The Farm's Establishment

The tall wooden fence enclosed a livestock pasture on one side and farmland on the other. Inside the farm stood two sturdy buildings joined together, European-style farmhouses with stone foundations and wooden beams. One was a residence, the other a grain storehouse. Farther away stood sheds for the livestock and poultry.

Aside from having no animals or crops, it was already a nearly perfect farm.

Next, Donald walked to the wasteland on the left side of the estate and waved his hand again. Another human farm, covering twenty mu, appeared out of thin air. Right beside the first completed farm, he built three more in succession before stopping.

There was still enough empty land behind them to build two more farms, but most of the wood and stone had already been used up. For now, Donald could only finish building the basic area at the front and leave the rest for later.

Anyone who had witnessed what had just happened would surely have cried out that it was a miracle. Donald, however, was lamenting the cost of building the farm.

Although having the basic materials had reduced the energy consumption by eighty percent, the farm covered a large area, and even the remaining cost had instantly used up a good portion of his stockpile of crystals.

"Those are all Elemental Crystals worth their weight in diamonds! And this is just one of the least demanding buildings. Won't bigger structures like barracks and towns drain all the wealth I've worked so hard to accumulate?"

He had spent a huge pile of crystals in no time. But when he saw the farm that had appeared before his eyes, Donald felt it had been worth it.

Of course, he could use materials to replace some of the Elemental Crystals. He could also provide the materials himself, then summon enough human laborers to build the farm. He could afford the Low-level Magic Beast Crystals that would be consumed that way, but the process would be nowhere near as fast as it was now.

When real farmers built farms and other structures, things were not as quick and convenient as they were in a game. Everything had to follow the basic laws of this world.

After building four farms around the center of the estate, Donald built four watchtowers at its outer corners.

These stone-built watchtowers stood fifteen meters high and measured eight meters across at their widest point. They were the cheapest buildings among the four races of magical beasts. With enough stone on hand, each tower cost only about five cubic meters of Low-grade Elemental Crystals to build—less than the little Guardian Ring Donald wore!

"With these four watchtowers, the estate will be much safer from now on."

"Basic watchtowers have no attack capabilities, whether in the game or in reality. Without an upgrade, they can only serve as scouting buildings. But in this real world, most things can be adapted. We only need to station a few archers on top to turn them into makeshift arrow towers. When our energy reserves are low, we won't need to spend resources upgrading and rebuilding them."

Of course, these makeshift arrow towers could hardly match the defensive power of real arrow towers equipped with crossbow mechanisms. But given that his only property for now was this small, remote estate, Donald did not think any powerful enemy would come to seize it. So a few of the cheapest watchtowers would do for scouting.

"Too bad the small estate isn't very big. There's only enough room for six farms at most, and I'll have to save this land in the middle for the villa. At least once the small estate develops, I can start planning that vast large estate!"

After finishing, Donald returned to his home in Red Maple Town and told the steward to reduce the order for building materials.

"The farm on the estate is finished. Keep buying wood and stone, but put the other materials on hold for now. We'll resume once we've found an architect and are ready to design and build the villa!"

"Really, young master?"

Code's face lit up with delight as he received confirmation.

"A mage's power really is incredible. We should hire a few farmhands to manage the estate now. We'll also need to buy some livestock and poultry, as well as seeds!"

Donald nodded.

"Exactly. While spring is still here, we need to develop the estate as much as possible and aim for our first harvest before autumn!"

Although Code had been idle for more than a decade, he was undoubtedly a capable steward. First, he got in touch with an architect from a merchant company and hired enough workers. Then he hired three farming families from among the commoners he knew nearby. Between them, they had eleven able-bodied adults who could work. That included Donald's coachman and his family, who now belonged among the farmers on House Merlinar's estate.

The reason the three families were willing to abandon their previous livelihoods and work on House Merlinar's estate was that Donald had offered them twice what other nobles paid. He had his steward promise that, in addition to their regular food and lodging, each family would receive a tenth of the produce they grew and raised. That was at least twice what they had earned before. With such an incentive, the farmers would be eager to work!

Watching the three families' excitement, Steward Code asked from the side,

"Young master, aren't the terms you offered a little too generous?"

"Not at all. You have to understand: only when they feel they're working for themselves will they put their hearts into the job and look forward to a good harvest. That's how the estate will develop as quickly as possible!"

Based on his experience in his previous life, Donald knew that expecting a horse to run fast without feeding it was nothing but greedy, miserly thinking!

After Donald explained his reasoning, Code admired his young master's kindness and wisdom. With such generous terms, the farmers would work hard for their own benefit, and the estate would surely produce far more than the estates of other nobles.

Three days later, Donald returned to the estate with the steward, a retainer, and several farmers hired by House Merlinar. Code was stunned by the transformed estate before his eyes!

The sturdy, elegant fences, the neat and impressive farms, and the houses all seemed to have been built overnight. There certainly hadn't been so many buildings when he last visited!

"What a fertile estate! Just look at these farms. They're a gift from the gods!"

"Thank the Goddess, and thank you, Lord Mage!"

Apart from the coachman, none of the others had ever been to the estate, so naturally they had nothing to be surprised about. They were all marveling at the fertility and beauty of the estate where they would soon work, and at how full of promise it looked.

As for the coachman, ever since he had started working for Donald, he had learned to keep his composure. His employer was a mysterious and powerful mage. What could possibly be beyond his abilities? In the minds of ordinary people, mages were either evil humans akin to devils or powerful beings second only to the gods!

Seeing that the coachman had not said anything out of turn, Donald was satisfied. His steward certainly wouldn't betray him, but the coachman was an outsider, and there was no guarantee he would keep quiet. For now, though, he seemed trustworthy.

Donald turned to face everyone and said,

"While spring hasn't ended, I plan to get the crops planted first. We'll also need to take good care of the livestock. By harvest time in autumn, they should bring in at least a thousand Gold Sol. We'll quickly recover the initial investment and break even!"

"Yes, my lord!" "We'll work hard!"

Led by the steward, the dozen or so eager farmers hauled several carts of livestock and crop seeds to the farm and got everything settled. Since only three families had been hired for now, the steward assigned them to the large house on one of the farms. It had plenty of space, enough for all three families with room to spare.

Three other farmhouses were still vacant. Donald had no plans for them yet; eleven workers were more or less enough for the newly developed small estate.

Since one of the farmhouses was empty, Donald chose it as a temporary residence for himself and the steward until the villa was finished.

When he walked into the room he had conjured, he found that aside from the lack of furniture, it had all the basic facilities.

"This farmhouse is much bigger than our house in town. We'll stay here for now, starting today. It'll make managing the estate and farms easier!"

Donald turned to give the steward his instructions.

"I don't plan to keep living in the house in Red Maple Town. It's in another noble's territory, after all, though it might be useful as a place to stay in touch. Code, work a little harder over the next couple of days and get people to move our things here. Once the villa is finished in a few months, this will truly look like a noble's estate!"

At his young master's order, Steward Code eagerly went off to organize the move.

Two days later, the estate was more or less settled. Once the farmers had gotten to work, Donald took the hired architect to survey the land. When they reached the spot reserved for the villa, he pointed to the open ground and said,

"We can take our time building the villa, but it has to be sturdy and durable. There can't be any mistakes or oversights. I'll be counting on you to take great care with it, Mr. Dona!"

"Rest assured, Mage. The villa will be fairly large, but it's nothing compared to the whole estate. Once we finalize the design, I estimate the bulk of the construction will be finished within three months."

Steward Code had hired Dona from a branch of a Royal Capital merchant company in Giant Stone City. Dona was a scholar who looked to be around fifty. Professions like architecture and accounting were generally handled by well-educated scholars.

The only difference between their professions was the particular fields in which the scholars specialized.

Most scholars came from noble families but were not heirs. They needed a skill of their own to make a living in this world and continue enjoying a noble's lifestyle.

Dona had little regard for Donald's status as a minor noble. Having come from the Royal Capital, he had seen plenty of nobles. But Donald's status as a seventeen-year-old formal mage forced him to humble himself. In this world, people generally believed that if anyone could be more learned than scholars, it was mages, the spellcasters.

Unlike scholars, who were merely auxiliary administrators, even research mages who were not skilled in combat possessed power beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Such mysterious power inspired awe in common folk.

Faced with such a powerful figure, Dona decided to do his best at his work. After surveying the land, he arranged to stay at the farm so he could work on the villa's design and construction.

After Dona worked hard through the night, the preliminary villa blueprint was ready.

Donald was fairly pleased with the villa's appearance when he received the plans. Dona had used the architectural style of Solon, a commercial alliance in the southern part of the continent, the region with the most developed trade.

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

After many years of development, the buildings in Solon's holiday estates had combined the best features of the architectural styles of nations across the continent, forming what was now regarded as the most beautiful style for a noble's villa.

Although it cost at least thirty percent more than the ordinary Northern Lands style, Donald thought the result would be worth it. He had plenty of money now, so if he was going to build, he might as well build the best.

To Donald, this style looked a lot like the seaside villas in tropical regions from his previous life, with most of its features designed for ventilation and moisture control. He gave Dona his suggestions, and the scholar made some changes to the blueprint, removing some flashy but useless decorations and reinforcing the structure as a whole, while adding a few elements of the European style from Donald's previous life.

Donald also had Dona make the villa's foundation at least five times larger and deeper. A little extra expense was no problem. It would strengthen the whole building and leave enough space for a basement, his future alchemy laboratory, and other facilities.

If he was going to build a villa, he might as well make it perfect. The houses in this world might look classically elegant from the outside, but they weren't as comfortable to live in as the single-story houses in the countryside of his previous life. So Donald couldn't help bringing some things from his previous life into this world.

Next, Donald made some requests about the interior layout. They mainly involved leaving room for a running water system, indoor bathrooms, a swimming pool, a garage, a cold room, a basement, and other facilities essential to villas in his previous life.

Some of these designs were far too advanced for this world, and Donald did not want them to spread and attract the attention of interested parties. So he did not specify what the blank spaces on the blueprint were for. He also planned to hire workers from different merchant companies to build each of these facilities, so the details of the villa would not be leaked.

Even with so many blank spaces, Donald had already signed a contract with the merchant company and the architect, then had it notarized at the Temple and the Noble Council Administration Office. It specified that the ideas behind some of the villa's designs could not be shared by the contractors or used in other buildings.

It was a sort of patent right in another world!

Scholar Dona was fascinated by some of Donald's ideas from another world, but whenever he thought of the contract, he couldn't help grinding his teeth in frustration.

The next few days passed quickly. The three farming families were each put in charge of one of the farms, and they managed everything well. The crops were planted, and the livestock had begun to multiply.

The villa's main blueprint was also ready. Donald pointed out several oversights and details he wasn't happy with, then approved the plans and ordered the workers Dona had brought to start construction.