Sure enough, several of the residents began working the fields, planting what they called ‘softstone tuber’. When I asked Wesley for a description of the crop, it seemed to resemble a potato with a creamy texture. Even though I couldn’t enjoy the food myself, I was quite curious to see what would grow.
As for what farmers I assigned as official workers, I chose Martha and Laura, a pair from the original group of settlers. The reason I picked two workers this time was something that I had learned when I was setting up the tailor.
If I had two individuals of the same rank assigned to the same building, the result was treated as if there was one person of a single rank higher. I found this out because I had only two people skilled in tailoring, but did not want to leave either of them without a job, so I employed them both as an experiment. Since they both had a skill level of one, the total was treated as a skill level of two.
Meanwhile, both Martha and Laura had a skill level of two, so by assigning them to the same farm, they had an effective level of three. And as for why I didn’t wait to just assign one of them to the next farm, I already had someone with a true skill level of three, and wanted to have them take care of that one.
Thankfully, even without being officially hired yet, the other residents were more than happy to help plant the tubers throughout the day, letting them finish well before nightfall. Whenever I focused on the farm, I could see a timer showing that the crop would be ready in nine days.
The next day, as soon as I noticed the points coming through, I purchased a second farm just south of the first one, and opened the catalogue. Looking at the catalogue, I was… somewhat disappointed. There were a total of thirty plants, each of which I could purchase for ten points. However, there were additional pages to the catalogue that I could not access due to insufficient funds.
These first thirty were all plants from Earth, such as rice, grapes, tomatoes, and other familiar plants. Included in their details was a ‘sell price’, which was no doubt the amount of points I would gain back if I absorbed the crop after it was fully grown. This amount varied per crop, with the highest option being rice at one hundred points.
I was tempted to buy rice for the points, but that felt like a waste. It would take ten days for the rice to grow, during which I would have earned well more than that, and getting that hundred points would require that I didn’t let the rice be harvested. The grapes also tempted me, but without a brewery we couldn’t make the most of them. Similarly, we had no mill or bakery for the wheat.
In the end, I closed the catalogue, choosing to spend ten points on a random seed. A window appeared in my mind, showing a giant wheel that began to spin with overly enthusiastic music. After roughly ten seconds, the wheel slowed to a halt, showing me an image of what looked like a silver cucumber. Reading its description, I found it to be a plant called ‘quickvine’, which grew for two days and could then produce fruits every two days thereafter.
Meanwhile, an array of arched trellises appeared in the second farm, where the seeds had already been planted. Given how quickly this plant could produce food, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to replace it after the first round of harvest. Cucumbers were certainly not a staple food like rice, but it was better than nothing. And if we had too many, I could earn a harvest of fifty points every other day instead.
Wesley stepped out of his house, eyes roaming the territory. Now that there were farms, people seemed more motivated than ever to get some manual work done. Blueprints had already been drawn up for a small kitchen to process whatever crops the Land produced, with some people considering the construction of a simple mill as well.
The adventurers, for the most part, had been rather satisfied with the Land, at least in the short term. Some of them had already upgraded their equipment at the blacksmith, though they were getting antsy about the lack of work they could do.
Wesley had already expected this, as they were essentially hired as a mercenary security force for this small settlement. He hoped that they wouldn’t be needed in this capacity for long, but there was honestly no way to be sure.
As he was keeping watch on the surroundings, he spotted a lone figure walking in from the north, and his eyes widened in relief. It had been over two and a half weeks since they received word that an adventurer would be passing through, and he was well overdue. Wesley had even begun to think that another issue might have arisen to the north of the settlement.
Wesley watched the figure approaching, noting his dark red armor and the three-pronged spear he carried on his back. His eyes widened in recognition, identifying the man as the Blood Piercer Mikhail, a famous adventurer renowned for his use of his awakened spear.
This awakened object was not like the Land or the sword that they had previously encountered, as it was not from Earth. Instead, this was a naturally awakened weapon, one that Mikhail had tamed years ago. It had grown alongside him, and become a truly powerful weapon in its own right.
If there was one problem with Mikhail, it was that he was extremely unsociable. Unlike most A-ranked adventurers, he didn’t have a party, not enjoying spending his time communicating with others.
I’m not really one to talk there, Wesley thought to himself. He also didn’t have a party, but for a different reason. Given how he spent money on new equipment all the time, he couldn’t afford to share the rewards in the long term. Moreover, he could complete all roles of a party himself, so he never sought out a group. You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
Since it was the antisocial Mikhail that was passing by, Wesley did not stop him to talk. Even if he did, he wouldn’t have anything relevant to Mikhail’s mission to report that the man wouldn’t already know.
Instead, he simply watched Mikhail pass by the territory, barely sparing a glance to the growing settlement along the side of the road. Wesley just hoped that this was not the last time that he would see Mikhail. If something had appeared that could defeat the Blood Piercer, this territory would truly be in danger.
The day after the adventurer had passed by, I watched in amazement as the quickvine crops had fully grown up the trellises, forming a green canopy over the farmland. I was sorely tempted to buy more farms, but I understood that there was a limit to how many farms my people could properly take care of. I needed to be smart about how I handled my points, using them as efficiently as possible.
There were a few different paths that I could take with this growth. First, I could create multiple farms and use them as active point production. My first two farms would be in charge of providing food for the settlement, and the rest would turn into points, which I would then spend to either make more farms, or convert into coins to support my population.
The second idea was to save up and begin investing in expansion towards the northern forest. Doing so would take quite a while, but it would give me another way to support my people, using a method that I presently lacked. For this, I thought that it would be best to consult someone more familiar with this world.
“You wanted to see me, Cain?” Wesley asked as he entered the lord’s office, seeing the avatar of the Land sitting at his desk. This was the first time that Wesley had been openly summoned, rather than contacted for a conversation through Prim, so he was curious what the Land wanted.
“That’s right. I was hoping to get your opinion on an idea I’ve been brewing. With any luck, this could result in fixing some of the issues that have been growing in the territory lately,” the avatar spoke in a serious tone, gesturing for Wesley to sit down.
Wesley took the offer, looking at the avatar. “There are a few issues, but I’m curious what exactly you mean. Also, I do have something to report, but I’ll save that for after.”
The avatar gave a nod of acceptance. “I want to expand towards the forest, and create a monster farm,” he said in a serious tone, causing Wesley’s eyes to widen in surprise. “Not anything too dangerous. I want to give the adventurers work that they can do. To do that, I need to get enough monsters living in my territory to increase the monster point cap, and set up nests.”
“Remember, if a monster is killed on my territory, I get a point, which can then be converted into currency. So, for instance, if an adventurer killed a goblin, that point could be used to pay them for their work. And, I assume that the typical bounty for a goblin isn’t a large silver?”
Wesley quickly confirmed this thought. “That’s right. Usually, a single goblin is worth no more than fifty gol, or half of a small silver.”
The avatar smiled at this confirmation. “So, the extra money that is generated through this endeavor could be used to pay the other villagers for their own work, solving our issue of funds. The adventurers would have work to do without having to return to Corvath, and we might even be able to draw in more people with the increased stability.”
Wesley hesitated, mulling the idea over. “It’s not a bad idea in essence. However, it will need to be handled carefully. If the adventurers learn that you are making more than ten times what they’re getting as a reward for their work, they will start demanding an increase in the reward, or refuse to handle the subjugations.”
“In addition, the edge of the forest is two and a half kilometers away from the current edge of your territory. That means that you would need to expand twenty-five times just to reach the border of the forest. Given your current rate of earning points, that could take you more than three months, right?”
The lord let out a sigh, agreeing. “Yeah, it could. Right now, I’m thinking about using farms to speed up the process. If I get lucky and have another profitable crop like the quickvine, I could buy a plot every two days. If I make enough farms, I could even get to the point where I can buy a plot every day. At that point, it would take me less than a month to reach the forest.” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
That got Wesley’s attention. “If you’re earning points that quickly, then even after you reach the forest, you’d still be earning at the same rate, which would let you convert all of those points to either domestic projects or converting everything into currency to fill the settlement’s coffers. How many farms would you need to do that?”
To that, the lord could only shrug. “It’s all up to chance. If I get four quickvine fields, I could reliably harvest one hundred points every day by cycling between them. If the fields are less profitable, I’d need to wait until the harvest before trying my luck again until I get a suitable crop. In the process, we may discover a better staple food than the tubers being planted now, but again, this is all up to random chance.”
Still, Wesley nodded his head. “I’m in favor of this plan. Thinking about long-term profitability, as well as the stability of the territory, this would allow you to solve multiple problems. In addition, it will be helpful once your point limit is increased, since it will let you reach your new unlocks more quickly.”
“In that case, I’ll buy three new farms to start, using the points we have on hand. However, you said that you have something to report?”
Hearing this, Wesley quickly replied. “That’s right. The A-ranked adventurer that passed by yesterday has made his initial report to the guild. Apparently, an A-ranked dungeon has appeared near the road between here and Leonin, and some monsters are leaking out. He hasn’t been into the dungeon himself yet, as it was more important to send the report, but he is planning to subjugate the dungeon.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t know how long it will take before he is successful, since this is a dungeon of the same rank as him. It might take multiple attempts before he can fully clear it, assuming he can clear it on his own at all. In the meantime, it’s likely that there won’t be any more travel from the south until this is taken care of, and I wouldn’t expect anyone from the north unless we give them a reason to specifically visit this settlement.”
The lord let out a grunt, lowering his head. “This could have been disastrous for the settlement if the houses weren’t temperature-regulated, and we didn’t have our new farms. Without a source of trade, people could have easily fallen to the cold when winter hits. Speaking of… what season is it currently?”
Wesley blinked, answering after a moment’s thought. “Summer is just ending, so winter won’t be for another few months. Still, the autumn in this region can get rather cold, and is known for heavy storms.”
The lord sighed at that. “We’ll do our best to prepare. Now, for those three farms,” he began, before closing his eyes. “The first one is a gourd called Coilbarrel. It says that it has an initial growth period of five days, but can then produce fruits worth twenty-five points every day.”
“Coilbarrel? That’s not a plant native to this area, but I’m familiar with it. It’s large and barrel-shaped, hence its name, and typically holds a lot of sweet liquid.” Wesley mused, clearly satisfied with the first farm.
“I’ll leave that one as-is then, since it is the save average point yield as the quickvine. The second farm is Redflare Pod, a type of pepper. It reaches maturity in seven days, and can then produce a harvest every day thereafter. Like the Coilbarrels, they sell for twenty five points.”
Wesley’s eyes widened as I listed the next farm. “Redflares are quite valuable for trade. Once they’re fully grown, we could consider selling them directly to Corvath for a hefty profit if we need to.”
The lord didn’t seem particularly interested, but agreed nonetheless. “As for the last one, Hollowgrain. Again, only a single growth cycle of ten days.”
Wesley pursed his lips at that. “Hollowgrain isn’t bad at all. In fact, of the different grains I’ve tried, baked goods made from it are especially nice. However, it’s another crop not native to the area, so I don’t know if you’ll find anyone willing to buy it in Corvath, since it can’t be processed in the same batch as other grains.”
“In other words, we got one real success, one potential profit, and one failure,” the lord sighed. “And since we don’t have a mill, it’ll be hard for us to process the grain ourselves. Unless they’re able to get a basic mill set up by the time this is ready to harvest, I’ll recycle the crops to try again with that field.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that, then,” Wesley smiled, clearly pleased to have a reliable grain growing. “A small-scale mill might not be too hard to set up, as long as we can get the materials, and then work towards building a proper windmill.”