All He Knew Was That He Had to Kill

During the days Lord Lynn went north to inspect the forest, Old Albert had practically been living in White Bear Town.

He personally supervised the blacksmith and carpenter as they made the heavy plows.

Every time one was finished, he inspected its quality himself before sending someone to deliver it to the various farms.

Old Albert understood the temperament of serfs very well.

For something as novel and expensive as a heavy plow, you had to demonstrate it on the spot more than a dozen times before winning the approval of even some serfs.

And among the serfs who approved of the heavy plow, only a small number of wealthier ones would be willing to pay for it.

If it proved useful after they bought it, they would naturally promote it to other serfs and encourage them to buy heavy plows as well.

Only at that point could heavy plows truly be considered widespread throughout White Bear Territory.

The most crucial factor was the quality of the heavy plows.

If an accident happened during a demonstration, then what the hell was there left to promote?

That was why Old Albert had to personally oversee production in White Bear Town.

He also knew the nature of Qi He the blacksmith and Torima the carpenter.

Without supervision, those bastards in their monopolized trades would definitely cut corners.

In the past, cutting a few corners would not have mattered much. At worst, the serfs would have had to spend a little more on repairs every year.

But the heavy plows were a task personally assigned by the new lord. Old Albert wanted to show off his abilities before the lord, so he did not dare be careless.

Besides, Old Albert also had a share of the money earned from selling heavy plows.

His son, Little Albert, had married Qi He's daughter.

When Qi He opened a branch shop back then, Old Albert had invested money and taken a stake in it.

As for the price of a heavy plow, it was currently set at eight silver coins. That could buy roughly three hundred kilograms of rye or eight sheep in White Bear Territory, a price the serfs could afford.

Although Old Albert was usually stationed in White Bear Town, the compost work throughout the territory had not been delayed.

Under his command, the stewards and farm managers of White Bear Territory mobilized in full force, urging the serfs to collect manure for compost.

Even children under ten had been mobilized to pick up dung from the farm roads and pastures.

March before Spring Planting should have been a rare rest period for the serfs, but they had been forced into new labor instead. One could only imagine how viciously they cursed.

It could only be said that Old Albert had truly lived up to the saying: "Let the serfs suffer, and let me bear the infamy."

When Yagna stepped out of the castle, this was the lively scene she saw.

In the strip fields, farm managers drove heavy plows that sent waves of earth flying, drawing cries of amazement from the watching serfs.

On the roads, children carrying wicker baskets could be seen everywhere. Their baskets were piled high with manure, and the stench filled the air.

Yagna was not completely ignorant of farming.

Influenced by the Marsh Duchess, she had read several books on agriculture at court and had also personally learned about agricultural production in Shallow Beach Territory and White Bear Territory.

When she saw that a two-wheeled plow could easily turn furrows more than ten centimeters deep and required only one person to operate it, Yagna immediately realized its value.

After making some inquiries, she quickly arrived in White Bear Town with two "bodyguards" and found Old Albert counting lumber in a warehouse.

"Madam, why are you here?"

Old Albert was clearly startled by Yagna's sudden appearance.

He did not know whether Yagna and Lynn had reached an understanding.

But since the former lord's wife was able to continue living in the castle, something had clearly happened between her and the new lord. Calling her Madam probably would not be wrong. "What is that wheeled plow in the strip fields? And isn't White Bear Territory supposed to begin Spring Planting next month? Why are the serfs still working? And what is with those children carrying baskets of manure?"

Yagna was very pleased with the form of address, but that did not stop her from firing off questions like a barrage.

"Madam, you should wait for the lord to return and ask him. I am merely following his orders."

Unable to determine Yagna's actual relationship with Lynn, Old Albert followed the principle that the more one said, the more likely one was to slip up, and pushed the entire string of questions onto Lynn, who was still exploring the forest.

After a brief moment of thought, Yagna asked, "You mean all these new things are connected to him?"

"Yes." Old Albert merely nodded.

Leaving the lumber warehouse, Yagna gazed at the clear northern sky and looked forward even more to Lynn's return.

Meanwhile, Lynn was still exploring the forest.

To uncover as much of the map's fog as possible and make it easier to build roads in the future, he had deliberately taken several detours.

The trip to the Salt Mine had taken him nearly four days.

By the time he returned to the castle, a full eight days had passed since his departure.

When they set out, the group had been neatly dressed.

When they returned, they looked even more ragged than Wild People.

Lynn's coat had been shredded into strips by branches, and he was disheveled and filthy, like an elder of a beggars' guild.

Only his still-bright eyes allowed the three brothers stationed at the castle to recognize him.

Lynn let two middle-aged maids in their thirties remove all his equipment, then enjoyed a comfortable hot bath.

After dinner, he finally shared the gains from the trip with his brothers in the study.

As Lynn drew a simple map on parchment, he said, "This time, I discovered a Salt Mine northwest of the territory. The deposits are very shallow, mining will be easy, and it is roughly forty to fifty kilometers from the territory."

At the mention of a Salt Mine, the three brothers were naturally beside themselves with excitement.

Why had they risked being hunted by the duke to come here and impersonate nobles?

Wasn't it to make money?

Wouldn't selling illegal salt make money much faster than supervising serfs in the fields?

"I know you're eager, but don't be. Selling illegal salt on the Northern Border is the same as defying the King. The risk is no less than impersonating a baron."

The three brothers immediately laughed when they heard Lynn's words.

Lao Si, the boldest of them, said bluntly, "Big Brother, we're Horse Bandits. We've already offended the duke, so why would we be afraid of offending a King too?"

Lynn stopped writing with his quill and swept his gaze over the three brothers. "There is another problem. Someone is already mining that Salt Mine."

"Who?" Hot-tempered Lao Wu radiated killing intent, as though he would turn around and start chopping people the moment Lynn gave a name.

"Most likely Wild People."

"Wild... Wild People?" Lao Wu's gaze immediately turned blank.

Lao Liu asked, "Big Brother, are there really Wild People north of here?"

Unlike Lao Wu, who was still working toward an elementary school diploma, Lao Liu had received a professional Monastery education. He knew something about the Wild People and also knew about the great war thirty years ago.

"We did not actually see any Wild People, but based on the mining traces left at the site, we can basically confirm that they were Wild People. If we want to mine the Salt Mine on a large scale in the future, conflict with the Wild People will be unavoidable." Lynn briefly explained his deduction.

"So that means we're going to fight the Wild People?" Lao Wu's eyes lit up again.

He did not know what the Wild People looked like, nor did he know how strong they were. All he knew was that he had to kill.

Anyone who stood in the way of them making money had to die!

(End of Chapter)