Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

Thump, thump, thump~

“Today's wind is rather noisy and unsettling…”

Li Wei lay on a cart loaded with goods, with soft straw underneath him. A handkerchief covered his eyes to block the harsh sunlight. The gentle breeze caressing his face made him sigh with emotion.

Although it was July in Debe, and most regions were sweltering, the Northern Territory was clearly an exception, being quite cool instead.

Lia, who was sleeping beside him, stirred slightly from Li Wei's voice, then continued to sleep.

After a while, seemingly feeling that the journey was boring and unbearably monotonous, Li Wei abruptly sat up.

He stretched, yawned, and then rubbed his eyes.

“Ha~ um… hey, you, where are we now? How far are we from that White Stream City?”

The driver, relying on his extensive road experience, gave a precise answer: “My Lord, we are about half an hour away from White Stream City.”

Finally, they were about to arrive.

Li Wei roused himself and stood up from the cart, straining his eyes to look ahead.

At the end of the gray horizon, a thin black line cut through the connection between the sky and the earth, forming a distinct boundary line, which became increasingly clear as the carriage approached. It was the city wall in the distance.

Since running away from Colon, Li Wei had proactively found a merchant caravan that was heading to the Northern Territory to make the journey easier, hitching a ride.

After all, if he were to ride a horse for half a month, not to mention him, Lia's butt would probably be shaken into two halves.

Traveling with the caravan was slightly easier, but the speed inevitably slowed down.

It had been twenty days before he finally saw the distant appearance of White Stream City.

But it was finally coming to an end. He felt like his body had been shaken apart during this time.

“Speed up!”

The caravan, which had been traveling in the wilderness for a week, also longed for the prosperity of the city. The sound of hooves suddenly became more rapid, producing a continuous “thump, thump, thump” sound.

Lia was also awakened by the sudden and violent shaking of the carriage. Rubbing her eyes, she asked groggily.

“Li… Li Wei, are we almost there?”

The current Lia was vastly different from the one half a month ago. The cat's-eye-sized sapphire around her neck and the pearls on her ears were gone.

She wore a simple short-sleeved linen dress, with a white square cloth around her waist. Her golden hair was somewhat messy, and her face and arms were covered in dust.

This outfit was very similar to the commoner girls seen everywhere in Debe.

But even with deliberate smearing, it still couldn't hide her delicate face.

“Yes, Miss Lia.”

Li Wei showed a warm smile.

“In a little while, you will be able to see your aunt, Duchess Freenna.”

“Even if the current Southern Territory Duke intends to harm you, he cannot influence a powerful Duke of the Northern Territory across half of Debe. You won't have to worry anymore then.”

Listening to Li Wei's unusually respectful words, Lia felt a little uncomfortable.

For the past period, Li Wei had been calling her name directly, without any respect. Although he had taken care of her on the road, Lia felt that it was only for the thousand gold coins.

Thinking of this, Lia said solemnly:

“Li Wei, thank you for escorting me all the way. I will not mistreat you.”

“It's what I should do.” Li Wei smiled.

After busying himself for so long, it was finally time to reap the rewards. He felt a little excited thinking about it.

An hour later, the appearance of White Stream City was fully revealed before Li Wei's eyes.

This was a famous city throughout Debe. The designers had put a lot of thought into diverting the upstream river to transform it into a natural moat.

The cities in the Northern Territory were much simpler than those in the Southern Territory. There were not many extra decorations on the city walls, only flags with the “sword-biting eagle” embroidered on them. This was the symbol of the Northern Territory's lord, the Martel family.

The city walls, made of huge stones, were eighteen 'ren' high (one 'ren' is one meter), making it worthy of the title of a majestic city.

The pitted and crisscrossed marks of swords and blades on the wall proved that it had been through many trials and tribulations, but it was still safe and sound, standing here.

There was a long queue at the city gate, with local civilians and caravans pulling goods.

Even the alien races that were rarely seen in the Southern Territory were very common here.

Orcs, dwarves, gnomes…

This showed how prosperous this commercial center of the Northern Territory was.

Wow, Li Wei even saw an elf, but unfortunately, it was just a half-elf.

Li Wei, who often read Debe's popular novel 'The Adventures of Abin Kingdom,' knew more about elves than those scholars.

Generally, half-elves had slightly pointed ears and their appearance was more inclined to humans. As long as either of their human parents was not too ugly, they were generally very beautiful.

The ears of purebred elves were sharp and long, and they were all handsome men and beautiful women. Their appearance could be said to be the darlings of the gods.

Only Li Wei among humans could surpass them.

Eight halberdiers wearing silver armor were guarding a wooden box half their height at the city gate, collecting different city entrance taxes one by one.

When it was Li Wei's turn.

“I am a nobleman!”

He triumphantly took out his noble badge and showed it off, attracting envious and fearful gazes. The caravan's city entrance tax was thus waived.

The tax soldiers respectfully made way, the wheels creaked and turned, entering the city wall passage, and soon came out from the other side.

The caravan manager smiled obsequiously, holding a bucket of fine malt wine in his hands, and said to Li Wei:

“My Lord, thank you for your care along the way.”

He had picked up these three strange travelers, who seemed to be completely unrelated, in the Southern Territory. They had proactively stated their noble status and expressed their willingness to help his caravan avoid the troubles they encountered on the road.

At first, the manager didn't believe it. Which noble would do such a thing?

But the facts proved that he was telling the truth. The orc under this noble had helped him solve the bandits and robbers they encountered on the road.

The caravan's road tax alone had saved him at least a dozen gold coins.

“Hmm? Just using this to test me? Which cadre can't withstand such a test?”

Li Wei glanced at the bucket of wine in his hand and did not take it.

He had traveled west and east, worked as a mercenary, and escorted caravans.

If the caravan couldn't pay a suitable commission, he wouldn't mind moonlighting as a bandit.

A bucket of malt wine was not worth the price of a prostitute in Colon!

The caravan manager was initially confused by what Li Wei said, but after understanding it, he was filled with deep admiration.

He thought to himself, how could there be such a good thing?

Although he cursed inwardly, he still smiled flatteringly and patted his head.

“Look at my memory, I even took the wrong thing to give to you, my Lord.”

He took out a cloth bag from his waist and handed it to Li Wei: “Please accept it.”

Seeing Li Wei take it, the manager breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to take back the malt wine when the bucket in his hand was snatched away fiercely.

“This wine is also mine!”

Listening to this confident voice, the caravan manager could only stare blankly as the three figures disappeared into the crowd.