New Member and Reclamation

(4000 words! Thanks to the reminder from Guardian Wings, the issue regarding the concentration of Moon Essence has been revised!)

Entering the house, Donald swept his gaze over the furnishings. They were much like those of an average commoner's home, far inferior to his own residence in Red Maple Town. Although the Merlin Family had fallen on hard times, they still possessed a few aristocratic items used for appearances, a standard far beyond what ordinary commoners could hope to achieve.

Seeing that his home only had two round wooden stools that were remotely presentable, and no other place to sit, William felt deeply embarrassed.

At this moment, Donald sat on one of the wooden stools without the slightest hint of disdain. Observing William's expression, he spoke:

"William, you need not feel inferior. One cannot choose their birth, but you can strive to change your status. Mages believe that while social standing may differ, every person's soul is noble, provided it is not polluted by evil thoughts like greed or jealousy! Even a slave should possess their own pride!"

Hearing these words, William felt even more ashamed of his earlier behavior.

Seeing that the timing was right, Donald stated his purpose.

"I bear some responsibility for your dismissal from the Association. Had you not warned me of the temperaments of Naron and the others, I would surely have suffered at their hands, and you would have been implicated by their resentment. That is a result I very much wished to avoid!"

Hearing Donald's explanation, William was deeply moved, but the words that followed left him in disbelief.

"My manor is newly built and the steward's duties are heavy, so I am in need of a Head Attendant. If you are interested, you can manage all the male attendants and servants for me, and your wife can temporarily take the position of kitchen manager. With that, your combined wages should be enough to support your family, right?"

William felt as if he were dreaming, murmuring as he asked:

"Is, is this all true?"

Donald gave him an affirmative answer.

"Of course. If you decide to become a member of the Merlin Family, your two eldest sons should have some foundation in swordsmanship, correct? They can serve as my Knight Attendants and receive basic training in etiquette and literature. Although I have not yet obtained the status of a formal knight due to my age, as a hereditary knight heir carrying the ancestral glory of the Merlin Family, I am qualified to recruit Knight Attendants."

"Furthermore, I heard you hope for your youngest son to become a mage. He can temporarily serve as my Apprentice, gaining exposure to basic magical knowledge. If his talent is good, I may take him on as a formal apprentice. If he lacks the talent for magic, you may consider having him become a scholar."

"Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

Faced with Donald's proposal, William was so moved he could not speak, nodding repeatedly.

Then, Donald's tone shifted, becoming filled with authority:

"Since you are satisfied, I will state this clearly from the start."

"The benefits I provide require your family to offer loyalty in return. The Merlin Family needs loyal servants and subordinates, not diners who come and go as they please! If you cannot do this, you may choose to decline this opportunity. In that case, I will still give you one hundred Gold Sol as compensation for the help you gave me previously; that should be enough for your family to live comfortably for a few years! How you choose is entirely up to you!"

William did not hesitate. Gritting his teeth, he formally bowed to Donald, acknowledging his new master.

Such an opportunity was incredibly rare for someone of his commoner status. Ordinary commoners often had their own plans, preferring to become an Adventurer or join the army in search of advancement rather than becoming low-status servants slaving away for some noble.

Others viewed serving the wealthy and noble as shameful, but William knew how misguided such commoner pride was. Pride was fine, but without the capital to back it up, that bit of pride appeared quite ridiculous in the eyes of the upper class. And as a mere commoner, where would one find the means to acquire such capital?

Unlike those commoners who were ignorant due to a lack of education, William knew from his experiences at the Mage Association that beneath the gods, everything in this world was held in the hands of the nobility and the powerful. How difficult was it for commoners to rise?

Whether it was literary and etiquette knowledge or the mysteries of martial arts and magical cultivation, all were held by the noble class. Commoners simply could not access such education. Since the dawn of human history, this had been the way of things; years passed, yet the nobles remained nobles, and the commoners remained ignorant.

Even if there were exceptions, they were the experiences of a very lucky few.

Take joining the army to seek military merit, for example! Commoners could only serve as the lowest-ranking soldiers, while nobles and professionals would always manage to become officers. Once any merit was achieved, it was attributed to the officers' command, while ordinary soldiers received little more than a pittance. Soldiers fought and died, yet the officers reaped the rewards. Thus, the path of joining the army for a future was essentially a dead end. The best result was retiring with injuries and a small sum of Gold Sol to spend the rest of one's days.

In history, only a very few lucky individuals rose from commoner to officer and gained the merit to continue climbing. But these advancements were built upon the generous sacrifice of thousands of commoner soldiers. Understanding this, William had long since abandoned hope in that path.

He only hoped that his sons could become professionals. Even if they didn't rise to become high-level powerhouses, at least they would live better than ordinary commoners.

Now, a heaven-sent opportunity lay before him. To someone who saw things as clearly as he did, becoming a servant to a noble was not something to be ashamed of—especially when serving a young mage with such a kind temperament and immense potential for growth.

Generally, high-ranking servants under a noble not only gained access to vast knowledge and education, but once their loyalty was confirmed by their master, they might even produce a lesser noble in a few generations.

Once one possessed noble status, there were plenty of opportunities to access more knowledge and climb to higher positions. This was something an ordinary commoner could never achieve, no matter how much money they had.

Moreover, once his two eldest sons became Knight Attendants, they would have a chance to be promoted to knights. Perhaps they wouldn't even need to wait a few generations; they might produce two Knight Lords and enter the noble class themselves.

And so, the William family officially became servants under Donald. They only waited for the two children to return from their current martial training before moving the entire family to the newly established Dark Night Manor of the Merlin Family.

Having accepted the William family, Donald was in high spirits. The Merlin Family was rising again, and everything had to start anew. With the Book of Truth in his hands, what he lacked most was not resources, but talent loyal to the family.

"This William handles matters steadily, possesses insight beyond that of an average commoner, and is familiar with mage-related affairs. If cultivated properly, he will surely be a capable assistant in the future."

On the return journey, Donald conversed with his steward.

"Code, although you are capable, the workload is increasing. Even the most capable person will eventually find themselves spread too thin. Delegating minor tasks to subordinates is the only way to improve efficiency, and it will make things much easier for you as well."

After returning to the manor, Donald took advantage of the afternoon to inspect the progress of Dark Night Manor.

Aside from the villa under construction, everything else was on the right track, including the final farm, which had been converted into a vineyard. It was fully renovated, with trellises erected and several of the best wine grape varieties from North Shire planted.

It was estimated that the villa would be completed before the end of summer, and by autumn, most of the crops and some of the livestock in the manor would be ready for production.

The development was going exceptionally well, and Donald's mood was naturally excellent.

That evening, he built two more farms on the remaining wasteland between Dark Night Manor and the Tree of Life.

One was converted into a pasture for grazing, and the other was built into a medicinal herb garden to cultivate rare herbs and magical plants.

"Young Master, the sowing at the farms is complete. Should we invite a priest from town to offer a blessing so the crops might grow even better?"

At nightfall, after Steward Code finished reporting the day's work before bed, he asked Donald.

Hearing this, Donald recalled the role of the priests of the Goddess of Agriculture, but he shook his head, rejecting the idea.

"No need. What a priest can do, I, as a mage, should be able to research myself. As a mage, unless necessary, it is better not to seek help from the servants of the gods!"

Compared to the clerics of other true gods, the priests of the Church of the Goddess of Agriculture generally had lower combat power, but they were extremely powerful in support. Their unique Nature Divine Art could promote plant growth much like the spells of the Elves. Farmland cared for by a junior priest would yield at least thirty percent more than normal. This was one of the reasons why the Kingdom of Selt, as a remnant of the Ancient Magic Empire, could accept the Church of the Goddess of Agriculture entering the North to preach, despite its general resistance to the churches of the gods.

The Kingdom of Selt had a small population and vast land; despite the fertile soil, cultivation was inefficient due to a lack of manpower. It wasn't until three hundred years ago, when the great and wise His Majesty Celt V established the temple of the Goddess of Agriculture in the Royal Capital and introduced the church into the kingdom, that this situation improved. In just a few decades, the kingdom's population surged from less than thirty thousand to over one hundred thousand, and its national strength could now barely stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the established kingdoms of the continent.

Donald did not possess any miraculous alchemy recipes, so he prepared to find a way through the Tree of Life.

The Moon Essence gathered by the Moon Well is a substance formed from pure moonlight energy and natural power; its nature is gentle, and it not only restores life and mana but also possesses the miraculous effect of accelerating plant growth.

If it were not for the Book of Truth possessing the powerful laws mastered by high-level divine artifacts, it would be impossible to manifest such a creation—which has effects nearly on par with a divine artifact—with such extremely low consumption.

Theoretically, this mutual transformation between matter and energy has already surpassed the power level of mortals; below the level of True Gods, even those legendary existences could not easily achieve this.

Thinking of it, he did it; the output of the three Moon Wells had increased over these past few days, and after setting aside the portion for making Moonlight Wine, there was still quite a bit left over.

That very night, Donald began his experiment, using Moon Essence diluted to different concentrations to water the crops on the farm.

Originally, because the crops on the farm had been planted nearly a month later than those in normal fields, the several farming families on the estate had speculated that this year's harvest might be ten to twenty percent lower than elsewhere.

However, as the crops on the estate thrived under the vibrant natural power within the Nature Barrier, they grew so impressively that the farmers all looked at them with new eyes, praising the employer's estate as truly fertile land.

When, a few days later, the crops in the small test plot that Donald had watered with the highest concentration of twenty percent Moon Essence stood out from the rest, growing taller and stronger than normal crops, the farmers were all left speechless with astonishment.

Only now did they realize that their employer's status as a miraculous mage was no fake; he was truly worthy of being a mysterious and powerful mage, capable of accelerating crop growth just like fields blessed by the divine spells of the Goddess of Agriculture's Priests.

Farmers in countries across the continent, regardless of their piety, were basically all followers of the Goddess of Agriculture; after all, people relied on the land to eat, which was the fundamental reason why the Goddess of Agriculture, who had ascended to godhood only a millennium ago, had become one of the most powerful True Gods among the human pantheon.

Ten days later, Donald's experiment reached a basic conclusion.

"A concentration of two-thousandths Moon Essence has the best effect, roughly capable of tripling the growth speed of crops; at one-thousandth, the effect diminishes to only 1.5 times, and at five-ten-thousandths, it only reduces the growth time by about ten percent. If one were to use one hundred percent Moon Essence for watering, I estimate the crops could mature within a few days!"

Of course, this was just a thought; the quantity of Moon Essence currently gathered was small, and a portion still had to be set aside to blend the two types of Moonlight Wine, so it could only be diluted ten thousand times to water all the crops on the estate once a month.

Even so, combined with the effects of the Nature Barrier, the crops on the estate watered with the diluted Moon Essence grew extremely lushly, saving at least thirty percent of the time compared to the growth cycle of normal crops. In other words, crops that originally took three months to mature could now be harvested in just over two months, ahead of the normal fields outside that had been planted much earlier.

In this way, the development and construction of the estate were greatly accelerated. Relying on the Moon Well as this cheat-like artifact, Donald could foresee that this estate would soon become his greatest source of income.