Arriving in Loren City Again

As for how to obtain the iron mine, Thor had considered many options. The simplest was to return to the Dreyrosa Family and ask his father for help. A Large Iron Mine was immensely valuable; even an ordinary Count would be tempted. His father would surely be more than willing to secure the mining rights to one.

However, the thought only surfaced for an instant.

He quickly suppressed it.

It was not because he was unwilling to part with it.

There were many reasons.

For one, as a Pioneer Knight, he was not allowed to return to the family before becoming a Baron, nor would the family continue to support him.

His father, Count Engel Dreyrosa, would indeed offer assistance for the sake of a Large Iron Mine.

But it would undoubtedly lower his opinion of Thor.

Moreover, it was only a Large Iron Mine. It was not as though Thor could not take it for himself. The only problem was how to deal with those several thousand goblins. If he had to seek his father's help over such a minor issue, what would he do when it came to developing his territory afterward?

If he turned to his family every time something went wrong, then what was the point?

Count Engel Dreyrosa had already given him a great deal. This time, Thor wanted to solve it with his own abilities.

But even if he wanted to solve it himself, there were quite a few problems involved.

As he had said before, how to keep most—if not all—of those several thousand goblins from escaping was a major issue.

Timid Goblins were generally extremely cowardly by nature.

His Knight Order of more than four hundred men was confident of defeating several thousand Timid Goblins from a large tribe, but it was obviously impossible to keep them all. Even keeping most of them would be difficult.

And as long as enough goblins escaped, news of the Large Iron Mine would inevitably leak. Since it was close to Loren City, the mine might not attract high-ranking orcs, but even low-ranking orcs or other Goblin Tribes would be enough to give him a headache.

Only by eliminating a large number of goblins and reducing the number of escapees to a minimum, thereby making information leaks as unlikely as possible, could he gain time to develop in peace.

But how to accomplish that was indeed troublesome.

Thor thought for a long time without coming up with any good solution.

Until he saw the fanatically devoted serfs, and an idea inevitably came to him.

That was right—the serfs.

Timid Goblins were among the lowest-ranking orcs. Even within a Goblin Tribe, they were among the weakest, practically food for other goblins. Even an ordinary adult man with a weapon could handle two or three of them.

Since there were simply too many goblins, why not mobilize enough serfs?

Several thousand goblins.

If he had several thousand serfs, together with the four hundred members of the Knight Order, they would be enough to slaughter those goblins completely.

He might not even need that many. Just five thousand—or perhaps only three thousand—would give him a strong chance of wiping out the goblins entirely.

And three thousand serfs would cost only three hundred gold coins.

He could naturally afford that price.

Although he had spent a great deal of gold purchasing supplies and building the territory, he still had several thousand gold coins at the moment, more than enough to make the purchase.

Having reached that decision, he no longer hesitated.

He summoned Steve once more.

He even called Ryan over as well.

"My lord!"

"My lord!"

The two swiftly saluted, their expressions respectful.

"Ryan, make preparations. Select several Formal Knights, and bring all the Apprentice Knights as well. I intend to make another trip to Loren City to purchase supplies. You will accompany me."

"Steve, while I am away, the territory's construction will be left to you."

Thor spoke and swiftly issued his orders.

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Steve and Ryan nodded at once.

Neither had any objections.

"Oh, right, Steve. Go find Alice and have her give you the item in the second cabinet in my room. When I return, I hope you will have become a Great Knight."

As the two were about to leave, Thor seemed to remember something and added another instruction.

"Yes!"

"Thank you, my lord!"

"I will not disappoint you!"

Steve hurriedly replied, unable to suppress his excitement.

He did not know what the lord intended to give him, but Thor's words made him realize that it was definitely something good—perhaps even something capable of helping him break through.

And that was indeed the case.

Over this period, Thor had gathered quite a few good things through the Daily Intelligence System.

Like his father, he had stored those items away one by one.

Inside the second cabinet was a Divine Wood Fruit.

He had obtained it more than ten days ago.

With that Divine Wood Fruit, Steve had a strong chance of breaking through to become a Great Knight before Thor returned.

If Steve could break through to Great Knight, it would undoubtedly increase their chances by a few more points.

As for Alice, she had already become a qualified "maid." Thor had no intention of exposing her and instead intended to let her continue her disguise.

After all, over the past month, the changes in that Half-Elf girl had greatly satisfied him.

Before long, he believed, he would completely win over the Half-Elf girl's heart.

He was in no hurry.

His thoughts turned.

Steve and Ryan quickly departed.

Half an hour later.

The personnel had assembled.

Thor set off once more with Ryan and over a hundred knights, their procession grand and imposing.

Their destination was Loren City.

This time, Thor was not merely planning to purchase serfs. He also needed to buy supplies.

After a month, they had consumed quite a lot of resources, and replenishment was necessary.

The group traveled in a grand procession.

They set out from Maine River Valley, bound for Loren City.

Compared with their journey there, which had taken nearly ten days, their return to Loren City was naturally much faster.

By around the fifth day, everyone could already see Loren City's outline.

After all, they had previously been traveling with five hundred serfs and a large quantity of supplies, which had severely slowed them down. This time, none of that burden remained, so their speed was naturally incomparable.

In fact, if they had intended to hurry, they might have crossed the distance and reached Loren City in only three days.

There was simply no need.

On the sixth day.

The group entered Loren City.

Compared with more than a month ago, Loren City seemed even livelier now.

Whether it was because the number of Pioneer Knights had increased or for some other reason, Thor did not know.

Of course, none of that had much to do with him.

The only difference was that his arrival drew even more attention.

Beneath the setting sun, gaze after gaze converged on them.

"My heavens, that's the emblem of the Dreyrosa Family, isn't it?"

"Yes, I recognize it. That eagle emblem."

"As expected of a Count's family. Their Pioneer Knight Order has so many knights following them."

Voices rose around him, with occasional cries of amazement.

Of course, amid that amazement were also coldness and hostility.