Chapter 4 - Episode 4: First Farming, Logging, and Monster Hunting
Citizens of the Lordberg Kingdom receive a "Rite of Blessing" at the church when they turn ten, but it is said that only about one in twenty are granted a talent for magic.
Most possess only enough talent to start a small spark or produce a single cup of water, but among them are those who can master powerful magic to the extent that they are called "mages."
Perhaps because excellent mages rise in status and often join the ranks of the nobility to mingle their blood, the rate of receiving talent is higher among nobles and lower among the poor.
The "talent for puppet magic" that Noein was granted was far better than receiving nothing at all, but as far as nobles were concerned, it was not something to be particularly celebrated.
If he had been granted a clearly powerful talent such as fire magic, water magic, or healing magic, perhaps his treatment within the Count's house would have been different.
Puppet magic is, literally, magic that manipulates puppets according to one's will. Generally, it is recognized as magic used to control "golems"—large wooden puppets engraved with magical patterns.
However, its drawback is that it is "extremely difficult to handle."
Normally, golems cannot perform very complex movements. At most, their use is limited to carrying heavy luggage or serving as shields on the battlefield.
If one underwent immense training, they could likely make them move with the complexity and smoothness of a human, but the only puppet mages capable of such training would be those with an extraordinary amount of free time.
And Noein had that "extraordinary amount of free time."
After learning of his talent at age ten, Noein saved the allowance given to him by his father to buy a golem (wooden golems are not particularly expensive by a noble's standards of money) and spent a long, long time mastering golem manipulation.
Thanks in part to that, now fifteen years old, two golems stand before Noein, performing complex actions that would normally be impossible: "gripping hoes like humans to dig up the soil and till the field."
"As expected of a forest untouched by human hands. The soil is fertile. This should make for a good field."
"To possess the knowledge to discern soil quality as well... as expected of Noein-sama."
To be honest, Noein didn't actually know if the soil was good or bad, so he was just speaking haphazardly. He was talking based on knowledge he'd read in books and a vague visual impression.
And Matilda would praise him no matter what he said anyway.
Even so, the two of them enjoyed this unstable reclamation carried out by two amateurs.
...
"Now then, Matilda. For the time being, we have something that looks like a field."
"Yes, Noein-sama. Next, shall we plant this... crop called a potato?"
As she spoke, Matilda gazed at yellowish-green lumps that looked as if the stems of a plant had grown plump and thick.
"That's right. In the Lordberg Kingdom, these are only imported for ornamental flower viewing, but their true value lies in their utility as food. The cultivation methods and ways to eat them were written in an agricultural guide from the Southern Continent."
Noein, who knew the true value of potatoes from books, had gone out of his way to stop by a market near the port to buy them before leaving his father's territory. This too was a stroke of luck because the Kivileft Earldom faced the sea, possessed a port, and served as a trade hub with the South.
"I see. The fact that you deliberately chose this mysterious crop for the first cultivation instead of wheat means there must be a reason that I cannot comprehend."
As Matilda said, potatoes have a strange appearance to those who do not know of their existence.
When he bought them at the market over a month ago, they should have looked more yellow and glossy, but now they were somewhat greenish, and to boot, sprouts had begun to push out.
If one didn't know these were crops, frankly, they would look like nothing more than grotesque, mysterious objects.
"Exactly, Matilda. They are hardly known in this country, but apparently, in a certain southern nation, potatoes are called the 'crop that saves the nation.' They grow easily and multiply easily. On top of that, they are rich in nutrition. They're perfect companions for our reclamation."
That said, Noein also only knew about potatoes through knowledge.
"How wonderful. To be able to keep an eye on such a crop, as expected of Noein-sama."
Following Noein's instructions, Matilda cut these potato crops with a knife.
Noein then planted them at equal intervals in the furrows the golems had dug.
He had read that if he watered them now, several potatoes would grow from each fragment.
"For now, the planting for this field is finished. The first farmland of the Arqvist territory is born."
"It is a commemorative piece of farmland, Noein-sama."
...
Having finished planting in the small field of about five meters square, Noein immediately set to work on the next task. That said, the ones working were the golems.
First, nothing could begin without flat land that could be used for clearing farmland. Therefore, Noein had the golems grip iron axes and cut down trees.
A strike using the whole body of a golem, which possessed a massive frame exceeding two meters and weight to match. Because of this, deep notches were carved into the tree trunks one after another, and eventually, they fell in the direction where he had pre-made the notches.
Thanks to the golems, the time it took to cut down a single tree was far shorter than that of a human.
Furthermore, they split the felled trees into a certain length and began pruning the branches.
"I'm glad I'm a puppet mage... it's far more versatile than breathing fire or water from one's hands,"
Noein muttered to himself.
Controlling two golems simultaneously and having each perform such detailed work—even in the vast Lordberg Kingdom, he was likely the only one capable of it.
With Noein's dexterity, he could leave everything from farm work to forest logging, lumber processing, and even combat to the golems if he felt like it. It lacked the flashiness of other famous types of magic, but for someone in his position "reclaiming the frontier," it was the perfect power.
"...!"
Right then, Matilda's ear twitched.
"Noein-sama, something is approaching. Likely a monster."
"I see. Well, making this much noise, it's only natural we'd be noticed."
This was a forest untouched by human hands. Naturally, there would be monsters.
Noein had the golems stop pruning the branches and positioned them in the direction Matilda pointed, so they could serve as shields for himself and Matilda.
"Noein-sama, if it is not a significant monster, may I face it as a form of practice?"
"...Fine. Only if it's not a significant monster. It would be a problem if my beloved Matilda died."
"!? Understood."
Matilda stood before Noein, trying not to show her face flushing upon hearing "beloved Matilda." In front of her, the identity of the presence she had sensed approached.
What leaped out, shaking the bushes with a rustle, was—a monster about slightly less than one meter in length, like a rabbit that had simply been enlarged: a Gluttony Rabbit.
Compared to ordinary rabbits, its legs were slightly longer, its fangs were sharp, and it was excessively bellicose, eating anything from plants to meat.
Even so, it could be said to be among the weakest class of monsters.
"I will do this."
"Go ahead."
Having obtained Noein's permission through a short exchange, Matilda utilized her leg strength as a rabbit-person and leaped like a spring.
Matilda delivered a roundhouse kick to the Gluttony Rabbit, which had similarly leaped and charged at her.
What she was equipped with were combat boots with iron blades attached to the tips of sandal-like footwear, tailored to the long feet of a rabbit-person from heel to toe.
The roundhouse kick, carrying the momentum of the leap and her body weight, hit the Gluttony Rabbit's face directly, and the iron blade crushed its skull in a single blow.
The Gluttony Rabbit died abruptly and fell to the ground.
"...I did it, Noein-sama."
Unusually for her, as she normally didn't move her expression, she turned toward her master with a bouncing smile. She seemed very happy and proud to have cleanly finished her first actual combat against a monster.
"Yes. I was watching closely, Matilda. That was splendid. You're a good girl. Good girl, good girl."
Saying this to Matilda, who showed a cute smile, he approached and stroked the head of the girl who was taller than himself. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke.
"A-auu, um, Noein-sama..."
"You're a good girl, Matilda. You are my pride. Good girl, good girl."
Yes, she was Noein's pride. His boast-worthy attendant.
He was simply giving her praise as a reward because she had finished her first battle splendidly.
It was certainly not because her face when she turned around was so cute that he had exercised a mischievous impulse to adore her until she turned bright red with embarrassment.
"Um, Noein-sama, we must bleed and butcher the prey..."
Matilda, who had become a completely innocent maiden as if her usual coolness were a lie, spoke.
Indeed, it was about time to return to work.