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

Chapter 80 Merchants and Pirates

The only thing that displeased Roman was that Garin still hadn't come down the mountain.

Let him live the life of a hermit if he wants; he used to have someone to keep him company in the mountains. That's impossible now.

Now he's the only one left.

Humans are social creatures; those who live in isolation are either gods or beasts.

Looking at Garin, Roman could tell he was a human being with social needs.

I don't believe that old geezer can stay for long.

He first had the two men wash and tidy themselves up, put on clean clothes, cut their messy hair, and shave off their stubble. When they looked brand new, Roman handed them the two steel swords that Lax had forged.

No enchantment, but forged through countless trials!

Dick's sword is a classic knight's sword with a cross guard, a straight blade, and a considerable width.

Jet's sword, however, was different. It was a rapier, with a narrow blade, extremely toughness, and exceptional sharpness.

The difference between the two swords made Jet's heart skip a beat.

But he couldn't glean more from Roman's red eyes and calm face, so he had no choice but to accept the rapier that was best suited to him.

His original sword was unusable, broken and tattered. More importantly, it wasn't his sword at all; he had stolen it from the Azure Moon Kingdom to conceal his identity.

But in the eyes of this new lord, all his disguises and pretenses seemed useless.

Jet felt a sudden surge of fear and respect.

He felt that the young lord possessed a certain peculiar power.

The two superhumans, now equipped with their new gear, knelt down and kissed Roman's hand, quickly completing this simple yet brief ceremony of allegiance.

Kao stood to the side, watching them with envy. He wasn't qualified yet; the trainees didn't have the basic requirements to become conquering knights.

But he knew that Roman had high hopes for him and would have Aaron and Green train him every day.

His training was different from that of the guards.

He trained them in real combat techniques, while the guards were trained in military posture and deportment. Roman placed great emphasis on discipline, making everyone a cohesive unit.

After 100 soldiers are scattered, they must regroup in the shortest possible time. No matter what happens, they must not lose their basic combat capabilities. Four or five people can get together to reorganize their formation and launch a counterattack.

These requirements are extremely difficult to meet and require a long period of training.

At first, it took those guards half a day of training just to learn how to turn right in unison, and they would forget it the next day. It was extremely difficult to ingrain these things into their very bones; only pain and sweat could make them react instinctively.

Roman wasn't in a hurry; he didn't have high expectations for the army at the moment.

He appointed Jeter as the chief instructor of the guards and Dick as the deputy instructor and part-time knight instructor.

Not only the guards, but also Aaron and Green were in the training area.

However, farming is the priority at present.

……

Today marks the 145th day since Roman arrived in Sig.

With summer planting season approaching and every second counting, Roman also led a farming team responsible for 1,000 acres of land.

But perhaps because of the excessive pressure on the farmers, they actually completed the deep plowing and sowing tasks a day ahead of schedule.

Roman was pleased and also gave them a day off.

He also took time out of his busy schedule to work with Jet on the basic training plan for the future army.

Jet's talent is [Standardization], and his skill is [Military Training].

He may not know how to farm, but he knows how to train an army.

Jeter mastered the drills and physical training that Roman had described in just a few days, understanding their purpose.

These training methods are very advanced—for the current era.

Because what Roman wanted was not a conscripted army, but a standing army, a professional army.

Once the army is formed, it will be a game-changer for most nobles. What Roman wants is to quickly build an army that is both highly disciplined and extremely powerful in combat.

Marching in formation, assembling in ranks, sprinting in 100 meters, long-distance cross-country running...

One training program after another took shape during their discussions.

That was on this day.

A canoe drifted ashore at the Sigir town dock, carrying Daken, whom they hadn't seen for two months.

He looked much worse for his age, haggard, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well for many days.

Roman met Daken at Origin Manor.

"It's been two months, and I'm still waiting for you to send me slaves." He said calmly, with his back straight and his arm resting on the armrest.

Roman had anticipated this after realizing that the slave trader had not shown up for a long time.

Something must have happened.

He didn't hang himself on one tree.

In fact, he had asked Morey last month to stop buying livestock and bring him a large number of slaves the next time he came to Skye.

During this period, the small merchant ships that passed through Sige Town brought him dozens of slaves intermittently.

It's just that its overall efficiency is not as high as Daken's.

The town of Sige has a poor geographical advantage.

If we consider the movement of all merchants across the entire land as a vast trade network, then the town of Sig is located only on the edge of this trade network.

Commercial activity is not well-developed here.

No one has even named this basin—only the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor had that right, but he didn't, and even the town of Sig doesn't appear on the map of the Black Iron Kingdom.

This is truly a nameless place.

If it weren't for the tributaries of the Bro River rushing through the Silver Dragon Gorge, no caravans would ever have come to Sige Town—it would have remained a completely isolated paradise, with the mountains blocking all transportation.

Every place needs development.

Population is of paramount importance.

Daken's face was ashen, and he looked as if he had lost his parents. It seemed that he had suffered a great blow and no longer had the energy and spirit he used to have.

"Lord Roman, I had prepared seven hundred slaves for you, but something went wrong..."

He exchanged all the more than 10,000 jin of salt he had transported from Sige Town for gleaming gold coins.

Because of the turbulent times, he received more gold coins than he had expected, totaling more than seventy.

He then spared no effort in exchanging these gold coins for slaves and rented five cargo ships in the bay port.

He spent a long time purchasing a total of 700 slaves.

He was overjoyed and fantasized about transporting these slaves to the town of Sig.

When those gold coins are doubled, and his net worth is increased to more than 100 gold coins!
As expected, the accident happened.

To save time, he risked going to Jetsea.

By crossing that inland sea, he could save at least 10 days of travel time.

This is a huge temptation for commercial transportation.

When those slave ships sailed in a grand procession across the Czech Sea.

Then they were plundered by the Arctic pirates.

The seemingly strong and brave guards he had hired surrendered without putting up any real resistance.

Because the Arctic pirates were stronger and braver than them.

(End of this chapter)