Work

It has been more than a month since the meeting between my councilman and me. Right now, I'm looking at the farm and stock breeding ground in front of me with a satisfied expression. The farm is a huge success.

In front of me are many apple trees and grapevine grow up from the ground. The apple trees need at least another month to produce some fruit, but the grape is ready to be harvested in a few days or maybe a week.

I create a ward around this land so any plant planted in this land will grow at unimaginable speed at their growing phase, and the fruit will be ready to be harvested in a week after the tree is matured.

The ward around this land also has a defensive property. The first defense I create is a secrecy ward with a compulsion that makes my employer never tell anyone about this farm. Of course, I make them and their family signs an unbreakable contract that says they will never tell any soul about this farm using any form.

A notice-me-not charm makes this farm like your regular farm that doesn't have any extraordinary ability. This ward also makes the other quickly forget this place.

An unlucky curse ward that makes anyone who has bad intentions toward me and mine gets VERY unfortunate if they walk into this place. If a thief or bandit stumbles upon this farm, their bones will melt away as they die in pure agony before their body becomes nutrient for the land.

There is also an alarm and spying ward that let me know if an intruder or spy decides to check out this farm. This also allows me to control the ward and see what is going on on the farm. There are many more wards that I created using other types of magic.

Anyway, I snap from my thoughts and walk toward the food storage that was just recently built. I need to carve some rune on the food storage surface to make the food inside last longer. With the help of Rune (Not Suikoden Rune), I can make fish and meat to last for more than two years. The meat and fish will taste the same as it was at its fresh state unlike the one placed inside a freezer.

There is also a building where the future worker makes wine. Underneath the surface is the wine cellar, where I already create a rune on the barrel holder that boosts the wine's fermentation. A wine usually takes a month to be considered an okay wine, but it only takes one week for it to be ready with this rune.

"Richard. Could you search for someone that has a talent in this area?"

"This… Area?"

"I want some that can write the items inside this storage and then calculate how much these are worth if we sell it to the other country. I also want him or her to be stern but honest. Can you search for someone like that? I prefer someone from the north. The second son or daughter of the lord is good as well, but I guess they want to see the result first."

"Then how about inviting the daughter of Lord Byron? She has an education on wielding a sword and spear but saying that she wants to become a merchant rather than a soldier. She says that a martial might is a must at this age, and she did not want to be underestimated by others. At the age of twelve, she was already entrusted by Lord Byron to take care of a small financial problem. I also hear that she has neat handwriting and can make a simple yet direct report."

"Good. Lord Byron will come here in a week, right?"

"Yes, my lord. You already tell Lord Byron to come here to give his reward for helping you fight against the Blackbriar family."

"Did he tell you if he brought his family?"

"Yes. He said that he would bring his wife and four children with him"

"Good. I will tell him about the farm by then. Luckily for us, the grape is ready to be harvested in a week. I will tell him about the prospect of this farm."

"Of course, My Lord."

~A week later~

"What do you think, Lord Byron?"

"This…"

"I need someone to take care of this place, and I hear your daughter is someone that has a talent for this. I need someone to oversee all the workers here. She will be the one that gives them their salary every month and the one that gives me a daily report via raven."

"I… I really want to say yes, especially with all you promise to give to us. However, I cannot decide it myself. Rachel… What do you think?"

I look at the young woman around her seventeen years old, who slowly nods her head. I smile at her confirmation and say.

"Welcome to the Lionheart Winery and Farmhouse. You can start your work tomorrow morning. I will be the one showing how it is done."

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Daniel Byron looked around in awe. He never thought he would see this much green in the north. While the snow is still falling from the sky, the trees and vegetables still grow under the north's cold.

He knows that his lord, Isaac Lionheart, is a magician. A powerful magician. He already saw his feat of magic in the fight against the Blackbriar family. However, he never thought he had magic that let the plant survive the northern region's coldness.

The useless seeds the Blackbriar family sent for the losses in the war become something valuable for the Lionheart and Byron family.

His lord already promised him a fertilizer that let one acre of land be fertile like the one in the south. Sadly he cannot make many fertilizers at once, but his lord promises him that he will send fertilizer worth ten-acre of land.

While Isaac sounds apologetic while saying that, Daniel cannot help but happy hearing that promise. Ten acres of fertile land! It is a known truth that the most valuable thing in the north is Loyalty, and next to it is food. While gold is valuable, it is not as valuable as food.

Knowing there will be ten acres of land ready to make food for his family and his subject, Daniel Byron couldn't help but feel touched by his lord's action. His Lord also wants to send it to the other lord but at a smaller amount.

Isaac says that he did not want to change the north into a green region like the south when Daniel asks why his lord says Winter is the biggest enemy to them, but Winter also the North's biggest ally.

Daniel couldn't deny it. Winter is the one that makes their land the harshest place to live, but winter also the one that makes the North the hardest place to invade. By making the north the same as the south, they just kicked out their biggest ally.

He could agree with his lord's decision. While the winter is harsh, it also makes them stronger.

With this fertilizer that lets him feed his people and also the reward his lord gives to him even though he can keep the reward and not give him anything, Daniel could begin to start the project he wants to do, like make a fort that lets the Byron family army train and keep the monster at bay.

With the gold coin, Daniel also can start building a fishing village that he really wants to build for a long time.

He then looked at his daughter, who listened to his lord's explanation about her new work. Daniel loves all his children. Rachel listens to all Isaac says and remembers all of her new job that will start the next morning.

At first, Daniel thought that his lord would only pay his daughter for what she was doing and nothing more. If your lord personally calls someone to work for him, it was a great honor, especially when they were entrusted with a piece of land that the lord owned. Daniel thought that Isaac would only pay her daughter with a little bit of silver coin, but to his surprise, his lord pays her daughter three gold coins a month, two meals a day, and five bottles of wine each time the wine is finished fermenting.

Not only that, but his lord also gives her a little bit of land to build a house for her and her descendants. This is what made Daniel really touched. The land is something valuable that not many people can attain.

Land can be bought, but it needs a large amount of gold to buy it. The only one who can own land is a lord and a person that get permission or given from the said lord. Every peasant never owns the land they stay in. They are renting the land from the local lord. That is why they need to pay tax for renting the land.

The one given the land doesn't need to pay the rent as the said person owns the land. However, while they owned that piece of land, they cannot do everything they wanted to that land. If they use that land for something bad like making that land as a bandit hideout, then the local lord can and will exterminate the owner and all the bandits inside.

While the owner cannot do something bad or opposite what the local lord wants, the land can be used as a source of income or a place to live. The owner could make farmland or winery to get a regular income.

What makes Rachel's land in the Northern region more valuable is the location. Rachel soon to be land is located in a safe place far away from the known monster breeding zone. Her land is also one of the lands that Isaac is processing, so this land is fertile like the land in front of him.

Daniel doesn't know about the future, but currently, he is content with all he has. He is content with the happiness he currently has. He doesn't know what the future has in store for them, but he knows that he will be safe under the banner of his lord.

He remembers what his lord said to him before the winter hit the north.

"Winter is coming, my lord. A lone lion will not survive the winter; however, the pride will survive and thrive."

Yes. He is a member of Lionheart pride, and he knows that the whole pride already survives the winter, and now it is their time to thrive.