Chapter 335: The Bustling Wubei Territory

The North Wold territory had grown exceedingly bustling of late.

To be precise, ever since Ronin had commanded the victorious battle that annihilated the Brand bandits and subsequently ascended as the Earl of the North Wold, the land had gradually begun to thrum with vibrant life.

First, numerous freemen caught wind of this newly prominent domain and caught word of its welcoming population policy; moved by a yearning for a better life, many undertook arduous journeys to Marsh Town, petitioning Wilson to join the fief.

Toward these newcomers, Wilson, the chief of civil affairs, accepted every single soul without exception.

Second, Rognar had already escorted back to the North Wold the ten thousand men raised from Splendor City, alongside the twenty-five thousand gathered by Wiggins.

With a few assistants in tow, Wilson distributed these multitudes across Forest Town, Tri-Way Town, and Blacksoil Town in strict accordance with Ronin’s prior instructions.

Once everyone was fully settled, each of the four current towns in the North Wold would boast a population exceeding ten thousand.

Third, quite apart from the freemen arriving of their own accord and the masses brought back by Rognar, a significant number of professional knights, drawn by the territory's growing renown, had journeyed hither during this period; though most were merely novice knights, a selection of those with clear backgrounds were permitted to stay after Cramy's rigorous screening.

By now, the number of professional knights remaining in the North Wold had swelled from the original seven to twenty-two.

At this, Chahar, now installed as the financial officer, could not help but grumble incessantly that if they continued to recruit professional knights on such a massive scale, the North Wold's treasury would soon collapse under the strain.

Yet his complaints were merely lip service, for he did nothing to actually halt the expanded recruitment.

The North Wold was an earldom, and a standard earldom ought to possess at least a full knightly order; Ronin had not even assembled two complete knight squads yet, leaving him still far from that benchmark.

To generate more fiscal revenue, Chahar busied himself with staffing several workshops while actively reporting to Elrond, who presided over the North Wold, hoping that the magical potions under the mage lord's research could be brought to production ahead of schedule.

Faced with this, Elrond also felt a touch of helplessness.

He certainly wished to manufacture some simple magical potions in vast quantities, but he was severely constrained by a lack of capable hands beneath him.

Aside from himself, there were only two other mages, Jenny and Irene.

Driven by necessity, Elrond could only recruit a batch of quick-witted commoners to intensify the study of herbalism, intending to first sell medicinal herbs for disinfection, hemostasis, and fevers to the outside world to reap an initial wave of profit.

Chahar, preparing well in advance under Rognar's guidance, rented a shop within the trading district of Pasture City, laying the groundwork for future sales of herbs and eventual magical potions.

"Respected Mage Excellency, there is someone outside who wishes to call upon you, claiming a desire to join the North Wold and serve the Lord Protector."

A guard knocked upon the door of Elrond’s study; as the second-in-command of the North Wold, Elrond now held an exceptionally exalted position, received with profound deference even by Wilson and Chahar.

Elrond was currently using a pen to price several varieties of herbs upon a sheet of paper, the very yellow paper produced by Ronin in the mountain forests through the art of papermaking.

He had found it somewhat awkward at first, but after using a few sheets, he discovered the convenience and sheer cheapness of this medium.

Whenever he lifted this paper, Elrond could not help but marvel in silent praise that his Lord was truly a genius.

"Matters of this nature can simply be handled by Cramy, there is no need to seek me out," Elrond replied, his gaze never wavering from his work.

"It was Cramy who instructed me to inform you, milord."

The guard spoke deferentially: "It is said that the traveler is Youssef Rivi, the eldest son of the Viscount of Riverflow City, and he is a high-tier mage."

Elrond snapped his head up instantly, astonishment flashing through his eyes, though it was swiftly replaced by an expression of sheer delight.

The three great viscounties of the Mountainside territory were Pasture City, Riverflow City, and Sharp-Horn City.

Viscount Marvin of Pasture City had sent his second son to pledge fealty to Ronin, clearly favoring Ronin’s future prospects;

And now, Viscount Sandro Rivi of Riverflow City—who also served as the commander of the Fourth Knightly Order of Mountainside Castle—had actually sent his eldest son to the North Wold to serve Ronin; what did this signify?

"It appears the other party also foresees greatness for the Lord Protector; sending his eldest son serves both to mend relations between the two factions and to plan for the future, just as Viscount Marvin did."

Ronin was not only powerful and possessed of immense potential, but he also enjoyed the favor and backing of the Marquis; many who had previously adopted a wait-and-see attitude would now progressively make their choices.

Yet, generally speaking, it was the second sons who were dispatched to the North Wold; for a man like Sandro to directly send his eldest son was an exceedingly rare occurrence.

"Quickly, lead me to meet him."

Elrond rose to his feet.

Youssef’s enlistment would not only lend a substantial boon to his research and production of magical potions, but it also heralded that the North Wold's influence had ascended to an entirely new height.

Beyond the shifting tides of personnel, several industries within the North Wold had successively entered a state of expansion.

The ironwood workshop grew increasingly crowded with figures, and the ironwood armor produced month by month was being shipped in batches to Pasture City, marketed externally through the commercial channels of the Ironhoof family;

The papermaking workshop had also been erected, where workers were gathered everywhere collecting fibrous materials and boiling them down;

Furthermore, following the advent of the first loom, Master Artisan Dan had constructed two additional new looms in rapid succession, drawing in his apprentices to multiply the number of machines.

With the aid of the looms, Leah and the others joined the work of reeling silk and weaving silk cloth; in addition to this, the flax collected from Forest Town would be processed here into linen thread, subsequently fashioned into linen garments.

Faintly, Purplefruit Village showed signs of transforming into a textile factory, an outcome precisely aligned with Ronin’s expectations.

According to his grand design, the North Wold would later leverage the advantages of the looms to gather more flax from the outside world for processing, thereby driving down the cost of manufacturing linen clothing.

When that time came, whether they sold the finished garments themselves or acted as contract manufacturers for other nobles, the North Wold would reap a handsome income.

Trading garments for warships was by no means an impossibility.

Alongside these endeavors, the manure fertilizer processing plant had also been set in motion, and the reclamation of paddy fields and arable land was proceeding in full swing.

On another front, to the south of the Mountainside territory.

Macken, accompanied by the civil official Celine, had already assumed control of the Boulder Fief and Redhill Town; not only were the territorial affairs gradually falling into order, but Macken had also seized the opportunity to recruit several knights.

Over at the Redhill Town iron mine, Kales and his companions, who had arrived from the North Wold, were busy constructing a blast furnace for iron smelting deep within the recesses of the ore mountains.

With the assistance of Master Artisan Vance, it was believed that this blast furnace would be put into production before long, allowing cheaper iron agricultural tools, and even iron weapons and armor, to be forged.

Leaving the Boulder Fief behind, Rydal, stationed at Coastal City, had also formally taken command of Mountainside Castle's new Fifth Knightly Order.

Though Ronin had departed his domain, the tasks he had bequeathed were advancing in such an orderly fashion largely because the individuals charged with these matters were all men he had raised himself, free from overly complex backgrounds, and untainted by mutual competition or struggles for power.

Consequently, they were able to pour their entire energies into fulfilling Ronin’s objectives, achieving a state where higher and lower ranks were twisted together like a single strand of rope.

Of course, the greater reason lay in the fact that the supreme martial authorities of these locales—Elrond, Macken, and Rydal—were souls one hundred percent loyal to Ronin.

With them holding the fort, even if the territory should develop into a complex metropolis in the days to come, Ronin’s arrangements would be thoroughly executed.

For martial might, after all, remained the very bedrock of a territory's stability.