I Transmigrated-Who Am I? Where Am I?

Chapter 3: I Transmigrated—Who Am I? Where Am I?

He Chao had no idea how long had passed. He felt ravenous, aching all over, and more exhausted than he had ever been. His eyelids would not open at all. And it was not just his body—his ears were filled with all kinds of voices.

"What exactly is wrong with him? Oh, my Landen, may the God Emperor bless you. Nothing must happen to you!" A woman's voice sounded grief-stricken beyond measure.

"Nila, don't disturb Landen. He rode all day yesterday and took a fall. It's normal for him to sleep a little longer now," said an older man.

"Normal? Since when did Mana-Wielders need to rest this long?" The woman did not believe his explanation at all. "Albert, you're Landen's uncle. You can't harm him..."

"What are you thinking? Nila, perhaps I'm not a good Knight, but I'm loyal to the Gallop Family!" The man sounded anxious. "Gods, how many times have I told you? Why won't you believe me?

"Raul, tell Nila everything we experienced over the past few days again. Don't leave out a single detail!"

"Yes, Albert. Nila, please listen to me." The speaker this time was a younger man. It was clear that Raul spoke with more confidence, but his pronunciation and phrasing were nowhere near as refined as Albert's.

"At the beginning of September, Baron Hark noticed that this winter would be even colder. The Barbarians on the Gallop Plains might not just make small raids like they did in previous years. They might launch large-scale plundering and attacks.

"So he discussed it with Scholar Albert and me. He planned to cross Korniko Pass with Viscount Bob Rothe and scout the southern part of the Gallop Plains.

"We agreed to meet the day before yesterday, on September 16, by a Gallop Tributary north of Korniko Pass. Then, based on past experience, we would scout eastward along the tributary from west to east.

"Five days ago, Baron Hark set out with the three young masters Ryan, Obert, and Landen, along with Albert and me, the two Junior Knights Grey Bird and Walker, and five Knight Apprentices. We first crossed Korniko Pass, then traveled west against the Gallop Tributary, hoping to see the scale of the Barbarians who had already moved south.

"The day before yesterday, we joined Viscount Bob Rothe's party and headed northeast. We eventually found a relatively large Barbarian tribe.

"Viscount Rothe identified it from the Barbarians' decorations. It was the main camp of the Grey Goose Tribe, the largest Barbarian tribe in the southern Gallop Plains.

"This winter, the Barbarians would likely plunder throughout the entire Northwest Count Territory of the Kingdom. Baron Hark proposed sending the commoners in the territory to Earl City to avoid the risk of losing both land and families.

"But the Viscount believed that small groups of Barbarians might already have entered south of Korniko Pass, waiting to plunder the civilians during their migration.

"The two lords each stood their ground, but both agreed that someone had to be sent as soon as possible to inform Count Kempins Bristle-Wolf and ask him to gather the Knight Order to resist the Barbarian invasion.

"On the night before last, we had planned to camp together with Viscount Rothe, but the Viscount insisted on returning to the city overnight.

"Baron Hark disagreed. Everyone was exhausted, both men and horses. Even if we traveled through the night, we could not outrun the Barbarians.

"So Viscount Rothe returned with his men, while we stayed on the plains to camp and rest, intending to return the next day.

"However, our camp was suddenly attacked that night by at least twenty Barbarian Cavalry. Grey Bird had his right arm chopped off before he could even mount his horse.

"Most Knight Apprentices and Junior Knights had no advantage against the Barbarians. Only Baron Hark and I were Intermediate Knights, capable of dealing with Barbarian Cavalry.

"Seeing that there were too many Barbarians, the Baron ordered Albert and me to bring Young Master Landen and the five Apprentices back first."

"Our journey back was relatively smooth at first. But close to noon, we unexpectedly ran into scattered Barbarian soldiers again.

"We lost two men just to barely manage to bring Landen back.

"Landen was extremely brave while fighting the Barbarians, but he ran out of strength on the way back and fell from his horse.

"When he fell, Albert and I both sensed a trace of Battle Qi radiating from him. We were certain that he had successfully made a breakthrough. It was probably due to the battles of the past two days. Landen was now a Junior Knight.

"That is everything we experienced over the past few days."

In his groggy state, He Chao listened to the voices beside him and could not help thinking, What terrible luck. I got hospitalized after a car accident, and there are people nearby reciting lines for a show? Aren't you guys taking this a little too seriously?

These days, shouldn't fantasy dramas just use green screens and dub everything in post-production?

Do you really need to rehearse dialogue while someone's in the hospital?

He Chao desperately wanted to open his eyes and shout, "Could you all keep it down?"

"Landen's eyes moved! Scholar Albert, hurry and check on Young Master Landen!" A woman suddenly cried out.

He Chao felt someone shaking him. "Landen? Landen? Wake up! This is no time to sleep!" Albert's voice echoed beside his ears.

You're rehearsing lines, fine, but why are you using me as a prop? Or was I sent straight to a hospital at some filming studio? Getting treatment and filming at the same time?

He Chao was genuinely getting angry now. He did not know whether this counted as waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

After struggling internally for a long while, he finally forced his eyes open. The blurry image gradually became clear. He Chao had worn glasses for fifteen years, and it had been a long time since he had seen someone's eyebrows so clearly with his naked eyes.

The first thing he saw was a somewhat weathered face. Landen inexplicably thought of his former mentor. This man should be Albert.

Albert had chestnut hair and an air of scholarship between his brows. He wore a strange suit of armor: iron protection covered his chest, shoulders, and abdomen, but the sections between the iron plates were connected by leather. It looked like leather clothing inlaid with iron armor.

Beside the scholar stood a large man with yellow hair and a square face. His eyes held both concern and a hint of fear. He was probably Raul.

Raul also wore armor made from a mixture of leather and iron.

Besides those two, there were quite a few smaller-looking faces around them.

He and these familiar faces were sitting beneath a relatively sheltered earthen slope. A bonfire burned at the center, and several tall horses stood beyond the group.

When He Chao finished looking around and turned his gaze back to Albert, he suddenly felt as though he truly knew this man. In fact, he knew everyone here.

For a moment, He Chao wondered whether he should close his eyes again. Maybe after sleeping a little longer, his role as a prop would be over, and these people would send him back to his hospital bed.

But as he looked at Albert and Raul, He Chao remembered a memory that did not seem to belong to him.

In those images, a man who looked much like Albert suddenly hugged him and said that he had become his fourth child to awaken mana, and that he would be able to take the Gallop surname in the future.

Then there was another day when He Chao had been brought to Raul. Raul patted him on the shoulder and said that he had once traveled throughout the entire Count Territory, and that He Chao should learn swordsmanship from him.

Then there was another day when he had been extremely happy, following the Albert before him on a journey across the Grassland with a small merchant caravan, trading with nomadic tribes.

The dam holding back his memories burst, and countless fragments of information surged into He Chao's mind. He recognized the people before him: his uncle Albert Gallop, Raul, the Chief Knight of the territory, and numerous ordinary people related to him by blood.

These people were his family, and they were also the subjects of the territory he belonged to.

"Ah... ah... Albert?" He Chao—or rather, Landen Gallop, as these people called him, the Baron's fourth son and a Junior Knight of the Gallop Barony—felt as though he had plunged into an ocean of information.

The Gallop Family, his father Hark Gallop, his eldest brother Ryan Gallop, his second brother Obert Gallop, his third brother Peli Gallop, and the many blood relatives in the family territory who could not bear the Gallop surname; the northern plains and mountain pass; the slashing Barbarian Cavalry; the scene of himself falling from his horse—all of it flooded into He Chao's mind.

After more than a minute of recollection and thought, He Chao understood. He had transmigrated into an entirely new world.

Here, he was called Landen Gallop. He was the fourth son of Hark Gallop, Baron Gallop, lord of a pioneering barony in the Northwest Count Territory of the Dragon Kingdom, a vassal state of the Human Empire.

The former He Chao was gone. Landen was now his only self.

As Landen took in his new reality, he was at a loss for a moment. His gaze was vacant, and he said nothing. He was considering whether he should pretend to be dazed for three or four days, giving himself time to adapt to this new world and identity while drawing information out of the people before him.

Based on what he had heard while half-conscious, his old man had taken his eldest and second brothers, along with the family's main force, out on a scouting mission. They had been ambushed by the enemy and nearly wiped out.

His territory was not exactly about to collapse immediately, but it was certainly surrounded by danger. In this situation, the best choice was naturally to hide behind these two elders and avoid speaking or making decisions rashly.

Landen was still savoring those memories when Albert Gallop, the territory's scholar, could wait no longer.

"Landen, drink this bowl of soup first. We have something important to tell you."

"Uncle Albert, why don't you tell me first?"

Albert glanced at Raul, the Chief Knight of the barony, and Raul nodded.

Albert then said, "Landen, under the current circumstances, Hark Gallop, Baron Gallop and lord of the Gallop Barony, is missing in Barbarian territory, and we do not know whether he is alive or dead. The territory's first heir, Ryan Gallop, and second heir, Obert Gallop, are likewise missing. Hark's third son, Peli Gallop, serves the gods in Dragon Tooth City, the Royal Capital, and cannot return to inherit the title.

"The other Gallop Descendants are either not Mana-Wielders, or are unable to inherit like Raul and me.

"Now, the only one capable of leading the entire Gallop Barony and fulfilling a noble's duty to defend the land and protect its people is you.

"So we hope that today, you can temporarily act as Baron Gallop and lead the Territory Residents through the Barbarians' plundering."

Landen did not speak. Instead, he accepted the soup from Albert and drained it in one gulp. Being the Baron's fourth son was not easy after all. He had not enjoyed even one minute of good fortune, and from the moment he opened his eyes, he had to prepare to fight Barbarians? "Uncle, aren't you also a Knight of the Gallop Family?" Landen asked.

Albert Gallop was the younger brother of Landen's father, Hark Gallop. He himself possessed the strength of a Junior Knight. In his youth, Albert had traveled to the Imperial Capital to study. After years abroad, he returned to Gallop Territory and devoted himself to assisting Hark as the Territory Scholar.

After returning from his studies, Albert was not only highly knowledgeable, but also well versed in the theory of Knight training, Mage meditation, and Priest prayer. With his assistance, Gallop Territory had developed rapidly in recent years.

To say nothing else, every one of Hark's combatants now had a horse, and every horse was among the finest Warhorses on the Gallop Plains. Those Warhorses alone were worth more than the castles of many frontier Barons.

"Me?" Albert glanced at Landen. "From the moment I went to the Imperial Capital to study, I gave up the duty of a Knight to defend the land and protect its people. Never mind that I am only a Junior Knight now—even if I were a Senior Knight or even a Great Knight, I could not return to become the lord.

"Leading the territory out of the Barbarians' threat is your mission, Landen. Raul and I will support you without reservation and obey you."

Landen looked toward Raul.

"Yes, Knight Landen. Now, you are the only Knight of the Baron's Bloodline remaining in the territory. According to the Knight's code, when the territory is in danger, your greatest duty is to protect the territory and its people. Please do not run from it."

It seems they aren't trying to push me out to take the blame, was Landen's first thought. In that case, I might as well accept.

Landen gathered himself slightly. "My father and brothers are now lost in the wilderness, while I was fortunate enough to return with Albert and Raul's help. In the past, I only wished to become a Knight of Gallop Territory. I never dared hope to become Baron.

"Yet with the Barbarians invading, and facing the earnest expectations of all my elders, I can only reluctantly take on the duty of defending the land and protecting its people. I hope everyone will give me your support."

At that moment, Landen recalled many television programs he had watched in the past: founding emperors accepting abdication, candidates for Prime Minister being interviewed on television. He was even a little pleased with himself for coming up with such a speech.

Raul: "..."

Albert: "..."

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Landen was confused. That's not right. Shouldn't you two be pledging loyalty now?

"Landen, are you becoming Baron or not? If you don't, we can't either, and we definitely can't stop the Barbarians!" Raul grew anxious. He had not even heard several of the words Landen had just used.

Damn it, so I got excited for nothing. You didn't understand any of that, did you? Fine, I'll put it in words you can understand. "I'll do it. I'm Hark's son. From now on, I'm the acting Baron. If my father and brothers return, I'll give it back to them immediately. But until they return, I'm the Baron—acting Baron."

"Wonderful! I knew you wouldn't shirk it!" Raul said happily.

Albert, however, looked at Landen with great curiosity. He did not know where this fourth son of the Baron—who rarely read, had never visited a great city, and had barely left the territory since birth—had learned that manner of speaking.

Raul and Albert went down on one knee to pledge their loyalty.

After drinking the soup, Landen felt a little strength return. He decided to stand and help the two important retainers up. Yet as he rose, Landen discovered once again that he seemed much taller than everyone around him. Wait, did I mutate?

This was a lord-building novel, telling the story of how a transmigrator survived, developed, built, and explored amid a great shift of eras, as society transformed from one without magic into a world of high magic.

I personally enjoy lord-building stories set in fantasy worlds. I have previously read some high-quality novels on Qidian. I hope everyone can discuss and exchange ideas.