NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
Humans are beings who, if something is uncomfortable, will do whatever it takes to resolve and conquer it.
They chased away beasts that threaten human survival by making fires, and created reservoirs to store water to prevent the situation of being unable to farm due to lack of water.
If they did not know what was uncomfortable, they would not have made the effort to find solutions, and they wouldn’t have bothered to make fires or dig reservoirs.
Similarly, for the territorial reforms, one must know what is lacking in this Count’s territory in order to succeed.
Now that I have the opportunity to prove my abilities by persuading the Count, I returned to my room to prepare for the field investigation of the territory.
However, if I say I will go alone, they will surely stop me, saying it is dangerous… Who should I take with me?
While I was pondering and packing my things, I heard a knock on the door accompanied by a gravelly male voice.
“May I come in, Young Master?”
“Who is it?”
The voice beyond the door sounded somewhat disappointed at my words.
“It’s Balt, Young Master. Why so formal…?”
Balt, clearly the one who followed SIEL as his guard to the Academy in the early part of the novel, was also described as someone who had known SIEL for over ten years, like an uncle.
So I responded to him in a relaxed tone, as if addressing an uncle.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a tall, muscular man with a bushy beard approached me and said warmly.
“I heard everything. You refused to go to the Academy.”
“Well, you only learn etiquette and swordsmanship as a knight there. I feel there’s no need to go all the way for 4 years just to learn that.”
“Your swordsmanship is already on par with considerable knights. There’s no need for you to go.”
“That’s right, but why are you here?”
Hearing that, Balt nodded and said, “The Count has ordered me to escort you. And he also asked me to convey this.”
As I opened the pouch Balt handed me, I found about 20 gold coins inside, each the size of a 500 won coin.
Seeing that, Balt exclaimed excitedly.
“With one gold coin, you can buy a cow, so with 20… You could buy a small house with a shop below it… Congratulations on becoming rich.”
“Thank you, Balt. Since I have some money now, I’m planning to go to the market. Come with me.”
**
The street was lined with shabby wooden buildings adorned with pictures symbolizing a tavern like a beer mug and pot, a blacksmith with a hammer and anvil, and a cloth shop with shirts.
In the corner of the street, there were people selling cheap farming tools, vegetables, or grains under a makeshift tent.
As we explored the market, an employee from the blacksmith shop came out, holding a sword tucked into its scabbard and said, “Hey there, handsome Young Master. How about this sword? While it may not be for knights, it’s perfect as a spare for the battlefield. It’ll be 3 silver coins.”
“No, it’s alright. I just came out to look around for a bit.”
“Ah, come on… How about you buy one?”
As the blacksmith employee persistently coaxed, Balt, who was standing behind me, touched the sword and said, “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to buy anything?”
“I’m sorry, Sir…”
“If you know, then get lost.”
With that final remark, the sword-pushing employee hurriedly fled.
I continued wandering through the market with Balt, observing and experiencing as much as possible.
We entered an inn, drank cheap beer, and ate a constantly boiling unknown stew, then went into a cloth shop to try on shabby clothes mainly worn by serfs.
We even went into the blacksmith’s to touch and wield weapons like swords, spears, armor, and shields made by the blacksmith before heading to the bakery to eat rye bread that common folk eat.
The rye bread had a characteristic grainy texture and a nutty flavor, but at the same time, as it seemed they used unrefined rye flour, there were pebbles in the bread.
After about 2 hours of wandering the market near Croilet Castle, we moved to the outskirts.
“Why do those bakers make bread in that manner? If they’re using rye flour to make bread, shouldn’t they at least filter out the stones?”
“Well, it’s because it’s bread for the nearby lower-class laborers. No one complains about a few stones mixed in.”
Hearing that, I recalled my grandmother’s words from long ago.
“In the old days, rice sold would have stones mixed in, and when cooking rice, one had to use a colander to filter them out.”
Even back then, with the existence of concepts like threshing and milling using machines, it seems it’s natural for the bread of the common people in this era to have stones…
Lost in thought as I walked, I suddenly noticed a well in front of me.
At the well, women were clustered together gossiping while pulling a rope tied to a bucket to fetch water.
“Ugh, oh dear… I feel like I’m going to die just pulling this up.”
“Oh come on, you’re such a drama queen.”
“Maybe it’s because my husband exerted too much strength in bed yesterday, my back hurts.”
“Good grief, you woman. My husband can’t do anything even if I feed him bread… Are you teasing me?”
While they laughed and chatted, it wouldn’t be easy for the women to fill a water pot as big as their bodies using the bucket.
And then they have to carry that to their homes; that’s no trivial labor either.
If I could solve this a bit, could I gain the support of the serfs and other citizens?
Seeing this, I turned to Balt with a smile and said, “I just thought of a good idea. Let’s go to the blacksmith.”
**
Beside the door, there were a furnace and bellows used for melting iron, and large and small hammers used for pounding iron, along with an anvil and a chair for handling heated iron.
Inside, about four blacksmiths were heating iron, refining the heated steel with hammers, and sharpening blades.
Simultaneously, as I entered, I felt a heat that was incomparable to a sauna.
Balt, unable to withstand the heat, complained.
“Young Master, I’m going to roast to death at this rate. Why must you come to a place like this and suffer?”
I left Balt to mumble and called over a blacksmith working near the anvil.
“I came because I need something made urgently. Can you help?”
“The Master is sharpening blades inside. You should ask him.”
Following the direction he pointed, I approached the one who looked like the Master and said, “I am SIEL von Croilet, the heir of Croilet Count’s territory. I need help to make something urgently.”
The Master, seeming annoyed, swung his hammer in the air and replied, “A person of your stature shouldn’t be coming here to ask for something to be made. Get the hell out, or I’ll report you to the guards.”
Hearing that made me feel wronged for a moment, but it’s not uncommon for nobles to come directly to places like this… So it’s not surprising that the blacksmith guild master would react that way.
Thus, I produced a dagger engraved with the Croilet family crest and said again, “I am SIEL von Croilet. There’s something I want you to create.”
Upon seeing the dagger with the crest, the Master quickly changed his attitude, bowed deeply, and said, “I apologize for not recognizing a noble… Please spare me from any irreverence…”
“That’s not important. Instead, make what I want as quickly as possible. Money… I’ll pay you one gold coin in advance.”
“One gold coin?”
“Yes. And I need 8 round pieces of iron large enough for a thick rope to go through, and 8 rings that can accomodate the rope. Also, please make a wooden post and support that can withstand the weight of the rope.”
After a moment’s thought, the blacksmith nodded and said, “Yes, understood. It’ll probably take until the day after tomorrow at the earliest, is that alright?”
With two weeks left in view, 2 days would be acceptable.
“Alright, then send the completed items to the Croilet Mansion in 2 days and take the remaining payment.”
With that final word, I left the blacksmith shop and returned to the mansion.
**
When the promised time came, the blacksmith guild delivered the items I had ordered.
Using the custom-made parts at the well in the courtyard of the mansion, I led the servants to install a bucket system using a pulley while explaining each step.
Then, I demonstrated how to use it in front of them.
“Listen well, using this, you no longer have to strain to pull the rope like before. Just by lightly turning the handle, the bucket will rise.”
As I began to turn the handle as I had spoken, the bucket connected to the pulley slowly started to ascend.
The servants, witnessing this, expressed admiration.
“Fetching water used to be such a struggle, but now we only need to turn it without any effort?”
“I have heard how clever you are, but to create something like this…”
“While we use pulleys for carrying heavy things, I wonder why no one thought to attach one to a bucket to make pulling water faster and easier.”
As I drew the bucket fully up and filled it with water in the jar next to me, before I knew it, the Count had approached from behind and said, “Is this what you had made by asking the blacksmith guild? It certainly seems convenient, but you aren’t saying you won’t go to the Academy after making just this, are you?”
“Right now it may seem like just a more convenient tool than the existing bucket, but when installed by deep rivers or wells near fields, it will greatly assist in drawing water.”
“Certainly, if drawing water becomes easier, it will also make it more convenient to use carts to transport water… This will make farming somewhat easier as well. Good job. By creating this, you have proven that your will was not in vain.”
With the Count acknowledging me, surely this meant he would imply I should go to the Academy?
Hoping for that, I looked at the Count, but the words that came from him were different.
“However, the skills you’ve shown me are those a craftsman should possess. They are not the ruling abilities that should be demonstrated by my heir. Therefore, I cannot indulge your insistence of not going to the Academy for just this.”
“But…”
“Of course, I am proud that my son has brought such a remarkable tool in just two days. Hence, I will support you in every way possible so you can learn many things at the Academy. I will give you two gold coins every month as an allowance in addition to living expenses. Also, before you go to the Academy, you are free to spend the 20 gold coins you received.”
Although I was pleased to have secured 20 gold coins and a promise of 2 gold coins monthly, the fact remained that I had to go to the Academy.
And if I went to the Academy, I would die, and this territory would perish.
Since this was the case…
I knelt down before the Count once more and bowed my head in request.
“Please grant me another chance; this time, I will surely show you the ruling abilities I should possess.”
In response to my words, the Count answered in a haughty voice.
“Go ahead and try things as you wish. But if you fail this time, you must go to the Academy without protest.”