Setting off! Into the city!

John was puzzled.

His young master had been training these guards for over a month, but with the limited thinking power in his little head, he had noticed none of the changes.

Lin Ke smiled. "I watched some ants before. Under a big ant's command, obedient little ants could easily kill a grasshopper, just like guards! But without the big ant directing them, a nest of little ants was just little ants."

At those words, the admiration in Steward Billy's eyes deepened as he stood behind Lin Ke.

A month earlier, Lin Ke, keenly aware that he had no "military authority," had said he wanted to oversee the guards' training.

At first, Billy had thought little of it. After all, the request had come from his master's pride and joy, the clever young master Lin Ke, Azan's sole heir to date.

Never mind ruining the guard unit-even if he wanted to tear down the castle to play with its bricks, his master would probably agree, given his temperament. He might even use his Professional skills to help demolish it.

But Billy had never expected the young master to be so intelligent and outstanding.

Though the guards' training methods looked different from his master's, their underlying principles were actually quite similar.

He could not help marveling that Azan had a worthy successor!

"How could little ants turn into guards..." John muttered, but he did not ask any more questions.

Lin Ke shook his head. Little John apparently was not suited to leading troops into battle.

Why train them to obey every order without hesitation?

It was simple: morale and obedience were absolutely vital in an age of cold weapons.

There were certainly plenty of other important factors as well.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had not learned much about military formations, tactical variations, or military strategy.

At most, he had read a little of The Art of War and similar works online, from which he could draw some lessons.

He knew little about how wars were fought in this world or what determined victory.

He had never fought a war himself. Blindly applying military methods and experience from his previous life would inevitably be foolish.

The people of this world had fought wars for so long that they had already developed ways of waging them suited to their current political, technological, social, cultural, economic, and other conditions.

To arrive and immediately apply another world's military template, thinking you could steamroll everyone-it hardly took much thought to see how unlikely that was to work.

Adapting to local conditions was important.

Still... discipline training generally could not go wrong. Getting the guards into the habit of obeying orders immediately would surely help.

At the very least, there would be fewer mass routs when morale collapsed.

So, a month earlier, after a series of open clashes and covert struggles with the first madam that he considered fierce and perilous, Lin Ke had gained command of every guard except the captain.

That big-breasted, brainless first madam had no idea how important military authority was.

When he first met the guards a month earlier, some had been carrying sickles, others buckets of manure, and some had not even put their trousers on properly.

They were a textbook rabble.

After all, the guards at Azan Castle were not entirely exempt from other work. Sometimes they had chores to do, such as farmwork.

But after Lin Ke drilled them every evening and introduced a system of rewards and punishments.

Within a month, even without full-time training, the guards had begun to look the part.

Lin Ke was also thankful that these guards were not like the arrogant, unruly soldier thugs he had read about online in his previous life.

At heart, the guards here were still a group of commoners who revered nobles and took pride in being guards of Azan.

Naturally, then, they readily obeyed Lin Ke, one of the highest-ranking nobles in the territory.

"Uncle Billy, we'll start the next stage of training in a couple of days. Can you still guarantee enough food then?"

Lin Ke asked calmly.

Steward Billy bowed slightly. "Young master, our Azan is the most prosperous place in the south of the kingdom. The storerooms are piled high with berries, vegetables, and meat. So much, so very much—enough even to fill that beautiful Orlan Lake."

The entire kingdom, the most prosperous place in the south, enough to fill a lake... Lin Ke had long since labeled Steward Billy a "middle-aged man who loved hyperbole."

Still, Lin Ke would not call him out. Enough food was all that mattered. He continued, "As long as there's enough food... Oh, one more thing. After I leave with the purchasing party tomorrow, keep a careful record of what happens in the castle, especially anything involving my father's first wife. Tell me when I return."

As he spoke, he glanced at Billy.

He had always felt that the first madam was plotting something.

Billy hesitated slightly, looking troubled, but still nodded. "Of course, young master."

It was clear that he did not approve of Lin Ke constantly confronting the first madam. After all, she was his master's first wife, and he had no idea what she had done to offend Lin Ke.

But his master's eldest son held a far higher position than a woman. Billy understood that much.

What troubled Billy was actually something else.

"I'll head back first, then. Uncle Billy, keep an eye on them. With Viscount Azan away, we need the strength to protect ourselves."

He could call his mother Mother, but that bastard who had left when he was barely a month old was nothing more than a barbarian viscount from another world.

He certainly would not call him Father.

"Yes." Steward Billy bowed, helpless to do anything about Lin Ke's choice of address.

Ever since he had learned to speak, this young master had displayed an astonishing talent for learning. He picked up everything incredibly quickly.

He also had strong opinions of his own. Ordinary people could not sway his will.

For instance, Lin Ke had never once called Garros Father.

"Come on, John. Let's race back. Whoever reaches my room last has to drink a big glass of Gula Cattle milk in one go!" Lin Ke waved a fist at Little John beside him.

Little John nodded firmly. "All right! But I won't go easy on you, young master!"

Lin Ke had told him that drinking Gula Cattle milk was good for the body.

The young master already treated a commoner like him very well.

He could not let the young master suffer any more. He had to make sure the young master drank the Gula Cattle milk!

Yes, exactly. It certainly wasn't because I disliked milk that I didn't want to lose. No, certainly not... John repeated silently to himself.

Unaware of John's inner drama, Lin Ke smiled. "Five... four... one!"

"Hey, young master, you're cheating!"

After running hard enough to work up a light sweat, Lin Ke took another bath, sipping Gula Cattle milk with its distinctive fragrance as he soaked.

In the end, he had won. But how could he possibly be short of Gula Cattle milk? There was a Gula Cattle ranch just a short distance from the castle!

He then made John gulp down a large glass of milk and drank a large glass himself.

Next, it was time to get down to business.

He blinked.

[Reward: awaiting collection]

The reward for this quest was "a follower with exceptional potential."

"A follower means a person, right? How will I get one? Will someone just fall out of the sky?" Lin Ke clicked it in his mind.

The system window vanished, but nothing happened.

"Hmm... does it need some event to trigger it? Or will my first follower's potential become 'Exceptional Potential' when they start following me?"

Lin Ke pondered it for a moment but could not figure anything out.

This system offered neither context nor explanation. He could not understand it, and there were no hints either. He could only slowly work things out himself.

Of course, he believed that once he had completed more quests, he would be able to uncover the system's true nature.

The system's simplicity and lack of intelligence also reassured Lin Ke. Otherwise, he would certainly worry about some mastermind or sinister manipulator behind it.

He bathed and went to sleep.

Then came the next day.

Dawn had yet to break.

Outside the castle, a dozen or so carts drawn by Gula Cattle stood neatly lined up beside the road.

Azan had no horses. Lin Ke had neither seen one nor heard the word.

These supply convoys generally relied on ox carts.

"Hurry up, hurry up, you stupid slaves!"

"Guards, guards! Come move this crate!"

"Don't forget the Gula Cattle's dry chew beans! The bulls will go into heat if they don't eat them!"

The servants had been bustling about since the early hours, carrying baskets, food, and stone jars while waving whips to drive the slaves into doing the dirty, exhausting work.

They could not and dared not let the slaves handle anything important. If they broke something, it would be disastrous.

Lin Ke, his mother, and Little John, however, only arrived outside the castle after the sun had risen.

"Little Lin Ke, I'm taking you into the city today. Are you happy?" Lin Ke's mother crouched and pinched his cheek. Apparently, it felt so nice that she gave it another two hard squeezes.

Lin Ke said nothing.

Hey, hey, I was pretty happy, but pinch me one more time and I won't be!

P.S. Lin Ke: Give me more recommendation votes and monthly votes! Otherwise, no more cheek-pinching!