Chapter 138 Knight Territory of Soloviev

If the Northern Ice River is like the Heilongjiang River of the past life, then the Anzeno River is the Yellow River of Huaguo, the mother river of the Northern Territory.

Just as south of the Yellow River is not truly the south, the southern bank of the Anzeno River does not yet mark the Southern Territory. The division between the northern and southern territories lies further south, at the Dom River and the Fabados Mountains.

And the Borokbak Mountains, extending from the southeastern corner of the Grand Barrier and stretching straight south, are the Taihang Mountains of the Orantis Empire, separating the Western Territory from the northern and southern territories.

Because of the Great Waterfall of the Anzeno River, along with the obstruction of the Grand Barrier and the Borokbak Mountains, the moisture blowing from the Southern Territory combined with the nourishment of the Anzeno River makes Isempor rich in rainfall and pleasant in climate, despite being deep inland.

In the northern part of the Wolf-Driving Plain, most of the forests have gradually degraded into grassland over the course of seven hundred years, but the southern part of the Wolf-Driving Plain, close to Isempor, remains a vast and dense wilderness.

The same is true for the southern bank of the Anzeno River; the lush forests provide abundant forestry resources, which is why every knightly domain has its own logging camp.

However, unprocessed logs fetch virtually no price in Isempor. Only some rare woods and processed planks are accepted by the market.

The water power of the stream in the Solovy knightly domain is weak, allowing only for a small logging camp and a water-powered mill to achieve self-sufficiency. It cannot turn the domain's abundant timber into cash through water power and water transport the way other knightly domains adjacent to the major rivers do.

The commoners of the Solovy knightly domain all make a living by farming, with several hundred people maintaining hundreds of acres of farmland. Although it is not the farming season, quite a few farmers are still guarding the fields.

The thriving wheat fields, the cattle and sheep grazing among the woods, and the relaxed demeanor of the villagers indicate that this domain is extremely safe, almost entirely free from the threats of wild beasts and vagrants.

Seeing the Knight Solovy passing by along the dirt path by the edge of the fields, the farmers lowered their heads and bowed in awe, some even performing full kowtows.

In the Northern Territory, kowtowing is an extremely solemn ritual, and even kneeling on one knee occurs only on very serious occasions.

Leo followed behind, watching the villagers kowtow and bow to Knight Solovy, certainly not harboring any cynical or critical thoughts.

From the villagers' looks of reverence, it was clear that Knight Solovy was their patron deity!

In contrast, Knight Solovy treated the villagers with lukewarm indifference, ignoring their prostrations and bowing, and simply rode away without even looking back.

The villagers were long accustomed to this routine, and dispersed only after the knight had departed.

Leo had often heard Ulyan speak of the Petukhov family.

This was a traditional and rigid knightly family that took pride in adhering to the Knight's Code: loyalty, honor, justice, courage, and generosity.

Yet they also possessed an aristocratic arrogance, looking down upon the lowly commoners.

By the generation of Rigolav, this had even evolved into looking down upon other nobles as well, often leading to him being mocked by the nobles of Isempor for his rigid and dogmatic remarks.

However, from the perspective of a commoner, or a transmigrator, the Petukhovs, with their fervent devotion to the Knight's Code, could be called the moral paragons of the nobility in the Isempor region.

They were brave in battle, resourceful, cared for their people, obeyed the law, and abhorred evil deeds.

Therefore, no matter how much they looked down on you in daily life or how much they bossed you around,

When you ran into real trouble, they would genuinely step up!

And that was true regardless of how close your relationship was with them!

Ulyan had once said that the Banner Knight Rigolav spent five years suppressing bandits in western Isempor not for the sake of military achievements.

It was simply because a band of outlaws had scaled the western watchtower while he was away fighting, charged into his knightly domain, and killed seventeen commoners.

Rigolav, over forty years old and long the head of his household, had hoisted his spear, mounted his horse, and taken his lord's army to seize the position of garrison commander at the western watchtower. It took him five years, repaying the debt a hundredfold, to avenge his commoners.

As a hardcore fan of Rigolav, Ulyan naturally exaggerated and boasted when he spoke.

Just as the wealthy always have foolish sons, and the rich are never happy, how could there possibly be good people among the nobles?

Yet at least one thing was crystal clear to Leo: the aid promised by the Petukhov family for the development of Riverbend, as well as their vocal support in Isempor, had not fallen short by even a fraction.

Even Rigolav's second younger brother, who had always been at odds with him, never jumped out to cause trouble for him.

This time, Knight Solovy had even stepped forward openly, frightening off the invading forces of the Gladstone family, which effectively meant he had taken on the Gladstone family's animosity on Riverbend's behalf.

Knight Solovy did not move into the lord's manor built by the Milvis family, the previous knightly lords. Instead, he assigned it to the village elder he had designated, choosing to build a small cabin for himself on a hillside not far behind the village.

He took in two village children, a boy and a girl, as servants to take care of his daily life.

Compared to other knightly lords, he looked less like a lord and more like an ascetic monk.

Standing on the lawn outside the wooden cabin and overlooking the entire village, Leo saw that Knight Solovy had no intention of inviting him inside to sit down, so he had to start a conversation: "Has my uncle yet to take a wife?"

Solovy glanced at him again. "No partner."

Although his elder and younger brothers, and even his nephew, had begun to worry about his marriage, his standards had not lowered with age.

Moreover, the noble daughters of Isempor—even his two elder brothers openly declared them unwatchful and unsightly—how could he dare bring them into his home?

Leo thought rapidly, trying to see if there was any breakthrough in this regard.

Ah, right now, the most cultured adult female in Riverbend, apart from his own Olivia, was none other than the kobold Fisha.

To avoid being pierced through by Knight Solovy's spear, Leo quickly changed the subject.

He gazed at the village below for a moment and said, "Your domain's people live in peace and abundance, the elderly are cared for, and the young are nurtured. My uncle governs with great skill; you are truly a model among knightly lords."

Knight Solovy could not be bothered to reply to him at all.

This village was no different from when it was ruled by the Misvich family; the only change was that the hearts of the people had pledged allegiance.

Knight Solovy poured his heart and soul into personal martial prowess, while administration and management were truly his weak points.

All he did every day was ride his horse with his spear in hand around the knightly domain, spearing any wild beast he saw and telling the villagers to come get the meat.

He would also spear any bandits he encountered on sight, having the villagers hang their bodies from the trees.

If vagrants appeared, he would rush back to the village and tell the elder to provide food, lodging, and land allocation.

He had not taken a single coin of the domain's output; half of it was handed over faithfully to the family head, and the other half was given to the village elder to distribute among the villagers.

Now the population of the knightly domain had indeed grown a bit, but its overall appearance was almost indistinguishable from before he took it over.

Seeing that Knight Solovy ignored him, Leo spoke on his own initiative: "What a pity, the villagers have grown somewhat slack. Look at the wooden wall on the west side; it has already rotted away, and some villagers even use it as a shortcut to come and go. That's the wilderness to the west! If a few dozen wolves were to slip through, several villagers would surely die."

"The road leading to the World Tree Avenue needs some repairs as well. It should have been a gravel road, but now it has been trampled into a mud track, and merchant caravans hesitate to even enter."

"Look at those irrigation ditches; some of the water in them has become stagnant, hasn't it?"

Knight Solovy finally showed a trace of interest and asked in response, "Then what do you suggest should be done?"