Farming in the Magical World

Early the next morning!

Having finally decided to make the trip to Caster Ridge, Fern left the city early and raced towards Caster Ridge.

Elfen wasn't close to Castel anyway, and the only problem was the lack of visibility during the day. He could ride at full speed, and by the time he arrived near the castle, covered in dust, it wouldn't even be past noon.

From a distance, he noticed some changes around the castle.

Compared to before, several houses have suddenly appeared in front of the castle gate, and from a distance, one can vaguely see many figures moving among them.

Some people walked around the square in neat rows, while others climbed up and down, which looked very strange.

"Is this for training knights?" After thinking about it, he felt it didn't seem like it. How could knights be trained like this?

Moreover, the number is wrong. From a distance, there are probably more than a hundred. Which lord can afford to spend so many knights?

Combining the jokes about Lanny that have been circulating in Elfen recently, he felt that he had found the answer—Lanny was probably just daydreaming and wanted to train the people under his rule according to the standards of knights, right?

If he could easily train his people into knights, what had he been training all these years?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but show disdain, and he couldn't even muster the thought of laughing at this naive idea.

As he drew closer and passed through the obstruction of Hexi Village, he finally saw the construction site by the river in the distance. There seemed to be many people working there, and some houses were already taking shape.

After glancing at the camp in the direction of the castle and then at the newly appeared construction site, he decided to go to the construction site first. It seemed that there weren't many guards there, and perhaps he could find out some information.

Unexpectedly, before he could get close, two people dressed in black on the roadside blocked his way.

"Stop! What are you doing?" One of them looked at Fern warily, his hand involuntarily tightening its grip on his weapon.

They couldn't help but be cautious. They had just captured an assassin a few days ago, and one of their unfortunate teammates was still lying in the camp groaning in pain. How could they dare to let their guard down?

After glancing at the two, Fern arrogantly raised his chin. "I am a knight of the Duke of Williams' family, representing Young Master Gino to see your lord. Make way..."

After saying that, he prepared to continue walking, not believing that the two young men opposite him would dare to continue to block him.

Based on his past experience, ordinary commoners, upon hearing that he represented the Duke, would at least lower their guard, even if they weren't terrified. How could they possibly dare to obstruct him?

To his surprise, the two people in front of him did not immediately move aside, and their expressions did not change much. Instead, they calmly exchanged a glance and then reached out to block him again.

"What? You actually dare to defy the nobles?" Fern was furious and reached out to grab the hilt of his sword.

“Sir Knight, I advise you not to draw your sword.” An older man opposite him glanced at his hand gripping the hilt, gave a warning, and then smiled brightly. “You’re looking for Lord Lanny? The castle is over there. This is forbidden territory of the castle. You wouldn’t want our lord to see the Grand Duke make a fool of himself, would you?”

"You!" Upon hearing this, Fern felt a surge of anger, but he could no longer draw his knight's sword.

Yes, if I cause the Grand Duke to be laughed at by the people here for not knowing the rules, and if that gets back to Young Master Gino's ears, I'm afraid I won't have a good outcome.

"Humph!"

After much deliberation, he let out a cold snort, released his grip on the sword hilt, and turned to head towards the castle.

Little did he know that in a factory not far away, Wright lay on the ground with a look of utter despair, dramatically wailing, "I'm exhausted! I quit! I quit! I don't care what anyone does!"

Sancherov, standing nearby, gave the guy with the weird accent a disdainful look and kicked him. "Damn it, get up now! Are you trying to make sure we don't have lunch again?!"

The kick wasn't hard; after all, fighting among slaves was strictly forbidden, and after working in the castle for a while, his temper had calmed down considerably—if it were according to his temper when he was in the Blackrock tribe, Wright would probably have been beaten to a pulp long ago.

In fact, fighting among team members in private is also prohibited. Any conflicts or disagreements should be resolved on the challenge stage.

However, slaves are not eligible to go up to the challenge platform.

After being kicked, Wright twisted his body, not even thinking of retaliating, and just wanted to lie on the ground and catch his breath.

He had already gone to Lanny to protest that a nobleman shouldn't be treated like this, but Lanny simply dismissed him with a casual, "Where is your noble fiefdom?"

That despicable Lanny! If he had just revealed the location of his family, would he still be coerced like this?

Lanny was naturally unaware of his resentment; he was currently in his study receiving a special guest, a special guest he never expected.

"Tell me, whose butler are you?" Lanny picked at his ear, thinking he was hallucinating.

"I am Baron Leonard Thomas's butler. I have come to see Baron Wells on behalf of my master to bring you something!"

Standing in the study was a thin, elderly man, about the same age as Frank, with a similar expression—both standing ramrod straight and serious. Even their clothing style was the same: a sharp black tailcoat, clearly the air of a professional butler.

I wonder if this old man, like Frank, also served the Thomas family his entire life.

Seeing Lanny looking dazed and lost in thought again, the butler felt somewhat helpless and could only take out the bag of gold coins he was carrying and respectfully place it in front of Lanny.

"What's this?" Seeing the butler's actions, Lanny finally came to his senses and looked at him in surprise. "Excuse me, I don't quite understand, Baron, what do you mean by this?"

It's no wonder he found it strange; he'd never seen anything like it before. Someone he'd only met once inexplicably sent him a bag of gold coins, and judging from the size of the bag and the sound it made when it was bumped, it seemed to contain quite a few coins—at least forty, if not fifty.

Could it be that Leonard knows about the Dark Pattern Sword and wants to buy one?

Judging by the number of gold coins, it seems to be about the same as Ford's purchase price.

He thought he had found the answer, but the butler opposite him told him with facts that his reasoning ability was just so-so.

The steward calmly explained to Lanny, "Our master heard about your recruitment of knights in Elfen and greatly approves of your decision. Knowing that you are unable to avenge your father due to financial constraints, our master hopes to provide you with some support!"

At this point, the butler finally revealed a different expression, speaking slowly as if reminiscing, "Moreover, this can also be seen as a little concern from the master for the younger generation. After all, he and Master Auguste are very, very good friends!"

"what?"

Lanny was completely bewildered. When did August become friends with Leonard? How come he didn't know?

Even when Leonard came to the castle last time, Tim didn't mention this matter. Surely Tim couldn't have forgotten about it?

Seeing Lanny's puzzled expression, the butler smiled slightly. "Lord August and our master were friends since childhood, but later they both inherited their family titles and became nobles of the same rank, so it was inconvenient for them to have much contact. That's why you haven't heard much about them, but they have always kept in touch in private!"

Hmm, is that how it is?

Tim was someone August met while traveling the continent, so it's possible he didn't know about this. No wonder he never mentioned it.

Moreover, August and Leonard are indeed about the same age, and they belong to the same upper earldom, so it seems inconvenient for them to have much interaction.

Wait, something still seems off.

It's understandable that Tim didn't know about this, but it's rather strange that Frank didn't know either.

Thinking of this, he turned to look at Frank, who had come in with him.

Seeing Lenny's gaze, Frank knew exactly where his doubts lay, but he was also somewhat uncertain about the matter. He hesitated and said, "When he was young, Master did often go out alone. Perhaps that's when he met Master Leonard?"

Then, he seemed to remember something: "It seems that the master did vaguely mention that he had a friend in the surrounding territories, but he didn't mention it much, so I didn't inquire further."

Lenny nodded, feeling that this was probably the truth of the matter.

So, this gold coin really came from the care and concern of the uncles?

Thinking about this, Lanny was both amused and exasperated!

This August is really hard to understand. He's been dead for almost half a year, and suddenly a childhood friend appears. It's really unexpected.

No wonder, when Angus came to the castle before, he dismissed the other nobles with just a few words. I guess the one he was mainly wary of was this Leonard.

Although he felt he had figured out the truth, Lanny was now facing a headache—should he accept the money or not?

Answering the call seems a bit inappropriate, even though I feel like I've found the real reason, since the news hasn't been confirmed.

What if Leonard was sent by Angus to test him? If he accepts this bag of gold coins, who knows what kind of trouble might arise later?

If we don't accept the message, even if Angus didn't arrange it, he might become suspicious once the news gets out.

In the end, however, he decided to accept the money, not for any other reason than that he was genuinely poor.

Even if it really was Angus's arrangement, it's as if Angus had no other choice but to refuse this offered benefit.

Of course, he didn't take the money for nothing; he still had to take some precautions.

"Kantie, come in!" Lanny called out to the door, instructing her to fetch a brand-new dark-patterned sword from the workshop. Then, she said to the puzzled butler, "I accept Uncle Leonard's kindness, but please bring this knight's sword to him as a small token of my appreciation as a junior."

The old butler was somewhat surprised to see the dark-patterned sword that Candy handed him.

Wasn't it said that Lanny was so poor that he couldn't even afford a knight's monthly salary? How come he still has such an exquisite knight's sword?

The sword's scabbard was wrapped in black deerskin, and the hilt had been carefully treated and inlaid with an emerald. It was exquisitely crafted and beautifully designed, making it a rare and excellent knight's sword.

He was unaware that the castle had begun producing dark-patterned swords with all its might in the past few days. These swords were not uncommon; at least, they were not rare sights in the castle, but rather piled up in the workshops.

With the glass issue resolved, Lanny instructed the workshop to resume full-scale production in preparation for the upcoming order. Once this order from the Locke Merchant Guild is fulfilled, the castle's financial problems will be greatly alleviated.

Now that the matter was settled, the old steward didn't linger any longer. He put away the Dark Pattern Sword and took his leave.

After seeing Leonard's butler off, Lanny looked at the 50 gold coins on the table and was both amused and exasperated.

When I first transmigrated here, the castle was so poor that we were almost starving and no one offered to help us. Now that we're about to escape poverty, someone is actually delivering money to our door. It's really unexpected.

Just as he was lamenting the unpredictability of life, Frank, who had just left, pushed the door open and walked in again.

"Young Master, Sir Fern requests an audience!"

"Who?" Lanny thought for a moment, realizing he didn't know anyone named Fern. Who was this?

Seeing that Lanny didn't remember him, Frank explained, "Sir Fern, Prince Gino's squire, has visited the castle before!"

Hearing Frank's explanation, Lenny finally understood, but questions immediately arose in his mind.

The delivery date hasn't even arrived yet, what's he doing here?

"Did he say what he came for?" Lanny looked at Frank. Normally, the butler would ask about the purpose of such a visit, right? The other party wasn't a nobleman, just a knight. He couldn't just be let in for no reason.

To Lenny's surprise, Frank shook his head. "He didn't say!"

However, he then explained the reason: "I saw that he seemed very angry. When I asked him why he came, he wouldn't say. He just kept insisting on seeing you. I thought he was an acquaintance whose background I knew, so I didn't ask any more questions!"

Should we let him in?

After Frank finished speaking, he waited quietly for Lanny's decision, showing no sign of being in a hurry.

Lanny had absolutely no idea why the knight he had met once was coming. After thinking about it, the only possible reason was that Gino had ordered the Dark Pattern Sword!

But since the time hasn't come yet, he doesn't intend to give the other party the item in advance. This isn't just a contractual issue; it's Gino's behavior that makes him really uncomfortable.

Not only did he act arrogantly in the castle, but even after the deal was agreed upon, he still resorted to underhanded tactics to steal the manufacturing technology. If Melissa hadn't been in the study that day, Wright probably would have succeeded.

Don't say that this was all arranged by Randall. In Lanny's opinion, no matter how much Randall had ideas, what could he do if his master, Gino, didn't agree?

Even so, he still intended to meet this person, otherwise it would seem as if he was afraid and dared not even meet a mere attendant, which would make him appear too cowardly!

Having made up his mind, Lenny nodded to Frank and said, "Let him in!"