I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 26 Discovery
Renn readily agreed.

He didn't want any major changes to his newly settled life in Frostleaf Town.

Another hunter chose his daughter, Aleia.

Aleya is skilled at stealth and happened to be scouting ahead of Rhodes, thus anticipating danger.

"But I hope to postpone our departure by a week. The lord's leather armor needs to be finished."

Rhodes readily agreed to Raine's suggestion.

He wasn't in a hurry; he patiently stayed in the blacksmith shop forging iron, occasionally going to the fields to check the results.

Less than a week later, on the fifth day, Raine delivered a leather breastplate to Rhodes.

"Please forgive the lack of decorations due to time constraints."

"It's already beautiful without any decoration."

The dark blue dragon scales are layered and seamless, shimmering with a metallic luster.

Rod ran his hand over it, clearly feeling its coldness and metallic toughness.

The leather armor has an inner layer of deerskin, which is breathable, very soft and elastic, and feels very smooth to the touch.

With the help of his maids, Lia and Sanny, Rhodes removed his outer garments and put on his leather armor.

"There wasn't a single unpleasant odor; in fact, it had a faint, pleasant fragrance."

As he was getting dressed, Rod bent down and sniffed, asking, "What's this scent?"

"The scent of lavender."

"Lavender has natural insect-repellent and preservative properties, and it also contains a little bit of rosemary," Ryan replied.

Lavender is common in the North and is a primary ingredient used to remove leather odors.

Rhodes nodded.

The leather armor fit perfectly, and the maid tightened the straps, making the armor cling to Rhodes' body.

"Raine's cooking skills are indeed excellent."

Rhodes picked up his steel greatsword and tried it out, finding it didn't affect his movements at all.

However, the leather armor of this two-legged wyvern is heavier than ordinary leather armor, probably weighing eighteen pounds.

Of course, this is much lighter than plate armor.

For Rhodes, who has the [Forging Power] bonus, this is nothing.

After trying it on, Rhodes took off the leather armor and took the guard's sword, slashing it twice to test it.

Just like on the wyvern, an ordinary sword could only leave a shallow dent and was not enough to cut through the leather armor.

As for the sword forged by Rhodes, there's no need to test it.

The long-awaited leather armor was already on their bodies, and the next day Rhodes led the team to set off.

Black Pine Ridge has a vast land area, including mountains, forests, river bends, canyons, and a large depression.

One day is certainly not enough time to see everything, so Durant asked Martha to prepare three days' worth of food and water for everyone.

This amount was enough for them to stay in the wasteland for five or six days—with a hunter like Raine along, they couldn't just eat dry rations.

The group rode their horses through Black Pine Ridge, except for Aleya.

She travels alone through the wilderness, only joining a group when she needs to travel.

The Blackrock Mountains are in the northwest, but this time Rhodes chose to explore eastward.

The team first arrived at the Azure River.

This place is less than six miles from Rhodes' territory and is an important water source, but the map does not describe it in detail.

As the saying goes, those who live near mountains can live off the mountains, those who live near the sea can live off the sea, and those who live near rivers can live off the rivers.

Of course, rivers are not like the sea, where seafood is plentiful.

Only in river bends with water storage and deep areas with slow currents can one obtain a sufficient catch of fish in the river.

There are also clams and crabs in the river, but these are just accompaniments; the main attraction is the fish.

As Rod traveled along the river bend, he noted down all the places where fish might be found.

However, these natural waterways are all too narrow, with the rivers generally only thirty or forty meters wide, and even the widest places are no more than sixty meters.

Rod didn't explore the middle of the river, but even the deepest part of the riverbank wasn't more than two meters deep.

From this, Rhodes concluded that he still had to dig the fishpond himself.

Of course, there was also good news in the process.

Near the hillside upstream of the river bend, Rod quickly discovered a natural stone mine, mainly composed of granite.

This type of stone is hard and suitable for building the main structure of a castle, with high load-bearing capacity and resistance to weathering.

However, mining is somewhat difficult.

It is about fifteen miles away from Frostleaf Town.

Rhodes also marked the map.

If the mining and use are to be carried out, transportation is involved, so Rod naturally has to consider road planning.

"Perhaps we can build the castle here in the future," Rhodes thought to himself.

The main reason Frostleaf Town wasn't built directly next to the river bend was the fear of large wild animals roaming the area.

Once Rhodes builds his castle, he will basically have no need to worry about wild beasts.

The arrival of wild beasts is nothing more than an extra meal for Rhodes.

Of course, Rhodes is only dreaming at the moment, not even planning yet, so he hasn't wasted too much time.

They paused only briefly before continuing along the river bend until the river was blocked by cliffs on both sides. Rhodes's group then changed direction, crossed the river at the forewater bend of the Azure River, and continued eastward.

As dusk approached, the group reached a forest, and Rod decided to go into the mountains again the next day.

So the team found a sheltered spot at the foot of the mountain and set up camp.

Durant started a fire, and the guards gathered hay and firewood.

Alaya wandered around the area and soon returned with two wild rabbits.

They brought back the animals after all the fur had been removed.

"We won't go hungry if we come out with you guys."

The rabbits on the shelf were sizzling with oil. Rhodes looked at Raine and said, "Perhaps you could teach me archery?"

“Of course, if you’d like,” Renn readily agreed.

Rhodes stood up. "Let's begin then."

Traveling during the day wasn't too tiring, so Rhodes took advantage of his free time to study and improve his abilities.

Even if you don't hunt 500 ferocious beasts to unlock the "Ferocious Beast Hunter" title, unlocking some ordinary hunting attributes will do.

The two walked to an open space nearby. Raine borrowed a bow from a guard, handed it to Rhodes, and gave him instructions.

"If you don't have any prior experience, you can start by learning the standard standing and shooting techniques."

As he demonstrated, Ryan explained, "Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, body facing your target, back straight, and head naturally."

"The arrow is nocked on the bow rest, and the fletching is held in place on the string."

"Keep your center of gravity stable, don't sway, and keep your arm parallel to the ground when drawing the bow."

"Of course, this is the initial way to get familiar with archery. Once you're familiar, you don't need to follow these rules; you only need to grasp one key point,"

"Steady is sufficient."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ryan nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, and released it, hitting the tree trunk precisely a hundred meters away.

"sharp."

Rhodes finally witnessed the true meaning of hitting a target from a hundred paces away.

Full of confidence, Rhodes immediately assumed his stance, nocked the arrow, and pulled the bowstring taut with all his might!

hiss--

Raine quickly grasped Rod's hand as he drew the bowstring and pulled it back.

"There's no need for such force, my lord, the bow will break."

Raine never imagined that the unassuming Lord Rhodes would be so powerful.

At that moment, Renn suddenly remembered Rhodes's thick, fine steel greatsword.

Renn was glad that the bow he gave to the lord was a guard's longbow; if it had been his own hunting bow, the draw weight would have been at most sixty pounds, and it would probably have broken by now.

"okay."

Rod realized what was happening, quickly withdrew his strength, and fired an arrow at the tree trunk.

It had plenty of power, but its accuracy was terrible; the arrow hit another tree trunk nearby.

Rod was slightly embarrassed.

As an illegitimate child, Rhodes had always worked, and the occasional training he participated in consisted of basic sword skills; he had hardly ever touched a bow and arrow.

"That's normal, my lord. I only shot a dozen meters the first time."

Ryan comforted her.

Then Ryan passed on his aiming skills and experience to Rhodes, and the two of them stood in front of the woods and practiced continuously.

By the time night was almost falling, Rhodes was able to occasionally shoot at the tree trunk.

Looking at it this way, Rhodes felt that he had some talent for archery.

After a period of practice, the woods ahead were filled with arrows.

The Rhodes family was poor, so they couldn't just leave it unattended. They immediately followed Raine into the woods to collect the arrows.

"You've already achieved a very good level for someone who's just started learning. All that's left is more practice..."

Before Renn could finish speaking, he noticed that Rhodes had suddenly stopped in place, staring intently at the woods with a deep gaze.

He immediately became alert and quickly surveyed his surroundings, but found nothing amiss.

Renn looked ahead, slowly backed away, and asked in a low voice,
"My lord, what have you discovered?"

(End of this chapter)