Chapter 43
Whoosh… It had taken a week for Davey to monitor the changes in the fist-sized stones that were shining in his hand..
-This…is astonishing.
“How concentrated is this power?”
It was the curse cast from the enormous magic stone that killed the land. However, it was nearly impossible to get rid of something that already existed. As such, the magic stone wasn’t causing the moisture to disappear from the ground, but it was actually concentrating the curse in one place so that it could not escape.
Since most of the natural power in the territory gathered deep underground, everything would be solved if it was brought up to the surface.
‘And where could I find a power like that?’ It wasn’t like the power that had been accumulating for tens of thousands of years was of no use.
Although there were still some cracks in the dry and sandy ground, it had become healthy enough for the people to plant simple crops in just a week. The ground had to be plowed, since it was still pretty tough, but that wasn’t a difficult task.
The magic stone Davey had was essentially a status board; it was a tool that connected him to the embedded magic stones in the ground of each region. It allowed him to use the connection to see the conditions of the ground or climate whenever he wanted with [Check Information]. Although it was still a little unstable, he could also change the weather conditions of the territory by remotely altering the mana arrangement of each stone.
Humans evolved and found new discoveries because of laziness; since it was too tiresome to go to the ancient ruin every time, Davey had to find a way to change it with a flick of his finger.
-The strength of the magic stone is astonishing, but so are you, the one creating this system.
“Well, magic stones have an incredibly wide range.” The bigger they were, the more power they held. Since Davey had one about the size of his fist, its power would still be rather significant.
“I guess I’ll have to use my expanded pocket for the time being.”
From the engraved magic circle and the power from the magic stone in it, the small pouch, which was about the size of Davey’s hand, had gained a space that was as large as a few acres.
-You are probably the only person who uses these valuable magic stones so recklessly. I couldn’t think of a better way to waste resources.
As Perserque mentioned, this was a huge waste of resources, but Davey couldn’t sell the magic stones right now anyways. He shrugged. “Think of it as an investment. We can sell it off when we find a reasonable excuse.”
It was actually a good thing, since this system required magic stones and couldn’t be replaced with mana stones. It wasn’t right to sell off things like land or stocks right away just because it made money. If Davey suddenly became successful, he would be at the center of attention and jealousy, and that wasn’t what he wanted right now.
“Your Highness, I have the results from the temperature measurement…”
As Davey shoved the magic stone into his expanded pouch and stood up, Amy immediately opened the door and peeked in.
“So, what’s the number?”
Amy cautiously looked down at the documents she was holding. Normally, Davey should be the one checking over the results, but he was planning to put Amy in charge of the administration of this estate instead of being his personal lady-in-waiting. How could a company, this healthy and innovative, let a bright mind like hers just go to waste?
“According to the report from the militia members, the average temperature is about 13 degrees…”
Amy could hardly believe it even as she was reading the report, since a part of the territory, which had temperatures below zero not too long ago, had begun to warm up as if it were a completely different place.
“It’s just right.” Davey smiled widely. If they couldn’t farm because the ground was still frozen from the remaining cold weather, all he had to do was change the temperature.
‘See? It’s that easy.’
“Okay, how many volunteers?”
“A few residents and all of the militia members, excluding the minimum needed for protection. In total, about sixty people have gathered.”
‘They’re all maniacs blinded by faith.’ Even as Davey was secretly clicking his tongue, he began moving immediately. Right now, he could alter the temperature, water, and even ground conditions however he wanted. There was no way he was going to farm normal crops and let such a sweet system go to waste.
Whatever the business was, there were only two ways to get rich quickly.
“Tell them to come here with the prepared equipment. We’re going to start right away.”
Scarcity, and an overwhelming abundance of supply.
-You are thinking of doing both.
It was exactly as Perserque said.
* * *
Rain started to fall onto the dry land, and in just a few days, the fiercely cold wind disappeared, and warm air began circulating the fields. It didn’t just feel like the temperature of spring, but it really was that warm.
The sudden change in the territory could’ve made the residents doubtful, but everyone, except for Monmider, seemed to believe the absurd rumor that Davey must’ve pleased the heavens.
“There’s a lot of you,” Davey said. Some of the residents giggled.
“Sir, how could we just sit back and watch when it’s your plan?!”
“If we didn’t give back in return of your amazing grace, that would be rude of us!”
Davey awkwardly smiled at the elders. ‘It’s going to be some hard labor… I don’t know if they’ll be okay.’
As he looked around silently, Davey saw a familiar face. ‘It was Lynnie, right?’ She was the little girl who had been taken by the goblins. ‘She still came along, even though I told her to rest and get treated.’
All the militia members were in work overalls and had large hoes in their hands instead of their usual armor and weapons.
“Well, since our territory has the healthiest work environment, there won’t be anything like unpaid labor.”
The ones who didn’t understand Davey just stared around, while the others laughed.
“Don’t laugh. You’re going to make me get attached to you guys.”
‘Maybe I should’ve said nothing.’
After staring up at the sky, Davey glanced at the vast, barren land. Its appearance before had made him doubt whether plants could even grow from this ground, but it looked a lot better now. ‘It recovered this much in just a week? I guess the power of the magic stone and the level of the curse of the ancient civilization are quite great.’
“What I’m planning to do is simple. Yesterday, the knights created a border around the nearby land. We are going to cultivate all of it.”
Thinking that was ridiculous, Monmider stood beside Davey with his eyes wide open as he heard Davey’s plan.
“It’s okay to give up if you can’t do it. I calculate precisely.”
There was a way it could be done even if no residents showed up, but Davey had no choice but to use them since they all showed up.
“I will give you four days.” As Davey stated the deadline, Monmider was even more shocked.
“I will guarantee your time to get off work, but it all depends on how well you do.”
At Davey’s speech, Monmider quickly bolted in front of him. “S… Sir!”
“Hm?”
“With all due respect, even if the frozen ground has melted from the sudden change in temperature, to cultivate this vast land in four days is…”
“This place used to be farmland before, right? Don’t you have some basic guidelines?”
“That is…” What Monmider was trying to say was simple: it required too much labor.
“Haha! I swear on my balls that the seigneur will show us a miracle again.”
“Ew, you can’t even use that dirty thing.”
However, unlike Monmider’s concerns, the militia members were just contently joking around.
“Se… Seigneur, please reconsider… It’s not that I have forgotten the fact that we were able to rescue our residents with your grace…but it’s too much.”
“You think it’s too much? You really think that?”
Monmider looked stunned as Davey asked him again. Since he knew that Davey wasn’t asking because he truly didn’t know, so it was even harder for him to understand.
Ignoring Monmider, who was standing there in stunned silence, Davey called upon a few of the residents. “Group leaders, make sure to look over everyone.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then, let’s get started.” Davey closed his eyes, and a light slowly began surrounding him.
“Wow… Our seigneur…”
“Our savior…”
“Sniffle, I am yours!”
Davey thought he heard something that made him a little uncomfortable…
‘This guy is sleeping again.’
Davey awoke his holy power, who was whining and trying to stay asleep, with a beating. Then, he raised his hand toward the sixty residents and cast two simple spells on them: muscle enhancement and stamina enhancement. However, as the task required intense labor, he didn’t stop there.
[Strength]
[Strength]
[Strength]
…
If one needed more power, it could be improved by casting multiple muscle enhancement spells, and if one needed more stamina, all they needed were multiple stamina enhancement spells. However, it was unbelievably difficult to stack multiple spells, even if they were simple. If the difficulty level of the casting of the spell once was one, the difficulty of the second time would be two, three times would be four, and four times would be eight, meaning that the difficulty level increased exponentially. As such, it was nearly impossible to stack a spell more than three times, but Davey had experience and knowledge. Since his storage of holy power was quite large now, it was doable.
‘All I have left is experience… You won’t be able to get buffs like this anywhere else, you know.’
If Davey could, he wanted to cast a domain reinforcement spell like before, but if he did that on this large land, he might collapse from exhausting all his holy power.
‘Hm… It would’ve been nice if Caldeiras was here.’
-You think of a divine sword as a holy power storage…
Davey simply ignored Perserque’s displeased and fed-up mumbling.
“Woah!!”
“I feel the strength!”
Monmider looked shocked as the residents roared, as if they had become supercharged batteries.
“What are you doing? Let’s get started. Your wage gets cut if you get caught slacking off,” Davey said indifferently.
* * *
Monmider’s jaw dropped at what was going on in front of his eyes.
Crack!! Crack!! Crack!!
“Haaa!! I feel the power!!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“I should’ve plowed the soil like this when I was young!”
Monmider kept rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
If stacked about ten times, a light muscle enhancement spell could give an old man the strength to swing a heavy man like a twig. As for a light stamina enhancement spell, it could give a weak kid, who would start wheezing after running for a little while, the stamina to sprint a 42-kilometer marathon.
‘It’s too OP? Try it, then.’
“So, what do you think?” Davey asked Monmider.
Startled, Monmider glanced at Davey with a blank expression.
“I told you, our territory operates under a healthy work environment. Did you think I would really give them such an absurdly difficult job? The welfare of one’s employees is the honor of the company.”
Although Davey compared the estate to a company, it wasn’t really one.
“Ho… How is this…”
Monmider should’ve heard that Davey was the prince, who had received a stigmata. He should’ve also heard that Davey had strengthened the residents with a fascinating power and killed the goblins. However, there was a difference between hearing about it and actually seeing it. He probably thought that it was exaggerated, but it truthfully wasn’t. One of the elderly volunteers was even running around and plowing the land, as if he had become a master of the hoe.
Smiling, Davey slapped the stunned Monmider on the back. “See? Don’t you think they’ll be done in four days?”
“What in the world…” Monmider couldn’t lift his jaw up from the ground as the reality in front of him sank in.