Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13. Obsidian Territory
After several days of travel, the land before the convoy suddenly opened up.
And when the broad valley finally spread itself before their eyes,
the entire convoy erupted into thunderous cheers, filled with exhaustion and wild joy!
“We’re here! We’ve arrived!”
“Gods above! There’s a river! And woods too!”
“Land! It’s our land now!”
After days of grueling travel, sleeping in the open, and constantly guarding against the dangers of the wasteland, they had finally reached their destination.
Genuine smiles bloomed across the slaves’ faces, which at last showed some sign of life.
Many were so overwhelmed that they dropped to their knees and kissed the barren ground beneath their feet—a poor land, yes, but one that symbolized a new beginning.
The soldiers, too, finally let go of the tension they had carried for days. They slapped one another on the shoulders and let out rough, hearty laughter.
Eli reined in his horse and halted atop a rise, gazing into the distance.
The scars of war had not yet been fully erased by time. Everywhere in sight, there were blackened stumps and the remnants of collapsed earthen walls.
But wild grass had stubbornly spread through the ruins, almost covering every trace of former human activity.
A river, not especially wide but clear and flowing, wound down from the direction of Nightsong Forest like a silver ribbon, cutting through the valley and nourishing the relatively lush vegetation along both banks.
In the distance, the dark green forest stood like a silent giant, sheltering this land.
It was desolate and broken, yes—but it had water, timber, and relatively open terrain...
And beyond those, there were still the unseen resources.
An indescribable surge of ambition swelled within his chest.
Eli drew in a deep breath of air scented with earth and grass, then suddenly pulled the sword from his waist.
In the blazing noon sunlight, the blade traced a dazzling arc as he pointed it at the vast valley below!
“This land!” His voice rang out, clear enough to drown out all the cheering and noise, echoing in every ear.
“From this day forth, it shall be known as—Obsidian Territory! Here we will take root!
This shall be the ground upon which we stand, the source of our expansion, and the place where you shall build your lives!”
“Obsidian Territory! Obsidian Territory! Obsidian Territory!”
“Long live the lord!”
Another deafening roar of cheers surged into the sky like a rising tide, sweeping across the entire valley!
Eli did not hesitate any longer. He sheathed his sword.
“Brandon! Organize the men immediately! Set up camp with the high ground by the river as the center! Shelter for women and children comes first!”
“Leon! Take the craftsmen’s camp and find a stable water source immediately! Establish a proper route for drawing water!”
“Bol! Aika! Take your men and clear out an open space for a simple training ground! The soldiers cannot neglect their training!”
“Everyone who can move, pick up a tool! Clear the weeds from the camp grounds! Cut timber! Gather stone! Before nightfall, I want to see the outline of a camp!”
His commands were like boulders hurled into water, sending wave after wave outward.
After the brief burst of celebration, the entire convoy—already tempered by its first stages of coordination—began moving as one.
Under the shouts of the knights, the soldiers maintained order and divided the area into sections.
Led by their overseers, the slaves surged toward every part of the camp like floodwaters through a broken gate.
The stronger male slaves swung the hoes and axes they had been given, hacking through the tough wasteland grass and clearing rubble and broken stone.
The women busied themselves gathering softer branches and thatch, beginning to put up crude shelters in the designated areas—shelters simple, but enough to keep out wind and rain.
Under the direction of Leon and Estor, some of the craftsmen quickly set up simple bamboo water pipes and channels beside the river.
Others cleared out a separate patch of land in preparation for building a temporary forge and carpentry shed.
Shouts, hammering, splitting timber, rushing water—
all manner of sounds blended together, full of raw and vigorous life.
Through the drifting dust, a crude yet thriving camp was rapidly taking shape upon the red earth.
Eli stood on the rise, looking down over the scene below as it teemed with effort and heat.
The camp was only the beginning.
As the new lord of Obsidian Territory, Eli needed to confirm the condition of this land with his own eyes before he could decide upon the next phase of development.
The future lord’s residence, granaries, barracks, homes, workshops, farmland...
The layout of the entire territory spread through his mind like a vast blueprint, taking shape at breakneck speed.
Water sources, defenses, roads, mineral deposits...
Countless details had to be considered.
Over the next two days, Eli thoroughly surveyed the nearby area and confirmed the rough outline of his plans.
...
A few days later, inside Eli’s lordly tent—
“My lord!”
An urgent voice broke his train of thought.
Several knights responsible for scouting the perimeter rode back at full speed. The leading knight spoke at once.
“We found a small human settlement near the western side, close to the edge of the forest! There are roughly two to three hundred people there!”
“A settlement?” Eli’s spirits lifted at once, and he had Ella bring over the map.
Then Ella handed hot water to the knights one by one, and they hurriedly accepted it.
“Heh, heh, heh, thank you, my lady, thank you, my lady.”
Knowing nothing of the truth, they had long since taken the only woman who stayed by the lord’s side to be his lady.
“You...” Ella, whose complexion had grown healthier and rosier, immediately regretted her kindness.
As if good fortune came in pairs, at that very moment—
Leon came running back, panting hard, his face unable to conceal his excitement.
“My lord! We found it! That abandoned small iron mine! It’s less than three miles northwest of the camp!
The entrance to the mine shaft has partially collapsed, but the inside is still accessible! The vein... the vein doesn’t seem to have been fully exhausted!”
An iron mine that had not yet run dry!
A sharp gleam burst from Eli’s eyes. With a stable source of iron, they would finally have the foundation for weapons, tools, and building materials.
He forcefully suppressed his joy and made a decision at once.
“Brandon, take Leon and inspect the iron mine thoroughly. Make sure it is safe.”
Then, with a wave of his hand to the several knights beside him, he said, “You lot, with me! We’re going to take a look at that settlement!”
Hooves crushed the wasteland grass and kicked up dust all along the way.
Very soon, the settlement the knights had described entered their sight.
But rather than a settlement, it looked more like a slum barely clinging to life on the edge of ruins.
A dozen or so hovels, pieced together from mud, broken stone, and shattered planks, leaned crookedly against one another.
Many of the roofs were covered with nothing more than dead grass and torn cloth, open to the wind on every side.
Scattered around the hovels were the remains of long-abandoned houses, all that remained of them being blackened foundations.
The moment the people of the settlement heard the hoofbeats, they reacted like startled rabbits, peering out from their hovels or shrinking back into corners.
Most of them were barely clothed, filthy, and sallow with hunger.
The men’s eyes were dull, filled with deep exhaustion and wariness.
The women clutched children just as skinny and terrified as themselves.
At the sight of Eli’s bright armor and the strong horses of his escort, fear filled the eyes of the settlement’s people. They all retreated and did not dare come near.
Eli pulled up his horse, his brows tightening. The scene before him was even more miserable than he had imagined.
His gaze swept across them all before finally settling on the oldest-looking one among them—a withered old man who leaned on a wooden stick and could barely remain standing.
“Old sir,” Eli said, softening his tone as much as he could.
“What happened here?”
The old man looked at Eli with clouded, fearful eyes. “M-My lord...? The sand bandits... they come every few days... stealing food... stealing women...
And the magical beasts from the forest... they even dare drag people away at night...
Any grain we plant is ruined before it can be harvested... Surviving at all... is already a blessing...”
His cracked lips trembled as he spoke, and his voice was filled with a terror so deep it had rotted into numb resignation.
“What about the administrator? The lord? Does no one govern this place?” Eli pressed.
“The former administrator ran away long ago,” one of the locals answered.
Several scrawny children were curled up behind a doorway, their cheeks reddened by the cold, their frail bodies hidden in the shadows.
Their eyes were timid, full of fear and suspicion toward strangers.
Eli fell silent.
His heart felt heavy.
He took some dried rations from the pouch at his side, stepped forward, crouched down, and offered them to the children. “Take them. Eat.”
But the children only stared at him warily. Not one of them dared move, as though they feared it was some kind of trap.
And yet the smell of the food was too tempting. They could not stop swallowing.
“Go on,” Eli said again, more gently this time.
In the end, they could no longer resist. They snatched the food from his hands.
They stuffed it into their mouths ravenously, terrified that it might vanish the next second.
Suddenly, Eli remembered that in the royal capital, even the nobles’ dogs and cats were fed the finest meat.
The thought was absurd.
He swung himself back onto his horse and looked over this land sinking into despair, looked over those faces struggling at the edge of survival.
The wind swept up the dust from the ground and passed over the tattered hovels, making a sound like a mournful sob.
A weight beyond words pressed down upon his chest.
But what rose after it was an unprecedented sense of responsibility, heavy and solid. He had to do something.
This land, these people... they were his now.
Their despair, their struggle—he would bear it, and he would change it!
He drew in a deep breath, as though he meant to pull both the suffering and the hope of this land into his lungs.
Eli’s voice was not loud, yet it cut clearly through the sobbing wind and struck every heart.
“All who are willing to work may come with me. I will give you dignity, food, and shelter!
In the name of Eli Black!”