Chapter 27: Territory Changes
Unknowingly, summer had already passed. Although the sun was still shining, the temperature was no longer so high. Riding a horse against the wind, Owen felt quite comfortable. This had something to do with him only wearing aristocratic hunting attire instead of armor. Otherwise, with dozens of pounds of iron on his body, no matter how good the craftsmanship was, after a long time, only fatigue would remain.
However, this time he wasn’t out for a leisurely ride. Owen quickly focused his attention on his territory. It had been a long time since he had paid attention to the changes in the territory. Usually, Maya was managing it, and he didn’t expect that she was doing quite well.
Under Maya’s arrangement, the serfs learned farming from System Farmers in groups of five. Now, the serfs in the territory had mastered more comprehensive farming skills.
The original scattered farming method was completely abandoned, and large, flat, and orderly farmlands appeared in the territory. The nearby river water was diverted and irrigated into the farmlands, providing the crops with sufficient water. It seemed that a bumper harvest year was coming. Even without freedom, the serfs still showed smiles from the bottom of their hearts.
Actually, these serfs were not unskilled in farming. Many of them were farmers in the Empire. To say that they couldn’t farm was pure nonsense. Perhaps their farming skills were not as comprehensive as the System Farmers, but they certainly wouldn’t be too bad, otherwise they would have starved to death long ago. However, anyone who had experienced the miserable life of being a refugee and was forced to sell themselves into slavery and be sent to the bitter cold Northland border as a serf would lose their motivation. Not to mention that the physical damage caused by the journey north had not been recovered. It would be strange if they had the energy to farm meticulously.
But now, not only were the farmlands in good shape, but the villages were also gradually improving under their efforts. Not only were there sturdy fences, but the original simple thatched huts had also disappeared, replaced by uniform farmhouses. Although they were still simple, it was a good start.
In addition, during the busy farming season, they had three meals a day, two dry and one soup. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to fill their stomachs. Naturally, they had some hope and began to work hard.
Owen was very satisfied with the changes in the territory. It was worth entrusting the territory to Maya’s management, and it was also worth his day and night rewards. Now that she was so radiant, he had contributed a lot.
However, this inspection also brought Owen some worries. As the crops in the farmlands began to mature and the harvest was not far away, wild beasts and bandits also became more frequent.
Although wild beasts did not eat grain, they ate people. As the weather gradually turned cold, hunting would only become more difficult. Humans, who couldn’t run fast and had little fur, were obviously high-quality food, inevitably attracting wild beasts to gather.
Remembering the number of times Maya had told him about the Scout Cavalry encountering wild beasts and bandits recently, Owen couldn’t help but frown.
“It seems that the territory needs more cavalry,” Owen slowed down, letting his warhorse walk slowly, then turned to look at the Cuirassiers behind him and said in a low voice.
Although Cuirassiers had a high cost-performance ratio, they were more suitable for charging and breaking through enemy lines than for pursuit in the wilderness.
As for Scout Cavalry, although they were fast, they were not suitable for combat. They could only drive away bandits and wild beasts at most. After a long time, their effectiveness would definitely decrease, and they might even be killed.
In this case, the originally overlooked Light Cavalry would have a place to use their skills.
But after careful consideration, Light Cavalry wasn’t very suitable either, because their main attack method relied on a single-handed sword, which was barely enough to cut down people, let alone wild beasts that had a lower center of gravity and were more agile. It was easy to capsize, so Owen set his sights on Horse Archers.
The Mounted Archers, worth three progress points, were archers who could ride horses. They would dismount and s*oot arrows after riding to their positions, and had not mastered the skills of mounted archery. It was meaningless to exchange for them.
Real Horse Archers were worth five progress points, and they were the real masters. They were not only good at riding, but also able to use recurve bows suitable for mounted archery. Whether they were chasing enemies or being chased by enemies, they could launch a powerful counterattack while galloping. They were all good at kiting, and it was easy for them to deal with bandits and wild beasts.
Without thinking, Owen knew what to choose, but he would have to wait until he exchanged for the Synthesis Furnace before he could exchange for Horse Archers. After all, it was fine to exchange for those that cost less progress points, but it was too agonizing to wait until he had twenty.
In addition to patrolling around the castle, Owen also took the time to visit Magic Horn Forest.
The development of the wooden fortress was very slow. After all, there were still too few people. Fortunately, Goblin General and many monsters stayed here during this time. Although they were not good at construction, they could still cut down trees and hunt, which solved a lot of problems.
However, Goblin General would not stay here for too long. It had been searching for the traces of Magic Horn Goblins. Once it found them, it would definitely mobilize the entire army. At that time, the wooden fortress would still be the same.
After writing down the need to replenish manpower and supplies for the wooden fortress in his notebook, Owen returned to the castle.
Reading books, researching puppets, and letting Maya take care of things, Owen spent a fulfilling but empty period of time.
Finally, when his progress points reached twenty, Owen, who was a little weak in the legs, couldn’t wait to go to the underground dungeon chamber. Maya, who was becoming more and more radiant, didn’t care about this. She was already used to her master running to the basement every now and then, and turned around to devote herself to the preparations for the autumn harvest with full energy.
The autumn harvest was a major event for any territory, and there was no room for carelessness. However, the entire territory had no shortage of serfs or soldiers, but there was no one who could do grassroots management.
Originally, Charle was fine, after all, she had learned it in the Serving Church. But after coming here, Owen completely treated her as the leader of the guards, as a Serving Knight. So, she became more and more unrestrained. She spent her days either riding horses and practicing martial arts, or training those soldiers. Except for her maid dress, which was more for decoration, she no longer looked like a Serving Maid.
Thinking of this, Maya walked to the window and saw Charle practicing martial arts in the open space.
Because of Owen, Charle, who had found her life goal, didn’t need to diet or control her figure. Now, she was not only half a head taller, but also weighed dozens of pounds more. In all aspects, she had reached the limit of human beings. Even the sturdy Northland Barbarians probably couldn’t withstand a casual punch from her. So, her weapon was also very consistent with her personality. She used a heavy two-handed warhammer as a one-handed hammer. Who else could do that?
Under Maya’s headache-inducing gaze, Charle swung the warhammer in her hand with great force. The wooden target could be used as firewood after one hammer blow, and a few hammer blows could demolish a room.
With a twitching corner of her eye, Maya gave up the idea of pulling Charle back to the right path of a Serving Maid. With her arms and legs, three oxen probably couldn’t pull her back.
“Ram, open record number 27,” Maya closed the window, preparing to arrange people to work.
The affairs of the territory were not many, and the mechanical puppet maids were quite useful. Maya didn’t have too many things to deal with. The only problem was that she had to do everything herself, because there was no suitable person to replace her. So, to prevent mistakes, she needed to keep an eye on everything, which was why she seemed busy.
