Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

76: Chapter 10: Level 2 Hunting 76: Chapter 10: Level 2 Hunting Roman had extremely high demands for soldiers, not only making Aaron undergo basic training but also having him and Green educate everyone culturally.

At the very least, they had to understand the relative sizes of numbers.

Many people of this age lacked numerical thinking.

Roman needed an army of the educated, not an army of the illiterate.

Educating them was of no harm to him.

For this hunting expedition, Roman personally took command, shouldering the Crack Armor Great Bow and leading his men to search the wild expanses for traces of beasts.

Hunting could satisfy some of the Nobles’ demand for meat, so it was regarded as extremely important and typically conducted in the mid to late summer or in the autumn.

If a Noble ventured into another Noble’s territory to hunt, it often sparked a war.

Generally speaking, spring was the closed season for hunting.

Because it was the season for breeding and growth.

But now spring was nearly over, and Roman had narrowly caught the deadline.

…

[Hunting Experience +1]

[Hunting Experience +1]

…

In just six short days,

Roman had taken all the Guards, combing through nearly half the northern forest.

After rigorous training, the Guards’ basic qualities had greatly improved.

No longer would they panic in the face of a Demon Beast, crumbling at the slightest touch.

Under the leadership of the three Conquest Knights and Dota, they acted quite professionally.

Now, they even dared to confront a brown bear with shields raised and then thrust out with their sharp spears.

Five Guards could strangle a brown bear weighing a thousand pounds.

This was also a sort of drill for the troops, to let them taste blood.

The area was abnormally rich in natural resources, with an abundance of wildlife.

During these days of sweeping through, they killed more than ten wild boars, two bears, six mountain deer, and numerous mid-sized animals like roe deer, foxes, lynxes, and gray wolves.

As for small animals like birds, squirrels, badgers, rabbits, and pheasants, they were too numerous to count.

For pregnant or juvenile wild boars, bears, and deer, Roman chose to spare their lives.

Even so, this brought in more than seventy thousand pounds of various meats.

This made him somewhat regretful.

He should’ve come to hunt earlier; at least that might have filled some gaps in their food supply.

But on the other hand, after surviving the winter, the game’s weight decreased by spring, and it had only been in these last two to three months that they regained their weight.

Had he hunted at the start of spring, the yield of meat would definitely have been less.

The over three hundred small cattle and horses of Origin Manor were busy for a long time, skinning the hides whole and pickling the organs—these too were edible.

Finally, they dismembered all the carcasses and hung them up to dry.

So for the foreseeable months, the pigs and sheep in the livestock sheds had managed to dodge a bullet.

…

[Level 2 Hunting: 5380]

[Milestone Unlock: Sharp Eye]

[Sharp Eye: Gain 500 original stones]

…

As expected, the “Hunting” Skill leveled up to 2.

One benefit was unlocking a complete foundation of wilderness survival knowledge.

The second was the unlocking of blueprints for bows and Crossbow Arrows.

Roman was extremely interested in this.

But unable to make these weapons for the time being, he had no choice but to shelve the idea.

He originally intended to continue hunting northward.

Now, as the party ventured deep into the forest, nearing the northern mountain range, transporting the game became a major issue, requiring more manpower to manage.

Moreover, the arrival of a piece of news interrupted Roman’s plan to continue hunting.

Daken had arrived.

…

The boat surged, and the roaring of the rapids echoed in their ears.

“We’re almost there.”

He tightly held his younger sister’s hand with his youthful grasp, straining his body to give her space to breathe.

Her complexion was sallow, an extremely unhealthy color.

She was suffering from seasickness.

They were born in a coastal fishing village, but his sister had never been on a boat since she was a child.

He, on the other hand, often followed his father out to sea to fish.

Yet, even his exquisite fishing skills couldn’t stand up to pirates.

He witnessed the small fishing village go up in flames, his parents falling one after the other to bloody axes, and he and his sister became slaves that night, both sold to a slave trader.

Over the past half-month, they had changed hands several times, wandering and drifting, never sleeping soundly at night.

More and more slaves joined them, dazedly following the orders of the slave trader, moving toward the next destination.

Their weakening bodies could only feel intense tiredness and hunger, with no foundation for resistance.

But regardless, he had to look after his sister.

She was the only family he had left.

“Hang in there…”

He didn’t know how many times he had said it, but he couldn’t come up with any more words to comfort his sister at this moment.

The physical agony didn’t subside in the least, no matter what words were spoken.

When would this arduous journey end?

He didn’t know.

His sister became immune to his repetitive and clumsy reassurances, murmuring blankly, “Can we really survive this?”

“We can!” he said, though with little conviction.

“Brother, throw me overboard and let me die.

Then I can go find mom and dad, and I won’t have to suffer like this anymore.”

When he heard her say this, he just felt heartbroken, knowing his sister was reaching her limit to utter such desperate words.

He didn’t say anything, just held her tightly in his arms.

Especially here, where the river was tumultuous, the boat pitching severely as if eager to toss off its slave cargo.

He gripped his sister’s wrist even tighter as the crowd swayed violently with the motion of the boat.

The air on the ship was rife with a foul stench; some people were seasick, but with nothing in their stomachs, they could only vomit bile.

Then, he heard a splash – someone had either fallen into the water or been pushed overboard by other slaves.

Whichever it was, that poor soul was beyond saving.

He fought against the rocking of the ship as best as he could, dragging his sister toward the mast to avoid becoming the next unlucky ones.

The journey was extremely difficult and inevitably meant bumping into many people.

Along the way, he stepped on some bodies and limbs, but he didn’t apologize, and those who were stepped on didn’t react, lying numb on the deck, stacked upon each other, half-dead – no wonder they were being thrown overboard.

Arriving at the mast, he held his sister in his arms, and even such small movements drained all his energy.

Looking up, all he could see were the steep mountains and rocks.

The entire sky was squeezed into a thin line by the encircling mountains, with white rapids weaving through the valley.

He persevered with effort, occasionally speaking to his sister to catch her attention and keep her spirit from being overwhelmed by the grim voyage.

After what felt a long while, the ship began to calm down.

He finally heaved a sigh of relief and felt overwhelmingly sleepy.

Just as he was about to drift off, he suddenly felt the ship lurch as if it had hit something.

Instinctively, he knew they had reached the shore.

Soon, he heard the slave trader and guards shouting commands, urging them to get up and disembark quickly.

Most slaves were nearly unsteady on their feet as they landed, causing delays.

But eventually, everyone managed to get off.

He waited until everyone had disembarked, took some time to regain strength, pulled his sister along, and followed the flow of people off the boat.

Upon landing, he realized this was their final destination.

Observing the surroundings carefully, he saw that this remote place was unsuitable for an escape with his sister.

Of course, he had neither the desire nor the energy to run away.

Everything was built upon the most basic survival, and the two of them alone couldn’t make it.

If they died, that would be the end of everything.

He followed the direction in which the slave trader had hurried off and spotted a sight in the distance: a young man riding a white horse, carrying a large bow, dressed in hunting attire, with his hair tied at the forehead.

The sun was particularly intense that day, as if the last traces of spring attracted the enthusiasm of the summer heat.

The man rode in, the brilliant sunlight seeming to pave the way for him.

His already strong physique appeared radiant; his brown-black, messy long hair resembled that of a majestic lion, and his crimson eyes were especially dazzling.