Overwhelming Efficiency (3)
Overwhelming Efficiency (3)
One fact that needs to be established here.
Strictly speaking, the Solanium Basin is not the family's territory.
'Since it was something like Grandfather's hidden slush fund.'
Therefore, it's different from the Solanium 'territory'.
The name of this place is just a convenient designation.
The people of our family don't know of this place's existence.
'And that makes sense.'
Why it makes sense is because of this village's characteristics.
'This village really doesn't have much of anything.'
The entire village is on the poorer side. Monsters also appear.
They don't starve to death, but there's no incredibly rare specialty product either.
As for income, it's just processing and selling handicrafts.
'Grandfather really made a bad real estate investment.'
If it weren't for the Healing Farming Game system, it would be a pretty bad territory.
If it had been discovered, the family would have given him an earful.
"It seems the village is experiencing a food shortage."
That was what Miroa, who frequently goes down to the village, reported.
It's always a hungry time anyway.
It's barely spring now. Most of the stored food was used up during winter, and due to the rural village's nature, logistics aren't smooth.
On top of that, with landslides added to the situation, there was simply no room to spare.
"I managed to bring back a few loaves of that hard preserved bread, but truly, there seems to be no food left beyond that."
"Is it always this poor?"
A basin should normally have fertile soil and be good for farming.
'Shouldn't they at least be able to feed themselves?'
They could be poor. Because it's deep in the mountains with no logistics.
But suffering a food shortage is strange.
When I asked with that thought, Miroa replied as if she'd been waiting.
"The soil itself is fertile, but this is an area that has frequently suffered from water shortages. They gave up digging wells because the ground is too hard, and they say installing water pipes was a relatively recent development."
It seemed Grandfather, the previous lord, also did his best.
He installed water pipes in the village and even fought off monsters to drive them away.
"What about the lake where we fished? Couldn't we draw water from there?"
"Pump technology is lacking, and the surrounding mountain terrain is rough, making it structurally difficult to draw water."
Having gone there to fish myself, I could confirm that was indeed the case.
It was literally just one lake sitting alone, surrounded by mountains.
So they'd been relying on the water source at the mountain peak.
"Don't they collect rainwater?"
"They collect enough for drinking water, they say, but it's insufficient for farming. Digging a reservoir would require too much manpower. And stagnant water spoils quickly, so it can't be stored for long."
"I see."
So the natural environment was good, but human technology was lacking.
These were problems that could be solved quickly with magic.
The water pipes in the village were actually installed by Grandfather, who was a great mage.
If this were a properly functioning world, someone would have swooped in long ago and turned this place into a great city.
'But those romance fantasy bastards would never do that.'
Those romance fantasy bastards don't even know how to use magic, right?
Sorry to Grandfather, but even those so-called great mages are the same.
Overwhelming firepower. Flashy magic effects. A few useless magic developments that nobles can show off.
Plus one more thing: for some reason, a wise old sage vibe.
With just these things, they became great mages.
'If they'd researched useful magic from the start, things would have been different.'
Around that time, Miroa cautiously glanced at my expression.
"Master. Are you alright?"
"Huh? What?"
"You seemed to be pondering something serious just now."
"No. I was just thinking for a moment."
Naturally, my academy days came to mind.
It was just an episode about that princess who liked magic, but this person used to visit the academy almost every week.
And she'd nosily look around all my research.
I couldn't treat her harshly since she was royalty.
In military terms, it's like a division commander coming to a battalion every week.
"Wow! Amazing! This is magic...!"
But the things she watched and went back to were only the flashy and fascinating magics.
'Hey, you. Do you think magic is a joke?'
Words I had to suppress countless times because she was royalty.
I remember her especially liking me, saying I seemed like some kind of genius mage.
Come to think of it, maybe it was a form of public ridicule.
As those memories surfaced, I got angry without realizing it.
Miroa, who was beside me, seemed to notice.
"Master. If I may be so bold as to say, the village's food shortage is indeed a serious problem..."
Huh?
"But that doesn't mean Master needs to go hungry."
"No, it's not going hungry. It's eating hard Stone Bread."
Strictly speaking, it's not starving.
It has no taste and no nutrition, and my energy would drain from eating it, but it's perfect for holding out.
Wouldn't this be the most efficient course of action right now?
Of course, I know.
From Miroa's perspective, it might be frustrating.
I could almost hear that sound effect.
Living up to expectations, Miroa's outburst began once again.
"Master cannot live on just this! This bread is really hard! If you throw it, it could be used for assassination!"
Miroa could use even a normal bread for assassination if she threw it.
"Also—also! You said to sell all the other food we gathered to the shop!"
This is probably the second reason Miroa is frustrated.
Despite clearly having nothing to eat, I keep giving the same instructions.
— Sell everything and run.
Like stock investors facing a downturn.
— Sell all your future food to the market.
So every time I gather food, I sell it all to the village shop.
The fish stored in the refrigerator today will naturally face the same fate.
Miroa couldn't hold back anymore.
"This won't do! The fish in the refrigerator, and we could also receive other food, oil, and seasonings from the villagers. Even if it's just one meal, I will prepare a proper meal with that!"
"I said not to extort such compensation from the villagers."
"But... then at least the fish you caught yourself..."
"No. Send all the food to the shop."
"Why not! Please just eat a meal!"
Miroa pounded her chest in frustration, looking distressed.
I can understand a maid's feelings, but I'm in a crazed state.
"No. Hand it over to the shop owner."
I'm in a state of efficiency madness.
I need to earn as much money as possible to prepare for the future, and even my own food feels wasteful.
If I can eat crazy hard Stone Bread, why eat anything else?
"What's the point of earning money in this rural village! There's nothing to buy because outside goods hardly come in!"
That's also a reasonable point.
In a rural village, physical goods are more valuable than imperial currency.
Turning food into money is essentially a loss-making move.
At least, that's how it looks to others.
But.
"There will be things to buy later. So I'm saving up money now."
It's too bothersome to think about it complicatedly.
Just hold out as much as possible, squeezing out extreme efficiency.
It's something I did at the academy too.
"And besides, I didn't eat much during research anyway."
"That may be true, but... wasn't that exactly why we came to this rural village? To stop doing that? I thought Master would at least rest a bit here."
"Huh? I am resting."
"You've only been working. Endlessly. Every single day, all day without a break."
I'm not doing magic research, so I'm enjoying life every day.
This is rest and healing, isn't it?
People who aren't mages just can't seem to understand.
And then, the next morning.
The parsnips I had planted earlier had all grown.
"Master! The crops have all grown!"
Her voice sounded expectant, but no way.
"Sell all of these too."
"Sniff."
Miroa immediately looked sullen.
But she couldn't defy her master's orders.
Ssuk! Ssuk!
[You have harvested parsnips.]
[You gain farming experience.]
The parsnips, neatly pulled out by the gardening magic, were loaded into the cart along with the fish I had caught yesterday.
"Well then, I'll be off, Master."
"Yeah. Good work."
Miroa pulled the handcart and went down to the village.
I watched her retreating figure, then moved toward the storage shed behind the farm while opening my status window.
To check the money I had earned from selling things yesterday.
[Checking settlement details.]
▶ Sales List: Bass x7, Bass(★)x5, Trash x2, Seaweed x4
▶ Total Revenue: 2282G
Yesterday's income was 2282 gold.
The day before yesterday was about the same.
But gold coins aren't pouring down before my eyes.
This is virtual currency!
I received separate money from the shop owner, but that person doesn't have much money.
It's only common sense.
Of course a rural shop owner can't handle the volume of a healing game.
Even when I played the original Healing Farming Game, I always wondered about this.
By the late game, the player's farm produces almost as much as a giant American farm owner.
Can a small-town merchant really absorb all this volume?
Shouldn't a massive distribution network targeting the global market step in?
The current world is an appropriate fusion of romance fantasy and the Healing Farming Game.
This time too, the system before me seemed to be the answer.
[System Shop]
When I pressed the shop tab floating in the air, a list of purchasable items appeared.
Spring seeds, food, materials, miscellaneous items.
And apparently, I could buy these with virtual gold that existed only in the system.
'So this is how it works.'
As expected, virtual currency is a scam.
I should have invested in this in my past life.
Scrolling down the shop window, I selected the desired item.
[Shop: Would you like to purchase Seed Potatoes x50?]
▶ Price: 2,500G
For spring farming, you've got to go with potatoes.
I pressed the payment button, and the gold was deducted from my status window.
And the goods arrived directly at the storage shed behind the farm.
[Your ordered items have been delivered to the storage shed.]
Deureureuk—.
Opening the storage door, I saw sacks of seed potatoes piled up.
This is the Healing Farming Game.
If I carefully think about the parts where it conveniently glosses over things for genre fun, it's a terrifying world where I can dominate through farming.
Then there's even less reason to rest.
I plan to roll in massive profits with maximum extreme efficiency.
Around that time, Miroa arrived at the village square pulling her cart.
She intended to hand over the food and receive money as always, but a problem arose.
"Miroa-nim, well, the shop really has no money left..."
From behind the shop counter, a woman bowed her head apologetically.
Her husband, the shop owner, said much the same.
"We truly appreciate the lord's intentions, but there really isn't a single coin left."
They're the ones who bring goods from outside cities to sell in this rural village.
Basically, they can't have much money.
Miroa looked at the two of them and fell into thought for a moment.
'They were completely isolated because of the landslides too.'
There are no supplies in the village right now.
The master surely couldn't have been unaware of this fact.
'Yet she ordered me to bring all the food to sell.'
Despite lacking food for herself, she commanded me to exchange the hard-earned provisions for useless imperial currency.
When I asked why, she said it was because she needed to save money.
At first, I didn't understand.
What did she plan to do by saving money in this rural village?
Then I recalled the master's final instruction.
'If they say they have no money, just put it on credit and hand over the food.'
And before me, the territory's people bowed their heads in difficulty.
A different emotion flickered in Miroa's usually expressionless eyes.
"Ah."
A quiet exclamation escaped her lips.
Only now, having arrived in this place, did I think I finally understood.
The master was not after the territory people's money.
She had simply made up a convenient excuse.
Miroa replied in her characteristic cool, composed voice.
"My master said there was no need to pay immediately. There's nothing for this shop to buy right now anyway, so you don't need to force imperial currency."
"If that, then..."
"She said it's fine to record the sales as credit in the ledger. So."
Putting force into her voice, she conveyed the master's true intention.
"First, distribute the food to the territory people."
She said the price didn't matter—first, let the starving territory people eat their fill.
And here, one must be mindful of a certain fact.
For a noble to give free charity to commoners is considered hypocritical or vulgar.
Even among commoners, there is a religious tradition that considers receiving others' charity as evidence of laziness and a sin.
But a transaction is different.
The master was being considerate of the territory people.
She used the form of a transaction so as not to wound their pride.
The shop owner couple also seemed to realize something.
Having grasped the lord's true intent, the couple exchanged glances.
"Ah..."
Their eyes were filled with emotion toward their new lord.