Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

Without reinforcement, a single downpour could cause a collapse or a mudslide.

After several months of hard work, the results were plain to see. Both sides of the hill had been excavated down seven to eight meters, and the Giant Stones hauled by the Giants had been fashioned into thick, dam-like walls.

Directly in front, a stone wall as tall as a two-story building was slowly rising, connecting the two stone dams at their intersection.

Originally, the Feder Craftsmen wanted to build a heavy gate out of hardwood, but Levi thought they were being too conservative.

He could hack a huge gash in it with just a few swings of his sword. And while the hulking Minotaurs couldn’t do it as easily as he could, a wooden gate clearly wouldn’t be enough to stop them.

At the Lord’s command, the blacksmiths worked overtime to forge a single, solid iron gate. It was a hand’s breadth thick, six meters tall, and four meters wide. It took ten exhausted Giants to drag it to the base of the city wall.

In the end, just installing the iron gate took nearly a full day.

One could only say that while this world lacked large machinery like cranes, it had incredibly strong creatures like Giants.

They were practically perfect for construction work.

Otherwise, just transporting the iron gate would have been a problem in itself.

At this point, High Cliff Castle could almost be called a small city. Although it was still a bit shabby, it was leagues ahead of other Pioneer Lords.

The Lord had heard that one Pioneer Lord was still living in a drafty little cabin, with only a few hundred settlers and a dozen or so Personal Guards brought from his family.

Their efforts were less about pioneering and more about survival. After all, not everyone was like Levi.

If he didn’t mention it, no one would believe High Cliff Castle was a new Pioneer Territory less than six months old.

In the days that followed, as the situation grew more turbulent, an increasing number of bandits began to roam near High Cliff Castle in small groups. Some Wilderness Natives, having heard of the fearsome reputation of its lord, chose to steer clear. Others, however, had traveled south from the depths of the Wilderness and never heard of High Cliff Castle. They actually banded together and attempted an attack.

This attempt was, of course, as futile as an egg hitting a rock. A few volleys from the Federation Archers turned the unarmored bandits into pincushions, and they fled in all directions, their morale shattered.

"The winds howl before the mountain storm," the Lord said with a sigh, his hands clasped behind his back.

’To see the big picture from these small events... for the Wilderness to be in such chaos, the Minotaur horde marching south must be even larger than we imagined.’

"These bandits’ eyes were bloodshot with a greenish tint. I cut open one of their stomachs and only found a few undigested toes and some hair. They’ve been starved into a corner," Zat said grimly, taking a handkerchief from a servant to wipe the blood from his hands.

Only he, having once starved himself, could truly understand the level of hunger that drove a person to cannibalism.

This discovery silenced the other Beastman Barbarians present. If they hadn’t joined High Cliff Castle, their own tribes would have surely lost members to starvation this winter.

Back then, Muto and his kin were captured and thrown into the Gladiatorial Arena after heading south because their tribe couldn’t afford to feed so many strong men. They had to send a group out to fend for themselves.

"No wonder they charged High Cliff Castle even knowing they were outmatched. They saw this place as their last and only lifeline," Levi said, shaking his head.

Of course, the Kexianri Tribe’s march south wasn’t just to drive out these Wilderness Natives. Their main goal was likely to plunder supplies.

Those hulking brutes, each three Tri-Blades tall, are all huge eaters. If they don’t plunder supplies, their own food stores will hardly last them through the long, cold winter.

So, it was completely expected that these bandits heading south would have no food to survive on.

To be honest, Levi had been surprised when he first heard that this Minotaur Tribe had a full seven to eight hundred Warriors.

Typically, a tribe of such a powerful Race, including men, women, the elderly, and children, would number a few hundred at most. Giants, for instance, often live in family units of a few dozen or in tribes of one to two hundred. The surrounding resources are simply insufficient to support a large gathering of a Race that does not farm.

Food obtained from methods like hunting or herding is extremely limited. The resources in any given area are finite, and once the population grows, a food crisis is inevitable.

’Now it makes sense. No wonder they managed to become such a large tribe. Every year, they let the tribes in the Wilderness fatten up, and then, just before winter, they march south to plunder their resources. The nobles of the Northern Territory have been suffering at the hands of these bull-noses for a long time. If these Minotaurs managed to plunder enough supplies on their way and turn back, then everyone would be happy. But if they fail to secure enough to survive the winter, there’s no telling what they might do.’

「One day later.」

A Bandit Corps attacked the Slave District of High Cliff Castle during the night. By the time the High Cliff Castle Guard Team arrived, all the slaves had been slaughtered, and their food and farming tools had been completely looted.

High Cliff Castle was divided into two areas. The first was the Settler Area, located atop the hill and securely protected within the city walls. The second was the Slave District, a collection of small wooden cabins at the foot of the hill.

Compared to the heavily-defended Settler Area, which had guards on patrol twenty-four hours a day in three rotating shifts, the patrols in the Slave District were merely organized by the slaves themselves.

A few Kobolds slacking off on night watch duty were the cause of this incident, failing to send a distress signal to the Guard Team in time.