Chapter 17: How to Use Resource Points

Just like that, six more maids were added to Farra’s household.

However, he had no use for all six of them for the moment. His house was still too small and simply could not accommodate so many people. Therefore, aside from the original two maids, Farra temporarily arranged for the newcomers to live elsewhere.

In addition, the destitute merchants who had ended up as slaves were basically all thrown into the labor crew by Farra. These people were of no other use for the time being, and Farra did not intend to employ them. As for those with craft skills, Mas, acting on Farra’s instructions, assigned every one of them to different positions. After every purchased slave had been properly sorted and housed, the population within the domain stabilized at around 3,000. Farra could finally free up a portion of them for this year’s farming.

“Lanka, Shal, starting today, whenever you have free time, follow the six newcomers and learn basic writing and elementary arithmetic,” Farra instructed.

These two were the earlier maids, born to ordinary slave families and without surnames.

“Yes, Lord…”

After filling the schedules of those two as well, Farra finally came over to the farmland.

Naturally, the first thing was to test whether the Resource points provided by the System were really that useful. He summoned the god-like map in his mind and shifted his gaze to the fields. On the map, this area was clearly marked as a Resource Site. He could invest one Resource point per mu of land.

Before spending any Resource points, this Resource Site was Level 0. After the point was injected, it immediately became Level 1. The land itself did not visibly change. However, on the System’s map he could clearly see the detailed status of this Resource Site. It was just like playing a strategy game…

At this moment, that single mu displayed: Level 1, yield +20%.

“Interesting,” Farra muttered, curling his lips as he continued to pour Resource points into it. The information on the map began to update rapidly:

「Level 2, yield +30%」

「Level 3, yield +40%」

「Level 4, yield +50%」

「Level 5, yield +70%」

「Level 6, yield +100%, special states: Satiety, Vitality Enhancement」

“Hm?” Farra raised an eyebrow at the appended tags and focused his consciousness on them to read the details.

Satiety: A special state in which the grain produced provides a stronger sense of fullness and more energy.

Vitality Enhancement: The plants grown on this Resource Site would receive an additional boost to their life force.

“So it can do that as well…” Farra thought, and without hesitation, maxed out the Site in one go:

「Level 7, yield +200%」

「Level 8, yield +300%, added special state: Flavor Improvement」

「Level 9, yield +400%, added special state: Vitality Transfer」

Flavor Improvement: Crops from this Resource Site would taste better.

Vitality Transfer: Consuming crops from this Resource Site would make the eater healthier.

Level 9 was the ceiling. Starting at Level 6, the final three levels each had a chance to generate additional special tags, and every upgrade became more brutal than the last. A 400% increase in yield per mu… If he could scale this up, Farra could get rich off this little plot alone.

He bent down to examine the soil but still found nothing different from any other field. That was good. If the land displayed anything bizarre, he would have to find a way to explain it, and attracting too much attention would only invite covetous eyes sooner.

After finishing his inspection of the fields, Farra headed to the newly built livestock farm. As per his instructions, the different animals were all kept separately. If they were mixed together, the System would not classify the place as a Resource Site. After separating them, Farra tested the System’s evaluation method again. After observing for a while, he reached a conclusion: a 100-square-meter pen cost 1 Resource point. Pens smaller than 100 square meters were still charged at 1 Resource point. If the area exceeded 100 square meters, it counted as 200, and each upgrade would require 2 Resource points.

“Shrink that extra section over there and put up a new fence,” he said to the person in charge of the livestock.

“Yes, Lord…” the servant replied. He did not know why Farra was building only to tear down again, but such matters were obviously not for a servant to ponder.

Farra made a circuit of the area, hesitated as he looked at his remaining 17 Resource points, and finally decided to dump 9 of them straight into the cattle pen.

Cattle… were a fine thing. Although some religions on the Mu Continent seemed to regard them as sacred beasts, elsewhere they were merely slaughtered for meat or milk like ordinary livestock. But Farra knew cattle had other uses. For instance, their hides were extremely useful. Since he could not yet afford to armor his army, bovine leather could provide basic protection while keeping costs down.

Yet in the current armies across the Mu Continent… or rather, in each lord’s personal forces… armor was almost nonexistent. Some lords even sent men into battle with nothing but a casually issued bronze sword. No army ever exceeded 10,000 troops. That was in kingdoms that had not yet slid into complete decay. In a place like the present Nosbaro Kingdom, mustering 10,000 soldiers was already the Noble Council giving someone plenty of face. As for weapons and the like, the minor lords of each region had to pay out of their own pockets. So everything was kept as simple as possible…

Therefore, if he could field a unit clad head-to-toe in leather armor, each soldier even carrying a bronze sword, it would be enough for Farra to run rampant in this region. Hence, investing 9 Resource points into the cattle pen was guaranteed not to be a loss. It would also let him see whether, when the herd became too large and the pen was expanded later, the grade would carry over… most likely it would, but it was best to verify. If that proved true, then these 9 Resource points would amount to a permanent investment, unlike the points spent on farmland.

Farra watched the state of the cattle pen closely:

「Level 1, yield +…」

「Level 6, yield +100%, added special states: Vitality Boost, Flavor Improvement.」

「Level 8, yield +300%, added special state: Docility」

「Level 9, yield +400%, added special state: Vitality Transfer」

…

Farra examined the new tags. Docility meant the penned animals would become more gentle and obedient, while Vitality Boost was similar to Vitality Enhancement, strengthening the livestock’s Constitution and making them less prone to illness. Comparing the fields and the cattle pen, the tags were basically the same set; only the magnitude of their effects differed.

“…We probably won’t be short of beef from now on,” Farra muttered as he looked at the 400% figure. Ordinarily, it took more than a year for farmed cattle to reproduce. Now that the rate was quadrupled, the cycle would be four times shorter. That was quite abnormal. Later, the growth of wheat, barley, or even vegetables in certain gardens would look abnormal as well, which would require an explanation. In another world where everyone possessed modern common sense, it would be hard to explain. But in this world, Farra quickly thought of a solution.