Charging at the Orc Shaman, Alex threw his javelin.
The Orc Shaman noticed Alex's movement and dodged the javelin effortlessly. However, this was what exactly Alex wanted to prevent the Shaman from casting his spell. He quickly closed his distance within that time.
"Amazing!" The Princess was amazed by Alex's performance and speed. In an instant, he managed to reach the Shaman.
"He seems to be experienced in battles." The captain commented on his performances while clashing with the Orc Leader.
When the distance between him and the Orc Shaman only remained two meters, the Orc Shaman cast his spell. A red fireball appeared as it flew toward Alex.
As soon as he noticed this, Alex dodged to the side while still moving forward, arriving at the side of the Orc Shaman.
"!!!" The Orc Shaman turned to Alex with a slight surprise and saw Alex swinging his sword toward his neck.
*Bang!*
Alex furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the Orc Shaman using his staff to block his sword. Even so, he still had another trick as he shouted. "Princess!"
"Ice Spear." Alicia cast her spell and shot it at the Shaman. As the name implied, a spear made of ice appeared above Alicia and flew.
Looking at this spell, the Shaman quickly tapped the ground with his staff as another fireball appeared and struck the spear, vaporizing the ice completely.
Alex didn't waste this chance and he ran around the Shaman before striking the Shaman's back with his sword.
"!!!" The Shaman realized Alex's movement and slightly shifted his body forward, preventing Alex from killing him.
"Tch." Alex clicked his tongue and swung his sword again to kill the Shaman, but little did he know that the Orc Leader had arrived on his left.
The Orc Leader kicked him away a few meters and saw him rolling on the ground before spitting out blood.
"Bastard!" The captain angrily roared to the Orc Leader as he swung his sword and cut the Orc Leader into two. He couldn't let this precious chance that Alex gave him and immediately threw another strike at the Orc Shaman, killing the two leaders in one sweep.
After the two leaders died, the orcs turned into disarray. The soldiers used this opportunity to kill the remaining orcs.
The captain then went to Alex and checked his injuries.
Alex wiped the blood on his lips, waved his hand toward the captain, and smiled. "I'm alright. I only need to rest a bit."
"Thank you, Young Man. I don't know how much our casualties will be if you didn't help us. I'm not even sure we will win the battle if you didn't lend your hand." The captain thanked him, albeit he was still confident in wiping the orcs without Alex.
"It's alright. Anyway, what are you going to do now?" Alex asked while glancing at the knights.
"We are going to check our casualties first and rest a bit."
The Princess had sneakily come to them and asked. "Are you alright, Mr…?"
"Alexander, Alexander Sirius. I'm sorry for my impolite manner earlier, Princess." Alex recalled how he shouted her title in the battle.
"No, no. It's fine. What are you going to do now, Mr. Alexander?" She asked with a smile.
"I'm on my way to the Acacia Kingdom."
"That's great. How about you travel with us? We are on our way home after visiting the Zircodina Kingdom."
"Princess…" The captain looked at her with worries.
"He doesn't seem to be a bad guy and he has helped us as well. He even got injured in the process." She shook her head. Even though she was following the captain's order for her safety, the decision-making was still in her hand.
"But…"
"Say no more. I have decided."
The captain took another glance at Alex and sighed.
Looking at their conversation, Alex felt he could reach the Acacia Kingdom safely, so he thanked her. "Thank you very much, Princess."
"Fufu… Don't call me Princess. My name is Alicia Van Rizertia, so just call me Alicia."
"Rizertia?" Alex was slightly surprised. Normally, a princess would have a name of their own kingdom, like the king from the Zircodina Kingdom. Hearing Alicia didn't have the kingdom name attached to her own name, Alex somehow doubted her identity.
"Ah!" Realizing his confusion, Alicia hurriedly explained. "The current king is my uncle while my father is a grand duke. So, I follow my house."
"I see." Alex nodded. "Please, call me Alex too since Alexander is a bit too long."
"Then, I hope we'll have a pleasant journey together, Mr. Al…ex…" She said with a tinge red on her face.
"Yes, Princess." Alex was still unsure whether to call her Alicia or not because it sounded disrespectful for a commoner like him.
However, Alicia frowned and corrected him. "It's Alicia."
"But…" Alex looked at the captain, who could only sigh and corrected himself.
"Yes, Miss Alicia."
She smiled and nodded.
…
The return journey to the Acacia Kingdom was four months. During these four months, Alex and Alicia got to know each other better. At first, Alex and Alicia were unfamiliar with each other, and the atmosphere always became awkward in the caravan.
After one month, they started calling each other by their first name without any issue as Alex also started not minding her status.
In the second month, they began quarreling with each other, starting from a small problem like their favorite color to a more significant issue, like how he viewed the kingdom. With Alex's sad past, he tended to see everything from a negative point of view, but that view clashed with Alicia's positive opinion, especially since she loved her kingdom so much. They ended up quarreling again.
After the third month, Alicia started telling him about her past. Whether it was a surprise or not, her past was just like any other noble daughter who couldn't succeed in their house. But when she asked about Alex's past… Alex couldn't say anything, and his mood suddenly went down.
Alicia realized that Alex might have a terrible past that he didn't want to share with just anyone, so she didn't ask after that time.
Four months later,
They almost arrived at the Acacia Kingdom.
"Princess. We will be able to see the Acacia Kingdom after climbing this hill." Their captain named Asmus had informed them.
"By the way, Uncle. What do you think about our agriculture?" Alicia asked with a bored expression.
"I'm not familiar with this subject, so I can't say a lot. But I think our agriculture is the best out of the three kingdoms." Asmus nodded his head with confidence.
Alex closed his eyes and sighed. "It's just average then."
"What do you mean by average?" Alicia narrowed her eyes when she heard Alex's denial. "Don't you hear what Uncle just said? We are the best! The best!" She even repeated her point.
Alex shook his head, and calmly explained his view. "Judging from what I can see, the crops are a bit small, and the land looks overused."
"What do you mean? Uncle Asmus, tell him again that we are the best."
Asmus only sighed as he knew the quarrel would start again. He and the other knights already got used to it, so he quickly ignored them.
"Do you use four-field rotation?" Alex asked.
"Huh? What is that? Don't you just plant wheat every time and water them?" Alicia tilted her head in confusion.
"Let me explain then. Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar or different types of crops in the same area in sequenced seasons.
"It is done so that the soil of farms is not used for only one set of nutrients. It helps in reducing soil erosion and increases soil fertility and crop yield." Alex explained. Although Alex had poor performances at school, it didn't mean Alex had no knowledge or whatsoever. He just learned something different than the school subject, like agriculture, sea, etc. That was the reason why he had low performances this whole time.
"This…" Alicia gasped when she heard what Alex said. If what he said was true, then…
Captain Asmus also started listening to their conversation with great interest.
"As for the rotation itself. The sequences are wheat, turnips, barley, and clover. Apply the rotation to each field over a four-year cycle. In summer, pigs and sheep can eat the clover. Putting them to pasture here means that the fertilizer raises the soil quality. In winter, we feed the pigs with the turnips.
"This method keeps the fields in use without depleting them, and it provides more meat, as well." He ended with a nod. Since this world had similar plants and animals as those of Earth, he decided to share this knowledge.
"This…" Alicia dropped her jaw to the ground while Asmus had a chill down to his spines. Even without the knowledge about agriculture, they knew the plan looked very feasible. Furthermore, if everything Alex had said including its benefits were true, then the kingdom's agriculture would advance by leaps and bounds.
"Alex… Let's go with your plan. Can I tell others about this? No, Please let me tell them." Alicia grabbed Alex's shoulder with her shaking hands to prevent him from running away.
Alex simply shrugged his shoulder and replied nonchalantly. "Up to you."
"Up to me? What's wrong with you? You just said something that will evolve the agriculture of a kingdom, you know. And you casually say it's up to me?" Alicia gritted her teeth. She didn't know why but she was frustrated about Alex's disinterested attitude.
"Haha… Keep it up, Young Man." Asmus laughed, he never expected that Alex was a scholar with strong ability. Of course, he still avoided the conversation and let Alex solve the problem with Alicia.
'You traitor!' Alex screamed inwardly to Asmus before sighing. "Alicia. You can do whatever you want with it. Even if I keep it alone for myself, I don't really have any use for it. It's better for other people to use it."
"Hehehe…" Alicia was moved and satisfied at the same time and finally let him go.
After a while, Asmus came again and informed them. "Princess, Alex. We can see the wall now. Albeit, it's already dark, so we will set up the camp and continue tomorrow."
"Alright." The two nodded.