Chapter 10
Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Harvest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Finally, the ringleader who instigated the militia member. The administrator will be summarily executed."
Shring.
"N-No, please! Heir!"
Grandfather grabbed the administrator tightly.
Even so, the administrator struggled wildly.
It took a few more people to hold him down before he stopped.
"Heir, please forgive me!"
I raised the sword high.
Should I have someone else do it? Do I really need to kill someone myself?
The administrator kept screaming.
"Give me a chance to confess too! Give me a chance to confess!"
Should I give him a chance to confess?
Would that make it okay not to kill him?
Normally, I'd have to make this choice.
I know my own personality well.
I always try to resolve things smoothly, saying good is good enough.
That's what suits me.
So why am I thinking differently today?
'All the burdens must be on my shoulders. Because I'm Elwin Frontier.'
My Korean name didn't come to mind first. Instead, Elwin Frontier did.
And the name Frontier felt heavy.
'The administrator has to die here to prevent all-out war with Brilda.'
If the administrator goes around blabbing, it'll only make things worse.
Especially for me, with my weak position, it could be fatal.
I gripped the hilt with both hands.
I clenched my teeth.
And with all my strength, I swung the sword down.
Sslash.
Thud.
Reee—
Reee—
The tinnitus that sometimes rang in my ears when I was tired echoed now.
The ringing was so loud that I couldn't hear the sounds around me.
But even that tinnitus couldn't drown out the voices from my past rising in my head.
You're not suited to be a noble.
You lack a noble's charisma.
You don't know how to handle people.
You can't deceive people.
...
You're too passive.
'Alensia...'
Reee—
Reee—
One question came to mind.
Why did Alensia say those things to me?
Of course, I knew the answer.
To blame me.
Her expression and tone when she said it were all blaming me.
But if she really hated me,
would she have needed to say those things?
Wouldn't it have been better to just ignore me, coax me, use me moderately, and discard me?
"Woooaaah!!"
"Woooaaah!!"
"Frontier Heir!!"
Suddenly, the tinnitus vanished,
and the cheers of the people around me assaulted my ears.
With it, my thoughts of Alensia disappeared too.
"Long live the Frontier Heir!!"
"Long live the Heir!!"
After executing the administrator,
I organized the farmlands.
There had been watchtowers, but they hadn't blocked everything perfectly.
Today too, I knelt over the cultivated land.
As always. To remove the demonic energy from the soil.
Crunch. Crunch.
"Follow me."
I stood with Grandfather by the riverbank.
The river flowing west of East River.
Beyond it lay monster territory.
"Is this your first time killing someone?"
"...Yes."
"Taking a life is something everyone must face."
Grandfather's large hand grasped mine.
It was truly huge. Big enough to cover mine completely.
"You did well. Your reputation in River Village has improved because of this."
My reputation in River Village.
Before, no one ignored me or disobeyed my words.
But that was more thanks to Grandfather than my own ability.
Now, they were seeing me anew because of this incident.
Hiding slaves for surveillance,
erecting watchtowers for defense,
extracting confessions from the militia member.
'And... executing the administrator.'
"The militia member who didn't confess was banished from River with his family. And the administrator's body was buried in the clearing. But listen."
I looked up at Grandfather.
"But?"
"Why didn't you mention Brilda?"
"Keep hiding it. This isn't enough to hurt Brilda. We might even face retaliation."
Grandfather's hand rested on my head.
"You've grown strong."
Then he suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Unlike the heavy atmosphere until now.
"Hahaha!! Of course! If you've inherited Campbell blood, this is the least you can do!"
A lot had happened since coming to River Village.
I sold my maternal grandfather's assets to buy land and various necessities.
I bought slaves with Alensia's support.
Land full of demonic energy.
Farming on Monster Island.
I used two things for both.
One was the system ability.
Earth Restoration skill.
The other was modern knowledge.
Norfolk Four-Course Rotation.
Thanks to that, perhaps.
Field A was densely filled with growing barley.
Field B, devastated by Black Goblins, had been rebuilt.
The newly planted clover and ryegrass were growing again.
And Field C.
I cleared Field C and used Earth Restoration to remove the contamination.
There, as planned, I planted wheat.
Fields A, B, and C were finally operating properly.
The yellow, ripened barley fields.
The slaves harvested the barley.
Among them, I saw the militia member who had confessed.
At the place where the harvested barley was piled, there was a specially invited mage.
He checked several times before running to me.
"Elwin Frontier-nim, there's no demonic energy in the barley. This barley isn't tainted by demonic energy. Humans can eat it!!"
"Just call me Elwin."
"Elwin-nim!! Do you not realize how great this is? You've done something even the great First Vampire Duke couldn't! Elwin-nim!! This is an incredible achievement!!"
"Yeah, I know."
"No, you don't understand, Elwin-nim. This is..."
I gave the mage a sack of barley as a gift
and sent him back to the Vampire Duke's territory.
He talked too much, probably from living in the mage tower.
'Now verified by a mage. Time to sell it?'
Farming success isn't the final goal.
On the contrary, this is just the first step.
"Things are going to get busy from now on."
That evening,
the mission changed from 'In Progress' to 'Completed'.
Livestock Breeding on Monster Island (In Progress)
'Livestock breeding?'
After the farming mission came livestock raising.
A mission I was personally satisfied with.
It was something I had to do anyway.
It seems the 'analyze the situation' wasn't just empty words.
"No essential skill this time, huh."
When I completed the tutorial, Earth Restoration had been forced on me.
The skill window opened, and a huge number of skills appeared.
Most of them were locked.
"Can't learn anything except farmer skills. Then..."
Among the various skills, one stood out particularly.
Norfolk Four-Course Rotation.
Why, when I'm already farming with it?
Because of the skill description.
Learning it increases the efficiency of Norfolk Four-Course Rotation.
Skills like digging soil, planting seeds, or weeding aren't that necessary.
Norfolk Four-Course Rotation seemed better.
Northern Frontier Viscounty.
The fiercest frontline in the territory.
The Frontier Viscount was lost in thought.
With a letter spread out on his desk.
'Farming success? How?'
Elwin Frontier.
Eldest son of the Frontier Viscount Family and Heir.
He had high expectations for the child.
He hoped he'd take after his grandfather more than him.
He prayed he'd become an even greater mage.
But...
Magic aptitude: None.
His disappointment was beyond words.
The Frontier Viscount must be strong.
He must protect the viscounty and its people.
All previous ancestors had done so.
That's why he stayed on the border year-round.
To protect the territory.
The Frontier Viscounty had repeatedly expanded and shrunk.
His father's generation had seen great prosperity.
That man had been a 7th Circle Archmage.
He himself lacked his father's talent.
'Father comforted me, saying it was fine...'
But what had actually happened?
How much had the Frontier territory shrunk?
All because the lord was weak.
Because he was weak, this had occurred.
'The next Frontier Viscount must be strong.'
In his heart, he had already stripped Elwin of his heir status.
If Gibson grew, he planned to change the heir.
For the Frontier territory's sake.
'Who knew he had this kind of talent...'
"Hey, call Hans."
"Yes, Lord."
The same thing was happening in other regions.
Frontier Viscount's mansion, 3rd floor.
Crash!
"The mage tower certified it?"
The cunning Elwin had commissioned the mage tower.
To inspect the crops.
And they concluded no demonic energy.
"What about River Village? No, what happened to the administrator?"
"The administrator was beheaded by Elwin."
"By Elwin? Himself?"
"Yes, he personally cut off his head with a sword."
"Then us? The administrator didn't talk about us?"
"No. They say he was beheaded before he could speak. We confirmed with the people there."
"That's a relief, at least. Keep monitoring Elwin from now on."
"Yes, Madam."
Vampire Duke's territory.
Alensia Vampires' room.
"Is this true?"
"Yes."
"He really farmed? On Monster Island?"
"I was shocked too. To think young master Elwin had such talent."
Then, did he really die and meet the Goddess of Earth?
Were those words in the Frontier mansion true?
"What should we do? Postpone the meeting with Clan Kent-nim?"
Clan Kent.
Eldest son of the Kent Viscount Family.
After breaking off the engagement with Elwin, she needed a new option.
That option was the Kent Viscount Family.
"Wait. Give me some time to think."
"Take your time. Ah! Isn't young master Elwin amazing?"
"Marie, stop. I'm thinking."
Marie covered her mouth with both hands.
But her visible eyes were smiling.
Callas Viscounty.
Lord's office.
Boom!!
"Is this real? He farmed on Monster Island?"
"Yes. A mage from the mage tower confirmed it personally."
Callas Viscount jiggled one leg.
Tap tap tap.
His fingers rapidly drummed the desk.
"This is very serious. Send someone to confirm directly."
"Understood."
Even after the retainer left, Callas Viscount's leg kept jiggling.
Tap tap tap.
The Callas Viscounty's main income was tolls.
Two of them were the biggest shares.
One was food.
The other was monster byproducts.
'Farming directly? On Monster Island?'