Jack was originally just a small seed merchant from the south, barely making a living by selling grain and fruit seeds.
Although his life wasn't wealthy, he at least had enough food and drink to get by.
That changed a few months ago, when he overheard a fellow merchant bragging loudly in a tavern.
After the Northern Territory Reclamation Order was issued, countless nobles had flocked north to open new lands. As a result, the demand for seeds had skyrocketed, while supply was nowhere near enough to meet it.
That bit of news stirred Jack's heart.
In the south, seed merchants were as common as horse manure along the roadside. Hundreds of people fought over the same tiny slice of profit, making it nearly impossible to earn any real money.
But the Northern Territory was different.
It was said to be barren and desolate, with seeds extremely hard to come by. As long as the goods arrived, there would be no trouble selling them.
"This is my chance to get rich!"
Overcome with excitement, Jack exchanged all the savings he had accumulated over the years for seeds. He loaded them onto his small cart and rushed toward the Northern Territory without stopping, dreaming of wealth arriving overnight.
However, the moment he stepped into Frost Halberd City, he was completely stunned.
"This… this is the largest city in the Northern Territory?"
The city was dilapidated. The streets were muddy, and the pedestrians were shabbily dressed, each wearing a weary expression. There was no sign of prosperity or bustling commerce anywhere.
Jack's heart sank, and an ominous feeling crept into his mind.
"It's over… I'm not going to lose everything, am I?"
Still, since he had already come this far, he couldn't just return empty-handed.
Gritting his teeth, he found an empty spot on the east side of the market and began setting up his small stall.
"Are you Jack, the seed seller?"
Before he had even finished arranging his goods, three knights rode up. They were still covered in dust from their journey, their armor splashed with dried mud, and their expressions carried a hint of urgency.
Jack jumped in fright, his heart pounding.
How did they know his name?
Could it be that his reputation as the "Little Seed Prince" had somehow spread all the way from the Central Province to the Northern Territory?
Suppressing his surprise, Jack straightened his back and cleared his throat. Visitors were guests, after all. He was just about to introduce his wares when—
"We'll take it all," the leading knight said flatly.
"W-what?" Jack stared at him, convinced he had misheard.
"We'll take everything. How much?"
Now Jack was truly dumbfounded.
Are people in the Northern Territory all this generous?!
His mind raced as he quickly calculated how much he could possibly squeeze out of this transaction.
After pretending to hesitate for a moment, he finally raised five fingers.
"Since you're buying everything, I'll give you a discount. Five gold coins."
Five gold coins!
In the south, a bag of potato seeds cost only two iron coins. The total cost of all the seeds in his cart—combined with transport—was less than one gold coin.
Jack was already prepared to be bargained down. He had even planned to lower the price further if they showed any dissatisfaction.
"Good."
To his shock, the knight didn't argue at all. He simply pulled five gold coins from his pouch and casually tossed them over.
Then, without wasting another word, the three knights quickly packed up all the seeds and rode off in a hurry.
Jack stood there frozen, clutching five heavy gold coins in his hand.
The cold wind blew past, and only then did he realize that his stall had been completely emptied.
He lowered his head and examined the coins one by one, flipping them carefully and confirming each stamp.
Real… every single one was real.
In the next instant, a wave of ecstasy surged through him, and Jack nearly jumped into the air.
"I'm rich!!!"
The cost of the seeds plus his journey north hadn't even reached one gold coin, yet he had instantly earned four gold coins in pure profit.
And he had barely done anything!
Was business in the Northern Territory really this easy?
Jack gripped the gold coins tightly, his mind already racing ahead.
This was only the beginning.
If he went back south and bought a few hundred more bags of seeds, then brought them north to sell… wouldn't that mean hundreds of gold coins in profit?
The thought made his lips stretch into an exaggerated grin.
The Northern Territory was a gold mine!
He decided that he would return immediately, secure a loan, and become the number one seed merchant of the Northern Territory.
Of course, he didn't know that among the seeds he had just sold were Frost Blood Red Berry seeds—items worth more than a thousand gold coins.
If he had known, he would have been consumed with regret.
As for how he would later lose everything, that is a story for another time.
Just as Lambert was rushing back toward Red Tide Territory with the seeds, Louis was riding through the fields, inspecting the progress of the spring planting.
Across the farmland, farmers were busy sowing seeds. The rhythmic sounds of hoes turning soil rose and fell in steady waves.
Wherever Louis passed, the farmers stopped their work and bowed respectfully.
Unlike in most noble territories, however, there was no fearful humility in their eyes. Instead, there was genuine respect.
For the laborers who had once been slaves, that respect burned even more brightly. When they looked at Louis, their gazes were filled with fervor.
They longed for their hard work to be noticed by their lord—hoping it might one day earn them freedom.
Louis observed all of this without showing much emotion.
In his eyes, there was little difference between slaves and free men. Both were simply labor for Red Tide Territory.
More importantly, the current system motivated them to work harder. There was no urgency to change it yet.
When the time was right, he might consider more stable ways to free the slaves. For now, they still needed to prove their value.
At that moment, Mick approached, leaning on his hoe. His face was flushed with excitement, and his joy was impossible to hide.
"My lord!" Mick wiped the sweat from his brow, deepening the wrinkles around his smiling eyes. "These fertilizers are incredible! We're definitely going to have a good harvest this year!"
Louis glanced at the fields.
The soil was moist and soft, dark in color, clearly saturated with nutrients.
He nodded slightly. "What are the first crops?"
"Rye, turnips, and potatoes," Mick replied immediately. "They're cold-resistant and grow quickly. If nothing unexpected happens, we should see our first harvest in three months!"
Louis nodded again.
Rye could be ground into coarse flour. Turnips could serve as both vegetables and livestock feed.
As for potatoes, they were easy to plant and harvest, could be stored for long periods, and were ideal as emergency food supplies.
Although parts of Red Tide Territory benefited from geothermal heat—making them far better than other lands in the Northern Territory—not all land was suitable for intensive farming.
To minimize risk, prioritizing cold-resistant crops was the most sensible choice.
But this alone was far from enough to satisfy Louis's ambitions.
Once greenhouse cultivation techniques were perfected, he planned to grow a wider variety of crops and completely solve Red Tide Territory's food problem.
Louis stood quietly atop the ridge, his gaze sweeping across the land.
Under the sunlight, the fertile black soil glimmered faintly. Farmers moved back and forth across the fields, their figures weaving together as they planted the seeds of the future.
This once barren frozen land was slowly being infused with life under his careful planning.
An indescribable sense of accomplishment welled up in Louis's heart.
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