Chapter 339: Chapter 92: The Noble Mage Lords

Having finished awakening the Extraordinary Soldiers, Robson prepared to throw himself directly into the development of his territory.

That’s right. Even though Robson was a lord, it had always been a custom in the Frank Kingdom for lords to personally take part in the development of their territories.

The Frank Kingdom was founded by a band of peasants scraping out a living and mercenaries seeking their fortunes. In the beginning, no one had much sense of honor.

Furthermore, at the kingdom’s inception, when everything was just beginning, resources were needed everywhere. A lord, being an Extraordinary source of labor, was a resource that couldn’t be wasted.

The Knight King himself even went down to the fields to farm, as a way to encourage his people.

If this trend had continued, the nobles of the Frank Kingdom would likely have been slowly assimilated by their southern counterparts, adopting their decadent and lazy habits.

However, reforms within the Beastman Empire placed the entire Frank Kingdom under immense pressure, forcing it to rapidly embrace pragmatism.

Thus, this tradition was passed down.

Of course, even though it was passed down, only the minor nobility truly followed it.

It wasn’t that they had reverted to being indulgent and lazy; rather, the time of the high nobility was too precious and was, of course, spent on more meaningful matters.

But Robson had no such worries at the moment. He had finished all the essential tasks. The next set of issues would only become urgent when the Guterres Family’s merchant caravan arrived, or when the nobles of Sri County could no longer hold on and came begging for help.

Dong’er Man Lake was already a scene bursting with vitality.

Spring had not yet arrived, but the ice on the lake had already begun to thaw.

Robson now had six thousand people under his command, and he certainly couldn’t place them all in one location.

Fortunately, Dong’er Man Lake itself was quite large. Robson divided his entire pioneering force into three small towns. Two were situated near Dong’er Man Lake, while the third was established further to the east. That was the location of Affleck’s iron mine and the Magic Beast Breeding Farm left behind by the former Viscount Affleck.

He had no idea what condition the breeding farm was in. With no one managing it, most of the magic beasts had likely already escaped.

The iron mine was a secondary concern. Only after they had firmly established a foothold would he be in a position to think about the mine.

For developing a territory, the two most important things were housing and food.

Housing was necessary to maintain everyone’s warmth and health, and the need for food was self-explanatory.

Since Valentino had now consolidated her power within the Fengman Clan, she had been generous in sending supplies. With a wave of her hand, she had dispatched enough grain to feed ten thousand people for two months. These provisions would arrive with the next group of settlers.

This was no small amount. The grain shipment was calculated based on the rations of Robson’s soldiers. One had to remember that the Fengman Clan, an old and established noble house, only had a population of a few hundred thousand.

And that was just the grain, not counting her other forms of support. It was clear that Valentino was backing Robson with all her might.

This shipment of grain would help Robson survive the initial pioneering phase—the period before the seeds from the spring planting could be harvested.

Therefore, the most urgent tasks for Robson were to complete the spring planting and the construction of housing.

Both tasks were crucial. Robson had previously analyzed the local environment based on information from Gerard and data he had confiscated from the Beastmen.

In mid-March, the spring rains would begin, and there might even be a late cold snap.

As Robson’s territory lay at the foot of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, the moisture from the Endless Sea to the west was intercepted there. The resulting spring rains would be continuous for several days and quite substantial.

The spring rains were essential for crop growth.

Robson wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed that everything in this world contained a certain elemental aura. The water elements within the spring rain helped crops grow much faster—elements that were absent in inland water sources.

In other words, Robson had to finish building the houses, clearing the farmland, and sowing the seeds before mid-March.

....

"So you just let them sit there?" Robson asked, looking at Gerard.

"Well... my lord, I... I couldn’t do anything about it," Gerard said, his face etched with misery. "I can’t order those esteemed Lord Mages around."

Robson looked into the distance. A group of more than twenty people were resting under a large tree, chatting and laughing. The group included both the Mages Valentino had entrusted to him and those sent by Marquis Oscillate.

Of course, those sent by Marquis Oscillate constituted the vast majority.

In an instant, Robson understood why.

The Mages Valentino had given him were all native-born to the Frank Kingdom. The Edward family, however, was located near the Southern Kingdom and had ties to the Tilia Kingdom. They were accustomed to importing their Mage Corps from the Southern Tilia Kingdom, purchasing "Lord Mages" for lifelong service.

The Frank Kingdom had a tradition of nobles participating in construction, but the Southern Kingdom had no such custom. A culture of hedonism was rampant there, and the class divide was severe. ’How could a noble lord possibly do the same work as a commoner? If they did, how would they distinguish their own noble status?’

Of course, not all the "Lord Mages" were resting.

For example, when Robson arrived, he saw the elderly Old Mage Kosen casting spells to erect a reinforced stone wall.

Only a handful of Mages were taking part in the construction, and they were almost all from the Fengman Clan. The only one from the Edward family was the Female Mage who had come from the Free People.

The Mages from Valentino not only had the cultural advantage of being from the Frank Kingdom, but they had also been with Robson longer. To them, Robson held more authority.

Besides, Robson had used them for construction work before.

The contingent from the Edward family was different. Perhaps it was because they came from a Marquis Clan and carried a strange sense of superiority, or perhaps it was because they hadn’t been with Robson for long... In any case, Robson held no authority in their eyes. And without authority, he certainly couldn’t order a group of noble "Lord Mages" to do menial work.

Robson frowned. This was not a good sign.

The territory was in its infancy, a time when its customs were being established. Many unspoken, underlying rules would begin to take shape now.

’If I let this bunch of slackers get away with it now, how can I expect them to work like dogs for me, Lord Robson, in the future?’

"Falan," Robson said, turning to Mage Falan, "I remember you used to enjoy writing books, didn’t you?"

Falan froze, unsure why Robson had suddenly brought this up.

"Don’t tell me writing a book will also lead to the destruction of the Human Race?"

’Oh no,’ Robson thought. ’I really did a number on him.’

Robson coughed a couple of times. Seeing Falan’s expression, he could tell the mage wasn’t being sarcastic.

"Ahem, of course not. Books are the ladder of human progress; it’s always a good thing to write more of them.

What I meant to say was, you haven’t taught these other Mages anything yet, have you?" Robson asked.

Falan shook his head.

"You told me not to, so I haven’t," Falan said.

His recent experiences, especially witnessing the mysterious power that clung to both Robson and his men, had truly started to convince Falan that Robson was a chosen one, a child of destiny.

Coupled with the influence of his current environment, Falan was quite obedient to Robson’s commands.

"You haven’t? Good. It’s good you haven’t."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.