Three days later, outside Flower Territory, a vast caravan came to a halt. It stretched for at least two kilometers, from front to back, and was a noisy, unruly mix of people. There were rough-and-ready mercenaries as well as soldiers from the kingdom.
A big-bearded man from the Hungry Wolf Mercenary Group complained to a skinny fellow beside him who was dressed like a fellow member.
"Why haven't we set off yet? We've been waiting here for over half an hour. The flowers have nearly wilted, and we still haven't gotten a definite word that we're leaving.
"Skinny Monkey, do you think the caravan's owner changed his mind halfway through and decided not to go?"
"Let's wait a little longer. Look at all this commotion—a caravan this large is a rare sight. They wouldn't waste their time messing with us. I heard the Ferocious Tiger Mercenary Group and the Black Cat Mercenary Group accepted this job too. That shows just how powerful they are."
The big-bearded man glanced around and lowered his voice.
"I heard from the guys that the caravan belongs to some baron from a remote territory. With so much cargo this time, do you think our captain might team up with the other two mercenary groups and rob him?"
Mercenaries turning on their own employers was a serious taboo. If caught, they would face the kingdom's full wrath and be hunted by bounty hunters. But if the reward was great enough, they didn't mind taking a risk and playing bandit for a while.
Profit was a wondrous thing.
"Shh! Are you crazy? Don't you know Flower Territory sent soldiers to guard this shipment? If anything goes wrong, Flower Territory will investigate, and none of our three mercenary groups will get away with it. Put that foolish idea out of your head."
The skinny mercenary hastily cut him off. The big-bearded man wilted at his words and fell silent.
"It's about time. Let's move."
Lin Lei looked at the cargo that had been loaded and gave the people beside him their orders.
At his command, the whole caravan slowly got underway, like a giant serpent waking from hibernation as it wound its way along the road.
The caravan moved very slowly, even slower than the last time Lin Lei had led the thousand people he'd bought. Little problems cropped up now and then: a wagon wheel would sink into the mud, or a startled magical beast would charge into the convoy.
Luo Ji, Lin Yu, and the others had barely finished dealing with one issue before another came up. They rushed around without a moment's rest, sweating profusely and utterly exhausted.
As a baron, Lin Lei naturally didn't have to do such menial labor. His subordinates handled most of the trivial matters, and he only stepped in when they encountered something they couldn't manage, such as a golden-rank magical beast.
The rest of the time, he rode Red Hare leisurely in the middle of the convoy.
The next day
Lin Lei and his party arrived at Crouching Dragon Ravine without a hitch.
Perhaps the caravan was simply too large for any bandits to risk attacking it. Nor did any high-ranked magical beasts bother them; beasts of that caliber usually had a sense of danger.
"My goodness!"
The residents of Crouching Dragon Ravine were astonished to see their lord return with so many things and so many people. Everyone who wasn't out working came out to talk and point at the caravan.
Fortunately, they had all once been slaves themselves, so they weren't as hostile toward the newcomers as Lin Lei had expected. Instead, having grown accustomed to life in Crouching Dragon Ravine, they eagerly helped the new residents settle in.
Lin Lei left Luo Ji to handle the situation and rode Red Hare straight back to his Lord's Mansion in grand fashion.
"Darling, look what I got you."
After embracing Aierlan, Lin Lei took some fine face powder from his bag and handed it to her.
"Wow, is this for me?"
Aierlan took the gift from Lin Lei, astonished. As the granddaughter of a viscount, she'd used things like this from an early age, but this was a gift from Lin Lei, which made it special to her.
"Mm. Do you like it?"
"I love it."
Aierlan leaned in and kissed Lin Lei on the lips. It was the most intimate they had ever been.
As a noblewoman, Aierlan was naturally very reserved, and Lin Lei wasn't a womanizer. He took love seriously, so their relationship had progressed slowly. This was already a bold step for them.
Lin Lei spent a little while with Aierlan before leaving. She knew he'd been away from the territory for several days and had a lot to take care of. She also had to prepare lessons for her five students, who were about to become magic apprentices with magic power.
"Allen, how is the territory developing?"
When Lin Lei arrived at the meeting hall, Allen and a group of officials were already waiting there.
"My lord, we haven't stopped building houses, as you requested. We've nearly gone from four people to a room to one person to a room. Besides the houses already completed, another five hundred are under construction and should be finished in ten days."
Lin Lei nodded and took a light sip of steaming tea.
"Very good. Our population will increase by another five thousand this time. As for their lodgings, the Department of Engineering must work through the night to build them somewhere to live. The other houses can wait; providing shelter for these people is more urgent."
Allen nodded in agreement as the scribe behind him took notes furiously.
"Furell, how is Green Goblin Town developing?"
Lin Lei turned to ask Furell, the Bugbear chief, who stood over two meters tall.
"My lord, we've finished building the logging camp in Green Goblin Town. It can now produce wood continuously. We expect production to stabilize in five days and reach one tree per day. Conditions in Green Goblin Town have also improved considerably."
Furell made a request.
"However, Green Goblin Town is short on food. We spent so much time building the logging camp, and the town didn't have much food stored to begin with. We expect a famine in ten days. I hope you can send us grain."
"No problem. I went to Flower Territory this time to get grain and supplies. We have plenty of food stored in Crouching Dragon Ravine, so I approve your request. Go to the Department of Agriculture afterward and collect a ton of grain."
Lin Lei readily waved his hand, giving away grain worth over a hundred thousand. At his words, Furell's eyes filled with tears. As a goblin, he had seen his people starve to death more often than anything else. In that moment, Lin Lei made him feel that he was someone worth following.
"Tarik, head of the Department of Education, how is the school project going?"
Lin Lei turned to an old man standing on the left.
The old man was short, but had the air of a scholar. Wearing reading glasses, he was the most learned person in the entire territory.
He, too, was a slave Lin Lei had bought. He had once been a scholar in Undercity, Lordaeron, with hundreds of students under his tutelage and a reputation as a respected figure in the city.
Later, he questioned the legal privileges of Lordaeron's nobility and called for their abolition. The nobles joined forces and drove him out.
As someone who enjoyed noble privilege, he had opposed the interests of his own class. That was the main reason he had failed.
After his expulsion, he hadn't challenged the nobles' foundations, and many of his devoted students—including Prince Arthas—had helped him. No one had taken his life.
The whole affair dealt him a heavy blow. Though he had survived, it was more painful than death. Eventually, bandits sold him into slavery, and he ended up in Lin Lei's territory.
Curious about this territory, which was so unlike all the others, he had answered Lin Lei's call for talented people and become a teacher once more.
But this time was different. Before, he had taught privately; now, he was educating far more people. He felt that he had finally found a place where he belonged.
"My lord, the soldiers have nearly finished their studies. Each can recognize at least three thousand characters. Literacy classes for the other residents have begun as well, and we now have three schools for different age groups, with a Department of Culture, a Department of Martial Arts, and a Department of Magic established at each. We've made great progress.
"However, we still have many problems to solve, such as a shortage of teachers. We have enough teachers for the Department of Martial Arts, but very few for the Department of Culture and the Department of Magic. Students in the Department of Culture can only take a class every two days, and the Department of Magic has only one water mage, Aierlan."
Tarik spoke clearly and firmly, every word ringing with conviction.
Lin Lei was delighted to hear that education was progressing so quickly, but the shortage of teachers made him frown.
Everyone knew how important education was. Lin Lei couldn't slow its progress just because teachers were scarce; that would be like refusing to eat for fear of choking.
His fingers tapped the chair repeatedly, the sound echoing through the spacious hall: "Tick, tock." "Tick, tock."
After thinking it over, Lin Lei said,
"We mustn't let up on education. Keep investing in educational facilities. As for the teacher shortage, first look among the people I brought back this time for anyone with knowledge. Then send people to the neighboring territories and offer high salaries to recruit mages and scholars."
Lin Lei set the course of action, then moved on.
"Old Man Ma, how is the Department of Agriculture progressing?"
The old man standing behind Tarik was Old Man Ma, head of the Department of Agriculture and an experienced farmer.
"My lord, we've reclaimed nearly a thousand plots of land around Crouching Dragon Ravine. Based on my years of experience cultivating seeds, and considering that the soil here is close to both the forest and the river, it's very fertile. I expect we'll harvest ten tons of grain in the autumn, enough to feed tens of thousands for a year. We should no longer need to buy grain from outside.
"The two hundred plots belonging to you have been cultivated with the organic fertilizer you recommended, and the crops are growing very well. The other farmers have also begun to believe in your organic-fertilizer theory and are using fertilizer on their own."
"Good. With grain in hand, we have nothing to fear. Old Man Ma has done well. Give him a hundred gold coins. From now on, everyone in the Department of Agriculture will be rewarded whenever they manage to increase grain production."
Hearing the good news from the Department of Agriculture, Lin Lei finally smiled with delight.
Ever since he began developing the territory, Lin Lei had been making one man do the work of ten. He often stayed up all night thinking about the territory's development, and had even slowed down his cultivation. For months, he had made almost no progress.
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