A Wine No Longer Made!

Field had despaired at his first glimpse of the wreckage in the wine cellar.

Fortunately, there was always a way out. After searching just a few spots, Field found unopened wine barrels.

"Knock, knock~"

He tapped lightly on a barrel, and a low, muffled sound came from within. Field's heart skipped two beats, and delight instantly lit up his face. Worried that he might be celebrating too soon, however, he feigned composure. "Open this barrel. Hopefully it's full of fine wine, not tentacles."

The Gray Fog only corrupted plants and animals. Inanimate objects generally did not turn into monsters, provided the wine had been properly sealed.

A guard struggled to pry open the barrel. With a pop, the rich aroma of wine spilled freely into the air.

Smelling premium wine in a winery filled with rot and monsters was a bizarre experience, comparable to finding shrimp in a toilet.

"This is it! Black Pearl Grapes Wine, which you can't get anywhere in the Empire anymore." Overjoyed, Field pumped his fist and instructed the guard beside him, who was craving a drink, "Fetch my steward, Kao, and have him count how many barrels here are still drinkable."

Seeing Field lost in his joy, Ashina cautiously advised him, "My lord, even fine wine should be enjoyed in moderation."

Many lords had been ruined by heavy drinking, spending all their days lingering in taverns and brothels.

"Don't worry, Ashina. I'm not going to drink this wine."

Field preferred iced tea or cola to wine.

"These fine wines, which haven't been produced in ten years, are all liquid gold. Once we ship them to the imperial capital-no, even to any nearby city-they'll immediately bring us a fortune in gold coins."

Their exact value would depend on how much wine there was.

But Field was certain that those wealthy, powerful nobles would fight tooth and nail for a famous wine.

"Oh~" Ashina touched a slender finger to her lips, looking thoughtful. "Since Black Pearl Grapes Wine is so valuable, we could make wine ourselves. After all, the Starry Night Winery is ours now."

"You're right, but that's something we'll only consider once we can ensure our safety."

Leaving the cellar to Kao, Field finally had time to survey his territory.

Centered on the winery, the land Field occupied covered roughly the area of an elementary school playground.

As long as the Gray Fog did not cover it and people could move about on it, it counted as actual territory. What was on that land did not matter for now, since it was all corrupted plants and creatures. They would have to be cleared away before he could consider anything else.

"Now the challenge truly begins."

Field made a circuit along the outermost paths. Thanks to the residents' efforts, there were far fewer corrupted creatures among the field ridges, and the place finally looked somewhat fit for human habitation.

The residents herded the malformed corrupted creatures into a pile. These monsters had no fighting ability, but their very existence was pollution. The ruined timber cleared out of the winery could be put to good use: they tossed it onto the pile of monsters and set it alight.

Screams like cats in heat rang out endlessly, accompanied by the sizzling of roasting flesh, as great clouds of gray smoke poured from the monsters' bodies.

"Heavens, Valkyrie above! These minions of the devil have finally been cleared away."

A maid patted her chest and cried out in an exaggerated tone.

The female slaves doing the work cast envious looks her way.

Being able to enter the castle, eat the noble lord's leftovers, and even enjoy the luxury of regular rest breaks was enough to make the slaves green with envy.

"Scissors, I need you to do something."

Having finished his tour of the territory, Field intended to meet his servants before issuing new decrees.

"My lord, please tell me..."

The maid Scissors immediately lost her smile, like a startled katydid, and even her booming voice fell quiet. Though Field had previously always appeared cowardly and foolish, he was still someone commoners could only look up to.

Field had spent the past two days busy establishing his territory and had overlooked many things. Now he realized that enormous class divisions existed in this world.

He recalled an interesting incident involving the father he had inherited along with Field's identity.

A rival noble had planned a surprise attack on the family's caravan, but a farmer happened to discover where the noble's men lay in ambush. The farmer immediately came to the castle and told the Count about the enemy's plot. The Count then turned their scheme against them and sent the enemy fleeing in utter defeat.

By all rights, the farmer should have received a monetary reward. Instead, after returning victorious, the Count had the farmer publicly hanged.

The reason was that the disgusting manure and mud clinging to the farmer's lowly shoes had left lowly footprints on the Count's carpet.

In the eyes of nobles, their subjects were piles of shit, and slaves were worth even less.

Field was no saint. He would not overthrow himself, nor would he fully assimilate and become a feudal noble through and through.

I just need to give my subjects a good life, Field thought. Of course, only the obedient ones.

"Scissors, gather everyone who serves me. I have a few things to say."

"Yes, my lord." Scissors immediately lifted her apron and hurried off at a jog.

The steward arrived first. Since he held the highest position among the household servants, Scissors had naturally notified him first.

"My lord, I haven't finished counting the wine barrels yet. It will take at least two days." Kao, the steward, came running up, panting. He looked frail and thin, with barely any flesh even on his thighs, as though life had been hard on him.

Yet his wages were the highest in the entire territory: five silver coins and fifty copper coins a month. He was also entrusted with matters such as purchasing supplies and keeping the accounts. With a little scheming, he could multiply his income several times over.

Normally, one copper coin in the Empire could buy a loaf of black bread, meaning rye-bran bread, which might even contain sawdust and tree bark. Unlike the bread modern people imagined, black bread was as hard as a rock. Trying to bite straight into it could break your teeth. The proper way to eat it was to soften it in hot soup, then dip it in coarse salt riddled with impurities.

It had neither the aroma of grain nor any sweetness, only a salty, bitter taste.

Yet even with food this wretched, many people could work all day and still fail to earn enough for two loaves, ultimately having no choice but to become slaves.

The maids, manservants, and cooks all earned fifteen copper coins a day, or four silver coins and fifty copper coins a month.

Before long, Field met his servants: two maids, one manservant, and a cook.

In modern society, having two or three servants was seriously impressive. In the Middle Ages, however, Field could only be considered an impoverished noble. His elder sister-the woman who had sent cavalry to try to trample him to death-had twenty manservants alone, responsible for chopping vegetables, mincing meat, leading horses, and even trimming her nails.

Field's keen eyes swept over each of them. They all lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with their lord, as that would have been rude.