Asher squinted to get a good look at Zenas’ face. In the mural, he was seated at the end of the large hall, which had thick round pillars, and because of his position, his image was small.
When Asher saw his face, his right eyebrow raised. He had an uncanny resemblance to his father, James Ashbourne.
His father began like a true Ashbourne and became a silver-ranked swordsman at age 30. His talent made him the next baron, but he turned about and killed the rest of the Ashourne, but not for any reason.
Since he wasn’t the rightful heir, they sought to overthrow him, so he had to get rid of them, but this left him as the last Ashourne on the entire continent.
His drastic rise was met with a pathetic fall when he began chasing after skirts and drinking himself to stupor.
Asher knew the very cause of his father and brother’s deaths: They left the ways of the Ashbournes.
Ashbournes were warriors. They deprived themselves of pleasure to become formidable warriors that brought bone-chilling fear to their enemies.
While Asher was lost in thought, Mary left and returned. “Lord Asher, your meal is ready.”
“Mnn,” Asher nodded.
He went to the new dining room, which is much smaller but had a large window that gave him a nice view of his town. On the wooden table was a small meal, befitting middle-class citizens.
Kelvin stood beside the table with a wry smile.
“It might look small, but the bread is freshly baked, and the milk is from our best cow.”
Asher snorted.
“You don’t have to advertise food to a hungry man, Kelvin.”
After sitting, he took a bite of the bread, and his eyes brightened. “It tastes really good. So we have a skilled baker among the castle servants.”
Kelvin smiled. “Mary baked it. Although she’s young, she’s a great cook.”
“I see. How many servants are in the castle?”
“Five, My Lord. Three cleaners and two cooks.” Kelvin responded.
“What about the others I saw in the former dining hall?”
Asher looked into Kelvin’s eyes.
“I sent them away. There is no need for excesses.”
“Good.” Asher smiled.
Asher took the cup of milk, and his taste buds jubilated as the warm milk ran down his esophagus.
When Asher was done eating, Kelvin placed his hand in front of his mouth and coughed.
“What do you want to say?” Asher asked as he leaned back.
“I’ve contacted a good friend of mine, Jon. He would sell the iron ore to the nobles on the high plains. We just have to pay him.”
“Let him sell the iron ores, and we’ll pay him. Take me to the farming sector.”
On the way, Kelvin felt much pressure due to the fact that Asher just agreed to his idea without questioning the loyalty of Jon. This went to show how much Asher trusted him, but it also put a lot of pressure on him.
Even he trusted his friend; this was a big deal, so he would have to warn him.
Outside the walls, Asher and Kelvin walked up to the farmers. There was a full sack of maize seeds, which they were about to plant. Their last harvest was pitiful, but at this stage, such a harvest was normal.
When they saw Asher, all of them fell on their knees. “Milord, what brings you to these lowly servants?” An elderly woman said it amicably.
Asher smiled and squatted before her, causing her eyes to widen. “I came to see if I could help.”
“You want to farm?!” A male farmer gasped.
“Maybe.”
“Lord!!” This time around, not only the farmers but also Kelvin exclaimed.
“Hahaha!”
Asher burst into laughter and got to his feet. While speaking to the elderly woman, he touched the ground and tried several ways for the system to bring up a notification concerning upgrading the soil, but nothing appeared.
“Go on. I want to watch.” He said.
As a farmer opened the sack and Asher saw the small seeds, he got an idea. The moment he thought about it, a notification appeared.
[Would the host like to upgrade these ordinary maize seeds by fusion? Yes or No]
Without a second thought, Asher agreed, and the sack was covered by a burst of white light. When the light went down, everyone gasped.
The large bag filled with maize seeds had been reduced to a third of its quantity.
Asher brought out a handful of maize seeds, and the resplendent golden seeds, two times bigger than the ordinary ones, glimmered before his eyes.
[Bronze-ranked maize seeds: absorb mana and grow in all seasons, including winter. Can grow three times faster than ordinary maize seeds and produce fatter and sweeter corn.
‘Three times faster!’
This meant it would only take the maize a month to be fully grown!
Asher lifted his head and saw the farmers staring at the seeds with glowing eyes. “Plant them. In a month’s time, they’ll be ripe for harvest.”
The elderly woman had her doubts but held her tongue. She would prove him wrong a month later and slap out that arrogance. Although the maize seeds looked like they fell from the skies, she doubted that a maize would suddenly change its growth period.
Asher then turned to Kelvin. “Don’t we have livestock?”
…
After a short while, Asher gazed at a thousand wild cattle grazing the fields, one kilometer away from the town. Kelvin reported that Peter bought them with the few they had and reared them just to sell them for his gain.
All the milk gotten from the cattle was Peter’s to consume.
[Criteria fulfilled. Would the host like to upgrade 1015 cattle to the bronze rank? Yes or No.]
‘Upgrade!’
Swoosh!
[Ivory-White Cow: Produces sweeter milk and is more docile.]
Asher scoffed. ‘Just sweeter milk?’
He fused two cows, and when the light went down, a 1.7-meter-tall cow with white skin and beautiful blue horns with blue eyes appeared.
Without being told, Asher knew this cow was a silver-ranked one!
