Chapter 43

After returning to the estate, Rian enjoyed a rare few days of peace. The bloody intrigues of the capital and the forest’s vicious malice felt like matters of a distant world. He ate breakfast with his family in the mornings and spent afternoons reading in the warm sunlight or strolling the garden with Lily.

“Brother, look at this flower! It was just a bud yesterday, but it bloomed this wide in the morning!”

Lily proudly pointed to a blue wildflower that had just opened in her little garden. When she watered and spoke to the plants, they strangely grew and bloomed much faster than elsewhere. Her pure affinity with spirits breathed life into the surrounding living things.

“It’s really beautiful. Maybe it takes after Lily.”

Lily blushed with joy at Rian’s compliment. Seeing his sister’s innocent smile, Rian vowed once more that he would face any danger to protect this peaceful life.

But his gaze was not fixed only on his sister’s smile. His eyes were directed beyond the garden, toward the whole estate. For the first time since returning from the capital, he wanted to properly inspect his estate.

“Lily, do you want to go to the estate village with me? Let’s stop by the shop that sells that honey-filled bread you like.”

“Really? Wow, I’m excited!”

Lily, thrilled, grabbed Rian’s hand and left the manor. The personal maid Elise followed, calling, “Young master, you must still be taking it easy for your body!” but she could not stop the siblings’ steps.

The estate village looked lively after a long time, but Rian’s eyes picked up several problems. The small stream running through the village center was polluted in places by household waste, and the farmers working the fields still used old, inefficient tools. The unpaved roads kicked up dust and would inevitably turn to mud when it rained.

‘We’ve won the economic war with the Duke of Valois and accumulated wealth through the Dawn Guild, yet that wealth hasn’t directly reached the lives of the estate’s people.’

Rian fell into thought. At that moment, Lily tugged on his sleeve.

“Brother, that grandpa looks like he’s having a hard time over there.”

Where Lily pointed, an old man was straining to draw water from a well. Pulling water up from a deep well was a strenuous task for the elderly man.

Rian watched for a moment, then as if an idea had occurred to him, took Lily’s hand and moved toward the man.

That evening, Rian went to the study of his father, Count Aaron. Count Aaron was wrestling with a mountain of documents and holding his head.

“Father, I have something to discuss briefly.”

“Oh, Rian. Come in. What’s the matter?”

Rian spread out several design sketches he had drawn himself on the desk.

“Today I toured the estate village with Lily and got a few ideas. I read about this in a book—using a device called a ‘pump’ like this would make drawing well water much easier. It’s a simple principle using differences in pressure.”

The plans he presented detailed the structure of a manual pump from his past life’s memories.

“And this is the concept of ‘sewer and water systems.’ By separating the path for clean water from the path for waste water, we can improve the estate people’s hygiene and prevent epidemics. We only need to reroute parts of the stream and build a simple purification facility.”

Rian went on to explain crop rotation and fertilizer production methods that could drastically increase yields. All his proposals were innovations not present in this world, but he framed them thoroughly as ‘forgotten wisdom seen in an old book.’

Count Aaron listened to his son’s explanations, unable to keep his mouth shut. At first skeptical, the more he heard, the more he admired the logic and efficiency contained within.

“Rian… if what you say is truly possible, our estate will become incomparably prosperous.”

“Of course it’s possible, Father. I’ll supervise it personally. First, let’s install a trial pump in the village center and create a small-scale water and sewer system. You’ll be able to see the effects with your own eyes.”

Count Aaron looked into his son’s confident eyes. He could no longer see this young son merely as a ‘bright bookworm.’ Within him lay immense wisdom that could change the future of the family, or even the empire.

“Very well. I trust you—I’ll leave it to you.”

Rian’s eyes gleamed at his father’s approval.

The great threat of the Ashen Worm cult. To stand against them, the Aster family had to become much stronger than it was now. Not merely a wealthy and powerful family, but an estate with sturdy roots that would not waver under any external attack had to be built.