Chapter 109
Chapter 109: You Can Challenge Anytime (2)
Claude, following closely behind Ghislaine, bit his nails.
‘No way. Did it really sprout?’
The logic Ghislaine presented was quite plausible, honestly making Claude feel a bit uneasy.
He had assumed it was safe to disregard the words of someone who had never farmed, studied agricultural techniques, or learned magic!
‘Oh, no. If this is true, I’ll become a voiceless slave! It has to be a mistake by the steward!’
He hid his anxiety and walked with a swagger.
At the cultivated land nearest the castle, a crowd had already gathered.
Whether rumors had spread quickly or not, people who worked in other regions, and even wizards, had come.
The group, staring blankly, stepped back when the lord appeared.
Ghislaine passed through the path they had cleared and approached the field. His heart raced with anticipation.
“Wow, this is amazing!”
Ghislaine exclaimed as he saw the green sprouts covering the farmland.
The wheat sprouts stood in perfect rows, looking just like an army.
While Ghislaine smiled contentedly, those around him looked at him with eyes full of shock.
To think such sprouts could arise from land that was virtually dead!
Alfoy beside him had turned beet red and clenched his fists tightly.
It was as if a storm was raging in his heart, questioning when he had felt so peaceful.
Alfoy pointed angrily at the stern sprouts.
“What are you doing there!”
This couldn’t be real. It must be a dream.
A slave! Him, the heir to the Mage Tower, a wage-free slave for ten years!
The mana that enveloped his body became unstable and began to surge.
He couldn’t stand the gap between the realization he had gained a few days before and reality.
The shock of his proud identity being reduced to that of a wage-free slave was no small matter.
Trembling uncontrollably, Alfoy eventually collapsed, spitting blood.
“Cough!”
Ghislaine clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Why is he making such a scene now? Can mana really backflow? It’s only been a few days since he realized… What an interesting guy. You there, hurry and take him away to stabilize. He’s a precious slave; we can’t have him sick.”
The fallen Alfoy was rushed to bed by those around him.
However, the shock Alfoy received was trivial compared to Claude’s despair.
‘No way, this is happening?’
It was a moment where everything Claude had believed in was shattered.
‘The production capacity could double? The Lord did this?’
He had never heard of such farming methods anywhere in the continent.
This meant that Ghislaine had come up with it all on his own.
Anyone can think of ideas, but if it really works, it’s a whole different story.
Claude couldn’t believe that Ghislaine, whom he thought knew nothing, had succeeded so easily.
“I lost? The top graduate of Seiron Royal Academy? No way!”
Claude began to outright deny reality.
“I must be overworking myself lately; I’m seeing things. I want to see Anna…”
“Claude!”
Ghislaine grabbed Claude by the shoulders and shook him urgently.
“Are you okay? Get a hold of yourself! You’re not the type to end up like this!”
“…What?”
“We have ten years of work ahead; you can’t just lose your mind already!”
“…”
Feeling slightly moved only frustrated him more.
Ghislaine chuckled and patted his shoulder.
Claude, unable to take the confirmation shot with words, ended up fainting, foaming at the mouth.
Fortunately, Wendy nearby caught him gently.
“Today, just relax. You’ll be much busier starting tomorrow. We have a ton of work to do.”
“Understood.”
Wendy nodded and began to drag Claude away.
“Shall we look around elsewhere?”
Ghislaine whistled and leisurely looked over the territory.
Though each field had slight variations due to the different sowing times, every cultivated land showed signs of sprouting.
Ghislaine felt satisfied enough to smile as he made his way back to the castle.
Having stolen knowledge from his past… the future’s wisdom was sweet, but nonetheless, he had successfully boosted food production.
Now this territory would develop at an incredible pace. Food was the foundation of territorial development, after all.
“Young Master! How on earth did this happen? How did you know?”
“Hmm, well, if the seeds absorb mana and become stronger, they can withstand even strong magical forces.”
Belinda probed but Ghislaine just shrugged it off.
The truth was, he couldn’t explain the principle accurately.
This method was crafted by future mages and scholars working together, not him.
He only knew the outcome.
Neither the speaker nor the listener truly understood it, but everyone accepted it.
They presumed it was either a family vision or something that couldn’t be comprehended.
In the first place, principles weren’t what mattered.
What mattered was the concrete result of increased food production.
*
After confirming that the wheat was growing well, Ghislaine shifted his focus to other matters.
For him, this was also part of a long-term plan, just a process he had to go through.
The bet with Claude was merely a minor bonus.
But for the territory residents, it was different. This event was a crucial moment that would change their lives.
“Is it really true that crops grow this well on our land? I can hardly believe it.”
“Our lord is a gift from the heavens! He must have received a blessing from the God of Agriculture! Let’s trust and follow him without question!”
The residents were genuinely overjoyed.
Praise for the lord echoed throughout the entire Territory of Penris.
In truth, they had harbored a lingering anxiety even while witnessing the lord’s generosity.
Renovating the territory’s facilities was commendable, but that required money at the end of the day.
Would the lord’s funds eventually run out? Would they return to being impoverished like before? Would they exploit them like the other lords?
There was no source of income for the territory, so everything felt uncertain.
But now, there was no need for such worries.
The elderly wept as they looked at the cultivated land.
“We won’t have to starve anymore. My children, my grandchildren won’t have to starve. Uwaah.”
“Thank you, my lord. Thank you so much.”
“We must take good care of our lord. He is our hope.”
It felt as though the years of hardship and starvation had been a lie. The new lord had resolved all their problems in just a few months.
The loyalty of the territory residents grew stronger by the day.
Ghislaine sat arrogantly in the meeting room with his retainers gathered around, boasting.
“I told you, didn’t I? It would work out. Anyone else who wants to make a bet with me can challenge anytime.”
The retainers all tightly shut their mouths, unable to say a word.
It was clearly a departure from common sense, but with the results so tangible, they couldn’t argue.
For the time being, they had no choice but to listen to the lord.
Ghislaine snickered at the exasperated expressions of his retainers and turned to Gillian.
“Since the sprouts are still growing, we must manage them well, right? Deploy troops to the cultivated land to prevent wild animals or crazies from trampling it.”
Gillian replied with a smile, “The territory residents have already taken the initiative to guard it in shifts.”
“Oh, really?”
“They seem desperate to protect it.”
“That’s great. People striving to protect something are strong.”
It was indeed a good sign that the residents were taking the initiative to guard the cultivated land.
It meant that everyone recognized it as the hope for the territory.
Ghislaine smiled widely.
The hope he had only been confident about was finally spreading throughout the territory.
*
“So, he detonated the runestones buried in the land all at once? The one leading that was Ghislaine Perdium… now Baron Penris.”
Desmond’s count, Harold, muttered to himself as he reviewed the report.
His voice sounded exhausted, and he looked significantly more haggard than before.
His hair had turned gray, and his eyes were sunken, suggesting he hadn’t slept well.
“That’s right.”
“…What a lunatic.”
Initially, Harold had found it hard to believe the report.
But reports of strange occurrences coming out of Perdium, along with verification from the Duke’s faction, left him with no choice but to believe it.
However, believing it and understanding Ghislaine’s actions were different matters.
To blast runestones worth enough to sell the entire territory to protect Perdium was madness.
“I didn’t know he was such an irrational lunatic. Well, that would explain why I couldn’t predict it.”
No wonder he had felt uneasy since the moment he heard his name.
Harold clicked his tongue and turned to his deputy.
“What is he doing now?”
“He claims he’ll increase agricultural production and is turning the territory upside down. He’s building or renovating infrastructure and spending enormous sums to develop the territory.”
“…Increasing agricultural production?”
Harold rubbed his temples and pondered.
When Digald lost the war, the territory all became part of Perdium.
Ghislaine managed to acquire half of it.
Just that was astonishing, but the news of Ghislaine turning Territory of Penris upside down was even more surprising.
“Why on earth would he do that? He must know that the land in that area can’t be used for farming.”
“Perhaps because the current yield is far too low? If he manages it well, things might improve.”
“That’s still excessive. He’s pouring all the money earned from the runestones into it.”
The deputy cautiously expressed his thoughts.
“It’s the first territory he received at such a young age. He probably wants to try various things regardless of what others say. There are those who feel compelled to experience things directly, right? It’s not so strange, considering his reckless past.”
Harold nodded. It was a reasonable assertion.
Many others besides Ghislaine found themselves sinking money into futile dreams of developing their territories.
Beginner lords who hadn’t received proper heir education often made such mistakes.
“He’s getting arrogant just because he won a war with a single trap.”
Harold didn’t acknowledge Ghislaine. No, he couldn’t acknowledge him.
Even if a person suddenly changed, their past as a fool wouldn’t simply vanish.
Harold’s high pride and biases against Ghislaine clouded his judgment.
The fact that Harold had researched Ghislaine’s past might have worked against him.
To Harold, Ghislaine was merely a lucky rookie who survived.
Next time, he’d just need to behead him.
“Good. Well, I won’t have the energy to deal with him for a while. If he self-destructs, that’s fine with me. Just leave him be.”
“Understood.”
“Right now, there’s something more important.”
After suffering harsh reprimands from the duke after losing the Perdium skirmish, he had narrowly avoided losing his head due to what he achieved until now.
Therefore, he couldn’t afford to fail this time.
It was far more significant than seizing the territory of Perdium.
“It’s time to wrap up matters in the North.”
Currently, the kingdom was flowing as the Duke of Delphine intended, except for the North.
But to completely succeed in the rebellion, the North also had to be subdued.
Harold glanced sharply at the aides gathered nearby.
“There are few territories left that haven’t been coerced. Use any means necessary to push through. And particularly, speed up the preparations for Amelia’s rebellion. I’ll figure out how to deal with Raybold’s Knight Commander separately.”
Raybold’s Knight Commander was known as the strongest man of the North, the Greatest Sword of the North.
Though he had raised Viktor specifically to deal with him… he died in the last war, so a new plan had to be devised.
‘Ghislaine… If it weren’t for you. After I handle Raybold, it will be your turn. Prepare your neck.’
The mere thought of Ghislaine made Harold’s teeth grind, but for now, he had no time to linger over it.
The Duke’s faction and Harold believed it more important to capture Raybold than to deal with Ghislaine.
They thought that no matter how hard Ghislaine struggled, the Duke’s faction could sweep him away whenever they pleased.
They couldn’t even begin to imagine how Penris would develop from here on out.
