Silco had been incredibly busy lately, barely having time to catch his breath.It was all because of Louis's casual remark: "Go register the basic information of the Red Tide Territory residents and see what each of them is good at."So he was thrown into a pile of messy handwritten files, staring blankly at a group of bewildered farmers and blacksmiths.Some people stammered, completely unsure how to answer."I used to farm.""Do you still want to continue farming?""...I don't know.""..."Others simply answered carelessly: "Good at living."Silco almost slapped the record book onto that person's face then."Damn it, how did I, a future alchemist, end up as a housekeeper for a frontier lord?"Silco muttered curses under his breath, while writing furiously, copying names one after another into the ledger.He only had himself to blame for being so reckless as to steal an alchemy secret formula!He was originally just an alchemy apprentice who occasionally stole his mentor's magic crystals for some money, living a high-class life in the Emerald Federation.Until one day, he met a mysterious person in the black market who offered a large sum of money, specifically asking him to steal one of his mentor's alchemy secret techniques, a price so high it made his heart pound.Silco didn't hesitate for too long; after all, the price offered was enough for him to escape his apprenticeship and open his own alchemy workshop.However, the plan was far from as smooth as he had imagined.This secret formula was too profound for him to memorize, so he simply took the entire thing.His mentor was always forgetful anyway; he wouldn't notice if one secret formula was missing.However, he underestimated the importance of this secret formula.His mentor quickly discovered the missing secret formula, and the Gold Marrow Guild, where his mentor belonged, immediately issued a warrant, vowing to bring the thief who stole the secret formula to justice.That black market buyer was quickly caught and confessed to his involvement.Silco knew that once caught, he would not only face severe punishment but might even be sent to a laboratory to become a guinea pig for various strange alchemy experiments.So, to escape, he cleverly disguised himself as a slave, mixing in with the slaves being transported by a slave trader, hoping to sneak out of the Emerald Federation and then find an opportunity to escape.But these slave traders were even more cunning than he imagined!As soon as he tried to make a small move, he was met with a series of whip lashes, leaving him no room to resist.After a few consecutive beatings, he became obedient.Just like that, he truly became an ordinary slave, and he dared not expose his identity as an alchemy apprentice.If these slave traders knew, they would be happy to sell him back to the Gold Marrow Guild, and then Silco would be sent directly to the experimental table.So, after much circling, he was brought to the Frost Halberd City black market.He originally thought he would be sold to a mine and dig for the rest of his life.Who knew he would be bought by a young pioneering lord named Louis and brought to this godforsaken territory.At first, Silco felt that he had probably escaped purgatory only to stumble into another hell, where he would be enslaved until death.However, Louis did not treat slaves like livestock, unlike other nobles.Instead, after learning that he could read and do accounts, he revoked his slave status and made him an assistant, similar to a steward.During his time observing and interacting with Louis, he discovered one thing—Louis was a good person.He would share his food with the starving slaves and personally tear up slave contracts, granting them freedom.A noble, actually treating slaves as people?In Silco's eyes, this hardly seemed like a competent lord; it was more like a devout follower."Tsk, guess I got lucky this time..."Silco said this, but in his heart, he was always calculating opportunities to escape.After all, how could a future grand alchemist spend his entire life in this godforsaken place?..."My Lord, this is the census you asked me to conduct for the territory's residents." Silco placed a thick ledger on Louis's desk.His face showed deep fatigue, and his steps were somewhat unsteady."Hmm, you worked hard." Louis took the ledger and flipped through it casually.The handwriting wasn't neat, but it was clear and the categorization was meticulous.Even the elderly who could barely wield a hoe, women who could weave, and even children who were good at hunting were marked, clearly showing the effort put into organizing it.He was indeed a talent.Louis looked up at the young man in front of him.Silco stood loosely, with deep dark circles under his eyes.He, of course, knew that Silco was no ordinary person.After all, his Daily Intelligence System was not just for show.As early as when he bought Silco, he knew that this kid was an alchemy apprentice from the Gold Marrow Guild in the Emerald Federation, and also a criminal.However, he didn't expose him.On one hand, Silco didn't seem to bear any ill will.Louis wasn't in a hurry to expose him, wanting to see when he would be willing to speak up himself.On the other hand, given the current ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) situation of the Red Tide Territory, a literate assistant with administrative abilities was more useful than an alchemy apprentice.The territory was still in its early stages of development; let alone alchemy, even basic infrastructure wasn't fully established.The most important thing right now was to get this land running properly, not to engage in alchemy experiments.If he exposed him directly, what if this guy decided to slack off and not do chores?Louis glanced at the mountain of documents and account books piled behind him.If he lost Silco, then he, the new lord, would probably have to sit in this pile of rubbish and pore over documents himself.Thinking of this, Louis decided to continue playing dumb.Anyway, this place was a wilderness, and the other party couldn't run away.Putting Silco's matter aside for now, Louis opened the survey book in his hand and quickly scanned the basic situation of the residents.Seeing the results, he couldn't help but curve his lips slightly.Although the Red Tide Territory appeared to be a desolate wilderness, in reality, the talent here was much richer than Louis had imagined.With a population of over a thousand, farmers and herders accounted for the majority, and there were over a hundred experienced fishermen.There were dozens of hunters, blacksmiths, carpenters, and tanners each, enough to build a basic self-sufficient territory.This was exactly the information Louis needed.He had asked Silco to conduct the population survey not just for simple record-keeping, but to understand the Context of the territory.A territory is like a precise machine; every gear must be in the correct position to operate efficiently.If a farmer is casually asked to blacksmith, a fisherman to dig ditches, or a hunter to herd sheep, it might still function, but it would certainly operate slowly.If a lord does not understand his people, he cannot control the future of this land.So, next, it was about how to reasonably arrange these people and get the Red Tide Territory on track as soon as possible.

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