The family’s meal was unusually quiet.
Even when we returned from the Northern Subjugation, it wasn’t this silent.
‘Feels like there’s going to be a major announcement.’
This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this pattern. It was the same atmosphere when Father was about to leave for the north.
As only the clinking of tableware filled the room, Father’s voice suddenly broke the silence.
“Rayrn. How is your training coming along?”
“Thanks to you, Father. I’ve advanced to First-Class Magic this time.”
“That’s fast. Reaching this circle at thirteen.”
“That’s truly impressive, isn’t it?”
“Oh ho. Then your Magic Missile must have become even faster and stronger?”
At my achievement, Father and the rest of the family all looked at me with shining eyes. There was even a bit of surprise—it seemed they hadn’t expected this much.
‘Did Master not mention it in advance?’
Well, Master is busy with his own affairs these days.
Maybe he didn’t get a chance to report it. Or perhaps he intentionally kept it a secret to surprise them, just like now.
‘If I said I was developing a new form of Magic, they’d be even more shocked.’
I’m building my own magic theory, even creating a system of magic studies. I wonder how they’d react if I told them that.
“It was just a small achievement. I’m not the only one to reach First-Class at this age, right?”
“Still, it’s rare.”
Unexpectedly, dinner turned into a storm of compliments directed at me. Mother, bursting with pride, insisted she had to have tea time with other Noble Families to brag about me.
“By the way, Rayrn. Besides training, you haven’t been assigned any other duties, have you?”
“No, I haven’t. My sister has been in charge of patrolling the territory, so aside from training, I don’t have any other responsibilities.”
Then, Father brought up the main topic.
Becoming stronger and honing oneself are the duties of Noble Family children.
Learning is also a duty. But sometimes, other responsibilities are given as well. For example, patrolling the territory.
‘So that’s why we had an early lunch.’
He must be asking for my opinion before making an announcement to the territory.
“This time, the seat of Baron Sitarne is vacant.”
“The seat of Baron Sitarne…?”
“He was in charge of several affairs. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m thinking of entrusting some of those duties to you. Would that be all right?”
“Of course. If you entrust them to me, I’ll do my best.”
“Good.”
In this world, it’s rare to have professionals. The same goes for administration. It’s unusual for things to be divided by region.
Even the ousted Baron Sitarne had held multiple posts.
Despite having an Administrative Officer, he handled administration, agriculture, even education, without hesitation.
People just did whatever needed doing at the time. There was no way that was efficient.
‘It’s all a mess, honestly.’
Saying someone handled several areas sounds nice, but in reality, it’s just a hodgepodge.
“What kind of work would you like to do?”
He probably doesn’t intend to give me everything at once. Maybe he thinks I lack experience. And I didn’t want to take on everything, either.
‘It’s better to do one thing properly. A mishmash just doesn’t suit me.’
If possible, I prefer something that increases the family’s wealth.
If the family’s wealth grows, after my brother becomes Master of the House, the portion that falls to me will be larger.
A win-win for everyone.
‘Maybe because this is a family of knights, they’re not so good at these things.’
In the end, the fields I’d be handling would be related to commerce or agriculture. Those are the ones that make money.
So, my choice is—
“I’d like to try being the Head of Agriculture.”
“Oh. Head of Agriculture?”
“Yes.”
The Head of Agriculture was an administrative position related to water management and agriculture. Agriculture is so important in this world that it has its own dedicated title.
But by now, there were no new farming methods, and no real desire for advancement, so the position had become almost meaningless.
Father asked with a hint of concern.
“Are you sure? It’s not a bad way to gain experience, but it won’t be easy to earn merit.”
“I’m thinking of trying to develop agriculture using Magic.”
“Oh ho. Magic, you say…”
I could see interest spark in Father’s eyes.
“We have no magicians in the family, so I never even considered that. Magic… Magic, huh…”
Father isn’t someone who acts rashly, but he also isn’t the type to reject new things. He was definitely intrigued by my unexpected suggestion.
Now was the time to drive the point home.
“If possible, I want to improve farming methods, too. If I use Magic, production should increase significantly.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“There might be some risks. But I don’t think I’ll fail.”
“Hmm… For now, I’ll permit you to manage just a portion of the Direct Dominion. How about that?”
“That’s good.”
It was exactly within the scope I had hoped for. A small part at first. Later, if I can change it all, even better.
“Then I’ll work hard at it.”
“I’ll also give you the rank of Inspector. I was planning to increase the number of Inspectors for this occasion, so it would be good if you handled that as well.”
Father granted me another position I hadn’t even considered.
‘Inspector, huh. That’s not bad.’
I hadn’t expected this.
Right now, I’m cleaning up and organizing the underworld. If I also become the Inspector in charge of monitoring the territory? There might be an unexpected synergy.
It’s like having a cake in both hands! The fist of the underworld, and the authority of an Inspector, all together.
“I’m happy to take that as well.”
“Hoho. Good. It’s nice to see your enthusiasm. Then I’ll entrust you with these.”
Just like that, I unexpectedly gained two positions.
***
Father wasn’t satisfied with just giving me the positions. For both posts, he assigned two people to support me exclusively.
“Young Lord! It’s been a while!”
“Oh! Young Lord. I look forward to working with you.”
“It’s been some time.”
It was Administrative Officer Myuron and Benson, who had helped me during my patrol of the territory.
‘So these two are assigned to me.’
Neither of them were narrow-minded. They had helped me greatly during my previous patrols of the territory.
It seemed Father was determined to make these two completely loyal to me.
Even if he didn’t say it, winning their hearts was probably Father’s assignment as well.
Even now, I could see a hint of anxiety on their faces.
Since they’re being assigned to the Third Young Lord and youngest son, not the First Young Lord, they’re uneasy. In their eyes, I could be cut off at any moment.
Even though our family is more harmonious than other Noble Families, when it comes to choosing the Master of the House, no one can predict what might happen. That’s why they’re like this.
“I look forward to working with you.”
I didn’t intend to reassure them immediately. If I proved my abilities, they would naturally come to follow me.
“Let’s start with a simple tour of the Direct Dominion.”
“What about the Inspector’s duties?”
“I’ll look into those gradually for now.”
“That’s a wise decision. Then, I’ll help Myuron with the territory patrol.”
“Let’s do that.”
Since I had become Head of Agriculture, the place they led me to was the farmland under the Earl’s Territory’s direct control.
‘It’s quite vast. But the yield seems a bit low.’
The farmland stretched so wide, I couldn’t see the edges. Most of what was being grown was wheat.
“It’s already been sown.”
“We planted according to the season.”
It wasn’t golden yet. But the wheat sprouts were growing, glimmering with a faint green.
‘That’s a pity.’
Even at a glance, there were a few things that needed correcting.
If I had taken the position of Head of Agriculture a little earlier, I could have addressed those issues from the start.
Plants are more sensitive than people think, so even small improvements show results quickly.
Especially in this world, where people are so focused on fighting Monsters that farming techniques have barely developed.
While wheat was flourishing in some fields, there were bare patches of earth in others.
“What’s that empty area over there?”
“That’s where we’re going to plant Pirn.”
“Oh. Pirn tastes pretty good when grilled on skewers.”
“How do you know that?”
“Well, you know, I just do.”
The first time I patrolled the territory alone, I had eaten Pirn skewers. Pirn is a crop unique to this world, looking like a giant bean, but the pods are several times larger than normal beans.
It’s a tasty food, and it sells for more than wheat.
“That’s convenient, since you know.”
“How does it grow?”
“It grows rapidly, like a vine. It takes about three months to mature, which is impressive. But the yield isn’t as high as you’d expect. That’s why the price is decent.”
“Oh, I see. So it’s valuable.”
“Yes. But it’s hard to manage. Bugs eat it often, and weeds grow like crazy.”
“I see…”
Pirn. There was a money-maker right here.
The patrol ended quickly.
It only took about two days. Since we didn’t have to travel far, there was no reason for it to take long. Even though I only saw a part of it, just seeing the area where Pirn was grown was enough for me.
“Ask Father if it’s okay for me to get involved in Pirn farming.”
“He already said he wanted you to be in charge of that area.”
“That’s good.”
Father had high expectations for me, but he didn’t make any hasty misjudgments.
He left staple crops like wheat alone, but entrusted me with crops like Pirn, which were nice to have but not essential.
From my perspective, since Pirn looked like a pile of money, it was even better.
“Then go back for now. I’ll call you if I need anything, so don’t worry.”
“Yes. Then I’ll wait at the administrative office.”
“I’ll wait there as well.”
Myuron headed to the administrative office, and Benson stayed by my side as my assistant.
Finally alone for the first time in a while, I set aside my training and picked up some paper and a pen.
“If you want people to work, you have to write things down.”
If you run things on guesswork, nothing gets done.
Especially with agricultural matters, a system is essential.
I wasn’t about to neglect this job I’d just received.
“Let’s start with Pirn farming. Since its features are similar to field crops…”
I wrote down everything that came to mind.
[Simple improvements to farming methods]
[Water, which is crucial to agriculture]
[Fertilizer to boost crop productivity]
“I’ll have to check if that’s available.”
Things I need to look for to implement special farming methods. Boundaries and roads created to manage farmland efficiently.
I jotted them all down in an instant.
Many ideas flashed through my mind. I made sure not to miss any, filling the paper completely.
Then I calmly began to organize everything into a system.
‘It’s a good thing Jegal Hyeon is involved in the Jegal Clan’s agriculture. Kim Seonggeon’s knowledge is quite helpful, too.’
This process was also a way of organizing the scattered memories in my head and bringing them into reality.
What I thought would be done quickly ended up taking a whole day and night just to get the basics sorted.
It took several more days to organize things in a way that Administrative Officer Myuron could understand. After all, teaching is always harder than knowing something yourself.
“That’s quite a stack.”
The pile of documents I ended up with was pretty thick.
Considering the cost of paper in this world, that alone used up a significant budget. I had to make up for this expense with results.
“Now I have to put this into practice. Time to find Myuron.”
It was time to act.