Farming in the Magical World

Since we want to see if we can improve the lives of our people, some plans will naturally need to be adjusted.

Originally, his plan for his workshops was simply to produce some goods and sell them for gold coins, partly to improve his own economy and partly to prepare some money for magic research. He did not intend to expand the workshops much.

Previously, I thought that with only a few thousand people under my jurisdiction, it was really impossible to develop large-scale industries. Not to mention whether other related industries such as smelting and forging could keep up, there were simply not enough people.

With only a few thousand people, what kind of industry can we develop?

Developing illegal workshops would be more like it; that was his original plan.

But now, after seeing and hearing what he had learned on this trip, he decided to change his mind.

The forging workshop requires supporting smelting, which he lacks the knowledge to develop, so he can maintain the status quo. However, he plans to expand the scale of papermaking and glass manufacturing as much as possible.

As long as a good relationship is maintained with the Locke Chamber of Commerce, there will be no shortage of buyers for paper and glass. At the very least, it will be no problem to support Caster and his few thousand employees.

Of course, in addition to the Locke Chamber of Commerce, we should also have appropriate contact with other chambers of commerce; we can't put all our eggs in one basket.

He had no idea what other chambers of commerce there were, so he could only take it one step at a time.

However, he did plan to open a few castle specialty stores in River Mouth Village after returning, specializing in selling a few products from the castle. As for the store manager, Iron Hammer's wife, Karina, would be a good choice; she's clever and should be quite loyal.

It's not about how much merchandise can be sold, but simply about attracting customers. As long as those small merchants wandering in the countryside notice it, why worry about not having merchants coming to their door?

As the carriage swayed and rocked, Lanny, lost in thought, watched the scenery rushing past outside the window. Finally, at dusk, the group arrived at the gates of Elfen...

The group carried a banner bearing the Welsh family crest, and all the riders were dressed as knights. A noble carriage surrounded them. The guards at the gate were so timid that they dared not come forward and showed no intention of collecting the entrance fee.

Since the guards weren't coming up, Tim naturally didn't bother with them. He led his guards into the city with their heads held high. As they passed the guards, Joseph secretly spat at one of them and called him a "watchdog!"

He had been extorted by these guys many times when he entered and exited the city gates, and he had a lot of complaints about these guards!

Lanny ignored the driver's behavior and instead rolled up the window to observe Elfen, the largest city in the area.

Overall, Elfen is a small town built on the river. Perhaps because it is located on the border, it is surrounded by a wall, but it is not very tall. The entire wall is made of randomly piled stones, which serves a certain purpose of blocking the way, but it is hard to say how effective it is.

As darkness fell, there weren't many pedestrians on the road. There were quite a few shops on both sides of the gravel road, but not many were still open. Occasionally, noisy shouts and commotion would come from some of the lit taverns, which gave it a bit of a city feel.

Seeing this large group of people approaching, the pedestrians hurriedly moved aside in fear, some even kneeling on the sides of the road, seemingly very worried that the nobleman would punish them for the serious crime of disrespecting a nobleman.

Although the team members, who were entering the city for the first time, dared not whisper to each other due to discipline issues, their eyes darted around, taking in everything in the city. They would only stand up straight and act imposing when a civilian knelt down next to them.

"Are we going to the Earl's Castle to stay?" Seeing that Lanny was looking around without saying a word, Tim, who was standing at the crossroads, reluctantly came over.

As the Earl's son-in-law, Lanny could and should go to the Earl's castle. Although it's impossible to provide rooms for all team members, Lanny should have no shortage of rooms.

However, Lenny didn't plan to go. Both sides understood each other's intentions, and they were just short of publicly breaking off relations. Why would he go and offer himself up for a beating?

"Find a hotel," Lanny thought for a moment, then gave the order.

In the end, Tim still led the group to the White Inn, and Mann's voice carried from afar, "Ah, Master Tim, you've arrived, please come in, please come in..."

Tim dismounted, glared at Mann, and then pointed at Lenny, who was getting off the carriage. "This is my master. Don't call him that."

He then pointed to the team members behind him and waved his hand, "Four to a room, and the master to a room alone. Arrange it for me!"

Upon hearing that the young man getting out of the car was actually Tim's master, Mann was startled and quickly bowed to Lanny, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency!"

Seeing that Lanny nodded without speaking, Mann turned to Tim with some difficulty, "Lord Tim, I'm afraid the rooms... are not enough!"

"Hmm?" If I remember correctly, the White Inn has more than ten rooms. I only need four, so why aren't there any?

Mann seemed somewhat aggrieved. "You don't know, for some reason, Mr. Leonard Thomas also came to town at noon today, and this room..."

Mann was unaware that the Earl was holding a meeting, and naturally, he was also unaware of why two nobles had suddenly arrived at his shop at the same time.

"Oh, Baron Thomas is here too?" Hearing the familiar name, Lanny turned his head. "Which room is he in?"

As a junior, it was only right and proper for him to pay his respects to his father's old friend. Moreover, he was about to face off against a high-ranking noble like the Earl, so having an ally would be a great asset.

Fortunately, Leonard didn't have the habit of going out drinking at night. After asking around, he learned that Leonard was on the second floor of the hotel. When Lanny quickly walked up to the second floor and knocked on the door, a steady voice immediately came from inside, "Come in!"

At that moment, Leonard was maintaining his weapons and assumed that the person who came in was a hotel waiter bringing him a late-night snack. Without looking up, he ordered, "Put it on the table. No need to bring any more. I'm going to rest!"

"Uncle Leonard, Lanny sends his greetings!" Although he used to be a loser, Lanny wasn't completely clueless about social etiquette. Since Leonard had given him gold coins, he naturally felt obliged to call him "uncle."

Leonard looked different from when they last met. Dressed in a nobleman's formal attire, with a robust physique and strong facial features, he resembled a handsome middle-aged man, completely different from the valiant warrior they had met before.

Hearing the voice, he looked up in surprise and saw that it was Lanny who had entered. A look of unexpected joy appeared on his face. He put down his longsword and waved, "You're here so quickly! Come and sit down..."

He was actually quite surprised. Caster Ridge was much farther than his Annecy Ridge, and he thought Lanny would arrive tomorrow morning, but he didn't expect him to arrive so early.

"Thank you, Uncle!" Lanny gave a respectful bow, then sat down at the table and casually started chatting, "How have you been lately? Is Auntie alright?... ..."

After receiving Leonard's gold coins, he inquired about him and learned that Leonard had a wife but no children, and his family was not large. No wonder he could become friends with August, as their situations were surprisingly similar.

"She's alright, she's alright..." Leonard waved his hand casually, looked her up and down, and nodded with satisfaction. "Hmm, she's matured a lot!"

“Uncle wasn’t this enthusiastic last time I saw him. Looks like those 50 gold coins were quite useful, haha…” To Lanny’s surprise, Leonard, who had been looking serious, started joking around with a grin.

"Hehe..." Lanny was a little embarrassed when he heard this. "Uncle, the Dark Pattern Sword I gave you wasn't cheap. I didn't get any advantage at all!"

After saying that, he turned to look at the weapons on the table. "Why didn't you bring them...? Because of a meeting?"

Although Lenny's words seemed a bit strange, Leonard's eyes flashed, and he looked Lenny up and down a few more times.

After a long pause, he casually waved his hand and said, "This sword is really nice, but I find the gemstone too dazzling, so I replaced the gaudy scabbard!"

Having said that, he glanced at the dark-patterned sword that Lanny always carried, and looked at him with a half-smile, "And what are you doing this time? Why don't you bring that beautiful gemstone scabbard, but this drab gray thing?"

After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled slightly at the same time.

With such a knowing smile, the atmosphere between the two became much more harmonious, and the previous slight awkwardness disappeared.

"By the way, did any knights come later?" Leonard looked at Lanny with a smile, but he had already anticipated the answer.

Sure enough, Lanny quickly shook his head. "No, not a single one so far!"

Hearing this, Leonard nodded, not particularly surprised. "Didn't I give you some gold coins? Why not raise the price?"

"The conditions you set, tsk..."

Considering the conditions Lanny had set for hiring, even Leonard, who didn't live on a monthly salary, found it hard to accept, so it was understandable that he couldn't find anyone.

Lenny didn't answer the question, but just chuckled.

What can he say? That he did it on purpose? That's just crazy!

The other party is August's good friend. If he knew that he had joked about this, the goodwill he had worked so hard to build would probably vanish without a trace.

Seeing that Lenny was unwilling to answer, Leonard assumed he had some unspeakable reason and didn't press the matter. Although he had given him the gold coins, it wouldn't be appropriate to keep asking about their uses.

"So you're planning to rely on those civilians to defend the territory?" Leonard looked at Lanny with concern. "Do you really want to use them as the main fighting force?"

"I'm not trying to discourage you, but these people are only fit to be auxiliary troops. You can't use them as the main fighting force!"

"Who says it can't be done..." Lanny said confidently. "I want to give it a try!"