Neil Morton's Shock

Of course, plans were just plans.

A meal had to be eaten one bite at a time, and a road had to be walked one step at a time.

A powerhouse like Neil Morton—

Keeping him around would not be easy, nor could it be accomplished overnight.

More importantly, Thor needed to learn more about this man.

Only then could he feel at ease.

After giving instructions to the maid, Thor left.

As a lord—

Especially a Pioneer Lord—he still had many things to do.

Naturally, he could not keep this man company all the time.

As for whether this man might pose any threat to the territory—

Thor was not worried in the slightest.

Someone who was at least a Peak Earth Knight, perhaps even a Sky Knight—

There was truly nothing in his tiny territory that could tempt such a person.

As for his Golden Finger being exposed—

That was even less of a concern.

His Golden Finger was merely the Daily Intelligence System.

It was only intelligence.

Who knew how he obtained it?

Who knew whether he possessed some special talent?

There were no shortage of people across the continent with all kinds of talents.

There was no need to worry at all.

Thor left.

After resting for a while, Neil Morton began walking around Eagle Ridge.

As he walked, he gradually gained a general understanding of Eagle Ridge.

This appeared to be a newly established noble territory, likely built less than a year ago.

The territory was not particularly large either. Judging by its scale, it was probably only the domain of a Baron.

Since the other party did not wear a Noble Medal—

He might even be nothing more than a Pioneer Knight.

Pioneer Knights existed within the Empire as well.

Neil Morton knew something about Pioneer Knights.

They were a group of brave people.

They carved out territories of their own amid the wilderness.

At the same time, they were poor.

Although this was not the Empire but a distant kingdom, that likely had not changed much.

That made him somewhat curious.

The person had clearly consumed something capable of providing a great deal of Life Source Power. How could a Baron possess such a treasure?

And how could he bear to use it?

Not to mention this kingdom, even Barons within the Empire did not possess much wealth. It was doubtful whether they could scrape together enough money to buy a few bottles of Low-Grade Life Potion, much less impoverished Pioneer Knights.

And given his condition—

Low-Grade Life Potions would not do.

He needed at least Intermediate Life Potions.

One bottle would not be enough. He would need several before recovery was possible.

Even in the Empire, such an expense would amount to over a thousand gold coins. In this kingdom, it could even reach several thousand gold coins.

A lord's territory might not even produce that many gold coins in an entire year.

His confusion grew.

He became even more curious about this lord.

And as he walked in curiosity—

The sights throughout the territory soon drew his attention.

Figures bustled about ahead.

They cleared irrigation channels and built houses.

At first, he paid them little attention. They were merely slaves doing labor.

Yet through the fluctuations of his Mental Power, he discovered faint Life Source Power fluctuations coming from them.

They possessed Life Source Power fluctuations.

For a moment, he thought his senses had deceived him, but he soon realized he was not mistaken. Those people truly possessed Life Source Power fluctuations.

Several of them had even reached the level of Formal Knights.

That left him astonished.

Since when did Formal Knights need to do the work of slaves?

Even in the Empire, such a sight would never appear.

Yet it was happening here.

Moreover, he could not see anything unusual in any of their expressions. Every knight wore a flush of excitement and anticipation, without the slightest sense of being oppressed.

"This!"

He spoke unconsciously, shock filling his face.

He continued onward.

What he saw next shocked him even more.

This place was very small, even considerably smaller than some Barons' territories in the Empire, yet it contained many things he had never seen before—things he had never even heard of.

At that moment, it was as though he had glimpsed a new world.

He saw free citizens laughing and chatting, without the humility and caution common among free citizens in other territories.

He saw the manure the free citizens spread across the fields.

He also saw the small rooms scattered throughout the territory, said to be places the lord had built for everyone to relieve themselves.

Heavens, even the Empire's capital had never possessed such things.

Yet he encountered them in this newly born territory. At that moment, it seemed as if he saw a sun slowly rising here.

Whether slaves, free citizens, or knights, the smiles on every face were unlike anything he had ever seen elsewhere.

Not even the imperial capital possessed smiles so sincere.

"Look!"

"Knight Ryan is back!"

"Come on, come on!"

"Let's go take a look!"

"Right, Knight Ryan always brings back plenty of prey whenever he returns. This time, he supposedly went to wipe out Green Goblins. I wonder if he brought back any prey."

"Hahaha, definitely! We'll have something good to eat tonight!"

Neil Morton's heart trembled, while the crowd began to stir. His ears twitched, and voices quickly entered his ears.

"Knight Ryan?"

Somewhat puzzled, Neil Morton hesitated briefly before following the crowd toward the outskirts of Eagle Ridge.

Soon, Neil Morton saw a young knight riding back into the territory with dozens of knights behind him.

Numerous prey animals were tied to their horses.

After they arrived in the territory—

The prey was swiftly distributed.

Every one of those knights wore a smile.

They did not possess the lofty arrogance Neil Morton had seen in other noble knights.

They were noble, yet not arrogant.

Every one of them was so approachable.

If not for the armor they wore, Neil Morton might have doubted whether they were knights at all.

"Eagle Ridge!"

Neil Morton murmured, quietly observing.

After the food had been distributed, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Ryan gave Neil Morton a curious glance, then smiled and nodded before leading the knights away.

Neil Morton watched Ryan and the others depart.

Then he continued wandering around the territory.

Thor naturally knew about Neil Morton's wandering.

However, it did not have much impact on him. The territory held no secrets. What he needed to consider now was how to keep this man here. Even if he could not make him his Guardian Knight, he at least had to find a way to retain him.

To clarify, the iron mine and Mithril Iron produced continuously, like harvesting crops over and over, which was why a Large Iron Mine was valuable. As for the protagonist's talent, that would be addressed. His talent was not terrible; you could understand it as being slightly better than an ordinary person's, but it could not compare to a genius like Ryan. Of course, even if he kept this level of talent forever, that would definitely not be enough. A solution would be found soon.