Establishing the Farm

(This is the third chapter today, thank you all for your support!)

The tall wooden fence enclosed an area split between livestock grazing land and farmland. Within the farm stood two sturdy, connected buildings—European-style farmhouses constructed with stone foundations and timber beams. One served as a residence, while the other functioned as a grain warehouse. Further away from the buildings were the sheds for livestock and poultry.

Aside from the complete lack of animals and crops, it was already a perfect farm.

Next, Donald walked to the wasteland on the left side of the manor. With another wave of his hand, a second human farm covering twenty acres appeared out of thin air. Placing them side by side, Donald continued until he had established three farms in total before stopping.

Although there was enough empty space left for two more farms, his supply of wood and stone materials was nearly exhausted. Donald had to settle for establishing the foundational area first, leaving the rest for future expansion.

If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would surely have cried out at the miracle, but Donald was currently wincing at the cost of constructing these farms.

Even with the basic materials reducing energy consumption by eighty percent, the sheer size of the farm buildings meant the remaining cost instantly drained a significant portion of his stored crystals.

These are elemental crystals as precious as diamonds! And this is just the most basic building unit. If I were to build larger structures like barracks or towns, wouldn't I be eaten out of house and home by the wealth I've worked so hard to accumulate?

Large quantities of crystals had flowed away like water. However, seeing the farms that had appeared in an instant, Donald felt it was worth it.

Of course, he could use materials to offset a portion of the elemental crystal cost, or he could prepare the materials himself and summon a sufficient number of human laborers to build the farms. However, while he could afford the low-level magic beast crystal cores that would require, the speed would be nowhere near what he had achieved just now.

Real farmers building farms and other structures were not as swift or convenient as in a game; everything had to conform to the fundamental laws of this world.

With the four farms established around the center of the manor, Donald built four watchtowers at the corners of the estate.

These reconnaissance watchtowers, built of stone and standing fifteen meters high with a base diameter of eight meters at their thickest point, were the cheapest units among the four major races' structures. With a sufficient supply of stone, each tower consumed only about five units of low-grade elemental crystals—a price even lower than the small Guardian Ring on Donald's finger!

"With these four watchtowers in place, the safety of the manor will be greatly guaranteed from now on."

"Although primary watchtowers have no offensive capabilities in either games or reality, and can only be used as reconnaissance units if not upgraded, in this real world, most situations can be adapted. One only needs to station a few archers on top to turn the watchtower into a temporary arrow tower. When energy reserves are low, there is no need to spend resources on upgrades or reconstruction."

Of course, such pseudo-arrow towers could hardly compare in defensive power to real ones equipped with crossbow machinery. However, given that he currently only possessed this remote, small manor, Donald didn't believe any powerful enemies would come to seize it. Therefore, building a few low-cost watchtowers for reconnaissance was sufficient.

"It's a pity the small manor isn't large enough; it can only hold six farms at most, and the land in the middle must be reserved for the villa. Fortunately, once the small manor develops, I can start planning for that vast, large manor!"

After finishing these tasks, Donald returned to his home in Red Maple Town and instructed his butler to reduce some of the orders for building materials.

"The farm's structures are complete. Continue purchasing wood and stone, but put the other materials on hold for now. We'll wait until we find an architect to design and build the villa before proceeding!"

"Is that true, young master?"

Code, having received the affirmative answer, exclaimed with pleasant surprise.

"The power of a mage is truly miraculous! Now, we should hire a few farmers to manage the manor, and we also need to prepare to purchase a batch of livestock, poultry, and crop seeds!"

Donald nodded and said:

"Correct. While spring is not yet over, we must vigorously develop this manor and strive to bring in our first harvest before autumn!"

Although Code had been idle for over a decade, he was undoubtedly a very competent butler. He first contacted an architect from a merchant guild and hired enough workers, then recruited three farming families from among the commoners he knew nearby. In total, there were eleven able-bodied adults. This included the family of Donald's carriage driver, who now also belonged to the House Merlinar manor.

The reason these three families were willing to abandon their original livelihoods to work at the House Merlinar manor was that Donald offered terms double those of other nobles. He had the butler promise that, in addition to fixed room and board, each farming family would receive ten percent of the produce they grew and raised themselves. This was at least double their original wages, and with such encouragement, the farmers would surely work with great enthusiasm!

Watching the excitement of those three families, the butler Code asked from the side:

"Young master! Are the terms you offered too high?"

"Of course not. You must understand that only when they feel they are working for themselves will they work willingly. Furthermore, by holding high expectations for the harvest, the manor can develop as quickly as possible!"

Based on his experiences from his past life, Donald knew that the greedy and stingy mindset of wanting a horse to run fast without letting it eat grass was a path to failure!

After explaining this reasoning to the butler, Code felt great admiration for his young master's benevolence and wisdom. By coming up with such generous conditions, the farmers would work wholeheartedly for their own interests, and the manor's future output would surely exceed that of other nobles by a significant margin.

Three days later, Donald brought his butler, attendants, and the farmers hired by House Merlinar back to the manor. The butler, Code, was stunned on the spot by the manor, which had taken on a completely new look!

These sturdy and exquisite fences, the neat and spectacular farms, and the houses all seemed to have been built overnight. There hadn't been this many buildings when he was here last time!

"What a bountiful manor? Look at these farms; they are simply a gift from the gods!"

"Thank the Goddess, thank the master mage!"

Other than the carriage driver, none of the others had been to the manor before, so they naturally had nothing to be surprised about. They were all marveling at the fertility, beauty, and prosperity of the manor where they would work in the future.

As for the carriage driver, ever since he began following Donald, he had learned to remain calm in the face of the extraordinary. His employer was a mysterious and powerful mage; what else was impossible? In the eyes of the common people, mages were either evil beings akin to devils or powerful existences second only to the gods!

Seeing that the carriage driver didn't speak out of turn, Donald felt satisfied. His butler would naturally never betray him, and while an outsider like the driver might be a different story, he seemed trustworthy for now.

Donald turned to face the group and said:

"While spring is not yet over, I intend to plant the crops on the farms first. The livestock must also be well cared for. By the time of the autumn harvest, it should bring in at least a thousand Gold Sol, allowing us to quickly recoup the initial construction investment and reach a break-even point!"

"Yes, master!" "We will work diligently!"

Led by the butler, the dozen or so enthusiastic farmers moved the carts of livestock and crop seeds into the farms to be settled. Since only three families were hired for now, the butler assigned them to one of the large farmhouses. The space inside was quite large, enough to accommodate all three families with room to spare.

There were still three farmhouses left vacant. Donald had no immediate plans for them; eleven laborers were more than enough for this newly developed small manor.

Because the farmhouses were empty, Donald chose one to serve as a temporary residence for himself and the butler until the villa was built.

Walking into the room he had manifested, he saw that aside from the lack of furniture, the basic facilities were all there.

"These farmhouses are much larger than the residence in town. From today on, we will temporarily live here; it will be more convenient for managing the manor and the farms!"

Donald turned to instruct the butler.

"I don't intend to continue living at the Red Maple Town residence. After all, it is in the territory of another noble, so it's fine to keep it as a contact point! Code, work hard these next two days and bring people to move our things and utensils over! Once the villa is built in a few months, this place will truly look like a noble manor!"

Having received his orders, the butler Code went off excitedly to organize the move.

Two days passed, and the manor was basically settled. After the farmers had become busy with their work, Donald took the hired architect to survey the terrain. Arriving in front of the space reserved for the villa, he pointed to the open ground and said:

"The construction of the manor villa can be taken slowly, but it must be sturdy and durable. Do not let any errors or omissions occur; I will have to trouble you to put in extra effort, Mr. Dona!"

"Please rest assured, Mage. While this villa is quite large in area, it is nothing compared to the entire manor. Once the blueprints are finalized, I estimate the main structure will be completed within three months!"

The steward, Code, had hired an architectural designer from a branch of a capital city chamber of commerce located in Giant Stone City. This designer was a scholar who looked to be about fifty years old; professions such as architects and accountants were generally held by learned scholars.

The reason for the difference in their professions was simply that scholars focused on different fields of knowledge.

Most of these scholars were non-inheriting members of noble families who had to possess a specialized skill to establish themselves in this world and maintain their noble lifestyle.

Scholar Dona did not think much of Donald's status as a minor noble; after all, having come from the capital, he had seen far too many nobles. However, Donald's status as a seventeen-year-old official mage forced him to lower his stance. In this world, it was generally believed that if anyone were more learned than scholars, it would be the mages, those who wielded magic.

Moreover, unlike scholars who were merely auxiliary management talent, even research-oriented mages who were not skilled in combat possessed a formidable power unimaginable to ordinary people. Such mysterious power naturally inspired awe in the hearts of commoners.

Facing such a powerhouse, Dona decided to do his best to complete his work well. After surveying the terrain, he temporarily decided to stay on the farm to facilitate the design and construction of the villa.

After Scholar Dona spent a painstaking night working, the preliminary design sketches for the villa were completed.

Upon receiving the blueprints, Donald was quite satisfied with the exterior appearance of the villa. Scholar Dona had adopted the architectural style of Solon, a commercial alliance nation in the south of the continent where commerce was most developed.

Solon was a beautiful kingdom, famous not only for its economic strength but also for its numerous tropical resort manors, sunny beaches, and many delicious fruits rarely seen in the north.

After many years of development, the architecture of Solon's resort manors had integrated the advantages of various continental styles, forming what was now recognized as the most beautiful style for noble villas.

Although the construction cost was at least thirty percent higher than the standard northern style, considering the effect after completion, Donald felt it was well worth it. In any case, he was not short on money now; if he was going to build, he would build the best.

In Donald's view, this architectural style was very similar to the seaside villas of his past life, with functions mostly focused on ventilation and moisture prevention. Regarding this, he offered his own opinions, having Scholar Dona make some changes to the sketches, removing some gaudy and useless decorations, reinforcing the overall structure, and adding some layouts reminiscent of his past life's European style.

Furthermore, Donald had Scholar Dona expand and deepen the villa's foundation by at least five times. A little extra expenditure did not matter; this was all for the stability of the overall structure and to leave enough space for the basement and his future alchemy laboratory and other areas.

Since he was building a villa, he wanted to make it as perfect as possible. Although the various houses in this world looked classical on the outside, they were not as comfortable to live in as the bungalows of his past life's countryside. Thus, Donald could not help but bring things from his past life into this world.

Next, Donald put forward his own requirements for the internal structure, which were nothing more than reserved spaces for a running water system, indoor bathrooms, and facilities essential to a villa in his past life, such as a swimming pool, garage, cold storage, and basement.

Donald did not intend to leak designs that were too advanced for this world, lest he attract the attention of those with ulterior motives. Therefore, he did not specify what the blank spaces he left in the blueprints were for. He also planned to hire workers from different chambers of commerce to complete these facilities separately, so as to prevent the situation of the villa from being leaked.

Even with these blueprints containing many blank spaces, Donald had already signed contracts with the chamber of commerce and the architect, and had them notarized at the temple and the Noble Council Administration Office, specifying that certain design concepts in his villa could not be disseminated by the hired parties to appear in other buildings.

This could be considered a disguised form of otherworldly patent rights!

Scholar Dona was quite obsessed with some of Donald's concepts from another world, but whenever he thought of that contract, he couldn't help but grind his teeth in frustration.

A few days passed quickly. The three farming families, each responsible for managing one of the three farms, handled everything very well. The crops had begun their initial sowing, and the livestock had also reached a certain scale.

The design blueprints for the main body of the villa were also finalized. Donald pointed out a few omissions and areas that were not to his liking, then officially established the blueprints and ordered the workers brought by Dona to begin construction.