Offer a Tribute and Become an Archmage - Chapter 155



Only Noblemtl

Episode 155.

Even just breathing costs money.

Just living costs money.

Ronobe was watching his granary being emptied in real time, to the point where he began to wonder if humans were harmful beings who lived to spend money.

“Why do these guys eat so much rice?”

It’s not a proper town yet.

Even if they farm, the harvest season never comes. Even if they hunt, they are not skilled enough to catch a proper game. Hopper’s economy has not yet been restored, as the villagers, who have no special talents, live off of nothing.

That’s why they became beasts that consumed food just by living. Of course, the one who took care of that food was Hopper’s master, Ronobe. Ronobe’s money disappeared.

“What about the laborers?”

“The laborers still pay. They buy wheat and wine.”

“That’s fortunate.”

But those laborers also receive money from Ronobe. They receive the basic part from Baron Allobato, but they have a new contract with Ronobe who wants more.

The plan was to carve out more houses and mountains, and even build castles.

It was something that would take at least ten years.

I gave them a gold coin as a deposit and promised to give them another gold coin if they successfully completed the project. Of course, I didn’t have to worry about the cost of materials and miscellaneous things.

‘The current population of Hopper is 31 people.’

There were thirteen laborers, seven private soldiers, and ten residents, and if you include the Ronobe and Beni, there were a total of thirty-two people.

Thirty-two mouths. Just to eat one loaf of bread, I needed thirty-two pieces, and just to eat one meal, I needed thirty-two bowls of stew.

“These bread-worm-like bastards…”

Of course, there is still plenty of gold.

A single gold coin can buy several years’ worth of food for the villagers. But that’s one thing, and this is another.

“Why should I spend my money? Shouldn’t these guys be paying me taxes? Liam! What do you think!”

“…Your Majesty, you know that now is the time to spend money. It’s only been a month and you’re already like this? It’s going to be like this for a few more months.”

“When can I get my taxes?”

“Normally, taxes are paid quarterly, but they don’t have anything to pay anyway.”

That’s right. These guys were just married guys who didn’t even have proper, decent jobs.

“What if I end up a beggar? There are so many places I can spend my money…”

Walls need to be built, and a castle needs to be built. In order to protect the village from the monsters and bandits that sprout up like weeds, as well as the personnel that manages it, soldiers need to increase.

That would require a lot of money.

“I think I understand how the bandits feel.”

In this era, having money did not solve all problems. Even if you had a lot of money, you could not spend it recklessly, which was the law of the world. If you bragged about having a lot of money, thieves would come looking for you from all over the place. If they were bandits or thieves, it was okay, but if they were thieves disguised as nobles, it was annoying.

Anyway, since there were so many things lacking, I wanted to just steal them from other villages. Whether it be people, livestock, or anything else.

“You shouldn’t understand…”

Liam was dumbfounded.

“First of all… shouldn’t we create a job?”

“job?”

“Yes. Even if the women are made to clean the mansion or work as maids, don’t the men have to go out and work?”

“Yeah, right.”

It is said that some of the guys ask Benny to teach them archery. The ones without talent drop out after two days, and only about three learn.

“What are the rest of you doing?”

“The rest? They farm.”

We are growing the pepper plants that Ronobe planted and the various crops that Kayobe brought.

Pepper is a crop that requires more care than you might think.

The most important things are temperature and humidity.

Even if the temperature is like that, the humidity needs to be managed. The branches also need to be pruned, and the leaves need to be free of foreign substances, said Kayobe.

The most important thing is pepper.

The work of tending the peppers is done by those Ronobe has carefully selected. The rest are probably sowing things like onions, leeks, beets, and potatoes.

‘Because of the totem, whatever you plant grows quickly.’

If there is any silver lining, that is the fortunate part.

“The other guys were following the laborers and doing odd jobs here and there.”

The women earn their keep by doing the laborers’ laundry or doing odd jobs, or by going into the mountains to pick berries or dig up edible roots.

What do you mean they were talented slaves? They couldn’t do anything.

“Should I tell them to build a stove or something? Maybe they should build a big bakery.”

“There’s no way it won’t work.”

Food won’t be a big problem since we can get it from the city.

“I should tell them to bring a bunch of sacks of wheat and make some bread.”

It’s bread, you know. Since anyone can do it by kneading flour, wouldn’t someone with the right aptitude do it? As I was thinking along those lines, the area around the mansion suddenly became noisy.

“Liam. Something must have happened.”

“I’ll go out.”

A little while after Liam left.

Liam ran in, panting, and shouted.

“My lord! One of the guards is dead!”

“In the dungeon?!”

“yes!”

“No, why! No. It would be better to hear it from Aden.”

Why did he die when I armed him with money earned through sweat and tears? Ronobe hurriedly left the mansion and headed towards the dungeon where the guards were gathered.

“My lord…!”

Aden knelt before Ronobe.

“Because I failed to train him properly, your lord’s soldiers… died! It’s all my fault!”

“…Why did you die.”

“that is…”

The dead soldier was Strong.

As his name suggests, he was a muscular and aggressive guy who went into dungeons to hunt monsters and gather mushrooms.

“They say the goblin had mushrooms.”

“Goblin? There was a goblin inside too?”

“yes.”

But didn’t this guy just pick a mushroom and eat it out of curiosity?

“Huh? You ate that? Didn’t I warn you never to eat it?”

“Yes, but…”

It looks like he just ignored it and ate it.

And then he lost his mind and started making a scene like a horny dog, and tried to rape his colleagues before vomiting blood and dying.

They are all male soldiers…

“It’s all my fault! Please punish me!!”

Ronobe was speechless.

How can there be such a retarded death?

I told him not to eat it because it could clearly be poisonous or turn him into a monster, but he ate it anyway and died.

It was so absurd that I couldn’t even speak.

“My Lord, how about we put the Aden Guard Captain under house arrest?”

Suddenly Liam whispered in my ear.

“What? Why?”

For a moment, I thought Liam was being jealous of Aden and being wary. But that wasn’t the case.

“Lord Aden wants to take responsibility. That way, he can secure his position and gain the trust of his soldiers.”

“Is that so?”

“It may be true that I was wrong. I disobeyed the lord’s orders. And even if I were to be imprisoned, it wouldn’t be much of a punishment.”

That’s right.

I felt much better when I thought of it as a show. Ronobe coughed once and spoke in a solemn tone.

“The soldier is soon to be Hopper’s property. The crime of damaging that property is very serious. So, uh… Captain Aden, you are to remain in custody until the punishment is determined.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Soon, the cries of the soldiers behind them could be heard. They were not cries of mourning for the death of Private Strong. They were tears of regret for Aden covering up their sins, and of the death of their comrades.

“It seems that the captain of the Aden Guard is more intelligent than I thought.”

“I know.”

Anyway, one soldier died.

I felt very sad.

Still, it was fortunate that they brought the body and recovered the weapons he was wearing.

‘Huh! Did I prioritize money over human lives?’

Is this the nobility?

Is this the permanent resident?

Ronobé was creepy.

“But, is this right?”

It might be better to get used to it.

Because people are originally weak and would die if they fell forward and broke the back of their head.

*

The next day.

Ronobe woke up in the morning from his soft woolen bed and fumbled with his hands.

The warmth that had been there was no longer there. As I left the bedroom, the maid greeted me politely and brought me some hot water.

As I washed my hands and lightly washed my face as if I was used to it, the maid handed me a towel.

It was a wool towel.

When I handed her a towel that had been wiped dry and even swept up to her nose, the maid politely accepted it without any change in expression.

“What was your name?”

“My name is Ella, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for your hard work. Is the meal ready?”

“The lady is doing it.”

“Hey, I told you to tell the kids to do it.”

Even though Benny hired a housekeeper, she still wanted to cook for herself. I asked her why she did that when it must have been difficult.

‘It’s easier for me to do it. It’s also reassuring.’

I said.

I don’t know if it’s comfortable, but I think I know what it means to feel safe.

Ronobe is now a lord.

Although he only holds the title of baronet, which is not hereditary, most people know that this is not the end of the world for him.

The same goes for Benny.

So, it was natural to be careful about what he ate, even if nothing else. There was no need to suspect poisoning at the beginning, but Benny was trying to manage the kitchen himself, looking ahead ten or twenty years from now, not now.

Although she was a knight, she also had a greedy desire not to miss out on her work as Lady Ronobe.

“Are you awake?”

“Oh, did you come back from training?”

“yes.”

Liam came in after finishing his morning training, drying himself off. The maids’ faces turned red and they handed each other towels.

“hmm.”

A vassal who is favored by the lord, yet muscular and non-womanizing.

It was bound to be popular.

Of course, all the maids here were married women, so Liam wasn’t interested.

“Liam, that would be nice. The maids would do his laundry and give him towels.”

“Ahem. Stop teasing me.”

“That’s right. If it weren’t for the maids, I would have had to do laundry for two years… What a waste. What a waste.”

“Oh my…”

Liam shut his mouth, not wanting to say anything else. He sat down at the table and the maids brought him food.

‘I really succeeded…’

This is the feeling I have every morning these days.

When I close my eyes, it still comes to mind.

Daily life at Hopper.

The daily routine of waking up from a cramped corner of the house with a shabby appearance, following Venom to do farm work, being treated like a dog, or climbing the mountain to dig up firewood and roots.

After living such a shitty life as a serf, now you live in a fancy mansion, order around maids, and eat with your retainers!

The food was also spectacular, with chicken stew and fried chicken pieces. The fried chicken, marinated in salt and pepper, was delicious just as it was when freshly fried.

“Wow! This is it!”

Ronobe even gave up his title as lord and went for chicken and deep kisses. Benny happily watched her husband eat while Liam frowned at his master who was greedily eating.

“Your dignity…”

“There is no dignity to be maintained in front of chicken!”

Thinking he was provoking a fight, Ronobé also aimed for Liam’s chicken with his forked hands. Liam, who had his chicken stolen out of nowhere, hissed like a wildcat.

“What are you doing! I was saving up!”

“Hehehe, if you don’t eat it, it will be taken away. Don’t you know? This is the way of nature.”

“What the hell are you talking about!”

But once the chicken was stolen, it never came back. Ronobé took revenge by devouring Liam’s chicken in one bite.

“While you sleep… I will stay by your side to make sure you don’t get stabbed.”

He was talking indirectly about stabbing me with a knife while I was sleeping.

“No. Don’t come.”

Ronobe refused outright and finished his meal.

“Benny, thank you for the food.”

Benny smiled faintly. That gentle, sunny smile looked even prettier today. I wanted to take her to the bedroom right away, but unfortunately, there was a lot to do.

“Liam. What should I do today?”

“… The Hopper top will arrive. Probably sometime today. And the guards have begged for Ethan to be released from his confinement. They said they would take the punishment in his stead. Other than that, there’s nothing else to say.”

“Really? What do you think?”

“The soldiers asked for it, and since there’s nothing to lose except that one guy did something stupid, I’ll let him off the job and cut the soldiers’ salaries.”

“Isn’t a salary cut too much?”

“That may be true, but punishment is necessary. That way, those who remain will not disobey the lord’s orders.”

“hmm…”

He said that punishment was necessary, even for the sake of military discipline. As expected, he was a man who had been through two wars, so he was very good at this kind of thing.

“Ronobe. It smells too much in the office. Don’t practice there. Do it somewhere else.”

“A lot?”

“Yeah. How about we make a meat warehouse while we’re at it? Like a butcher shop. There’s also meat that Kayobe and Piyobe bring in. We’ll need a warehouse.”

“I wonder.”

There’s a lot to make anyway. I have to build a bakery, a butchery, and a freezer. It’s getting hotter and hotter, so it’s getting harder to store meat.

“With my magic, making a freezer is no easy task. Later on, I’ll charge you money to take care of the meat and stuff?”

“It looks okay. Meat spoils quickly. But wouldn’t it be better to just sell ice instead? It would sell very well.”

“Really? That sounds good too.”

Of course, it is still a dream that cannot be dreamed of because the people who want to sell are slaves who have no money. Even now, the reality is that they receive food every few days and record it in the ledger.

All the food given to them is debt.

The land they farmed, their houses, everything was in debt. They called it a village, but it would be no different to say that this was a slave village of Ronobe.

‘All people are slaves.’

Such a Ronobedo was no different from a slave to food, a slave to money, a slave to magic, or a slave to God. Where in the world is there anyone who has complete freedom?

Only heaven is the only one who is free.

There will only be sky.

‘Isn’t the sky also a slave to something?’

Maybe so.

Of course, it wasn’t something to worry about now.

After finishing his meal, Ronobé went into his study to read some parchments, then asked Liam to take care of the rest before going outside.

Reading was still difficult.

“My lord! You are here!”

It was Norman.

Norman, the foreman!

A man who is more suited to being a squad leader than a captain.

“Why are you doing that?”

“A huge rock appeared in the morning. We couldn’t move it with our own strength.”

“You can just break it with a pickaxe.”

“It’s so hard that it’s breaking the pickaxe! My lord, could you help me with just a little bit of magic?”

“Hmm. Okay. Let’s go.”

The laborers are concentrating on expanding the land and tamping the ground. Since Hopper itself is a mountain village, they have to cut down the mountain to expand the village. The stones, trees, and even the soil that come out when you break down a mountain are all materials needed for construction, so there was no reason not to do it.

By destroying nature in this way, humans live more comfortable and convenient lives.

It was a truly human act.

“It’s your lord!”

“My Lord! I have been waiting for you!”

“It’s your lord!”

It felt good and bad to see all these old men welcoming me.

“Is that it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It was a huge rock stuck in a pile of dirt.

It was a rock that looked like it could easily crush one of Ronobe’s mansions if it rolled over, but it was really an incredibly large one.

“It shakes when you push it, but it just shakes and doesn’t move at all.”

“It’s a rocking rock.”

“yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

After a long time, Ronobe used Jiyu to recall modern memories.

Black oil quickly rose to the ground, clumped together, and stuck to the rocks.

“It’s magic.”

“Oh!”

It wasn’t stuck all over, but was compressed concentratedly in the center of the rock. Since it seemed like a pretty hard rock, it seemed easier to break it by concentrating on one area.

“Evacuate everyone.”

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had used oil painting. Ronobe tried his best to evacuate them and increase their anger.

“The Oil Painting of Karanqal.”

The oil stuck to the center of the rock bubbled and exploded in an instant.

Kwaaaaang-!!

There was a huge explosion.

The explosive power of oil painting, which I used after a long time, was still there.

“It’s refreshing!”

It was really refreshing. After fiddling with my internal organs for a while, using oil painting after a long time was perfect for relieving stress.

“I’ll help you out somewhere else too.”

Since I’m going to help, I think it might be better to just destroy the whole place.

It’s going to be destroyed anyway.

“Now, just a moment, my lord!”

“Why! I said I’ll destroy everything!?”

“A rock! A rock! There’s something on the rock! No, there’s something on it!!”

Boom! Kwaang! Boom-!!

Unfortunately, Ronobe couldn’t hear it. It was because he was pumping a lot of oil from the ground and bombing the area to relieve stress after a long time.

Gather the oil. Make it into a stick and swing it like a whip while cutting off the end and blowing it away. Explode the blown oil lump into emulsion. Keep doing this for a short period of time. With just that, the area around Ronobe was scorched earth.

“Kwaaaaak!”

“The lord is crazy!”

“It’s a ghost that’s crazy about explosions!”

“Ha, the sky! The sky is falling!!”

“Rock?”

In the midst of the chaos, Ronobe alone looked at the rock calmly.

“What is that?”

Inside the rock was a naked old man.

“Who is the old man?”

When Ronobe asked, the one who had emerged from the rock answered with blank eyes.

“Gergoyle. Yes! My name is Gergoyle! But… where is this place? No, what year is it now!”

“Uh… Norman. What year is it now?”

“It is the year four hundred and thirteen of the Kingdom Calendar…”

“Four hundred and thirteen!! Oh my! I’ve been trapped in that rock for a hundred years!!”

Ronobe smacked his lips as he watched Gergoyle fall to the ground, clutching the back of his neck.

I felt like I had found a useful slave.

End