Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

Lead-colored clouds filled the entire sky, stretching as far as the eye could see, terrifyingly heavy. A light rain began to fall, pattering against the ground. Soon, a gale began to howl, sweeping large raindrops that slapped against everyone’s faces without discrimination. The distant pine forest rustled in the wind, sounding like a piercing wail.

"Damn it. This is the kind of rain you see in a tragedy," Levi grumbled. He was hiding under the enlarged Biefeng’s belly, watching countless soldiers swarm in a nearby clearing, frantically setting up camp.

Once enlarged, Biefeng’s body was extremely wide, so the leaders of High Cliff Castle promptly began using him as a giant umbrella.

Three days had passed since they set out from Kolon. They had expected an endless stretch of sunny days all the way to White Bone Fortress, but unexpectedly, a morning that had been perfectly cloudless gave way to an overcast afternoon and a torrential downpour.

In this kind of weather, no matter how urgent their mission, no one would risk marching in a downpour. Not only would it make the grunts resentful, but more importantly, the Knights and nobles wouldn’t tolerate it either.

"Indeed. A truly beautiful, natural vista." Rivinci didn’t understand the reference, but he understood the sentiment. As he watched the magnificent sight of tens of thousands of men building a camp, his face showed a hint of regret. "A pity the rain is so heavy. If I took out my dyes, they would surely get damp."

This middle-aged man in the Feather Hat and Trousers with Tied Legs was the same painter who had painted the Lord before. However, one of his eye sockets was still faintly bruised, making him look somewhat shifty.

This was not the Lord’s handiwork, of course. The Lord, in fact, was a proponent of peace. Unfortunately, the people of High Cliff Castle were deeply unhappy that their god-like Lord had been depicted as a mere corner-dwelling punk.

No matter how earnestly Levi tried to persuade them, they insisted that this damned painter had to taste the consequences.

Afterward, when the middle-aged painter came snitching with a face full of snot and tears, the Lord was troubled. The law doesn’t punish a crowd, and he hadn’t caught the main culprits, so he could only make a show of taking it seriously before letting the matter drop.

In reality, the Lord wasn’t about to admit that seeking retribution himself would make him seem petty and would tarnish his reputation as the hero of High Cliff Castle.

This trip south to White Bone Fortress would obviously involve a battle with the main Demon forces. With that in mind, Levi had decided to bring Rivinci along.

After all, this was a golden opportunity to boost his fame. If a painting of the Lord of High Cliff Castle fighting a hundred thousand Demons at night were to circulate, it would be enough to elevate his renown to unprecedented heights.

"A pity it’s missing a subject. Tell me, Rivinci, who do you think would be the best fit for that role?"

Sam, the little old Shaman, had popped out of nowhere. He spoke with a grin, startling the painter, who was clearly the more powerfully built of the two.

Back at High Cliff Castle, Sam had been at the bottom of the pecking order. Now that someone with even lower status had shown up, he couldn’t resist the urge to lord his seniority over him.

"Without a doubt, the subject must be our most magnificent, most handsome Lion Hunter Knight, the Marquis of High Cliff Castle, Lord Levi himself!" Rivinci said with a solemn expression.

"Rivinci, I am very pleased you feel that way. Your attitude has clearly improved a great deal lately. Keep up the good work, and there may well be a place for you in High Cliff Castle’s future."

Levi patted the painter’s shoulder with a satisfied look on his face.

"I will work hard, my Lord."

There was a time when Rivinci, who championed an unrestrained style, believed that art was supreme and that nothing could alter his creative process—until one pitch-black night when several men snuck into his room and gave him a sound beating.

He had an epiphany—’Art is created for people. If I continue to be so rigid and refuse to change my way of thinking, how can I ever become a painter known throughout the Seven Kingdoms?’

Of course, this had absolutely nothing to do with the men who visited him that night.

It was just that, once you started down the path of flattery, despite the melancholy feeling that you’d lost something irreplaceable, you couldn’t help but find it surprisingly easy.

He shot the little old man beside him a deep look. If he wasn’t mistaken, that man had been one of them that night. And he had hit the hardest. Rivinci subconsciously touched his nearly healed eye socket.

Before long, a rudimentary camp was set up, and everyone moved inside their tents.

The rain was too heavy; marching was out of the question. All they could do was pray for the downpour to end soon.

On this journey south, Monvert and Liya had not come along; they remained in Kolon to guard it.

Instead, it was Fulina who was personally leading the grand army and a retinue of Northern Nobles to continue the march south.

Excluding those left to garrison Kolon, the total force numbered around one hundred and twenty thousand. Of course, this number included Military Artisans and Auxiliary Soldiers; the actual number of combat troops was likely less than one hundred thousand.

At first, the Lord hadn’t quite understood why she didn’t stay in Kolon like Liya, as this journey south was a different matter entirely.

These Demons didn’t have a habit of taking prisoners to negotiate. If they caught you, it was hard to say whether you’d be boiled into a soup or something else.

But it wasn’t until he put himself in her shoes that Levi understood something.

When one reached Fulina’s position, their power and influence were already at the apex. The only step higher was to declare oneself King, but that was fundamentally impossible.

Leaving aside Debei, the Seven Kingdoms would never stand by and watch another nation emerge to take a slice of their pie.

The Northern Territory’s military was formidable, but it wasn’t strong enough to oppose Debei, let alone the other kingdoms.

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