Chapter 45: Miracle Harvest

The harvest season for the Field of Pirn had arrived.

Expectations had been low during the seeding season.

‘How well could a field managed by a young Agriculture Official turn out?’

It would have been a relief if he simply hadn’t ruined it.

Most just hoped the season would pass quietly without incident.

But what a surprise it was.

No one had expected him to use new farming methods, fertilizer, and even Magic to help.

A noble standing atop a pile of dirt — even for an Agriculture Official, such a noble was rare.

The Pirn grew rapidly.

Fueled by the momentum, the farmers caring for the Pirn also worked themselves to the bone.

Since they only needed to manage the furrows well, they spent their spare time planting a few more crops.

It went without saying that they planted them in the newly created furrows.

Three months passed.

The time for harvest approached.

Myuron, whose skin was now tanned dark from spending more time in the fields than the Administrative Officer’s office, took command of the operation.

“Stack it from here! I’ll record everything and distribute it fairly, so don’t worry!”

At first, he had been a terrifying Administrative Officer.

However, the serfs eventually realized that while Myuron was meticulous with work, he would let them relax once the job was done.

They stacked the harvest.

Endlessly.

Higher and higher.

Under the scorching sun, the piles of Pirn seemed to have no end.

“How… how much is all this…?”

“Ohhh.”

“This is insane. It looks like ten times the usual amount.”

There was a reason Pirn was famous.

It was notoriously difficult to grow, and countless weeds always sprouted alongside it.

Even if one worked themselves to death, the yield was usually less than half that of wheat.

That was why it was so expensive.

If it wasn’t worth more than wheat, the Count’s family wouldn’t have bothered growing it.

Yet, this harvest of Pirn was greater than any wheat harvest.

“It really is ten times more,” Myuron confirmed.

The Pirn harvest was ten times the average year’s yield.

To harvest more Pirn than wheat!

It was nothing short of a miracle.

It was nonsensical, yet it was actually happening before their very eyes.

“W-wow. It’s falling over. It’s falling!”

“Stop stacking!”

The Pirn warehouse, which was never full, seemed ready to burst.

Only after moving the crops into two temporary warehouses could they fit the entire harvest.

“W-we hit the jackpot.”

To have this much Pirn.

There was plenty left even after paying the tribute to the Count.

They wouldn’t have to go hungry this winter.

They even wondered if the generous Count of Ophern might grant them a reward.

“Hmm… Good. Very good.”

Administrative Officer Myuron was already checking the harvest amount for each person.

The serfs knew exactly where all the credit belonged.

Agriculture Official Rayrn.

Without him, such a miracle would never have occurred.

“Long live the Agriculture Official!”

“L-long live!”

“He’s the best!”

No one knew who started it.

Everyone began seeking out and shouting for Agriculture Official Rayrn as if offering a prayer to a god.

They offered blessings; he was the protagonist of this miracle.

“The Miracle Agriculture Official.”

That became the nickname the serfs used for Rayrn.

The Pirn harvest finally ended only after the two temporary warehouse buildings were filled to the brim.

“Of course, it’s ‘long live.’ Look at who he serves! Come now, there isn’t much time left until the Harvest Festival. Let’s move quickly!”

“Yes, sir!”

After the harvest, only one thing remained: the festival.

The Harvest Festival was the greatest event for the serfs, who had few sources of entertainment.

It was a festival that lasted for three consecutive days.

During that time, they could fill their bellies with the alcohol and food provided by the Count.

No one would punish them even if they played all day without working.

It was an event for playing, drinking, and gorging.

For the serfs, it was heaven.

It might not have been a coincidence that about three months after the Harvest Festival, some women’s bellies began to bulge, or new couples were formed.

Finally, the festival arrived.

Everyone, from serfs to commoners, prepared.

Food and alcohol filled every square and village.

There, the conqueror who ruled this vast territory, the Count of Ophern, appeared.

Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, he shouted, “It’s the Harvest Festival! Everyone, drink and enjoy!”

The Silent Knight.

His short congratulatory speech — as someone who never spoke at length in public — was considered the best.

“Long live the Count!”

“Long live!”

“Long live the Agriculture Official!”

“May the Count of Ophern’s family live forever!”

Direct and heartfelt blessings.

The Harvest Festival began as the serfs offered the certain, loud blessings that only they could.

“Pour it! Pour!”

“Hey! Don’t just pour it for yourself, pour some here!”

Someone gulped down alcohol.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Another couple paired up and moved toward a secret place.

They danced, drank, and enjoyed themselves.

On that boisterous night, the nobles were no exception.

Some went to places where they wore masks and played while hiding their status.

Others occupied a side of the venue prepared exclusively for nobles.

Everyone was in a satisfied mood.

“Haha. This is good. Isn’t the atmosphere particularly good today?”

“Is it not all thanks to the Lord Count? It seems tax revenue will be much higher than in average years.”

“This time is different. Is it not thanks to my children?”

“Hahaha. That is also true!”

It was an open secret that the Count cherished his family.

Though he might have looked like a doting father, no one dared to mock the Count in his own territory.

Rather, many praised the Count’s family to offer appropriate flattery.

This year was different from the last.

At the previous Harvest Festival, only the names of the firstborn, Eldin, and the second child, Seira, rang out.

But this year, one more was added.

A new name began to circulate among the nobles.

“In particular, I never expected it in the case of the Third Young Lord.”

“He is a good child.”

“Oh, of course, the First Young Lord was also great.”

“Indeed. They both did very well.”

Rayrn.

To the nobles, his name now held a different meaning than last year.

The youngest of the Count’s family.

A frail boy.

An incompetent who could do nothing.

Those were the nicknames for Rayrn among the nobles just one year ago.

To the Count of Ophern, Rayrn had been a source of worry.

Therefore, no one had brought up Rayrn’s name in official settings.

But now, Rayrn’s name resonated as much as Eldin’s.

An Agriculture Official with extraordinary methods.

A genius.

Perhaps the rising star of the Count’s family.

These were the new nicknames given to Rayrn.

“Could there perhaps be a competition for the succession?”

“There hasn’t been any such news yet. But one never knows.”

“Hmm… I don’t know which side I should line up on.”

“Still, the First Young Lord has the merit he has built up over the years…”

As Rayrn’s name rang out, some were already worrying about the succession structure.

The general consensus that the successor of the Count of Ophern’s family was solely Eldin had shifted slightly.

However, neither the Count of Ophern nor Eldin himself was anxious.

‘He is a child who does well…’

‘Useless thoughts.’

None of the nobles or vassals of the Count’s family present there knew what Rayrn was actually doing.

Rayrn, who had skipped the Harvest Festival using the excuse of fatigue after his inspection, was not just the frail Mage they knew.

He was a child who had inherited a Dragon’s relic and was struggling to bring new power to the Ofern Noble Family.

Because they didn’t know that, they could chatter foolishly.

“Haha… Are you not anxious?”

“Not at all.”

“Then that is enough.”

Only the Count and his eldest son, Eldin, knew the reason why they could smile so leisurely.

***

“This is nice.”

Although his body had improved, Rayrn had no interest in things like parties or harvest festivals.

If there hadn’t been the excuse of researching the Auran Yeongongbeop, he would also have had to kill time by participating in the gala.

Compared to that, this was better.

This place suited him far more than a festival.

The training ground.

The private training ground for the family was where he was currently located.

Even Sister Seira, who would normally be stuck here like a permanent fixture, was at the party.

Only Rayrn and the three men who had now become his direct vassals were present.

From a corner of the training ground, Rayrn looked up.

“The moon is certainly brilliant.”

He was enjoying his own leisure, away from the boisterousness.

And on the other side, his three vassals were in a different state.

“W-what is so good about this? Ugh… This is so hard.”

“Urgh… Haa.”

“……”

They were building up their training even on this late night to gain strength worthy of being his vassals.

‘Their basics are more lacking than I thought.’

Previously, because these three were not recognized as vassals, he had taught them Mugong first.

Since there was a lack of time to teach the basics, he had taught them the immediately urgent martial arts.

But now, they were all recognized as his vassals.

Even his Father had acknowledged them.

Although they hadn’t received official knighthood yet, his Father’s recognition was enough.

For them, who came from mercenary backgrounds, becoming a vassal of a Noble Family held great meaning.

‘He allowed it more easily than I expected. Well, to officially receive a title, they’ll have to perform some merits.’

If he was going to make them his formal vassals, it was better for them to be strong.

Upon inspection, they all lacked the necessary foundation.

No, it was to the point of being flimsy.

Physical training was what he started for such people.

“Uh-huh. Is your leg moving up slightly? Hmm? Keep your center exactly!”

“Urgh…”

“Sian, you too!”

“Y-yes! Urgh…”

He was having them hold their center of gravity in the most basic horse stance.

Only when the center was established in the body would the distribution of power change evenly.

To add elasticity to the body on top of the center, he added his own training method.

This applied the Liu Lei Method.

‘I added modern methods to the Murim way.’

To those three, it was no different from hellish training.

But in his eyes, it was a more systematic and certain training method than anything else.

Even if progress was slow for now, basics were essential.

Once the body was made solid and elastic to build the foundation, building on top of that with Mugong would be quick.

It was a way to go fast by going slow.

Whirrrrrr

They didn’t know it, but a magic circle was even laid beneath their feet.

‘It must be hard. Indeed.’

He had applied Hold, a magic that stops the body, to the circle.

On top of that formation, their bodies couldn’t help but constantly shrink and tighten.

Overcoming that resistance while maintaining the posture became a violent form of training in itself.

On top of this, he placed recovery magic so they wouldn’t collapse, and used Singijin to perform delicate control so that the flow of Mana would gather here.

‘At the same time, their internal energy is being trained.’

Even if this just looked like extreme bullying to them, it was the best training ground a knight could ever dream of.

The important thing was that only the people training didn’t know that fact.

“Uh-hey! It’s going down again, Hoden!”

“Urgh… I will… correct it! Haa.”

“Good! Sian! Fix your posture!”

“……”

Thanks to that, the three were suffering.

They were more exhausted than usual, and they would never know the secret reason why.

But for Rayrn, it was different.

‘I have plenty of leisure.’

For him, who had gained time using the excuse of organizing his training and the Auran Yeongongbeop left by the Dragon, it was a sweet rest after a long time.

“The moon is very bright.”

It was a very peaceful rest that had been permitted.

Originally, a rest taken while others were struggling was always more delicious.