Chapter 111
Chapter 111: What Are You Making Again? (2)
Sometimes, actions that defy common sense become breakthroughs no one could have imagined.
But there’s no guarantee it will always succeed.
The lord feels confident after one farming success, but the chances of succeeding again are probably not very high.
That’s what I thought.
Rationality shouted that we had to turn the tables with bets, but perhaps due to my past experiences where I took a huge hit in the same situation, I felt uneasy.
Claude coyly drew Alfoy into the conversation.
“Can we bet on Alfoy too?”
“You crazy bastard! Why are you dragging me in!”
“No, I mean let’s split the wager over ten years. If we succeed, we get freedom; if we lose, it’s just an additional ten years instead of twenty. I’m ready, how about you, Lord Alfoy?”
“Shut up! I’m not gambling anymore!”
“Oh my, you’re quicker to sober up than I expected. Is it because you’re a mage? You are surprisingly cool-headed.”
Claude shook his head and raised his hands.
“I’m not going along this time. I’m a little short on funds.”
Honestly, I wasn’t lacking in thoughts, but twenty years made my hands tremble.
Then Ghislaine lowered the stakes slightly.
“How about ten years then? I’m being generous.”
“No thanks. I’d rather die this time.”
Such bravado.
Claude mumbled to himself as though it didn’t mean anything, but he didn’t push it to the end.
Not long ago, he lost a bet thinking it was all just bravado.
Ghislaine, seemingly disappointed, clicked his tongue and handed over another document.
“Prepare these as well.”
“Ah, please, enough work already.”
Claude grumbled, knowing it was futile to complain.
The pages were filled with names I couldn’t identify.
The back had bizarre facility blueprints.
“What is this…?”
“What do you think it is? It’s herbs. Contact all the northern merchant groups and gather them all. Then pass the blueprints to the blacksmith to have them made.”
“Why are you gathering so many herbs?”
“I told you earlier. We’re creating specialty products. Enough chit-chat, just prepare well.”
Ghislaine planned to produce a product that had been incredibly popular in his previous life.
Although he didn’t know the manufacturing method perfectly, he remembered the important parts for sure.
When thinking about the money they would make when completed, development costs felt trivial.
Of course, selling food and runestones was the easiest way to make money, as Claude pointed out.
But food, unlike runestones, had to be stockpiled for the future.
Nobles wouldn’t even look at common goods.
To sell anything to them, something a little more special was required than mere food.
“Geez, if we make some weird medicine and sell it, we’ll just get called quacks.”
But Claude, unable to fathom Ghislaine’s plan, just sighed and flipped through the documents.
Most of them were improvements that had been left out of the last plan or upgrades to existing plans.
‘…I want to escape.’
But I’m a slave and not free.
Claude hung his head low. Just thinking about the impending overwork made everything seem dark.
Ghislaine turned to Alfoy and the wizards.
“You’ll appropriately divide the labor and dig the waterways, creating a water supply and reservoir facility. Check if the old wells are dry and cast purification magic in any areas with poor water quality. We’ll be completely refurbishing everything. The work supervisor will be… Alfoy.”
“Why there…?”
“Why? The workers will need to break down any rocks blocking the path with magic. They’ll also have to dig the land at the same time.”
Civil engineering requires a lot of manpower and takes a long time.
If the mages exert their powers, construction time can be cut down significantly.
Naturally, Alfoy protested.
“We’re mages! Why would we, not laborers, do such things? Just make the workers do it!”
They had been pulled into large-scale projects several times before.
That time, it was coercive but at least they pretended to ask for cooperation on the surface… but now they outright planned to exploit them.
In response to Alfoy’s complaint, Ghislaine replied with an indifferent expression.
“Did you think you were just going to sit back and watch? You promised to work hard for ten years. Now actively participate in the construction of the territory.”
“I won’t! I’m a great mage! How dare a rural lord order me, the heir of the Mage Tower!”
“Should I just sell you in the slave market, then? The contract is valid by law… Mage slaves are rare and the merchants would love it. It’d be funny if the rumors spread. ‘You can make the heir of the Mage Tower a slave?’ Oh, I couldn’t stand it.”
“I’m sorry! I’ll work hard!”
Alfoy bent his back at a right angle before Ghislaine even finished his sentence. It was an incredibly quick change of attitude.
‘Ugh, just you wait. You think I’ll let you walk all over me like this?’
Self-loathing surged, sending chills down his spine. Alfoy gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes.
‘The Elder will come soon. When he finds out what I’ve been through, he won’t let you off!’
The Mage Tower branch was nearly complete.
Soon, the Elder who would be in charge and a group of mages would arrive. Alfoy was thinking of asking the Elder to nullify his slave contract.
‘I’ll endure until then. Ugh!’
Claude and the mages, overloaded with work, walked out with drooping shoulders.
Before the door even closed, Alfoy started pointing fingers at Claude.
“It’s your fault! You lost the bet because you brought that up! Why did you even make a wager when you didn’t even know? Is it true you’re the top student of the Academy? You gambling fool!”
Claude made a dumbfounded face as he replied mockingly.
“Why is it my fault? Did I threaten you or beg you to make a bet?”
“Because you acted all confident, I trusted you to do it!”
“Who said I believed you? That’s not even a proper farming method. How would I know if it has any effect when magic is involved! Are you even a real mage?”
“What? Are you saying all this is our fault?”
“Well, isn’t it? If you’re a mage, you should’ve figured that out quickly. You all could’ve made it a draw if you had even noticed something was wrong!”
“Oh come on, you’re nonsense,” one of the mages sneered, expressing disbelief.
“Nonsense? How dare you talk back to a mage of the Tower!”
“Yeah, next slave. I’m still the Chief Officer of this territory, you know?”
“Chief Officer doesn’t mean you can’t die!”
“Ha, you insects are threatening me now? Go ahead, try it.”
“What? Insects? You little…!”
Alfoy trembled, raising his magic power.
The other mages behind him glared at Claude, also readying their magic.
“Oh my, are you really going to use magic? Wendy, what are you doing! They’re bullying me!”
Wendy clicked her tongue and pulled out her dagger. Claude quickly retreated behind her.
“Get them! Get them, you bastards!”
Both sides glared at each other, looking for an opening in the tense situation.
Ghislaine, who had come out leisurely to inspect the territory, clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Tsk, tsk, not doing what you’re supposed to do, but brawling instead. Good job. Solve it with conversation, not violence. Make it so I don’t have to use my fists. Help me to pursue nonviolent peacefulness, please.”
At Ghislaine’s words, both sides grimaced and stepped back.
It felt so unfair to hear such words from a lord that I almost cried.
“What are you doing? Are you free? Do you have so much time on your hands? Are there not enough tasks for you?”
“Right away, we’re going!”
Claude and the mages scurried off, terrified of what kind of task Ghislaine would throw at them next.
Ghislaine chuckled lightly as he watched their dejected figures before embarking on his territory round.
*
Despite succeeding in wheat cultivation, Ghislaine didn’t stop buying food from other territories.
He was hoarding food to the point that even his retainers were shocked. It felt as if a ghost starving to death had latched onto him.
In such a situation, once the wheat harvest was finished, enormous quantities of food would stack up in the Territory of Penris.
“Now we don’t need to worry about living anymore. Since the lord is doing this much, let’s hang in there a little longer.”
“I can’t believe it’s growing this well in winter. Our lord must know everything.”
“They say we can harvest in three months? To think we could harvest this massive amount four times a year.”
Territory residents praised Ghislaine day by day and dedicated themselves to their tasks.
As the lord continued to shower out money, people seeking work kept gathering.
The entire territory buzzed with energy, incomparable to before. The Territory of Penris developed rapidly.
The laborers didn’t slack off but worked hard, and soon the Mage Tower branch was completed.
Shortly after, one of the five Elders of the Tower of the Bloody Flame arrived with twenty mages in tow to the Territory of Penris.
Seeing Ghislaine, the Elder smiled warmly and greeted him.
“Ha ha, how have you been? You look very radiant.”
When they first met, the Elder had spoken very casually, but in public settings, he offered formal respect.
Since he would be residing in the Territory of Penris, he had to show the basic courtesy due to the master of the territory.
Ghislaine warmly welcomed the Elder of the Mage Tower.
While mages helped defend the territory, they were also the most significant force for large-scale construction.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person, Elder.”
“Ha ha, someone must be here to lead the branch, right? We also have to manage the runestone trade.”
The Elder’s expression darkened slightly.
In fact, there had been much talk about this matter within the Tower. No one was willing to go.
No matter how significant a responsibility it was to lead a branch, who would want to be stuck in such a dreadful place?
In the end, it was determined by drawing lots, and the Elder who came was showing early signs of depression.
Noticing his discomfort, Ghislaine spoke softly to comfort him.
“There’s really no need for you to do this. This place…”
Just then, someone came running in screaming.
“Ugh! Elder! Elder! It’s me, Alfoy!”
“Hmm? Alfoy?”
The Elder tilted his head.
He never imagined that the arrogant heir of the Mage Tower would greet him so warmly.
Alfoy, who had come running in a panic, quickly shouted at the confused Elder.
“Elder! Please save me! This lord is making me a slave…!”
In an instant, Belinda, who was by Ghislaine’s side, came close, grabbed Alfoy’s head, and twisted his neck.
Crack!
In shock from the sudden twist, Alfoy collapsed unconscious mid-sentence.
“Oh no! What is happening right now…!”
At that moment, Ghislaine gently wrapped his arms around the Elder’s back while smoothly covering Alfoy with his body.
“Ha ha ha, it seems he’s been working hard lately and is a bit worn out.”
“No, it’s not that, his neck just….”
“It’s alright. We’ve been doing various research lately, and something seems to have gone wrong, causing him to act strangely often. He actually asked to be knocked out every time. Hey, what are you doing? Take him away quickly.”
Belinda whisked Alfoy away in a hurry.
Ghislaine leaned in and subtly whispered to the still bewildered Elder.
“Isn’t it a bit strange for someone like you to be staying in such a rural area? There’s still a lot that this territory lacks.”
“That’s true, but….”
“How about we make Alfoy the branch leader and you just come occasionally to check in?”
“…Is that really okay?”
“Of course. With twenty mages here, what could possibly go wrong?”
Having a 5th Circle mage would definitely help in protecting the territory. But that’s all it would do.
Regardless, Barne’s knowledge was far superior, so rather than favoring someone unmotivated, it would be better to put Alfoy in charge and work him hard.
“It seems this territory is quite noisy lately. With things in this state, I feel it’s insufficient for your presence. It doesn’t sit well with me. Please don’t worry and just go back.”
“Hmm, but this was something that the Tower decided….”
“Oh, I can visit you later and discuss it with the Lord of the Tower myself, can’t I? Just leave the rest to me and get going. Right now.”
A chilling sensation ran through the Elder.
Though the words were courteous, the atmosphere felt oddly threatening.
Ghislaine’s seemingly kind yet strangely glinting eyes seemed to say, ‘If you don’t leave, things will get quite difficult.’
“Should I…? Then I’ll just go back. I wonder if this is really okay.”
“Yes, take some of the runestones we’ve mined recently and head back with them. I’ll sell them at the market price, as promised. But you know the prices have gone up a bit recently, right?”
Maybe it was because the Tower of the Bloody Flame was hoarding them, the price of runestones had been rising steadily.
Thanks to Ghislaine, the Tower of the Bloody Flame was just barely managing to catch its breath.
Until Ghislaine could secure runestones from somewhere else, he had no choice but to be dragged around by Ghislaine’s requests.
The Elder’s face brightened as he thought about how to bring up the subject of runestones.
“Alright. Then I will convey this well to the Lord of the Tower. I’ll let Alfoy take the position of branch leader under my authority.”
In any case, there was no veto power.
The Elder accepted the conditions and hurriedly headed back.
Through experience, he knew well that talking too much with Ghislaine was not worth it.
He really didn’t want to come, but with Ghislaine pushing him to go, it was just the right opportunity for the Elder.
“Ah, now the numbers are finally matching up.”
With the Elder sent off, Ghislaine smiled.
A total of twenty-six mages would remain in the territory under the guise of the branch. It was a number that even major lords would find hard to possess.
While each mage may not be too powerful individually, that’s actually better for flexible employment.
The newly arrived mages were somewhat startled by the sudden departure of the Elder, but they were not overly worried.
Their confidence stemmed from the fact that they were mages from the greatest tower in the North.
Seeing the openly arrogant mages, Ghislaine couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
However, he concealed his true feelings, welcoming them with a warm smile.
“You’ve come a long way. Welcome. I look forward to your contributions to the territory from now on.”
The mages, feeling pleased to be treated with such honor, smiled brightly.
They had expected to enjoy a retreat in this tranquil rural area, but Ghislaine had different plans.
‘This will speed up the construction even more.’
They would become valuable labor for the territory.
