How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 3

I had trouble sleeping because the diary showed me a strange video.

‘It wasn’t a dream or a hallucination.’

The same scene I had seen before.

Countless monsters stormed into the castle, turning it into utter chaos.

Grief, regret, self-reproach.

Iron’s emotions from the video were conveyed to me intact.

I transmigrated into another world, and now I was experiencing this ominous vision twice in a row?

‘I can’t just dismiss it as a mere hallucination.’

This was definitely related to the diary.

But with so little information, my thoughts grew tangled.

If it had been something good, I wouldn’t have minded, but seeing the territory fall into ruin left a sour taste in my mouth.

“Hm? Why are you already here? There’s still a lot of time before assembly.”

“Oh, it’s you.”

Wandering aimlessly, I ended up at the knights’ training ground.

Since all the knights were being mobilized for the expedition, it seemed Rudick, the knight commander, was making his final inspection of the place.

“You’re more diligent than I thought.”

“Hmph, I’m still a man who knows how to do his job when it’s time.”

Right, there was this guy too.

He was the one who caught the culprits behind the assassination attempt on the lord.

Since the matter was already settled, I had put it aside, but with things changing, there were a few questions I needed to ask.

“Was it you who caught the assassins?”

“What’s with that question? You’re the one who gave the orders.

You told me to keep a lookout around the mines.

Wasn’t it you, brother?”

“…I gave the orders?”

“Did you eat something bad this morning? You said it yourself, that something might happen. That’s why you suddenly gathered up both knights and rangers for an ambush. And then you went off drinking after that.”

“Hm.”

So Iron had deployed forces even before the assassination attempt?

That meant Iron had already anticipated the assassination.

That’s why the culprits were caught so easily?

No way, then this……

“Come to think of it, that day did feel strange. You looked like you didn’t fully trust something. You’re not the type to give such vague orders. When the real assassins came in, I was surprised too, I’ll admit.”

It seemed I was right.

The day before the incident, that diary must have shown Iron something.

Perhaps it was the very scene of his own assassination.

But since he hadn’t been fully convinced, that must have been the first time he saw such a vision.

If he had seen it before and verified it, he would have issued his orders with confidence.

“This is… not looking good.”

The video the diary showed me must have been about some event yet to come.

Iron’s unusual actions—deploying forces before the assassination attempt—were proof enough.

The black diary in my hand was no ordinary diary.

‘Which means… something happens during the expedition?’

The perspective in the video shifted from outside the castle to the inside.

Outside the castle were me, the knights, and the soldiers.

We returned to the castle only after the disaster to clean up the mess.

The only time so many forces left the territory was during expeditions.

That meant something had definitely happened while I was away.

I couldn’t just leave things as they were.

This wasn’t the time to leisurely go off on an expedition.

---

I put the expedition plans on hold.

When the castle itself might be breached, how could I go off without concern?

The expedition would normally take about two to three weeks.

Since the attack on the castle happened while I was away, I could conclude that the monster raid would occur within three weeks.

It was still early spring, so delaying the expedition by about three weeks wasn’t a major problem.

I was impatient, but I had to confirm everything properly first.

“What do you mean, suddenly postponing the expedition? At least give me a reason.”

“Just wait. I’ve got something to confirm.”

Rudick grumbled endlessly at the sudden change of schedule, but there was no way I could explain.

I couldn’t exactly say that the diary had shown me a strange vision.

So I had no choice but to use the authority of a lord to press the matter down.

Though he grumbled outwardly, Rudick wasn’t the type to disobey orders, so there wasn’t a real problem.

“Man, no wonder your wife ran off, with a personality like that.”

“Wow, you’re really bringing that up here?”

“Until the new lady of the castle arrives, I’m going to keep using that against you. If you don’t like it, go find yourself a new wife.”

Except for his shameless, loud mouth, that is.

“Coming from a guy who’s never even managed to get a wife.”

“Ha, it’s not that I can’t, it’s that I don’t.

Unlike you, who brought in a fraud from outside, my standards are on another level.”

“Unbelievable, you really are…”

…

Rudick.

Muscular, knight commander, a mouth on fire.

He and Iron were practically like brothers.

Rudick’s mother had also been Iron’s wet nurse, so the two of them had grown up together as siblings.

But because Rudick said whatever came to mind without a filter, Iron had often suffered from his reckless words in the past.

Just like now.

‘Really, is that something you say to someone who got scammed by his ex-wife?’

But it didn’t hurt that much.

After all, even if I had the memories, Iron of the past was a different person than me.

‘And this guy is the type who’s the same front and back anyway.’

Honestly, I didn’t dislike people like him.

He didn’t cross the line, he just spoke bluntly.

At least he was straightforward.

Better a rough tongue than someone scheming behind my back.

‘In the end, this is just his way of pressuring me to bring in a new lady of the castle.’

After Iron’s ex-wife ran away, his behavior had been in shambles.

And Rudick was the sort who believed that a lost love could only be replaced by a new one.

‘For someone who looks like a hulking gorilla, he’s surprisingly popular too.’

It was irritating how confident he was that he could get a wife anytime, but it wasn’t as if he was wrong, so I had no comeback.

“Alright, let’s leave it at that, Commander Rudick.”

“Ha, when you’ve got nothing else to say, you hide behind my title, huh.”

“If you don’t like it, you can become lord yourself.”

“Pfft, forget it.”

And with that, I shut Rudick’s grumbling mouth by pulling rank.

When there’s nothing else to say, it’s the best method.

Of course, this would only work for now.

Next time, I’d have to think of a more effective way to shut him up.

The diary weighed heavily on my mind, but after exchanging these pointless words with him, I felt just a little lighter.

“Is this the Johnson Castle’s wall?”

“Well, it’s the same wall we see every day, nothing new about it, is there?”

“That’s true.”

I led the grumbling Rudick up the southern wall.

The massive and sturdy wall loomed before us.

‘As expected, this isn’t an ordinary castle.’

Johnson Castle completely blocked off the southern entrance of a vast basin.

It was an extremely advantageous terrain for defense.

On top of that, the walls were incredibly thick and high, which made them all the more reassuring.

This was only natural—Johnson Territory had always been a fortress at the northernmost edge of the kingdom, in the mid-north of the Ribella Peninsula, right near the border.

‘Basically, it’s like the role of a northern grand duke or a frontier margrave in web novels.’

Even after the Apocalypse, Johnson Territory’s role had not changed.

To the north stretched the “Monster Mountains,” and to the southeast lay the “Forest of Illusions.”

Wedged between these two monster-dense areas, Johnson Castle had somehow endured countless raids.

While neighboring territories were either destroyed or abandoned through migration, Johnson Castle remained one of the few surviving human domains in the northeastern region of the Ribella Peninsula.

Had it not been for these sturdy walls, there’s no way they could have withstood the monster Apocalypse for decades.

‘Honestly, it would’ve made more sense to migrate south.’

And indeed, many people had fled to safer regions.

Not every region was equally dangerous, even in a monster Apocalypse.

But the danger here was on another level.

With not one, but two forbidden zones nearby, this region was like living in hell difficulty mode.

Whether they were courageous or insane, these people were impressive in their own way.

“But with a fortress this large, defending it wouldn’t be easy either.”

Having huge, solid walls was certainly an advantage, but not entirely good news.

The population of Johnson Castle was around 3,000.

Soldiers numbered about 200, knights 30, rangers 30.

But this wall was far too large to be adequately defended with just that.

At the start of the Apocalypse, over 20,000 people had lived here, and the number of troops had been much higher.

But after the population declined to what it was now, there hadn’t been a raid large enough to surround the castle like in the early days.

Whether defense would succeed if such a large-scale raid happened again was questionable.

The taller and wider the wall, the more defenders it needed.

Depending on the situation, we might have to fight outside the wall rather than rely on it.

“Farmers.”

As I looked down from the wall, I saw farmers plowing their fields.

The southern lands of the castle stretched into relatively wide plains, which had been developed into farmland over the past few years.

Though the land wasn’t particularly suited for farming, this area was among the better options.

We were a poor territory, so reducing imports by even a little was vital.

The farming effort was critical.

But the farmers’ movements were sluggish and lethargic.

Anyone could tell they were working reluctantly.

“They don’t look very motivated.”

“Well, of course. This land—”

—Bwooooom!

“…Hm?”

Just as I was about to comment on the farmers’ lack of motivation, a yellow flag was raised from the watchtower.

Along with the blaring sound of the war horn.

It was the signal of a monster sighting.

“A yellow flag.”

“Right. That means Level 3 alert.”

“A Level 3, huh.

Nothing unusual.”

A Level 3 alert meant a small group of low-tier monsters approaching the castle.

Sure enough, a pack of monsters was charging in from the distance.

“Are those raptors?”

“Yeah, raptors. Thirty-one of them. Well, it is the season when raptors tend to run wild.”

“Wait, if monsters are rushing in like that, then the farmland…”

The southern side of the castle was an open plain.

If monsters appeared, there was nothing to obstruct their advance toward the castle.

And near the southern wall, the farmers were tilling their fields.

Of course, with the alert raised, the farmers wouldn’t come to harm.

But there was no way to prevent the newly cultivated farmland from being damaged.

The territory didn’t have enough soldiers or defenses to fully block such incursions.

Frankly, to prevent that entirely, we’d need either a wall surrounding the whole farmland or an enormous garrison stationed there.

“So that’s why they lack motivation.”

From what I recalled, Level 3 alerts like this could happen several times a day.

If farmland was damaged every time monsters appeared, it was no wonder the farmers had no will to work.

In fact, I probably wouldn’t feel like working either.

“But why aren’t they evacuating?”

Just as I sighed at the harsh reality of Johnson Territory, the farmers began acting strangely.

Instead of retreating to the safety of the castle as they should, they started gathering up their tools and belongings.

Not one of them looked like they intended to evacuate.