The streets of Tie Mu City were wide, the roads paved with clean, neat cobblestones. Many of the houses on both sides of the street were newly built, and the overall structure of the city was extremely well planned, with the clear mark of a perfectionist’s hand.

Richard rode through the main avenue of Tie Mu City, examining the little town he had built from scratch with a discerning eye.

Over the years, Richard’s efforts had attracted more than ten thousand people to settle in Tie Mu City. Although this number paled in comparison to the population of certain districts in modern cities, it could be considered quite a bustling metropolis on this otherworldly land, where the level of technological development was only slightly more advanced than that of the Middle Ages.

The end of the year had already passed, but spring had yet to arrive. The weather remained cold; as night fell, only a scant few pedestrians walked the streets.

In the northern lands, winter nights were the longest and most arduous to endure. Any normal person who spent a night outside would surely be frozen solid by morning.

Richard unconsciously sped up his pace toward home. Although he was a quasi-knight with exceptional physical fitness, he had no desire to experience the bitter cold of a northern winter night.

Wooden Iron Castle stood atop a highland in the middle of Tie Mu City, its walls constructed from stone and towering fifteen meters high. The battlements were evenly spaced to ensure the arrows of the castle’s defenders could cover all angles of attack, leaving no blind spots.

Unlike the newly built structures of Tie Mu City, Wooden Iron Castle, despite being constantly maintained, bore the marks of swords and the pitting of arrows, impossible to fully repair, lending it an air of age-old wisdom.

Three generations of the Hunter family had passed since the construction of Wooden Iron Castle began under Richard’s grandfather. Over the course of many years, the castle had gradually established its foothold amidst constant conflict with the snow pirates, wild tribes, and half-elf raiders. It was only under Richard’s leadership that Wooden Iron Castle came to be expanded into Tie Mu City.

“Attention!”

“Everyone who participated in the bear hunt today, aside from Pierre, will receive a silver nars.”

At this announcement, everyone’s face lit up, except for Pierre’s. A single silver nars was enough to support a family of three for a month, and it was also the exact amount of their monthly salary. The soldiers who’d taken part in the bear hunt had come into possession of a small fortune.

“Dismissed!”

Under the excited cheers of the soldiers, Richard dismissed them back to their quarters. The soldiers on patrol and standing guard eyed them jealously.

Young Master Richard had decreed that all soldiers would take turns participating in the bear hunts, but not every expedition yielded a reward. Sometimes, the hunters would fail to track down any bears and return empty-handed.

Of course, Richard himself wouldn’t be put out by this. The entire body of a giant bear was valuable; the skin could be made into prestigious garments sought after by the nobility in the capital, the bones could be used in medicines and tonics, and the paws were an especially rare delicacy that could be sold to merchants for at least three gold nars apiece once treated properly.

After inspecting the camp and making an appearance before the soldiers, Young Master Richard turned toward the main house in the rear courtyard of the castle, where his parents and a few uncles and aunties resided.

It had been seventeen years since Richard’s arrival in this world, and the memories of his past life had begun to blur. He had fully accepted his new identity as the young master of Tie Mu City, the eldest son of Viscount Hunter—Richard Hunter.

As a liberal arts scholar in his previous life, he couldn’t recall the formula for gunpowder, nor could he apply modern technology in this foreign world with its vastly inferior production capabilities.

At most, he could use his vague recollections to instruct local craftsmen to create pulleys, which could then be attached to ballistae. Thus, Tie Mu City’s military arsenal, the bear-hunting crossbow, was born.

In contrast, Richard’s influence on the administrative structure of the Hunter family was profound. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he established a system rather than “reformed” one.

As a graduate student specializing in business administration, Richard found the management methods of the Hunter family before his time practically nonexistent.

His father and uncles had simply collected taxes, enjoyed their feasts, and fought wars, relying entirely on personal experience and subjective preferences.

When Richard obtained the authority to manage the territory, he first conducted a thorough survey of all arable lands, dividing them into three categories based on soil fertility. Then, he drafted a rigorous set of laws governing taxation.

After executing a few tax collectors in the villages, he swiftly established the authority of these new laws, and without increasing taxes, doubled the annual revenue for the Hunter territory.

With the success of his new tax laws still fresh, Richard took the opportunity to draft a set of laws for the Hunter family’s territory. These laws were rough and rudimentary by modern standards but astonishingly detailed for this era.

Richard stepped into the bright, spacious hall of Wooden Iron Castle, its furnishing simple yet elegant. The overall aesthetic was clean and refined, perhaps because the House of Hunter had only been in power for three generations, or perhaps because the fiefdom was so far removed from the capital’s bustling luxury.

Walking through the hall, he arrived at the castle’s garden, from which the sounds of clinking dishes emerged. A few maids could be seen darting about, preparing for dinner, likely for the Hunter family.

“Richard, my dear cousin!”

Turning toward the voice, Richard saw a young boy of ten excitedly running toward him.

“Oh, hello Tilly.” Richard leaned down and embraced the boy.

Tilly was the youngest son of Richard’s third uncle, Viscount Hunter, who had founded Wooden Iron Castle. The old viscount had three sons, all of whom served as his personal guards.

Upon the old viscount’s death, Richard’s father was the only one among his brothers who had been a knight, and thus he inherited the title, becoming the current Viscount Souter Hunter. Richard’s two uncles remained as quasi-knight guards, devoting their lives to protecting their elder brother and his family. The entire clan worked together in harmony.

“Hey, Cousin Richard, can you bring me along the next time you go bear hunting?”

“Ha ha, when Tilly’s a bit taller and can swing a knight’s sword, I’ll take you along.”

The knight’s swords in question were all heavy, two-handed weapons, the lightest of which weighed nearly twenty pounds, and were wielded by seasoned warriors who had attained the rank of quasi-knight. Little Tilly, at the tender age of ten, struggled to lift such a sword, let alone swing it.

Tilly could tell that Richard was dodging the question, and he wrapped his arms around Richard’s bicep, pouting.

Richard carried Tilly through the gardens toward the dining hall, and the serving girls they passed paused to greet him with a curtsy. He nodded back in acknowledgment.

The dining hall was already set for dinner, with a sumptuous spread of food on the table. Though not refined, there was plenty of meat and wine, befitting the nouveau riche Hunter family.

On either side of the table sat the Hunter family members, and Richard’s aunts and cousins sat on the lower end, chattering away while his uncles occupied the seats near the head. Richard’s parents occupied the head seats, with an empty chair beside them for Richard.

“Richard’s back! Quite a successful hunt today.”

“Our Richard’s getting more handsome by the day, I’m afraid there’s no girl immune to his charms.”

Richard humbly responded to his relatives’ teasing and took a seat next to his father.

Viscount Souter nodded reservedly at Richard, while Richard’s mother warmly greeted him, taking Richard’s hand and checking her precious son for injuries.

“You must be careful when you take soldiers bear hunting. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Mm-hmm,” Richard responded, unable to say much as he did under his mother’s affectionate gaze.

“Ha ha, my dear sister-in-law, Richard could kill a giant bear in the forest with his bare hands, let alone with a bear-hunting crossbow and soldiers by his side. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Ahem”

Viscount Souter’s coughing interrupted the conversation.

“As Richard is here, let us begin our meal.”

The Hunters enjoyed a warm and joyful dinner together. At present, the family could be described as harmonious, with the father being kind to his children, and the children respectful to their parents.

Viscount Souter, Richard’s father, was a full-fledged knight, the pillar of the family, while Richard’s second and third uncles, though not promoted to the rank of knight, were still elite quasi-knights, possessing five times the physical ability of an ordinary person and experienced in combat. They would not fall to two or three ordinary quasi-knights in a short period of time.

Since the time he inherited the title of nobility, Souter had diligently assisted in maintaining the security of the territory. Richard was Viscount Souter’s only son, but he had several cousins in the family, all of whom he had thoroughly dominated since childhood, ensuring their unwavering obedience to him.

The Hunter family was a relatively new noble lineage, and the continent was not at peace. The eastern border of the kingdom constantly faced threats from orcs, while ports in the southern gulf occasionally reported attacks from naga raiders. Even deep within the Ironwood forest, tribes of cannibals occasionally emerged, and war was never far away.

A strong sense of crisis had everyone in the family pulling together, with no internal strife or scheming. Every member focused on what was best for the family, and no one pursued their own agendas.

When Richard reformed the territory’s institutions, his two uncles served as the sharp blades of his reforms, suppressing all opposition and nipping any attempts at sabotage in the bud with brute force.