New Mission

Baron Quinte rode his warhorse into White Salt Town, accompanied by his squad of guards.

Sure enough, he saw those wretched wretches from Storm Territory, dressed in rags and reeking of filth, each of them clutching fish and attempting to sell it.

The Storm Territory serfs selling the whale meat turned pale the moment they saw him arrive.

Though he was only in his early twenties, Baron Quinte was bloated to the point where his warhorse seemed to be gasping for air under his weight, and he was notorious for his sharp tongue and petty nature.

"Where did you lot get this fish? Does the sea even hold fish this large?" Quinte enjoyed the sight of the serfs trembling before him, and he asked the question while looking down at them from his high horse.

"Reporting to Lord Quinte, this was lent to us by our Lord!" The serfs dared not delay, answering respectfully and in a hurry.

"Hmm? Then how did your Lord manage to obtain so much fish?"

"I... I don't know!" The person Baron Quinte had questioned happened to be Kenbi Cowdung. Though Kenbi Cowdung's face was etched with fear, he shook his head and lied immediately.

Crack!

"Speak quickly! How could you not know where so much fish came from!" Upon hearing this, a guard nearby cracked his whip in the air, regardless of whether the claim was true or false, to intimidate them.

"Lord Quinte, I... I truly don't know. It was our Lord who told us to come and collect it! The fish was already piled up by the roadside when we arrived." Kenbi Cowdung shrank his neck in terror.

The guard prepared to lash out again, but Quinte stopped him.

"If you don't know, then so be it! You may sell it! However, the production of white salt has decreased recently, so we cannot sell any more white salt to your Storm Territory for the time being!" Quinte said, head held high and tone indifferent.

"Ah, you won't sell us white salt anymore?"

Kenbi Cowdung and the other serfs all tightened their expressions. They needed white salt to preserve the fish as dried meat; without salt for curing, the fish would not last long.

Quinte ignored the reactions of Kenbi Cowdung and his companions, continuing, "Furthermore, food like wheat is in short supply lately. From now on, if you wish to purchase any, the tax will be tripled." Having said his piece, Quinte rode his overburdened warhorse back toward the castle.

Quinte's reasoning was simple: by denying the serfs white salt, he would force them to sell all their fish to him, after which he would exploit them with high taxes.

In this way, even if he couldn't immediately learn the method for obtaining the fish, he would still line his pockets.

The Barony of Quinte was the closest territory to Storm Territory. If they didn't sell to him, the meat would only rot in their hands; Quinte felt completely secure in his position.

"Johnny, pass the word down. From now on, whenever these wretches come to sell fish, take it all. I intend to have their fish processed into dried meat and transported to other parts of the Earl Territory to be sold!" Quinte ordered coldly on the way back to the castle.

"Yes, My Lord!" The guard captain named Johnny followed carefully by his side before adding, "My Lord, should we send a few men to infiltrate Storm Territory...?"

He knew his master was certainly eager to learn how such a large quantity of fish was obtained. The Quinte territory also had a coastline, and this represented wealth.

"The situation within the Buffer Zone is the most important thing right now. Avoid drawing too much of that Lord's attention to this side! We shall investigate after some time has passed, if there is even more fish."

"Yes, My Lord!!" The guard replied, then ushered Quinte back to the castle.

"Village Chief! What should we do now?" After Quinte left, several villagers from Misfortune Village gathered around Kenbi Cowdung.

"Let's sell the fish first and trade for some grain to take back!" Kenbi Cowdung's face was full of worry, but he was helpless. He had no choice but to trade the fish they had brought for food.

Although the tax had tripled, they had already brought the fish this far. If they returned now, it would be dark, and after a full day in the sun, the meat would surely spoil.

Another day passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the study of the Storm Territory baron's castle, Nalant was reviewing the census that Vivian had painstakingly completed.

This census had been carried out strictly according to Nalant's instructions, and it contained a complete record of the population information for Storm Territory.

The total number of residents in Storm Territory was 1,321, all of whom were serfs; there was not a single commoner among them.

However, to Nalant's surprise, there were many skilled craftsmen among the serfs.

Among them were eight hunters, five carpenters, three stonemasons, one blacksmith, and one cook.

To have so many craftsmen out of a thousand people—regardless of whether their skills were refined—was happy news for Nalant, especially since they even had a cook.

One had to realize that stonemasons and blacksmiths were highly sought-after professions in this world; they generally would not fall into the status of serfs, let alone easily end up in the Land of Misfortune.

Of course, Nalant also knew that without exception, they had all been exiled to Storm Territory along with their relatives because a Daughter of Misfortune had appeared in their families.

"The cook I've been longing for has finally appeared! I just wonder when the second Daughter of Misfortune will show up."

Setting down the register, Nalant couldn't help but think of the rewards for completing the side quest. Two days had passed, but there was still no news regarding the second Daughter of Misfortune.

Ding!

"Although you have provided the serfs with enough food, the lack of salt makes preserving the fish a major problem for them."

"System Side Quest: Help the serfs solve the salt problem!!"

"Quest Reward: Battle Qi Secret Technique!"

"Hmm? Another quest?" Nalant was stunned by the system's voice in his mind. "Solve the salt problem? Isn't Storm Territory by the sea?"

Nalant found it strange. How could a place by the sea be short of salt? Even if Storm Territory were short, they could go to the Barony of Quinte to buy it. Given their geographical advantage, salt shouldn't be that expensive.

"However, the reward of a Battle Qi Secret Technique is truly too generous! I must complete this quest quickly." Upon second thought, Nalant felt this quest was well worth it, as the reward was simply too tempting.

A Battle Qi Secret Technique, as the name implied, was the ultimate move exclusive to a Title Knight.

It allowed a Title Knight to output devastating damage in an instant through a special method of circulating their internal energy.

However, although these techniques were powerful, they were extremely difficult to obtain; they were the trump cards of every Title Knight.

After all, the era of cold weapons relied on blades and swords to decide the victor, and a single ultimate move represented the dawn of victory.

The Berick Family did not possess a Battle Qi Secret Technique because they were a newly emerged noble family, having been barons for only a few decades.

Thinking of this, Nalant could no longer sit still and rose directly to head toward the door.

Nalant had only just reached the first-floor hall after exiting the study when Thomas hurried in from outside the castle!

"My Lord! Captain Quick reports that several serfs have arrived outside the castle, and they wish to seek an audience with you!"

"Mm, I know." Nalant was not surprised; this must be about the request for salt.

"Greetings, My Lord!" Upon reaching the front courtyard and having the guards let the serfs in, he saw it was indeed the two village chiefs, Kenbi Cowdung and Pete Leatherboot.

Because there was no civil official, Nalant had instructed them that they could come directly to the castle to report if anything came up.

"Rise. What business brings you to the castle to find me?" Nalant asked as he sat in the armchair brought over by a servant.

"My Lord, please forgive us for disturbing you, but we truly had no other choice but to come to the castle!" Kenbi Cowdung spoke up first.

"Speak plainly! What is the matter?" Nalant waved his hand, not wanting to beat around the bush with the two of them.

"Yes, My Lord. My Lord, you generously provided us with fifty jin of fish meat each on credit, but we do not have enough salt to cure the fish, so we are requesting permission to go to Black Rock Territory to purchase salt!"

Serfs were the private property of their lord, and they were not permitted to leave the territory without an order.

The Barony of Quinte was only a half-day's journey away, and they had traded there in the past, so the people of Quinte would not do anything to them.

However, if they traveled to the territory of an unfamiliar lord and ran into guards, they would be in for a stroke of bad luck.

They would either be driven away or captured and escorted back to Storm Territory, and then their own lord would have to pay a small reward to the enthusiastic noble neighbor—at which point, one could imagine their fate.