Seeing the World

Little Tru himself felt as though he had divine help; his craftsmanship improved at an incredible pace.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before. Every day brought new inspiration.

Constant improvements, constant progress—he even felt he had nearly reached his father's level.

Could it be... that the old man's skills were too poor and held me back?

His rapid technical progress naturally gave rise to some inflated thoughts.

Fortunately, his progress gradually slowed, and Derek deliberately kept him in check, preventing him from becoming completely conceited.

One month was still too short. Even the rest of the family did not think he could make much of a name for himself in a month.

But Derek felt that he would have to go out and see the world sooner or later.

With the Data Panel, one month of his development was worth half a year for others. Staying cooped up here was far too dull.

Besides, how could he rapidly expand without opening up a source of income?

Relying on Little Tru? An annual income of one or two Gold Coins was still too little.

Over the past few days, he had accumulated around twenty cast-iron spearheads, but that was nowhere near enough to serve as merchandise.

He had been conservative before because of his concerns. Next, he would turn the Gold Coins in his hands into strength.

After setting aside some funds for expenses, each new recruit earned eighty copper coins per month, below the usual rate.

Little Tru currently earned one Silver Coin, since he counted as a follower.

Monthly wage expenses came to less than eight or nine Silver Coins. With rations and various losses included, one Gold Coin was enough.

After leaving ten Gold Coins for emergencies, he could use at least forty Gold Coins. That was a considerable sum.

"Recruit another twenty men?"

Andrew thought his nephew had gone mad. With dozens of people to feed and pay, how long could that little capital of his last?

"Derek, you need to train a group of warriors first, then find a way to make money.

"Believe me, recruiting soldiers is easy, but you have to feed them.

"Otherwise, no loyalty can last forever."

Andrew spoke from experience.

The Ferrera Family was considered powerful. They had more than a hundred regular guards and seven or eight knights. With the Militia they could temporarily conscript, they could put together a force of five hundred men in no time.

But all of that was supported by extensive properties—thousands of subjects, numerous Estates, and businesses. Otherwise, if they went bankrupt today, everything would vanish by tomorrow.

Derek naturally understood, but he insisted on his own plan.

To prevent Uncle Andrew from interfering, he even made up a well-intentioned lie. "Uncle, I've already secured a long-term guard contract, and we'll be setting out soon.

"I need manpower. These soldiers will train here first, then I'll take them away next time."

"You haven't been scammed, have you?" Andrew could not believe it. How could there be such a good deal?

"I guarantee it on Derek's honor. Absolutely not.

"It's through Count Perez's connections."

Derek deliberately revealed a little information in a mysterious manner, and Andrew immediately imagined an entire story.

"You're still the capable one, making reliable friends outside." Andrew was somewhat dejected, but he no longer doubted him. After all, his nephew did not look as though he had lost his mind.

To be honest, noble rule had its advantages and disadvantages. In the Perez Family's territory, recruiting soldiers without the cooperation of the sheriff really was unrealistic.

To put it bluntly, if Andrew had not said the word, how could Little Tru possibly have volunteered?

He swiftly swept up the village's best young men. If he wanted to keep recruiting next time, he would need to lower his standards a little.

After arranging the training, he assigned two apprentices to Little Tru and made it clear that he was to train newcomers.

In this era, skilled trades were closely guarded family secrets. Little Tru was certainly unwilling, but with a blade at his throat, he had no choice but to comply.

Derek understood that Little Tru would not give it his all at first, but that was fine. Time would teach him what he needed to do.

The Data Panel could only give him an advantage over others. He had to learn and do everything else as he went, and he would always have more opportunities to make mistakes than others.

After waiting several days and adding everyone to the Panel's records, Derek finally set out with a squad of new recruits, leaving the rest to steadily accumulate experience.

This time, his destination was Watch City.

It was the largest city nearby and the second-largest city in the Northern Province.

Officials sent by the kingdom governed it, and a kingdom army was even stationed there.

Of course, Derek did not set out empty-handed. He took a horse-drawn cart loaded with a thousand pounds of wheat bran.

Here, wheat bran cost at most two copper coins per pound, and the purchasing price was even lower.

But if he took it to Watch City, he could make a profit of half a copper coin per pound.

That was a full five hundred copper coins per cart. Though the profit was small, it was easy money.

As for why he did not bring more grain—well, grain was the Ferrera Family's business.

At least within the family's territory, no one could compete with them.

Derek had only gathered these thousand pounds bit by bit.

If he had not been Baron Ferrera's son, his corpse would already have turned up in a filthy ditch.

Derek's main purpose was not making money, but gaining experience. He first hired a driver and bought a carriage, which counted as a fixed asset.

This crude, mismatched Caravan set out.

Before long, news of it appeared on Baron Ferrera's desk.

The latter gave it a casual glance, and nothing more came of it.

Along the way, Derek had hoped to run into some bandits or Robbers to test his skills.

Unfortunately, his escort force was somewhat excessive. No one along the road was crazy enough to risk their lives against more than a dozen soldiers for grain worth only a dozen or so Silver Coins.

They ambled along the road, taking ten days to finally reach their destination.

Watch City. This was the first proper city Derek had seen since coming to this world.

It sounded pitiful, but it was the truth.

Even Count Perez's castle was several times smaller than Watch City.

When the gate guards saw the Caravan, they naturally also saw the Triangular Flag representing noble status.

After symbolically charging fifty copper coins as an entry fee, they let Derek into the city.

Then... who the hell was relieving themselves wherever they pleased?

Derek stepped in some unknown excrement and felt sick to his stomach.

The sanitation in the countryside had already made him uncomfortable, and he had always enforced strict standards on his own land.

But that first step through the gates shattered all his fantasies.

This world really is completely different.

Derek adjusted his mindset, sold the grain cheaply to a Ferrera Family shop, and found a place to stay.

His purpose in coming here was, first, to broaden his horizons and treat the journey as field training; second, to find a reliable source of Iron Ore.