A heavy wooden rapping-like noise, followed by Nathan's pleas, urging me to get up, jolted me wide awake. ''Come in'' I said while trying to force myself out of the bed, yawning uncontrollably.
''I feel like a new man, I truly needed the rest'' I continued, watching as Nathan opened the door, trying to see whether I was okay or not.
''Is everything alright?'' I said, wanting to understand why Nathan was behaving so weirdly.
''You have been sleeping for two days straight, Sir. I tried to wake you up numerous times, only to be greeted by your snoring. I was thinking of contacting your esteemed father if you were to stay that way. I was worried sick,'' Nathan said with relief written on his face, observing me as a hawk, ready to clash if I were to show any signs of sickness.
''Sorry for worrying you Nathan, I hope I didn't cause you any trouble,'' I whispered apologetically, trying to hide my slight embarrassment.
Realizing I had slept for over two days, I immediately got up and dressed, spending a good chunk of my morning convincing Nathan I didn't need any assistance regarding what clothes to wear.
''I truly need to have a talk with him for that'' I mentally noted, ready to busy myself with my barony responsibilities.
After having a hearty meal, I summoned Nathan to the office that used to belong to my father, to discuss the files he organized for me.
''Nathan, what I need is a good summary regarding our barony. I want to know how many people we have, how we earn money, what we produce, and what options we can afford to take to have even a slight chance of bettering our situation. What is the average education level of our citizens, starting with the adults? What skills do they have? how much of our land is usable? how many types of animals do our barony host?
Leave nothing out, Nathan'' I stated quite thoughtfully, knowing that whatever was the reason for me being here, it had to wait. Right now I didn't possess the means or the knowledge to figure it out.
After receiving his orders, Nathan headed towards the stables to grab a horse and visit the village located down the hill. If he was to give me a detailed report concerning the stuff I asked, he first has to question and check for himself.
'' That will keep him busy for a while'' I mused, deciding it was an excellent opportunity for me to wander around the mansion without any prying eyes. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, I just needed some time for myself to truly understand my position.
''If my memory serves me right, there is a library in this estate, and if I am lucky, the books may contain some knowledge regarding this world.''
Even though the original Ciaphas was the son of a baron, his education was that of a peasant's. Even though he had some knowledge regarding our fief, whether that was farmland, production, routes, and neighbours, that was it. Thankfully when he was young, his parents hired a teacher for him to learn how to write and with it, some basic history lessons entailing long forgotten tales of this kingdom's heroes. Thanks to that, I can at least read the books here and find out more about this world.
After scanning tens of books, I finally found the one I needed.
''Continent of Istvan and its marvels'' a children's book written to help your young child comprehend the world!
''Well, I can't be too picky I guess, this is the only book that will at least give me a glimpse of this earth.''
Reading the book ended up being a real chore. having wasted almost all of my afternoon, reading about how incredible our Kingdom is as compared to the rest, made me think a lot about their entertainment and way of learning.
The only thing I managed to get out of this foolish book was that the continent we lived on was known as Istvan and that our Kingdom named Tirisea, was one of the best…
''Well, that was a waste of time,'' I blubbered, settling for a hot cup of tea to ease my mind. Despite being dirt-poor as a barony, we still have luxuries such as tea, I murmured, understanding that something as cheap as a cup of tea is considered a luxurious item to the rest of the world…
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After lingering in my office for what seemed like an eternity, sipping some tasteless tea, and wishing I at least had some biscuits served along with it, A heavy knock snapped me out of my trance.
''Sir, here is the information you requested. All are categorized and put together in order of importance, starting with what we produce and sell each month.'' Reported Nathan, making sure everything was as stated.
''Thank you, Nathan,'' I said enthusiastically, accepting some form of leathery parchment from his sweaty hands.
''seems like you came back home immediately after finishing what I asked you to do. You must be feeling exhausted'' I said apologetically, advising him to take some well-earned rest after all the trouble he went through.
Apart from being the main butler of the Curze family, he was also an awakened warrior, the ONLY awakened warrior our barony possessed.
Being rude and ungrateful were some things I couldn't afford to be. I couldn't be like my former self if I wanted to have a slim chance of success in the future.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
''Hmmm, it looks like some sort of animal skin peasants tend to use, to inscribe on, which means that paper must be worth a fortune,'' I concluded while holding the parchment he brought, trying to sip my now cold tea.
''argh, truly bland,'' I said, spitting the contents back into the cup.
According to Nathan's report, we currently have around 100 sheep that we use to produce wool, being the most common source of cloth. We also utilize part of their skin for parchment, the principal material of books and official documents since the paper is extremely hard to produce. The meat is either sold to the market or straight up eaten and their milk is made into cheese. Peasants rarely consume red meat, but they raise large flocks of sheep for wool and especially for parchment.
After all, a Kingdom like Tirisea needed a whole lot of sheepskins if it were to keep track of all the happenings around it.
Around 20 families had Cattle, totalling thirty, including both cows and oxen. They produce milk and meat and cowhide for leather. Most of the milk is made into cheese or butter since the milk will not keep well without refrigeration. Cows produce milk only for a short time of the year anyway. Most peasant families would have liked to have a cow or two but its price was a significant determent.
''Looks like pigs are only semi-domesticated,'' I mumbled, remarking that there was only a handful of them under peasant control. They generally ran wild around the barony rather than being kept and fed at the farm.
Their favourite nourishment was acorns, so oak woods were prized as zones to fatten pigs before the major November roundup and slaughter.
Lastly, we had the chickens, the free-range chickens. We had around 200 Chickens wandering around every farmstead. They are used for feathers, meat, and primarily eggs. The free-range chickens would try to hide their nests, and farmers would attempt to find the nests before the eggs began developing into baby chicks. The eggs are very small compared to the ones we know, barely the size of a golf ball. Nathan also noted some wildlife, mainly bears and wolves, and also some species, commonly known as Tigra, probably some form of tiger or lion yet their numbers couldn't be verified, much less accounted for, being out in the wild and all.
Despite having quite the amount of livestock, most of it is used to alleviate the hunger that strikes every fall and winter, making their numbers drop dramatically until the new breeding season cycles back.
Under the Animal category, which Nathan meticulously arranged, was the Magic beast one.
The concept of animals being capable of yielding magic was a foreign one to me, only chancing upon it in novels and anime I used to enjoy in the past.
''Looks like our barony hosts some surprises, after all,'' I murmured, desiring to learn more about them. If you were a young child full of energy and active imagination, growing up in the age of anime and fantasy movies, the only dream you had was to also, someday, yield magic. To fly high amongst the stars, crush mountains with your mighty fist and conquer the hearts of all the beauties you encountered.
Some Tigra, due to some mutation or a lucky chance, managed to evolve and become capable of enhancing their claws and teeth with wind magic, elevating them to Rank one beasts, also known as elemental beasts.
Despite being extremely deadly and capable of massacring the townfolk if they so wished, they were rarely seen by the human eye. The last eyewitness report of one nearing our village was ten years old and that by one old peasant who wasn't known for his credibility.
''They can probably sense Nathan's battle prowess and avoid unnecessary risks,'' I contemplated, realizing that even a Rank one beast was considered an apex predator.
Reading Nathan's next report only made my eyes bulge.
'' WHAT THE F*CK?''
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''My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge! There isn't any other explanation for this,'' I fumed, wishing to grab my father and give him a good slapping.
I always knew that people tend to be superstitious, especially those living in villages, near forests, and mountains. Still, not once in my short life have I witnessed such lunacy! They have to be stupid, there can't be any other way.
''My people are stupid,'' I repeated, trying to understand what I was reading. If you haven't guessed already, the foolish peasants of this damned barony of mine believed that planting crops must be done only once every year. If that wasn't crazy enough, they offered 25% of their yield to the spirit of the forest or something. What kind of spirit is this I don't know but what the hell is wrong with them? They thought that burning each fall a part of their yield would bring them good fortune and health…
''THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS'' I spluttered, trying to keep some of my cool yet failing miserably.
Reading, again and again, Nathan's report regarding our agriculture and the superstitions of our folk only made me lose my temper faster.
''They cry for food and shortages, begging for scraps and trading their valuables to that shady trader all the time only so they could waste their harvest like that'' I scoffed, wanting nothing more than to beat some sense into them.
''Even that shady trader makes more profit than all our lands combined,'' I raged, wondering about the details of the said contract with our barony.
Despite having good soil in some parts of our barony, sadly, due to the irrigation problems combined with the contaminated water, our lands were doomed. Thanks to our lovely neighbours I may add, our crops were barely edible.
The crops the peasants produce are mostly wheat, rye, and corn.
It is barely enough to feed themselves and their animals yet despite all that, they are forced to hand over 50% to our barony as taxes along with two silver coins every two months. Considering the other baronies along the kingdom, my father was quite generous when it came to taxes. Most, if not all Nobles, charge at least 70% of your yield along with at least double the coin.
It is laughable that despite all that, they still sacrifice what is left of their harvest to imaginary gods and spirits.
''Some people just need that mental comfort,'' I shrugged, keeping in mind to put a stop to this waste the moment the opportunity appeared.
Reading the parchment only made me more disappointed regarding the illiteracy of my subjects.
They don't even know the concept of fertilizer, thinking that with plenty of water and tribute to their spirits, their harvest will become bountiful.
It is painfully obvious to me that the farmers don't even know how to enrich the soil, much less get a good yield out of it, I lamented.
''It Looks like the farming industry in this world is not even in its medieval stages. The crop rotation method hasn't even been introduced, and studies on maximizing your harvest are left for the peasants to figure out on their own.
To add insult to injury, instead of cultivating barley which is plentiful in this area, they decided to use it as a cheap material for their roofing tops.
'' THEY ARE WASTING GOOD BEER PROFITS'' I screamed, trying to vent some of my anger to whatever God or spirit was listening, probably even laughing his guts out.
'' Who even taught them to do this? who is this ''genius'' who thought it was a good idea to put barley instead of, I don't know, grass maybe, as insulation for their roofs?''
''At least it can't get any worse than this'' I cried, trembling with the thought of reading the rest of the report.
''Don't set red flags, idiot'' I whimpered before smacking myself.
''Let us see what else is there, with a bit of luck we can salvage this situation'' I encouraged myself before continuing reading.
''You have to be shitting me…..'''