episode_0184

It’s still a little early in the morning.

I went outside, warmed up lightly, sat on a rock on one side, which was a good place to sit, and came to a place where several flower pots were placed.

This was a place where residents came to me a few days ago with complaints.

-They may have taken the authority over this land, but isn’t it different from putting us under their control?

-We are still unreliable. I am afraid that you will ruin this land!

-No matter how much authority you have───

Residents still had deep suspicions.

I silenced their complaints with just one word to them.

-I have no intention of forcing anyone other than to plant existing crops as is. But if you don’t even follow that, I don’t know what happens next?

Although the intimacy box flashed among the residents, even from their perspective, this was the minimum level of agreement. They didn’t ask us to do anything else, but they said they would use the existing crops the way they wanted and only use the remaining land, so they couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Intimacy and recognition thus stopped and I was able to pass on the options.

“Maybe I should have put more pressure on it. Those people wouldn’t even trust me anyway.”

If being cursed and criticized is a given, I sometimes think that it would be better to commit tyranny and at least secure the authority. Even so, I don’t get hurt anymore.

“Well, that’s okay. Because this comes first right now.”

▶Potatoes are planted. The expected harvest grade is B+.◀

▶Carrots are planted. The estimated harvest grade is A-◀

▶Cabbage is planted. The expected harvest grade is───◀

…

…

As you get closer, you can see the crop management window.

This window displays information about the planted crops to the player.

In terms of territory management, this UI was launched as it is a land for farming.

The first time I saw the crop management window was just a few days ago when residents came to visit.

Every time I passed through a field, I saw this window that showed me what crops were planted, and I had a point to make, so I decided to test it.

That test was this flower pot.

It was a flower pot that I personally planted and checked the crops in.

“Hmm. The early ones can already be harvested. It looks like everything will be harvested within a few days at the latest.”

In reality, this is a speed that makes no sense.

How can crops grow to maturity in just one or two days? The speed at which my existing common sense was being destroyed.

However, this growth rate, which creates a sense of discrepancy, is the test I conducted.

“This must be… that’s it. Settings in the game.”

I cleared away any doubts I had and turned my head to the status window.

The window still wasn’t floating.

Even though three days have passed.

Just before the residents came.

I was already having doubts.

The sub-episode window is floating just fine.

The main episode window directing the hiring of agents.

The lord’s UI window where you can manage your fields.

Symposium status window associated with grade trigger.

In addition, everything that should be floating, such as system messages and progress indicators, was floating.

However, I couldn’t hide my surprise at the fact that I couldn’t see just one thing.

I thought it would come back over time, but…

It wasn’t so.

After meeting with the residents, the window did not open until we arrived at the field.

[ 1. Crops in this world generally grow several times faster, and although yields are reduced, they are capable of producing prolific crops all year round. ]

[ 2. There are crops that grow faster when stored in mana. Therefore, the fertility of the land includes the amount of mana. ]

[ 3. In the case of crops that grow by consuming a lot of mana, the harvest cycle becomes longer depending on the amount of mana used as nutrients. ]

To put it bluntly, from the player’s perspective, it was a useless window.

Even if I tried to use it in the options, it didn’t have much meaning, and even if I tried to get a hint, the meaning faded. Most of the time, time flies by because of the skip scenes.

If you just spend weeks and months in the game, you won’t make any progress. It can be seen that the game side intentionally tried to accelerate the pace of progress by inserting common sense that differs from reality in order to relieve the slow pace of development.

But what about now?

As of now, that is no longer the setting in the game.

The setting of this world was no longer just a game setting, but a reality that I had to face directly. So this game probably tried not to give me such setting hints.

“Phew. I’m glad I figured it out before it was too late. There are only three lines, but I remember them all…”

What would have happened later if I hadn’t pointed this out?

Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.

First of all, we have secured the necessary food, so we need to monitor the situation.

“Haaam. Tongue…?”

“Are you awake?”

Ferdi, whose eyes were still sleepy, came out in a half-asleep state.

“No, why do you wake up like that so early in the morning…? Brother, don’t you sleep well?”

“I woke up.”

“Yes? It’s dawn now.”

“I woke up after sleeping for 5 hours.”

“…isn’t it only 5 hours?”

“Uh. It’s been 5 hours.”

He says the same thing as Harnier? There is a lot of work to do, but if I devoted 5 hours to sleeping, I would have slept a lot.

“Hyung, you’re not going to get hurt or anything like that…?”

“Don’t worry. Because I’m not naturally the type to sleep a lot. And I just want to change your territory a little faster during that time.”

“…”

What are you hurting?

I can only sleep for a few hours at most.

If I got hurt, it was because of the crazy girls who bullied me at home, but I never had anything happen to me because I didn’t sleep.

I should save this time and think about getting out of the same dukedom as that family. Tsk.

“So. What happened to that kid?”

“Yes?”

“I’m talking about the girl you secretly brought into your room yesterday.”

“…!”

“I warmed up from time to time and did mana training. I turned on hearing amplification and couldn’t hear the sound naturally.”

It was dawn when I kept my eyes closed and went outside to improve my mana proficiency.

When I amplified my hearing, I could hear a loud noise.

That location is none other than the place where Ferdi stays.

He brought a person into the small cabin I gave him.

“Type. Hey, I wasn’t trying to hide it, but… that…”

“Let’s talk about that later.”

“Yes?”

-Tap, knock.

The sound comes clearly from my ears reinforced with mana.

The unique sound of shoes worn only by guards.

“A guest came.”

-Tiring!

▶Dike came to you.◀

▶Agent-only options are available.◀

***

I had no idea about Dyke’s background, but Memorial gave me all this information.

It is a rare disease suffered by Helketa I. Dyke’s younger sister.

It is extremely painful and can lead to death if too much time passes… but it does not mean that there is no way to solve it.

A medicine made from special ingredients.

In that case, Helqueta I is as good as washed.

However, that special elixir requires chatelaine strawberries.

As a commoner, there would have been no easy way to obtain chatelaine strawberries, which were already in short supply. So, he must have been looking for an opportunity to make the most of his life by applying for the Chatrene security position.

No matter how much I applied for the Chatrene security position, there were no offers for sale.

If you really want to get it, I tried to save up money by following the method of the business partner, who told me to pre-purchase it, but there was no way.

One year like that.

Dyke can’t even look at the chatelaine strawberries for that long.

That’s what the memorial I saw was about.

Unfortunately, even if he returns to the present, there is no hope for him. Continuing with the episode’s development, Dyke will be in a situation where he will not be able to save Chatelaine strawberries on his own no matter what he does.

No matter how much money you save, the price goes up, reservation costs increase to unimaginable levels, and it takes a very long time to realize that you can’t buy it with your own hands.

I have to persuade him over and over again by choosing options and convincing him to come to his senses, and only then will he agree and come to me.

That was usually towards the end of the third week.

‘But now it’s only three days.’

I think it was quite helpful to quickly reveal the truth through the draft work and notebook.

Even if he comes to me and yells that he doesn’t believe me, that won’t happen.

How can you say you didn’t give up when you look at that look on your face?

He faced the reality he wanted to ignore.

I’ve never picked one in week 3, but this might be better in this situation. I chose the new option without any pressure.

[ 5. Do you understand now? ]☑

“I feel a little better now, no. Looks like you came to your senses, right?”

A bit harshly. So that I can check one more time to see if I understood correctly. I deliberately swung the whip to make it sting more.

Dyke’s lips quivered when he heard those words, and he answered with his head down.

“…Yes. The rate of increase in prices was ridiculous. It was exactly the same as the increase you calculated and wrote down in your notebook. And I intentionally eavesdropped to check… The D-grade strawberries I needed were truly something only nobles could afford.”

Did you check it yourself?

I must have been quite upset.

“By the way. The fact that you are fully aware of all this… I think it means that there is a way…”

Dyke, who hesitated, clenched his fists and revealed his true intentions.

Although he didn’t continue speaking until the end, I can guess how he was feeling.

You must be feeling like grasping at straws.

That’s enough.

“It’s not the time to ask that. I am the one who brought shame to Shatrene in this territory.”

“…!”

“Is there really such a thing as a method? Is this definitely a method that can help you? Are you just lying like you did in the past? Shouldn’t you ask that?”

-thud!

Dyke got down on both knees.

“I… I came here after a poor harvest, so I don’t know much about such things. Because I was only focused on finding chatelaine strawberries.”

-Tiring!

▶Conditions have been completed.◀

▶You can designate the NPC as an agent target. Whether or not to designate is determined by selection.◀

“You may not believe it, but… I didn’t listen to anything that was said. No, it would be correct to say that I didn’t hear it. That’s why I won’t ask you. Because I know those statistics are real!”

-Park!

“Please… save my sister…!”

Dyke stuck his head in his head and instead of asking me a question, he asked me a favor.

It was a clear attitude of obedience without any doubt.

▶How would you answer Dyke’s question?

“As you may have heard, I am currently managing 1/3 of the Chatrene territory. You cannot use the land to grow crops for food inside your estate, but you can grow your own chatelaine strawberries on a small piece of land.”

“Well, then…!”

I said I could only raise “, but there was no guarantee. Strawberries may not be produced at the grade you want.”

“…Isn’t this more likely than something you can never get your hands on?”

He seems like a wise guy.

It’s the last option.

[ 2. In return for following me, I promise to give you strawberries of a high enough grade. ]☑

“Are you ready to follow me?”

There is no need to write such long words.

Will you follow me? Or not?

That’s enough.

“Yes…! If there was a way to save my sister… I would do anything!”

▶We hire Dyke as our agent!◀

[List of Chatelaine Territory Agents]

[1. Ferdi]

[ 2. Dyke ]☑

***

[Dike]

[Intimacy: 0%]

Dyke, who came in as an agent, no longer showed me the gray box.

A clearly visible white box.

Intimacy displayed as 0%.

This allowed me to use Dyke’s agent abilities.

[ 2. Dyke ]

▶Rank: B

▶Ability to perform: Controller

[You can check the visitation and entry records of the Chatrene territory, and if your rank is high, it also becomes possible to control and block visitors. ]

Dyke’s ability is control.

Since all traders who entered the Chatrene territory can be confirmed, it is possible to find out what kind of intervention took place from outside.

Since the rank is a bit low, it is possible to control commoners, small-scale peddlers, and wandering merchants among visitors, but it is impossible to control nobles unless the will of the people of the territory is shared.

Still, this should be enough.

I already have the basis to block external intervention.

‘Is planting strawberries first the key?’

Since it’s not a game, having to plant it yourself is quite a pain.

‘First of all, should I use Ferdi’s abilities as an informant to get some information?’

When I was thinking so much.

Two guys I had forgotten about came to visit.

-Tadadadadak!

“Hey, hey! Trisha!”

“Oppa. Are you planning to plant strawberries in the spare field? I can help you with that!”

“What?”

Trisha swallowed her saliva and continued.

“Oppa. Not long ago, I asked Ferdi how much Chatelaine strawberries and Chatelaine grapes cost?”

“…How do you know that?”

“That price is all written down by me!”

Finding out the trading price of chatelaine strawberries and chatelaine grapes was the groundwork for accepting Dyke.

This was done to create tables and draw graphs to show statistics that were easier to persuade.

But, Tricia wrote down all the prices?

‘no. for a moment.’

Isn’t that the right approach?

How does Ferdi know the price of Chatelaine strawberries and Chatelaine grapes?

Chatelaine strawberries and chatelaine grapes are currently dominated by nobles, so there are separate trading partners.

Looking at it now, it makes no sense that Ferdi, a thief whose name is widely known in Chatelaine, would know about this. No matter how much of an informant you are, you probably won’t be able to find out by eavesdropping.

The answer came quickly.

…It means that those prices were really given by Trisha.

But how does Trisha know the market price?

He is an informant like Ferdi and has a lower rank. How did he find out?

Information is not something that can be easily obtained. The more detailed it is, the more effort someone has put into it. And someone with this level of sophistication…

-Pisik.

‘I think I know why Ferdi did that.’

Trisha has always been friendly towards Karssein. She is the one who cares about this estate more than anyone else.

So, Trisha wasn’t hidden by Ferdi.

I guess he came here to help me on his own.

“You were Brem’s granddaughter. Trisha.”