You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 41 Exploration
Roman is ready to explore this land.

The area occupied by Sige Town within the entire basin can barely be considered the tip of the iceberg, occupying a position at the mouth of the basin.

In the north, tens of thousands of acres of land have been reclaimed.

Without this land, from the air, Sig Town would just be an insignificant black dot on a white sheet of paper.

There are many places to explore, but they are also fraught with danger.

Wilderness refers to primitive places with dangerous environments, covered with swamps, streams, lakes and other wetlands.

Swamps can devour people, forests are teeming with wild beasts, and unexplored areas are extremely difficult to traverse.

Roman, Gweil, and Green formed an expedition team.

With two fine horses, though Gweil couldn't ride, she shared one with Roman. They also carried a small amount of supplies and set off.

Without attendants and cooks, the large number of people would only be a burden, slowing down the progress.

The smaller the number of people, the better, as it facilitates movement.

Roman and his two companions rode for more than ten kilometers before they had to dismount because they entered a swampy area. They carefully avoided the natural traps and found a passable path. Sometimes they reached a dead end and had to turn back.

The town of Sig has also explored those wilderness areas, but the progress is extremely slow, and they can't even provide a detailed map.

If Roman hadn't come, decades later, due to the automatic increase in the population of Sig Town, they would most likely have crossed the swamps and forests to the north and established new towns and villages on the opposite grassland.

By noon, the three of them had only managed to advance thirty or forty kilometers.

Roman wasn't in a hurry. They found a safe camp in the swamp. Green took down the iron pot, and Gweil gathered firewood to start a fire and boil water.

A moment later, Roman returned carrying two otters that had been shot with arrows.

Hunting Experience +1

Hunting primarily involves leveling up your skill level through hunting.

Roman had already gained some basic survival experience in the wild by shooting wild animals. He also had some basic skills in handling prey.

The clumsy hands peeled off the skin and meat, removed the head and internal organs, and skewered the meat on wooden sticks for roasting.

Gweil sat on a tree root beside the fire, her bright eyes fixed on the meat burning in the flames, her mouth watering.

Roman's barbecue attempt was unsuccessful.

Specifically, it has a unique coal-like flavor when you eat it.

This made Roman frown, thinking that perhaps he should bring Dota along as well, since the latter was an experienced hunter and would definitely be good at grilling.

However, the notification of "Cooking Experience +1" made Roman give up the idea.

Green stared at the charred flesh...

This can be called barbecue?

To be frank, he had never seen anyone waste things like that in his life.

Roman tore off a piece of meat leg, gently scraped off the carbonized layer with his fingernail, and handed it to Gweill. The girl wasn't picky and started gnawing on the piece of meat.

She's very easy to raise; it seems these past few days at the manor haven't spoiled her.

Roman also tore off a piece of meat. A mother doesn't mind her son's appearance. He put it in his mouth and chewed, saying indistinctly, "Green, you eat it."

Green's lips twitched, and after a two-second silence, he decisively said, "I'll eat dry rations."

"You despise me? I hope you can maintain this rebellious attitude in the future."

Green immediately burst into laughter: "Even if I, Green, starve to death in the swamp, I would never eat this kind of thing that even pigs wouldn't eat."

"You'd better remember that."

Green scoffed: "I'm a Cavalier, I have backbone!"

Gweil blinked innocently.

While the two were arguing, she secretly stuffed a piece of meat into her cheek, making her look just like a little squirrel.

Roman looked at Green's boastful words and just sneered without saying a word.

Just wait for me!

I'll level up my cooking skills in a bit!
After a brief rest, we continued onward. A minor incident occurred: the horse stumbled and fell into a swamp. Despite being as careful as possible, it still suffered a serious injury.

Roman and Green had no choice but to forcibly drag the horse out of the swamp, while wiping its body and calming it down to prevent it from getting sick from being frightened.

Warhorses are extremely expensive, and special warhorses can be considered among magical beasts, carrying hundreds of kilograms of weight while running freely.

The Grand Duke of Cracked Armor can breed this kind of warhorse.

Otherwise, Roman wouldn't have received these five fine horses when the family divided their property.

After all, a warhorse on the market is worth 4 gold coins, and some special warhorses are even more valuable, requiring a dozen or even dozens of gold coins.

This made Roman take it very seriously.

Green and Gweil followed Roman as they crossed the swampy area.

In this era, traveling far is an extremely risky undertaking.

That's right, once you leave a human village or town by 40 or 50 kilometers, it's basically a long journey.

The wilderness is vast, and once you venture deep into it, unless you have a photographic memory and an excellent sense of direction, it is virtually impossible to return the way you came.

But Roman didn't have this concern.

He had never seen a farmer get lost on his own farm. [Life Story] will show a large map and its location.

Soon, Roman discovered that his luck was running out.

Just as they were about to leave the swamp, a fully grown magical boar charged at them in a frenzy.

Roman, carrying the Great Bow with its split armor, had sensed the boar's attack long before it came. When the boar was within twenty meters, he shot an arrow through its skull, killing it swiftly and decisively.

The wild animals here seem to have never been beaten by the terrifying upright apes.

It's time to broaden their horizons.

You've gained +1 hunting experience!

Unfortunately, Roman couldn't take everything with him; he only cut off about ten pounds of leg meat and tied it to the horse's back.

Then they came to a dense forest, where thick bushes covered the entire ground, making it impossible to find a foothold, let alone allow horses to traverse it. If they encountered venomous creatures such as snakes or scorpions, it would be disastrous.

Roman had no choice but to take a detour.

Also in the afternoon, Roman noticed that a resource area icon had appeared on the interface of [Life Story].

That's a mineral icon.

Not all minerals are clearly labeled like iron ore.

Most mineral veins are the same as mixed forests, and mixed minerals can contain all sorts of things.

Roman has basic knowledge of geology and mineralogy.

He spent some time finding a suitable location to survey.

This area is low-lying, with a rugged, rocky mountain covered in boulders and with an extremely steep slope. It is completely barren and devoid of vegetation.

Roman had no choice but to walk over and conduct a preliminary investigation.

He rummaged through the pile of rubble, picking and choosing, even digging into the soil below. After searching for more than ten minutes, he finally unearthed a stone with a slightly crystalline surface from several meters underground.

It resembled an ice cube, but its interior was cloudy white and not translucent. Roman gently sniffed the aroma, then stuck out his tongue and licked it, before beaming with delight.

Roman tossed the stone to Green and said, "Try it."

Green was taken aback, then moved to a different spot and licked it with his tongue. He quickly tasted a strong, bitter, and salty flavor, which made him spit out his saliva.

"What is this?" Green blinked, his mind not quite processing it for a moment.

Roman scoffed, “Rock salt! There should be a salt mine beneath my feet, and the layer is very shallow, maybe only a few meters or a dozen meters deep.”

He believes that this low-lying area may have been a salt lake in the past, which was buried underground during a long geological process and gradually crystallized into this halide mineral through chemical precipitation.

Green suddenly realized what the salt mine meant to Roman, and his eyes burned with passion.

His adamantite sword and mithril armor were right at his feet!
(End of this chapter)