Elin scanned the barn. Their stocks of monstraculture measured less than half as high as the first time they cleared the area. Above-ground harvests thinned. Natural monsters fled, and the spawned barricaded themselves in their dungeons. Now, only a few days since moving in, none dared to approach the plantation.

She didn't tally the goods, that was Walter's work, and he kept records. If she asked how much silver they could expect, he provided answers for before and after guild fees and delivery costs. He also tracked expenses. Their total spending, adding in kitchen appliances and a bed, passed one gold coin, the equivalent of 365 silver coins. Elin never held the so-called 'Currency of Nobles,' yet, in a handful of days, spent one.

The 'One Coin' decree established the silver-to-gold exchange rate. If a city-minted silver coin purchased food, warmth, and light for a single person for a single day, then a kingdom-minted gold coin guaranteed the necessities for a bondservant for a year. The strict wording of the decree did not elude Elin. Only landholders, temples, and guilds enjoyed exemption from money hoarding laws. When someone wished to exceed the limit, such as affluent merchants, the law forced them to negotiate banking arrangements.

The idea of others living under her power tightened her chest. Growing up, she obeyed her mother's instructions. At Camp Wolf, she received the orders of the Temple of Gaia, Priestess Evelyn, or the military officers. Even now, scorning her own paladin-hood, she submitted to Walter, though his directives were rare.

I didn't sneak out before the sun to plot, however.

After a one-handed pull-up, she reached into a rafter and retrieved a stack of sheets wrapped in a leather cover. If Walter wrote a codex of magic, then Elin would record his character. It seemed fitting she would steal from his very stack of paper.

I, Lady Elin Folcey, daughter of Lord Richard Folcey and Lady Jeanne Agi, truthfully declare, as a member of the Order of the Witness, the actions of Walter Alvis--

After she finished committing her memories to paper, Elin looked to the main house. Smoke curled from the kitchen chimney.

"Walter?" she asked and crept inside with a bucket of spring water, "It's still early for you. Are you awake?"

He gazed at her from the hearth, the hair on one side of his head flattened, and the other, erratic. The fire crackled and danced. His early-morning ungroomed appearance felt like a deep breath.

She smiled. "Not quite, I see."

Walter tilted his head back and yawned. "A town runner woke me. Do they all beat on the door like that? Anyway, he delivered the Adventurer's Guild survey about the dungeons in our area. Figured, since I was up, I'd do my manly duty and create fire. Show gratitude, woman! Fwoosh!"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Elin stuck her tongue at him as she carried the water bucket by. "I'm grateful I do not have to wait two more hours to boil water. Now, perhaps, if the fire arrived this early every morning--"

"I'm a growing boy, I need my sleep."

Elin snickered and filled the pot over the fire.

Walter unrolled the stack of maps. "I didn't expect that. The property is a lot larger than it looks, I thought it only reached to the walls. I suppose it'd be too difficult to maintain defenses for the entire thing. We should take up Lucy's offer about repairs, after all. Oh, she wrote a lot of notes. 'Don't forget, we have a deal about repairs.' Well, okay then."

Elin chopped vegetables at a steady pace and spoke with her back turned to Walter. "I thought your interests laid in magic, not land management. Are you sure you wish to keep the surrounding turf? If so, then we must abide by the stewardship laws; if not, once we purge the area, then we must sell the rights. Selling would put gold coins in our hands. Keeping them requires a land charter, bondservants, and participation in commerce."

"Growing food?" Walter asked, "Raising animals?"

"Not necessarily, but commonly, yes. Food is always in demand. The nearby forest is another source of income. Woodsman can sell timber for construction, coppice for firewood and wattle-weaving, bark for tanning, pick mushrooms, and hunt for sport. Well-to-do landholders are permitted to cordon a section of wildwood as a luxury. It is a shame we lack a lunacite mine. Some ingredients for potpourri are only found--"

"You want to keep them, huh?" Walter said.

Elin's knife stopped cutting. "I will do as thy bid, beloved." She cleared her throat, turned three-quarters toward Walter, and, with a piece of twine, pulled her hair into a ponytail. Walter's eyes flit to her chest. After a smile, she sat on his lap and put her arms behind his neck. "But why give up without an effort, hmm? Besides, with another income stream, our future is more secure."

"When you put it like that, I don't want to say no," Walter said, "But, I get a distinct feeling that there's a catch."

"My hope is you will manage the land while I harvest the monstraculture."

"Okay, I guess. I'll need you to give me a crash-course on the basics, though."

She said, "It'll be work--"

Walter's shrug caused her voice to stall. He said, "I had a job before I isekai'd. Jeeze."

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"Damn, I didn't realize just how much power guilds, temples, and landholders had. So bondservants can't leave the land without our permission? They're basically slaves?"

Elin shook her head, "Slaves have no rights, they have no legal protections. A bondservant is different. They sign the land charter, surrender some liberties in exchange for protection and sustenance, and agree to the bylaws therein. They'll do the work expressly contracted to the standards you provide. Any extra work they do is their own profit."

"So, that's why you didn't want me joining the Mage's Guild," Walter said.

"Yes. Plus," Elin cleared her throat, "the university could not afford you."

"I couldn't cast spells then..."

"However, you possessed knowledge, did you not? Highly sought-after and skilled bondservants are going to ask to, 'see the coin,' first. They want to see you have gold reserved to feed them and their family. I heard a rumor the archmage's portion was over a thousand gold coins."

"I see your point," Walter glanced at the codex sitting on the fireplace, "I would have been ripped off, selling my knowledge for food."

Elin smiled, "So, what would you like to do, beloved?"

"Earn some money, honey. Let's sack a dungeon."