When the land is overturned, the serfs begin to tidy up the upturned soil.
“Do it properly. Don’t make it too compact, he said.”
“Got it.”
“You, over there! Move faster!”
Under Myuron’s supervision, serfs and conscripted commoners worked up a sweat as they shaped the ridges of the field.
As the Third Young Lord of the Earl’s house, I was setting an example by taking the lead. In such a situation, no one dared to slack off.
If anyone did, Myuron, who watched over us with sharp eyes, would never have let it slide.
‘Good. This is working.’
Seeing the ideas I’d written on paper actually come to life before my eyes was more satisfying than I expected. More rewarding than I had imagined.
Watching people moving just as I had envisioned… heh. This must be why people are so desperate to climb higher.
The new farming method I devised was being implemented smoothly.
‘It’s only the beginning, so there’s nothing complicated yet.’
This world’s land was fairly fertile.
Even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter. If problems arose with the soil, one could always hire a priest who served the Earth God Gamoa at great expense.
Crops blessed by a priest never failed.
‘Though the blessing does fade after a few years. Still, it’s not a bad solution.’
Even without a priest of the Earth God, as long as you didn’t summon a priest serving an evil god, any blessing would do.
In practice, hiring a priest cost so much that they were rarely called unless a severe famine was expected, but at least there was a sure measure against most poor harvests.
Of course, if your fief was too small or you lacked funds, even that wasn’t possible, but at least this world had its own methods.
Because of this, people became more dependent on priests than on improving farming methods.
Especially since, even in times of famine, it was rare for the nobility—the ruling class—to go hungry. It was the serfs and commoners who died when harvests failed.
Naturally, the development of agricultural techniques lagged behind.
Even the simple method of making furrows and ridges in the fields was unknown. Seeds were scattered haphazardly, and what they called “management” was merely gathering whatever grew.
‘Utterly primitive.’
To me, it was a completely outdated, slapdash way of farming. That’s why even the simple farming method I intended to introduce did not exist here.
Ridges and furrows.
Plant Pyreun in the ridges. Manage them by moving along the furrows.
Just following these two steps would make growing Pyreun much easier. As long as the Pyreun in the ridges were properly managed, it became much simpler to get rid of weeds and pests around them.
And soon, it would be much easier to apply fertilizer.
‘I’m just subdividing the fields, but this is the true beginning of agriculture.’
As work naturally became easier, the required manpower decreased. What three people used to do could now be handled by two.
Productivity would explode!
Although I hadn’t seen rice here, transplanting seedlings was similar.
By sprouting seeds elsewhere, raising the seedlings, and then transplanting them, it significantly reduced the chances of seeds failing to sprout.
At the same time, planting seedlings in straight rows made managing the rice much easier, because it was much simpler to remove weeds growing outside the designated spots.
Da.
They may seem different, but making ridges and furrows, and transplanting seedlings, are essentially the same.
With this kind of increase in productivity, as people find themselves with more spare time than before…
‘Naturally, civilization develops. Well… not quite there yet, but still.’
Many changes would take place. But that would come later.
Maybe great changes would occur in the future, but for now, it was something happening only within the small sphere I could affect.
And even that sphere—
“Dig!”
“A miracle of the earth—Dig!”
—was larger than expected. The area I was in charge of was not just a single field.
‘It’s at least 30,000 pyeong… insane.’
My father had put me in charge of a Pyreun field about 30,000 pyeong in area—a huge scale.
To call it 30,000 pyeong is…
It was rare to clear a plot of flat land this large all at once. And yet, when compared to the Earl’s Direct Dominion, this 30,000 pyeong was just a small part.
‘The land here is enormous. Everything in this world seems to be oversized.’
You can imagine how big the Earl’s Territory is.
If 30,000 pyeong was in Gangnam, back where Kim Sung-geon lived, even at 10 million won per pyeong…
‘How many zeros is that…?’
An unimaginable sum. Of course, if it were out in the countryside, the value would drop drastically, but still, it was by no means a small sum.
And I succeeded in overturning this vast land entirely with Dig.
‘Even if I know nothing else, I think I’ve mastered Dig.’
At first, I cast Dig on a large scale just to show the serfs.
After that, it became my own magic show. Only I knew, but each time I cast Dig, I made small adjustments.
I tried spinning the Dig, so the soil was overturned even deeper.
I controlled the mana to flip the land into the desired shape, not just randomly.
‘It was harder than I thought.’
Squares. Triangles. Circles—starting simple, I moved on to more complex geometric shapes. Turning the surface of the earth to match the outline I drew was harder than expected.
‘Thanks to that, my control has improved even more.’
At least, I’ve completely mastered Dig.
My control over mana improved considerably. When using Dig, spreading my mana over a wide area, I became more attuned to my surroundings as well.
Though I hadn’t used it in real combat yet, it was clear that the accuracy of my magic had improved a great deal.
‘An unexpected gain.’
Ssshhh. As I was recovering my mana, which I’d spent while lost in these idle thoughts, Myuron approached again.
“Young Lord, the first stage of preparations seems to be complete.”
“Good. Then plant the seeds next. The important thing is to plant them firmly in the tops of the ridges. And as for management….”
He listened to my every instruction attentively, as if hearing a sermon from the scriptures.
“Yes. I’ll make sure it’s done right.”
“I trust you.”
“I’ll repay your trust! Please, don’t worry!”
“Well, you don’t need to go that far…”
“No, I’ll make absolutely sure to teach them properly!”
Looking at Myuron, his eyes half-crazed with zeal, I felt—
‘He’ll do a fine job.’
There was no need to worry.
Having a competent person by your side really does make things easier. And it’s even better if that competent person is especially devoted to you.
‘One stage is complete, then. I wonder how the other tasks are going…’
With the Third Young Lord’s appointment as Agricultural Officer, changes began to take place, causing both anxiety and amazement.
According to the serfs who worked the Pyreun fields every day, with just a single spell, the surface of the earth flipped over.
After that, they only had to shape the upturned land as the Third Young Lord directed.
“I just don’t get why we’re doing this.”
“They say it’s not so bad.”
“Not so bad? We’re flipping and digging up the earth! What if we get punished for this?”
“Well, at least they give us breaks. That’s not so bad, right?”
“Breaks, huh… Hmm… I guess that part’s nice.”
Public opinion wasn’t great.
Half of it was anticipation, since the Third Young Lord, a rare magician, was the one giving orders; the other half was anxiety, wondering if they’d have to keep doing these pointless tasks.
‘Still, they say it’s something to see…’
Piade, another serf, felt the same.
He couldn’t understand why they had to do all this, but he still wanted to see the magic the Third Young Lord performed every day.
Who knows—if he stayed near a mage, maybe he’d awaken a hidden talent for magic himself?
They said learning magic at twenty was slow, but it was better than being born a serf and dying one.
He was too embarrassed to say so, but he kept the faint hope alive.
At least, he was better off than some other serfs—his assigned area in the Direct Dominion wasn’t that large.
Either way, these changes didn’t concern serfs like him.
They just had to do their assigned work. If there was a bumper crop, maybe they’d get enough food from the Earl’s Territory as a reward.
“Let’s just get to work. The Third Young Lord will give up after a few months. All nobles are the same, aren’t they? Huh? But what’s that?”
“Huh? Someone else showed up.”
He’d thought there would be no changes for him. But then, another administrator arrived in the village square used by the serfs of the Direct Dominion.
This one worked under Myuron, who managed the Pyreun fields.
‘His name was Bearen, wasn’t it?’
Bearen, under Myuron, was called ‘the young and energetic Bearen.’
“An announcement.”
“What now?”
Whenever the serfs of the Direct Dominion were given new instructions, an announcement would be posted. No doubt, the same notice was going up in the other serf villages.
Unfortunately, few serfs could read.
So Bearen, the other administrator, had come to read it out loud for them.
“Attention! Attention!”
All the villagers watched the administrator’s mouth. Looking at the steely-faced knight who had come along, no one even dared to make a sound.
Everyone was silent.
Administrator Bearen seemed satisfied and nodded. Then—
“A new order has come down from the Agricultural Officer. This will be implemented not just here, but throughout the entire domain, so listen well!” Bearen spoke, pausing at each important point.
“First, those who think they have skill with their hands—step forward.”
Skill with hands? That was unexpected. People began to murmur. Piade mustered his courage and asked,
“Do you mean you need craftsmen?”
“Craftsmen have already been recruited. We just need helpers, so don’t worry and step forward. We won’t recruit too many. Those chosen will be rewarded separately.”
It was just hard to ask the first question. Sensing that it was all right to ask, Piade continued,
“What happens to our regular work?”
“You’re exempt. This is under the personal direction of the Agricultural Officer.”
The murmuring grew louder.
“Exempt, they said?”
“What kind of work do they want us to do?”
Curiosity. Anxiety. Expectation for a reward. The murmurs grew steadily.
“Quiet! Quiet! All right, including the one who just asked, exactly three people will be chosen. Being selected here doesn’t mean you’re in for good—you’ll have to pass a test.”
“What will we be doing if we’re chosen?”
“Just focus on getting chosen first. From what I see, it’s nothing bad.”
They said it wasn’t bad, but it could turn out badly. They could end up just suffering for nothing. Still, it was hard not to get their hopes up.
“I—I’m good with my hands!”
“What are you talking about? I’m better! I fixed all the farm tools last time. Granted, they were simple repairs, but—”
“All right, all right.”
Including Piade, who had already volunteered, the candidates were quickly selected.
“All right, everyone, follow me. Quickly!”
By the order of the Third Young Lord, change was beginning for a few serfs who had spent their lives farming.