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Chapter 23 – Being Frank
After having breakfast, Maylin let Meg bring the slaves to tidy up the caves, and chop the trees if possible in order to check that if building a small boat was possible. That way they could take a good look at the underground lake. Maylin prepared herself to look at places around the castle and see if she could find a place suitable for soil improvement.
In Maylin’s view, improving the black soil was a priority one matter. If the soil was improved, these people could have a foundation for their safety, and then they could have the hope of living on.
Although she didn’t know what Zhao Hai’s farming space was all about, when she saw how Zhao Hai could improve the soil and could take out 80000 kilos of radishes at once, it proved that Zhao Hai’s ability was related to agriculture.
Maylin didn’t know about the amazingness of the space, but she was a smart person with a big enough age. Her life experience was rich, so she could guess about 80 or 90% correct.
But she didn’t ask when Zhao Hai didn’t speak. She knew the one in charge right now was Adam, and he had more ideas compared to before. It would be in bad form if she pursued him for answers.
Zhao Hai followed Maylin when she said she wanted to look around the terrain. In the recent days after arriving in this world, he never went anywhere else besides being in the castle, walking on the mountain and getting occupied with the space. He could use today’s chance to explore the environs. After all, this was his fief.
When Zhao Hai followed, Blockhead and Rockhead followed as well, but Zhao Hai didn’t let them. He just brought Blockhead along while he let Rockhead stay and help Meg take care of the slaves. Zhao Hai couldn’t feel at ease letting Meg take care of 100 slaves alone.
After Zhao Hai and the 2 walked out of the castle, Blockhead walked alone on top of the mountain to take a close look at the terrain. Zhao Hai and Maylin walked along the base of the mountain instead. Maylin was high in age and was also a mage, so her physique was not very good, of course. Zhao Hai was the same, so the two of them didn’t walk up the mountain. If they did, they would’ve been exhausted in just a short while.
This was also the first time Maylin and Zhao Hai left the castle for such a long distance. They took in the surroundings as they walked. If they had to remark about it, the Black Wastelands was very unique. On the top of the half-circle mountain, there were only short trees and dried grasses. The mountain itself surrounded a gigantic plain with no end in sight. There was nothing to see, as far as the eyes could tell.
The terrain of the mountain itself was a bit complicated, but since it wasn’t very high and there weren’t a lot of trees, the terrain on top of it could also be clearly seen from below. There was no need to be worried about that.
The two of them walked along the mountain edges for more than 3 hours. Other than feeling the land to be more and more desolate, there were no discoveries. Black soil was still black soil, and desolate mountain was still desolate mountain.
Zhao Hai looked at the surroundings and turned to Maylin, “Granny Maylin, let’s rest for a while. Our fief is too large. It’s not something that can be seen entirely in just a day or two. Let’s wait for grandpa Greene if we really can’t do it. We came here on horses. Being on foot like this is too tiring.”
Maylin was also tired to the point of panting. She was a mage, not a fighter. Her physique wasn’t strong at all. It would be fine doing some chores. Letting her cross distances like this was seriously not something she could take.
The two of them found 2 large rocks randomly and sat down. When Blockhead saw them sitting down, he immediately ran down from the mountain to Zhao Hai’s side, “Young master, you rest here. I’ll go look around.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Alright, you go ahead. Be extra careful now.” Blockhead heeded with a sound before going back up the mountain. From the look of him, he didn’t seem to be tired for even a bit.
Maylin looked at the endless black land and sighed melancholically, “When we first heard that the empire assigned us to here, we really despaired. Everyone knew that nothing grows on the Black Wastelands, and it’s so close to Rotten Corpse Swamp. Other than waiting for death, there’s really nothing we can do when we got here.” She stopped when she spoke to this point. She lowered her head and her eyes looked in reminiscence, “Greene used all the money in the household to buy all sorts of supplies as soon as he heard the news. He wanted us to last for a few more years. The long running nobles will no longer notice us after those few years and we can think of another way to earn money. We can’t let Buda family end in our hands, no matter what.”
After speaking to this point, Maylin didn’t make a sound for a while, as if she was recalling the desperate time back then. Zhao Hai also didn’t make a sound. He could understand the feelings of Maylin and others. Buda family was where they grew up, yet they could only watch as the whole family made its way to this land of death, only to wait for the inevitable. That feeling must’ve been so desperate.
Maylin took a deep breath after a while and turned to Zhao Hai, “Good thing that you’re awake, young master. You even have such an amazing ability that can improve soils. This made us saw hope. Young master, the rise of Buda family depends on you now.”
Greene had also spoken similar things to Zhao Hai. He understood that this was Maylin and Greene’s anticipation towards him, but the more it was like this, the more he felt that this was difficult to achieve. If powerful people like Greene and Maylin couldn’t achieve that goal, then it would only take one word to describe how he himself could do it: hard.
Making Buda family prosper again required facing the oppression of all of Axu Empire’s long running nobles. Royal families were included as well.
But right now, he couldn’t say these. He could only nod his head hard and say, “Relax, granny Maylin. I will work hard.”
Maylin nodded and smiled as she looked at Zhao Hai, “The heavens haven’t doomed Buda family. You were given such an amazing ability. This means that the heavens intend to let our family prosper again.”
Zhao Hai smiled, “Let me take you to a place, granny Maylin.” He immediately moved his thoughts after speaking, and the two of them appeared inside the spatial farm.
Maylin and Greene were people that Zhao Hai could trust completely. The reason why he didn’t bring them here in this farm, other than confidentiality, was because there were so many things he couldn’t explain. Zhao Hai was also afraid that they would discover that he took over Adam’s body. If they did, they might kill him at the first given opportunity.
But he wasn’t afraid now. He knew that Maylin and Greene didn’t doubt him in the slightest, and they had treated him as Buda family’s hope. He was now Buda family’s only heir. Even if they discovered that Zhao Hai took over, they wouldn’t necessarily make a move against him, because if they killed him, then it would mean letting Buda family perish once and for all. If a noble family didn’t have an heir, then the title of nobility would be taken back by the empire.
Maylin was stunned as soon as she entered the space. She looked at the sprouting radishes and the soon to mature corns. Her brain was seriously unable to process all this.
Zhao Hai then said, “Granny Maylin, this is my special ability: a land that can plant grains as well as vegetables. The growth times of crops are much shorter compared to outside, which is why I could bring out 80000 kilos of magic radishes in such a short time.”
Maylin saw the soil and turned to Zhao Hai, “Where did you put all those magic radishes, young master? How am I not seeing them?”
Zhao Hai pointed at the storage and replied, “All of them are in there. That room is just like a spatial equipment which can store a lot of things. It not only has magic radishes stored inside, but also the supplies that were in the castle, which are all tucked inside. When I want to use them, I can take them out anytime.”
Maylin nodded her head with brightened eyes. To be honest, just the storage’s ability was enough to surprise her.
Zhao Hai added, “The soil of this space can be used to improve the black soil outside, and so can the water. What I used to improve the black soil was a mixture of this space’s soil and water.” Then he walked to the corns and said, “This is a new type of plant I’m planting. I call it ‘corn’. If these corns are matured, the seeds they produce can let us plant up to 1000 acres of land with some more to spare. But I don’t know if the corns planted in this space can be used as seeds, so I need to test them. Corn stalks can used to make fire, so for the current situation, this is the type of plant most suitable for us.”
Maylin looked at the corns with bright eyes. She knew what Zhao Hai was saying of course. If these corns matured and could be planted, then they would be able to solve their food and firewood problems in one go.
Zhao Hai then tilted his head to Maylin and said, “If we can find a suitable place, then we’ll modify 1000 acres of land first, and then plant corns. If they mature then we won’t need to worry about food and firewood. By then, we’ll have food, and we can sell the magic radishes so that we have money. Our Buda family can become stronger, little by little.”
Maylin nodded furiously and turned to Zhao Hai, “You mustn’t say this to anyone else, young master. How many people know about this right now?”
Zhao Hai shook his head and replied, “Only you, Blockhead and Rockhead have been here. Grandpa Greene and Meg haven’t been here yet.”
Maylin nodded, “You can trust the few of us completely, young master, but the others cannot do. Don’t mention this to other people from now on. If other people know about this, you’ll be in danger.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Don’t worry, granny Maylin. I won’t tell this to anyone. Let’s go out. If Blockhead doesn’t find us when he comes back, he’ll be worried.” With his thought, the two of them appeared at the base of the mountain.
<3
Thank you kindly for the big update!
Thanks for the chapter
I don’t think the author knows much about acreage or farming at all, He has ~104 people he needs to support + the upcoming rabbits + fish which he plans to support from the radish leaves of his ‘personal farm’ anyway it’s mostly believed you can support up to four people on a vegetarian diet per acre of land (1-2 per acre if they’re carnivorous) with optimal farmland.
at most he would only need 100 acres of farmland to support his population but he wants to prepare THOUSANDS of acres EVERY DAY it’s to the point I feel like the author doesn’t realize how much land that actually is there is no way that only 100 people can properly manage 10,000 acres of land. he doesn’t even have proper irrigation and if he tries to create his own, all he needs is one rain to contaminate his cleaned fields.
In case you forgot, he asked Greene to buy as many slaves he can get without being noticed by the empire.