcelain manufacturing base here and create the Jingdezhen of this Otherworld.’

“After I go back, everything here is in your hands.”

Ronin instructed, “In a while, I’ll send people over to implement new farming techniques; I’ll need you to cooperate with them. Also, you can follow our model and establish your own construction team, logging team, and manure collection team here.”

He gestured toward a nearby area. “You can start by building some higher-quality houses near the Kaolin Ore Vein. We’ll have use for them later.”

Ronin informed Ridder of all the tasks Grey Soil Village needed to undertake, telling him to have his people follow the model of Mountain Forest Town. The efficiency could be lower, but the basic structures had to be established.

Additionally, Grey Soil Village had three Carpenters and two Masons. Ronin left one of each in the village and took the rest back to Mountain Forest Town.

The Carpenters would be assigned to the Ironwood Workshop and to crafting the bodies for the Curved Plows, while the Masons would be brought back to Mountain Forest Town specifically to build houses. After all, Mountain Forest Town’s geographical location connected it to the outside world; prioritizing its development was the obvious choice.

It was a shame that even with a territory of three thousand people, he still had very few artisans. His only option was to have the existing craftsmen train more apprentices.

Ronin remained in Grey Soil Village for the next three days. This was partly to inspect the area surrounding the village, and partly because walking around and making his presence known would help to reassure the people.

He also spent a day traveling southeast of the village to observe the Black-collar Tribe from a distance.

As a place under the influence of the Baron of Sain Territory, the Black-collar Tribe was far more disciplined than the Tripartite Alliance had been. Before Ronin even reached their perimeter, he spotted several watchtowers positioned at intervals along the path, presumably to guard against sneak attacks from the Tripartite Alliance.

Given these defenses, on top of the certainty that their internal fortifications were stronger than those of Grey Soil Village, Ronin’s decision to postpone the attack in the absence of sufficient intelligence was a wise one.

He had already accumulated over two hundred points of Energy Essence. Once he became a Fourth-level Transcendent, he could use them to empower Ridder and Macken, giving their strength another boost after they advanced to the Bronze Level.

Attacking the Black-collar Tribe then would be much less difficult, and his losses would be far smaller.

On October 2nd, having concluded his inspection of Grey Soil Village, Ronin began his journey home.

This time, after returning to Mountain Forest Town, besides resting and consolidating his recent gains, Ronin also needed to make a trip to Wushan Castle.

A month had now passed since his father, Earl Wiggin, was injured. ’Things at Wushan Castle should have calmed down considerably by now,’ he thought.

Regardless, in the eyes of outsiders, Ronin was still Wiggin’s son. He could make an excuse for waiting a month to visit, but dragging it out any longer would be going too far.

Ronin had no intention of cutting ties with them.

Although the great house of Wushan Castle was on the verge of collapse, it hadn’t fallen yet, and there were still many advantages to be gained by leaning on it.

Moreover, the blood of the Wushan Clan flowed through Ronin’s veins; no matter what he did, he could never completely sever his connection to Wushan Castle. If Wushan Castle were to truly fall, it would likely bring him no benefit.

Therefore, after returning and getting things settled, Ronin planned to set off for Wushan Castle.

Of course, visiting Wiggin was only one of his objectives; he intended to use the opportunity to see if he could procure more resources for Mountain Forest Town.

Money, artisans, manpower—he needed it all.

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