What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 3.3. My Island

The scorching sun shone down, accompanied by the blowing sea breeze, making the atmosphere inside the small pier quite oppressive.

A chubby man was sweating profusely in the sun, watching a carriage approach in the distance, pulled by two fiery horses and followed by four tall knights.

He saw the carriage slow down and hurriedly went to meet it.

Before he could even get close to the carriage, a knight in leather armor drew his sword and blocked his way, coldly saying, "Don't come any closer!"

The gleaming blade reflected the sunlight, clearly indicating it was a magical weapon.

"This thing must cost more than an island, right?"

The former lord of Han Reef Island, Bartos, was shocked and immediately stopped obediently, looking pitifully at the figure that slowly stepped out of the carriage.

The other local residents also stared at the magnificent carriage, and when they saw the jewels that glittered in the sunlight all over it, a deep fear flashed in their numb eyes, and they obediently lowered their heads.

The current lord, Kroya, holding his staff and wearing a dark blue mage's robe, calmly and unhurriedly stepped out of the carriage.

He looked up and glanced around—there were low stone houses all around, and several small boats were moored on the sea in the distance. Everyone around him was thin and their clothes were tattered.

Judging from their mental state alone, one could tell that their territory was probably quite impoverished...

"The task is arduous and the road ahead is long."

His expression remained unchanged as he turned his gaze to the fat man trembling not far from the carriage.

Everyone else looks pale and thin, but you've gotten so fat?

Kroya's gaze suddenly became somewhat amused, which made the fat man tremble even more violently—he strongly suspected that this new mage wanted to kill him.

In this torment, he heard Kroya's voice: "Report on the situation at Han Reef Island."

Bartos breathed a sigh of relief and quickly reported: "Respected Master, there are a total of 135 households on Hanhai Reef, with a total of 284 people."

There is a level-one magic mine, the White Iron Ore Mine, on the island, which generates two magic gold coins in tax revenue annually.

"Such a small population?" Kroya frowned.

Seeing Kroa frown, Bartos quickly said, "My lord, this is not my fault..."

He hurriedly explained, "A year ago, a baron forcibly took some people away; there were supposed to be over seven hundred!"

"They took away five hundred people at once?" Kroya didn't ask why this guy didn't stop them; although a baron was the lowest rank, he was still a nobleman.

It's far beyond what a small lord like him can easily stop; if they want it, he'll probably have to offer it up respectfully.

He asked the baron what his name was, since he had taken his men and would eventually have to get them back once he rose through the ranks.

But it turned out that this guy didn't know.

Chloe was speechless; she didn't even know his name...

Bartos sensed Cloa's displeasure and immediately knelt down: "If you, my lord, are willing to trust me, I am willing to serve you as my master and continue to help you manage the Reef! I will never make a mistake!"

"Heh, you should have served me as your master all along."

When faced with his offer of surrender, Kroya neither agreed nor explicitly refused, but simply said, "Let's go to the island and see first. Rob, you take him with you."

Butler Robert immediately understood: "Yes!"

Although it's said that he was taking her along, it really meant that he was monitoring and watching over her.

Although Kroya is now the lord of this place, who knows if the former lord has any ulterior motives or is hiding anything? Even if he wants to leave, Kroya will not allow it.

Bartos will have no personal freedom until he has a complete understanding of the situation on Han Reef Island—as a noble mage, Kroya certainly has that right.

You can use appeasement with your own people, but it's best not to be appease with strangers, lest they develop some inappropriate thoughts or ideas.

The order of hierarchy was something he had to maintain before he could control the power to suppress everything, and it was also the inherent order of this world.

……

Bartos quickly led Cloa and her party onto the ship.

Fortunately, the boat was big enough that it moved steadily even with a carriage and several horses on board.

After about seven or eight minutes of sailing, the outline of an island appeared before them. With the help of the first-tier spell Eagle Eye, Kroya could see the general shape of his territory.

It appears to be an oval-shaped island with exceptionally lush vegetation. The terrain looks quite flat, with only one small hill that could be considered a hill at most.

A castle sits atop a small hill.

Overlooking the entire island.

After a quick glance, Cloa thought it was alright.

It's not some barren island; the abundance of vegetation suggests there must be sufficient freshwater resources, and perhaps even undiscovered magical veins.

The ship quickly docked.

The first to disembark were four knights, fully armed and wielding longswords, followed by the steward Rob and Bartos, and finally Chloe and the carriage.

At this moment, all the island's residents were waiting on the shore.

Like the people at the pier earlier, most of them were shirtless, with dark skin, clearly indicating that they lived by the sea.

They seem to be doing a little better than the people at the dock.

However, they waited for an unknown amount of time, and they were all drenched in sweat.

Is it because the island has a greater abundance of natural resources?

He didn't pay much attention, only glancing over the area, and headed towards the lord's castle on the island, led by Bartos and four knights.

After walking through the crowd, he casually waved to signal them to disperse and get back to work; they couldn't just stop doing their jobs to welcome him.

That's truly putting the cart before the horse.

The road wasn't long, but Kroya deliberately slowed his pace, scanning his surroundings in an attempt to find some unexpected treasures—like undiscovered magical plants.

But we gained absolutely nothing.

He felt a little discouraged, but only a little, and soon his gaze was drawn to the tall trees around him.

The island is covered with tall coconut trees, and the coconuts hanging on the trees look big and white.

Hmm? A white coconut?

Isn't it white only after you peel it open?

It looks vaguely familiar, like I've seen it in some book before, but I can't quite place it.

This reminded him of the freshly squeezed coconut juice he had drunk before, and he was tempted for a moment. After all, even a mage would feel thirsty after being exposed to the wind and sun for so long!

Strangely, the coconuts on the tree were all neatly arranged, with no signs of having been picked.

Coconuts can quench thirst and satisfy hunger, so why doesn't anyone pick them?

He was slightly puzzled, then he realized why.

Everything on the territory belongs to the lord. Without the lord's permission, no one can pick even the fruit on the trees. It's okay to pick the small ones, but what about these tall coconut trees? Would you climb up and get caught red-handed?

After realizing this, he shook his head and continued walking along the road, enjoying the scenery as if he were on vacation.

Seeing that Kroya was interested in her surroundings, Bartos quickly flattered her, telling her how he protected the coconut trees and had transplanted the best coconut trees from the entire island to this place, just to give Kroya the best coconuts...

At first, Kroya was interested in listening to him, but as the story became increasingly strange, she bluntly ordered him to shut up.

I don't know what happened, but after I told him to shut up, his expression became even more respectful. It's just that he didn't have a tail anymore, otherwise he would definitely be wagging it like crazy.

that's it,

It took Kroya half an hour to reach his castle—a stone castle built on a small hill. By modern standards, it was quite simple, but it stood out immediately when compared to the stone houses he had just seen.

The three-story castle actually has a tall and majestic feel to it.

Kroya's gaze was immediately drawn to something, but it wasn't the castle that attracted him; rather, it was a strange-looking animal standing at the castle entrance.

It was a magical beast that looked like a large rat, but had an unusually serene expression, slowly munching on grass and trees.

A piece of information immediately popped into my mind—

[A suitable monster for the Celestial Inscription spell has been discovered: Kabamon. Please activate the Celestial Inscription spell to examine the monster's Celestial body and perform the spell inscription.]

(End of this chapter)