It felt so good to be close to the witch!

This made Roy even more eager to improve the strength of his knightly order.

Blackstone Territory and Iron Mountain Territory cover a vast area. With only a few witches, they would be overwhelmed should any ferocious animals swarm in from all directions.

Even if he and the witches eventually kill the ferocious animals and even the monsters, the people who died tragically will not be brought back to life. Therefore, a large number of knights as basic units are necessary.

After thinking for a while about the "Knight Training Improvement Plan" after Red's return, Roy turned his attention to Red Ridge.

The lord of Red Ridge is Lord Rainer Thunberg, a nearly 50-year-old Bronze Two-Star Knight.

In this world, apart from the significant physical transformation that occurs when one advances to the legendary level, the knight's path to transcendence, from bronze to gold, involves increasing physical strength and fighting spirit, but lifespan does not change much. In fact, due to the erosion of the body by magic and the hidden injuries left over from battle, the lifespan of knights in this world is even shorter than that of the Blue Star in his previous life. The average lifespan of a knight is less than 60 years, and this does not even include those knights who die on the battlefield.

Lord Thunberg, the 50-year-old lord of Red Ridge, is no longer as physically capable as he was in his youth. Although he has the strength of a Bronze Two-Star, it is hard to say whether he can defeat a Bronze One-Star.

In the Blue Star Kingdom, there's a saying that "youth has the upper hand," and the same principle applies to the knights of the Radiant Empire.

However, no matter how much Lord Thunberg, the lord of Red Ridge, has declined in strength, his foundation is still there, and he is still much stronger than a regular knight. He can definitely rush to the rescue when the bandits attack the granary. At the very least, he can catch up with the bandit group carrying a large amount of grain and leave them in Red Ridge.

But the reality was that the bandits had robbed a large amount of grain from a noble territory guarded by a bronze knight.

Well... how should I put it? This phenomenon is like a skinny mouse stealing food from a skilled cat that's less than half a meter in front of it, right under the nose of the cat.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

In Roy's view, there are two possibilities for this to happen.

Firstly, Lord Thunberg, the lord of Red Ridge, was in far worse health than outsiders imagined, to the point where he was extremely inconvenient to move around and even bedridden.

If that's the case, it would explain why, for so long, a lord with bronze-level strength would still allow bandits to run rampant around his territory.

The fact that the bandits had a geographical advantage is one thing, but Lord Thunberg's inaction is the main reason.

But Roy thought the possibility was very small.

In the letter that Reid sent back, he mentioned that he had seen Lord Thunberg last year. At that time, although he had half a head of white hair, he was still full of energy and spirit. Normally, he would not have become so weak in the last three to five years.

The second possibility is that it was "acted".

All the nobles in the province of Lafa are nominally subordinate to the border duke, and they are required to pay a fixed amount of tax to the border duke every year, which is then handed over to the empire by the border duke.

Unless there are special circumstances, this tax must be paid.

But bandit raids are different.

Being robbed is an act of God, a natural disaster or man-made calamity.

In this situation, it's hard to say whether the "robbed" grain ended up with the bandits or was pocketed by Lord Sang.

Having lived two lives, Roy understands this perfectly.

Actually, this kind of thing is nothing new. Nine out of ten nobles are thinking of ways to "legally evade taxes," and the remaining one is thinking of how not to pay taxes at all.

Normally, the border duke would probably turn a blind eye, but this year is different!

With the two great empires of Radiance and Corleone locked in a standoff and the border situation tense, not a single noble in the province of Rafa was "tax evading"; they all obediently paid their taxes in full, and some even exceeded their quotas.

At a time like this, anyone who dares to offend the border duke is practically courting death.

Lord Sang, the 50-year-old lord of Red Ridge, could not possibly be unaware of this principle.

If that's the case, why did this happen?

Without on-site inspection and lacking further information, Roy was unable to make an effective judgment.

But whatever the truth about Chiling is, it has nothing to do with him.

As long as we can buy back the food needed by the people of Blackstone Territory and Iron Mountain Territory from Red Ridge to get through the winter, that will be enough.

Although there were some minor setbacks, it seems certain that Red will be able to purchase the grain, and he may even get more grain than expected because he hunted a ferocious animal.

That's a good thing.

Just as Roy was about to put down the letter in his hand, a clear, cold voice suddenly entered his ears.

"Roy, wait a minute, let me see this letter."

It's Ais.

Before anyone knew it, she had moved from the rooftop to Roy's side.

A faint, pleasant fragrance wafted into his nostrils. Roy handed the letter directly to Ais, asking with some curiosity, "Is there something wrong with this letter?"

Ais didn't answer immediately. Instead, she squinted and stared at the letter in her hand. A faint blue light emanated from her palm and enveloped the letter.

Then, under Roy's gaze, a very faint wisp of black mist flew out from this seemingly ordinary letter.

"This is?!"

Roy's eyes widened slightly.

“Pollution,” Ais said gravely, “the pollution originating from the witch.”

"This wisp of pollution is very faint. If I weren't extremely sensitive to the smell of pollution, and hadn't possessed a crown-level perception, I almost wouldn't have noticed it."

Roy frowned.

If he had activated [Infinite Desire] just now, he would have been able to sense this polluted aura, but who would activate their talent just by reading a letter?

"Did a witch tamper with this letter?"

Roy said in a serious voice, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes as he spoke.

There are no witches serving in the Red Ridge region, so the appearance of this wisp of pollution indicates that a wandering witch has her eye on Reid and his companions. But why would a mere purchase of grain attract the attention of a witch?

“No.” Ais shook her head: “The scent of this pollution is very, very faint. I speculate that Mr. Reid came into contact with something related to witches and became tainted by this scent. Then, when he was writing the letter, the scent of this pollution also flowed onto the letter paper.”

"In fact, even if the amount of pollution were ten times greater, it would not have any effect on ordinary people."

"Is that so..." After hearing Ais's explanation, Roy's brows relaxed slightly, but they were still furrowed.

The fact that Reid and his companions had made contact with the witch was definitely not a good thing for them.

Just in case, just in case, that wandering witch harbors ill will towards Red and the others, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although he was surrounded by five witches, Roy knew very well that most of the wandering witches were not kind-hearted.

Including Ais and Lilia.

Before they came to Blackrock Territory, they were absolutely ruthless.

Of course, they are one of us now, and the past no longer matters.

The key issue now is that Reid and his companions' journey to purchase food may be disrupted by the unexpected factor of the Wandering Witch.

This is something Roy cannot tolerate.

Red's grain-buying trip is too important. If something goes wrong, Blackstone Territory will be better off, but many people in Iron Mountain Territory will starve and freeze to death this winter.

On the worst-case scenario, if something were to happen to Red, Roy would lose his "chief steward," effectively crippling his ability to manage the territory.

After thinking it over, Roy quickly made a decision.

"Ais, let's go take a look together. Lilia, please take care of things at home."

“Okay.” Ais nodded gently from the side.

“Lord Roy, I’ll go with you too. It’ll be safer with more people,” Lilia said.

Roy shook his head: "Ais's ability to sense this polluted aura will allow us to quickly find the wandering witch. We need to keep a strong enough force guarding the manor."

“Your talent is very strong. Even if a powerful enemy attacks, you can hold out for a long time, enough to delay us until we return.”

Lilia's talent allows her to lead all the witches into the shadow world. In this state, even a legendary figure would be completely helpless.

Hearing Roy's words, Lilia, though still somewhat unwilling, could only obediently nod in agreement.

As Roy said, if Ais and she both left, it wouldn't be good if no one stayed home to protect the three witches.

But ultimately, my strength is still too weak...

Lilia thought to herself silently.

If she were to break through to the Grand rank, given her talent and abilities, she would actually be the most suitable person to go out with Lord Roy.

With this in mind, Lilia felt an even stronger urge to make progress in basic meditation techniques.

Once the nine runes for the first stage are imprinted, she will be able to begin her breakthrough to the "Grand" rank!

Given the urgency of the situation, after a brief arrangement, Roy, led by Ais, headed north towards the Red Ridge.

……

Red Ridge.

It's just dawn.

Many knights from the Blackstone grain purchasing team had gotten up early, waiting for the Red Ridge staff to load the grain.

Both Reid and Steward Chiling walked out of the hall with smiles on their faces.

A fresh, ferocious animal is a highly prized commodity, making it an excellent choice whether for personal use or for resale.

Therefore, after informing Lord Thunberg, the steward of Red Ridge directly purchased the black bear carcass at a price higher than the market price and converted it into grain.

Red was also pleased that he had purchased far more food than he had expected.

This was a deal that both parties were extremely satisfied with.

Actually, by now, Reid has come to realize what's going on.

The so-called bandit "plundering" was most likely just a pretext; in reality, it was Lord Thunberg's way of "lining his own pockets." Otherwise, Red Ridge wouldn't have been able to sell so much grain to Blackstone Territory.

Even from a darker perspective, Lord Thunberg might have been involved in the "beginning of banditry" in White Oak Collar.

But so what?

To reiterate, everything about Chiling has nothing to do with him. He is merely a buyer, while Chiling is the seller. Their relationship is purely transactional, nothing more.

Because a large amount of grain was purchased, loading took a lot of time, and by the time the loading was finally completed, it was almost noon.

Forty cartloads of grain lined up in a long queue on the wide street.

After politely bidding farewell to the steward of Chiling, Red and the knights led the long grain purchasing caravan out of the city.

After Reid and the others left, Steward Chiling couldn't wait to head to the kitchen in the backyard.

The ferocious black bear we bought is now in the backyard, waiting for the chefs to butcher it.

Once the processing is complete, the most valuable parts can be sent to the lord's manor and presented to Lord Thunberg.