Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 15

I touched my ears, startled by the thunderous voice.

“The Count says that if you admit your sins and return the territory, he will not hold you accountable for your crimes! Will you admit your sins!”

A standard-bearer had suddenly appeared on the hill ahead, declaring war.

There were two guards next to the standard-bearer, and when I squinted, I could see their levels.

【Lv. 13】

【Lv. 19】

【Lv. 11】

‘As expected, the level of humans is far lower than that of other races,’ I thought.

“What are you going to do?” Calliope asked quietly, and I looked at her.

“Can you catch them?”

Instead of answering, she nodded silently.

“Catch them. But don’t kill them.”

“Understood.”

Calliope bent down and picked up three small stones from the dirt ground.

She moved two to her left hand and held the remaining one in her right hand.

Her arm was pulled back behind her ear, then snapped forward in an instant.

Swish!

The sound of tearing wind was heard.

“Ugh!”

And a scream erupted. Looking back, the standard-bearer had fallen off his horse, and the flag lay on the ground.

While the guards were looking down at the standard-bearer, Calliope repeated the same action two more times, and the guards also fell.

The only difference was that the two of them couldn’t even scream.

“It’s over.”

“Good work.”

At my compliment, the corners of Calliope’s lips rose very slightly.

Perhaps that was her way of smiling.

“Heo···.”

Just then, Kistler, who was next to me, let out a long breath.

He seemed to feel awe at Calliope’s skill.

It was a distance that he could have just ridden a horse and escaped if he had run away.

How could he not be surprised that she solved that distance with three stones?

“What’s so surprising after seeing her win against an Elf?”

“Haha… You’re right.”

Kistler laughed awkwardly.

Soon, the subordinates brought the thugs.

Blood was flowing through the holes in their armor, and they seemed to be in a daze.

I ordered the subordinates to heal them and interrogate them to find out everything about the Count, such as their route, attack time, and scale. Then, I looked at the horses they had ridden.

“It looks like they can be used for farming.”

“Yes. They look sturdy and useful.”

When I stroked the approaching horse, it flapped its wings and rubbed its head against me.

It was gentle, and unintentionally, I got good horses—three of them.

If I add the two draft horses that used to pull the wagon, that makes five.

‘Sending a messenger means they’ve already set out. I should take this opportunity to catch the Count and get the horses they’re riding too,’ I thought.

I don’t know how many there will be, but it must be at least dozens, since he’s a Count.

Thinking that it would be quite a lucrative business, I smiled.

Before, I only had two draft horses, so it was difficult to use them for farming.

‘If I attach a plow, I need a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 8 oxen or horses.’

Fortunately, the soil of the Great Plains was so soft that there was no need for 8 horses to pull one plow.

Still, to allow each household to pull one plow, I needed a lot of horses.

‘It would be nice to loot some iron farming tools too. Even though Wallachia is more backward than Germania, they’ll still use them. And….’

While calculating the spoils in my head, I laughed insipidly at the absurdity.

‘I never thought the saying that you build an economy through war would come to mind now.’

In my previous life, plundering was rare when developing territories.

I always started in territories with a decent foundation.

The standard was to expand around while increasing what I had.

But now I had nothing.

It wasn’t the time to grow what I had, but the time to take what I needed to grow.

‘I feel sorry for the Count, but I want to thank him for starting a fight.’

I don’t know how far the surveillance of the Council of Regents reaches now.

He started a fight so that I wouldn’t be evaluated as having made the first move.

He was a very grateful man.

‘However… I haven’t even started the territory tour yet, but I’m a little sad that I have to go see someone else’s territory first.’

I turned my back and looked at the territory.

Even though not much time had passed since I took office, the territory was changing rapidly.

This was because the subordinates were stronger and more skilled than the territory residents and didn’t need rest.

Even low-level subordinates were manpower equivalent to several times that of farmers.

On top of that, there was Calliope, who was close to max level, and the wizard Griff.

There was no way the development progress could be slow.

‘Once the development of Ollimurs is somewhat on track, I have to develop other villages too, but I don’t have enough subordinates.’

I thought of the subordinates I had newly created since Griff.

————————————

Bandit

Bann

Lv. 9

Grade: F

Wandering Poet

Hilde

Lv. 42

Grade: C

Boatman

Guillaume

Lv. 12

Grade: F

Page

Hans

Lv. 14

Grade: E

Indulgence Seller

Karamazov

Lv. 38

Grade: C

————————————

The number of subordinates had already reached ten.

I had created six more subordinates in addition to Griff after arriving in Ollimurs.

However, none of them were higher level than Griff.

The second highest level was 42, and the job was a vague wandering poet.

‘Better than an indulgence seller, though.’

I thought of that job and let out a light laugh.

‘Subordinates follow whatever you tell them to do with enthusiasm. Still, if possible, I want to assign them to jobs that match their profession, but this is a bit difficult.’

Should I tell him to sell indulgences according to his job? [Indulgences were a controversial practice in the medieval Church where people could pay for forgiveness of sins.]

‘At least for now, I don’t have to worry about it because simple tasks are urgent.’

There was so much work that even with just simple tasks, there was a shortage of hands.

I had to cultivate the grassy plains and give tenant farms to the immigrants, renovate the temporary huts, gather and hunt to replenish the food shortage until harvest season, and prepare for civil engineering for city construction.

If ordinary humans, not subordinates, had done the work, the workload would have been overwhelming.

It was only because they were subordinates that progress was being made little by little, even though there was a shortage of manpower.

‘I should raise the skill level and increase the number of subordinates soon.’

[Time remaining until next use: 46 hours 31 minutes.]

Creating one every three days had a clear limit.

It should be at least once a day to breathe.

‘Well, I can’t do anything about it right now, even if I think about it.’

Since I don’t know the skill’s experience, I have no choice but to keep using it and wait.

I put my worries about the skill aside and thought about Count Dorin, who would be coming soon.

“Griff. Can you use illusion magic?”

“It’s easy.”

Griff smiled and raised his right hand.

His hand flickered as if heat haze was rising, and soon it turned into a tentacle.

Griff’s hand, which had turned into the tip of a squid, bowed to me.

“How is it?”

“It’s okay. Can you make the ears look like an Elf’s?”

Instead of answering, Griff clapped twice.

Then Calliope’s ears turned into rabbit ears.

“······.”

Calliope looked at Griff without saying a word.

I sensed that Calliope’s thoughts were heavily weighing down.

Griff hurriedly scattered his magic power and erased the rabbit ears.

“Well… is this enough?” Griff continued, avoiding Calliope’s heavy gaze.

“Anyone who handles magic power better than me will notice it soon.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Because the one I’m trying to deceive isn’t a strongman like the Council of Regents.

They wouldn’t be able to see through Griff’s illusion magic.

“What are you planning?”

“I’m going to make them believe that my backer is an Elf. So that their wariness isn’t focused on me. Let them misunderstand on their own. I deceived the Council of Regents last time, so shouldn’t I deceive the humans this time?”

The Richest Mountain in the World

A crow glided in the sky.

I looked up at it and gestured to Calliope.

Calliope threw a pebble, and a sharp sound rang out.

Caw!

At the same time, the crow screamed and burst feathers everywhere.

I couldn’t see it falling because it was hit so hard.

The crow’s figure disappeared without a trace, scattering dust.

I patted the stopped horse to make it walk again.

Three subordinates and Kistler followed behind me.

“They’re really annoying guys.”

Griff grumbled.

The crow was a familiar [a magical animal that assists a witch or wizard].

It was sharing its vision with the warlock and watching us.

It had been following us since we left Ollimurs.

“Isn’t that the eighth one already?”

“It was.”

The crow we just caught was the eighth familiar.

Familiars have a soul contract with the warlock, so if they die, the warlock will be shocked.

Should I say that the magic power reverses? They won’t be able to move their magic power for a while.

‘That means they’re watching us through a different warlock every time.’

“The vigilance is too much.”

I looked at Kistler while putting dried fruit in my mouth.

He was accompanying us to guide us to Turan.

His expression stiffened when he heard the conversation between Griff and me.

He had spent at least 10 years in the frontier, so he must have felt deeply how cruel the other races were.

He must have been afraid that such a race was wary of me.

“It’s understandable.”

I let out a small laugh.

“Didn’t I take land from them? I’m the only human who has taken land from them, so wouldn’t they be wary of what I’ll do again? Maybe they’ll go back to the Council of Regents soon.”

Calliope, who had been looking up at the sky for a while, lowered her head.

“It’s over.”

“You don’t see any more?”

“Not within the range I can sense.”

“Good.”

I put the fruit in my pocket and looked at Griff.

“Did that Elf bastard send them?”

“It’s likely, but it won’t be alone. It’s better to assume that the Council of Regents is watching.”

“At this rate, it’ll be difficult to take the territory even if we catch the Count. Surely there will be a lot of talk, right?”

“That’s right.”

This is what it’s like just to go outside the territory.

It was obvious what kind of reaction they would show if I expanded my territory inland.

“I hope the plan works out well.”

“Wait.”

I stopped the horse and looked at the bushes next to the dirt road.

The road we were passing was in the middle of a forest that was embarrassing to even call a road.

All kinds of untouched plants were growing in the lush bushes.

“Lord Edar?”

I got off the horse and dug out a handful of plants growing in the bushes.

The others who got off the horse stood behind me.

They tilted their heads when they saw the plant I had dug out of the ground.

“It’s alfalfa.”

“Yes. Do you happen to know about plants too?”

“Magic engineering is a thin and broad field of study. I also have a slight foot in herbal medicine.”

I handed the alfalfa to Griff, who shrugged his shoulders, and stood up.

“Dig up the same plant as this one, roots and all, and bring it to me.”

“Hmm… It’s a legume [a family of plants that bear their fruit in pods]. Are you going to plant it in the fallow land?”

“Hmm.”

Griff narrowed his eyes even more and smiled.

Kistler, who was following behind, blinked his eyes.

Why weeds in fallow land? That’s what he must be thinking.

Because botany is not developed in this era.

They only know how plants affect the soil through experience.

Also, the experience of this era was accumulated very carefully, incomparably to my previous life.

Because there is no social security, one mistake can end your life.

Planting an unknown plant in land that should be rested after farming?

It was worthy of being pointed at and called crazy, let alone challenged.

“Now, this alfalfa makes the land fertile. Why do you farm and rest the land? Isn’t it to restore the soil?”

Griff held the alfalfa in his right hand and waved it around exaggeratedly.

“Planting alfalfa in fallow land is very helpful in restoring soil fertility. Not only alfalfa, but also plants such as clover, milk vetch, and peas around it have the same effect as alfalfa and can be used for other purposes.”

The plants I just mentioned were collectively called legumes.

Of the nutrients that crops absorb from the soil, the ones that are consumed the most are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Legumes have bacteria that fix nitrogen in the air into the soil, which is very helpful in restoring soil fertility.

‘Another advantage of legumes is that they create additional income besides restoring soil fertility.’

To give a few examples, milk vetch is helpful for beekeeping.

Peas can be used for food, and clover and alfalfa can be used as livestock feed.

‘If turnips are added here, the basic framework of the 4-field system, which leads from wheat to turnips, barley, and clover, is completed. If there are potatoes, you can put potatoes in the middle to maximize crop production.’

In my previous life, agriculture accounted for more than 50% of the world economy until the modern era.

What about an era without the technology, institutions, and resources that are the basis of the Industrial Revolution?

It’s not for nothing that farming is said to be the foundation of the world.

‘If you plant one grain in the field, you get 3 grains in an average harvest and 4 grains in a bumper harvest in this era. If you harvest 3 grains in an average harvest, you keep 1 grain for sowing, pay 1 grain in taxes, and have to survive the year with the remaining 1 grain.’

That’s why I care about livestock and farming equipment.

Agriculture before the Industrial Revolution was simple and inefficient.

So even a small improvement greatly increased efficiency and greatly increased income.

If the land is restored even a little faster,

If the land is plowed even a little deeper,

What if the average harvest yield is 4 grains instead of 3 grains?

If the grains given to the farmer after sowing increase from 2 grains to 3 grains?

From 2 grains to 3 grains, that is, the profit increases by 50%.

It was a huge leap, even though it was only a difference of 1 grain.

‘It would be nice to have a skill that summons farmland with a bang or gives an agricultural buff. But since there’s no such thing, I have to approach it realistically. I have no choice but to introduce methods that produce the most efficiency as quickly as possible.’

Kistler couldn’t take his eyes off the alfalfa that Griff was waving like a magic wand.

‘He’s looking at it like he’s looking at a treasure. No, is it a treasure.’

Because he was a farmer before he was a village chief.

He knows what it means to be able to make the land a little more fertile.

‘The problem was whether the farmers would believe me and plant it in the fallow land, but judging from the reaction, it seems okay.’

Kistler carefully took the alfalfa and asked.

“How do you know this?”

“I’m also a magic engineer. Magic engineering knows everything.”

Griff answered, but Kistler’s gaze was directed at me.

“Well.”

I gave a meaningless smile and let the answer flow.

It was the same answer even though it was a question I didn’t know how many times I had been asked.

The knowledge and experience I reveal were not from this life but from my previous life.

I can’t answer that I’ve done it in a previous life.

‘I rolled in the fields, worked under artisans, and even became a fisherman.’

I was tired of playing the hero and living the aristocratic life, so I even started as a slave.

‘The experience I gained at that time was possible because the skills assisted me. But even if the effects of the skills disappear, the memories remain. Like achievements, I can roughly know what results will come out if I do something.’

Knowing the efficacy of alfalfa or legumes was such an example.

When the agricultural skill assisted, the status window listed the efficacy of alfalfa.

It appropriately mixed realism and game elements, such as what effect it would have if mixed with which crop, and that the effect would increase as the skill level increased.

‘Unlike achievements, I didn’t really intend to memorize it. But memory is fun.’

Memory sometimes remembers trivial things clearly and forgets important things.