Jeffery Ashbourne

"My Lord!" 

Alex came running out of the gates with ten other swordsmen behind him. They had been training in the camp when they heard the guard's voice.

Upon seeing the blood stain on the white cloth Asher used to tie his shoulder, Alex's expression became ugly. 

"Why are you rushing out like I'm about to be killed?" Asher chuckled. 

He knew Alex was angry at his decision to go to Baron Snow alone, but that experience had matured him. 

"My Lord, you were gone for seven days! Why leave alone?!" Alex shared his complaints, but Asher smiled softly.

They looked behind the cart and saw the regal falcons looking back at them without much curiosity. They were more focused on the Moonlit Cattle far away. 

While the soldiers couldn't see the cattle, the falcons could. Their eyesight was much sharper than humans.

As Asher looked at the tall, sturdy walls, the panel of the fortress appeared.

[Fortress Name: Ash Fortress

Fortress Tier: Tier 1

Population: 4,800/10,000

Security: 35/100

Loyalty: 65/100]

Asher smiled when he saw the loyalty stats. This meant no one was planning to flee to another barony! It was a good thing!

And the town jumped tier three because he fused it with Baron Snow's fortress.

The moment he entered the fortress, Asher almost thought he was in a different place. The buildings which weren't habitable were now completely made of solid wood, the roads were wide and clean. 

Even people's clothing received an upgrade! 

What stood out the most was the second, 4-meter-tall wooden wall that went around his castle. 

Although he couldn't see how the castle looked now, from the distance it looked about two times bigger than before. 

There were two watchtowers, and they accommodated four swordsmen.

Suddenly, he saw people looking behind him, causing him to look, and he saw farmers bringing in corn! 

"I thought it would take one month?" Asher said to himself. He ordered a swordsman to take the cart into the castle's courtyard and went to the gates with Alex always behind him.

When he came out, he perceived a sweet aroma coming from the maize that was being harvested. The aroma came from the corn!

There was a faint golden mist in the air and it came along with an enticing fragrance, which made Asher understand why the corn was called.

Golden Fragrant Corn.

Asher approached the farming land, squatted, and took a handful of soil. After scrutinizing it, he discovered the soil was richer than before the upgrade.

This meant that not only the buildings and people but even the soil upgraded! 

[Your soil has upgraded and is able to absorb mana from the mana veins deep in the earth core. Every yield from this soil will be from bronze-grade and above!]

Asher's eyes trembled. This soil was a gold mine! 

Just these corns alone would earn him thousands of gold coins but his citizens came first. He would start planning to sell to others once everything in the barony was in check.

"Make sure Kelvin reports the yield." 

Alex nodded. 

Asher left the bustling crowd and returned to his castle. As he walked into the sacred hall, his lips curled upwards. 

It was three times bigger than before, and the dim ash stone walls, the platform where he sat, and Sirius laying at the corner gave the hall the theme he always desired. 

Anyone who walked into this hall for the first time would be cautious even without him showing up.

"Where is Alec?" Asher asked Alex as they left the sacred hall for the dining room. He was famished and needed to consume a proper steaming meal.

"He went on patrol." 

"Did anything worth my notice happen during my absence?" 

"No, My Lord." Alex responded respectfully. As a veteran swordsman, he knew that Asher wasn't the same as before. 

When Asher walked into the dining room, he discovered it had been transformed into a dining hall! 

Right at that moment, Kelvin walked in from the other door, and two maids came in after him. They carried trays from which an enticing aroma came. 

Asher's eyes twinkled. 

"My Lord." Kevin bowed. He had been informed by a maid who was informed by a soldier, so he made sure Asher's meal was prepared, regardless of his opinion.

It was an offence to wait for the Lord to ask for food, so it was better to always prepare. Whether he chose to eat or not wasn't an offence on his part.

While Asher was expecting to fill his stomach another maid, Mary, came in with a roasted wild swine. 

A broad smile appeared on Asher's face. If he paid Kelvin, he would have raised his salary for his thoughtfulness.

While Asher was smiling, Kevin hid the slight panic that crossed his eyes when he saw Asher's injury. 

However, inwardly, he swore to make sure Asher never went on such a dangerous mission alone.

...…

Meanwhile, not so far away from the fortress, twenty men, well armed with leather armour and swords and seated atop a horse, escorted a carriage. 

Inside the carriage sat a gray-haired man and a black-haired woman of acceptable beauty. She wore a black gown and sat opposite the man with her arms crossed.

"With all the direct Ashbourne descendants dead, the title of baron rightfully belongs to the cripple." Aquila Tyre, Baron Tyre's third and last daughter, said to Jeffery.

Jeffrey scowled. "Can a cripple who can't get up from his bed rule a barony? I, Jeffery, though also a bastard child, am still older than that cripple, so the barony rightfully belongs to me."

"But none of them has ever seen you. Their loyalty will surely lean toward the cripple." Aquila retorted.

"Aquila. I have hundreds of guards, a large manor, and thousands of farmers working under me. I can rule a barony, and your father is aware of that, which is why he betrothed you to me."

Aquila looked out the window. "Before you cross your line, my father said you can only marry me when you become the baron of the Ashbourne territory."

"Sir. We're here!"