1 Journey in the Forest

Leon shook the reins in his hand for a bit as he steered the horse he was riding forward.

To the east of the Solana Greenlands, the morning sun was steadily rising. It hung high at the top of the endless mountains, exuding its might to dispel the chill of night. Scorching heatwaves washed over the forested land.

Except for the green skins, who had only knows how to breed and mate, no other races were willing to step foot into that barren place.

That, of course, excluded Leon and his team.

Fifteen knights, who wore mail armor under their robes, were riding warhorses. There were also 30 peasants (if you can call them as one), who served as servants. Right behind Leon were six horses pulling carriages with goods.

Huuhhh...

Leon sighed a heavy breath and frowned as he looked forward at the winding leaves of the trees. He flipped the hood on his linen robe over. His blonde hair draped over his shoulders. His young, supple face was radiant like the sun itself.

They were in the Solana Greenlands, a world filled with trees and grasses. It was a forest that has not been touched by human civilization.

Before the place was conquered by the Kingdom of Cailux 10 years ago, the forest had no signs of civilization except for the green skins like goblin and orcs and some deadly Pranic Beast who lives in the inner area of the forest.

As the bastard son of the king, Leon naturally understood that the forest was not considered part of the Kingdom of Cailux.

Even though the Kingdom had conquered the entire southern area of the Solana Greenlands 10 years ago, in truth, the upper echelons had only claimed to have taken the place with empty talk.

Most scholars within the Kingdom did not acknowledge that the conquest had even happened.

On the map, the border of the Kingdom remained at the Tierra Range right next to the Solana Greenlands. The endless mountaina north of there remained unoccupied by civilization.

Those areas had been taken over by the Goblin and Orcs tribes, so the place remained incapable of being used for herding or farming, which practically made it useless.

Even criminals and escaped slaves from the Kingdom, who were at their wit's end, would not go to such a place.

"Haah... This is troublesome."

Leon shook his head and humbly smirked as he thought, 'I actually ended up in a shithole like this.'

If it had not been for the fact that he had run out of options, he would not have stepped into this dangerous mountains in the first place.

Leon looked up at the sky. The sun above the mountains continued to rise.

During this season in this forest, noon temperatures could reach 42.2°C, which was a temperature no one could withstand.

'It is so hot!'

He gulped a mouthful of sticky saliva and adjusted the breathable linen hood. His frown turned even more serious as he moved.

He hastened the horse before turning around to the team behind him and shouting, "Move it, people! Hurry up. If you don't want to end up being toasted under the sun at noon, we need to set up camp to rest before noon!"

"Yes, Sir."

Lethargic responses were heard. The peasants pushed the carriages, making them go faster.

They were all traveling on foot. With three carriages full of supplies, the team's speed was abhorrent.

The wheels of the carriages, which were crafted using hardwood and nails, were better suited to roads on the flatlands of the Kingdom of Cailux. The wheels dredged through the rocky roads of the mountain, causing even the stout horses to neigh in exhaustion.

Leon look at them and sighed seeing the team behind him move.

'This is awful.' Leon frowned.

"Your Lordship."

Carlos, the captain of the knights riding behind him, rode up to Leon's side.

That middle-aged man, who was usually steadfast, looked rather anxious as he said, "Pardon my rudeness, but we'd really like to know how long it will take before we reach the Ruins of the Solace Kingdom."

"How long?"

Leon looked calm and kept his eyes on the winding, endless forest ahead. He licked his lips before saying, "I have no idea."

"Well..." Carlos looked even more anxious after hearing the answer.

That was apparently not what he had hoped to hear.

The corner of Leon's mouth rose slightly and said, "According to the calculations, we've been traveling for nine days. If the map and route are correct, we'll reach our destination soon enough."

"We'll reach soon enough?" Carlos gulped.

They had been marching through the mountains for nine days. Everyone had reached their physical and psychological limits. They had had enough.

He and the 15 knights he commanded, who all served as escorts, were allowed to leave as soon as they reached their destination. They did not need to stay with Leon and the 30 peasants.

The sooner they reached the Ruins, the sooner they would leave the dreaded mountains behind and return home.

On the contrary, Leon hardly minded any of it. Even when they reached the Ruins the destination at the end of the route was not something to be happy about.

It was where he would likely stay for the rest of his days, surrounded by an endless swath of trees and smelly green skins.

He recalled the title he gained at his coming-of-age ceremony and smirked. A fief was granted alongside the title.

He was the 10th prince and a baron of the kindom, which was why he had a territory of his own.

It was conferred by his father, Leopold, the King of the Kingdom of Cailux, personally. He gave the Solana Greenlands, which had been conquered 10 years ago, to Leon for him to reign over as its master.

That included their destination, the Ruins of the Solace Kingdom, which was the only human settlement that has been made that could be found in the southern parts of the Solana Greenlands.

Leon was a baron in name but lord of the Solana Greenlands.

However, no one knew that the place was simply a prison where King Leopold exiled his least favorite and bastard son.

Then again, prison or not, I have my way of getting by.

The glint seen in Leon's eyes became even more pronounced.

As someone who was transported to his current world from Earth, Leon had his trump card, which served as a cheat in that world.

'So be it.'

Leon narrowed his eyes and looked ahead. A dialog box from the system appeared on his retina.

[Build a village]

[Reward: Unknown]

[Status: Incomplete]

[Introduction: You can only become a lord by having a village. That is the first step to constructing your foundation. Please be careful.]

That was one of the achievements in the system. He needed to see to its completion since it was tied to survival.

There were three significant sections in the system which is:

[Status], [Shop], and [Achievement]. His system doesn't have quest like the ones in the novels.

It was actually simple to complete the achievement.

As long as Leon was able to get to the Ruins and have the 15 knights of the Kingdom return home, he could rely on the powers bestowed by the system to build his village, bringing the buildings that only existed within the system to reality.

The village was but the beginning. As things progressed, the place could be upgraded to a huge city or a sturdy castle.

In the past, Leon was concerned that he would have no place to establish his village.

At present, after traveling through the natural border separating the Solana Greenlands and Kingdom of Cailux, the Tierra Range, Leon found that he no longer had to live under constant scrutiny as he had once been, always afraid of having his cover as a Transported and his cheat blown.

He did not need to think about where to make his own village.

The Kingdom of Cailux was a conventional nation of the middle ages. The flatlands of the entire nation had all been taken.

Be it the hills, forests, marshes, or jungles, all of them had been taken by the nobles as their fiefs and estates.

The Kingdom of Cailuc had been established for nearly 200 years. Whether it was the greater nobles or the lesser nobles titled by the greater nobles, all of them had taken whatever land there was to take. The ranks of dukes, counts, viscounts, and barons had been firmly established throughout the years.

A new village that popped out of nowhere was tantamount to a failed investment.

It was easy to establish a village, but it was another thing altogether deciding who would eventually rule the place. Furthermore, none of the nobles would have allowed such a lucrative piece of land to slip through their fingers, even if the father of the one who built the place was the King.

As such, Leon was very careful with this achievement. If he were to lose his village, he would lose everything. He dared to gamble, but he dared not be careless.

That remained his attitude, even at present as he was making his way to the Ruins in the Solana Greenlads.

Leon knew that only the things he truly had command over would be his.

Thus, Leon had agreed to take the Solana Greenlands as his fief.

Things are going to better once he reach the Ruins of the Solace Kingdom.

Leon clenched his fists slightly. His breathing became more labored. However, he was actually very spirited.

He turned around to look behind him.

The 30 peasants, who wore cheap linen clothing are drenched in sweat from pushing the carriages. They looked totally different from common peasants—subjects who were follows the lord to its new fief.

In truth, that was not the case.

The 30 peasants were a reward given to Leon when he opened his Newbie gift pack after coming to that world.

They were the Barbarians, the famous troops in the game Clash Of Clans that was given to him by the system.

This guys has blond hair and mustache with a robust body and tan skin. They are around 6.8 feet tall and stronger than an average human. They excelled at fighting and especially destroying.

"These people will serve as my foundation from here on out."

Leon quietly muttered to himself. His eyes glimmered with hope once again.

He sat upright as he rode, gazing at the faraway lake. He encouraged both the peasants and knights behind him. "Keep it up, people! We can take a break at that lake at the horizon before us!"

"Hurray!" The peasants cheered in a high-spirited manner.

"Yes... Hurray..."

The knights of the kingdom responded lethargically. If it had not been for Captain Carlos telling them that they were about to reach their destination, none of them would have probably been in the mood to even talk.

At the same time, those knights were looking at the Barbarians like they were idiots.

They were unable to fathom why those robust looking men had come and followed Leon to the forested land. Furthermore, they all looked very high-spirited as if they had high hopes for the future.

The knights thought the peasants/barbarians were hilarious.

Hope?

Dangerous Pranic beast... Crazy green skin tribes... All manners of negative words and terms could have been used to describe the Solana Greenlands. The word "hope" had no place there.

They are indeed some ridiculous fools!

None of them understood that the existed only because Leon existed.

Carlos eyed the peasants/barbarians with cold eyes.

Carlos looked at Leon and felt contempt in his heart. You're about to end up dead here, yet you actually brought that many with you! Does Your Lordship really think that you're a lord of the Solana Greenlands? Were even the king don't want to ever associate and use it.

He struggled to hold back his laughter at the thought.

None of it had anything to do with him. As soon as they reached their destination, Carlos and his men would immediately leave. They would not have even a moment of hesitation to stay behind.

In truth, those were not Carlos thoughts alone. All of the Kingdom nobles shared such thoughts. Because there is a reason why even the King doesn't step his foot in this forested land.

Furthermore, in this forested land, the scorching heat of the day and the pranic beast were not the only threats to humans.

The threat included those who had once been driven away and slaughtered but had never truly left the Nahrin Desert:

The Green skins.