Chapter 10: A Sudden New Task

Azanen is a Viscount's Domain.

But it's not quite like the noble hierarchies Lin Ke knew from his previous life.

For instance, within their Viscount's Domain, there are more than a dozen Barons, and it's said there are also Lords.

The way titles are set up here seems different from that Western style of his past life.

Within the domain, some of these nobles are his father's generation, while some are from the previous generation.

Their places of residence also vary, with some living in the city as City Lords, some in castles as Castle Lords, and some can only be Village Chiefs, which is just a fancy term for village head.

The size of this Viscount's Domain made Lin Ke realize that the Naseng Continent might be even more vast than he imagined.

Fortunately, measurements and such are nearly standardized here, including the time divisions, which made things a lot easier for Lin Ke.

"Little Lin Ke, what are you thinking about?"

In the carriage, Lin Ke's mother was eating sour berries. Seeing Lin Ke looking dazed, she couldn't help but poke him: "How about we play the catch the fishman game?"

Lin Ke sat by the side of the carriage, staring into the fields, and shook his head: "I don't want to!"

That catch the fishman game is one adults use to coax kids, a bit like the "fifteen-twenty" finger-guessing game from his previous life, an intelligence game of sorts.

Both players put out both hands and guess the number the other will show.

If guessed right, the fishman is caught. If guessed wrong, you'll be laughed at for being as stupid as the fishman.

Very boring.

"Come on, Little Lin Ke, you loved this when you were little, come on～"

Give me a break, you loved playing that, alright? I was just keeping you company, acting like you're the baby that needs entertaining, humph.

"If you win, you can have some delicious sour berries!"

Please, you love eating those, right? Tart and sour, only tasty when juiced.

Thinking this, Lin Ke glanced at the small wooden jar in his mother's arms.

You've already eaten half the jar, and you're still going at it!

Are you out here for fun, sightseeing, and relaxation, or just to eat, hey!

Seeing Lin Ke ignoring her, Lin Ke's mother put down the fruit and came over to hug him: "If you don't play, I'll tickle you!"

Saying that, Lin Ke's mother turned him around and started tickling his waist and back.

"Ah, stop it, what are you doing... boo hoo hoo..."

Madam, have some respect!

I couldn't help it when I was a kid, but now I don't want to overstep the bounds!

Ugh, they're so big, I'm suffocating.

...

After a while, Lin Ke called for John, finally escaping from that witch.

Who has time to play catch the fishman?

Thinking things over properly is the real deal.

The more you think, imagine, and reflect, the fewer mistakes you'll make in an alternate world.

Playing games is not as good as sitting around, spacing out while waiting for a system task!

And just then, there was a change in front of his eyes, and several lines of text appeared.

Speak of the devil.

A mission has arrived!

Forget playing catch the fishman, the mission is what matters!

[Mission: Emit an irreplaceable light and use it to repel the invading enemy!]

[Reward: The unbreakable loyalty of your first follower]

[Hint: If the mission fails, your first follower will die]

Staring at the mission, Lin Ke was silent.

After a long while, he turned around: "Mother, let's play catch the fishman together!"

...

Damn, this is too tricky!

What does it mean to emit an irreplaceable light and use it to repel the invading enemy?

Emit light? How do I do that? Power up with love? Or just glow green?

Should I find a big, burly maid to marry on the spot and have her mate with a footman by the roadside, so I light up with jealousy?

This system's out of its mind.

Either that or give me some enlightenment to become a professional and let me learn some sort of light magic to repel enemies at a moment's notice.

Sigh, I can't figure it out...

As noon approached, Lin Ke had no appetite at all.

However, after brunch, he calmed down and began to think carefully.

Blaming the heavens and others is useless; if it worked, he would have returned to Earth by now.

"Judging from the first two tasks, the system isn't assigning tasks randomly; at least they're things I can accomplish..."

Lin Ke sat by the edge of the ox cart, his short, chubby white legs dangling outside. If one ignored the sharpness and aged wisdom in his eyes while deep in thought, he looked quite adorable.

"Little Lin Ke, a servant picked some sweet white fruits by the woods, they're really sweet! Come and try them!"

Lin Ke's mother was as happy as a 24-year-old child on their first trip away from home, hopping around in the group outside the ox cart.

It's eye-searing, you're the second lady!

Why are you acting like a 17-year-old royal princess who's been locked up for too long?

"I won't eat them, Mother! Remember to wash them before eating!"

In this magic world, who knows if there are magic bacteria, viruses, or parasites.

Lin Ke preferred to wash or boil everything before eating, a fine tradition from Huaxia in his previous life.

"Alrighty! ...Wow, Andrew's Leg, it's really sweet!" Meanwhile, Lin Ke's mother exclaimed continuously, drawing kind smiles from the servants.

Lin Ke rubbed his temples.

No wonder the first lady did nothing before he was born; this kind of naive sweetness posed no threat to the first lady.

However, when he glanced at the woods beside the road, Lin Ke's eyes suddenly lit up.

This road is the official road from the castle to the small city, with a sparse meadow on the left.

And on the right is a forest, probably extending from the great southern swamp.

Maybe it's because the Month of Blazing Fire here, or summer, is approaching, and the heat is making him a bit irritable.

So much that he didn't notice the most important information the system was giving him.

Incoming enemy!

"How could I overlook such important information..."

Lin Ke lightly knocked his head, "The incoming enemy, when are they arriving? Today? Or later..."

Another thing, this time the system prompt was "Task failure, first follower dies."

So... the system assigning tasks is like a pre-guidance!

Success or failure is a responsibility to bear, and the system only plays a guiding role.

After some casual thought, he got up, stood at the front of the slowly moving ox cart, and loudly said to the convoy, "Guard Team, quickly come... cough cough"

After shouting a couple of phrases, he coughed; his throat was itchy. He's still young, shouting too loudly is bad for his vocal cords.

He glanced at an unknown male servant next to him, "You shout, have the Guard Team gather here."

The male servant complied, then shouted toward a dozen ox carts ahead and behind.

"Guard Team, quickly gather at the young master's location!"

"Guard Team, quickly gather at the young master's location!"

"Guard Team..."

After shouting four or five times, Lin Ke stopped him, and then said, "Have everyone but the Guard Team get inside the carts, we might be facing an enemy attack."

There's no harm in being cautious, it's better to be careful.

The male servant's body went limp upon hearing, staggered, and trembled, "Ene... enemy?!"

As he spoke, he looked like he was about to be scared into sitting on the ground.

"Get up!"

Lin Ke furrowed his brows and barked lowly, "You shout first, everyone except the Guard Team get inside the carts, cover the Gula cattle's eyes, the convoy continues on the official road, don't stop."

If this male servant is like this, the female servants probably wouldn't fare much better.

The male servant, scolded by Lin Ke, reflexively got up from the ground, but the thought of having enemies made him nearly collapse again.

"If you keep this up, I'll kill you right now." Lin Ke squinted his eyes; he wouldn't kill, but he would threaten.

In this world, nobles killing non-nobles is easier than swatting a mosquito.

After all, you might not even be able to smack a mosquito, but a servant's life or death can be decided with a word.

The male servant gulped, with a longing to live outweighing the fear of unknown enemies, he immediately shouted:

"The young master's order, everyone except the Guard Team get inside the carts, cover the Gula cattle's eyes, the convoy follows the official road, don't stop!"

After shouting, the male servant looked steadily at Lin Ke.

Lin Ke waved the servant away, then said to his mother and Little John, "Mother, John, come over quickly!"

While speaking, the servants picking fruit and wildflowers by the forest got on the carts with rustling movements, dragging their feet.

And the guards' training over the past month wasn't in vain; in his previous life, even half a month of military training would give basic responses to orders.

These farmers, although not as good overall as university students, had a strong instinct to obey.

Within a minute, more than 300 Azanen Guards were already accompanying Lin Ke by the ox cart, each one tense and uneasy.

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