The Way to Make Money

"Lord Caesar."

"Master Vidor." Samwell walked over to Vidor, who was directing craftsmen and Wildling laborers as they laid the castle's foundations. "How are things progressing?"

"Faster than I imagined." Vidor sighed with emotion. "I never thought those Wildlings would work so diligently. They're practically fighting to do the work! Compared to them, the laborers in our Highgarden are all lazy good-for-nothings!"

Samwell laughed. "Do you know why that is?"

"Why?" Vidor promptly asked.

Rather than answering directly, Samwell asked in return, "In Highgarden, if someone slacks off at work, what does Viscount Martin do?"

"Whip him, of course."

Samwell shrugged and smiled. "Punishment is certainly one way, but I believe rewards are better at inspiring the enthusiasm of the people."

At once, Vidor thought of the strange "work point system" Samwell had introduced.

At the time, he had privately mocked the young lord for being far too kind, actually planning to pay a group of captives.

But now, it seemed there was a deeper meaning behind the measure.

Still, it really was extravagantly wasteful... Wait!

Vidor suddenly realized that Samwell had never actually paid the Wildling captives anything. He merely fed them. As for the money, it would only be paid after the castle was completed.

It was nothing more than bait they could see but not eat!

Yet it had driven over a thousand Wildlings to willingly labor for him!

What a brilliant method!

Thinking of the contract between his own lord and this man, Vidor seemed to understand something, though he did not dare be certain.

As Vidor's thoughts ran wild, Samwell added, "Oh, right. It's time to put the construction of the dock on the agenda as well."

Vidor paused, then nodded. "Yes, my lord."

Samwell added, "However, the construction plan you proposed earlier was too complicated. Build a pier first. It only needs to let ships dock and load or unload cargo. For now, our main focus should remain on building the castle."

"Yes, my lord." Vidor had a feeling that this was probably the limit of what this pioneering lord was willing to do.

He wondered what expression his own lord would have in a year's time when he saw a dock with nothing but a bare pier...

The two chatted for a while longer. After learning about the progress of the territory's construction, Samwell bid Vidor farewell and headed deeper into the Vale.

Several newly built wooden cabins stood near the cliffs on either side.

More than a dozen fully armed soldiers guarded the cabins. When they saw Samwell, they all lowered their heads in salute.

This was the most heavily guarded place in the entire Vale. It stored the pioneering party's provisions and supplies, as well as Samwell's lord's cabin.

The only strange thing was that there was even a smithy among them.

To the people, perhaps this lord simply placed great importance on weapons and equipment.

And now, Samwell entered this smithy.

Seeing Samwell arrive, the smiths stopped their work and rose to greet him.

Samwell waved for them to continue, then headed into the innermost room.

It was the private workshop of the smith Busso.

Two guards even stood watch at the door, showing just how much Samwell valued the security of this place.

As the finest smith in Highgarden, Busso had received Samwell's undisguised favor as soon as he joined the pioneering party. Samwell often met with him alone, engaging in intense discussions about something.

Everyone assumed that the lord wanted Busso to tailor a suit of plate armor for him. Yet in truth, Busso had not touched steel at all these past days. Instead, he had been working with all kinds of copper pipes.

"My lord, the item you requested is complete." Busso respectfully pointed to the strangely shaped device before him.

Though he had made the thing under the lord's guidance, Busso had no idea what it was for.

This peculiar device consisted of three copper vessels of different sizes and shapes. The first and second vessels were connected by a swan-necked copper pipe, while the pipe leading out of the second vessel coiled into a serpentine loop after entering the third.

Samwell looked at the device before him, his eyes filled with eagerness and a trace of melancholy, as though he were remembering something.

He carefully inspected the apparatus. Only after confirming that there were no problems did he turn to Busso with a smile.

"Excellent! This is exactly what I wanted!"

"It is my honor to serve you."

Looking at the skilled smith before him, Samwell suddenly asked, "Busso, if I remember correctly, you have a son?"

"Yes, my lord. Though he is also my apprentice, his heart simply isn't in this work. Sigh, there's nothing I can do about him."

"I heard he prefers swords and spears?"

"Yes. He even wants to become a knight. He spends all day dreaming!"

"How about this? My guard is recruiting. You can have him apply. If he performs well, I can take him on as my squire in the future. Perhaps one day, I may even knight him personally."

Busso froze at those words. Only after a long while did he hesitate and say, "My lord, your generosity overwhelms me! But we are still people of Highgarden. We will have to leave in a year..."

"Who can say what will happen in a year?" Samwell said with a smile. "Besides, during this year, you are all serving me. Forging iron is service, and fighting for me is service as well."

Busso immediately fell into conflict.

Samwell did not press him. He merely smiled. "Busso, think it over carefully. Not every lord is willing to take a smith's son as his own squire. You may go now. Come find me whenever you have made up your mind."

"Yes, my lord."

After Busso left, Samwell could not help reaching out to stroke the strange copper device before him. Feeling its familiar yet unfamiliar texture, a faint glimmer of tears appeared in his eyes.

This was, in fact, a Charentais pot still.

In his previous life, he had been born into a family of wine merchants. Since his grandfather's generation, they had specialized in making grape spirits—Brandy—at the foot of Tianmu Mountain.

Thus, ever since he could remember, he had seen amber liquor gurgling out from this ancient and miraculous device.

And now, even separated by another world and another time, as Samwell stood before this empty copper apparatus, he could almost still smell the unique fragrance of distilled wine.

It was a memory that had run through his entire childhood.

And it would also be the source of his wealth in this other world.

That was right.

Samwell had dared to pioneer in a barren place like the Red Mountains, and had refused the pirate route Olenna had arranged for him, because his true confidence lay here.

There was not a noble in this world who did not drink, and winemaking was highly developed as well. Yet due to the lack of advanced distillation techniques, the alcohol content was generally low.

And that was his opportunity!

Though the Red Mountains had poor soil and could not grow grain, they were suitable for cultivating mountain grapes, which had low soil requirements, were drought-resistant but sensitive to waterlogging, and needed abundant sunlight.

In fact, Samwell had previously seen Wildlings gathering wild mountain grapes in Tiger Tooth Village.

These grapes did not actually taste very good. They were not sweet enough and leaned toward sourness.

But grape varieties with lower sugar content and higher acidity were precisely suited for making Brandy.

As he stroked the still's smooth, cold surface, Samwell seemed to see a great road shining with golden light.