Lord: Starting from the Pit-Dwelling Courtyard

When Bard led his men to the outskirts of Ron's territory, he looked at the more than 100-meter-long mud-brick city wall with disbelief.

Bard raised his hand and gazed at the city walls before him. "This new pioneering lord certainly has a building mage."

The city wall is only six meters high, which is not impressive. The key point is that this is in the wilderness, and there are no quarries around.

"Architectural mage!" Andes couldn't help but sigh. After all, their territory only had three architectural mage apprentices. Simple civil engineering work was enough to help the territory complete a lot of work. They didn't even dare to dream of becoming formal architectural mages.

"People are coming up the city wall," Kane interrupted their exclamations, quickly reminding them.

The city gate slowly opened, but no one came out.

The doorway was pitch black, like some kind of probing.

Bader glanced back at the Andes.

Andes shrugged, took the bow off his back, but did not nock an arrow.

Bard took a breath. "Let's go in and take a look. Don't draw your weapons easily."

"yes!"

The cavalry slowly entered the city gate. They had circled the area beforehand and were well aware of the territory's size.

This new pioneer lord has great ambitions!

Ron stood inside the city gate, with Old Hall on his left and Fanta on his right, and behind them were twenty armed militiamen, their gun barrels gleaming darkly in the morning light.

"Welcome, friends from afar. Ashwood welcomes you."

Despite being a warm welcome to the guests, Ron's icy gaze and tone made Bard and his companions feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

Andes glanced around furtively, then swallowed hard.

This is incredible!

Ron's personal guards each carried a Northern standard cross-shaped sword and were also equipped with leather armor; these were likely the lord's personal guards.

As for the militiamen dressed in a disheveled manner, each of them carried a standard-issue rifle with a shiny, gleaming tip.

Clearly, because of the oiling and grilling, they mistook the bone spearhead for an iron spearhead.

A preliminary count revealed that there were dozens of people carrying standard-issue weapons, but they didn't know if there were more.

Bard could tell at a glance that this territory was full of martial spirit, and a stiff smile appeared on his face: "We come from the territory of Dehea, a hundred kilometers away. We just happened to be passing by today and wanted to say hello and resupply."

Ron narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone still icy: "And then? Didn't you want to ask about the bison herd?"

Upon hearing the name of the bison herd, Fanta and his guards immediately turned fierce, drew their longswords, and blocked the city gate.

The other militiamen realized that the other side might be there to steal the meat, so they all raised their bone guns, aiming them at Bard and his men, ready to stab them at any moment.

"No!" Andes hurriedly exclaimed, "We're just here for a friendly visit and to replenish our supplies."

After Andes finished speaking, he raised up the already deflated water bag.

Kane quickly raised his hand, signaling to the guards and militia around him not to get agitated, and also indicating that they were not armed and had no intention of attacking.

"Bison are unclaimed prey in the wild; whoever hunts them owns them."

Ron waved his hand: "Old Hall, give them some water."

Old Hall nodded and immediately went back to fetch a bucket of water, which was leftover water from the day he hosted Harland. After sitting for a few days, the originally yellowish water had become much clearer.

Looking at the water in the bucket, Bard's expression changed. He hadn't expected that the water problem would be solved so soon after arriving in the new territory.

Judging from the quality of the water, it is no worse than that of the water in their territory.

Thank you!

Bader quickly expressed his gratitude, and everyone immediately took off their water bags and handed them to Andes to fill with water.

Andes squatted beside the bucket, carefully scooping water with a spoon, trying not to waste any.

Ron snapped his fingers, and a mud chair slowly materialized. "I am the master of this territory, Ron Ashwood. What local specialties does your territory have?"

Bard, somewhat caught off guard by Ron's question, asked疑惑地问道, "Lord Ashwood, what are the local specialties?"

Ron said unhurriedly, "Local specialties are things that are unique to your territory, famous for them, and that have the characteristics of the local soil and craftsmanship."

After thinking for a moment, Bard said, "Our Dehea territory is most famous for its potato starch, which is quite well-known in the Blackthorn Wasteland."

When Ron heard the word "potato," his eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled gently.

Seeing Ron's sudden smile, Old Hall and Fanta both shivered involuntarily.

The young master only smiles when he does something improper; the crazier the smile, the more terrifying the situation.

"What potato?" Ron asked casually.

Bard naturally understood what Ron was planning, and shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Lord Ashwood, we only brought potato starch and potato cakes with us when we went out. Those are controlled items in the territory, and we can't get them."

"Oh, what a pity!" Ron said with a regretful expression, not pressing the matter further, and changed the subject with a smile: "Our territory is newly established and urgently needs a batch of grain. I wonder if your territory can sell us a batch of grain?"

After seeing Ashwood's walls and the soldiers' equipment, Bard had no intention of becoming Ron's enemy; trade was a better option.

"I need to go back and discuss this before I can confirm it. However, Lord Ashwood, gold coins are not as useful in the wastelands as they are in the heart of the kingdom."

Ron smiled and nodded, naturally understanding that the wasteland was still in a state of wild growth. The main task for most territories was to survive, and expansion was the last thing to do. Before these tasks were completed, there was no extra energy to enjoy life.

After thinking for a moment, Ron also mentioned their local specialty: "We sell building materials here, I believe you will like them."

Building materials are arguably the scarcest materials in the wasteland and the most scarce resource in all territories. Territories with building mages can basically survive well in the Blackthorn Wasteland by selling building materials. In particular, lords who are building mages will not be killed by other lords even if their territories are destroyed. Instead, they will be recruited with extremely high treatment to become building mages in their territories.

After thinking for a moment, Bard said, "That's fine. I wonder what kind of building materials you mainly sell?"

After thinking for a moment, Ron said, "Bricks! And wood."

Upon hearing the word "brick," Bard's eyes lit up. Ron casually waved his hand, and countless grains of sand were sucked into his hand, slowly coalescing into a red brick.

Although it wasn't the first time Bard had seen an architect, he couldn't help but marvel at the architect's abilities every time he saw one.

Only Old Hall, a fellow building mage, understood how amazing Ron's skill was. He could conjure bricks out of thin air, and his production speed was more than ten times that of an ordinary building mage.

Bard took the red brick, weighed it in his hand, and then glanced at the gun barrels in the militiamen's hands: "We need a lot of these bricks. How do you plan to exchange them? It seems your territory's blacksmiths are very skilled at forging these gun barrels. We need these gun barrels too?"

Ron didn't correct him, and Old Hall's lips twitched slightly.

This world has had bricks for a very long time, but it lacks a mature method of firing them, so the magical power required for their production is quite high.

The main reason for the existence of bricks is to replace stone blocks, allowing for the rapid construction of houses.

Unfortunately, although the architects successfully produced bricks, they did not develop a manufacturing method or an accurate formula. As a result, the quality of the bricks varied, and they were not recognized by the nobility, so they were never widely adopted.

However, bricks are an excellent building material for the wasteland. In the wasteland, gravel is everywhere, but large rocks are very rare, otherwise mining them would be difficult.

Ron replied, "That depends on how much grain you sell us. As for the gun barrels, sorry, they're not for sale."

Bard remained silent. He was merely a hunter squad leader, and although he possessed some skill, he was not qualified to conduct such a large business for the territory.

"Here are ten coins for you as samples. Go back and discuss it with your lord before making a final decision."

"good!"

Bud carefully wrapped the ten red bricks and tied them to the horse's back.

Ron watched the cavalry leave.

"Potato!" His smile grew even gentler, but it made Fanta and Old Hall's scalps tingle. Fanta and Old Hall really didn't like seeing Ron smile.

If it were potatoes or sweet potatoes, half of the food problem in this wasteland would be solved.

"Old Hall! Next time they come, I want to know everything about De Gea territory."