NOVEL WEB Chapter 15: Choosing a Domain to Develop
Chapter 15: Choosing a Domain to Develop
Twenty years ago, the Northern Province was opened up. Despite the passage of two decades, the entire province remains a wilderness, with only the provincial capital, Loren City, showing traces of civilization.
However, these are just traces.
Compared to the Frostmoon Province, which is under the rule of nobles, Loren City still appears chaotic, savage, and filthy.
Indeed, it is filthy.
The roads are littered with heaps of dung, and a pervasive stench fills the air. If the Frostmoon Province visibly shows a better side of the kingdom, then Loren City undoubtedly represents the kingdom's most dilapidated side, with foul waters flowing freely and streets populated by emaciated free people who are as destitute as the slaves of Frostmoon Province. It is clear that life here is extremely harsh, even for the so-called free people.
As the newest province of the kingdom, there is no protection from the kingdom's laws here. Local lords are the absolute rulers.
Oppression, exploitation, and chaos are the main themes here.
Under such circumstances, even Loren City, as the provincial capital, has an exceedingly tough life.
It has now been the ninth day since Thor and his companions entered the Northern Province.
After a forty-day journey, they finally reached Loren City.
However, upon entering the city, the entire group felt a certain gloom. Even Ryan was affected.
His own life had been very difficult, but it seemed to be significantly better compared to the lives of the free people here.
He could clearly see that the people here appeared to have lost all spark in their eyes.
When their group arrived, the people merely moved aside in a dazed manner.
“Sir!!”
Ryan spoke in a subdued tone, his youthful face showing a trace of melancholy.
“Let’s go. We need to register at the municipal center first.”
Thor, too, was silent. Even though he had read about the Northern Province in books, the direct impact of seeing it was still overwhelming.
However, it was clearly beyond his control.
Not only him, even his father wouldn’t have the authority to manage the Northern Province's affairs.
There was a marquis in charge here.
“Yes, sir!”
Ryan nodded.
After arranging for his knights to be stationed, Thor, along with Ryan and Steve, headed towards the heart of Loren City.
Loren City was not large, and the municipal center was very prominent.
The municipal building, constructed entirely of gray stone, exuded both grandeur and solemnity.
As the three approached, they were quickly stopped by two sentinel knights.
“Gentlemen, I am Thor Dresrosa, here to register as a Pioneering knight!”
Thor spoke, revealing his family’s crest. To avoid any complications, he had not worn it during the journey, but he needed to present his identity upon arriving in Loren City.
The eagle emblem was striking in the sunlight.
The two knights were taken aback and quickly performed a knightly salute.
“Sir Thor Dresrosa, please forgive my rudeness. Please, come in!”
One of the knights spoke respectfully, clearly anxious.
The Dresrosa family had a prominent reputation throughout the kingdom, and he dared not offend them.
“Thank you.”
Thor nodded.
“No trouble at all. Please, this way.”
The knight promptly led the three into the municipal center.
The municipal center was immense.
Its size was comparable to that of the Dresrosa castle.
Inside the grand hall, people were moving about.
There were staff members and knights present.
As Thor entered, the family crest on his chest immediately attracted many gazes.
Some people even stopped and performed knightly salutes towards Thor.
Though the Dresrosa family was only a count, their reputation was nearly as notable as that of some marquis families. Even one of their Pioneering knights was treated with utmost respect.
Thor returned each salute.
Under the guidance of the knight, they arrived at a counter.
“Hello, esteemed Knight Dresrosa. You may choose an unclaimed target for your development in the Northern Province.”
At the counter, a golden-haired young woman spoke cautiously and with humility.
“Thank you.”
Thor nodded, then took the map offered by the golden-haired girl.
As a Pioneering knight, one could not simply develop any land.
The kingdom had established comprehensive rules.
Any Pioneering knight must register at Loren City and select a target for development.
This would become the core of the future domain.
Only after fully developing the selected area would the Pioneering knight’s task be considered complete.
Thor was very familiar with this process.
Taking the map, he focused his gaze on it.
The map was large, much clearer than he had imagined.
The Northern Province was marked with green and red circles.
The red circles represented already chosen areas, while the green circles represented unchosen ones.
At present, the eastern and southern parts of the Northern Province were almost entirely covered in red circles, with only the western and northern parts still having many green circles.
This was quite normal.
Although only a few dozen people had received titles in the Northern Province, this did not reflect the number of Pioneering knights. Despite the high casualty rate among Pioneering knights, the number was still steadily increasing due to continuous replenishment.
Thor estimated that there were likely over a thousand Pioneering knights in the Northern Province.
The Northern Province was vast, nearly twice the size of the Northern Frontier in his previous life. Such a vast territory could not be occupied by just a few dozen or a few hundred people.
Even with over a thousand people, they had only developed less than a tenth of the land.
Of course, this was irrelevant to Thor.
He sifted through the information in his mind. In the past few days, the information he had gathered intertwined, and his gaze scanned the green circles on the map.
Unlike others who could only make a random choice, he had certain reference directions due to his information system.
Now it was just a matter of selecting.
Time passed slowly.
The golden-haired girl waited, not daring to rush.
After Thor reviewed all the red circles, he made his decision.
“Let’s choose the Maine River Valley.”
Thor spoke softly and handed the map back to the golden-haired girl.
“Certainly, esteemed Knight Dresrosa. I will process this for you immediately!”
The golden-haired girl quickly nodded and began her tasks.