Chapter 1 Lear, the pioneer lord

July 8775, 7 of the Glorious Era, in the main plane of Nor, the Griffin Kingdom, the city of Loran.

"Mr. Administrative Officer, the town of Knad was captured by a group of bloody Nagas yesterday evening. All the 1300 people in the town had their hearts taken out. No one survived!"

"The Falcon Knights found their traces in a passage leading to the underground world 3 miles away from the town. The guard corps is currently gathering, and three squadrons of the Griffin Corps will participate in the cleanup."

The Chief Political Officer of Loran City, with a hooked nose, blue eyes, a half-bald head, and a belly bigger than that of an eight-month pregnant woman, sat behind a desk piled with documents, looking through the gaps between the pages at his subordinates who were reporting to him, with a bad tone.

"Those damn underground bastards will be cleaned up sooner or later!"

"Send twenty clerks to the town of Knard to handle the aftermath. At the same time, select a new mayor to go there, and recruit residents from the refugees in the city to fill the town's population."

"As you command, my lord."

"Has the village destroyed by ogres last month been rebuilt?"

"Not yet. It's expected to be by the end of the month, but the recruitment process is very slow. The village has been destroyed three times this year, and the refugees in the city are unwilling to go there."

The civil servant rubbed his temples in pain.

"Do you have anything else to do with this matter that you can figure out on your own?"

"Sir, this is the list of pioneer lord applications that have just been submitted."

"Wasn't the list submitted five days ago?"

"Sir, someone else submitted it the evening before yesterday," he said with some hesitation in his tone.

“Perhaps you will be interested.”

Hearing what he said, the political officer also became curious. He took the list, flipped through it a few times, and saw the names of the additional people.

"Lil Ayers?. The Ayers Family?!!"

There was some emotion on his fat face, and finally he let out a long sigh.

"That guy Els has been dead for ten years. Has his family fallen to the point where they have to become pioneer lords?"

"Who is this Lil Ayers and where does he live?"

"Sir, the other party is the only descendant of the Els family. He moved to the ninth block three years ago."

"Ninth Block?!"

"Yes."

After a long silence, he closed the file with a complicated expression.

"Send it to the Grand Duke."

After his subordinates left, he looked out the window, lost in thought.
The Ninth Street, a street regarded as a sewer and garbage dump by the nobles of Loran City, is the scene of robbery, theft, murder and other evil deeds every night.

The air was filthy, filled with the pungent stench of urine and sewers, and flies could be seen hovering everywhere.

This is a dirty place that the outside world doesn't even want to take a second look at, and even missionaries who are keen on converting lost people to God rarely set foot there.

But this filthy area is home to more than 100,000 poor people.

Lear walked through the winding alleys, carefully avoiding the dirt and filth on the ground and stepping over puddles of dark, smelly sewage. The stench in the air made his eyes a little red.

The poor people who passed by him had dull eyes and pale faces. Most of them were wearing tattered linen clothes, and some of their clothes even had more patches than the original cloth.

Some older residents stepped directly into the stinking puddle, letting the black water wet their trouser legs, with numb expressions, like walking corpses.

Even though he had been in this world for three days, Lear still found it hard to endure it all.

He sped up, turned a few corners, and came to a low house covered with black moss. He looked at the rusty lock on it and let out a long breath.

Just twist it gently and it opens directly without any key.

Push the door open and enter.

The room is about ten square meters and there is no furniture.

In the corner stood a tattered, calf-high bed with only two blackened blankets on it.

The most intuitive image of a bare house is revealed.

Li Er didn't mind and sat on the bed, but as soon as his butt touched it, he felt uncomfortable.

He reached out and pulled out two fist-sized pieces of bread from under the bed. They were black and hard like stones, with a circle of deep teeth marks on them.

Black bread!
He smiled bitterly. Even a dog would hate this thing if it were given to them, but it was his food!

He put the black bread aside and stared blankly at the wall next door through the window which was half an arm's width.

Time travel.

It sounds easy to say, but when it really happens to you, you realize how heavy it is.

After all, he sacrificed his life to save others in the water. Why did he end up in such a fucked-up world?
The civilization level of this world is about that of medieval Europe, but it has extraordinary powers! There are even gods!
The gods who hold power are high above us and can punish us at will, destroying cities and exterminating entire clans.

The sect spreads the glory of God everywhere and proclaims that God loves the world.

Evil dragons lurk in the mountains and valleys, often plundering treasures and destroying towns.

Demons, undead spirits, devils and all kinds of evil creatures perform bloody sacrifices every day to please the evil gods.

The evil creatures from the underground world would appear on the surface from time to time and slaughter humans.

Various powerful races are rampant in the wild, ready to attack towns and slaughter civilians at any time.

Wars rage on and racial conflicts rage like wildfire.

Materials are scarce, means of production are backward, civilization is stagnant, the extraordinary people are enslaved, classes are seriously stratified, and knowledge is monopolized by aristocrats and sects. All kinds of elements are almost gathered!
The body he occupied was the descendant of a fallen noble, with no awakening power, no family wealth, no social status, and was just an ordinary person with no sense of existence.
In this fantasy world with extraordinary powers, ordinary people are like pigs, insignificant and at the mercy of others.

Even wanting to live a stable life is a luxury.

Because the family wealth had long been dissipated, the original body could only survive in places like the Ninth Block where the poor gathered.

What's even more terrible is that three days ago, the original body actually applied to inherit the title that had been deprived of his family.

According to the laws of the Griffin Kingdom, the descendants of nobles who have been deprived of their titles must become pioneer lords if they want to inherit the title!
"Little Els, you're back? I heard that you applied to inherit the title?" A low voice at the door interrupted his thoughts. Lear turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in his early fifties leaning half of his body into the room, looking at him with a little worry.

His hair is gray, his hands are covered with calluses, and his body is a little thin due to long-term lack of nutrition.

Lear, who possessed the memories of his original self, recognized the other person immediately.

My current neighbor, Jem, works at the dock. He was also a powerful knight when he was young and knows a lot about the outside world.

He has a cheerful and generous personality. Even when he was in the slums, he was very caring towards his original self. He fainted from hunger several times and it was the other person who took out food to save him.

"Uncle Jim."

The middle-aged man looked at Lear's somewhat pale face, opened his mouth, wanted to say something, and finally sighed.

“Why is this happening?”

"Do you know what is in the wilderness?"

"Orcs, barbarians, scavengers, vampires, drow, serpent-men, cultists, undead."

"There are passages connecting to the dark and dangerous underground world, space rifts connecting to mysterious and terrifying alternate dimensions, and there are also ancient evil spirits and demons that attempt to subvert order."

“There is no such thing as safety in the wilderness.”

"The Empire has not conquered this area in thousands of years!"

"Life in the city is a little harder, but at least we can still survive."

"Once you go to the wilderness and become a pioneer lord, nothing will be up to you!"

"I know you want to inherit the title, but this time, alas..."

Jem's tone was very complicated.

The childish look on the other person's face when he moved to the slums three years ago is still fresh in his mind. He watched this boy grow up and could not bear to see him die.

Baron Els died of an old injury ten years ago, and within a few years, the family declined.

The laws of the Griffin Kingdom stipulate that if no one inherits the title within seven years after the death of a noble, the title will automatically be lost.

The first condition for inheriting the title is to be an adult at the age of 16. As the only descendant of the House of Ayrs, Lear had just turned 15 three years ago.

The Els family, with no one able to inherit the title, was directly expelled from the nobility.

If the descendants of nobles who have lost their titles want to inherit the titles again, they must become pioneer lords and occupy new lands for the kingdom!
But is it so easy to be a reclamation lord?
The Griffin Kingdom has been established for 2,200 years, but it has only encroached on a thousand miles of wilderness!

But what is the price? For more than two thousand years, the bodies of the land reclamation lords could be piled up into a magnificent mountain! A magnificent city could be built on the sea!
How many pioneer lords are there alive? !
Jem took a deep breath.

"Grand Duke Loran will personally review and approve every pioneering lord."

“I just hope the emperor will not be fair.”

He suddenly swallowed his words halfway through his sentence and turned his head alertly to look towards the entrance of the alley.

Lear noticed something strange and looked through the crack in the door.

Tread~
Tread~
A soldier wearing black armor with a soaring falcon pattern engraved on his chest, a hooked nose and blue eyes strode over with a cold face.

After approaching the house, he confirmed the house number on it, walked past Jem, strode into the house, and handed a yellowed paper to Lear.

The blood-red seal on it is particularly eye-catching——

Griffin Empire - Grand Duke of Loran
The soldier's tone was stiff.

"Lil Els, your application for pioneer lord has been approved by the Grand Duke."

"At ten o'clock tomorrow morning, gather at the Grand Duke's residence to receive the development supplies and choose the territory to be developed."

"This is the pioneering order and the document of succession to the barony title of the Els family."

"Congratulations on taking back your family's title, Baron Li'l Ayers."

After saying these routine words, without waiting for Lear's response, he turned around and walked out of the house with an impatient and cold face.

The stench along the way almost made him explode. If it weren't for the military order, he would never set foot in such a hellhole in his life!

Damn it!

There is no profit to be made by giving orders to such a poor idiot.
There are always ignorant people who want to achieve success overnight!
What is the wilderness?
Even he, a high-level knight of level 10, didn't dare to get involved easily.

We also want to expand territory and build towns on it. Isn't this just courting death?

After the messenger left, Jem looked at the document in Lear's hand and fell silent.

Lear looked at the document in his hand and was speechless.

The original body was really overwhelmed by the hardship and hopeless life. He thought that he would die if he stayed here, so he might as well take a chance, inherit the title, and make a fortune outside the city.

However, before he could go, he fell down because of his weak body.

Now, he is going to fulfill the other party's dream of becoming a lord.

According to the laws of the Griffin Empire, anyone who voluntarily applies to become a pioneer lord, refuses to go to the wilderness, or fails to obey orders under other excuses, will be treated as a deserter and sentenced to hanging.

In this world of extraordinary power, even escape is impossible.
Li Er took a deep breath, his eyes looking somewhat complicated.

Is it so difficult to even live in this world?
At this moment, a blue light suddenly appeared in my mind.

The light gradually condensed and then turned into a panel.

There are densely packed words on it——

"It is detected that you have become a lord. The intelligence system is automatically turned on. The current intelligence can be refreshed."

Intelligence system? ! !

Li Erteng stood up suddenly!
The joy in my heart exploded.

(End of this chapter)