Farming in the Magical World

Hearing that Lanny didn't seem to blame him, Nechka sat up again and began to ramble on about their recent situation.

While everyone's attention was focused on the two prisoners, no one knew that Melissa, standing in the corner, trembled slightly the moment she heard the name "Albert Joe".

When she heard that Albert preferred mature women, specifically women in their mid-twenties, she gripped the hem of her dress tightly, appearing somewhat nervous.

Tim suddenly spoke up, interrupting Nechka and asking about his doubts.

"Was your first battle after descending the mountain commanded by this man named Albert? How did he know we would go to Dragonfall Ridge and lay an ambush around the canyon so early on?"

Upon hearing the question, Nechka shrank back and replied in a strained voice, "It was indeed this guy who commanded them. He sent a team of men to the outskirts of Dragonfall Ridge early on and discovered the approaching noble army."

After hearing Nechka's words, Tim fell into deep thought.

Looking at Tim's expressionless face, Nechka wondered if the noble army he had scattered back then was from this castle. But it didn't seem likely; those people weren't as capable as the group he was facing today.

"How many people are in your tribe? Compared to the surrounding tribes, is your population large or small? What is the name of the largest tribe? What do you usually eat? What crops do you grow?... ..." At this point, noticing that Tim was in a daze, Lanny continued to ask questions.

When Lanny asked the question, Nechka was dumbfounded. He didn't know why this nobleman cared about these things. Did he want to attack the Grumman Mountains?

Not only him, but even Tim, who was standing next to him in a daze, looked over strangely.

"Just tell me what you know, you don't need to know the reasons!" Lanny didn't actually have any specific plans, he just felt that since his territory was so close to the Grumman Mountains, it was necessary to learn more about it.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you right away..." Although he didn't know what Lanny was up to, since this nobleman was interested, he naturally racked his brains to recall everything he knew and told him everything he knew.

As Nechka narrated his halting tale, Lanny gradually gained a general understanding of the region, and fragmented scenes of Grumman life began to appear in his mind.

The Grumman Mountains truly live up to their name as a mountainous region; mountains are everywhere you look, making it a typical high-altitude landscape. Although the Kingdom of Andrew collectively calls the people living there Grummans, they are not actually unified but rather live together in tribal communities.

The Blackrock tribe is not the largest among them, with a population of just over two hundred. Some larger tribes even have over a thousand people.

Because of the mountainous climate, a wide variety of things are grown there, including green fodder commonly found in Castel Ridge, as well as locally unique grain rice, and even wheat that cannot grow in Andrew's North.

Of course, since they live in the mountains, hunting is their main source of food. The crops are planted haphazardly, so the harvest is not ideal and they are mainly used as a supplement to meat.

“We usually plant some rice in the field. When it’s harvest time, we break off the rice cobs, grind them into powder at home, and make porridge, but the taste isn’t very good!”

Hearing this, Lanny became interested in the grains of rice. After asking a few more questions, he became even more interested. However, he was once again certain that this world was not the world he was familiar with, because the grains of rice sounded like corn from another world.

But if he remembers correctly, corn couldn't possibly have originated in the West.

"Sir, I'm glad to inform you that although these grains of rice are called rice and grow quickly, they really don't taste good. Don't blame me for not making this clear later."

Lanny waved his hand to indicate that he wouldn't blame the other party, and then asked another question: "Have you seen or heard of any strange people in the tribe? I mean, people with strange abilities, such as those who can burn flames on their hands or conjure ice, etc."

When Tim heard this question, he glanced at Lanny discreetly, knowing that Lanny was asking about clues to the magician, and thought to himself, "This kid hasn't given up after all this time."

He knew that Lanny hadn't mastered magic for so long, and he had thought Lanny had given up. He never expected Lanny to ask this question now.

"A magical person? No, you mean a wizard, right?"

Nechka thought Lanny was asking about the shamans, but according to him, these shamans didn't have any strange abilities; they were more skilled at healing and divination. When the tribe went to war, they would ask these shamans to predict good or bad fortune.

However, the Blackrock tribe was not large enough to support a shaman, and seemingly worried that Lanny would be dissatisfied, they quickly added, "The Cliff tribe next to us has a shaman! I've heard people say they have shamans!"

Lanny was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't found any clues about the magician. He looked at Tim and, finding that the other man was also alright, had the two prisoners taken away and kept under guard. As for what to do next, he hadn't decided yet!

The castle maids who had been standing around realized there was no more excitement to be had, and they left the hall in twos and threes.

After most of the people had left, Tim whispered, "Still haven't given up? There are so few mages to begin with, they're not that easy to find!"

Lenny chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I should at least ask, just in case? Besides, I'm not expecting to find someone right now. Even if I do, I might not be able to keep them. I'm broke right now."

Tim surprisingly agreed, nodding and saying, "Yes, practicing magic is very expensive, but don't we have an order from the Locke Merchant Guild now?"

Lanny pursed his lips but didn't say anything.

The Locke Chamber of Commerce's orders seemed very profitable, but he wasn't really confident that he could make such a large profit with such a simple forging technique.

Leaving aside the technological barriers, he doesn't even have the scale to create a competitive advantage. If he can make it, others can too. The technology of bellows and modified furnaces is not complicated, and he doesn't think he can keep it a secret for long.

He still hoped to find something with an even higher technological barrier, such as glass? Or papermaking? Or soap?

Commodities are the way to go in the long run, and they are not easy to imitate.

Speaking of which, I haven't been keeping an eye on Granny Mei's progress for a few days. I should go check on it sometime; she has high hopes for it.

At this moment, a person walked in from outside the door. It was Black Tiger, the captain of the first team, who came in to report on the post-battle inventory.

"Report, Lord Lanny, Lord Tim, after investigation, the security guards suffered a total of three casualties and thirteen wounded in this battle!"

According to the summary, three guards sacrificed their lives in this battle. One was the shield bearer who was slashed down when the Black Stone Tribe leader rushed into the square. Another was slashed in the stomach while beating the leader. The third was unlucky; he was accidentally shot in the neck by an arrow and died on the spot.

As for those who were injured, there were many more. Even Black Tiger, who came in to report, was injured and was walking with a limp.

Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured. Lanny had the wounded put together and then ordered his men to clean their wounds with the green wine stored in the castle and wrap them with strips of cloth that had been boiled in water.

As for medicine, there really wasn't any. There were no doctors in the castle. Elfin did have some, but they only knew how to treat by bloodletting, and Lanny wouldn't dare send anyone to find such quacks.

The statistics on the other party's losses surprised even Tim.

After taking stock, it was discovered that as many as 21 enemies had been killed in the trenches. Adding the tribal chief who was beaten to death in the square, as well as the two prisoners captured, there were a total of 23 people, which was almost a third of the enemy.

"Are you sure it's twenty-one kills? You didn't miscount?" Tim even stood up in disbelief.

“Yes, sir, I have checked repeatedly,” Black Tiger nodded firmly, his heart filled with pride.

In addition, they found some supplies on a nearby mountain path, likely left behind by the fleeing Grummans: various iron tools, food, and even a large quantity of silver and copper coins. There were no gold coins, however.

Lanny could understand the lack of gold coins. These people rarely attacked nobles; most of the time they attacked villages. As for why they would attack his castle on the way back, Nechka had said it was Albert's idea, and the reason was unclear to him.

Overall, the castle won a great victory in this battle and even made a small fortune.

After Black Tiger left, Lanny looked at Tim, who was pacing back and forth excitedly, with some confusion. "Uncle Tim, why are you so excited? Twenty or so kills, is it really necessary to be like this?"

Tim rolled his eyes, knowing he didn't understand, and sat down again before explaining in detail.

Simply put, the Grummans and the Kingdom of Andrew are not the same, and cannot be calculated using the standards of the kingdom.

In cases of internal conflicts between nobles within a kingdom, or wars between kingdoms, only knightly casualties are typically counted; auxiliary troops are simply marked with numbers, and the nobles do not consider them as a reference at all.

Because auxiliary armies are so easily defeated, cutting down many from behind is of no use.

But this is not the case when facing the Grummans.

First of all, they were tribal, with almost everyone serving as a soldier. They were tall, skilled in archery, and fearless, making almost everyone a half-knight.

The reason it was half instead of one was mainly because the knight had armor, and knightly swordsmanship had developed over many years, so the Grummans wouldn't have much of an advantage in a one-on-one fight.

"To put it this way, Earl Enno's most glorious achievement in recent years was annihilating a group of more than twenty Grumman bandits in one battle. And do you know how many people he mobilized?" Tim said, slowly holding up three fingers. "Three barons and their knights, plus their vassal troops, a total of more than three hundred people."

“And how many of us are there? Thirty-three, Lanny. Do you know what that means?” Tim looked at Lanny with gleaming eyes and an excited expression. “It proves that our training of these guards is effective. As long as we expand our force to three hundred men, I believe that in the entire North, there is no baron, or even a duke, who can be your match.”