A Booming Business

(Thanks to "Tie Xue De Guang Guang" for the tip! We're almost at 3,000 recommendations, everyone keep pushing!! Thanks in the middle!!)

News of orcs at the border has left most commoners in the Kingdom of Selt on edge, terrified that a massive horde of savage orcs might break through the defensive lines and reduce their homes to rubble.

Donald, having received the same news, felt no such anxiety; instead, a faint sense of excitement stirred within him. He was not alone in this sentiment, as many young nobles and commoner adventurers hungry for glory shared his anticipation.

Originally, the knight examination and the inheritance of his title were pressing problems that Donald had to prioritize. However, after becoming a mage apprentice, he no longer felt the need to concern himself with next year's knight examination.

According to royal decree, one must reach the Black Iron high-rank to pass the knight examination. Of course, aside from the knight class—traditionally known as the noble profession—Donald could pass the examination and successfully obtain the title of knight as long as he reached the Black Iron high-rank in any other combat profession.

There were also examinations in noble etiquette, literature, and art. However, these were merely hurdles for commoners and minor nobles; the scions of great noble houses had their own ways of passing regardless of whether they met the standards. This was precisely why the examinations for entry-level knights in human kingdoms had become increasingly watered down.

If a fallen noble without a fief like Donald failed to obtain the title of knight, he would, by rule, be stripped of his family's hereditary knighthood and lose his noble status.

But now that he was a formal Black Iron Mage, the laws of noble inheritance dictated that if a noble heir entered any spellcasting profession, no one could strip them of their rightful inheritance unless they committed the grave crimes of treason or blasphemy.

Therefore, Donald was no longer worried about his title; even if he didn't attend the knight examination, no one would dare strip him of his noble status. With his original anxieties gone and the pressure lifted, Donald—who had not only secured his noble status but also gained two manors—began to set his sights on more ambitious goals.

Donald needed more than just the preservation of his status; he craved greater wealth, a higher title, and a fief of his own. As long as he could earn merit in the war, these things could all be realized.

For Donald, who was in urgent need of development, the orc invasion was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to build his reputation.

A manor alone can only provide economic income. Only by obtaining a true fief can I raise my own army and secure a foothold in this world.

A noble's private territory is like a small kingdom of one's own. Once I have that, I can develop it exactly as I please.

Donald knew that personal strength alone was insufficient to protect his increasingly prosperous assets. Only a powerful army could deter the enemies of the Merlin Family and force them to abandon any thoughts of targeting his house.

Thus, this small-scale war was the perfect opportunity for Donald to reclaim his family's fief.

However, the news was not yet confirmed, and the kingdom had not issued a mobilization order to summon local nobles and commoner warriors to battle. Consequently, Donald could not simply barge into the border military camp.

Noble territorial awareness was extremely strong. Aside from merely passing through, if an outsider noble intended to stay in a local lord's territory for any length of time, they were expected to formally notify the master and state their purpose. Otherwise, it could easily be misinterpreted as having ill intent, and even if no other measures were taken, the incident would be reported to the Noble Council Administration Office, likely leading to a lawsuit in the royal court.

That was merely for the territory of an ordinary noble; Donald's destination was the heavily guarded border garrison. Entering rashly could easily lead to him being branded a spy for an enemy nation and executed.

Therefore, despite his internal eagerness to prove himself, Donald suppressed his emotions for the time being and continued his daily life.

Ever since his Moonlight Wine series reached the hands of mages, word of it—spread by nobles who were on good terms with them—had created an undercurrent of demand throughout Giant Stone City and the entire North Shire.

Many nobles, having tasted the flavor and experienced the special effects after visiting the mages, wanted to purchase some on the open market. However, as the mages had stated, this miraculous wine was currently supplied exclusively to mages and was the creation of a fellow mage; it had not been circulated to any merchants.

Out of the courtesy and habits of mages, no one revealed Donald's identity. To a mage, betraying one of their own was unforgivable, even if it was just leaking a bit of private information. Even if two mages harbored irreconcilable hatred, they would settle it according to the rules of their kind, rarely involving outsiders.

Furthermore, mages valued the effects of the wine far more than the mere pleasure of drinking it, so they naturally wouldn't sell what was essentially an alchemical potion with no side effects for mere gold.

This result only made the nobles who had tasted the Moonlight Wine more desperate. The high-end wines they had once savored now felt difficult to swallow, making them crave the supreme vintage even more.

The living conditions of the lower classes in this world were relatively impoverished. Even most low-level nobles ate and used the same few things, barely reaching the standard of a moderately well-off family from his previous life. Only the truly great nobles could enjoy a variety of foods and entertainment.

However, for Donald—who had lived in a world with a rich, diverse entertainment industry and a high-speed, booming lifestyle—their forms of entertainment seemed exceptionally dull and boring.

In the past, Donald had been so poor and down-and-out that he could barely afford the most basic, inferior wine, let alone fresh fruit or a variety of foods. Now that he had the means and strength, Donald certainly wouldn't continue to live in hardship; he had to cultivate the good habits essential to a noble.

He had already taught the cook and maids hired by Code some of the cooking methods from his previous life that were feasible to replicate. A homebody knows how to enjoy life, and he had been a frequent visitor to food blogs in his past life.

Now, his breakfast consisted of simple yet hearty meals like meat patties, sausages, fried eggs, fresh milk, and fruit juice. Dinner was usually pan-seared meat, toasted bread with fresh vegetables, or thick soup. The cook had even learned to make pizza and pies, albeit using ingredients available in this world. During afternoon tea, the maids would prepare fragrant milk tea and delicate black tea, accompanied by simple, sweet pastries crafted with care.

This world lacked the vast variety of tea beverages from his past. The most common drink among nobles was a stimulant spice discovered by mages called Emerald Leaf, mixed with fresh milk. Because it was very similar to the milk tea of his past life, Donald simply called it milk tea.

As for the black tea, Donald had identified a herb from the plant materials listed in his alchemy textbooks called Red Licorice. Its taste was different from the black tea of his memories, as it was originally an auxiliary material used by alchemists to formulate recovery potions. After experimenting, Donald found that the leaves of this plant, which had a refreshing and slightly sweet fragrance, not only tasted wonderful when brewed but also had the effect of warming the stomach, strengthening the spleen, and aiding digestion. It had many health benefits and fewer side effects than the tea leaves of his past, making it perfect for daily consumption.

Thus, the black tea that would eventually sweep across the entire continent was invented in the small kitchen of Donald's manor.

Although conditions sometimes fell short of his standards, Donald used the knowledge from his past life to cleverly elevate his quality of life to the best possible level. His current living conditions were far better than ninety percent of the nobles within the Giant Stone City area. It was estimated that only the household of the local Viscount, the greatest lord in the region, could afford to purchase products from other lands and compare to him in terms of variety and quality.

And when it came to the variety of dishes, the Viscount's kitchen likely couldn't compare to the small kitchen of Donald's manor at all.

After all, although the sentient beings of this world had a recorded history spanning ten thousand years and human kingdoms had been formally established for several millennia, the influence of true gods and powerful professionals had greatly suppressed human wisdom and creativity in certain areas. Consequently, the social structure and technological productivity remained in a stage of transition from a slave society to a feudal one.

The lower classes received no systematic education, and this had been the case for generations, let alone the development of any novel or convenient tools and implements.

However, every world has its own circumstances. Although Donald had temporarily integrated into this world, he had no desire to change anything. Moreover, such a situation was not something a single person could alter. No matter how strong an individual's ability was, they were often just creating a few ripples in the tide of history; some powerful entities who had tried to change the world had been suppressed before they could even make a splash.

He had always been deeply cautious regarding the existence of the gods. The waters of this world were too deep. Setting aside the high and mighty gods, even the legendary powerhouses and the forces behind various races made Donald feel extremely wary. After all, he was a stowaway from another world, an atheist who had been raised on socialist education. If such an existence were exposed, he would surely be sent to the stake for a human barbecue!

Donald had no such insane ambitions; he only wanted to preserve himself within this environment. Otherwise, once a mere mortal like him stuck his head out, the gods in the starry sky wouldn't even need to lift a finger; they could simply dispatch a high-ranking believer to crush him with ease.