Robert took a long breath and forced himself to calm down.
Now was not the time for excitement.
He had to keep up appearances—the useless second son cast out by his family, a man with no future worth mentioning.
The corridor was empty except for the sound of his quickened footsteps echoing off the stone walls.
He turned toward the Knights' quarters. The damp air carried the heavy scent of earth mixed with oil from polished weapons.
At the edge of the training ground, beneath a faint drizzle, a tall, broad-shouldered knight was practicing alone.
Sweat darkened his brown hair and ran down his chiseled cheeks in thin rivulets.
It was Ed Fane—the "disheartened Great Knight" mentioned in the system's intelligence.
Ed halted mid-swing. When he saw Robert approaching, surprise flickered across his eyes before he composed himself and bowed slightly.
"Young Master Robert," he greeted, his voice low and firm, carrying the crisp timbre of a soldier.
"Knight Ed," Robert replied evenly, stopping a few paces away. "I am no longer a young master."
He lifted the parchment in his hand—the Duke's Pioneer Order—its wax seal still intact.
"I am now the Pioneer Lord of Blackstone Territory."
A faint furrow formed between Ed's brows. Clearly, he had already heard the rumors from the ceremony, yet he asked nothing and waited in silence for Robert's next words.
"The Duke has so 'generously' granted me two Great Knights and twenty Knights as my pioneering team," Robert said, his tone laced with self-mockery. "I need a captain for my personal guard. Knight Ed, would you be willing to accompany me to Blackstone Territory?"
Ed's head jerked up, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
Go to Blackstone Territory?
He knew what that place meant—barren lands, exile, and almost certain hardship.
But the title Captain of the Personal Guard… For a man who had spent nearly ten years as nothing more than a squad leader, it was a temptation too large to ignore—a chance to break free from stagnation.
"Blackstone Territory is harsh," Robert continued in a measured tone. "The future there is uncertain. If you follow me, you may face hardship—or even…"
He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was clear enough.
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the patter of rain on the training ground roof.
To go would be exile.
To stay was another form of imprisonment.
Finally, Ed went down on one knee, right hand pressed to his chest. His voice rang out steady and resolute.
"My Lord, Ed Fane is at your service."
A weight lifted from Robert's chest.
At last, his first ally.
Within the hour, the other Great Knight and the twenty Knights assigned to him arrived.
The second Great Knight was Bolin—a man slightly older and heavier, with the weariness of long service etched into his features. His expression was polite but perfunctory, his eyes betraying little respect for the "fallen" second son before him.
The rest of the Knights were expressionless, their hearts clearly resentful at being sent to a godforsaken frontier.
Robert didn't take offense. Human nature was predictable enough.
"Captain Ed, take the men and inventory all supplies. Prepare to depart at once," he ordered. "Knight Bolin, you'll assist Captain Ed."
Ed saluted sharply and moved to obey. Bolin's assent was slow and half-hearted, but he followed nonetheless.
Robert excused himself on the pretext of gathering some "personal belongings." Alone, he slipped away from the barracks and made his way through the drizzle toward Thunder Dragon City's East Gate.
Three hundred paces south of the gate, the rain had turned the road into a mire.
Following the system's quiet prompt, Robert soon spotted the place—a half-collapsed thatched hut, abandoned for years. The door hung crookedly from a single hinge.
Before the hut sat a cracked water vat, half-sunk into the mud and filled with brown rainwater.
Robert checked his surroundings. No one was near.
Rolling up his sleeves, he plunged his arm into the icy water, groping blindly along the bottom.
His fingers brushed against something solid—an oilcloth-wrapped bundle.
He dragged it free. It was heavy despite its modest size.
Unwrapping the soaked cloth revealed several thick coin purses.
Gold glimmered faintly even under the gray sky.
Seventeen hundred gold dragons.
For a man cast out of his home with nothing but a title, it was a fortune—a lifeline.
The system's intelligence had not lied.
That unlucky Captain Kerry, who had spent years embezzling and hiding his hoard here, could never have imagined that his secret stash would fall into the hands of the family's "useless" son.
Robert carefully rewrapped the gold and concealed it under his cloak before heading back through the rain.
An hour later, beneath the gloomy clouds over Thunder Dragon City's East Gate, a small convoy assembled.
Two carriages laden with supplies rumbled forward, flanked by twenty Knights.
At their head rode Robert and Ed, rain cloaks billowing lightly in the wind.
Above, atop the gate tower, a solitary figure watched them leave—Elliot, Robert's elder brother.
Hidden beneath a black cloak, he stood unmoving until the group vanished into the misty horizon.
The rain ceased by afternoon, but the sky remained dull and heavy.
A biting northern wind swept across the plains, carrying the smell of wet grass and distant wilderness.
Their progress was slow. The horses provided by the Duke's mansion were far from ideal, and the pack animals stumbled frequently on the muddy road.
The Knights marched in silence. When they did speak, their words were complaints—about the weather, the endless mud, and the bleak prospects of their new assignment.
Yet, under Ed's command, order was maintained.
The man truly lived up to the system's description—righteous and dependable.
As captain, he handled every task with precision: plotting the marching route, selecting camp sites, setting watches, guarding supplies, and even calming restless subordinates.
Thanks to his discipline and example, morale stayed low but stable. There were no major disputes, and the column moved with military steadiness.
During the journey, the system occasionally relayed intelligence updates to Robert.
Most were trivial—gossip from noble circles, news of a new ore vein discovered somewhere, or caravans attacked by bandits. Nothing that could change his situation.
Ten long days later, the group reached the borderlands of Blackstone Territory.
Here the scenery changed abruptly. Gone were the lush southern fields. Before them stretched a vast expanse of gray-brown wasteland, dotted with scraggly shrubs and weathered rocks.
"My Lord," Ed said, riding beside him and pointing ahead. "That dark patch in the distance should be Blackstone Town—the only sizable settlement in this territory. Shall we enter directly, or make camp outside the walls?"
According to custom, a newly appointed lord was expected to visit the main town first—to announce his arrival and establish authority.
At Ed's words, faint hope flickered on the Knights' faces. After days of open wilderness, they longed for a roof, a fire, and a hot meal.
Robert reined in his horse, but his gaze wasn't on Blackstone Town.
Instead, he looked eastward—toward a chain of desolate mountains rising against the clouds.
His decision came swiftly, without hesitation.
"We're not going to Blackstone Town," he said.
A murmur rippled through the column.
Bolin's head snapped up. "Not going to the town?" His voice rose incredulously. "Then where, my Lord? This wasteland—"
"We go east," Robert interrupted, his tone calm but absolute.
He pointed toward the mountains. "We'll survey that range and find a suitable place to establish a temporary camp."
The Knights looked at one another, startled.
Ignoring a town to build a camp in the mountains? It sounded like madness.
Bolin couldn't restrain himself. "My Lord, that's—"
"Execute the order, Knights," Robert said sharply.
The authority in his voice silenced further protest.
For a heartbeat, only the wind answered. Then Ed spurred his horse forward.
"You heard the Lord! Form up—we're heading east!"
Reluctantly, the Knights fell in line. The column turned from the road leading to Blackstone Town and began its slow ascent toward the barren peaks.
The clouds hung low, casting long shadows over the rocky ground.
Each hoofbeat splashed mud onto cloaks already caked with grime. Yet Robert rode on, his eyes fixed ahead.
Somewhere beyond those desolate hills lay the beginning of his new dominion—a land that others had abandoned, a place whispered about as cursed and hopeless.
But to Robert, it was a blank page.
The first chapter of his true life was waiting to be written.