My island

Blazing sunlight poured down, accompanied by the sea breeze, yet the atmosphere throughout the little harbor was decidedly stifling.

A plump man stood sweating profusely in the sun, watching a carriage approach in the distance, drawn by two Blaze Horses and escorted by four tall knights.

When he saw the carriage slow down, he hurried forward to greet it.

But before he could get close, a knight clad in leather armor drew his sword and blocked his path, saying coldly, "Stay back!"

Sunlight reflected off the gleaming blade. It was clearly a magical weapon.

That thing must cost more than an island, right?

Shocked, Batos, the former lord of Reef Island, immediately stopped obediently and gazed pitifully at the figure emerging unhurriedly from the carriage.

The other residents also stared at the luxurious carriage. At the sight of the gems studding it, glittering in the sunlight, deep fear flashed through their numb eyes, and they lowered their heads submissively.

The current lord, Kroya, stepped leisurely out of the carriage, his expression calm, wearing a deep blue mage's robe and holding his staff.

He looked up and surveyed his surroundings-low stone houses stood nearby, a few small boats lay moored farther out on the sea, and everyone around him was scrawny and dressed in rags.

Their appearance alone told him that his territory was probably impoverished to a considerable degree...

A long road ahead.

His expression remained unchanged as he turned his gaze toward the fat man trembling a short distance in front of the carriage.

Everyone else is sallow and thin, yet you've eaten yourself this fat?

An amused edge immediately entered Kroya's gaze, making the fat man tremble even harder-he strongly suspected that this newly arrived mage wanted to kill him.

Amid this torment, he heard Kroya's voice. "Report on Reef Island's situation."

Only then did Batos breathe a sigh of relief and hastily begin his report. "Honored mage, Reef Island has a total of one hundred and thirty-five households, with two hundred and eighty-four residents.

"There is a tier-one magical white ironstone mine on the island, which produces two magical gold coins in tax revenue each year."

"So few people?" Kroya frowned.

Seeing Kroya frown, Batos hurriedly said, "My lord, this isn't my fault..."

He hastily explained, "A baron forcibly took some people away a year ago. There should have been over seven hundred!"

"He took five hundred people at once?" Kroya did not ask why the man had failed to stop him. Although baron was the lowest noble rank, a baron was still a noble.

Someone like Batos, a mere petty lord, could hardly stop him at will. Most likely, if the baron wanted something, Batos would have to offer it up with the utmost deference.

He asked what the baron's name was. Since the man had taken his people, he would have to get them back once his own level rose.

But as it turned out, this fellow did not even know.

Kroya was immediately speechless. He did not even know the man's name...

Noticing Kroya's displeasure with him, Batos dropped to his knees on the spot. "If you are willing to trust me, my lord, I am willing to serve you as my master and continue helping you manage Reef Island! I won't make a single mistake!"

"Heh. Aren't you supposed to serve me as your master anyway?"

Kroya neither accepted his pledge nor explicitly rejected it. He merely said, "Let's look around the island first. Rob, you take charge of him."

Rob, the steward, immediately understood. "Yes!"

Though he had said to take charge of him, what he really meant was to watch and guard him.

Kroya was now the lord of this place, but who knew whether the former lord harbored any other intentions or had concealed anything? Even if Batos wanted to leave, Kroya would not allow it.

At least until he had thoroughly understood Reef Island's situation, Batos would have no freedom of movement-as an esteemed mage, Kroya naturally had that authority.

He could use a gentle approach with his own people, but it was better not to do so with these strangers, lest they develop ideas and intentions they should not have.

A clear hierarchy was something he had to maintain until he possessed enough power to suppress everything, and it was also the existing order of this world.

Batos soon led Kroya and his party aboard a boat.

Fortunately, the boat was large enough to remain perfectly steady even with the carriage and horses aboard.

After roughly seven or eight minutes of sailing, the outline of an island appeared ahead. Using the tier-one Eagle Eye Spell, Kroya made out the general appearance of his territory.

At a glance, it appeared to be an oval island, covered in exceptionally lush, verdant vegetation. The terrain looked quite flat, with only one small mountain that could, at most, be called a hill.

A castle stood atop the hill.

It overlooked the entire island.

From this cursory look, Kroya thought it was decent enough.

At least it was not a barren island. With so much vegetation, there had to be sufficient freshwater resources, and perhaps even an undiscovered magic vein.

The boat soon reached shore.

The four knights disembarked first, fully armed and holding longswords, followed by Rob and Batos. Kroya and the carriage came last.

All the island's residents were waiting on the shore.

Like the people at the harbor earlier, most were bare-chested and dark-skinned, unmistakably people who lived by the sea.

They did look a little better off than those at the harbor.

Still, there was no telling how long they had been waiting, and every one of them was drenched in sweat.

Does the island have more abundant resources?

He paid them little attention, merely sweeping his gaze over them before heading toward the lord's castle, with Batos and the four knights clearing the way.

After passing through the crowd, he casually waved for them to disperse and get back to whatever work they had to do. They could hardly stop working just to welcome him.

That really would be putting the cart before the horse.

The route was not long, but Kroya deliberately slowed his pace, scanning his surroundings in hopes of finding something unexpected-an undiscovered Magic Plant, for instance.

But he found absolutely nothing.

He felt a little discouraged, but only a little. His attention was soon drawn to the tall trees around him.

Tall coconut palms were the most common trees on the island, and the coconuts hanging from them looked large and white.

Huh? White coconuts?

Aren't they only white once you open them?

They felt vaguely familiar, as though he had seen them in some book, but he could not remember what they were just then.

They reminded him of the freshly squeezed coconut juice he had once drunk, and he felt tempted. After all, even a mage would get thirsty after spending so long exposed to the sun and wind!

Strangely, however, all the coconuts remained neatly on the trees, with no sign that anyone had picked them.

Coconuts could quench thirst and fill an empty stomach, yet no one picked them?

He was slightly puzzled, then realized why.

Everything in the territory belonged to its lord. Without the lord's permission, no one could freely pick even the fruit on the trees-short trees were one thing, but with coconut palms this tall, would anyone really climb up and get caught red-handed?

After realizing this, he shook his head and continued down the road, admiring the scenery as he went, as relaxed as though he were on vacation.

Seeing Kroya's interest in his surroundings, Batos hurried to flatter him, describing how carefully he had protected these coconut palms. He had even transplanted the best palms on the entire island here, all to provide Kroya with the finest coconuts...

At first, Kroya was interested in hearing him out, but as his words grew increasingly strange, Kroya bluntly ordered him to shut up.

For some reason, after being told to shut up, Batos became even more deferential. It was only because he had no tail behind him; otherwise, he surely would have wagged it into a blur.

And so,

Kroya took half an hour to reach his castle-a stone castle built atop a small hill. By modern standards, it was downright crude, but compared with the stone houses he had just seen, it immediately stood out.

The three-story castle actually looked tall and imposing.

Kroya's gaze was immediately drawn to it, but what caught his attention was not the castle itself. It was a peculiar-looking animal at the entrance.

It was a magical beast that resembled a giant rat, yet wore an exceptionally laid-back expression as it leisurely munched on vegetation.

A message immediately surfaced in his mind-

[Magical beast suitable for Astral Spirit Inscription detected: Kaba Beast. Please activate Astral Spirit Inscription to examine the magical beast's astral spirit body and inscribe spells.]