Cloud over oasis

Journey Through the Desert (2)

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After six days of marching through the desert, everyone had reached their psychological and physical limits. They had had enough.

Especially when it came to the reserved freshwater, it had also reached its limit today.

After all, there were 51 people in the group, along with 27 horses.

This was one of the reasons for Raven's anxiety. As one of the twenty cavalry guards, he and the others would be able to leave once they reached their destination, without needing to stay with Kant and the thirty farmers.

If they could reach Outpost Oasis as soon as possible, they could return this morning and leave this cruel desert behind.

On the contrary, Kant didn't care about it. Even if they reached Outpost Oasis, the final destination of their journey, it wasn't something to be happy about.

He would be stuck there forever, surrounded by an endless world of yellow sand.

Thinking about the honor he received at his coming-of-age ceremony, a mocking smile couldn't help but curl at the corners of Kant's mouth. "The fiefdom bestowed upon a baron, oh, how amusing."

But his eyes were filled with indifference.

He was the baron of the Lion Kingdom, and therefore had his own territory.

Bestowed by his father, the king of the Lion Kingdom, Duke Cameron, the ruler of the Lion Kingdom, ten years ago conquered the Nooran Desert and granted it to Kant, making him the master of this vast desert, wielding all authority.

This included their destination, Outpost Oasis, the only oasis in the southern part of the Nooran Desert.

In name, Kant was a baron, the lord of the Nooran Desert.

But who didn't know that in reality, this was Duke Cameron's cage, where he exiled his least favourite son?

"However, even in the desert, I have my way of survival."

Kant's eyes grew even more mocking.

"That's fine."

Kant squinted his eyes as if looking ahead, but a dialogue box from the system appeared on his retina.

[Main Quest: Establish a Village]

[Reward: 1000 Denars]

[Status: Incomplete]

[Introduction: To become a lord, one must have a village. This is the cornerstone, please proceed with caution.]

This was the main quest issued by the system, which had to be completed and was related to subsequent system upgrades.

In fact, completing this main quest was quite simple.

As long as Kant reached Outpost Oasis and sent the twenty Lion Kingdom cavalry back, he could rely on the power bestowed by the system to choose the construction of a village, materializing the buildings that existed only within the system in this world.

Initially, it would be just a small village, but with development, it could be upgraded to a vast and grand city or a towering and sturdy castle.

In the past, Kant worried about finding a place to establish his village.

But now, after crossing the natural border between the Nooran Desert and the Lion Kingdom—the Sanguia Mountains—Kant realized that he no longer had to live under surveillance like before, afraid of being discovered as a transmigrator with a golden finger.

Similarly, he didn't have to ponder where to materialize the system's mission village.

After all, the Lion Kingdom belonged to a traditional medieval realm, where almost all the land was plains, and there were no unclaimed territories left.

Whether it was hills, forests, marshes, or woodlands, they were all the territories and fiefs of the nobles.

The Lion Kingdom had been established for nearly three hundred years, and the enfeoffed nobles, or the lesser nobles enfeoffed by the nobles, had occupied all the available land. Now, the ranks of counts,viscounts, and barons in the entire kingdom had completely solidified.

To rashly establish a new village was akin to throwing meat buns to a dog.

Establishing it was easy, but as for who would ultimately own it, that was another matter. Besides, those nobles wouldn't let go of the fat that had come to their doorstep, even if Kant's father was a duke.

My vassal's vassal is not my vassal.

Therefore, Kant treated his main quest with great caution because once he lost his village, he would lose everything. He couldn't afford to gamble, nor could he be careless.

Even now, as they truly headed toward Outpost Oasis in the Nooran Desert, Kant understood that only what he controlled would truly belong to him.

That's also why Kant agreed to be bestowed the Nooran Desert.

"As long as we reach Outpost Oasis, everything will be alright."

Kant clenched his fist slightly, and his breathing became heavier, but his spirit was uplifted.

He turned his head to look behind him.

There were thirty farmers dressed in cheap linen clothing, each sweating profusely from pushing carts. They appeared no different from ordinary farmers, a group of subjects following their lord to their land and fiefs.

But the truth was far from it!

These thirty farmers were the rewards Kant had received for completing temporary tasks after he arrived in this world.

Farmers from the Kingdom of Swadia, bestowed by the system.

Although they appeared malnourished and somewhat weak, they were all tall and sturdy, standing at six feet tall. They were skilled hands at working the fields and were invaluable in any workshop.

Mounted on his warhorse, his back straight, he gazed at the distant sand dunes and rallied the cavalry and farmers behind him, saying, "Everyone, push harder! We can rest for three hours at the sand dune on the horizon!"

"Hurrah!" The farmers cheered enthusiastically.

"Hurrah..." The Lion Kingdom cavalry responded weakly. If Captain Raven hadn't told them that they were about to reach their destination, they probably wouldn't have uttered a word.

At the same time, these cavalrymen from the Lion Kingdom looked at the Swadian farmers as if they were fools.

They couldn't understand why these lowly and impoverished farmers had actually come to this desolate desert and still maintained such enthusiastic spirits, as if filled with hope for the future.

They found it laughable, even.

Hope?

In the Nooran Desert, a place described as scorching hot and bitterly cold, where every adversity imaginable existed, hope was supposed to exist?

"How unbelievably foolish," Raven sneered as he looked at the farmers.

Naturally, they wouldn't understand that these Swadian farmers existed solely because of Kant's presence.

Raven looked up at Kant, his expression filled with disdain. "Does this so-called Baron really believe he is the lord of the Nooran Desert and the owner of Outpost Oasis?"

With that thought, he couldn't help but let out a contemptuous laugh.

It had nothing to do with him. Once they reached their destination, he would leave immediately with his own men, without waiting for a single moment.

In fact, it wasn't just Raven who thought this way. The entire nobility of the Lion Kingdom shared the same sentiment. No one believed that there was any future development to be had in this small oasis of less than three hundred meters in the southern part of the Nooran Desert.

Moreover, in this barren desert, the scorching heat of the day and the bitter cold of the night were not the only enemies of humankind.

This included the Chieftain Wolfmen tribe, who had once been driven out and slaughtered but had actually never left the Nooran Desert.