Chapter 41: Checking Rewards!
Warm sunlight shone through the small window of the inn.
Roderic groggily opened his eyes.
For several minutes, he simply stared up at the wooden ceiling above.
Then he finally pushed himself out of bed.
’I feel... surprisingly good,’ he thought, rubbing his eyes. ’Outside of a bit of tiredness, that is.’
The agonizing pain from his ribs had vanished completely. They still felt sore, especially when he twisted his body, but compared to yesterday, it was nothing.
Roderic quickly pulled down the side of his shirt and looked at his shoulder.
The gash had disappeared as well, leaving only a thin scar behind.
’’Damn,’’ he muttered, running a finger across it. ’’This physique really is ridiculous.’’
It hadn’t even been a full day, and an injury that would’ve taken weeks to heal on Earth had practically disappeared.
And that was with his physique at its weakest.
’I can only imagine how much stronger it’s going to get once I form more aura seals,’ he thought with a grin.
After checking his ribs one final time, Roderic leaned back against the wooden headrest.
For the first time in a while, he could actually peacefully enjoy the morning.
’The perfect time to reorganize some thoughts,’ he thought. ’And also check out some rewards.’
There were several things he’d been forced to ignore yesterday, after all.
’’System,’’ he called out.
A familiar blue panel instantly popped up in front of him.
Roderic’s eyes moved across the different options before quickly finding the first new addition.
[Territory]
He tapped it without hesitation.
The screen flickered in front of him, changing immediately.
—————Territory—————
Whitemane Barony (basic barony)
Population: 38,843
Annual Revenue: 13,450 Gold
Treasury: 7,620 Gold
Standing Military: 2306
Knights: 47
Mages: 0
Farmland: 42,700 Acres
Annual Food Production: 21,350 Tons
Civilian Satisfaction: 61%
Territory Stability: 40%
Corruption: 26%
>[Detected territorial problems!]
————
Roderic stared at the screen in silence for a moment.
’Damn.’
He blinked several times, just taking in each of the stats shown.
Everything seemed pretty ordinary... except the last two stats, that is.
’Forty percent stability?’ he thought, brows furrowing.
That seemed absolutely horrible.
But the number beneath it was far and far more troubling.
’Twenty-six percent corruption...’
After everything he’d seen yesterday, Roderic wasn’t exactly surprised.
A group of criminals had openly operated an illegal drug business inside one of House Whitemane’s villages.
They’d even managed to bribe the knights responsible for maintaining order!
And apparently, that was far from the only problem.
Roderic’s finger moved to the last line of text and pressed down on it.
—————Territorial Problems—————
[Bandit Activity Detected!]
[Corrupt Officials Detected!]
[Illegal Organizations Detected!]
[Dangerous Beast Activity Detected!]
[Smuggling Detected!]
[Religious Fanatics Detected!]
...
Roderic’s expression gradually became stranger.
The list kept going on, and on and on.
’’What the actual fuck...’’ he muttered. ’’Is there even a problem this territory doesn’t have?!’’
Roderic was beyond words.
How exactly had his father been running the place all this time for this to happen?
He scrolled through the problems slowly and pressed down on some.
[Bandit Activity]
Greenfield Village: Minor Presence
Coldwell Village: Significant Presence
Smallwood Village: Severe Presence
————
Roderic’s brows slowly rose.
The other tabs weren’t much different, though some gave more detailed descriptions of what was happening.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
’Wait a minute...’
Yesterday, he’d gotten a quest with amazing rewards to take a problem out.
What if it was the same for all the other problems on the list?
A grin slowly spread across Roderic’s face just thinking about it.
’Aren’t these just future opportunities then?’ he thought. ’I’d gain combat experience, plenty of rewards from the system, and whatever spoils I get.’
Not to mention, Roderic had already wanted to travel through the territory to recruit talents.
Now, it’d be like swatting five flies at the same time!
Roderic almost couldn’t imagine how strong he’d be by the time he finished cleaning them all up.
’I might even form my second aura seal,’ he thought with a wide smile on his face.
Satisfied, he finally closed the Territory panel.
’Now then...’
His gaze immediately shifted to the second panel he’d unlocked yesterday.
[Retainers]
Pressing down on it, a large blue window unfolded in front of him right away.
—————Retainers—————
Total Retainers: 1
[Frederic]
————
’Seems simple enough,’ he thought, pressing down on Frederic’s name.
Another window immediately popped up.
—————
[Frederic]
Age: 18
Race: Human
Loyalty: 78%
Current Rank: Unawakened
Knight Talent: Extremely High
Mage Talent: Low
Current Traits:
[Iron Will]
——————
Roderic slowly read through each line of text.
As he reached the talent section, he couldn’t help but stop for a moment.
’Extremely high?’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. ’But how good is that exactly?’
As if responding to his question, a smaller system window opened up on the top right.
[System Note: Talents range from Extremely Low -> Low -> Medium -> High -> Extremely High -> Divine.]
Roderic’s eyes widened immediately.
’’Damn,’’ he let out. ’’One step below Divine?!’’
His gaze returned to Frederic’s information.
He’d long known the young boy was incredibly talented. But looking at it like this, he could understand very clearly why he’d reach the five seal stage in the future.
’Hell, now that he’s started earlier, he might even reach higher!’
For several seconds, Roderic just let the thought settle in with a large smile on his face.
Then his gaze landed on the final questionable thing on the page.
[Iron Will]
Pressing down on it, a small window unfurled in front of him.
[Mental fortitude and willpower are greatly increased.]
Roderic nodded slowly.
’That explains a lot,’ he thought. ’No wonder he was able to kill someone at just a command then...’
Letting out a faint chuckle, he swiped the system panels shut.
’He’ll be a great weapo—’ He quickly shook his head. ’A great asset, retainer, whatever.’
And Frederic was just the beginning.
There were bound to be plenty more talented people scattered throughout the territory.
Roderic slowly lay back down on the bed, placing both hands behind his head.
’’What a beautiful start to a beautiful day,’’ he muttered, smirking.
Just then, two soft knocks echoed from the door.
’’My lord?’’ Frederic’s voice sounded from outside.
Roderic slowly sat back up.
’’What is it?’’
’’Edmund has returned,’’ Frederic replied. ’’He brought the estate knights with him.’’