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

Horseshoes clattered through the snow as Wayne and his men returned to their territory in the bright afternoon sun, carrying the agreement they had obtained from the outpost and the supplies they had seized from the bandit's lair.

"The master is back!"

The militiamen on the lookout tower recognized the troops from afar, and their excited shouts echoed throughout the camp.

Soon, Emma, ​​accompanied by several people, emerged from the still bustling reconstruction work.

She looked more capable today, with her hair neatly tied back and her eyes bright and pleasing—or perhaps Wayne was simply in a good mood.

"Lord Wayne."

Emma bowed and glanced at the supplies loaded behind the caravan: "It seems the trip went smoothly."

"It went more smoothly than expected."

Looking at the beautiful and capable young woman in front of him, Wayne found himself feeling a sudden urge to confide in her.

He dismounted and patted the horse's neck: "The bandit's lair has been cleared out; we brought back some things. Also—"

Wayne smiled: "We've reached an agreement with the Northwest Outpost. We are now official members of the Northern Lords' Alliance, certified by Duke Quintu—and our territory finally has a name!"

Frosty Raven's Lair.

The girl was slightly taken aback, then her eyes brightened, and a genuine, radiant smile bloomed on her face.

You should know that she was just the daughter of a blacksmith from the North.

Now, not only is she being highly valued by the Duke's son, but the land she is mainly responsible for managing and supervising the construction of has also gained the recognition of the number one person in the North—Duke Quintu, and she is only nineteen years old!

This is simply...like a dream...

"Unload the items first."

Wayne nodded, then proceeded to assign tasks: "Go and call Anke here, and you two will count and put the items into inventory together."

Tools and weapons were to be handled by Glenn and Yudo; leather armor that was in good condition was to be repaired and kept for later use; and food and salt were to be given to Gordon to store in the tent.

"yes!"

Emma readily agreed, but instead of immediately leaving to get back to work as usual, she lowered her voice and added, "Sir, some people in the construction team have been asking privately if they'll be allocated land after spring."

Wayne nodded—this was a reasonable demand and the key to the stability of the territory.

However, this is also a somewhat tricky problem – there is only so much farmland, and the land that I had arranged for Wright to reclaim was intended to be used as my own camp.

It's impossible for Wayne to use this farmland, which is close to his ideal main castle, to balance the needs of the people—a self-owned camp is the foundation of a lord.

However, if the original distribution of farmland in the village is altered, it is reasonable that the original villagers already had the right to allocate and cultivate this land.

Logically speaking, I don't have any new crop plans at the moment. If I rashly distribute the land, it will not only erode the villagers' support to make up for my own problems, but it may also lead to a waste of labor.

For him, the best-case scenario is to use resources and non-permanent treatment to keep these workers satisfied and doing what he would prefer them to do.

For example, quarrying; for example, grazing.

"Tell them that I will not mistreat anyone who participates in the construction of the territory and abides by the law, and tell them to focus on building the houses where they will live in the future."

"Yes."

Emma, ​​a clerical talent discovered by Wright and developed by Wayne through her abilities, is certainly intelligent.

She nodded slightly seriously, clearly understanding the main point Wayne wanted to make.

"come on."

"certainly!"

After Emma left, Wayne did not immediately return to his residence to rest, but instead took Ronald and Wright and began to slowly inspect the construction area.

However, the purpose of the inspection was not to observe the current state of the buildings—but rather to identify potential dangers lurking in the area.

His gaze swept over the roof frame under construction, the newly opened road, and the southwest warehouse, where building materials were already piling up and which would be used as a feed depot and livestock shed...

But Wayne focused more on the finer details—the marks on the ground, the condition of the weeds, and even whether there was any unusual smell lingering in the air.

"What are you worried about?"

Wright followed beside him and asked softly.

"Wright, do you remember what that northern barbarian said?"

Wayne's gaze swept across the grasslands to the southwest: "He said, 'If a thief hadn't stolen some of his war beasts from the southwest ranch, he wouldn't have waited so long for the final assault.'"

Tactics don't lie—he's not lying.

To be able to steal his carefully nurtured war beast right under the nose of the Northern Barbarian Holy Servant, whatever it may be, it must be extraordinary.

We need to know exactly what this threat is, and whether it's still nearby.

Ronald placed his hand on his sword hilt, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings: "Should I lead a thorough search of the southwest region?"

"Let's go check it out now."

The three walked through the residential area under construction and headed south to the planned ranch site.

The area is relatively open, with a large grassy area already cleared out and several wooden stakes driven into the frozen ground to mark the future location of the fence.

Wayne stopped a middle-aged villager who was passing by: "Have you seen any strange animals while working around here lately? Or... heard any unusual noises?"

"M-Sir, no...no."

Coincidentally, this person was none other than the stuttering Nicholas who had led Wayne earlier.

Wayne nodded to let him leave, and then asked several other people in succession, who hadn't even encountered any animals in the past few days.

"Wright, when you get back, have Anke add a few more patrol points and more people."

"Yes, sir."

Wayne led the three of them westward, gradually leaving the area under construction.

The grass underfoot became sparse, the frozen soil was exposed, and occasionally you could see small cracks or scattered holes on the ground caused by the freezing.

In fact, these small holes exist throughout the grasslands of the entire southwest region, but there are more of them here.

"Give it a try."

Wayne stopped and pointed to the nearest rabbit hole.

Ronald understood—they were about to carry out another "pest control operation."

Together with Wright, he picked up several appropriately sized stones from the ground and began rhythmically rubbing and tapping the frozen soil at several holes designated by Wayne.

This is a method they've used before—making noise to startle the rabbits in the burrow, forcing them to escape through other burrows.

However, this time, the expected commotion did not occur.

The entrances to the caves were unusually quiet.

Ronald increased the force of his blows, and the crisp sound of stones colliding echoed across the open grassland, but the burrow remained deathly silent, without even a rustling sound of someone trying to escape.

Wayne frowned.

He walked to the entrance of a hole, squatted down, and observed it carefully.

There were no scratch marks on the soil around the edge of the hole.

"Were they all brought out by that northern barbarian to fight us?"

Wright kept tapping away while glancing at Wayne—he didn't think there would be any more rabbits inside.

Wayne didn't answer Wright, but simply stood up, walked to the largest opening, and stared at the dark opening for a few seconds.

Then he turned and walked toward the horses.