Lord blessed by the elves

Chapter 62 Letter

Upon hearing this, Reyes was startled and instinctively advised, "My lord, we have just fought a great battle. Would it be incurring His Majesty's wrath to provoke trouble on the border of the duchy without the king's decree?"

“Enraged?” Count Campno scoffed, tapping his finger harder on the table as he emphasized, “We’re not going to start a war, just to hold an ‘armed parade’ and replenish our depleted military supplies and provisions. How can this be considered a war?”

Reyes instantly understood the count's unspoken meaning: he wanted to shed his noble sash and temporarily transform into a large "bandit gang" to carry out a tacitly agreed-upon plunder on the border of a neighboring country.

He fell silent, because he knew that this was also an unspoken tradition among many nobles.

In the gray areas of war, they seize profits and strengthen themselves through this ambiguous method.

Reyes had no objection to this and even secretly supported it.

No one knew better than him how barren his Lion Tooth Territory was.

The substantial gains from this "armed march" were precisely the territory he desperately needed to replenish.

Back in his tent, Reyes retrieved a letter from his personal valet, Wilston, that had recently been sent home.

He tore off the sealing wax and began to read it carefully.

When he saw the news that the pea sprite worm Greenie had reached the end of its life and begun to pupate in an attempt to evolve, his heart tightened and his brows furrowed deeply.

The death of the sprite insects often means a sharp decline in the territory's food production, which would be a terrible disaster.

However, as he continued reading, and saw that his son Kruze had miraculously discovered and captured a brand new purple root potato fairy worm, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

This timely replenishment greatly alleviated the risk of Qingcui's potential evolution failure, putting his mind at ease.

He picked up his quill, dipped it in ink, and prepared to reply.

When the last letter was delivered, the war was at its most critical stage, and he had no time to spare, which is why it has been delayed until now.

After a moment's thought, he changed his mind about writing to Wilstone and instead spread out the letter and decided to write it directly to his eldest son, Kruse.

The war and the impending plunder made him realize that his son needed to begin to understand the true rules of the world and the responsibilities of the family.

A Letter to My Son Kruze

Kruse the Lion—my eldest son and heir to the title—is hereby conveying to you, in the name of the Lion, the following instructions and announcements.

Wilstone and Buffalo's report is before me. I am aware of the Emerald Sprite's entry into its pupal stage and your successful capture of the Purple Root Potato Sprite. This demonstrates your basic ability to handle crises in your territory, which is the duty of a lord.

Furthermore, I must inform you that, due to my slaying of the enemy chieftain in the campaign to quell the rebellion, Count Campino has confirmed that I will be granted the title of Baron upon the army's triumphant return. Our territory will officially expand by two square miles. This newly granted land is located in the hilly region to the northwest of our existing territory. Before I lead my army back, you must immediately begin a preliminary survey and planning of this area.

Hereby, I order you to strictly carry out the following:
First, organize personnel to conduct a systematic survey of the new area, draw topographic maps, and mark available forest land, stone resources, and potential arable land;

Second, before the end of this month, formulate a development plan and budget, detailing the required manpower and resources;
Third, ensure that the purple root sweet potato insects are properly housed, and their cordyceps must be planted with priority;
Fourth, conduct a comprehensive inspection of the people's winter preparations, reinforce houses, store firewood, and ensure that no one or livestock freezes to death.
Fifth, maintain the intensity of militia training and do not slacken defenses due to seasonal reasons. Any necessary supplies—especially ironware, improved seeds, and medicine—must be immediately listed in detail and attached to your reply. I will do my best to procure them on my return journey, depending on the progress of the battle.

Your recent performance has begun to demonstrate your potential to shoulder important responsibilities. Continue to perform your duties diligently and do not slacken your efforts.

Your father, Reyes Liontooth
At the Iberian County Camp
………………

After reading his father's cold, commanding letter, Kruse couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.

This father of his is really good at causing him trouble.

The original Lion Fang Knights territory was only a little over a thousand acres of land.

To fulfill the system's task of "developing a thousand acres of farmland," he had tried every possible means, even secretly expanding his territory, barely managing to meet the target, expending countless efforts in the process. Now, his father's letter had suddenly increased the territory's size to two square miles—a vast area approaching eight thousand acres!

With the territory's current population of just over five hundred, it's simply a pipe dream to effectively develop and utilize such a vast land.

The vast territory brings not only resources, but also heavy defense pressure and development burden.

However, amidst the wry smile, an unprecedented blueprint for planning slowly unfolded in his mind.

This land undoubtedly gave him a great deal of room to develop his ideas and put them into practice.

Kruse put the letter away, muttering to himself, "I really don't understand the measurement system in this world. Mu is an Eastern unit of measurement, but square miles is an Imperial unit of measurement. It's a complete mess."

Without hesitation, he immediately summoned Wilstone and ordered him to send reliable men to roughly survey and mark the boundaries of the newly incorporated territory.

After arranging this urgent task, Kruze set off for the insect room to check on the condition of Qingcui and Huangdeng.

The pupa formed by the verdant leaves seemed to have grown even larger, now the size of a basketball. The translucent emerald-colored pupa hung quietly beneath the leaves, and the flow of energy within it appeared even more powerful and stable through the lens. Meanwhile, Huang Deng remained as carefree as ever, lazily lying there, seemingly oblivious to the changes around him.

Kruse examined the verdant pupa carefully.

Through the Elf King's monocle, he could clearly see that the life energy inside the pupa was abundant and stable. The elven crystal that had been buried at the bottom of the pupa had shrunk by a quarter in size, and was obviously being absorbed and utilized efficiently, with remarkable results.

Then, he turned his gaze to Huang Deng, who was standing to the side.

The insect's cordyceps was not placed in the purple root cassava garden, but was specially transplanted by Kruze to a cassava garden outside the castle so that it could focus on cassava cultivation.

Upon seeing Kruze, Huang Deng immediately began to wave his tentacles as usual, eagerly begging for the jade powder.

Kruze was quite generous this time, taking out some ordinary jade powder and feeding it to it.

(End of this chapter)