Having halted its expansion, Snow Moon Territory gradually shifted into a period of consolidation. Rows upon rows of farmland continued to appear on the planning maps.
With no more worries about security threats, Snow Moon Territory officially transitioned from the pastoral age to the agricultural age.
As agriculture developed, the territory's demand for labor also grew greater and greater. Resettling immigrants once again became the lord's manor's primary focus.
Hudson was not only relocating subjects from Mountain Territory; he was also spending lavishly to purchase slaves from outside. Unfortunately, too many nobles had foresight, and slave prices on the market remained sky-high.
To make up for the labor shortage, all the grueling work that required no skill fell upon the Beastfolk slaves.
It was not just Snow Moon Territory. Similar situations had appeared throughout the entire Near East Region and even the Northern Frontier.
With the supply and demand for labor out of balance, serfs who had once been worthless were now worth far more. Illnesses that they could once only endure now received proper treatment.
The profession of apothecary, fostered by Hudson, quickly became popular across the Near East. Aside from the Church, whose business had been stolen, everyone else was pleased.
Cheap, replicable medical care was what best suited the common people. Everything else was secondary.
To encourage childbirth, lords everywhere came up with all sorts of strange tricks. For example: mandatory marriage upon reaching a certain age, bans on induced abortions, and stipulated minimum numbers of children for married couples...
Naturally, the treatment of serfs also improved by the tiniest bit.
If someone compiled the statistics, they would discover that the average lifespan in the Alpha Kingdom was slowly increasing.
Even if the benefits of the era's development only leaked out as a few scraps, the impact