Chapter 14: New Assistant and Secret of Stonefall

After Ryan said those words, the people of Stonefall Village once again started to murmur among themselves discreetly and exchanged looks with one another.

“A person who will help Master Ryan in all of his proceedings…”

“That means that the chosen person to help him will be able to closely watch Master Ryan and work with him.”

Ryan did his best to pretend that he could not hear what they were all talking about and kept a polite smile on his face.

“Do we have any willing volunteers? I am eager to work with each and every one of you, but I also require someone who will stay by my side.”

‘I have already expected that there will be some suspicion among the people and that they will not all be open to the idea, but really, this is just one way for me to accrue points too.’ Ryan thought to himself.

Joan, still standing at the sidelines, frowned at all of the chatter of the people. If it weren’t for Ryan asking her to stay down and wait for the people to approach him, she would have made them bow down to their knees.

‘They do not know how much of an honor it is to work closely alongside Ryan. Fools. If any of them tries to do something nasty, they’ll feel being pierced by my dagger.’ Joan thought with a glower.

The Grimoire in Joan’s hands felt her murderous aura and wanted to yelp out in protest—the assassin maid had a terribly strong grip!

Before Master Albert could coax the people into stepping out for a position, his grandson suddenly stepped forward and raised a hand.

“Master Ryan!” he said.

Ryan looked down at the young man who seemed to be around the exact same age as him. He had dark black hair and eyes. His figure looked sturdy and also a bit surly.

“Are you the tribu—er, volunteer?” Ryan corrected himself with a smile. “May I know your name?”

“My name is Tom. But first, how much are you paying for this position?” Tom asked bluntly.

‘What is my grandson doing?! I would pull out my hair if only I had any on my head.’ Master Albert resorted to gripping his beard tightly and glowered at his grandson.

“Ah, that’s a good question,” Ryan said and glanced in Joan’s direction. The two of them already accounted all of the wealth that King Reginald allowed them to bring.

“The initial remuneration for this position will be ten copper per day,” Joan said.

“Given the current circumstances, this aligns with the average earnings of a Farmer. As we progress in building wealth for the Stonefall Village, rest assured that the compensation shall increase accordingly. However, for the time being, I hope this arrangement will suffice."

“And… all I need to do is give you information?” Tom asked doubtfully.

It sounded too good to be true. Everyone in the village spent most of their days helping around to ensure that they'd have enough food for the winter.

Ryan smiled and nodded. “Yes. Well, there will be various tasks and errands to attend to, but providing me information is mostly what this role entails. ”

‘It is difficult working as a Farmer, toiling everyday in the fields. I am sure that hearing about the pay will make them think that it's more lucrative to work for me. They can still work as a Farmer on times when they're not needed by me. Speaking of, once the village has enough resources, I'll make sure to take care of that aspect too, so people can turn to better activities.’

Ryan’s background with playing kingdom building games in his past life was something that would aid him into bringing them into a new brink of civilization advancement.

“That’s…” Tom hesitated. As much as he was loyal to his grandfather and the village, the money was far too tempting.

“When I do not require of you, you are free to spend your time as you best see it,” Ryan added.

The village of Stonefall began to murmur among themselves. It was actually a pretty great deal if you wanted a life easier than others.

“Alright, I will work as your aide, Master Ryan,” Tom said. It wasn’t just because of the money! With him working closely with Master Ryan, he would be able to see if this young man was truly fit to become the next Master of the Stonefall Village.

It was hitting two birds with one stone!

— — — — — — —

“Thank you so much for agreeing to help us, Albert and Tom,” Ryan thanked the old man who came with his grandson to Luxem Mansion.

“No, thank you for giving my grandson here a chance to make something of himself.” Old Man Albert grabbed his grandson’s head and pushed it down.

“Y-yes, thank you,” Tom said, trying not to scowl.

“Haha, we will all make something for ourselves. Please do not fret about it,” Ryan said as he sat down on one of the couches. He also offered the two men to take a seat and join him.

Joan stepped into the drawing room and brought them tea.

“Now that we’re all here, I would like you to tell me about what you think the village needs. What are the main issues that the village is currently facing? What can you say about Stonefall Village as a whole?”

“From the entirety of existence, Stonefall Village’s lands are less arable than other areas in Finis Kingdom. The reason why it’s called Stonefall in the first place is because the village has once been buried by the rubble from a major landslide of Ironcross Mountains,” Old Man Albert said. “We have done our best to live in these lands and ensure that we are able to grow enough. Still, we sometimes face great shortages.”

“I see, that really is pressing, and I will look into that at once,” Ryan said then glanced at Tom. “What about you, Tom? What do you think is another pressing concern?”

“Our main crop here is barley and nothing much else,” Tom said. “We also don’t have what other bigger villages and towns have. I heard that some have a potions shop? Adventurer’s guild? We’ve got none of that here. Everyone’s expected to become farmers or do other odd jobs.”