"Sir, we have arrived."
Hearing the coachman's words, Evan got off the horse-drawn carriage, reached into his pocket, and gave the coachman some coins.
"Here's the money, keep the change."
"Thank you, sir."
As the coachman turned and left, Evan looked ahead and breathed in the fresh air. A vast grassland stretched out before him. Hundreds of meters away, he could see a small, peaceful village.
The village of Einsburg. Seventeen years ago, Evan, a man from Earth, was reborn as a baby in this place.
He thought he was born in medieval Europe. Until he finally realized that this world was not Earth.
This world was similar to the fantasy worlds often depicted in games, anime, or novels. It was a world with magic and fantasy creatures such as elves, orcs, dragons, and others.
The difference is that magic here has evolved into more than just a tool for killing. In short, magic has revolutionized human industry and civilization. Unfortunately, unlike technology, magic is very expensive and cannot be popularized, so there is an imbalance between developed cities and remote areas. In addition, wizards have risen to replace the nobility as the new elite in the social strata.
Evan was educated and studied for 8 years in Jannover, the capital of the Rhineland Kingdom, one of the current centers of the world's magic civilization.
He heard the news that his father, Lord Eisenberg, had passed away, so he returned to inherit his father's title and lead the village.
One of the village security officers on patrol noticed the arrival of a stranger in the village. He saw the stranger's face and was surprised.
"Young Master Evan? You're back?!"
"You... Ah, Tony? Look at you now, you look good," Evan praised. Tony was one of his childhood friends, born in a village, he couldn't be friends with other nobles, so most of his friends were village children.
"Ahaha, thank you. Come on, I'll take you to your castle."
As they walked, Evan saw that nothing had changed in the village after leaving it for years.
"By the way, how is your father? Is he still on duty?"
"No, he passed away two years ago."
"My condolences. Did he suffer from a particular illness?"
"No, two years ago a mountain bear entered the residents' farmland. My father tried to chase it away, but he was seriously injured and couldn't be saved," explained Tony, shaking his head.
Evan was a little surprised. Mountain bears were ferocious animals that were even frightening to novice wizards, so why would such territorial creatures come down here?
He was a little curious but decided not to ask. Evan then arrived at his castle. He greeted the two gatekeepers and entered the castle.
There was no one here. His mother had died when he was two years old, and Evan had no siblings. Practically speaking, he was now the only one left of his family.
Evan first went to his father's room. He looked through the shelves, cupboards, and under the mattress. He found his father's savings worth 700 marks. Don't underestimate the value of 700 marks; it is equivalent to three or fourteen million US dollars based on labor wages. These were his father's savings from the past seven years.
In addition to his father's savings, Evan also saw a diary. Evan opened it, not from the first page, but from the last page. On the last page of the diary, there was a letter.
Evan opened the letter and read it. From the letter, Evan learned that his father had been ill for the past two years.
The letter also stated how much Evan's father had missed his wife after her death and his dream of becoming a wizard, a dream that Evan had carried on and realized. He was proud that Evan had achieved his goal. Finally, he hoped that Evan would make the Eisenberg name famous.
"Goodbye, Father."
Evan folded the letter back up, placed it in his father's diary, and put the diary on the bookshelf.
Evan walked around the castle for a while before the sound of the front door opening disturbed him. He walked to the front door and found a middle-aged man entering the castle.
"Sorry I'm late to welcome you, My Lord," greeted the middle-aged man.
"Uncle Steven, it's good to see you're still healthy," replied Evan. Steven was the head servant of the Eisenberg family. Evan had known him since childhood.
"This body can serve you for at least a few more years, sir."
"By the way, Uncle, can you take me to my father's grave?" asked Evan.
Steven nodded, "Of course."
Using a horse-drawn carriage, Evan visited the cemetery behind the church. Among dozens of graves, he could see that in the middle of the cemetery there was a special area that was different from the other graves. This was the area for the Eisenberg family. There, Evan's mother, father, and other family members were buried.
He prayed briefly for his father before returning to the castle.
On the way to the castle, Evan asked Steven a few questions.
"How has the village been lately?"
"Everything is going well, My Lord. After the introduction of fertilizer 10 years ago, crop yields have increased, but unfortunately there is not enough animal manure for everyone."
Steven explained, shaking his head.
Ten years ago, young Evan had created and popularized animal manure fertilizer with his father. Coincidentally, their family owned thousands of sheep and hundreds of cows, as well as other animals, so it would be a shame to waste all that manure.
"In that case, has anyone tried using... you know?"
Human waste. He did not explain it because he believed that in this society, it was not something a lord should publicize. After all, this society was similar to medieval Europe. It would be a different matter if the workers or civilians themselves did it.
"There is some, but it is only for the workers to consume. We have prohibited wheat planted with such fertilizer from being sold or used to pay rent."
Evan nodded slowly. All the farmland in this village belonged to his family. Then, 5% was allocated to the church and another 5% to his servants. Then, 20% was privately managed by corvée, while the remaining 70% was leased to farmers with a payment of 30% of the harvest.
"I heard Uncle David was attacked by a bear two years ago, what happened?" asked Evan. David was the father of Tony, the former head of security.
Hearing the question, Steven's expression became serious.
"About two years ago, animals from the forest often appeared and disturbed the village. There weren't many casualties, but the farm lost several dozen sheep and cows, and several acres of farmland were also damaged by the animals. This happened for a year before things finally calmed down."
Steven's explanation made Evan even more certain that something was causing the animals to come down from the mountains and attack the village. He thought he would investigate it later.
Soon after, the horse-drawn carriage arrived back at the castle. Evan got out, preparing to return to the castle before Steven called him.
"My Lord."
Evan turned around, "What is it?"
"Do I need to send someone to accompany you tonight?"
"No need."
He had something to do tonight.
***
Wizard Time Center. It was a place in another dimension.
For Evan, it was a golden finger, a cheat, or an advantage he brought with him when he was reincarnated. Like Mr. Fool's Sapphire Palace. For now, he didn't know its origin, but he didn't hesitate to use it.
Evan opened his eyes. He was now in a fairly large hall. There were several doors lined up. Of all the doors, only three were slightly open, while the others looked tightly locked.
The first door leads to the Time Chamber. It is a room where time passes faster than in the real world. There, he can practice magic techniques, memorize and practice the academy's lessons, or even practice martial arts and other sports.
The second door leads to the magic laboratory. There, he can study and research magical objects, engineer the combination of two different spells, separate one spell into two different spells, and so on.
The third door leads to a simulation. There, he can simulate the life of a living creature, especially animals or plants, for hundreds of years while performing selective breeding to guide the animal's growth in a specific direction. He can then take the results to the real world.
All of these doors sound amazing, don't they? But there is a strict limitation on them.
The use of each room requires points, and there are also several special features in the room that require points. Finally, Evan needs to spend points to bring the results from the Wizard Time Center into the real world.
Where do the points come from?
Missions. Points come from missions that are issued. Fortunately, these missions are not strange missions. The missions are more like encouragement for someone to achieve something.
For example, the mission to rank first in the monthly practical exam. The mission to not skip school for a year. The mission to win the first-year interclass tournament. Evan had completed various missions like these while he was at the academy. It was also the motivation from these missions that made Evan the best student in his grade.
"Hm? This mission..."
Evan stared at the mission screen seriously. It seemed that there had been a major change in the missions he received.
Equip the security forces with armor
Amount: 0/20
Reward: 100 points
Increase the Lord's income to 500 marks
Amount: 184/500
Reward: 500 points
Increase the population to 2000
Amount: 1562/2000
Reward: 1000 points
Evan looked at the next missions. Almost all of them were missions related to the development of the village and his current status as Lord.
This makes sense. When he was in the academy, his mission was to become an outstanding student. Now that he is a lord, his mission is to become an outstanding lord.
Lords and wizards. In this world, the two are not mutually exclusive. After all, being a wizard is an honor. Almost all wizards have titles or come from noble families.