Work had started, and Marcus's estate turned into a very busy place.
He personally provided accommodations to everyone who had signed the confidentiality contract with him.
They stayed in his mansion and conducted most of the processing there.
Apart from the farmers and a few others who had to head out to chop trees that would be used, most of the others didn't leave the estate's vicinity.
Today was the third day since they started their work.
Dorian had promised to present Marcus with some progress today, and the young man was expecting it.
Currently, Marcus, Bradley, and Brown were standing by the estate's gates.
It was just a few minutes before dawn, and there were already over three thousand people lined up in front of his gate with bowls in their hands.
Since the grains and other goods they purchased had arrived, Marcus had been feeding those who were unable to feed themselves.
Passing out a notice around Agard that one could find food if they came to his estate before dawn and before dusk.
Marcus had tasked his two cooks and even employed four others to join them and ease their work, to cook enough meals twice a day to keep everyone going.
Even Marcus wasn't exempt.
He too ate from this congregational meal, as well as his knights and those under his employment.
"Jeline, have I given you too much work?" Marcus looked at this cook of his with a bit of concern in his gaze.
Jeline was a kind woman who had lost her kids and husband at a very young age to the evil minds of cultists.
Since the incident, she had never healed.
With her above-average, dashing looks and brown hair that could tell tales to chestnuts, she had garnered a lot of suitors from many backgrounds in the past.
But she rejected all of them.
Jeline found no love in this world. But she didn't have the courage to end her life.
And because of that, she rarely showed any expression on her face.
However, this morning, she was looking a bit… weary.
"Lord Marcus, no, rather… I feel a bit better and happy that you're doing this. That I can partake in this endeavor. Say a lot, that there is not only evil in this world." She replied gently as she stirred the soup in the pot.
Today's breakfast wasn't any different from yesterday's own. Freshly baked bread and beef-flavored soup.
Even though it wasn't much, it was a lot to the mass that was gathered in front of the estate's gates.
A faint smile appeared on Marcus's face. He knew this woman's story.
"I'm not as kind as you think, Jeline."
"I never said that you were kind, my lord."
"Oh," Marcus was a bit surprised. "Then what am I?"
"You are not evil, lord Marcus, and that alone is sufficient for me," Jeline answered, maintaining her tone throughout.
"What if I told you that I'm not feeding these people for free and I will demand repayment one way or another in the future?"
"It would be foolish of them to think that there's something like a free meal in this world. Regardless, the future will still be indicative of what I see in you."
Marcus smiled. 'This woman is weird, but also direct in her speech.'
The pain one experiences when they lose a family member to the cold hands of death.
He was familiar with it, but at the same time, the feeling felt distant.
The familiarity came from the agony his heart experienced when he lost his father.
And the distance… Marcus never had the chance to truly experience the warmth of his mother's embrace, because she had died right after giving birth to him.
For this, his elder siblings harbored hate in their hearts for him.
A feeling that still hasn't left them.
Marcus sighed, 'happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.' He didn't like to think about his past too much.
Jeline stared at Marcus for a while.
"What?"
"Nothing, my lord." Jeline shook her head before walking up to a bell.
She rang the bell, signifying to everyone that it was time for breakfast to be served.
"Once again, a weird woman." He muttered.
"Lord Marcus," Bradley called out.
"Yes?" Looking at this admin of his, Marcus could tell that the man was worried about something.
"Just spill your heart out, Bradley."
"Sir, this cannot… it is not sustainable." It was hard for him to say this as it made him feel like he was trying to take food out of these people's mouths.
But it was the truth.
"What's not sustainable?" Marcus feigned ignorance, teasing him.
"If we keep on feeding everyone like this, with everything I have purchased, we might struggle to keep on going after two months."
"I thought you were already aware that I was planning on doing this?"
"I-I was, but not on this scale. I thought we would keep some to get us by for winter. But at this rate, we're likely to starve with the masses."
Marcus laughed, "Settle down Bradley. It won't get to that point. If our lands start yielding crops, we won't have to worry as much. Winter is still five to six months away. We have a bit of time."
"My lord, you're becoming unrecognizable," Bradley muttered as his worries weren't tamed.
Marcus heard that, but he said nothing about it.
'With the knowledge in my mind…'
Evita ran to his side before whispering into his ear. What she whispered seemed to have brought him joy as Marcus smiled brightly.
"Bradley, stay here and help maintain the crowd." With that, he walked away.
The western extreme of his mansion was turned into a blacksmith workshop and in just two days, the place looked nothing like its past.
By the time Marcus made it here, he saw all the blacksmiths, five of them, gathered around an item.
Dorian smiled proudly as he too continued to look at the Iron Moldboard Plow in front of him.
Was it difficult to make? Not particularly. The blueprint was detailed enough to ease the difficulty.
The only thing that posed some difficulty was getting the right measurements.
Dorian didn't understand the units of measurement that he saw on the blueprints.
"It looks good." Another blacksmith, Hoffman, said as he rubbed his chin.
He was in doubt when they first arrived in Agard, and even more so when Marcus presented them with a confidentiality contract.
But after seeing the Chain Irrigation Pump blueprint, all his worries vanished.
He too, like Dorian, became hooked.
While Dorian was working on the Moldboard, Hoffman was working on the mechanical grain reaper.
While the other blacksmiths worked on the rest.
Currently, everything Marcus presented them, apart from the irrigation pump, was ready.
As for the pump, they had made the necessary parts for it and the rest was left to the carpenters to complete the build.
"Gentleman," Marcus called out, unable to hide his joy.
"Lord Marcus!"
"I heard that you all have completed your task."
"With success, my lord." Dorian laughed.
[+20 Achievement Points]
The moment Marcus saw this, he too began laughing.
He was ecstatic.
Marcus ran his hands through the body of the tools in the workshop.
Without wasting any time, he urged all of them to come with him so that they could all witness what they helped him create.
Out on the farmland, Marcus and the blacksmiths met up with the Surfan and the other farmers.
Scattered around this land were the slaves Marcus had rescued from the mine.
"Lord Governor, if we are to meet up with your schedule, then we will need more people in the field. Agard has vast but empty lands." Surfan said as he watched Marcus jump down from his horse.
Behind him were the blacksmiths and two carts.
"I'll think of how to solve that soon, but first, let us test these tools." Marcus pointed to the carts behind.
Calling out to a few slaves, Marcus asked which of the lands had the limestone mixed with soil. He wanted to start there.
After being shown, Marcus gave a few directives on how to use these farm tools, and they started to put them to the test.
As these farm tools were being revealed, the farmers around scrutinized them.
Especially the plow that they were about to test.
Surfan frowned at the iron plow.
"Lord Governor… this blade is too large, it will sink into the soil."
"I know," Marcus replied gently, saying nothing more after that.
The farmers around shook their heads.
The Lord should leave these types of work for those who are experienced. Is it until he experiences failure before he steps back?
They all thought.
As the plow was connected to a horse and being drawn across the field, a uniform wave of soil turning over appeared before their eyes.
At first, the farmers around saw nothing of it, but with the speed of the horse and the distance it had covered in over a minute, a thoughtful frown appeared on their faces.
One farmer kneeled next to the overturned soil and inserted his hands into the ground.
And then another did the same.
Almost simultaneously, a look of shock flashed across their faces.
"Lord Governor, this… this turns the earth deeper than any wooden plow!" One of them exclaimed.
"With this… one man could plow three fields in a day"
"And that's just one plow. Imagine if we had hundreds of them." Marcus smirked.
'You all don't look so smug now huh?'
Surfan stared at this young lord's face and thought, 'Has plowing a field ever been this easy?'
Perhaps the young lord wasn't as ignorant as they thought.
Surfan looked towards the sacks filled with crushed limestone and wondered.
Surfan walked along the furrow left by the plow.
The soil had been turned deep and clean, exposing the dark, moist earth beneath.
He looked back at Marcus.
"With tools like this… Agard could feed thousands upon thousands."