The air was filled with roast at aroma, carrying magical beasts’ unique fat fragrance, making mouths water.
"Woo woo woo, so delicious..."
John gnawed voraciously at the roast at while complaining incoherently: "I haven’t had fresh magical beast at in so long!"
He took a big bite with complete satisfaction, then rembered his experiences and his mood instantly dropped.
Vaerik ate at while observing John’s current appearance.
Indeed, unlike the high spirits when first arriving in the Northern Province, current John actually carried so weariness and had lost considerable weight.
"This Northern Province wasteland is no place for humans!" John complained to Vaerik while eating: "The frozen soil in my territory—grain simply won’t grow!
And the subjects are lazy and afraid of hardship. Give them farmland, they can’t farm. Give them hunting bows, they can’t use them. They just wait for to distribute relief grain every day! They treat like the Northern Province’s number one philanthropist!"
Vaerik consoled: "As long as you survive the initial period and gradually plan, things will improve."
"If my old man didn’t send money monthly and transport grain from the south, I’d have starved to death long ago!" John grabbed his hair with a face full of grief and indignation.
Relying on transported grain and money to support an entire territory’s population?
Vaerik was silent for a mont, beginning to develop new understanding of the Harvey family’s financial resources.
John let out a long sigh, looking up at the sky: "I should never have co. Do you think if my dad pleads with the emperor, I could go back?"
Vaerik’s mouth corner twitched—sowhat speechless.
How could the Northern Province be a place you could co and go as you pleased?
According to the Northern Pioneering Decrees, if pioneering lords left their territories without reason for too long, they could be beheaded.
"Enough, stop pretending to be pitiful." He patted John’s shoulder. "Even if you wanted to leave, you’d need at least twenty more years."
John looked lifeless, shaking grease off his roast at and changing topics to complain:
"Moreover, just after scattering seeds and before catching a breath, Duke Edmund’s order ca and I had to bring troops here!"
"Tsk, really unlucky enough." Vaerik agreed.
"Now I don’t even know if there’ll be a harvest this autumn!" John looked heartbroken.
He angrily jabbed his at skewer at the fire: "Shouldn’t this kind of thing be done by those established Northern Province nobles? What are we newly arrived pioneering nobles joining this ss for?
And it’s fucking Snow Swearers! I heard they’re madn!"
"You said it yourself—newly arrived pioneering nobles." Vaerik shrugged. "No background, no foundation—aren’t we the best cannon fodder?"
John’s smile imdiately froze, as if suddenly realizing sothing.
Monts later, he shook his head, not wanting to continue this heavy topic, changing his tone: "Oh right, boss, there’s sothing else."
He gnawed roast at, saying unclearly: "You know Zachary Diaz, right?"
"A Diaz family mber? I rember his territory is also nearby." Vaerik replied.
"Right, he sent invitations wanting to gather all pioneering nobles from the south in Snow Peak Prefecture, saying he wants to hold a pre-expedition banquet." John waved his at skewer: "Did you get an invitation?"
Vaerik paused, then slowly shook his head.
John was stunned, his expression sowhat strange: "Huh? Impossible, you’re..."
"Don’t think about it—the reason’s simple." Vaerik sneered, casually turning at on the fire. "Zachary wants to be these pioneering lords’ boss and is excluding ."
John blinked with a "aren’t you overthinking" expression.
"Diaz, like Tudor, are both among the empire’s eight great families." Vaerik smiled aningfully. "If I went, could this ’boss’ position remain stable?"
John had a sudden realization, nodding like a pecking chicken: "True, since you’re also one of the eight great families, if you were present, he couldn’t put on airs."
He paused, muttering: "This guy’s really petty..."
"No, he’s not petty. He just clearly knows his own capabilities."
"So how will you respond?"
"When does the banquet start? Where?" Vaerik asked casually.
"Two days from now, at his territory, not far ahead." John answered unclearly with at still in his mouth.
Vaerik stood up, patting dust off himself: "Take to see."
John was stunned, then his eyes lit up: "Ha! Boss, are you going to crash the party?"
Vaerik smiled: "There’s still so ti—let’s go see."
John imdiately wiped his mouth, slapping his thigh: "Great! I’ll lead the way!"
...
The next day John led the way. Vaerik brought accompanying knights, and the group spent half a day finally reaching their destination.
However, the scene before them was sowhat unexpectedly desolate.
Looking around, the land was barren. Occasionally a few barely reclaid fields could be seen with generally growing crops swaying in cold winds.
Scattered houses sat on the land, mostly wooden structures with simple construction—so roofs were even leaking.
Subjects wore worn clothes with numb expressions, heads down busy with their tasks.
They glanced at the knight procession without much emotion—neither panic nor expectation, as if numb to their own lives.
Vaerik frowned.
This kind of place would need to be demolished and rebuilt if it were in Crimson Tide Domain.
But John crossed his arms and nodded: "This guy’s doing quite well—just a bit worse than ."
Vaerik was stunned, suspecting he’d misheard.
He looked back at those subjects’ faces, then at those tottering houses and the endless wasteland.
This was called good?
He was about to speak when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Such territories were the norm for Northern Province pioneering lords.
No sufficient resources, no comprehensive planning, no stable supply lines.
In such cold, harsh environnts, keeping subjects from starving, building a few houses, managing basic farming—this was already success.
And himself?
Crimson Tide Domain’s prosperity and stability didn’t look like a newly built territory at all—even better than many established Northern Province families.
This was because he was a transmigrator with the Daily Intelligence System cheat.
With this advantage, he could know where resources were, where magical beasts were, how to avoid dangers, how to maximize available conditions.
Anyone else simply couldn’t achieve this.
Vaerik said to John: "After eliminating the Snow Swearers this ti, you can visit Crimson Tide Domain—it’s considerably better than here."
John nodded without hesitation: "Naturally! You’re my boss after all!"
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