Future

Steward Vincent ultimately received no answer, but based on his many years of business experience, there was an eighty percent chance that this investment would go down the drain.

However, Derek was not part of the trading company and had no right to interfere.

On the contrary, he ought to build a good relationship with such a strong young knight.

The Caravan stayed for two days, purchasing a large quantity of furs before finally heading back.

The return journey was somewhat different.

As Steward Vincent traveled, he bought up all kinds of supplies, wishing he could pile the wagons as high as mountains.

Seeing how hard the horses pulling the carts had to work, even Derek felt sorry for them.

Sure enough, capital was bloody no matter which world it was in.

The only difference was who was being exploited.

Derek could only remind himself to exploit others rather than let others exploit him.

As they neared Watch City, another piece of good news arrived.

The Nag belonging to Simon, the Knight Squire, also joined the Panel and quickly rose to ordinary quality.

It was no exaggeration to say that the price difference on this round trip was worth at least three Gold Coins.

The huge profit was secondary. What truly mattered was gaining a source of Warhorses.

Fully armed heavy Cavalry was a decisive force in this era of backward warfare, possessing deterrent power akin to nuclear weapons.

And that depended on excellent Warhorses.

After returning to the city and handing over the mission, Derek had an entry recorded at the tavern where he had accepted it, leaving behind official proof.

If a Caravan wished to hire Derek in the future, this would serve as a reference. If his performance was exceptionally good, they could even pay extra.

For example, Steward Vincent painfully handed over two Gold Coins this time as a reward.

Once the handover was complete, Derek returned to his base.

With limited training and increasingly high levels, the Spearmen who remained behind gained very few levels.

The three blacksmiths, on the other hand, became increasingly skilled. Little Tru could even independently forge fairly high-quality Iron Swords.

While accumulating strength, Derek took on small missions in the surrounding area and sent the Spearmen out separately to train.

After some time, they had built up a modest reputation.

Everyone in Watch City's mercenary circle knew that a group of fierce fighters had arrived, and that they were highly trustworthy.

They earned more and more money.

Their strength also continued to grow.

Yet Derek still felt anxious, always plagued by a sense of urgency.

Without land or population, his seemingly decent enterprise would ultimately have a ceiling.

Take the Ferrera Barony, for example. The entire territory had only four or five thousand people. Could it allow him to recruit soldiers without limit?

Other noble territories were the same. Freely recruiting soldiers was out of the question.

Moreover, most free citizens had land and businesses of their own and would not become soldiers.

Those without land or businesses were nobles' subjects, and even their movement was restricted.

Not to mention farming and livestock raising, which were entirely means of production.

In this feudal society, the ceiling was already fixed. Even if one wanted to work hard, there was no way to break through the blockade.

Unless he broke through the class barriers, only then could he continue to grow stronger.

For now, the output of the three blacksmiths was barely enough to keep things covered. If he truly wanted to expand the business, then without a powerful patron, someone would sooner or later swallow him whole.

Derek understood nobles' habits very well and would not take such a risk.

And maintaining the status quo seemed fairly good as well.

A Mini Manor in the Northern Province cost roughly five thousand Gold Coins.

If he worked hard for fifty years, he could save enough for one.

For people of this era, being able to leave such an estate to one's descendants and family in a lifetime was already more than respectable.

Look at the Perez Family. Over all these years, they had only saved up two Mini Manors, and that was considered relatively well-managed.

Derek should have been satisfied.

Satisfied, my ass. Derek would never be satisfied with that.

He had transmigrated once and held a cheat in his hands, only to muddle through life?

Besides, if some accident happened along the way, he might not even live another fifty years.

This world gave him no sense of security.

Unless he held his fate in his own hands.

Some small-scale wars might offer opportunities, but Derek was unwilling.

The kingdom's politics followed a typical Dual Monarchy.

Liege Lords and the King.

Nobles under the King's authority were required to fulfill obligations to the King, but they retained relative freedom.

Those invested by other great nobles might still hold positions in the kingdom, but they had almost no political freedom.

The Liege Lord's stance was their stance.

Unless the Liege Lord rebelled, it was nearly impossible to refuse some of his demands.

And most of the kingdom's political resources happened to remain in the King's hands.

Even one's family descendants would have to serve the other side's descendants.

Breaking through the class barriers and gaining power would be difficult by relying on great nobles, and he would be constrained as well.

The best method was still to go to the Royal Capital and seize the kingdom's core resources.

However, the Ferrera Family was merely a rural noble house. It had no political resources to make him a kingdom official, and even if it did, they would not fall to him.

Such political resources belonged only to great nobles and the royal family.

Thus, he was trapped in a vicious cycle.

Unless a large-scale war broke out, allowing him to earn a title through military merit and enter the King's sight. Even then, he would need to fight bit by bit for power and resources.

What Derek awaited was a war with the Northern Barbarians. The barbarians who had risen in the north had seized a great deal of kingdom land during the kingdom's past fragmentation.

As the kingdom recovered its national strength, it would sooner or later launch a war of reconquest.

This was what perceptive people believed, though that day might come tomorrow, or ten or twenty years from now.

Derek had once thought he could wait, but now he realized... he did not have that patience.

Of course, all this impatience stemmed from the watchful gazes around him, whether deliberate or not.

A business with an annual output value of more than a hundred Gold Coins, and an Arms Business at that, made many people jealous.

Only his knightly title, the deterrence of the family behind Derek, and perhaps his personal strength as well, had temporarily driven those greedy gazes away.

But if the scale expanded, it would still attract greed.

The first to make a move might even be his patron, Baron Ferrera.

Yes, what did father-son affection amount to before family interests?

A business capable of accounting for a substantial portion of the family's income—

In the end, Derek had underestimated the value of a competent blacksmith.

Why were blacksmiths so valuable?

Smelting techniques and forging techniques were all extremely precious in this era.

Most blacksmiths relied entirely on instinct and experience to forge high-quality weapons.

That was why they were scarce and immensely profitable.

Even their teachings were passed down with great caution and secrecy.

Only the few powers that had developed advanced techniques monopolized the industry.

The existence of the Panel was practically a cheat, turning something that depended on luck into a certainty.

Every blacksmith could become skilled given enough time.

What an envy-inducing power that was.

After realizing this, Derek did not even dare continue adding points.

Yet a fire burned in his heart. He had to find a place beyond everyone's sight, where he could make full use of the Panel's abilities.

He believed that he only needed one opportunity to swiftly step onto the stage of history.

And he already had a target.