Developing a Diversified Estate Economy

Trash.

Don't think I've never seen a mage before.

Setting aside the big shots in Dalaran, Orendo had actually met over a dozen mage gentlemen in the Hillsbrad Foothills.

Without exception, these mages had all studied in Dalaran. Most were peripheral members of Dalaran, a few were esteemed guests of certain nobles in the Hillsbrad Foothills, and an even smaller number served several human kingdoms.

Naturally, none of the mages he had met were high-ranking mages such as archmages, but they were all mages worthy of the name.

Orendo had watched several of them cast spells. Two had cast Fireball before his eyes—one used it to attack a Hillsbrad spider, while the other used it to scare off a terrifying mountain lion.

Yet without exception, their Fireballs had clearly been nowhere near as powerful as Orendo's spell today.

But this noble lady claimed that her Fireball at the age of six had been even stronger than his today.

The transmigrator found it hard to believe.

Because he had no idea who she was.

The Eye of Truth was not a system. It had no information on the woman before him. The host's own energy and abilities were still far too lacking, preventing it from observing more detailed information.

It could not provide the woman's true identity.

Elsewhere.

Aegwynn, who had taken a Fireball to the face in midair, had nowhere to vent her irritation as she looked at the young, immature country noble before her.

With her experience and eyesight, she could naturally tell that Orendo had not lied—at least not about his magic.

Judging by the active arcane particles around Orendo, he truly was only at the level of a relatively outstanding mage apprentice.

A thirteen-year-old mage apprentice was nothing in Aegwynn's eyes, even if the Fireball he could cast was immensely powerful.

Just as she had said, she herself had begun studying magic at five. At six, she could already cast spells that only archmages could cast. At nine, she had been chosen as the Guardian's successor. At thirteen, she had formally become the Guardian—unprecedented, and never to be surpassed.

In an era when female mages were widely discriminated against, she had stood out and been selected by the previous Guardian as his successor.

It had not been due to anything else, but to her unparalleled magical talent and arcane affinity.

Aegwynn had seen plenty of arcane geniuses and natural-born mages.

Not a single one had matched her.

A frog at the bottom of a well.

That was Aegwynn's first assessment of Orendo.

Looking at such a frog at the bottom of a well, Aegwynn's lingering resentment over being harassed in the sky faded away.

Besides, Orendo truly looked young, merely half-grown. The Council could not possibly have picked such a boy to deal with her.

Since he had not meant to offend her, Aegwynn had no intention of pursuing the matter.

Looking at Orendo, who seemed aggrieved and resentful after being called "trash," she slightly raised her rounded, dainty chin.

"Sorry. I wasn't calling you trash. In fact, aside from me, most mages are trash."

She said it as though it were only natural, as if she were stating some universal truth, her tone allowing no room for doubt.

Orendo, who had been rendered speechless by her calling him "trash," heard what she said next.

His mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

At last, the transmigrator said with difficulty, "All right. Then would you be willing to accept an apology from this piece of trash? Or have you decided not to let this piece of trash off?"

He had begun to doubt her identity. He suspected that she was not a mage from Dalaran.

If she were a mage from Dalaran, there was no reason for her to have just said that "Dalaran mages are all trash."

No one would call themselves trash, would they?

But if a powerful human spellcaster did not come from Dalaran, what sort of background did she have?

Surely she was not from Quel'Thalas?

She did not have long ears.

She spoke again.

Her tone sounded somewhat bored. The exquisite magic carpet that had previously curled into a ball and followed behind her unfurled on its own and carried her aloft.

"I do not wish to speak too much with a frog at the bottom of a well. It would affect my own mind."

She left.

Watching the magic carpet speed away through the sky, Orendo silently opened and closed his mouth again.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"A powerful mage who looks human, yet holds Dalaran in such contempt? Could she be a black dragon?"

"But humans transformed from black dragons are usually black-haired and black-eyed. Could this black dragon simply like taking on a blond appearance?"

Thus ended the minor incident that had turned out to be a false alarm.

That evening.

Butler Dobby came to Orendo's room at the lord's summons.

Having completely sobered up and accepted his current identity, Orendo prepared to learn the specifics of his present assets.

"Master, are you feeling better?"

"I'm completely recovered, Dobby."

"That's good, that's good. Sir Severosa had only you as a child, and the entire Severosa territory prayed for your safety! The Holy Light bless you, Master. You looked truly frightening the night before last!"

"Dobby, I'm fine now."

"Of course, of course. Master, you will always be safe and sound!" Dobby was a human man in his forties.

He had served the Severosa family for over thirty years, gradually rising from Orendo's father's personal servant to become the Severosa family's chief butler.

"Dobby, I called you here because I have something I'd like to discuss with you." Orendo was quite polite toward this chief butler.

"Oh? What is it, Master? Please, just give the order." Dobby's expression was solemn, and he remained as meticulous as ever.

"After this season's harvest is sold, most of it will go toward my tuition at Dalaran, right?" Orendo went straight to the point without ceremony.

"Yes. After the necessary expenses are deducted, the remaining profits should cover your normal expenses for one year of study in Dalaran, young master." Dobby answered seriously.

"How much would that be?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should total more than 1,300 new Lordaeron gold coins." Dobby had calculated this figure many times, so he immediately gave it when his master asked.

"What is mainly grown? Wheat?" Orendo asked.

"That's right," Dobby said honestly.

The Hillsbrad Foothills had a mild, humid climate and abundant rainfall throughout the year, making them poorly suited for growing wheat.

Yet most human farmland grew wheat, because the various foods made from wheat flour were the staple diet of humans.

Thanks to the fertility of the foothills' soil, even though the climate was not ideal, the wheat yields from the farmland here remained excellent. Its quality was even better, earning widespread praise throughout the human world.

After thinking for a moment, Orendo quietly asked, "Once this season's wheat has been harvested, will the people be planting wheat again?"

"Yes," Dobby answered.

What else could they plant if not wheat? Although Sir Severosa's family had always been generous, after paying all kinds of taxes, the people were left with only enough grain to feed their families for a year.

If they did not grow wheat, what would the people eat?

"Have you ever heard of sugarcane?" Orendo asked softly again.

"Sugarcane?" Dobby frowned and thought hard. "I once met a merchant from the South in Southshore. That merchant seemed to have mentioned something like what you're describing. It appeared to be some strange kind of fruit?"

"That's right." Orendo relaxed.

It seemed that this world had sugarcane too.

Orendo knew that this world had rum, and one of rum's raw materials was a byproduct left after sugar was extracted from sugarcane.

Where there was rum, there should be sugarcane. That was why he had asked Butler Dobby about it.

Why had he asked Dobby whether this world had sugarcane?

He wanted to grow sugarcane on his own land.

Two reasons had prompted this idea.

One was that he had taken a stroll around the estate that afternoon.

He had discovered that nearly all the land outside the estate was planted with wheat.

Second, the Hillsbrad Foothills in his memories had been a hot, rainy region with a subtropical climate.

This was very different from the areas surrounding the foothills. The foothills' unique climate was likely related to the snow-covered mountains in the north.

The path of a mage was extremely expensive.

To study in Dalaran and advance farther along the path of magic, Orendo needed a great deal of money.

Simply growing wheat yielded roughly 3,000 new Lordaeron gold coins a year. After deducting the expenses required to maintain the Severosa family, there was not much left for free use.

The previous heads of the Severosa family had left behind some savings, but the disposable funds Orendo could spend on the path of magic each year amounted to only one or two thousand gold coins.

To the common folk, who might not need to spend even a few silver coins in a year, that was an astronomical sum.

But for mages, for whom a single magical experiment or advanced alchemy experiment required several hundred gold coins' worth of raw materials—

That amount was only enough for a few mid- to high-level experiments.

Orendo felt that he had to acquire more money if he wanted to spend heavily in Dalaran and make himself stronger.

Given his current circumstances, the only thing he could focus on was his family's land.

Growing wheat had no future. He wanted to plant some cash crops.

When Orendo thought of the Hillsbrad Foothills' tropical-like climate, the cash crops that came to mind were naturally those from Earth's tropical regions.

What were they?

Nothing more than sugarcane, coffee, rubber, and the like.