Territory Panel

Early morning, Wild Boar Cave.

The moment Nord opened his eyes, he saw Cindy perched on his chest, its two little eyes gazing blankly at him. Who knew how long it had been staring, but upon seeing Nord awaken, Cindy immediately stood up and let out a meow.

"Meow~"

Then it agilely jumped off the bed, went over to the bonfire, and stood by the wooden bowl from yesterday's meal, looking obediently at Nord.

The warmth that had just blossomed in Nord's heart vanished instantly. He had thought a thoughtful Little Mountain Cat was waiting for him to wake up, but he never expected it was just hungry and wanted to eat. Nord didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

There was nothing for it; after all, it was an adorable creature. Nord had no choice but to get up and instruct a hunter to cook some meat paste for Cindy. After settling the Little Mountain Cat, Nord headed to the Stronghold's training ground to begin his day's training.

When he finished training, he found Marco already there, standing behind him as if waiting for Nord.

"Marco, when did you get here? Perfect timing for a spar."

"I just arrived, Lord Nord. When did you return? Yesterday, Village Chief Colin mentioned that if you came back, I should tell you that the Manor has been fully renovated, and Butler Abel is already waiting for you there."

A smile touched Nord's lips. Another piece of good news. Good news had been arriving one after another these past few days. Nord couldn't help but wonder if his luck had turned. Things hadn't gone well recently, with every search for Distant Mountain Stronghold ending in failure, but now good news was pouring in. Nord thought for a moment, then gestured for Marco to warm up.

He was already back, so there was no rush. He might as well have a spar with Marco first to see if he had made any progress these past few days.

After Marco finished warming up, Nord, wooden sword in hand, charged at him. The two fought for a long time, stopping only when both were breathless.

"I… can't… Marco… I still can't beat you."

"Lord… Nord, you're improving so quickly… We need to keep up with you."

Nord wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, looking at the determined Marco. Nord could sense that Marco had given his all this time, and he believed he would soon be able to defeat him. Moreover, Marco was right; everyone was improving, and Nord was confident that he would be the one to improve the fastest.

Nord tossed the wooden sword to the ground, took a deep breath to calm his tense body, then instructed Marco.

"Later, I'll be returning to Tami Village with Ryman and the others. So, I'll leave the Wild Boar Cave to you for the next two days. Once everyone has had enough rest in a couple of days, I'll assign new tasks."

"Don't worry, Lord Nord, I'll follow your orders. But when you assign tasks then, could you let me go deep into the mountains too? I'm practically dying of boredom staying here guarding the place all day."

Looking at the fidgeting Marco, Nord couldn't help but chuckle and scold him, "Don't play tricks! We'll see how you perform then; it's not impossible."

Nord looked at the grinning Marco, feeling a bit helpless. Why hadn't he noticed this side of Marco before? Or had he just let loose? However, this was indeed something to consider. They were all young men; seeing others venturing out while they were stuck at home guarding the place could indeed create an imbalance in their hearts. Nord hadn't forgotten that there was another young man in the village waiting for him to appease.

After giving Marco his instructions, Nord took Ryman and the others back. Ryman, in particular, was eager to return home. He hadn't had time to go home when he was busy before, and now that the task was complete, he sorely missed his wife and children.

Without any delay, Nord arrived in front of the Manor, instructing Ryman and the others to disperse on the spot and return to their respective homes for a few days of rest. Now, only Nord stood alone at the Manor's entrance.

Looking at the Manor gates, Nord couldn't contain the excitement in his heart. He lowered his head and stroked Cindy's soft fur, as if talking to himself.

"Cindy, we're home."

"Meow~"

Nord hadn't expected Cindy to respond. A bright smile spread across his lips. Looking at Cindy's confused little eyes, Nord chuckled and stepped through the gate.

The moment Nord entered the Manor, a string of System messages appeared before his eyes.

[Construction Quest: Noble Estate (Completed)]

[Reward disbursed.]

[Territory detected to have a Manor. Territory Construction Panel activated]

[Current Territories: Tami Village (Activated) Distant Mountain Stronghold (Inactive)]

Nord's advancing steps halted. The quest completion was within Nord's expectations, but he didn't understand this new feature, the Territory Construction Panel. Moreover, it seemed only Tami Village had been activated. As for the situation with Distant Mountain Stronghold, Nord was even more clueless.

Finding the Territory Construction Panel, Nord, with a research mindset, carefully examined each line of information on the panel.

[Territory Name: Tami Village]

[Scale: Village]

[This is a very poor village. The village's scarce farmland cannot meet the daily needs of its people. Fortunately, it is backed by the resource-rich Amon Mountains, which offers this small village a glimmer of hope. However, the wild beasts deep within the mountains severely threaten the safety of the villagers.]

[Prosperity: 9 (Commerce: 2 Agriculture: 6 Industry: 1 )]

[Public Sentiment: 74 Public Order: 54]

[Population: 283 (people) Farmland: 86 (mu) Tax Revenue: 13 (Silver Thaler)]

[Buildable Structures: Pharmacy, Marketplace, School, Watchtower, Workshop, Armory]

Nord took a quick look. It seemed the Territory Construction Panel had many functions. Not only could it display village data such as prosperity, public sentiment, and population, but it could also construct various buildings. Nord was more interested in these buildings, believing they would be the most helpful to him.

Nord randomly clicked on the Workshop page and discovered that it wasn't a simple Workshop. One had to first select a product, and then various types of Workshops could be chosen for construction. For example, when Nord thought of animal furs, information about a Fur Workshop appeared. Moreover, each Workshop would be equipped with a professional master for guidance, but for the Workshop to operate, workers had to be recruited from reality. This meant that the Workshop master was only there to impart knowledge to the villagers; it was absolutely impossible for a Workshop to run solely on one master.

Nord also discovered that these buildings were merely blueprints. They had to be built according to the blueprints before the System would assign a professional master, unlike in games where a building could simply materialize out of thin air.

This disappointed Nord somewhat. It seemed the System had no ability to change reality from the beginning. Its only powerful aspect was its ability to provide Nord with some professional talents, such as butlers and blacksmiths.

These individuals could only be used to develop the territory and had no combat capabilities whatsoever. In other words, when it came to combat, the System couldn't provide much help to Nord; everything had to be up to Nord's own initiative.

Shaking his head, he decided to study these things later. Nord looked at the empty Manor and suddenly felt that he still had a long and arduous journey ahead.

There might still be issues with the settings in this chapter; everyone is welcome to offer suggestions. Also, please vote with recommendation tickets, collect, tip, and invest. I beg you.