Faced with this hopeless case, Levi felt a deep sense of frustration, like a doting father worried sick over a disappointing child.

"I told you to come here to study. Were you planning on learning in your dreams?"

"Boss, this stuff might recognize me, but I sure don’t recognize it."

Zat complained with a miserable look on his face, "I’d rather go kill a few hundred enemies than listen to this stuff."

"You ungrateful brat. Get lost and go drill with the Warriors." Levi waved his hand as if shooing away a fly.

"Lord, I’ll go too."

Hog quickly raised his hand as well.

Levi nodded helplessly.

The two of them scrambled out as if they were escaping from a man-eating demon’s den.

It seemed that for them, training was much easier than studying.

’It seems you really can’t force someone to learn Magic. Without Talent, all you can do is stare blankly at this stuff... just like their Lord.’

’I want to be a Mage too, but this damn system is useless! It doesn’t even have a class-change feature,’ Levi grumbled internally.

At that moment, Baisitina timidly raised her fair little hand. "Levi... um... um, I don’t think I can learn it either."

"It’s perfectly normal that you can’t learn it. You can go back, too. You don’t have to come anymore," Levi said with a nod.

He didn’t treat Baisitina the way he had treated Zat.

Baisitina let out a sigh of relief. She gave a little nod and left as well.

Only Sam and Levi were left in the room.

Sam stood there uneasily, wondering if Levi was going to blame him.

"Don’t worry. I came to you today for something else."

Levi waved his hand dismissively.

"What is it, Lord?" Sam asked.

"I want you to contact the more powerful Tribes in the Wilderness and tell them that High Cliff Castle is willing to sell them weapons."

For now, Sam was the only local in High Cliff Castle, so it was natural for Levi to assign him this task.

"What?"

Sam was stunned and began to plead earnestly. "Lord, no one knows the Wilderness Natives better than I do. If you sell them weapons, they won’t be grateful. They’ll just use those very weapons to raid High Cliff Castle! They’re nothing but a pack of poor, vicious thugs."

Having already decided to throw his lot in with High Cliff Castle, Sam now wholeheartedly wanted to see it prosper. He couldn’t understand what had gotten into his Lord.

They had gone through so much trouble to capture the iron mine, yet instead of using it for themselves, he wanted to sell the products to others.

"Vicious? Are they more vicious than me?!"

Sam was in despair, inwardly cursing a certain incorrigibly stubborn mule.

’Does this Lord of mine have to wait until people are at his gates, wielding weapons forged in High Cliff Castle, before he feels any regret?’

’He suddenly wondered if he needed to seriously reconsider his decision to join High Cliff Castle.’

In the end, at the command of his autocratic Lord, Zat led a contingent of guards to accompany Sam and begin establishing weapons trade with several Tribes.

In reality, Levi had considered transporting the weapons to Bailiu City to sell to the Debei People.

But it wasn’t profitable. Weapons sold to the Debei People needed to be both high-quality and reasonably priced.

Forging high-quality weapons would consume more manpower and time; the returns wouldn’t justify the cost.

But for the Wilderness Natives, all he had to do was sharpen the edge of a weapon-shaped piece of iron.

This kind of shoddy merchandise wouldn’t be bought by even the most destitute Pioneer Lord in Debei, but in the iron-starved Wilderness, it was an undisputed hot commodity.

Levi came up with an idea: take a shaft of White Maple Wood, wrap the tip in a sheet of iron, give it a quick sharpening, and voila—a simple, freshly-made longspear.

It could definitely kill someone, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t break after being used twice.

But that was fine. High Cliff Castle also offered repair services, for just a small fee.

And this was a weapon High Cliff Castle could mass-produce.

After going to all the trouble of taking the iron mine, the Lord was ready to fleece these Wilderness Natives.

「About ten days later」, the Secret Silver Merchant Team passed by High Cliff Castle. They brought the books about the Natural Goddess that he had previously ordered, but they hadn’t purchased a Combat Qi Secret Manual, as none had met his requirements.

But more important than this small matter, Levi noticed that the merchant team’s escort was several times larger than last time. Besides the Mercenary guards, they were even accompanied by a dozen or so pointy-eared Half-Elf Archers.

It was a well-known fact that the skill of Elf Archers was as breathtaking as their hiring fees.

Their presence could only mean that the merchant team had spared no expense on their security this time.

Miriel didn’t come this time, but Knight Si Kai, who had visited before, was here.

Levi went up to greet them while they were stopped by the river, watering their horses. "Knight Si Kai, long time no see."

Si Kai had been patiently explaining horsemanship skills to a rookie Knight. When he saw Levi approaching, he quickly placed a hand over his chest in a salute. "Good day, Lord."

"Has something been happening in the Wilderness lately? Things feel a bit chaotic."

"Lord, you may not be aware since you’ve only recently arrived in the Wilderness, but every year as winter approaches, these Wilderness Natives move south to plunder the small villages and Pioneer Territories on the border of the Northern Territory."

"Is that so? I have a feeling it’s not that simple."

"Lord, you needn’t worry. In fact, just a few days ago, some reckless natives even tried to attack Bailiu City. This happens every year before winter," Si Kai said with a confident expression.

"With the current strength of High Cliff Castle’s Guard Team, you’re more than capable of fending off these scumbags who are blinded by greed." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Actually..." Si Kai hesitated for a moment before revealing some inside information. "There’s a large Minotaur Tribe called the Kexianri that has moved south. They’ve been subjugating the smaller, more prosperous tribes. Some of those tribes caught wind of this and fled south in advance, preying on even weaker tribes in turn. That’s how the chaos has spread to this area. The Duke has already sent people to negotiate, so you don’t need to trouble yourself with it, Lord."

It wasn’t unusual for Wilderness Natives to migrate south. Once winter arrived, the Northern Territory would be covered in a vast blanket of snow, making it extremely difficult to find food. Therefore, the Wilderness Natives would always move south just before winter, attempting to plunder enough food to last through the long cold months.

However, the actions of this large Minotaur Tribe were already affecting the security of the Northern Territory, and the Duke would not sit idly by.

If it weren’t for the imminent war with the Southern Territory and the need to conserve strength, someone with the Duke’s temperament would have resorted to "negotiating" with force long ago.

The rookie who had just joined the merchant team looked at Levi with curiosity. He couldn’t understand why a Great Knight like Si Kai was being so respectful.

Having gotten some information, Levi clapped Si Kai on the shoulder, returning the favor. "Knight Si Kai, go to the storehouse and get three barrels of wine for the men to enjoy. Just say I sent you."

"Who’s that?" the rookie Knight asked curiously, once Levi was out of sight.

"A big shot you can’t afford to offend!" Si Kai mounted his tall, palomino horse, which began to walk slowly toward High Cliff Castle. "You’re all in for a treat, meeting such a generous Lord."