I'm not a lord

Chapter 17 First Exploration

"Sir, are you really going to patrol the forest to the north?"

Yagena looked at Lin En who was looking through the account books, and her mood was very complicated.

Her ex-husband disappeared in the forest west of the territory, and no one found him alive or dead. Her fate changed drastically because of this.

If Lin En just disappeared in the forest, where would her fateful boat drift to?
She couldn't imagine it, nor did she dare to think about it.

Although Lin En was a bastard noble who wanted her to be his mistress, this bastard at least agreed to let her stay in the White Bear Territory and promised to help her get revenge in the future.

Now when facing Lin En, Yagena's heart always beats faster unconsciously.

But she still couldn't make a decision.

"Why, have you thought it through the question from the day before yesterday? Are you willing to be my mistress?"

Facing the reinforcements brought by Lao Ai, Lin En didn't even raise his head and answered the questions directly with questions.

“No, not yet.”

Being asked this question so suddenly, Yagena was stunned for a moment. She lowered her head, a blush spread across her fair cheeks, and she was unable to say anything.

"Then go back and continue thinking about it."

After sending Yagna away, Lin En called all five brothers to the study.

"Second brother, pack your things and accompany me to explore the forest. Third brother, leave for Sanhe City immediately. Fourth brother, fifth brother, and sixth brother, you will stay in the territory and keep an eye on the castle for me. If there are any problems, follow Sixth brother's instructions."

Among the five brothers, the second one is mainly responsible for guarding and security work, after all, his panel characteristic is [Guarding].

The third brother is the second in command of the horse bandit gang. He is responsible for handling some difficult matters for Lin En and may become a capable leader in the future.

The fourth and fifth brothers are pure muscular guys, and their characteristics are all combat-oriented. They are good at chopping people and drinking, but they are novices in other aspects. Lin En estimates that the best of them are the fierce generals who charge at the front.

As for the youngest and only educated Lao Liu, Lin En has not yet built a stage for him, so he can only let him do the work of an enlightenment teacher to teach his brothers how to read and write.

After all, one of Lao Liu's characteristics is [education], and he is good at teaching and educating people.

With this "teacher" relationship, it is also convenient to restrain the restless fourth and fifth children.

"Brother, just take me to the north to have a look. The territory is under the supervision of Lao Wu and Lao Liu. I will definitely capture a few deserters for you."

"Brother, I want to go too."

As expected, as soon as Lin En finished assigning the tasks, the fourth and fifth brothers started making a fuss.

It’s not that they don’t respect Lin En as the boss, but they are naturally restless and always want to chop something.

"What are you arguing about? Have you memorized all the words I assigned to you?" At this time, Lao Liu stood up.

Although he was not tall, he was very imposing and instantly suppressed the fourth and fifth brothers.

In the end, the two school-weary bandits twitched their ears and followed the teacher out of the study obediently.

The third brother left with the letter. He had the heaviest task and the tightest time schedule.

When the four brothers left the study one after another, the second brother couldn't help but said, "Brother, do we need to send someone to monitor Albert's group of managers? I'm afraid that after you leave, they will just do things perfunctorily."

The second brother is suspicious by nature, a habit he developed when he was in the mercenary group since he was a child.

Seeing Yagena taking the initiative to approach Lin En, he suspected that she had ulterior motives.

Seeing old Albert being attentive every day, he suspected that he had bad intentions.

The second one is like a lion on the grassland. He doesn't trust any other animals except his own people.

Lin En's journey north to explore the forest will definitely take weeks.

But now that spring plowing is approaching in White Bear Territory, the second brother is afraid that the managers will not work hard due to lack of supervision, resulting in a reduction in the yield of the public land belonging to the lord.

The ones who would suffer then would be the boss and all the bandits. "Don't worry, Albert is not an idiot. He knows what's important and what's not. Besides, Lao Liu and the others are watching over us, so nothing will go wrong."

Lin En patiently explained that he did not want to correct the second brother's character.

This is what being a guard is like. Being suspicious by nature helps the second child to be more sensitive to potential dangers.

After everything was ready, Lin En set off with his second brother and two capable younger brothers.

No cooks or other servants were brought along, as too many people would only slow down the exploration.

In the agricultural age, the area where humans could move was actually very narrow.

If you look down from the sky, the cultivated land in White Bear Territory is mainly concentrated in a small area on the west bank of the White River, which only accounts for the tip of the iceberg of the entire territory.

Lin En and his group left the castle and rode north for more than half an hour before they saw a large forest where the snow had not completely melted.

Opening the pixel map that comes with "Lord", the pixel man represented by Lin En has reached the edge of the known area.

Further north is endless white fog.

As Lynn and his group entered the forest, the fog on the map gradually dissipated, as if a bright lamp was lit in the darkness, illuminating the way forward for them.

In the North, especially in the Marsh Duchy, exploring unknown areas is particularly difficult.

The main reason is the swamps of all sizes scattered throughout the country.

Swamps in forests are very good at camouflage, and their surfaces are often covered with snow or dead branches and leaves, giving people the illusion that they can walk.

It’s not a big deal if someone gets trapped in there. As long as there are reliable companions around, there is a high probability that they can be rescued.

Marco was not so lucky.

A horse stuck in the mud will subconsciously struggle hard, and then sink deeper and deeper until it is completely swallowed by the swamp.

Now that the climate is gradually warming up, these "man-eating beasts" hiding in the forest are also thawing and awakening.

Lin En brought a total of eight horses on this trip, four of which carried people and four carried dry food, clothes and weapons. The loss of each horse was a huge blow.

Fortunately, he had unlocked the map function of "Lord". Although it was only a pixel map, it could still accurately show the ambush in the forest swamp ahead.

Relying on the map, he can always lead the team to avoid potential dangers.

But the route forward became more tortuous and the speed inevitably slowed down.

Nearing dusk, the group had only managed to walk about ten kilometers north.

Lin En was not impatient. With rich experience in survival in the wild, he found a safe campsite under a big tree.

Leaving his two younger brothers to set up the tent and take care of the horses, he and the second oldest brother went into the woods to hunt with bows and axes.

Before sunset, they found a suitable hunting spot, a meadow in the woods dotted with tracks of various animals.

Lin En first smeared a large amount of honey on several tree trunks, and then he and the second brother hid in the bushes and waited quietly.

The red light of the setting sun streams among the ancient and huge pine trees.

Crows flew overhead, their mocking cries making an unpleasant sound.

The hares bounded across the grass, rustling the dry leaves.

Occasionally, an agile marten would dart past, startling a few singing birds.

But everything gradually fell silent.

When the sun completely sets and darkness engulfs the earth, the forest stage welcomes a new group of actors.

(End of this chapter)