The Dragon Girl would never like the Lord.

Philia was puzzled, her eyes filled with an eagerness to know the answer.

“That’s right, monitoring us ensures we won’t launch attacks on other pioneering lords prematurely.”

Ron explained patiently:

"They are also monitoring other lords and are not attacking us rashly."

These are the watchtower knights arranged by the Earl's mansion, mainly to prevent the nobles from starting to fight before even reaching their territory.

This would contradict the original intention of pioneering.

Behind every outrageous rule lies an even more outrageous past.

Twenty-five years ago, a powerful pioneering lord, with thousands of knights, ambushed the city. Before the pioneering war even began, he had already killed more than fifty nobles.

That's why there's this strict rule: no attack can be carried out before reaching the settlement.

Once they reach their territory, these knights will leave.

Ron wasn't bothered by this; on the contrary, he felt it would make the journey much safer.

At least we don't have to worry about Wilson Gray launching a surprise attack beforehand.

After all, it's called a mandatory rule because if you violate it, you'll lose your eligibility to develop.

"Understood, to protect weak lords like you."

Philia gets straight to the point; she always manages to find the crux of the matter.

"That's right."

Ron did not deny what Philia said, admitting that he was indeed a beneficiary of the rule.

Regardless of whether he has a chance of winning against Wilson Gray now, he is currently acting in concert with the northern aristocratic group.

If the battle becomes stalemate, it's hard to guarantee that the northern nobles won't join the fight.

Then, they'll be beaten so badly they'll have to run away in terror.

Moreover, Ron didn't want to fight before the settlement was established. There was a lot of work to do once they arrived, and they couldn't afford to waste time on the way.

"Young Master Ron."

At this moment, the caravan stopped, and while Ron was still wondering what was going on, Yarman came to the right side of the carriage.

"What happened?"

Judging from the situation, it doesn't seem like there was any enemy attack or anything like that, since it didn't cause any riots.

“A group of farmers are kneeling on the main road ahead, begging for shelter. What do you think we should do?”

Yarman wasn't good at handling these kinds of things, and his first thought was to report it to Ron.

If it were a knight commander with his own ideas, he might have already resorted to violence to drive them away.

"Take me to see it."

Upon hearing this news, Ron was overjoyed. He got off the carriage and looked into the distance, where he saw a large group of people kneeling.

As expected, the other lords only kept a portion for land reclamation.

The rest would be left behind on the road shortly after leaving the city.

To the nobles, the lower classes were merely resources; those without value were discarded, while those needed were absorbed.

They won't spend extra gold coins to leave this group to spend the winter in their territory.

Anyway, the one thing this world has no shortage of is consumables.

"Merciful lord, please take us in."

"We will help you with a lot of work."

Like refugees, they knelt on the ground, pleading and begging to be chosen by the noble lord before them.

Because if you don't become a citizen, you'll most likely not survive this winter.

"You people really have wild ideas. You want me to take you in? Do you think I'm running a charity?"

Ron frowned and spoke in an unfriendly tone.

His reason for doing this was simple: to first suppress and then elevate the situation, so that these people would not see any hope and would not make so many demands.

He would be satisfied with just a little charity, since he no longer had any gold coins to give to the farmers.

"Lord, we swear to be loyal to you forever, as long as you give us a bite to eat."

In this era, food and clothing are the biggest problems for people at the bottom of society. As long as they can eat their fill, they are willing to do anything.

Upon hearing the nobleman's words, the group of people cried out in despair and continued to plead.

"How about this..."

Seeing that it was almost time, Ron pondered for a moment and then spoke:

“Those who are willing to become serfs, come with me. This year I will only provide you with food and clothing. Starting next year, you will receive 50 silver coins per year.”

After saying this, he got into the carriage without looking back.

Normally, recruiting serfs or farmers would require a reward, but Ron doesn't have that now, so he can only promise them basic sustenance.

Moreover, serfs are different from peasants. Before they die, serfs belong to the lord and only need to be paid about 1 gold coin per year, in addition to ensuring that they do not starve to death.

The children born will become the second generation of farmers, working for the lord.

Ron's offer is extremely low, and a qualified lord would certainly exploit them at such a time.

Despite the small amount given, these desperate farmers not only did not complain, but were also deeply grateful and praised Ron for his kindness.

For them now, only by solving their basic needs for food and clothing this winter can they survive.

Ron was willing to take them in, arrange jobs for them, and even secure employment for their next generation. How could that not be considered benevolent?

Ok? ? ?

----

----

The caravan headed north, its rolling wheels crushing the weeds on the ground, but they could not crush the serfs' will to live.

Abandoned, they had no choice but to follow the caravan as long as they could get enough to eat and wear.

They didn't know how far the road was, or even their destination, but they still steadily followed the current.

In fact, some of them are also struggling with this decision, feeling confused and unsure of what to choose.

But seeing that most people followed suit, their herd mentality led them to choose to go with the flow.

Inside the carriage, Fiona leaned out of the window, resting her hand on the windowsill, striking a graceful pose.

As more and more people followed, Fiona frowned.

Snapped--

Looking at the alluring, round, perky buttocks swaying back and forth in front of him, Ron, being a proper gentleman, couldn't resist patting them.

"You bastard master, always taking advantage of the maid to lay your evil hands on her~"

Fiona, whose buttocks trembled from the spanking, pulled back her slender waist, pouted, and gave the man a disdainful look.

"Now is not the time for sentimentality. There is something important that I need to remind you of, my lady."

If it weren't for Lilith and the dragon girl, that bastard master might have already hugged her.

The owner of this erotic novel has a particular fascination with feet and shapely buttocks...

"tell me the story."

Having just experienced the softness of Ron, he looked at his maid with great interest, wondering what she would say.

"The wheat and rye we bought yesterday are enough to feed four hundred people for three to four months. If we include hunting, it will be enough to get through the winter."

Fiona gently placed her slightly reddened, upturned buttocks on the soft sofa and spoke with a serious expression:

"In other words, we are barely getting enough to eat right now, and I don't know if it's out of kindness or something else, but you are still taking in people."

She sighed helplessly and continued;

“It is good to have a kind heart, but you must know, my master, if we cannot guarantee the food supply, it may even cause these people we have brought here to starve to death this winter.”

That bastard Ron, when did he become so kind?

And they don't even think about the future...

"Who says there's no food? We can start planting wheat once we get to the territory."

According to Ron's estimate, once the wheat ripens, it will be enough to feed seven or eight hundred people through the winter, and there will even be a slight surplus.

Winter is expected to arrive a month late this year, and with Lilith's divination showing a failure, a wheat harvest is a certainty.

In order for the territory to develop rapidly, the more citizens the better.

"Owner...."

Fiona took a deep breath and said with some melancholy:

"Are you really so sure that you can grow wheat in just over two months?"