Arrival

Marco was already fully equipped and ready to go. The eight hunters and eight young men had all assembled. Looking at the men before him, Marco felt high-spirited. Just a few days ago, he had been an unknown little hunter, but in the blink of an eye, he had become the deputy captain of the viscount's guard. More than a dozen people now had to follow his commands, and Marco felt a measure of pride.

With a grand wave of his hand, he set off under the guidance of the three hunters who had returned earlier. Watched by Village Chief Colin and the villagers, Marco felt as though he were leading an army into battle.

In the mountains, Reed rubbed his round, bloated belly and let out a burp.

"Sir Nord, I never expected Mountain Lump... oh, no, yams to be so delicious. How had I never noticed before?"

"It had always been there. You simply lacked the eyes to discover it."

Reed nodded as if he understood, feeling that Sir Nord's words were profound. He did not quite understand them, but they sounded very reasonable.

Nord turned to look at Ryman and Old Mor. The yams from earlier had almost all been eaten by Reed and the others. Ryman and Old Mor had not eaten any at all, because they still had to protect Nord and remained extremely cautious.

"You see, once yams are cooked, they have no toxicity at all. They can completely serve as food. And they do not need to be planted in farmland either. We can make use of the mountain land around the village to solve the villagers' food problem."

Ryman was somewhat delighted upon hearing this. Food had always been the biggest problem troubling Tami Village. Now that he had heard Nord's solution, although he did not know whether it would work, they at least had a direction. Ryman looked toward Old Mor, hoping for an answer that would satisfy him.

Everyone's eyes gathered on Old Mor. His expression was somewhat complicated. Of everyone present, only he knew the most about this plant that had just been named yam. Though he had never searched carefully, yams indeed existed in great numbers in the mountains. If he had known back then that yams could be eaten, then he would not have...

"Sir Nord, I don't know whether yams can be cultivated on a large scale, but as long as you search carefully in the mountains, you can still find plenty of them. I don't know how to plant them, but we can give it a try. If it truly turns out as you say, that would be wonderful."

Unlike Ryman and the others, who were filled with apprehension, Nord was brimming with confidence. Based on his experience from his previous life, as long as the species differed not too greatly, the yield of this food would definitely be astonishing. At least for the short term, the villagers' food problem had been solved.

"Since they haven't arrived yet, let's search around for more yams."

Seeing that everyone was idle anyway, Nord decided they might as well find something to do. They could dig up some yams, and Nord could take them back to study how to cultivate them.

Just as Nord and the others were busy digging yams, Marco finally arrived with his men.

"Sir Nord, we're here. I also brought the remaining young men from the village. Please see whether they are suitable to join the guard."

Nord looked over the young men. Every one of them was full of vigor, their faces excited. Only their eyes revealed a trace of immaturity, but that was nothing. He had no experience being a lord either. They could improve together.

"Not bad. Marco will lead you from now on. Your treatment will be the same as the others', but there isn't enough equipment for the moment. It will gradually be supplied to you later."

Nord was very satisfied with them, and when these young men heard that Nord had agreed to let them join, smiles appeared on all their faces.

Ever since they had returned yesterday, these young men had heard Marco talk about how generous Sir Nord was and how brave Ryman had been. Their spirits had all been lifted, and they had grown envious of Marco's treatment. They had even asked Marco whether they could still join the guard.

Marco had been overjoyed. It had fallen right into his lap. He immediately pounded his chest and promised that he would definitely bring them into the guard. Now that their wish had been fulfilled, they were all ecstatic and pledged their loyalty to Nord.

"Sir Nord, I am willing to serve you."

"Me too, Sir Nord. I'll follow Marco and do my best."

"Same here!"

Eight Amon Mountain Dwellers have joined the team.

A system notification flashed before his eyes. Amon Mountain Dwellers? Nord looked at the immature youths before him. Mountain dwellers it was, then. Raising them slowly would be fine.

During the time they had been waiting, Nord and the others had dug up a pile of yams. It looked to be around a hundred pounds. As expected, this food really did have a high yield. Even if they could not cultivate it right away, merely digging it up in the mountains would be enough to keep the villagers going for some time.

After telling everyone to carry the yams, Nord had Old Mor look for the tracks left by the wild boars when they fled earlier.

In fact, this world also had dogs, humanity's good companions. The famous Besser Black Hound of the Besser Duchy, for instance, was said to have been domesticated from the forest wolves of the Amon Mountains. Besser Black Hounds were loyal, brave, and enormous. They were a rare and excellent breed, but Tami Village was poor and lacked food, so it simply could not afford to raise such large hunting dogs.

In the Besser Duchy, Black Hounds were basically something only nobles could afford to train. When they went hunting, the dogs could also serve as a display of status. A purebred Black Hound of superb appearance was worth a fortune.

Nord was already considering whether he should buy a few Black Hounds after solving the food problem. After all, hunting dogs would help him develop the mountains more effectively.

Before long, led by Old Mor, Nord and the others arrived before a cave. The cave appeared to have formed naturally. Its entrance was roughly five meters high and three meters wide, with a flattened shape.

"Sir Nord, judging by the tracks, the wild boars are probably all inside the cave. This is going to be difficult."

Looking at the pitch-black cave, Nord had no intention of sending anyone inside to investigate. Even without hunting experience, Nord understood that sending the hunters in to catch the wild boars in this terrain would be sending them to their deaths. With such a narrow entrance, if the boars charged, there would not even be room to dodge.

So they had to force the three adult wild boars out of the cave before catching them all in one go.

Nord told everyone to think of a way and see whether they had any good ideas. But even the experienced Old Mor was at a loss. When hunters encountered such a situation in the past, they generally gave up. Besides, they did not necessarily need to capture the prey alive, so everyone found it difficult.

"How about we lie in ambush around here and wait for the wild boars to come out for food again? Then we can find a way to block them off?"

Ryman suggested a clumsy method. In the past, hunters had always waited for opportunities, hiding in ambush for their prey to arrive. They had learned this method from observing predators hunt in the mountains.

To Nord, this method was no different from waiting for a hare by a tree stump. Although the wild boars would eventually be unable to resist coming out, waiting here for a day or two would also be extremely dangerous.

Not only would it consume a great deal of time, but nighttime was also very dangerous. On top of that, they had not brought any rations when they came. Were they supposed to survive by digging up yams on the spot?

Nord temporarily ruled out this method and racked his brains, recalling the knowledge from his past life to see whether it could help him. Roasted yams? An idea suddenly came to him.