Chapter 465: A Moment of Respite
The pig I brought from the Island is roasting.
While I was working in the fields, the village elders were turning the iron skewers, cooking it to a nice golden brown—though the surface is a bit charred. A shallow pit has been dug in the ground, filled with plenty of white and black charcoal, and when the wind blows, the embers flicker to life.
Auro scrapes off the charred bits with the back of a large knife. It’s my job to slice it up for the first few people.
First, I serve the village chief, then two officials—one appointed by the villagers and the other who comes from the Island occasionally. It’s a small village, so this is sufficient. Their role is to guide agricultural practices.
Basically, everything within the territory belongs to the Lord. However, in some places, there are landowners outside the Lord’s direct domain. It’s like a smaller version of a king granting lands to nobles.
This world has kings with nobles beneath them, and there are also those like me who hold land and are independent, creating a mix of various systems.
For now, we’re opening up a plot of land for free use, while everything else belongs to me! It sounds greedy, but I’ve had to dig up the nearly dried-up well in the square, and the land is quite exhausted, so I’m providing some firewood and immediate food assistance. So far, I’ve been the one footing the bill.
“Oh, thank you! This is delicious!” The village chief beams with delight.
I feel relieved to see the smiles on everyone’s faces. After all, they’re eating something they’ve never seen before—something rumored to be poisonous. It’s just a tomato, though.
“Thanks to you, no one will starve to death!”
That took a heavy turn!
After distributing the meat to the key figures in the village, I leave the management of the roast to the chief and the officials. After cutting off the cooked parts, they keep turning it to roast more, cutting off the charred surface repeatedly.
“The food we’re distributing now is the vegetables everyone planted today. They’re called tomatoes, and they’re not poisonous. In season, you can eat them roasted or boiled, but this batch has been dried and preserved in oil. Try it and see what you’ve grown!”
I wrap up my speech with a brief explanation of the tomatoes. I keep it short since I don’t want to drag it out. Meanwhile, pizzas made from the roasted tomatoes are being handed out in the gathering area. Just cheese and dried tomatoes on the pizza.
No help from the Spirits, the tomatoes were harvested from the Island, and the wheat and other ingredients were bought from Naruadeid. The villagers eagerly take them, murmuring with excitement.
“This red one?”
“Is this what we planted today?”
“It smells good!”
“Cheese, it’s a good one!”
Hey, wait a minute. That’s not the point.
Is the rumor about tomatoes being poisonous not reaching them? They look quite different from the poisonous ones, so maybe they don’t think they’re the same? Which is it?
Ah, right. Once the greenery returns a bit more, I should hire a herder and raise some cows or sheep. I can keep more than on the Island, which should help with various tasks.
The Spirits are working hard, and it shouldn’t be long before the land is covered in a light green hue. I want to create a resting place called the Spirit’s Branch somewhere.
But the village is small, and the well is in the middle of the square, so I’m struggling to find a spot. The buildings surrounding the square are where people live. It’s a small village that originally didn’t have a Spirit’s Branch.
“My lord, what’s the matter?” Auro asks, noticing my troubled expression.
“Well, I was thinking of creating a Spirit’s Branch. I won’t put any branches there, but it’ll serve as a resting place for the Spirits. I guess I’ll attach it to the gathering place after all.” A spot filled with flowing water and blooming flowers.
“That sounds good,” Auro replies with a smile.
Normally, these things are kept separate from the Lord’s domain, but it’s better than building it away from the village. Once the forest returns to its natural state, they’ll have a place to rest there too.
For now, both the roast and the pizza are well-received. The fact that tomatoes can be preserved seems to have raised the villagers’ expectations.
“My lord, you have a knack for winning the hearts of your people.” Auro sparkles with admiration.
Could you not raise the bar so high? I know that just winning their favor with food doesn’t mean I can fulfill my duties as a Lord. Well, the officials I asked are handling the direct work anyway.
I just express my hopes for what I want to do, while Soleil and the others take care of the adjustments and the hard stuff.
I’ll have to give Soleil something nice later. The Earth Folk are supposed to create some artwork with Dragon Scales. I haven’t asked what they’ll make, but from what Haulon said, anything the Earth Folk create turns out to be high-performance tools or beautiful art.
For now, the work in the outlying area has gone well. The Blue Island is, of course, progressing smoothly, and it seems my duties as a Lord have settled down a bit.
I’ve done what I needed to do, I’ve reached the southern edge in search of the Dragon, and starting tomorrow, I’ll embark on the exploration to the east.