Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

The summer weather was scorching, and only the gentle mountain breeze offered a hint of coolness.

Standing on the watchtower, Levi looked into the distance, past the dense mountain forests, to the vast grasslands beyond.

In reality, the Fede tribe was located just on the outskirts of the Cass Mountains, so standing at a high point offered a clear view of the grasslands.

The clouds cast shadows on the earth, slowly rolling across the land. The bright ground would be enveloped in shadow, only to be illuminated again shortly after.

Everything on this earth was constantly changing, but the earth itself remained unchanged, as it was before, and as it will always be.

The Northern Border and the Southern Border were about to go to war, the Deber Court's position was unclear, the wilderness was full of dangers, and the forces were complex. No king had ever unified it since ancient times.

Feeling the insignificance of his own being compared to the vastness of the heavens and earth, and the ever-changing situation, Levi's chest swelled with pride.

He couldn't help but recite into the face of the oncoming mountain breeze:

"Now a madman sharpens his knife in the night, the Emperor Star wavers, and Mars is high. Oh, the age of great contention..."

"Levi, what are you saying?"

A voice came, and it turned out that Beatrice had come up behind him at some point.

The lord's expression was blank: "I said I want to eat steamed cheese, preferably a large piece."

"Cheese? What kind of dish is that? Is it delicious?" Beatrice asked, puzzled.

"It's not a question of whether it's delicious or not, but... knowledge is power!"

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Me? I wanted to find a place to catch the breeze. I didn't expect you to be here too," Beatrice said with a smile, tucking her white hair, which had been scattered by the wind, behind her ear.

"Then enjoy the breeze. I'm going to increase my power."

Beatrice was stunned, watching the lord disappear in a puff of smoke. She couldn't understand, was cheese really that delicious?

Someone probably doesn't understand the embarrassment of a boy's chuunibyou spirit erupting, only to be caught on the spot, enough to make him dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

...

The lord didn't expect to make it in time for lunch. Several acquaintances were there.

The Fede remnants' diet was much lighter than the orcs', mostly bread with goat's milk, plus some berries, which was enough to fill them up.

Zart and the others were grabbing roasted lamb chops with their hands, tearing and chewing. Surprisingly, Mir, that kid, was mixing with the orc barbarians, eating like an orc, completely lacking the elegance of the Fede remnants.

Levi really didn't understand. This kid had the physique of a warrior and ate like a warrior, yet he liked to tinker with design.

"Brother-in-law, come and eat a piece of meat to fill your stomach. Aunt Lizhen's roasted meat is delicious today." Mir raised the roasted leg of lamb in his hand, his mouth full of grease, and the collar of his clothes was stained with a lot of oil.

Levi sat on a stool, picked up an unfamiliar berry from the plate, and took a bite: "Mir, take me to see the iron mine you discovered."

He had been in the Fede tribe for almost a day. Last night, he was busy resting, and as soon as he woke up, the Evil Tooth tribe attacked again. Only now did he have time to see the goal of this trip—the iron mine.

"Okay, brother-in-law." Seeing that Levi didn't refuse the address, Mir called out more and more diligently and naturally: "Follow me."

After quickly finishing his food, Mir led the way towards the rear of the camp.

Zart and Muto, two hicks who had never seen an iron mine, quickly finished the meat in their hands and followed when they heard they were going to see the iron mine.

The Fede remnants' camp was built in a flat canyon, with cliffs on both sides.

The shape of this camp was like a gourd, with an entrance only a few dozen blades wide, but it became wider as it went inside.

"This iron mine is at the rear of the camp. We only discovered it because of a landslide. Most of the houses in the camp were destroyed by the landslide. Fortunately, these houses were empty houses that were built in advance and no one lived in."

Mir explained, and soon led a few people to the back.

Behind was a slightly low and sloping mountain. Some Fede remnants were using iron picks to mine the ore bit by bit.

Without a doubt, this was an open-pit iron mine. There was no need to dig mine tunnels to enter the interior for mining, or rather, the entire mountain should contain iron ore.

This made the lord a little happy. After all, open-pit mining was much safer and simpler than entering a mine tunnel.

"In fact, we only discovered this iron mine a little over a month ago, so even if there are enemies attacking now, we are still mining ore day and night to improve our strength and forge equipment."

Mir said with a slight helplessness.

Originally, after discovering the ore, they were hit by surprise, but they were not overwhelmed. Instead, they strictly prohibited everyone from revealing the news to the outside world.

But there is no airtight wall in the world. It was only concealed for half a month before the Dara tribe found out, and then it spread further and further.

Mir even felt that now all the forces in the Cass Mountains knew that they had discovered an iron mine.

Levi nodded. The houses that were smashed down on the flat ground were everywhere, obviously there was no time to clean them up.

After only taking a look at the iron mine, Levi, who was relieved, rushed to the place where the Fede remnants were smelting iron.

Before he even got close, a heat wave hit his face.

On the flat ground stood one-time kilns made of clay. The Fede remnants threw pieces of ore into the kilns, which were one blade and five heights high, and then constantly pressed up and down on the simple bellows made of cowhide to keep the kilns at a high temperature.

In fact, smelting iron is far from as simple as it looks.

The mined ore cannot be used directly, but must be repeatedly calcined in the kiln to reduce the impurities until it becomes an iron blank, which can then be used to make weapons.

And this is just ordinary ironware. If you want to obtain fine steel ingots, it takes more time and the process is more complicated.

So the manufacture of a complete set of plate armor takes at least several months.

Thinking about it this way, a set of plate armor costing hundreds of gold coins is actually not very expensive.

"There is definitely not enough time to manufacture armor now, so we are all forging some iron spearheads or iron arrows."

Mir explained as he led Levi into a small house.

Zart and Muto also lowered their heads and squeezed in.

"Holy crap."

As soon as he entered, Levi was shocked.

In a small house the size of a living room in his previous life, the walls were covered with various weapon blueprints, lances, longswords, etc.

There were even detailed blueprints for various armors. What shocked Levi the most was that he actually found the design drawing of a ballista on the worktable in the middle of the house.

The details were so detailed that every required part and the cooperation between them were marked. The meticulousness and detail contained within could not be constructed by whimsical ideas alone, but must be a work born from countless researches and attempts.

"Genius... genius! One in a million genius!"

The lord opened his eyes for the first time and muttered to himself.

The corners of Mir's mouth raised slightly unconsciously, gently stroking the drawings with his hands, as gentle as a mother taking care of her child.