King of the North: My Lord's Diary Weekly Summary

"But if what he said is true... the bandits are not strong, their internal situation is unstable, and they are short of food. The knights of the Northwest will not help them."

Then dealing with it shouldn't be too difficult... what about the 'danger' you mentioned earlier?

"The danger isn't here."

Wayne turned his gaze northward, where a range of coniferous mountains stretched out: "The bandits aren't strong, and their hideout is located near the northwestern forest."

If that's the case, why did that Knight Rachel from the Northwest keep them around? Even allowing the bandits to think they could try bribing them?

Ronald pondered for a moment, his expression shifting slightly: "A handle is unlikely... So, it's more like, Sir Rachel doesn't think it's worth it?"

Seeing Wayne nod, Ronald continued his reasoning: "Bandits are unlikely to bring positive returns... so Knight Rachel probably doesn't want to risk injuring her men in battle against them... even if it's a surprise attack."

This means that in the Northwest... there is something that even she, leading an entire army, feels she needs to give it her all.

Wayne nodded, his gaze distant: "The northwest corner of this land is probably more unsettled than we imagine."

The pressure from outside the defenses may be greater than we imagine.

Therefore, Sir Rachel had no time to spare and had to leave the bandits as a buffer.

He turned his gaze back to the somewhat rudimentary watchtower in front of him.

Ronald followed Wayne into the tower—Cam hadn't lied; there were indeed some supplies inside.

"It's alright, let's find some containers and pack up all the useful stuff first."

Wayne said to Ronald, "The location of this watchtower is not bad. We can send someone to do some simple repairs next year and use it as a lookout point to keep an eye on the situation to the west."

Ronald agreed and went out to find some containers that would be easy to transport by horse.

Wayne personally picked through the supplies—he was originally from another time and didn't have any aristocratic airs, and with Ronald around, there was no need for him to put on airs.

The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home.

He still has several "territorial administrative matters" to attend to.

……

"Thank you so much for your two families' hard work over the past four days. From now on, the six of you will not only be my subjects, but also my friends."

Sitting in the drawing room of the Glenn family, Wayne was flanked by two blacksmiths from the estate and Lady Glenn.

On the other side were Glenn's two daughters and Yudo's godbrother and apprentice.

Generally speaking, Wayne doesn't get too close to his subordinates—not even Hank and Anko.

But in those four days, the actions of the two blacksmiths and their families showed Wayne what it meant to be a skilled and compassionate person offering help in times of need.

The incident occurred four days earlier, when Wayne and Ronald had just finished inspecting the Southwest Territory and arrived at the Southeast Outpost camp.

Although the weather was not colder than before, for some reason, the two houses that were about to be completed were ruined because their foundations were frozen.

Fortunately, the two completed wooden houses prepared for the two blacksmiths have not yet encountered such a situation.

Wayne was truly moved by the actions of the two blacksmiths in response to this unexpected situation.

Without hesitation, they not only volunteered to help the construction team build the houses—the old blacksmith Glenn even used his family's iron reserves to make iron hoops, tie rods, and other building supplies to reinforce all the newly built houses, along with the iron nails that Wayne had purchased!

It's important to understand that blacksmiths are citizens protected by the Northern Laws. Unlike most commoners, they have no additional labor obligations to their lords.

Even now—with a surplus of blacksmiths in the North—they are technically only under the Duke's control, while other lords only have the right to employ them.

And this kind of person actually took out the only iron he had in his home to help Wayne cover up his mistakes in the North. In his eyes, this kindness was no less than an employee paying out of his own pocket to help the company solve problems!

Moreover, they contributed their labor, materials, and technology, and afterwards, they not only showed great understanding for Wayne's predicament in the early stages of development, but also gave him a lot of face.

This can indeed be described as a favor.

In response, Wayne took three actions:

First, he spoke privately with the two blacksmiths and some of their families—with the potential mineral vein in hand, his first priority was to determine the possible threats.

Especially the Glenn family, who have a complete family and even have their own iron materials... Why would they come to such a dangerous territory near the border?

The reason for having two more people is—to work hard.

As far as they are concerned, the iron industry in the North has already passed its first boom. There are more blacksmiths than ironworkers, and for young blacksmiths like Yudo in their twenties, there is even less opportunity to make big money.

In Yudo's eyes, if one cannot live a life of privilege in the North, then life is simply unbearable.

Not having enough to eat or wear was the norm, not to mention his dream of buying a house in the south and becoming a citizen of a small city in the kingdom.

Therefore, their choice is to take advantage of their youth and try as many things as possible.

For Glenn, however, the situation was completely the opposite—he had carefully considered a piece of information.

Wayne spent 970 gold coins, 80 of which were used to recruit two blacksmiths.

But he bought consumables such as nails and hinges—he even bought his own farm tools.

So what's the point of him spending so much money to hire two blacksmiths?

There are only two possibilities: he's mentally retarded, or he has other connections.

The former has already been ruled out through his investigation—the eldest son of the Duke died on the road, while he was clearly behaving normally.

Therefore, the latter is extremely rare in the still developing northern iron industry.

So when he learned that a young blacksmith had accepted Wayne's recruitment order, he decisively went all in on the investment.

What's remarkable is that both blacksmiths appeared extremely honest and hardworking.

Therefore, even the usually suspicious Wayne gave two follow-up measures.

First, he abandoned his plan and stopped restricting the two blacksmiths' normal behavior—including supporting their collaboration.

This contradicts his previous idea of ​​buying two blacksmiths to reduce risk.

Secondly, he also chose to be honest and willing to befriend them and treat them and their families well.

The group chatted casually about the current situation as usual, until the servant Dieter—a clever man who was currently in charge of the trivial matters that Wayne could handle—brought a few carpenters into the house.

"Your Excellency, the secondary chamber is ready."

Wayne nodded—although he had designed the cabin to be larger for the blacksmith who might come with multiple family members, he had overlooked the need for a separate workshop and storage room for the blacksmith.

Therefore, Glenn, a family of four, would need another cabin to make ends meet.

Wayne nodded and greeted the others, then got up to leave.

Over the past four days, they have accomplished a great deal and achieved some results.

Now, it's time to gather Ronald and go explore the cliff caves together again.

With each breath, the frost raven glands in his chest rhythmically expanded and contracted.