Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Territory Expansion
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Autumn had arrived.
I planted winter wheat in a total of thirteen fields.
Harvested the golden-ripe barley.
The harvested barley would be exchanged for monster byproducts before being sold across the continent.
With the money earned that way, I would buy more slaves.
And expand the farmland once again.
“Russell, good work.”
“Don’t worry, Master.”
The cart loaded full of barley departed from River Village.
“Hans, assemble the soldiers.”
“Yes!”
“Uncle, gather the hunters too.”
“Got it.”
Watching my uncle’s back as he walked away, I recalled the events from the summer.
Grandfather worked at the school as the hunting instructor and principal.
Maybe that was why.
I must have remembered a lot from the past.
To make such a proposal to me.
That day, as usual, I was removing the demonic energy from the fields.
“Grandfather? Why did you come to West River?”
“If the kids learn hunting skills, they’ll become hunters, won’t they?”
“That makes sense.”
“So, I want to form a hunter team.”
“Like in the old days?”
The hunter team Grandfather had formed in his youth.
With Grandfather’s outstanding hunting skills and charisma, the hunter team grew rapidly.
In scale, it was comparable to a large mercenary band.
“Haha. Back in the day, yeah. I did form a hunter team back then. But now... I can’t.”
Grandfather hunched over, pretending to be frail.
But his solid muscles made it look strange instead.
“You seem perfectly fine even now.”
Pang! Pang!
“Haha! It’s tough for me these days. So, here’s the thing.”
Grandfather recommended his son.
The man who was also my uncle.
“Uncle Miller?”
“Yeah. I took him hunting often when he was little. Taught him a lot. I asked him casually, and he seems interested.”
It wasn’t a bad proposal for me, either.
To expand the territory, I needed plenty of hunters.
If Uncle put together a hunter team, it would be a big help.
I went to Uncle Miller with Grandfather and received a positive response.
That was how the hunter team began.
At first, it was made up of people from River Village.
There were folks who made hunting their profession.
Especially once word spread that Uncle Miller—Grandfather’s own son—was forming the team, many people joined.
As time passed, the rumors spread throughout Monster Island.
Hunters from other regions started joining the team as well.
The open field in West River.
A large crowd had gathered there.
1,200 slave soldiers led by Hans.
150 in Uncle Miller’s hunter team.
A massive subjugation operation mobilizing 1,350 in total.
Defense during that time would be handled by the remaining slaves.
Plus the 200 soldiers Alensia had sent, so no worries about holding the line.
“Entire army, advance!”
The main force of 1,200 slaves set out.
The hunter team scattered to the front, rear, left, and right.
They would serve as the eyes and ears for our forces.
“Keep going this way.”
“I see.”
I looked in the direction the hunter indicated.
Then checked the map one more time.
The goal of this expedition wasn’t simply to thin out the monster numbers.
We needed to secure territory.
For that, defensive facilities were key.
‘Conveniently, ones like that already exist.’
The Frontier Viscounty had expanded and contracted repeatedly over the years.
During its heyday, humans lived all the way beyond the city of River Village.
I planned to restore those facilities.
“Entire army, move out.”
We headed west again.
Precisely, to the site of the old defensive facilities.
We thoroughly eliminated any Black Goblins we encountered along the way.
The battles were overwhelming.
Our numbers topped 1,000, and our armament had improved too.
The goblins couldn’t pierce the phalanx unit’s long spears and fell pathetically.
We arrived at the first defensive facility, which would serve as our outpost base.
“You could call this a small castle.”
Hans said as he rapped on the wall.
The facility exceeded expectations.
I’d imagined a simple outpost at best, but this was more substantial.
The perimeter walls were made of stone, not wood.
Thanks to that, they’d held their shape even after all this time.
“The walls don’t need repairs. Just a good cleaning.”
I inspected the facility while listening to Hans.
Then,
Screeech.
The grating sound of metal scraping rang out as the gate swung open.
A hunter who’d scaled the wall had opened it from inside.
“The gate will need fixing.”
“Agreed.”
We passed through the gate and entered.
Unlike the walls, most of the interior structures had collapsed.
Built of wood rather than stone, they hadn’t withstood the ravages of time.
“Pretty spacious.”
“Very spacious.”
Hans’s description of it as a “small castle” wasn’t wrong.
Our ancestors had truly turned this place into a fortress.
I walked slowly through the interior.
Beneath the ruins of collapsed houses lay several rusted weapons.
In other spots, I saw old tableware from long ago.
“They fought fiercely against the monsters even back then.”
“170 years ago. Frontier’s forces were stronger than now, and it was a time of aggressive expansion.”
“I see.”
“Heir, you’ve reclaimed the territory from 170 years ago.”
Not just me—Hans seemed deeply moved too.
Probably from seeing these traces of our ancestors’ lives.
“Not yet. Unless the kids from school grow up to become knights and mages.”
The monsters I could personally handle were limited to goblins and orcs at best.
Compared to our past glory, this force was downright meager.
“Kids grow up fast. In 30 years, it’s more than doable!”
I looked at Hans when he said “30 years.”
His expression was dead serious—no joking around.
30 years.
Way too long.
For someone with Korean blood—quick to act and decide—30 years was an eternity.
“Too long.”
“Pardon!?”
“Too long, I said. If we’re doing it, we hurry up. At least within 10 years.”
“Heir, that’s...”
I knew.
It was physically impossible.
The sword and magic instructors had scouted the talented kids.
Eight with swordsmanship aptitude.
One with magic aptitude.
The magic prodigy had been sent to the Gray Mage Tower.
The sword students were training at the school.
For those kids to become knights, it would take at least 10 years even at the fastest.
And that was the bare minimum to scrape by as entry-level knights.
Some wouldn’t even reach expert level in the end.
I shifted away from the negative thoughts.
“We’ll talk 10 years from now later. For now, focus on repairs.”
We began full-scale restoration work.
Cleared out rotten wood and sorted through the various tools buried underneath.
Wood kept coming in through one gate.
People went out the other to gather more.
After a day or two,
The buildings gradually took shape.
‘Earth Restoration.’
The open field inside the castle.
I planned to turn a third of the internal area into farmland.
Hans had suggested specialized soldiers.
I couldn’t go along with that.
Instead, I’d adjust the balance between farming and training.
If the old ratio was ‘farming 8 : training 2,’ then the outpost slaves would be ‘farming 3 : training 7.’
That way, we could still benefit from the Respected Farm Lord skill while raising top-notch soldiers.
The area was small, so clearing the demonic energy only took a few days.
The basic buildings were nearly complete too.
“How many soldiers should we leave here?”
“100 should suffice.”
“Beacon facilities?”
“Fully operational.”
“Two days from now, we move to the next point.”
“Understood.”
We’d traveled in a straight line from West River to this outpost.
We’d wiped out the monsters we encountered en route, but plenty more lurked beyond.
Even so, we were only leaving 100 behind for a reason.
‘100 for defense. As for monster culls...’
While the soldiers built, I spotted the hunters gathered in one spot, resting.
Uncle’s hunter team currently numbered 150.
But with hunters from various regions joining, our numbers kept growing.
Large monster hordes would fall to the soldiers, but everything else went to the hunters.
Two days later,
We departed the first outpost—a small castle in scale.
100 slave soldiers and 50 hunters stayed behind.
They’d handle cleaning up the surrounding monsters.
“Entire force, advance north!”
The next destination lay to the north.
170 years ago, the Frontier Viscount had expanded the territory.
And built several castles along the borders.
I planned to secure two of them on the southern end.
There were more castles farther north, but I gave those up.
Trolls started appearing from there on.
We arrived at the second outpost.
It was about the same size as the first.
Small castle level.
The soldiers fanned out to clear the interior.
We divided it into living quarters, military zones, and farming areas.
Built living facilities in the residential section and barracks plus a training ground in the military one.
In the farming area, I used Earth Restoration to purge the demonic energy.
As we finished setting up the second outpost,
“Heir! Heir!”
“What is it?”
“Take a look at this!”
Hans came running, holding a staff that looked luxurious at a glance.
“A magic staff?”
Hans thrust the handle right up to my face.
“Here. Look right here.”
The handle was engraved with “Cariyan Frontier.”
“Cariyan Frontier...”
“Yes! That’s him. One of our past lords...”
170 years ago. The lord who led the Frontier Viscounty to its golden age.
We’d found his staff in an abandoned castle.
I carefully stowed the staff away and prepared to move out.
We still had work to do.
“Hans, how many are we leaving here?”
“200. Hunters: 50.”
“Make it so. We depart at dawn tomorrow.”
“Understood! Heir!”
The next day.
“Entire army, advance east!”
I unrolled the map.
We’d secured two outposts on the western front.
Now it was time for two more on the northern front.
Unlike before, this wasn’t securing existing sites—it was building new ones.
We’d followed the old Frontier borders up to now, but this defense line was my design.
A line cutting straight through orc territory.
The original Frontier Viscounty was a long north-south oval.
I was newly incorporating territory in the southwest.
I had to defend the west and north of that new area myself.
“If we secure this region now, will Father acknowledge it?”
“Of course. Heir, you’ve reclaimed a vast territory.”
If my plan succeeded, the Frontier Viscounty would expand by 15%.
A whole different league from West River’s less-than-1% gains.
“True, but...”
“Don’t worry. The Viscount will be proud of you.”
I shook off the lingering anxiety.
This wasn’t 1%—it was 15%.
If we reclaimed this region and held it stably, even Father would have to recognize it.
‘He’d better...’