Chapter 21: Problem With the Lake
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhao Hai woke up in the evening. It was already starting to get dark, and Merlyn and the others had returned. In order to save resources, Merlyn and the others usually did not go out at night. Even if they did not use magic stones to light the way, just using torches or oil lamps required oil. Now, they had to save every bit of resources.
The slaves had already eaten. They could move freely in the castle until they slept at night. Anyway, he did not have to worry about them escaping. It was good to let them relax.
The slaves were sitting in the courtyard of the castle and chatting. Compared to other places, their lives here were like heaven. They could eat their fill and did not have to do too much work. They also had enough rest every day. They liked such a blissful life.
Previously, they were in despair when they knew they were coming here. Although they were slaves, they had heard of the situation in the Black Soil Wilderness. There was nothing living here. There was only a desolate mountain range beside the Carrion Swamp. Such a place was a land of death. They had always thought that they would definitely starve to death in such a place.
However, they did not expect that their master was so capable, although they had only been here for two days. He could actually use mystical magic to turn those dead black soil into fertile fields. They did not have to worry about starving to death in the future.
These people were just slaves. They had never seen anyone use magic. In their impression, mages were omnipotent, and spells were extremely mystical.
Their living conditions were better than before and they were treated like civilians. With the temptation of being free from the slave identity and coupled with the incomparably mystical spells, they were fully loyal to Zhao Hai. Unknowingly, they had formed a huge cohesion. Now, these slaves were no longer working passively. Instead, they wanted to work more and leave their slavery status as soon as possible.
Zhao Hai stood quietly in the castle and looked at the slaves outside. He wanted to go up and chat with these slaves, but he also knew that now was not the time. These slaves had always been living in oppression. Whenever they saw nobles, they would be very nervous. Not to mention chatting with them, they would probably kneel immediately and not even dare to raise their heads.
It was easy to change a person’s identity, but it was very difficult and took a long time for their thoughts to change.
Everything had to be done step by step. If he advanced too quickly, he might fail. Even if he succeeded, it might cause his foundation to be unstable.
Without a doubt, the hope of having fertile lands and escaping the slavery status filled these slaves with hope. They were no longer as lifeless as when they first arrived.
Zhao Hai liked this. Only those who were filled with hope could be creative and unleash their abilities to the greatest extent.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Zhao Hai came back to his senses and said in a low voice, “Come in.”
The door was pushed open. Meg stood in front of the door and looked at Zhao Hai. “Young Master, dinner is ready.” Wood and Rock were still standing outside the door, guarding it for Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai nodded. He knew that it was almost time to eat, but he felt sorry. Not only were Merlyn and Meg busy with managing the slaves, but they also had to cook for him. It was too tiring for them.
However, although Zhao Hai knew how to cook, he did not dare to do so. He could not forget his identity. He was a profligate son who was always served by others. Possessing special abilities made sense. After all, this was a continent where magic and battle aura coexisted. There were all kinds of strange abilities. His ability was not particularly eye-catching, but if he suddenly said he could cook, it would arouse Merlyn and Meg’s suspicion.
The few of them went to the dining room and realized that the food was already placed on the table. The dinner was still bread and some vegetables, as well as some meat and soup.
Zhao Hai, a native Chinese, was really not used to eating this, but there was no choice. Even if he wanted to eat Chinese food, no one knew how to cook it. Only he knew how to cook, but he did not dare to do it.
After eating a few mouthfuls, Zhao Hai said, “Grandma Merlyn, I think what we did today was too rash. It’s better if we don’t modify the land here tomorrow.”
Merlyn was stunned and looked at Zhao Hai in confusion. “What’s wrong, Young Master? Why do you say that? Can’t you improve the land? What will we do if we don’t improve it?”
Zhao Hai understood what she meant and immediately said, “Grandma Merlyn, you’re mistaken. It’s not that I can’t improve the land, but I can’t improve the land near the castle. Think about it, our current strength is still too weak. If those guys discover that we can turn this place into land that can be cultivated, will they let us go? At that time, we will be finished.”
Merlyn was experienced and knowledgeable. Today, she was just overwhelmed by the joy of improving the land, so she did not think of this deeply. Now that Zhao Hai reminded her, she immediately understood. Zhao Hai was right. If those old nobles realized that they could improve the land here, they would definitely deal with them.
Although the Buda family had already signed an agreement with the empire, that was only if the Buda family had an heir. If a noble family did not have an heir, their noble title would be taken back by the emperor, and their land would naturally be taken back.
A man’s wealth could lead to trouble.
Merlyn put down the knife and fork and nodded. “Young Master, you’re right. We were too careless. We were only focused on improving our lives and forgot that those old nobles might not let us off easily. What do you think we should do now, Young Master?”
Now, Merlyn was paying more and more attention to Zhao Hai’s opinion. This was because Zhao Hai had done many things in the past few days. Moreover, he had done everything methodically. In addition to his strange ability, Merlyn and the others had unknowingly treated Zhao Hai as their backbone.
Zhao Hai also put down his cutlery and gently wiped his mouth with a napkin. Then, he said, “We still have to modify the land, but we can’t do it around the castle. That will be too eye-catching. As long as someone comes in, they will be able to tell at a glance. It will be too easy to be discovered. I want to look around and see if there are any places in the surroundings that are secluded. We can modify those areas. There’s no need to make them too big. As long as there are about a thousand acres, it will be more than enough to satisfy the needs of our people. This way, it will not be easy to be discovered.”
Merlyn nodded and said, “Young Master is right. I’ll get someone to look around for such areas tomorrow. Then, Young Master, are we still keeping blue-eyed rabbits and scaleless fish?”
Zhao Hai said in a low voice, “Yes, we must raise them. Anyway, the scaleless fish is very easy to raise. Those people won’t notice anything, and the blue-eyed rabbit is even more easy to raise. They will only think that we are making a dying struggle and won’t care too much.”
Merlyn nodded and said, “Alright, but there’s still the problem with the water. I realized that there don’t seem to be any fish in our moat. Even the lake in the cave doesn’t have any fish. This doesn’t seem right.”
Zhao Hai was stunned. This was the first time he had thought of this. He was just an otaku and not a professional fisherman, so he did not notice this at first. On the contrary, it was natural for Merlyn, a water-type mage, to notice it.
Zhao Hai was puzzled. Logically speaking, there should be many fish in the moat and the lake. There was no problem with the water quality. He had already analyzed this in the Space Farm. How could there be no fish?
Zhao Hai said to Merlyn in confusion, “Grandma Merlyn, do you know the reason? There’s no problem with the water. I’ve analyzed it. The water is of very good quality and is completely suitable for fish to survive. Isn’t it a little unreasonable for there to be no fish?”
Merlyn frowned and said after a while, “There are only two possibilities. The first is that the water is poisonous and is not suitable for fish to survive. The second is that there are ferocious magical beasts in the water that have eaten all the fish. If it’s really as Young Master said and the water is not poisonous, only the second possibility remains. There are ferocious water-type magical beasts.”
Zhao Hai thought about it carefully and felt that what Merlyn said made sense. He remembered that when he was on Earth, he had seen a news report that two very aggressive carnivorous fishes entered a fisherman’s fish pond and ate all the fish in it. There might be such magical beasts here too. If that was the case, it would be troublesome.
Seeing Zhao Hai frown, Merlyn knew what he was thinking. Merlyn comforted him, “Young Master, actually, this is not difficult to resolve. If the water is poisonous, it will be difficult for us to resolve it, but If it is only the problem of magical beasts, we just have to find and kill them.”
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly. His thoughts were the opposite of Merlyn’s. If the water was poisonous, he could easily resolve the poison with the space water, but if there were magical beasts in the water, he could not do anything.
Seeing that Zhao Hai was still frowning, Merlyn couldn’t help but smile and say, “Young Master, don’t worry. If there are really magical beasts in the water, I will definitely find them and kill them. It won’t affect your plan to raise fish.”
Zhao Hai was stunned when he heard Merlyn. Then, he realized. This was not Earth. On Earth, it was not easy to go down to the sea to kill a beast, but this was the Ark Continent. Magic was prevalent here, and Merlyn happened to be a powerful water mage. She might really have a way to kill the magical beasts in the water.