A week later, in the barracks:
"How is the training effect?" Maximus asked, looking at the thousand men who had just undergone training.
"They're progressing at a great speed."
"With the healing potion given by the lord, we let them go, only intervening when they are about to die,"
Johnson narrated as he looked at the bloodthirsty soldier who had undergone a life-and-death battle.
"Furthermore, the beast that we defeated was eaten as nourishment."
"Now, out of the thousand soldiers, there are about ten who broke through tier 1 official knight."
"That's good. Continue training," Maximus couldn't help but nod.
"I will give you another healing potion later."
"Also, You start recruiting soldiers."
"How many soldiers do you plan to recruit, lord?" Smith asked.
"I need 10,000 soldiers."
"What?"
"So many?"
The two generals couldn't help but exclaim.
Moonshadow City only has about 35,000 to 40,000 people, including the various villages surrounding it, totaling about 50,000 people.
Recruiting 10,000 soldiers is not an easy task.
"Can you do it?"
"We can, but lord, can we afford to feed these 10,000 soldiers?"
They just heard that Moonshadow City experienced a food crisis, so how can they not be worried.
"Don't worry. I have already thought of a solution. You just need to execute the task," Maximus reassured them.
He had already thought of how to feed the soldiers and even his whole territory.
Currently, they rely on food exports from other cities, as the farmland in his territory is insufficient.
The land is truly barren, with the corrosive mana preventing the growth of food no matter how you fertilize it.
The reason other lands can grow food is that the concentration of corrosive mana in those places is very low, almost negligible.
As for why forests still grow, it's because the plants there have already mutated to accommodate the corrosive mana.
Unfortunately, this mutation makes the plants poisonous and unsuitable for consumption.
The solution he thought of is, of course, using system-bought products.
[Crystal Bloom (Tier 3): Can cast an invisible light to filter toxic elements in a radius of 1 kilometer. Price 100,000.]
With this, the corrosive property of the mana will not be a problem.
You just need to fertilize the land, and you can grow food.
One Crystal Bloom can barely feed his people, and with two, he will have an excess that he can sell.
The only worry is various greedy nobles, so he asked the two generals to recruit more soldiers.
...
After conversing with the generals, he returned to his castle.
"Young master, you are here," Gerald said as he caught sight of him.
"What is it?"
"A messenger from the imperial capital has arrived."
"Oh? Bring him to the study."
Maximus grew curious about why a messenger had come.
Could it be about the war?
He proceeded to his study and waited for the messenger.
Knock* Knock*
"Come in."
"I've seen Count Maximus," the messenger bowed.
"Why have you come here?"
"On the order of your majesty, Count has to send a thousand-man army or pay 100,000 gold for war support."
"So much?" Maximus remarked with a dark expression.
Although he could afford a hundred thousand gold, He was reluctant.
Moreover, he had just trained his thousand soldiers; he couldn't simply send them to die.
"You can also send a Tier 3 Earth Knight to participate in the war."
"Tsk."
"Then I'll send one of my generals,"
Maximus could only compromise, acknowledging the weaker position he was in.
After all, he was the weaker party.
"General?" The messenger was shocked.
There was a Tier 3 Earth Knight general in this territory.
The messenger had heard that the previous count, who was a Tier 3 Earth Knight, had already died.
Thus, he was astonished to know that another Tier 3 Earth Knight existed here.
"Hmm, it's the one I bought in Westle Caravan."
Anyway, their identity would be revealed sooner or later, so it was better to expose it now.
"Westle Caravan?" The messenger muttered.
Although the messenger lacked the details, he refrained from probing further as he was only a messenger.
"Then I'll take my leave, Count Maximus."
"Hmm."
...
The next day, Maximus proceeded with his plan.
"I've seen the count," Doran greeted.
"Be seated. I called you here to know who is in charge of the farmland."
Although it had been a few months since he became a Count, he hadn't yet familiarized himself with his officials.
Especially concerning the inconspicuous farmland that barely produced any food.
"It's Robert, my lord."
"Then call him for me."
"Yes."
Doran hurriedly instructed the servants to summon Robert from the farm.
Soon, a man who looked like a farmer but had a more spirited demeanor entered.
"My lord," he bowed.
"Hmm, are you the one in charge of the farmland?"
"I am, my lord."
"Can you tell me the yield of the farm?"
"This... the arable land in the count's territory is about 10 hectares."
"The yield is barely 10 tons' worth of food."
Robert said unconfidently.
Maximus also sighed.
As expected, the land was truly barren.
10 tons of food could barely feed 10,000 people for a day, yet this was the total harvest of a season.
No wonder there was almost no income in his territory.
He even wondered how his father managed his training, his territory, and still had excess money.
"Here, read this."
Seeing a thick stack of parchment, Robert couldn't help but be curious.
Even Doran got up and joined to read.
"Fertilizer?"
As they continued to read, their eyes widened.
"Is this true, my lord? Is this fertilizer really effective?" Robert couldn't help but ask.
Robert's dream was to have enough food so that he will never be hungry, so he studied farming his entire life.
He had tried all kinds of fertilizers, but none of them had worked.
Now, looking at the fertilizer formula in his hand and its description, he couldn't believe it was real.
"Don't worry, it's as real as gold," Maximus smiled.
The formula he gave Robert was a super-advanced fertilizer formula that he had bought from the system.
It could turn the most barren land into a paradise.
However, that wasn't enough.
No matter how powerful the fertilizer was, if they couldn't find a solution to the corrosive mana, it would be useless.
That's why he had bought Crystal Bloom, each costing 100,000 gold.
Of course, he wouldn't reveal such information but would keep it a secret.
"Really?!" Robert couldn't help but tremble.
Doran was also excited.
If this were true, they would become rich.
"But, lord, such a precious thing, how can we keep it?" Doran asked, worried about the potential danger.
"Don't worry. Didn't you already see the two generals?"
"As long as we're not too ostentatious, there shouldn't be much danger."
"That's right!" Doran suddenly remembered the two Tier 3 Earth Knights that Maximus had brought back.
"Hmm, go. I want to hear your good news later."