Farming in the Magical World

Castel Ridge is located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Andrew.

This area is very close to the Grumman Mountains, and is characterized by typical hilly terrain, barren land, and scarce resources.

The Kingdom of Andrew conferred the title of Baron here, and the Welsh family's fiefdom was located here, with their castle built on a small hill in Castel Ridge.

Castel Ridge has no special products, and the family has no traditional businesses. In addition, previous generations of patriarchs did not seem to have much interest in making money, so the territory's income consisted only of the meager taxes collected from the territory.

In such a barren place, even the people struggled to get enough to eat, so it's easy to imagine how little tax could be collected. Therefore, the Wells family always lived a relatively simple life.

The previous Baron, August Wells, was a typical knight who disliked reading and preferred swordsmanship. His martial arts training was expensive, causing the family to fall into financial difficulties and on the verge of collapse.

August gritted his teeth and took out loans to recruit a large number of knights, intending to pursue the path of military merit and rewards. However, he did not expect to be surrounded in the Battle of Dragon Ridge and died there.

By the time Lanny Wells inherited the title, even the family castle was dilapidated due to years of neglect.

The family was small in this generation, and he had no brothers or sisters. At night, the castle was deserted and seemed eerie, like a haunted house.

The local commoners were reluctant to approach the castle even during the day, let alone at night.

There was a natural awe of the common people for the nobles, but even more so, there was fear of this gloomy castle.

However, tonight seems a little different...

night!

Down the mountain in front of the castle, near the riverbank and Hexi Village, a string of scattered lights spread along the winding path up the mountain.

A few words of conversation broke the stillness of the night in the gentle night breeze.

"Iron Hammer... ...If you're feeling down, just cry it out!" Village Chief Parker reached out his aged hand and patted Iron Hammer on the shoulder!

Parker is the village chief of Hexi Village. He is thin and has a full head of white hair. The heavy burden of life has made him hunched over at a young age.

At this moment, he was holding a torch, walking beside the hammer.

The torchlight wasn't very bright; he could barely see the road ahead, and his steps were unsteady.

Seeing Iron Hammer's face flushed red with anger, he thought for a moment and decided to try to comfort the boy. Iron Hammer was still young and didn't fully understand the hardships of life, nor had he suffered enough.

He worried that the child might offend the noble lord in his anger, and that he might not only lose his wife, but also his life in the castle!

"Child, don't do anything foolish... Listen to me, okay!"

"Now that we have Lord Wells’ protection, we should naturally offer him our loyalty."

"Since the master desires... and has taken a liking to Karina, it is her honor."

He was the village chief, and since the steward Frank had entrusted him with the task, he had to do it well. Even though he was the village chief, to the noble lord, he was no different from a lamb in a sheepfold.

But thinking about how Iron Hammer had to personally take his newlywed wife away... he also felt sorry for the child.

But what could the people do? How could they refuse the lord's demands?

He could only sigh helplessly.

The villagers who were traveling with him agreed with the village chief's words, but when they looked at Tiechui, who had a dark face, and his bulging muscles, they couldn't say anything and could only sigh in their hearts.

--- Oh, poor child, why did it have to be this time to get married? If it had been a few months earlier, when Lord August was still alive, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Iron Hammer, who was also holding a torch, did not respond to the village chief's words. He just gritted his teeth, his face dark, and his arm holding the torch was already white from gripping it.

He raised his head and looked once again at his wife, who was walking at the front of the crowd.

Karina, dressed in a red linen outfit, walked ahead. Her figure was slender and graceful, but she was looking down, seemingly lost in thought.

That linen outfit, which was quite cheap for a nobleman, was something he had painstakingly bought after working as a blacksmith for half a year to scrape together the money.

Although the merchant at the time said that the red linen was dyed with cheap red grass and would have some... well, some smell, it was cheap!

I never imagined that the first time I would wear it would be...

If he had known, he should have married her at the end of last year. Even if she didn't have this new dress, it would have been fine. After all, people in the village don't always have to make new clothes for weddings!

He had heard people say before that nobles had the right to the first marriage of women in their fiefdoms, which was the law of the kingdom, but the previous Lord August had never exercised this right!

He thought this matter had nothing to do with him, just like the royal palace was selecting the best blacksmith in the country, which seemed to be related to him, but was actually completely unrelated.

But he never expected that this matter would suddenly be placed in front of him.

He didn't understand why Lord Lanny would suddenly exercise this right, especially since the first target was his own newlywed wife.

He now regrets it so much he wants to bang his head against the wall. Why was he so stubborn before? Why?

Karina had hinted at proposing to him more than once, so why did he insist on buying that particular outfit?

This damn vanity...

Thinking about all this, Hammer pounded his head in regret again, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the quiet night...

The group of women at the front were a bunch of village women, whispering amongst themselves. Unlike the frustrated Iron Hammer, they seemed rather excited, occasionally exchanging a few playful jokes.

Karina, surrounded by the middle-aged women, looked numb and had a blank stare, showing no reaction to the words of those around her. No one knew what she was thinking.

She was like this when she left the village. No matter whether people around her laughed, cried, or said envious or jealous things to her, she didn't react at all, as if none of it had anything to do with her.

It was as if the body had lost its soul.

Now all that's left is an empty shell, numbly and mechanically completing what she has to do.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of the hammer striking his head that his eyes flickered and he came to life.

Sadness welled up on her face, and tears welled up in her eyes, finally forming a string of tears that fell all the way down her path.

--- ---

The study on the second floor of the castle!

A pale-faced young man with blond hair and a gaunt face was hunched over his desk, busy with something.

His aristocratic formal attire was intricately patterned with layers of decorations, making it look incredibly complex. From the collar and cuffs, it was clear that he was wearing a long white cotton shirt underneath.

This is a standard aristocratic outfit, which looks extremely complicated and is even more troublesome to wear. However, it is not surprising that nobles use these intricate patterns and embroidery to highlight their nobility.

And this young man was a nobleman, the lord of this land, Baron Lanny Wells!

He would sometimes bend down and write a few strokes on the paper, and then bite the quill pen, tilting his head and thinking for a long time.

Occasionally, I would stretch to relieve the fatigue in my body and rub my lower back, which was a little sore from bending over for too long.

After all, parchment is extremely precious, and he had to think long and hard before carefully putting pen to paper.

"This quill pen is so damn hard to use. I have to dip it in ink after every stroke. It's torture."

"How do you make a fountain pen? It seems very difficult. Why don't we make a pencil first? That doesn't seem too hard. We can just wrap a carbon rod in paper."

While he was writing and drawing, he would occasionally mutter a few complaints under his breath.

However, the language he used was clearly not the language of this world. Fortunately, he was alone in the study at the moment, so he didn't have to worry about being overheard.

Suddenly, the flickering lights coming from outside the window caught his attention.

He peeked out in confusion, frowned, put down his quill, got up and walked to the window, leaned against it, and nervously peered outside.

It turned out that they were a group of villagers from the neighborhood, carrying torches and walking towards the main gate of the castle. The person in front seemed to be a young woman in red, but the people following behind were not very clear!

Upon seeing that they were villagers, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief and straightened up.

The area around Caster has been quite turbulent lately, so he has to be careful.

Strange, what are these villagers doing at the castle so late at night? He didn't think these villagers liked to be near the castle at night.

Even he, the castle owner, felt that the place was eerie at night, let alone the villagers.

He thought for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. He then casually pulled the bell, hoping the steward would know what was going on, since he was the one who usually communicated with the villagers.

Soon, footsteps could be heard at the door.

The next moment, Frank, dressed in a butler's uniform, with gray hair and a kind face, pushed open the door and walked in, standing in front of Lanny. "Young Master, what are your orders?"

Lanny didn't speak, but pointed out the window with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Frank walked to the window, peeked out, and then turned back, saying respectfully, "Young Master, those people are villagers from Hexi Village. Don't worry!"

Lanny was speechless upon hearing this answer.

I thought to myself, isn't that obvious? I'm not nearsighted, so of course I can see that it's a group of villagers. What I want to know is, what are they doing at the castle so late at night?

Seeing that Lenny was still looking at him, Frank winked at him, giving him a knowing look. "I'm the one who notified them. Tomorrow, Hammer from the village is getting married..."

Hmm, so... ...?

Lanny was a little confused. Was there any necessary connection between getting married tomorrow and coming to the castle tonight?

Frank's next words completely shocked Lenny.

"According to the laws of the kingdom, nobles possess all rights within their territory, including... including the first page of an unmarried woman."

At this point, Frank bowed deeply, placing his hand on his chest.

"Tonight, that girl belongs to you, my master..."