There was only one person when he came, but when he returned, there were eight people.

From those five high-ranking knights, Jiang Feng promoted a knight named Buck and appointed him as the head of the guard of the wizard tower, responsible for the defense, patrol, and training of the outer walls of the wizard tower.

The knight named Buck was born into a family of local barons from the far eastern continent of Norin, and was captured in a war with the infidels. Due to the reluctance of the family and the lord to pay the ransom, they were taken to the stubborn stone town by slave traders several times to sell, and they happened to be bought by Jiang Feng.

Because he had previously held a command position in the army, his personality was relatively calm, and as one of the knights who entered the secret realm with him, Jiang Feng was still relatively trustworthy in terms of ability and loyalty, so he handed over this important position to him.

As for the other four knights, they were assigned to Buck by Jiang Feng as his subordinates.

The group walked on the desert for three days and three nights, and finally arrived at the Thorn Wasteland.

After replenishing the border villages with fresh water and food, Jiang Feng saw that the sky was already dark, so he ordered to rest here until tomorrow morning, asked Makalu to find an idle hotel to charter, and then wandered around the town.

The season is approaching late autumn, and the air is already cool, maybe another month, or maybe half a month, this dry yellow street will be covered with a layer of hoarfrost. The boots rustled on the street, and Jiang Feng looked around casually as he walked.

Except for those dressed as travelers and mercenaries, most of the pedestrians on the street looked yellow and thin, and malnourished. From the clothes and the dishes on their faces, it is not difficult to see that their lives are not very good.

Strictly speaking, the village was part of his domain.

However, with the administrative efficiency of this world, it is difficult to bring such remote villages under its jurisdiction, and even tax collectors are rarely dispatched. After all, the people living here are like weeds, maybe the winter wind blows more violently one year, and they will not be found in the spring of the next year.

The soil of the Thorn Heath is poor and unsuitable for the growth of conventional crops. In addition to growing a limited number of drought-tolerant crops, most of the lords derive their income from minerals, gathering, and grazing, and their living standards are often below the extreme poverty line.

Jiang Feng noticed that many caravans passing by here would use their goods to exchange ore from those farmers.

This is undoubtedly illegal, and all resources within the territory belong to the lord, whether it is prey, minerals, or sand on the ground. According to the laws of the kingdom of Rick, poaching and mining can be punishable by hanging at the highest level.

But even if he saw it, he didn't step forward to stop it.

For him, it was only a matter of a few silver coins, but for these poor people, it was up to them whether they would survive the coming winter.

"It seems that we still have to rush to the lower Lembert side, and we have to promote potato seeds as soon as possible."

"There is also industry, and it is a waste to use the mineral reserves of the Thorn Wasteland to develop agriculture. Dump manufactured products produced in the Thorn Wasteland into the southern city-states to solve the food deficit through imports...... But when it comes to this, traffic is also a problem. ”

Glancing at the caravan at the entrance of the village, Jiang Feng thought in his heart, when the steel production goes up, why don't you get the steam train out first?

Anyway, the technology tree in this world has been crooked by him, and it doesn't seem bad to continue to be crooked.

In any case, this is also their own territory, and it is also their own territory that benefits from development.

It is far more efficient to obtain precious metals from the indigenous people through trade than to explore and mine them yourself.

……

Three days later, the group made their way through the barren plains and finally reached the northwest of the Thorn Wasteland.

Looking at the Wizard Tower that was close at hand, thinking that the clean and comfortable bed and bathtub were waiting for him in front of him, Jiang Feng's brows stretched slightly. Although the journey was not boring, it still accumulated a lot of fatigue.

When he returned, he took a hot bath to wash off his fatigue, and then rested for a few days. As for those troublesome things, you can wait until later.

The group came to the bottom of the suspension bridge, and Jiang Feng took off the hood on his head.

Seeing the return of the wizard, the soldiers on the gatehouse immediately raised the drawbridge and the city gate.

Before Jiang Feng could pass through the gatehouse, an emerald green shadow floated over like the wind and crashed into Jiang Feng's arms.

"Emily?" Jiang Feng was slightly stunned.

"Hmph...... I knew you were lying to me, you weren't in retreat or anything, but you ran out secretly. Really, it's so! Her eyes were filled with mist of grievances, and Emily lowered her head, bit her lip lightly, and said glutinously, "...... Don't you hate me anymore? ”

"How is that possible, I just ...... Because I have some things to deal with, it's not convenient to take you with me. ”

Looking at Emily with a face full of grievances, Jiang Feng suddenly felt his head grow for a while.

I didn't tell her where I went at the beginning, mainly because I was worried that this little girl would run around and cause him a lot of trouble. It's just that he didn't think that this time he would be delayed for so long because of the secret feast, which still made this little girl see a hint of clues.

Jiang Feng looked at the staircase not far away, only to see Leia scratching her cheeks with an embarrassed expression and looking to the side.

The look of apology seemed to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't hide it from her." ”

Just when Jiang Feng was hesitating what to say, the small hand resting on his chest suddenly clenched slightly, and his trembling shoulders no longer trembled. Immediately afterwards, the little face buried in his chest slowly moved away for half a minute, and the big jewel-like eyes dodged like a deer for a while, and finally mustered up the courage to raise it slightly and meet Jiang Feng's gaze.

"That ......" Biting her lip slightly, Emily raised her head and looked at Jiang Feng, her expression was like that of a child who had made a mistake, and whispered aggrievedly, "In the future, Emily will be very well-behaved, so ...... Don't leave Emily alone in the future, okay? ”

Was it worried about this?

Looking at the eyes full of apprehension and grievances, Jiang Feng's Adam's apple moved slightly, and after being silent for a moment, he said softly.

“…… Okay, I promise you. ”

The big eyes reflected the light of hope, but still with a hint of disbelief, he whispered to confirm.

"Really?"

"Really."

"That," Emily quickly stretched out her little thumb, her nervous look, as if she was afraid that Jiang Feng would regret it, "Pull the hook hook?" ”

That look was hard to refuse.

Jiang Feng stretched out his right hand.

The two little fingers, one big and one small, hooked together and shook tightly twice.

The expression of grievance and loss was swept away, and a bright smile finally bloomed on the porcelain doll-like face.

Seeing Emily regain her cheerful appearance, Jiang Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he didn't know why, why he was so nervous.

Rubbing Emily's hair, Jiang Feng paused for a moment and looked at Leia.

"Leia, I brought some seeds back from Boulder Town, can you help me take them to the Botanical Garden first?" Also, come to my study in a moment. Emily...... Can you help me get the transcript of last month's monthly exam? ”

"Hmmm! Leave it to me. ”

Emily, rejuvenated, nodded energetically and bounced out of the porch.

Looking at her sister's back, Leia sighed and walked over to Jiang Feng. When she took the package containing the seeds from Jiang Feng's hand, she glanced at Misha who was standing behind him, and her eyebrows slightly provoked a hint of suspicion, but in the end she didn't say anything, turned around and disappeared around the corner.

"Misha."

"What's the matter? Master. Misha, who was standing behind Jiang Feng, said softly.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Feng made an arrangement.

"Go to the apartment on the west side of the wall, and find a man named Remiles, who is the head maid here. Ask her to arrange a separate dormitory for you, and remember to tell her that you are my very own maid. ”

"Yes, master." Misha nodded meekly.

"Also," after a pause, Jiang Feng continued, "After dinner, come to my laboratory. ”

Leaving this sentence, Jiang Feng walked in the direction of the study.