I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 94 Savage Extraction (Seeking First Subscription)
"Welcome back, my dear lord."

Lawrence greeted them at the town gate with a broad smile, then glanced behind him...

"You've brought back so many slaves to work again!"

The more slaves Lawrence had, the happier he was now.

The autumn harvest season is almost here, and food will no longer be a problem.

Lawrence may not know how to farm, but he's not stupid. The fields of abundant wheat ears clearly indicate a bountiful harvest.

“These people can only do manual labor, such as breaking stones and cutting down trees.”

Rhodes casually tossed the riding crop to Lawrence and instructed him, "Don't entrust them with any work involving core knowledge."

These newly captured soldiers, unlike the purchased slaves, were not entirely trustworthy to Rhodes.

Their families are still in the earldom, and they will certainly escape if given the chance.

Therefore, we must treat this with caution.

Of course, we can't let them eat for free.

Rod then told Lawrence about Chris's identity as a knight and asked him to make proper arrangements.

Chris, the Cavaliers' coach, will also not escape the fate of doing hard labor.

However, unlike ordinary prisoners of war, he underwent an extra procedure—his feet were chained.

This is the least you can do to show respect to the knights.

Avril came with Lawrence to greet Rhodes.

Rhodes was surprised because Avril used to stay in her room and only come out when Rhodes returned to the manor.

Avril did not go up to disturb them.

She stood to the side, staring at Rhodes, her brows slightly furrowed, sizing him up.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that Rhodes had no wounds.

Her expression softened, and her sweet smile returned to her lips.

"Why did you suddenly decide to leave the manor today?"

Rod stepped forward and spoke up.

Before Avril could speak, Lawrence spoke first: "Miss Avril has been asking about you these past few days and is very worried about you."

I told her as soon as I received the news that you were back today.

Avril hurriedly explained, "Baron Rhodes, you said it was just training, but five days is a long time for training. I also need to tell you about what happened at the salt mine..."

"Something happened at the salt mine?" Rod frowned slightly.

"No, no, they're just routine reports."

Avril's cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, it's good that you're back safe and sound."

Everything is fine at the salt mine; there's nothing wrong with it. They're just making excuses for themselves.

Avril originally thought she wouldn't worry.

Rhodes is always cautious and intelligent; he probably wouldn't take any risks.

But when Rod did not return for three days, she began to toss and turn, feeling inexplicably anxious.

Every night, her mind would uncontrollably conjure up all sorts of possibilities, filled with bloody scenes she had never even dreamed of.

In addition, Millie kept asking where Lord Rhodes was, which made her even more confused.

She knew very well that mobilizing so many soldiers meant dealing with something serious.

But there was nothing she could do but pray.

Therefore, when the guard delivered the letter, she immediately followed Lawrence to greet him.

Rhodes is unharmed; nothing else matters.

Avril then said softly:
"Dinner is ready, and the hot water is boiled. Baron Rhodes, would you like to take a bath first, or would you like to have dinner first?"

Rod glanced at her with some surprise.

Normally, Avril never worries about these things, nor does she take the initiative to arrange them.

This caught Rhodes off guard.

But none of that matters. Avril can do it if she wants, which will lighten Lawrence's workload a bit.

"Let's take a shower first. We've been traveling for the past few days and we're starting to stink," Rod said casually.

Although he did not personally engage in combat, the stench of blood from the battlefield still clung to him.

Adding to the long journey and sleeping outdoors, he now felt filthy and in dire need of washing.

He could tolerate it in winter, but he couldn't stand it in the other seasons.

Especially in the summer, Rod wished he could take a bath every day.

"it is good."

Avril nodded and immediately turned to instruct the servants to prepare warm water.

Rod took a refreshing shower, changed into clean clothes, enjoyed a hearty dinner, and slept soundly.

The next morning, after Rod woke up, all his attention returned to preparations for the autumn harvest.

The blacksmith shop was busy day and night.

In addition to the common short-handled sickle, Rhodes also had the blacksmith make fifty long-handled sickles.

This sickle is heavier than the short-handled sickle, with a long, curved blade that is seventy to eighty centimeters long.

The blade of the short-handled sickle is only thirty or forty centimeters long, used for cutting individual plants or small areas. When using it, the other hand must be used to hold the crop stalk.

Long-handled sickles, on the other hand, utilize the long handle and the curvature of the blade to sweep across crops. When using them, one can stand upright or bend slightly, swinging them widely to cut over a large area and harvest continuously.

There is no doubt that long-handled sickles are more efficient at harvesting.

In a wide, flat wheat field, a skilled young farmer can harvest five acres a day, while a short-handled sickle is only efficient at about three acres.

Of course, using a long-handled sickle requires a certain level of skill, and because of its weight, it requires an adult male to use both hands.

Unlike the short-handled sickle, which can be operated by women and children.

This also leads to a great deal of physical exertion when using a long-handled sickle.

Therefore, Rod prepared ample food for these farmers well in advance to ensure they had enough physical strength to support the high-intensity labor.

The blacksmith shop was not only rushing to make farm tools, but also repairing chainmail seized from prisoners to ensure that they were put into the equipment of new recruits as quickly as possible.

Such a massive workload caused immense hardship for blacksmith Hamo and his colleagues.

Rod knew in his heart that they had worked hard, even though they did not complain.

Therefore, he still arranged for ten apprentices to assist them.

These apprentices were only doing simple auxiliary work for the time being, and Rhodes did not expect them to learn much blacksmithing knowledge.

By winter, they will have had enough time to study systematically.

Meanwhile, the construction of the windmill was also proceeding at full speed.

The basic framework has been built; only the gears are still being debugged. Five days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Rod had Chris write a letter according to his wishes, and then, based on the intelligence Chris had previously provided, sent it to the outpost at the foot of White Rock Canyon.

……

……

noon.

Eagle Castle, in the luxuriously decorated study.

A tall, thin middle-aged man with a hooked nose leaned back in his chair and slowly opened the letter brought by his servant.

After examining it carefully for a moment, the middle-aged man nodded slightly.

"Chris has learned to be cautious."

The middle-aged man was the current Earl of the Falcon family. He casually handed the letter to his chief knight.

Baron, the chief knight of Earl Falcon, took the letter and quickly glanced through it.

The letter said that Chris had located Frostleaf Town, but the surrounding area was still uncertain.

He is probing little by little, looking for an opportunity to attack.

"I was thinking of sending him some food, but it seems that I don't need to now."

After reading the letter, Chief Knight Baron carefully put it back.

Chris had already explained in his letter that there were far more wild animals in the wilderness than in Eagle Ridge.

In addition, he encountered several households along the way and "casually" collected some grain from them.

Everyone understands what "expropriation" means; it's basically robbery.

Anyway, it's not our Falcon family's territory, so take it if you want.

"That's perfect, we can't easily mobilize troops right now."

Earl Falcon nodded slightly and said seriously, "These days, the White Deer family's attitude has become unclear again, and they haven't replied yet."

"But didn't Marquis Hanren already mediate?"

Baron was slightly taken aback.

More than a month ago, with his assistance, the Falcon Family and the White Deer Family reached a reconciliation and agreed to jointly mine the copper mine in the Beehive Forest.

Both sides would send scribes to record the output, and then settle accounts annually, with the profits split equally between the two families.

Regarding the death of Earl Falcon's child, the White Deer family promised to provide satisfactory compensation.

The cooperation agreement hasn't been signed yet, is the Bailu family going to back out?

"What we see is only the surface."

Earl Falcon shook his head. "This war was initiated by the White Deer family, who are vassals of Marquis Coldblade."

If it weren't for the support of a powerful noble family, how could the Bailu family, a mere viscount family, dare to directly provoke them?
After the peace talks, Marquis Hanren invited him to join the Northern Noble Alliance he had formed, but he did not agree. Then the White Deer family's attitude became ambiguous.

A thoughtful look flashed in Earl Falcon's eyes.

The result was obvious: Marquis Hanren was not a good person.

If he had seen this clearly two weeks ago, perhaps he wouldn't have sent Chris to Blackpine Ridge.

But it's pointless to talk about these things now.

After all, Rhodes was just a newly appointed baron, so there was nothing to worry about.

“Reply to Chris’s messenger and tell him to teach that baron a lesson as soon as possible and make up for our losses.”

Earl Falcon squinted. “As long as the young baron’s life isn’t endangered, there’s no need for mercy.”

"Yes, Lord Count."

Baron wrote it all down and immediately began replying.

Soon, another carrier pigeon flew out from Eagle Castle.

……

……

Meanwhile, in the main hall of Frostleaf Town, the tables were laden with a sumptuous feast of meat.

Pan-fried bear meat, roasted wolf ribs, stewed wolf meat... Rod kept stuffing food into his mouth.

It wasn't because he was hungry, but because he was just over two pounds away from unlocking the next entry in the hunting domain: Savage Absorption.

Even if he couldn't eat, Rod had to eat; he didn't want to wait any longer.

After taking a breath with the wild strawberry wine, Rod gritted his teeth and scooped out a piece of wolf meat, stuffing it into his stomach. There was still half a pound left.

[Fifty ferocious beasts have been hunted and three thousand catties of meat have been consumed in the territory, and you have consumed a total of one hundred catties of meat from ferocious beasts, unlocking the attribute: Savage Absorption]

"belch--"

Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief; it was finally done.

Chewing on the meat in his mouth, he opened the entry to view information.

【Savage Absorption (Blue): You can obtain extra energy from meat, making all training methods that improve basic physical qualities 100% more efficient, while also increasing your appetite by 100% and making you crave meat even more.

The buff effect is temporarily lost when injured, but wound healing speed is increased by 500%.

Brutal exploitation?

Rod felt that this entry description looked more like that of a devourer.

The entry describes something in detail, but in Rhodes' view, it simply means improved efficiency in breathing techniques and increased wound healing speed.

Because his body absorbs more nutrients, Rod needs more food and naturally craves meat.

Unfortunately, the only way to improve is by eating meat.

If herbs could have the same effect, I might even gain the ability to be immune to all poisons.

Of course, this is a term from the hunting field, but it's reasonable that eating meat would have an effect.

The next term that Rhodes should pay attention to is Hunting Lord:

[Next entry: Accumulate 50 tons of wild beasts hunted in the territory, and 500 ferocious beasts and 5 magical beasts hunted in total to unlock: Hunting Lord]

Fifty tons of wild beasts isn't difficult; that's about the equivalent of fifty or sixty bison. The ferocious beasts are also manageable. Rhodes can also take this opportunity to unlock another stat: [Ferocious Beast Hunter].

The five monsters are the most difficult.

—To be precise, four, including the wyverns killed previously.

Four magical beasts is not a small number.

Rhodes was thinking to himself that he needed to find an opportunity to collect all those rumors about magical beasts.

Regardless, now that the Crop Lord, Animal Husbandry Lord, Hunting Lord, and Mining Lord have appeared, the next step is to unlock them one by one.

If the crop lord is purple, then the other three lord attributes should also be purple.

So, what about the Great Lords of Nature?
Rhodes was itching to do something.

(End of this chapter)