5 – Episode 5: A New Beginning
＜A New Beginning＞
As I entered the reception room,
I saw Allenxia.
With blue hair and
Blue eyes. White skin.
And red lips.
Even after our separation, she remained beautiful.
“Long time no see, Lady Alencia.”
Alencia gestured to the chair in front of her.
“Sit.”
Her voice held no emotion.
A stoic command.
What did I expect?
When I heard she had come,
Did I think it was for another engagement?
‘No reason to be disappointed.’
I thought that, but my heart felt empty.
“What brings you here?”
She looked at me without saying a word.
I didn’t look away either.
1 second. 5 seconds. 10 seconds.
There were many times we met eyes without words.
Like now.
“I heard you were dead.”
How can one say such words without emotion?
It’s an impressive ability.
Haven’t we spent four years together?
Haven’t we even been engaged?
“So that’s how it is. Fortunately, I’m fine now.”
“Yeah, seems like you’re fine.”
Once again, the conversation came to an end.
This time, too, they didn’t avoid each other’s gaze.
Eyes met,
And a long silence followed.
“What are we going to do from now on? Any plans?”
Plans…
There are plans.
There’s something I’ve been pondering for a few days.
And there’s something I need to ask her.
I told the maid to leave.
Of course, Mari, Allenzia’s personal maid, remained.
“Why send the maid away to discuss something?”
“Well, actually…”
I explained the farming plans.
Of course, it was a distortion.
Because I can’t talk about things like systems or skills.
“So. You really resurrected and met the Goddess of the Earth when you died? Thanks to that, you were able to cultivate the land?”
“Yes.”
Drrrk.
Alencia rose from her chair.
“Your fanciful imagination remains unchanged. I’m disappointed.”
Fanciful imagination.
During our time together, she had suggested a few ideas.
She accepted those ideas fancifully.
In the past and even now.
Of course, she could think that way.
No matter if it’s a world with gods, suddenly dying and meeting a goddess, then being able to farm.
Right. It doesn’t make sense. Trying to lie weakens the logic.
No matter how you look at it.
Resentment arose.
It seems her personality changed after really dying.
“You’re disappointed? Did you have any expectations for me?”
Without expectations, there is no disappointment.
Using the word “disappointed” without having any expectations for me.
“…”
Arlencia looked at me without saying a word.
“You’ve changed.”
Leaving those words behind, she opened the reception room door.
I bowed my head as I watched her back.
“Be careful on your way. I won’t see you off separately.”
“Do as you please.”
She stood by the reception room window.
I saw Arlencia getting on a carriage.
The coachman cracked his whip.
The carriage departed.
Gradually, it disappeared into the forest.
“Sigh…”
I let out a deep sigh, feeling a tingling sensation in my chest.
Arlencia had already abandoned me.
It must have been planned for a long time.
I shouldn’t cling to the past alone.
I need to let go of the lingering attachment and move forward.
“I have someone to ask a favor of too. I’m not a man who will cling to you anymore.”
Two individuals who could help with farming were deleted.
Brida was erased,
and Alencia was also deleted.
.
.
A few days later,
I left South Castle.
And headed south.
To the southern coastal area of the Frontier Duchy.
Towards the River Village.
***
River Village.
A place belonging to the Frontier Duchy.
The south is the sea.
The west is the monster area.
The east is the Vampire Viscount’s territory.
And there, my great-grandfather resides.
“It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”
I only knew of his existence.
I had never actually gone to see him.
It was because I was quite busy.
In the early days of coming to this world, I was busy grasping the situation.
And for the past four years, I’ve been living as a vampire duke.
When I emerged from the forest, the sea came into view.
From the village formed in the middle of the forest,
to the river running west of the village.
I arrived at the entrance of River Village.
There, a welcoming greeting awaited me.
I recognized grandfather at a glance.
He had the same black hair as me, just like my mother.
“Come in, my grandson.”
“It’s been a while, grandfather.”
I knelt and greeted as I did with Brilda.
At that moment,
With a warm embrace, grandfather hugged me.
I, too, relaxed, embracing him.
Frontier Territory’s southern coast.
There, I met someone who was truly on my side.
I exchanged greetings with welcoming people.
They moved to the village hall.
Grandfather was the mayor of River City.
River was not just the current East River alone,
but a city that included the western region beyond the river.
As the Frontier Territory weakened, the western region was taken by monsters.
“Yeah, is there a reason you came here?”
“Yes, because…”
As he had told Alencia.
He also told his grandfather.
He fought with the Black Orc, died in battle,
met the goddess of the earth in death,
and gained the ability to eliminate the magic in Ireland.
So, he said. He wanted to farm.
The essence of what he said to Alencia was the same, but this time he polished it more convincingly.
After the long talk,
Grandfather laughed loudly.
“hahahahaha. hahahahaha!!!”
Why is he laughing?
There was nothing funny in what I said.
“hahahahaha!!! I knew it would be like this. Our grandson following in Campbell’s footsteps wouldn’t fake his death. That’s how it is. Ah, damn!!!”
My grandfather was an exceptional hunter.
Everyone from Monster Island is a hunter.
The main source of income here is monster produce, and to obtain it, you have to hunt monsters.
But my grandfather was not just an exceptional hunter.
He gathered people and formed a specialized hunting team.
He caught many monsters and made a lot of money.
With that money, he built a bow-making workshop in River.
There were job opportunities, so naturally people gathered.
My grandfather played a big role in River’s growth as a city.
“You all heard it! Don’t ever call my grandson a coward again! If I see anyone like that, I’ll break their bones!!”
My grandfather pretended to strangle someone.
It didn’t look like a joke.
His biceps were twitching roughly.
“Oh my. Campbell, who insulted Lady Soyoung?”
“No one did that in River.”
After the small commotion passed,
My grandfather opened his mouth again.
“You want to do farming?”
“Yes, grandfather.”
“I guess you refused Brilda.”
“…Yes.”
“I thought so. She can’t stand seeing you succeed. Would she rather see you dead?”
…”
Grandfather stood up from his seat again.
Then he flexed his upper body muscles.
“As long as I’m alive, it will never happen. Want to farm? Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
.
.
Grandfather sorted out his lifelong savings.
With that money, he bought land.
It was a riverside area in the town of River.
Unlike other lands, all the trees had been cleared.
I heard it was to keep an eye on the river across.
“Grandfather, isn’t it dangerous?”
“hahahahaha!”
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Grandfather patted my back vigorously.
Even though his expression clearly showed friendliness, it hurt quite a bit.
“Dong River is safe. The river protects it, and besides…”
He pointed to the bridge connecting Dong River and Seo River.
There used to be more bridges, but he said only one was left.
“The monster is crossing the bridge. So all we have to do is guard the bridge.”
“You deliberately left it there for this purpose?”
“That’s right. Among hunters, it’s called the Kill Zone.”
KILL ZONE.
It is a method of forcing the monster’s movement path to gather them in one place.
They said that this way, even many monsters can be easily caught.
It was similar to a group hunt in a game.
“Have there been no monsters crossing the river until now?”
“There haven’t been. As you can see, it’s not a small river.”
Listening to my grandfather’s words, it didn’t sound bad.
In fact, it was good.
With the river, we can get water.
Due to the nature of Monster Island, the trees are dense, but here they are all cleared.
As long as we are safe from monsters thanks to the river and the bridge.
“That’s good. It’s just perfect.”
“But here’s the thing. How are we going to cultivate the land? The people here have no experience in farming.”
As I acquired the land, another problem arose.
The absence of farmers.
Although my occupation is a farmer, I am just a farmer in name.
I have no farming skills, only land restoration.
“We need to find people, don’t we?”
“The best way is to buy slaves… but that would cost a lot of money.”
Although my grandfather had a lot of money,
he was considered common by the standards of the peasants.
He had already bought a large piece of land,
and he needed to buy seeds to plant as well.
On top of that, he didn’t have enough money to purchase slaves to work on the farm.
“Then what about hiring people?”
“You mean hiring?”
“Yes, we may not have any here, but there should be experienced farmers in the Vampire’s Duchy. We can hire those people. Once we succeed in farming, we won’t have a shortage of money anymore.”
The grain prices in Monster Island are incredibly expensive.
And it’s not for any other reason.
It’s because they are all imported from the mainland.
The price of grain consumed here includes transportation costs and tolls from each territory.
Especially, the toll from the Kalas Duchy accounts for 30%.
If we farm in the River Village, all those costs will turn into profit.
The transportation costs will be low, and we won’t have to pay tolls.
“I should visit the Vampire’s Duchy. You stay here and cultivate the land with the people.”
“Please be careful, grandfather.”
My grandfather left for the Vampire’s Duchy.
And I stayed behind, focusing on cultivating the farmland.
“Uncle, must be tough, right?”
My uncle, Miller.
He’s my mother’s younger brother.
Originally, he inherited an arrow shaft manufacturing workshop.
However, he disposed of the workshop when I came.
Now, under the sun, he was assisting with farm work.
It’s not just my uncle.
His children. Even my cousins were pulling weeds and turning the soil.
“hahahahaha. Do you think running a workshop is easy? It’s something everyone does.”
While saying that, he patted my back.
Like a grandfather.
Did my uncle inherit the cheerful personality from our grandfather?
If so, was my mother’s personality the same?
I’ve never longed for the mother of this place.
She had already passed away when I took over.
But meeting my grandfather and uncle from the outside, I missed my mother.
“Why dwell on it? It’s really okay. Besides, farming on Monster Island was everyone’s dream. You have to show Kalas a thing or two!”
My uncle pretended to choke someone.
People on the island don’t like the arrogance of Kalas.
It’s because of the high tolls he’s paying as he walks that the people of Ireland are impoverished.
“Don’t worry. The crops will surely succeed.”
“Of course! It has to be that way! He’s our nephew who even met the goddess of the land!”
Bang! Bang!
Uncle struck my back hard and then focused on farming again.
I continued with what I was doing.
I knelt on the ground.
And clasped my hands together.
It’s not necessary to adopt this posture to use the Land Recovery skill.
But I did it.
Because I had told a lie.
I couldn’t explain the system or the skills. Didn’t I make excuses about the goddess of the land?
I used the Land Recovery skill in a praying pose.
[System]
Polluted Land (Pollution Level: 98%)
According to the investigation,
the pollution level of River Village is all 100%.
The entire Monster Island was like this.
It was because of erosion by magic for hundreds, no, thousands of years.
“If I use it to this extent, will it decrease by 2%?”
Using up all the mana,
recovering,
and repeating the pouring.
That’s how a day passed.
.
.
A day passed,
a week passed.
And a month went by.
“Why?”
Throughout my prayers, doubts and worries filled my mind.
“It’s been time for Grandfather to come back. Why isn’t he coming?”
I expressed my concerns to my uncle.
He told me not to worry.
The Vampire Duke’s territory is safe from monsters.
Even if he encountered monsters, there would be no problem because he’s Grandfather.
But why isn’t he coming then? I asked again.
He said he didn’t know.
Anyway, there’s no need to worry, he said.
He used to have many times like that himself, after all.
It was all needless worry.
And so, another day passed.
