Chapter 18: Into the Mountains

Roman changed into hunting attire that allowed for easier movement and tied up his thick, shoulder-length hair that was previously loose, giving him a wild, lion-like sense of freedom; his facial features became more pronounced.

Roman didn't let Green and Aaron wear full armor but had them change into clothes suitable for movement in the mountains, equipped with weapons, and had Aaron carry an iron shield.

By the time the sun had just risen.

Moor was waiting at Sige Town for Roman's erratic endeavor today—or rather, agricultural guidance.

Instead, he saw Roman arrive on horseback, carrying a large bow, dressed sleekly from head to toe.

He heard Roman say, "Bring the guards of Sige Town to me; I am taking people into the mountains."

"Ah?" Moor looked dumbfounded at Roman, his mind muddled, "Why... My lord, why didn't you inform me earlier?"

Roman furrowed his brows. "Why would I inform you?"

Indeed, why inform me?

Could I have stopped him anyway?

What a plague of an ancestor!

Moor was anxious and felt compelled to remind him; "Those people are very dangerous!"

Roman narrowed his eyes. "Oh? So I should let them run amok in my territory?"

Moor, brought to tears, genuinely adored this headstrong, domineering lord at this moment.

Roman clearly saw the struggling expression on Moor's face, yet all this while, despite whatever bizarre or preposterous action he took, Moor had merely accepted it passively, as if, so long as he wasn't demoted to a pigsty, all would be well.

Only this matter made Moor show considerable resistance.

So, Roman took Moor along as well.

When he announced this decision, Moor turned petrified, his gaze and heart ashen, as if resigned to his fate.

There were 30 guards in Sige Town; Roman only took 20, leaving 10 behind with enough supplies, ensuring Sige Town was not unprotected.

Today's task was a replica of yesterday's; the stewards of Sige Town could manage the supervision.

Roman first inquired if they had relevant experience and how familiar they were with the deep mountains.

The likelihood of harm befalling him, Green, and Aaron was very low, but that did not mean the guards were all of exceptional constitution—their chances of injury or death were significant.

According to their responses, as long as they were cautious, there would be no mishaps.

Long before Roman came here, the residents had also entered the mountains or forests to collect timber.

This was Roman's biggest means of applying noble oppression on all Sige Town residents—although Roman merely sought a pretext.

After training the farmers in instinctual obedience, Roman planned to open up logging rights in the coming period.

He truly did not believe these people could waste natural resources.

The farmers had no axes or knives, only rudimentary wooden tools, so they had to struggle manually with nature.

Naturally, this efficiency was extremely low.

Marks of each year's new logging would be covered by natural regeneration the next year.

Once Roman found a suitable iron ore deposit and produced sharp axes and knives through metal smelting, he would personally teach them what true efficiency meant.

Breaking wood with stones?

NO!

Come, use this (hands them an axe and saw).jpg

But before that, Roman still needed to conduct basic surveys here to find suitable mining veins.

...

Most of Roman's territory was undeveloped, also known as the Wilderness.

Despite the fact that Sige Town might have tens of thousands of acres of land for planting,

for the entire basin, this was still just a small part.

This was a common phenomenon in that era.

With vast land sparsely populated, treacherous nature, and wild beasts rampant, pioneering was a challenging task.

Over a hundred years ago, the Conqueror Emperor, under the status of an uncrowned king, enacted a law.

All pioneers would become masters of the land they opened up and were granted the status and title of Pioneer Lords.

This vigorous movement of pioneering that lasted almost twenty years, a glittering moment for all of human civilization, ended when the Conqueror fell gravely ill in the Nether Sea, and his great fleet was struck by a storm.

Consequently, the government ceased to function.

Without the strong oppression of the Conqueror, nobles and other Kingdoms started to jump in, quickly incorporating the lands labored over by the common people for twenty years into their territories within a very short time.

Those voluntary pioneers, often having nothing, lacked both foundation and military power, and couldn't resist.

It wasn't until three Grand Dukes lead the remnants back from the Nether Sea that the chaotic scramble finally stabilized.

But the impact of this event was profound.

For instance, countries no longer actively cleared new land but instead relied on the natural rate of population growth to slowly expand human living spaces.

Furthermore, as the cultivated land was vast enough for people to slaughter each other and deplete the population, there was no need to continue expanding outward.

Sige Town was a case of such passive development, slowly growing from a few hundred people to the current scale, having cultivated tens of thousands of acres of wilderness.

Roman couldn't care less to comment on this matter.

He focused part of his attention on the interface of "Breathing Story."

"Breathing Story" regarded his territory as "Origin Farm."

But the map was vast and undefined, requiring him to personally illuminate all areas gradually.

During this illumination process, it would mark various geographical features such as logging areas, quarrying zones, mining areas, hunting zones, swamps, rivers, and wastelands.

Simply put, everywhere Roman traveled, it would reveal where the mines were, akin to a map with all resource viewing enabled.

However, this view was only for specific resources, not live satellite surveillance.

Moreover, Roman had tested it.

"Breathing Story" did not affect the real world!

Even because the farmland in Sige Town wasn't cultivated by Roman, "Breathing Story" did not regard those thousands of acres as 'farmland'—only the land that Roman tilled was considered 'farmland'.

Of course, this resource survey functionality still saved Roman a considerable amount of effort, marking the precise location of any nearby ore veins, eliminating the need for surveying time.

…

Moor pleaded earnestly, "Master Roman, the mountains are full of desperate outlaws, you really shouldn't risk your safety, which is of utmost importance."

Roman then said, "If there is someone in the mountains who could kill all the guards and the two knights, then let him kill me."

His reply was casual and calm, but it didn't stop Moor from sweating profusely.

The mountain roads were rugged, and he weighed nearly two hundred pounds, which made this aerobic exercise quite taxing for him.

Roman said, "Alright, you can talk about the people in these mountains now."

Moor clearly knew something.

Wiping his sweat, Moor reluctantly said, "I'm not exactly sure, but some of them have lived here for a long time, long before my father died of illness and before I was an Agricultural Officer, they were here."

Savage demon beasts, perilous environments.

And certain extremely dangerous bandits and fugitives.

This was also why Moor refused to come deep into the mountains, because one wrong step could indeed cost him his life.