The North

I take a deep breath and feel the cold wind inside my lungs. We arrived in the north, and I can feel the difference between the south and the north. I guess it is just me, but I feel the north is more comfortable. I guess it is me being biased because I'm born in this part of the world.

I look at the princess, who is wearing a thick jacket made of animal fur, and nod at her.

"Welcome to the Sea Dragon City, Eli"

"It is gorgeous. However, it is too cold for me."

I chuckle a little before leading her to the castle, where I catch a speeding bullet in the form of Ginerva, who decides to tackle me.

"Woah, there. How are you, Ginerva?"

"Big brother! You come back!"

"Yeah. I'm back."

After hugging her for a few seconds, I put her down. When I put her down on the ground, she looks at the princess and says.

"And who is this?"

"Ah! Let me introduce you to two. Ginerva, this is Elizabeth Answorth von Vulux, the princess of our kingdom. However, she likes to be called Eli."

"En! Hello Eli!"

"Eli, This is Ginerva Lionheart, my little sister."

Eli smiled a little before saying.

"Hello, Ginerva. It is nice to meet you."

"Hello, Eli!"

I pat Ginerva head before saying.

"Ginerva, would you be kind and show Eli around?"

"Okay! Come on! We should go to the garden!"

Just like that, Ginerva takes Eli's hand and begins to drag her away to the garden. Lucina looks at me and nods at me before she follows Ginerva to the garden. I then tell the princess servant to place their carriage in the building near the stable where I store my carriage.

I then lead the head servant of the princess and tell her where the princess will stay. After doing that, Richar and I walk to my office, where I look at Richard and say.

"How is the situation in the south? Is it as bad as I predicted?"

Richard nods his head and places down parchment on top of the table. I read it and see that inside the parchment is a report saying that the capital city's situation is a lot worse than what I predicted.

"It is worse than the princess told us it was. Many southern lords buy their food from the Central Continent. Some of them also buy the foods from the Eastern Continent. They don't really care about spending some money as it did not make a dent in their vault. However, if what the princess says about the long-term famine is true, then their riches will be gone in a year, especially if they continue throwing away the food and gold around in party and useless celebration."

"The noble in their infinite wisdom decide to use a false report to cover their weakness. They only want to keep their pride intact without thinking about the other people."

"That is right, my lord."

"Then, how did the princess know about this famine?"

"I think she learned about this from the Queen Dowager, my lord. Queen Dowager is known for doting and grooming the princess to be her successor. She wants the princess to inherit her spy network. Sadly…"

"She doesn't want the princess to face reality just yet."

"Yes, My lord. My shadow in the capital city says that the Queen Spy already executed a dozen or so spies from the other noble for trying to sabotage the princess private farmland."

I rub my chin for a few seconds before saying.

"Richard, what do you think about the princess? Do you trust her to distribute the food to the commoner, or will she use it for herself?"

"I think she is a girl that has good intentions but doesn't have the support to fulfill her intention. My shadow tells me about all the plans the princess has but gets rejected by the king. If what they say is correct, then the capital and even the kingdom will prosper. Here are some of the plans the princess asks the king to do."

I take the scroll from Richard and begin to read it. The scroll is filled with an agriculture technique and also a way to make paper in bulk. The more I read it, the more I was impressed by the princess's idea.

While it was not a modern technique, it is a good technique to increase the harvest and maintain the soil quality. The paper-making technique is the technique used in ancient China.

"This is…. Why did the king reject this idea?"

"The king thinks that dung will kill the plant instead of making them grow. He also declared that he would not eat something that grows on top of a piece of shit."

Urgh. What an idiot. This is something that I don't like about this era of time. The king and noble think of fertilizer is something that will make the plant die. Their pride is also the one that makes a kingdom fall. Their pride did not allow them to listen to good advice, especially from someone under their age.

"And for the paper making?"

"The king thinks that it will not work, and this idea is coming from a delusional child."

"Urgh."

I groaned at what Richard was saying before I sighed a little.

"Richard, inform one of the villagers to implement this farming technique and promise them that this will work. Also, tell them that I will compensate them if this technique failed."

"Of course, my lord."

"Also, tell someone you trust to use this technique to make a paper, and if it is work, then report to me immediately."

"Yes, my lord."

If the king did not want a profit, then I will be the one taking this opportunity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is our garden!"

I look around a small garden behind the castle. The garden itself is small, but it was beautiful, even more beautiful than some of the noble gardens I once visited. The garden is filled with flowers that are blooming even when it is snowing.

In the middle of the garden is a massive tree that cast its shadow on the ground.

|Scan is completed|

I snap from my thoughts when I hear my power say that the scan is completed. I order my power to begin scanning all the living beings in the castle.

I can see many blue panels hovering around, ready to read. However, what I'm more interested in is the blue panel floating next to the tree.

|Protection Tree|

|Guardian Rank|

|1 Year Old|

|STR: 0|

|VIT: 5000|

|INT: 10000|

|WIS: 0|

|What it feels about you|

{It cannot feel anything, It was a tree}

What with that number?!? Also, what is Guardian rank?!?

|Guardian Rank is a special rank given to a beast, magical beast, or monster. Common -> Uncommon -> Elite -> Guardian -> Fighter -> Noble -> King -> Emperor -> Overlord|

Can you explain it to me in Adventurer terms?

|Common (F to E monster), Uncommon (E to D monster), Elite (D to C monster), Guardian (C+ to B+ monster), Fighter (B+ to A monster), Noble (A to S- monster), King (S- to S+ monster), Emperor (SS- to SS monster) and Overlord (SS to SSS monster)|

I see. That means this tree can take a few beating, huh? Does that mean this tree is a monster?

|No. This tree is a Magical Creature in the form of a tree. The magician uses this type of tree to create a barrier around their workshop|

I see.

"Eli! Over here!"

I snapped from my thought when I saw the little girl, Ginerva, waving her hand at me. As I walk toward her, I see a beautiful woman sitting down on the ground under the tree. When the woman sees me, she smiles at me before standing up and bowing to me.

"It is an honor to meet you, Princess Elizabeth. My name is Eveline Lionheart, the wife of the former Sea Dragon City lord and the mother to the current Lord."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Eveline."

After the introduction, Lady Eveline invited me to enjoy the tea she brewed for herself. For the next few hours, I enjoy the silence and peace while slurping the delicious tea in front of me. While not too sweet, this tea is so fragrant it is different from the tea I usually drink in the Royal Palace.

Our silence gets interrupted when Richard, the Lionheart head butler, walks to us and says.

"Your highness, My lady, the food is ready. Lord Isaac is waiting for you in the dining room."

Lady Eveline nods her head and says.

"Shall we have some lunch, your highness?"

"We shall"