Storm Territory, inside the baron's castle study.
Nalant was slumped over his desk, drenched in sweat. His tightly shut eyelids twitched nonstop, accompanied by the grinding of his teeth. Clearly, he wasn't having a pleasant dream.
"Phew!"
Nalant's eyes flew open. He sat bolt upright, his body stiff, and looked around in alarm.
Only after he recognized his surroundings did he relax, still shaken.
"Another nightmare that felt completely real! Did I get transmigrated the wrong way?"
He had transmigrated into the body of a lord with a baronet's title. In theory, it was a great start, but in just one week, he had suffered two incredibly vivid nightmares. It left him deeply uneasy.
This was a fantasy world with a medieval setting. It had noble knights and magical beasts wielding Battle Qi.
Even more fantastical, this world had a miraculous meteor shower every week.
The meteor showers brought both good fortune and danger to the world.
The good fortune came from the possibility that the meteors contained precious treasures.
The danger came from the fact that the meteor showers sometimes brought not treasures, but terrifying Dark Creatures.
Dark Creatures were evil, bloodthirsty, and powerful. Their appearance always brought disaster.
Unfortunately, the land Nalant now ruled was often invaded by Dark Creatures. It was a terrifying place known as the Land of Misfortune.
The original owner of Nalant's body had learned he was being assigned to the Land of Misfortune, then died of a high fever on the way there, terrified out of his wits.
Knock, knock, knock!
"My lord!"
A dull knocking came from outside the study.
"Come in!" Nalant called.
"My lord, good news! Under your wise command, Captain Quick successfully killed a Skeleton Warrior and a Skeleton Archer. The territory suffered no losses during tonight's meteor shower!" Thomas, the castle steward, hurried in, his face bright with joy.
"What!" Nalant stiffened. The good news sounded grating to his ears.
"Could the nightmare really have been true?"
Seven days ago, Nalant had his first nightmare. In it, two meteors carrying Dark Creatures fell upon his territory.
Because the dream had felt so real, Nalant had sent out guards despite his doubts.
But now the truth was clear: his nightmare had been a premonition, and it had come true in the territory.
If so, wouldn't the second nightmare he'd just had while slumped over his desk come true as well?
In the second nightmare, next week's meteor shower would bring even more Dark Creatures—an astonishing thirty or so, including a Hellhound and a Headless Knight.
At the thought, Nalant slowly lowered his head and looked at the parchment on his desk.
"In February of the year 355, the meteor shower brought twenty-four Dark Creatures to Storm Territory: twelve Skeleton Warriors, ten Skeleton Archers, and two Hellhounds. That night, the baron's castle was breached. No one inside survived, and the baron fell in battle!"
"In May of the same year, Baron Bond took over as lord of Storm Territory. That month, the meteor shower struck again, bringing ten Skeleton Warriors, ten Skeleton Archers, and one Hellhound. The baron's castle was breached, and Baron Bond fell in battle..."
"In October of the same year, Baron Pete took over as lord of Storm Territory... The meteor shower brought thirty-one Dark Creatures... Baron Pete fell in battle..."
"In July of the following year... Baron Doke took over as lord of Storm Territory... Baron Doke fell in battle..."
The grim precedents were right before his eyes. Nalant felt as if Death's scythe were already at his throat. Perhaps he was about to become the fifth lord to meet his end in Storm Territory...
"What should I do? Should I flee the territory at once? But what would happen to the people if I left? If they all died, forget keeping my title and fief—I'd probably be punished by the count..."
Half a month ago, Count Tulip had suddenly issued an edict.
He summoned one second son from each of his vassals and granted each a baronet's title and a fief.
If these second sons achieved results within three years, the one with the best record would receive a hereditary baron's title and the chance to marry the count's only heir, Miss Stella, the Flower of Tulip.
For second sons without inheritance rights, this was like a pie falling from the sky. The original owner had been one of the lucky men struck by it.
But now, Nalant clearly had to choose between staying alive and losing that windfall.
"Heavens! Couldn't you give me a way to have it both ways?"
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the main quest: First Nightmare Premonition!"
"System successfully bound. Weekly lottery function activated!"
"Quest reward issued: 1 Energy Point!"
"Ding! Main quest issued: Second Nightmare Premonition. Please prepare and complete the quest!"
"Second quest reward: 5 Energy Points. Progress: 0/28."
Suddenly, a series of chimes rang in his mind. Nalant couldn't help but freeze.
Was this the standard package for transmigrators?
Was the Second Nightmare Premonition the nightmare he'd just had?
For a moment, Nalant didn't know whether to cry or rejoice. He had only eleven regular guards under his command, yet the system wanted him to kill twenty-eight Dark Creatures.
"I can only see whether this system is any good. Otherwise, I'm done for this time!"
Nalant noticed that after the system bound to him, a system panel had appeared in his field of vision. With a mournful expression, he examined it.
The system panel was simple. It currently had only two functions: the Lucky Girl Illustrated Handbook and a search function.
Lucky Girl Illustrated Handbook—A handbook that can identify Daughters of Luck. Whenever the host encounters one, the handbook will automatically record her and send an alert!
"A Daughter of Luck? I don't remember anything like that. Doesn't this world only have Daughters of Misfortune?" Nalant was puzzled. The original owner's memories held no information about Daughters of Luck, while Daughters of Misfortune were famous throughout the world.
Since he couldn't figure it out, Nalant decided to set it aside for now and check the next function.
"Search Function: Spend 1 Energy Point to search for Elemental Sprites within the territory!"
"It can search for Elemental Sprites?" Nalant's arms began to tremble!
Elemental Sprites were precious treasures brought by the meteor showers.
Each one was a tiny creature made of elements!
They resembled the little Elves who gathered resources in Warcraft, except the sprites in this world were smaller, came in more colors, and were even cuter.
Four types of sprites were currently known.
Green Sprites could make soil fertile and increase crop yields.
Purple Sprites could randomly improve the quality of a certain plant growing in the soil.
Yellow Sprites could randomly cause a certain mineral to be deposited in the soil.
Blue Sprites could transform the land into a habitat favored by a certain kind of creature.
These four types alone covered all the essentials a territory needed to develop. They could also fetch a handsome price if sold.
But such precious sprites were incredibly hard to obtain. They had an extremely low chance of appearing in a meteor shower, and they were difficult to find after landing. If no one discovered a sprite and signed a master-servant contract with it within twenty-four hours, it would awaken on its own and disappear from the world.
With this search function, Nalant would never have to worry about finding sprites again.
"Tonight's the meteor shower. If I can find a Sprite, Storm Territory might still have a chance. Each one is worth over a hundred gold coins. Then I can hire soldiers from other nobles!"
A spark of hope flared in Nalant's heart. Unable to sit still, he nervously pressed the search button.
"Ding! One Energy Point consumed. Search function activated. Searching..."
"Please, let there be one! Please..."
As his only Energy Point was deducted, a round radar-like frame appeared on the system panel. Nalant stared at it, silently praying.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host. One Elemental Sprite found within the territory!"
A small red dot soon lit up on the radar, and the system's alert sounded at the same time. An Elemental Sprite really had fallen somewhere in his territory tonight.
"Haha! There really is one!"
Nalant couldn't hold back his excitement and jumped to his feet.
"M-my lord!"
The steward Thomas, who had been waiting quietly, was startled by Nalant's sudden movement.
"I forgot the steward was still here!"
"Sorry for the trouble, Steward Thomas! Your news was so exciting that I got carried away!" Nalant quickly resumed the serious, composed demeanor expected of a lord.
"I wouldn't dare, my lord!" Thomas wanted to complain about how slow his lord was to react, but held back the disrespectful thought.
"Thomas, go prepare a horse. I'm going out."
"Yes, my lord!"
Thomas assumed his lord intended to inspect the battlefield. At the order, he immediately went to make arrangements.
Soon, Thomas led one of the castle's only three horses into the courtyard.
A fantasy farming novel. Please add it to your collection and recommend it!