Blom had already arrived at the town gate, so naturally, Luo De couldn't leave him standing there.

Luo De promptly invited Baron Blom into the town.

"My soldiers will camp outside the town."

Baron Blom proactively requested, "The weather is quite refreshing now, and there aren't many mosquitoes outside, camping is quite comfortable."

Luo De understood that Baron Blom was trying to avoid suspicion.

Including the previous occasion at the Black Pine Ridge border, only after Gang Le sent out the letter did Blom bring his soldiers forward.

Blom originally brought thirty elite soldiers to support Luo De, but after encountering Gang Le, he dismissed half, leaving only fifteen with him now.

Luo De's gaze swept over Baron Blom's fifteen soldiers.

"Camping outside isn't as comfortable as a hotel."

Luo De turned around and smiled, "Let's go, since you dare to enter my town alone, I'm certainly not worried about these fifteen soldiers."

"Thank you for your trust."

Baron Blom nodded slightly and followed Luo De into the town.

Blom had visited Frost Leaf Town before.

He passed by when he first took office, so he could witness the changes in the town.

The originally crude and simple village had now truly transformed into a heavily fortified stronghold.

Tall spiked fences surrounded the perimeter, deep ditches filled with spikes, and towering watchtowers.

Blom could vaguely see archers with bows patrolling back and forth at the edge of the fences.

Such defenses were almost second only to those of walled cities.

The once uneven dirt roads had also become smooth and level.

Blom couldn't help but look down and carefully observe, as if fine sand mixed with something was paved on the road.

Blom thought, even stepping on it barefoot shouldn't hurt.

Originally sparse with people, Frost Leaf Town was now bustling, with townspeople busily coming and going without pause.

The key was that their faces were filled with smiles, as if they were anticipating something.

Blom felt a surge of astonishment.

In merely half a year, Lord Luo De had transformed this place to such a state?

How many gold coins did he invest?

How much support did the Tulip Clan provide?

Blom's shock wasn't as superficial as that of an ordinary merchant; he thought more deeply.

——Being a lord himself, he understood the enormous effort required to accomplish these tasks.

Blom instinctively wanted to ask Luo De how he did it, but such matters involved lordly secrets, and he ultimately chose to remain silent.

His gaze swept across the town and noticed that apart from other changes, there were many new wooden houses.

"Baron Rod, may I ask what that is?"

Blom looked up at the distant mountaintop and asked curiously.

Luo De followed his pointed direction and calmly replied, "A windmill."

"A rather special decoration, looks pretty but is not very useful in practice."

Luo De responded casually without blushing or skipping a beat.

Every merchant who came here asked about the windmill, and Luo De was used to making things up.

Blom nodded, a hint of doubt crossing his eyes, but he still agreed, "Indeed, it looks quite nice."

Due to the harvest festival,

townspeople moved their tables out, arranging them along the main street into a long line, occupying almost all space in the square and along the north-south street.

Frost Leaf Town now had over 1,200 people, and the required space far exceeded expectations, while the amount of food prepared was equally enormous.

The harvest festival would last an entire day, and the amount of bread and meat required was astonishing.

All the women in town were busy, while the men were responsible for setting up the venue.

Blom watched the bustling crowd with awe in his heart.

Luo De, not waiting for him to inquire, proactively invited him, "We're holding a harvest festival here tomorrow, and you're welcome to stay and join us."

"Thank you for your invitation."

Blom nodded slightly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

The harvest festival was a tradition familiar in almost every part of this world, maybe known by different names, but with similarly styled banquets.

Blom was no stranger to it.

The Ice Blade Valley used to hold harvest festivals too.

But due to the Blade Brotherhood, Blom had to shelve those plans, focusing entirely on dealing with those robbers.

Luo De led Blom into the hall, and the maid Leah served them brewed herbal tea.

"Originally, I shouldn't have disturbed you."

Once seated, Blom spoke first, "I'm here mainly to discuss the division of spoils from the Blade Brotherhood with you."

Luo De nodded,

"Please go ahead."

"Before your subordinates arrived at Chaotic Stone Village, I had already cleared the area, seizing 38,000 catties of grain."

"This grain was stolen from me."

Blom frowned slightly, speaking with a hint of embarrassment, "I need this grain desperately."

"But I deeply understand that it was your army that defeated the main force of the Blade Brotherhood."

"So, these spoils should also belong to you."

After hesitating for a while, Blom finally said, "How about we split the grain in half, what do you think?"

Luo De raised an eyebrow, surprised that Blom came here for this matter.

Luo De had thought the other party wouldn't give him any grain at all.

After all, Gang Le had returned empty-handed, having done nothing.

This gesture of goodwill from Baron Blom surprised Luo De.

Luo De nodded, "Alright."

"It's just that my territory lacks grain."

After a moment of hesitation, Baron Blom asked, "I want to buy your half, or even purchase more grain from you."

"Well..."

Luo De pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "I can sell you that half of the spoils, but there's no extra grain."

It's not that Luo De was being stingy, he needed to keep enough grain to plan for future development.

He was willing to sell Baron Blom that half of the spoils due to Blom's goodwill in coming here, which is why he agreed to it.

"But I don't want gold coins, I hope you can exchange that grain for slaves."

"No problem."

Baron Blom nodded readily, breathing a sigh of relief.

He chuckled heartily, "My town has gathered quite a lot of refugees from the Razor Plain this year."

"This year, we don't have enough food, so these slaves are just right for you."

Blom lowered his head and calculated, "Among those grains, there's some wheat, if exchanged for slaves, I can give you eight strong male slaves, or twelve young women."

"Just men then," Rod made the choice.

"No problem, happy to cooperate."

Blom nodded slightly and said, "I'll send someone to send a message back soon and then send the people over."

"Okay."

Rod nodded, shifting the topic, he asked, "Has the town in the Razor Plain been completely destroyed?"

"Ha."

Baron Blom's expression turned cold, his eyes filled with disdain as he recalled, "Those people deserved to be slaughtered by the Alien Race!"

"They conspired with the Alien Race to harm their own lord, they deserved such punishment!"

Nobles easily empathize with other nobles.

Such rebellious actions against one's superiors are regarded as taboo by all nobles.

Regardless of Blom's peaceful relations with the Lord of the Razor Plain, even if there was animosity between the two, Baron Blom would despise such behavior of murdering one's own lord.

This is also one of the foundations for maintaining aristocratic rule.

Rod took a relaxed view of these matters, everyone relied on their own abilities.

However, in Rod's opinion, colluding with the Alien Race wasn't good.

"Sigh, the Lord of the Razor Plain is truly pitiful."

Rod sighed and then asked, "So you haven't stepped into the Razor Plain?"

Baron Blom shook his head slightly, "There are too many affairs in the Ice Blade Valley, I don't have the energy to focus on the Razor Plain."

"Also, the Alien Race is rampant there, best not to tread lightly."

Baron Blom then asked, "Do you have a map of the Northern Wilderness?"

Rod nodded, then had the maid Leia bring out the map.

Blom took a look, frowning slightly, "Your map has quite a few blanks, this large area in the north is missing."

Rod was surprised, this map was his standard one.

Ah?

Apart from some private markers for Black Pine Ridge, all necessary details are there.

Before Rod could react, Blom said:

"Could you please notify my men and have them bring my map over."

"Alright."

Rod immediately had a guard send a message, and Baron Blom's soldiers soon brought over the new map.

Spreading it out on the table, Rod let out a long sigh.

Indeed it was more detailed than his own map.

Baron Blom wasted no words, pointing at the map as he introduced, "Not just the Razor Plain, but the Shadow Forest to the north, Ice Fang Mountain, Wolf Howling Hills are all occupied by Alien Race."

"I've contacted the Lord of Long Winter Town in the west, he says there are traces of Alien Race in the northwest too."

Baron Blom drew a line across the map with his finger, "This means, from here to the north it's occupied by Alien Race!"

"This is also what I wanted to discuss with you, we must unite to curb their expansion!"

Rod nodded slightly, indeed, we cannot let the Alien Race continue to develop.

"But this winter isn't a good time, our soldiers aren't as resilient against the cold as the Alien Race."

"Defensive measures only in winter."

Blom agreed.

"I agree with your views, the plan can be executed starting next summer, we need to amass strength in the remaining time."

Rod stood up, looking at the map, asking, "Can I make a copy of your map?"

"Of course, please go ahead."

Rod immediately had Leia summon Avril to the hall.

Rod introduced Avril to Blom, though without clarifying Avril's identity.

The crux of the matter being the difficulty to explain and having to fabricate another lie.

Rod introduced Avril's identity as a scholar by his side.

Avril indeed lived up to this name.

After all, she had studied quite a bit on herbalism, Wildman language, and Magical Beast studies.

Copying maps was even easier for Avril.

"Really did not expect you to have such a beautiful and noble lady sage."

Blom slightly nodded and bowed to Avril,

"Her demeanor is quite like that of a noble."

"Thank you for your praise."

Avril bowed and then followed Rod's instructions to begin the copy.

Meanwhile, Rod habitually poured a cup of floral tea for Avril, and she naturally accepted it, took a sip, and continued working.

Such small gestures were observed by Blom, realizing Avril might not only be a sage but possibly a lover.

"Copying might take a while."

Rod turned to Baron Blom, "If you feel weary after a day's journey, you can return to the inn for some rest, I'll return the map to you tomorrow."

"Hmm, alright, just as I will send someone to notify for the slave delivery."

Baron Blom nodded slightly.

Rod then had a guard escort him to the inn for a rest.

"Thank you for your hard work, Avril."

Rod sat beside Avril, saying, "No hurry, it's okay if you don't finish copying today, we can delay by a day."

"I should be able to manage."

Avril looked over the two maps, smiling sweetly, "I'll be done soon, you don't need to stay with me, go ahead."

"Okay."

Rod stood up, "Take care to rest."

After offering a word, Rod left the manor to continue his tasks.

The harvest festival is approaching, fearing everyone would slack off, Rod had to be highly alert, inspecting the Blacksmith Shop, paper mill, granary, and so on.

Meanwhile, Rod also had to make preparations for winter.

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