Chapter 109: Feel Free to Challenge Anytime (2)
Claude, following behind Ghislaine, bit his nails.
“No way. Has it really sprouted?”
Ghislaine’s logic was quite plausible, which honestly made him a little uneasy.
He had confidently dove into this conversation, reassuring himself that someone who has never farmed, studied agricultural techniques, or learned magic couldn’t possibly know what they were talking about!
“Oh no. If this is true, I’ll become a silent slave! The steward must have seen it wrong!”
Hiding his anxious feelings, he puffed out his chest and walked with confidence.
Many people had already gathered at the cultivated land nearest to the castle.
Word must have spread quickly, as not only locals but even mages had come to see.
People standing around with dazed expressions stepped back in surprise when the lord appeared.
Ghislaine passed through the path they made and approached the field, his heart racing with anticipation.
“Oh, this is amazing!”
Ghislaine exclaimed upon seeing the green sprouts covering the cultivated land.
The wheat shoots were perfectly aligned in rows, looking just like an army.
While Ghislaine smiled contentedly, the people around him gazed at him in shock.
It was unbelievable that the land, which had seemed nearly dead, could sprout so quickly!
Alfoy, standing beside him, was clenching his fists, his face flushed red.
As if questioning when he had ever felt relieved after gaining realization, turmoil was raging within his heart.
He pointed an accusing finger at the strict sprouts, yelling, “Why are you coming out from there!”
No way. This must be a dream. It absolutely had to be a dream.
A slave! Him, the heir to the Mage Tower, a slave without pay for ten years!
The magic swirling around him began to run rampant, unable to stabilize.
He couldn’t bear the gap between the enlightenment he had received a few days ago and reality.
The shock of being reduced to a free laborer was immensely difficult for his pride to handle.
Shaking uncontrollably, Alfoy eventually collapsed, coughing up blood.
“Cough!”
Ghislaine clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Seriously, why is this guy causing such a commotion? Could it really be that he’s experiencing mana backlash? How long has it been since he gained his realization? Anyway, what a strange guy. You guys, hurry and take him away to stabilize him. He’s a valuable slave; he can’t afford to be sick.”
The collapsed Alfoy was rushed away by the surrounding people.
However, the shock Alfoy experienced was nothing compared to Claude’s despair.
“No way… is this really happening?”
It was the moment everything he had believed to be common sense crumbled down.
It was the moment when all the common sense I had believed in was shattered.
“Production capacity can be copied? This? The Lord?”
I had never heard of such a method of agriculture anywhere on the continent.
This meant that Ghislaine had thought of this method all by himself.
Anyone can have thoughts, but if it actually works, that’s a different story.
Claude couldn’t believe that Ghislaine, whom he thought knew nothing, had succeeded so quickly.
“I lost? Me, the top graduate of Seiron Royal Academy? No way!”
Claude started to deny reality.
“I guess I’ve been working too hard lately. I’m seeing things. I want to see Anna…”
“Oh dear, Claude!”
Ghislaine grabbed Claude’s shoulders, shaking him frantically.
“Are you okay? Snap out of it! You’re not the kind to end here!”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve got ten more years of work ahead of you, and you’re already losing your mind!”
“…”
The fact that I was almost moved was even more irritating.
Ghislaine chuckled, patting his shoulder.
At Ghislaine’s statement, which was all but a confirmation kill, Claude couldn’t handle the shock anymore and fainted, foaming at the mouth.
Fortunately, Wendy, who was nearby, easily caught his body.
“Take it easy today. Things will get a lot busier starting tomorrow. I’ve got a ton of tasks for you.”
“Understood.”
Wendy nodded, bowed her head, and dragged Claude away.
“Shall we take a look around elsewhere?”
Ghislaine whistled and leisurely surveyed the territory.
While each cultivated land had slight variations due to different sowing times, there were signs of sprouts in every field.
The results were satisfying enough that he smiled as he headed back to the castle.
I had stolen knowledge from my previous life… but anyway, I succeeded in the most important food production.
Now, this territory would develop at an amazing speed. Food is the foundation of territory development, after all.
“Young Master! What on earth happened? How did you know?”
“Well, if the seeds absorb mana and grow stronger, they’ll be able to withstand strong land mana as well.”
Belinda bombarded him with questions, but Ghislaine just mumbled something vaguely.
In fact, Ghislaine couldn’t explain the principles precisely.
This was something created by future mages and scholars, not him.
He only knew the result.
Neither the explainer nor the listener fully understood, but everyone just accepted it.
They figured it must be family vision or something that couldn’t be understood anyway.
In the first place, the principles didn’t matter.
What mattered was that the food production had truly increased.
*
After confirming that the wheat was growing well, Ghislaine shifted his focus to other matters.
To him, this was just part of a long-term plan, a step to pass through.
The bet with Claude was just a small bonus.
But for the territory residents, it was different. This was an important event that would change their lives.
“Really, crops are growing so well in our territory? I can’t believe my eyes.”
“Our Lord is a gift from the heavens! Blessed by the God of Agriculture! Let’s believe and follow unconditionally!”
The territory residents were genuinely happy.
Praise for the Lord echoed throughout the Penris Territory.
In fact, even while witnessing the Lord’s generosity, there was always some lingering anxiety in the back of their minds.
Even while watching it, there was still a sense of unease lingering in my heart.
Improving the territory’s facilities was all well and good, but that ultimately required money.
What if the Lord’s funds ran out someday? What if we became impoverished again like before? Wouldn’t we be plundered by other lords?
With no sign of money coming into the territory, it was only natural to feel anxious about everything.
But now there was no need for such feelings.
The elderly, aged residents teared up as they looked at the cultivated land.
“We won’t have to starve anymore. My children, my grandchildren won’t have to go hungry. Sniff.”
“Thank you, my Lord. Truly, thank you.”
“We must serve the Lord well. Only the Lord is our hope.”
Those past days of living in hunger seemed like a lie. The new lord had resolved all the territory’s issues in just a few months.
The loyalty of the territory residents was soaring higher every day.
Ghislaine sat arrogantly in the main hall with the retainers gathered around, boasting.
“I told you, didn’t I? I said it would work. Anyone who wants to challenge me again is welcome to try at any time.”
The retainers all fell silent, unable to speak a word.
It was certainly something beyond common sense, yet with the actual results in front of them, they couldn’t argue.
For the time being, they had no choice but to quietly follow the lord’s orders.
Ghislaine snickered at the sullen expressions of the retainers and glanced at Gillian.
“Since the saplings are still growing, we need to manage them well, right? Let’s deploy troops to the cultivated land so wild animals or crazies don’t trample them.”
Gillian replied with a smile, “The territory residents are already volunteering to guard them in shifts.”
“Oh, really?”
“They seem quite desperate about it.”
“That’s great. Those who want to protect something are usually strong.”
It was indeed a good phenomenon that the territory residents were volunteering to guard the cultivated land.
It meant that everyone now understood that the land was the hope of the territory.
Ghislaine let out a refreshing laugh.
The hope he had only been sure of himself was finally starting to spread throughout the territory.
*
“So, you detonated all the runestones buried in the land at once? The one leading that is Ghislaine Perdium… now the Baron Penris.”
Count Desmond, Harold, muttered to himself while flipping through the report.
His voice was weighed down, sounding tired. His face looked gaunt compared to before.
His hair had turned white, and he had dark circles under his eyes, clearly unable to get much sleep.
“That’s correct.”
“…That crazy bastard.”
At first, Harold couldn’t believe the report.
But the rumors leaking from Perdium, along with the verification from the Duke Faction, left him no choice but to accept it as fact.
Yet, believing it aside, he still couldn’t understand Ghislaine’s actions.
To blow up enough runestones to be a burden for the entire territory just to protect a stupid Perdium.
“I didn’t know he was such a madman who can’t even do simple math. No wonder I couldn’t predict this.”
No wonder he felt uneasy as soon as he heard that name.
Harold clicked his tongue and glanced at his deputy.
“What’s he doing right now?”
“He’s tearing apart the territory saying he wants to increase production capacity. He’s either building or renovating infrastructure. He’s spending an enormous amount of money to develop the territory.”
“…Increasing production capacity?”
Harold rubbed his temples, lost in thought.
Digald’s defeat in the war meant that his territory was entirely annexed by Perdium.
Half of it was taken by this Ghislaine.
As if that wasn’t shocking enough, the news of Ghislaine turning Penris Territory upside down was even more perplexing.
“Why on earth is he doing that? He must know by now that the land over there can’t be cultivated.”
“Could it be because the production capacity is too low? If he manages it well, it might get better than now.”
“Still, that’s a bit excessive. He’s poured all the money he made from the runestone into it.”
At that, the deputy cautiously shared his thoughts.
“He’s young and just received his first territory. No matter what others say, he probably wants to try various things. There are those who need to experience things directly to feel satisfied, right? Considering his reckless past, it’s not all that strange.”
Harold nodded. It made sense.
Many others, too, wasted money dreaming foolish dreams of developing their territories, just like Ghislaine.
Usually, it was rookie lords who hadn’t received proper heir training that made such mistakes.
“Looks like he’s getting full of himself just because he won a war with one trap.”
Harold didn’t acknowledge Ghislaine. No, he couldn’t acknowledge him.
Even if a person suddenly changed, it didn’t erase a past spent living recklessly.
Harold’s lofty pride and prejudices against Ghislaine blinded him.
In fact, his thorough investigation of Ghislaine’s past had become a double-edged sword for him.
To Harold, Ghislaine was just a lucky wannabe who survived.
Next time, he would surely chop off his head.
“Good. Anyway, I won’t have the energy to worry about that place for a while. If he self-destructs, that’s a welcome surprise for us. Just leave him be.”
“Understood.”
“Right now, there are more important matters at hand.”
After losing the Perdium skirmish, he had received severe reprimands from the duke.
Had it not been for the accomplishments he had made, he might have lost his head.
Thus, this time, failure was simply not an option.
It was much more important than taking the Perdium Territory.
“The time has come to wrap up the northern issues.”
Currently, except for the north, everything was going just as Duke Delphine intended.
But to completely succeed in the rebellion, the north needed to be subdued as well.
Harold surveyed the staff officers gathered around him with sharp eyes.
“There aren’t many territories left that haven’t been swayed. Stop at nothing to push forward. And especially hurry up with Amelia’s rebellion preparations. I’ll think of a way to deal with Raybold’s Knight Commander separately.”
Raybold’s Knight Commander was the strongest in the north, known as the North’s Greatest Swordsman.
Harold had raised Viktor for that purpose… but he died in the last war, so other plans needed to be devised.
‘Ghislaine… If it weren’t for you. After I handle Raybold, it’ll be your turn. Wash your neck and wait.’
Just the thought of Ghislaine made his teeth grind, but there was no time to worry about that for now.
The duke faction and Harold deemed that capturing Raybold was more important than dealing with Ghislaine, hence they adjusted their plans.
They believed that no matter how much Ghislaine struggled, the duke faction could wipe him out whenever they decided to.
They couldn’t even begin to imagine how Penris would evolve.
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