In the barracks of the Imperial Army, soldiers marched in disciplined formations, their boots kicking up clouds of dust that hung thick in the air. The midday sun beat down mercilessly, casting long shadows across the parched earth.

Amidst the chaos, officers barked orders, their voices cutting through the din of clashing metal and pounding footsteps. Horses whinnied as they trotted past, their hooves stirring up even more dust, adding to the haze that enveloped the battlefield.

In this desolate landscape where dust and sweat mingled freely, inside one of the tents of the barracks, a dim atmosphere prevailed.

A white-haired injured soldier, his left arm tightly wrapped in stained bandages, lay on a rough cot inside a small canvas tent. Despite the bustle outside, a sense of quiet enveloped the space.

Around him, fellow soldiers moved about, offering quiet gestures of support.

The man had played a crucial role in defusing a minor skirmish, but his left arm was heavily injured. Even if it were healed, it would permanently affect his hand's movement. Unless a healer intervened, his fate seemed sealed.

He had been a Beginner Master Knight and was soon to be promoted, but now...

Some glanced in his direction with sympathy, while others were too preoccupied with their tasks to spare more than a passing glance.

A makeshift table beside the cot held meager provisions: a crust of bread, a flask of water, and a pouch of herbs. Nearby, a lone candle flickered, casting eerie shadows on the tent walls.

As the man sighed heavily, he heard a sound.

"Roland, you have a message from your home."

The man's dim eyes lit up as he took the envelope. He tore it open and pulled out the letter, but as he read it, his entire world collapsed and shattered.

........

[My dear son Roland, how have you been recently?]

[In the blink of an eye, you have also left home and served in the Imperial Army for nearly 12 years.]

[Last week, a heart-wrenching tragedy occurred. The whole family went on a trip. During the trip, we found a huge lair of undead monsters.]

[Your father and elder brother immediately led the knights to subdue the undead, while I and your second brother escaped. To our horror, the next day, we were attacked by undead. Your second brother gave his life to save me. Adding more weight to my heart-wrenching pain, he was killed right before my eyes, and I was also about to die when Knights from Count Wellington appeared and saved me, but it was too late as I had been affected by a curse.]

[It seems my time is also approaching, so please return…]

[My son, please return…]

[I want to see you for one last time and, if possible, die with someone beside me.]

[Your mother hopes that you can retire and return home as soon as possible to inherit the title and fiefdom of the family.]

[Your worthless mother, Avena]

Looking at the letter in his hand, Roland didn't know what to say for a moment.

Though his eyes were numb and didn't reflect his sadness, his hands trembled. He never expected such a big change to happen in his family all of a sudden.

His father and brother were attacked by monsters and died.

He, the third son who never expected to inherit the family business, suddenly became the first heir of the Weiss family.

This caught him off guard.

"This Continent, where the gods manifest their miracles and demons rampage, is truly dangerous."

"Nobody knows which will come first, accidents or tomorrow."

After a long silence, Roland couldn't help but feel the impermanence of the world.

As for the sadness of hearing the news of his father and brother's death, after seeing the death of so many colleagues in the army, he was used to this...

And he was someone who crossed over or reincarnated here.

The memories of his previous life were like watching a movie flashing before his eyes.

Each child was born without fighting or magic potential, but he had lesser potential. However, it wasn't disheartening because, in his entire family, he was the only one born with some potential.

The people here cultivated the power of battle force, and by mastering it, they drew the power of sublime energy called qi. Only a person born with potential can sense battle force after rigorous training.

Since he had no chance of inheritance, his father pulled some connections and sent him to the army where he climbed from a regular soldier to a battalion in the Imperial Army of Jin Kingdom.

Plus, he had been in the military camp for the past 12 years and had no contact with his previous family.

Naturally, he couldn't have a deep affection for his family, which was quite natural. Still, he felt desolate remembering their faces.

"Should I go back and inherit the family business or not?"

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After reflecting on his feelings, Roland began to carefully consider this question. Returning to inherit the family business has its advantages and disadvantages. If he wants to further advance on the extraordinary path, it would be better to stay in this Legion.

The Legion is one of the three extraordinary knight legions of the Kingdom of Jin.

The benefits are all very good.

There are intermediate and advanced Master warriors to guide daily training.

By achieving military merits, one can also obtain various auxiliary extraordinary potions for training.

There is even a chance to be ennobled and obtain a territory, but he didn't need that.

His father had spent three years of the territory's income bribing the captain of the Legion to allow the previous owner to enter the Legion smoothly.

However, the aptitude or potential of this body is average. Having served in the Legion for nearly twelve years.

Now, he is nothing more than a Master knight at the 4th rank.

Based on the current rate of cultivation, it will take several more years at least to break through the bottleneck of the 5th and then 6th to become an intermediate Master knight.

As for breaking through the 7th rank and becoming an advanced knight, it is almost impossible in this lifetime.

Since being reborn, he tried to manifest cheats graced to transmigrators; sadly, there was no such fortune in his case.

In this situation, it is very difficult for him to stand out in the Legion, where the strong are respected. A few friends of his who joined alongside him have already become his seniors.

Moreover, wars have always been frequent. Previously he was a foot soldier but after achieving 3rd rank, he was directly pulled into Legion and in the last war, his left arm had been damaged quite badly.

Unless precious elixirs were used, the damage was permanent. Encountering a war, his life is at risk at any moment.

"In that case, returning home to inherit the family business is my best choice."

Roland sighed and thought to himself.

When he first crossed over to this high-magic world, he also had grand ambitions to emulate those senior transmigrators and become the most powerful existence in this world.

But after living in this world for 12 years in vain, he had long recognized the cruelty of reality.

Not everyone was born to be the protagonist.

For someone like him who has no background, no talent, and no cheat-like abilities, it is simply as difficult as reaching the heavens to achieve great success on the extraordinary path.

Since that's the case.

Then it's better to go home and inherit the family business and live a comfortable life in a few days.

In this way, his mother can also leave without any regrets.

Although the Weiss family's business is not big, it is only a baron title and a territory of less than 20 square kilometers that can be inherited.

But it is enough for him to live a worry-free life and wait for death.

With this in mind, Roland made a decision immediately.

Retire and inherit the family.

However, retiring is not such a simple matter.

As an extraordinary legion sponsored by the Kingdom of Jin, the Lionheart Legion is not a place where one can come and go as they please.

Under normal circumstances, a soldier needs to serve for at least fifteen years or have a physical disability to retire.

And Roland has served for less than fifteen years so far, obviously not meeting the retirement criteria.

There's no way.

To retire and return home as soon as possible to inherit the family business, Roland can only resort to some special means.

For example, giving gifts to superiors.

After a series of bribes, the fortune accumulated over the years was instantly reduced by more than half.

Fortunately, his injury also played a crucial role.

The retirement procedures were completed.

From today on, he officially leaves the battle sequence of the Legion and becomes an ordinary civilian soldier.

Knowing that Roland is about to retire and return home, the soldiers who have a good relationship with him come to bid farewell one after another.

After having a farewell meal with these comrades-in-arms who fought side by side for many years, Roland mounted his warhorse and went home.

......

Ten days later.

After a day and night of rushing, Roland successfully returned to the Weiss family's fiefdom, Apus Village.

Perhaps due to the attacks of Warcraft, the atmosphere in Apus Village was noticeably tense.

Even during the day, there were very few people on the village streets.

Riding on his warhorse.

Arriving at the small manor in the center of the village.

The guards reported.

After a while, a mature and beautiful woman came out. It was Priya, the head maid of the house.

She wasn't old and was at the age of 30 years.

Roland remembered her as she was a maid who took care of him.

"Lord Roland," she muttered, suppressing her shocked expression.

The young boy whom she had seen last had now returned with full valor and charisma.

The two reunited after a long time.

Roland was extremely excited, but seeing her hesitation, he immediately extended his hand.

"Priya, stop pretending to be indifferent. Let go of the formality."

As if a weight had been lifted, she ran over and hugged Roland tightly.

"Lord, you have finally come back."

Priya immediately shed tears of joy, but her happiness was overshadowed by fatigue, as Roland learned of a shocking matter.

His mother didn't have long days left.

Her husband and eldest sons were suddenly killed by monsters.

All the affairs of the territory were abruptly placed on her, a weak woman who had already collapsed. So, in their absence, it was Priya and the Butler who had taken care of things.

If Roland didn't come back, Priya didn't know what she would do in the future, as the matters relating to the territory were quite vexing.

Facing her emotional turmoil, Roland comforted her and sought out his mother.

Entering her room, he saw a pale, sickly, thin, and frail woman with hollow eyes.

"Mother!"

Roland muttered in disbelief seeing her condition. His heart beat with distress as he couldn't bear to see her in such a state.

It was incredibly saddening. Despite being separated for a long, in the end, she was her mother and during childhood, she had treated her quite well and cried a lot when he left for the army...

All those memories buried in the corner of his heart resurfaced once again.

"Mo..Mother..."

Turning her head, she saw a familiar figure and weakly muttered...

"Son!"

Her eyes gleamed briefly, but soon sadness clouded them, tears starting to flow.

"Mother, don't cry... I can't bear it."

At that moment, Roland thought he would remain indifferent, as he had become accustomed to death, but he couldn't maintain his composure.

Blood was thicker than water, indeed.

It was agonizing to see her like this.

"So... So..."

Avena, who had been muttering softly in delight, suddenly stopped, the light fading from her eyes, leaving Roland and everyone bewildered.

There was an expression of shock and disbelief, so profound that none could react for a few minutes.

Whether due to shock or excessive happiness, her mother passed away suddenly.

Priya had said she had more time, but...

The realization stabbed Roland like a knife piercing deep into his heart.

After a few minutes, everyone snapped out of their stupor, and soon, the loud noise of crying and mourning echoed.

With a helpless look, Roland rose and shook his head.

After this, he was all alone.

Under the arrangement of Priya, Roland presided over his family's funerals.

May they rest in peace.

Then, witnessed by all the villagers of Apus Village, Roland completed the inheritance of the title and became the ruler of this land.

As for the follow-up, he only needed to send the register to the noble house in the county city for registration.

Inheriting the family title for direct relatives was that simple.

As for the grand ceremonies of title inheritance witnessed by the king, those were reserved for top-rank nobles like dukes and marquises.

Don't even think about it for a low-rank noble like a baron.

After spending several days handling the affairs of the territory, he immediately prepared to start his decadent life as a useless noble.

However, after two days, Priya surprised him once again.

She relayed the news that his mother had prepared a fiancée for him.