Who's the Farmer Here, Anyway?

Don't overestimate those fools' initiative.

Not even a free lunch every day could stir them into action.

The stick was absolutely necessary.

Romain changed his wording. "Aaron, lead all the guards in training for three hours every day."

Aaron frowned slightly. He had never been an instructor, and he did not know whether he should train the guards by the standards of a War Knight.

He had also seen what happened on the mountain yesterday.

These guards were undisciplined and poorly organized. Without proper drilling, they would likely find it difficult to serve their intended purpose.

"Alright!" Aaron agreed at once.

If he did not know how to train them, he could just ask Romain.

Green was not particularly envious. His personality was not suited to being an instructor anyway.

"Also, tell them that from now on, every guard will receive 2 copper coins, 10 pounds of wheat, 10 pounds of mixed grains, and 2 pounds of meat each month..."

"Huh? You're paying them wages?" Mol was confused at first.

Even if they were being paid, it was far too little to support a person.

But then his eyes suddenly widened. "Every month?"

Wasn't that treatment outrageously generous?

Guards were conscripts. Unless there was a war, they received no wages in ordinary times. Giving them some goods as compensation was already considered benevolent!

Romain tilted his head slightly. "Yes, they'll be paid every month. But I have standards for them. If they fail to meet the standards I set, I'll kick them out of the guard ranks. If any guards perform well, I'll reward them additionally."

"Oh, and incorporate the hunters into the guard unit as well. I appoint Dota as captain of all the guards. Have him come down the mountain as soon as possible..."

After explaining everything, Mol's handkerchief was soaked through. He immediately passed on everything Romain had just said.

Seth looked at Romain. "You still haven't solved the problem of going bankrupt in winter."

The Steward's salary had been cut, while the guards' pay had been raised. One went down and the other went up, so total spending had not actually decreased by much.

Because the group of administrators Romain had brought with him were the real bulk of the financial expenditure—Aaron and Green's annual salaries were both calculated in Gold Coins.

Romain said confidently, "I know. I'll solve this problem before spring ends."

Seeing that Romain remained so confident, Seth hesitated before speaking.

He did not know where Romain got his confidence from.

He had watched Romain grow up. Even though Romain's actions were astonishing for this era, deep down, he could not help holding a sliver of expectation for him.

"I hope so. Also... you shouldn't always make yourself look so disheveled. There's mud on your trouser legs, your collar is a mess, and your shirt buttons should be fastened properly. You're being far too inelegant. It's really unbecoming."

Romain watched speechlessly as Seth fussed over him.

First straightening his collar, then fastening his buttons, then brushing away the mud.

He felt it was completely unnecessary.

But Seth clearly did not think so.

He tidied Romain up until he was perfectly neat and clean. Romain had always felt that Seth possessed some kind of obsessive compulsion—he had to make everything orderly.

After the rigid steward left, Romain turned around and went to the Blacksmith Shop again, bringing out a Heavy Plow they had forged that morning.

Then Romain gathered fifty farmers with extensive plowing experience and a Steward, leading them alone to the plot of land he had marked out that morning.

At the edge of the field, Romain first demonstrated how to use the Heavy Plow and showed them its results.

The plow was extremely simple to operate; anyone could learn it at a glance. Romain plowed a short stretch himself.

His authority as Lord was immense. Seeing him demonstrate personally, even before considering the plowing results, that attitude alone deeply shocked the farmers. And they discovered that Romain handled the plow with remarkable proficiency...

Who was the farmer here, anyway?

What shocked them even more was the result of the plowing.

"Oh! Lord's plow is so wide and so big! You don't even need to step on it..."

"It's coming out, it's coming out! The stones are coming out!"

"Even tree roots as thick as an arm are coming out!"

"The clods have been turned over too—it's black soil!"

The farmers whispered in astonishment, their eyes burning with excitement.

No one understood the importance of plowing better than they did.

It was one of the few methods in this era that could noticeably increase grain production.

If seeds were scattered over unplowed land, being able to guarantee even the basic yield of one seed becoming two was already fortunate. More often than not, there would be no harvest at all. That was why they relied so heavily on iron farming tools.

Yet the Light Plow's plowing depth and width were both extremely limited. Farmers using a Light Plow had to stand on it with their feet to achieve its intended effect. Even then, they could only plow shallowly, which was unsuitable for this land's soil structure.

Of course, there was no use explaining such agricultural knowledge to these poorly informed farmers. All they cared about was the explosive result of the plowing.

They had never received an education, nor had they been brainwashed by the church. They had no idea the church had doctrines forbidding change, and even if they did know, they would not obey them. The gods were merely someone to pray to when they were poor and suffering.

What doctrine? What was there to teach? Could it make more grain grow in the fields?

Because of the Lord's forceful orders, they had no choice but to do things unrelated to farming.

Over the past two or three days, although they received a free, hearty lunch at noon, the cost had been wasted time and energy.

They did not know what collecting manure meant, nor did they know what Romain intended to do. They only knew that the work in the fields had been delayed—two or three days of precious plowing time lost.

Anxiety had steadily grown in the hearts of most of the farmers.

If they did not plant soon, it meant they would likely harvest nothing this year, and their entire families would starve to death.

They had shown enough obedience, yet the Lord still showed no intention of assigning them land. So, under cover of night, they had no choice but to secretly plant a few things.

If Romain delayed another two days and still would not let them farm, the emotions building up among these farmers might very well erupt, causing widespread unrest.

But today, when they saw Romain plowing with the new plow, their anxiety immediately eased somewhat.

No matter what, things were moving in a better direction.

The Lord knew they needed to plow next, so he probably would not stop them again.

The appearance of the new plow also gave them some confidence in their future farming plans. Land plowed with such a tool would surely yield a great deal of grain.

Though they had lost much time, if they raced against the clock, they could still plant some crops. At least they would not end up with nothing at all.

Romain called them over and said, "Your next task is to deeply plow every piece of land I've marked out."

At present, only four Heavy Plows had been produced, which was clearly not enough for fifty farmers.

In theory, eight or ten people would have been enough.

But they needed to do more than plow. They also had to pick up stones, roots, weeds, and other things turned up from beneath the soil. All of that required manpower.

Do not underestimate the workload. When Romain had been plowing that morning, he had even encountered a tree stump buried underground. He had spent a great deal of effort pulling it out, while the broken roots still remained buried beneath the earth.