7 – Farming Episode
＜Farming Episode 7＞
[System]
Discovered Norfolk’s 4-Yield Farming Method.
You can now learn it using skill points.
Dividing the cultivation land into four,
After finishing sowing the seeds, the system popped up.
“If you’ve discovered it, can’t you just give it as a skill right away?”
Even without any skills, I am already applying the Norfork-style four-season farming method.
But apparently, I need to use skill points to learn it.
“Well, at least that’s fortunate.”
Earth Restoration (Lv 2)
Skill points are needed to learn the skill,
but they are not needed to level up the skill.
It seems that the more frequently I use it, the higher the level becomes.
Thanks to that, it has become easier to reduce the level of soil contamination.
“Lady Soyeongju! The development of Field B is complete.”
With the addition of 100 slaves,
the farming progressed quickly.
First, we finished developing Field A,
and planted barley seeds.
Next, we worked on Field B.
“Shall we sow the seeds right away?”
We plan to grow clover and rye grass in Field B.
However,
“It’s not time yet. The prayer is not finished. Let’s focus on developing Field C for now.”
“Understood.”
[System]
Contaminated Land (Contamination Level: 6%)
After reducing the contamination level of Field B to 0%, it won’t be too late to sow.
Anyway, clover and wheatgrass are for livestock.
Since there are no livestock in the River Village yet.
Afterwards, land development and farming proceeded as planned.
After lowering the contamination level of Field B, clover and wheatgrass seeds were sown.
Some slaves took care of the barley,
While the rest, along with employed River people, cultivated Field C.
And I.
‘Land Restoration.’
In a posture of prayer, I diligently used the land restoration skill.
The once high-rising sun hung in the western sky,
And the sky was dyed in red.
“Is our grandson’s prayer finished?”
“We’re about to go in now.”
I stood up from my seat and brushed off my knees.
With the posture of devotion, my pants always got dirty at the bottom.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
The sky painted in red and the spread-out barley fields below.
It was like a painting.
However…
Is Grandfather not worried?
As Barley grew, concerns among the people escalated.
Of course.
Even if you’ve diligently cultivated it, can you really eat that?
What if it gets contaminated by magic and becomes inedible? What then?
Such worries were inevitable.
After all, this is Monster Island.
“Grandfather, aren’t you worried?”
“Worried… Well, yes. I am worried.”
Contrary to his words, Grandfather’s expression was blank.
“But listen. If there’s only one person in the world who will listen to what you say, it’ll be me. I’ll be the one to help you with whatever you have in mind. Whatever you decide to do, I would have supported you.”
Bang! Bang!
Grandfather forcefully tapped his back.
“Don’t worry. If you can’t eat that barley, then let’s hunt monsters together. Become a hunter like I did. Form a team. Then there won’t be any problem with living off what we hunt.”
Even though Grandfather told me not to worry,
In reality, it seemed like he was talking to himself.
And upon careful consideration, the assumption that we might not be able to eat the barley was embedded in his words.
“Grandfather, please don’t worry.”
“…”
She smiled at me, her eyes filled with kindness,
And I smiled back at her.
Then I ran towards the barley field.
I plucked a small, undergrown stalk of barley.
“Grandfather, please enjoy!”
I put the barley in my mouth and chewed awkwardly.
I plucked another stalk and handed it to my grandfather.
“Try it.”
“Do you really expect me to eat this? It’s not fully grown yet.”
“It’s okay. Please try it.”
My grandfather also put it in his mouth and chewed, roughly like me.
“How is it?”
“… It’s delicious. It’s really delicious.”
To be honest, it wasn’t tasty.
It was barley that hadn’t even ripened to a pale green color.
Moreover, I was chewing both the grains and the stems at the same time.
It was an impossible situation to find it delicious.
But I understood what my grandfather meant.
The grass and fruits contaminated by magic were absolutely inedible.
Just the fact that there was no strange, chemical-like taste made it enough to be called delicious.
The next day,
The people of River Town gathered in the barley field.
Then, one by one, they broke the stems and put them in their mouths.
“Wow! I can’t taste any strange flavor for real!”
“Ohh!! This is… amazing!”
“Hail to the Goddess of the Earth!!”
“Hail to Lady Soyoung!!”
After this incident, the people of River Town worked even harder.
‘The slaves still lack enthusiasm.’
Maybe it’s because they’re from the continent, but even the fact that they could eat grains grown from the land didn’t excite them much.
The slaves seemed like emotionless machines.
They woke up in the morning, worked,
and went to sleep when night fell.
The efficiency of their work didn’t increase significantly.
It wasn’t like they were not working or slacking off,
but there was a slow progress in something.
‘Maybe it’s because there’s no hope.’
They are slaves.
Today, they are slaves,
And tomorrow, they will be slaves.
They will be slaves until the day they die.
They cannot own private property.
Even working hard doesn’t earn them more money.
Thinking from the perspective of a slave,
Such a situation seemed natural.
It was even strange that the slaves worked enthusiastically.
“With this condition, how can we properly cultivate?”
A vast area was under cultivation, enough for a hundred people.
Since A and B fields were completed, C and D fields needed to be of the same size.
However, judging by the efficiency of the work, cultivating the planned area was challenging.
“Just telling them to work hard won’t solve the issue. Then, what should we do?”
I pondered for several days.
After organizing my thoughts, I discussed with the old man.
And the conclusion was,
Pay a certain portion of the harvest as wages.
In other words, recognize private property.
I gathered the slaves and conveyed the decision.
The story ended, and a young slave raised his hand.
“Does the amount of harvest we gather also increase the money we receive?”
“That’s right.”
Instead of a predetermined amount, they decided to give a certain percentage of the harvest.
To motivate them to work harder.
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The young slave raised his hand again.
Emotion filled his eyes.
It was different from the lifeless eyes before.
“So… if I gather that money, can I buy my freedom?”
“That’s correct. We have an amount that we’ve saved. If you pay that amount, we will set you free from slavery.”
The slaves clenched their fists.
They didn’t cheer, but you could tell from their eyes that something was different from usual.
While silently cheering,
Isaac stepped forward.
He was playing the role of the leader among the slaves.
He was older and knew a lot.
“How much is the wage we receive?”
“It’s 10% of the production.”
10%.
An ambiguous number.
No, it’s a small number.
In this world, all the farming is done by humans from start to finish.
From sowing the seeds,
to harvesting.
Everything is done by humans.
Moreover, it has to be divided again by 100 people, making it only 10%.
In other words, the amount each individual receives is only 0.1% of the harvest.
“The amount you receive will be larger than you think. Because…”
He explained the reason why 10% is not a small amount.
First, it’s the grain prices on Monster Island.
They collect a 30% toll on transit from the Calas Autonomous Region.
Added to this is the transportation cost, which determines the grain prices on Monster Island.
Even at its lowest, it’s 1.5 times the continental market price.
Sometimes, during expensive times, it’s more than double.
Second, it’s the price of livestock.
Livestock is more expensive than grains.
At least three times. In expensive times, it can be traded at 10 times the continental market price.
The slaves were surprised at the grain prices once,
and were surprised again at the livestock prices.
“I’ll say it again, 10% is by no means a small amount. If you work hard, you can be liberated from slavery in a few years. I promise this on the honor of my Frontier family.”
After the events of that day,
the gaze of the slaves changed.
When clearing the land, they dug deeper,
and even the touch inspecting the barley became meticulous.
Isaac even came separately.
“Do you want to expand the cultivation land?”
“Yes. If they work hard, they can cultivate much larger land than now.”
Before, cultivating the current land seemed difficult,
but when adding the two letters of hope, it was surprisingly narrow.
“That’s not possible. For now, we stick to the plan.”
Isaac lowered his head with a regretful expression.
“And there’s something I couldn’t say that day. If a slave wants to continue farming even after being liberated, they can. I’ll give them 15% of the harvest.”
A 50% increase in wages.
I hope they settle down on Monster Island.
It will not only strengthen the frontier territory but also boost my political power.
‘After all, I freed them from slavery. They’ll be loyal to me, right?’
“Thank you. I will convey it to the slaves. Master.”
Until now, everything seemed to be going well.
Until the dawn bell woke them up.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
“What’s that? What’s that noise?”
The loud ringing of bells.
In response to that sound, I hastily got up.
Then, I grabbed my sword and stepped outside.
Others also rushed out of the building.
I ran with the people.
Toward the origin of the bell sound.
