Starting Life as a Baron

Alan sat in a carriage with soft cushions and a decent amount of space with a slightly pale face. He wore a gorgeous silk robe of high quality. Surrounding the carriage were twenty battle-ready soldiers. They were tall, burly, and dressed in leather armor with swords in hand.

At the front of the carriage was a knight in proper armor riding a warhorse. There were five carriages behind Alan’s that carried the supplies, such as food, clothes, and the like. Following those carriages were a small group of maids and male servants led by an old meticulously dressed butler.

“I have left the home that I have lived in for sixteen years. And now I have no idea what kind of territory the Earl has given to me,” Alan said.

A look of helplessness covered Alan’s face. Sixteen years ago, he crossed into this world and became the second son of Earl Albert, the current patriarch of the Bramble Flower family.

This was a world filled with swords and magic. Nobles could practice fighting using spirits and magic while becoming a powerful existence beyond mortals. Alan yearned to be a powerful and cool knight or a mysterious magician.

As the second son of an Earl, he had good spirit affinity and enough financial resources to support his growth. He even had a father who was an eighth-level knight as an instructor. However, after training for ten years, Alan only had a weak level of mana. As a child of a big family, Alan’s power could only be said to be extremely poor.

Everyone thought that a waste like Alan would not become a knight in his lifetime. If he charged onto the battlefield, he would not complete any meritorious deeds. Since he had no future as a knight, the Earl of Bramble Flower found a noble magician to train Alan in the hopes that he possessed magical talents, but it was not so.

When Alan was ten he was no longer trained by the family since he had no future as a knight or a magician. Alan lived with the Earl until he became sixteen years of age and was then entrusted with Rose, the territory at the edge of the land, in order to become a vassal for the family.

Alan hoped that Rose would be a nice place, but sighed, as he was a little worried about his future. The Earl was obviously disappointed with him and sent him out of the house to get rid of him. Since the death of Alan’s mother, the Earl had become more and more unwilling to see him.

Alan was preoccupied with his thoughts while traveling. The team had been away for most of the day and were expected to arrive at the territory by tomorrow at noon. The time passed quickly, and under the guard of the knight and the twenty brave soldiers, Allan successfully arrived at his territory.

Alan was disappointed with what he saw. As the most basic territory under the Earl, Rose was not as beautiful as its name made it sound. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides and the largest inland sea of the entire principality on the fourth side. The only way to get in and out of Rose was the rugged mountain road that Alan had come from.

The people in the town were all a sickly yellow color and as thin as a board. Alan could see their tattered clothes as the people curiously looked at the luxurious carriage engraved with the Bramble Flower emblem. They all knew that their new lord sat in the carriage.

“Oh, Alan, look. There is nothing here but poor land. Hell, is it really possible to live here?” The Financial Officer Sparrow complained as he rode up to Alan’s window.

The middle-aged man with a mustache was an assistant that was assigned by Earl Albert to help Alan, but the Officer’s face did not look well. He saw a lot of barren fields, muddy roads, jaundiced civilians, and poverty. This made him extremely dissatisfied. There was no chance for Sparrow to earn a fortune here, and he even suspected that he would starve to death.

Needless to say, Alan also understood the seriousness of the matter. He originally thought that the Earl would give him a good fief so that he could live a stable and prosperous life. He did not think that Rose would be so poor. The carriage soon arrived at the lord’s manor. It was a two story castle, but it seemed to have been abandoned. The building was dilapidated and in desperate need of repairs. “Damn! What was the previous lord doing before!?! Can people really live in such a shabby place?” Asked Edward, Alan’s old housekeeper.

Edward’s face showed his distaste. He had chosen to follow Alan, unlike Sparrow who was forced to. Edward had followed Alan’s mother before and had watched as he grew up. He was extremely loyal and caring towards Alan.

“Forget it, Grandpa Edward. It can become a nice place to live. Have the servants move everything in. I hope it will not rain anytime soon, otherwise, I do not know how many places will leak,” Alan said with a wry smile.

Edward sighed and looked lovingly at the handsome boy in front of him.

“Okay, my Lord. I will give the orders.”

Under the command of Edward, more than twenty servants entered the castle in order to place the materials that were given to them by the Earl. Two hours later, the castle was as sorted out as they could make it. On the first floor, there was a reception hall in the front and a kitchen and dining room at the back. The second floor had some bedrooms, a study room, and little else.

After a busy afternoon, everyone was tired. Alan asks for someone to prepare dinner after the long day. The sumptuous dinner barely maked him feel refreshed, so he took a comfortable, hot bath prepared for him by the servants. He did not go to sleep immediately after the bath, but stared at a slightly strange jade stone in front of him.

“My Lord, this was found in the storage room,” Edward said after he handed the stone to Alan.

“I also suggest that you do not stay in the study for too long,” he continued, and Alan nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

“Alright, I will go to bed after some reading.”

Edward bowed and then left the study. After he left, Alan picked up the weird stone.

“Is it jade? Or is it some kind of magical material?”

Alan spoke aloud as he went to touch the stone lightly. Suddenly, he felt a surge of power enter his body from where he had touched the stone. At the same time, a voice spoke in his mind.

“Ding! Power of the dragon has been discovered. Activating the strongest Lord System, and starting to bind to the user.”

“Ding! The System is successfully bound. Activating the legendary creature species, the Dragon species!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host, the System rewarded you with a dragon egg!”

“Ding! Beginning tasks have been given!”