Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

"Breathing Story" is a management simulation game.

You need to master up to over a dozen life skills.

To Roman, these life skills were very important.

In those days, whoever mastered various skills also mastered advanced productivity.

Gaining experience points and upgrading skill levels were simple; you participated in daily laborious tasks and slowly gained experience points during this process.

You could upgrade your "Construction" skill by building and renovating houses;

You could upgrade your "Planting" skill level through cultivating and harvesting crops;

You could increase your "Collection" skill by chopping wood and mining veins...

Moreover, in the system of "Breathing Story," there were milestone rewards—after upgrading a skill, you would receive original stones.

Besides, the only other way to receive additional original stones was by converting extraordinary resources. However, Roman wasn't yet aware of the effects of the original stones and hadn't acted rashly—he also didn't have money to top up, as extraordinary resources were very rare.

For the current Roman, the freely available skill milestone resources were essential.

From skill level 1 to level 2, he would receive 500 original stones, equivalent to signing in for an extra five days.

But based on Roman's personal experience, upgrading skill levels seemed to be a drawn-out affair.

After working for most of the day, he only gained 10 points of "Construction" experience.

To move from level 1 to level 2 required 100 experience points.

This 10 points of experience might seem insignificant like mosquito legs, but they were still somewhat useful.

Every time he gained 1 point of experience, a bit more knowledge about civil engineering would pop up in his mind.

Innate Civil Engineering Saint Body!

Although he had worked for less than a day, Roman's final performance resembled that of a skilled builder with several months of experience. His work efficiency was extremely high; one man could do the work of ten, causing the slaves to be quite astonished, almost unable to discern who the real slave was.

Otherwise, Roman might not have been able to build five wooden houses before nightfall.

Though very rudimentary—with log-built walls, sloped roofs, and topped with thatch; it could only shield from the wind, not from the rain.

In the eyes of the nobles, it was a dreadful sight, so ugly that they couldn't bear to step in.

But through Roman's eyes, these wooden houses contained the fruits of his own labor—simple and unadorned, hence why he felt fully satisfied however he looked at them.

"Sir, if I may speak frankly, your status is not suitable for doing these things; it does not comply with noble etiquette," a sigh came from behind Roman.

After being officially recognized, Roman naturally had to bring a team from his family to avoid arriving at his fief without any useful people.

Still, the resources distributed to him weren't particularly abundant.

Two armored Conquest Knights, one Deacon, two clerks, one chef, three assistant chefs, five male slaves, five maids, totaling 19 people.

Finally, there were five sturdy horses, a carriage, and other miscellaneous living supplies.

Including Roman himself, they barely reached a group of 20 people.

For an ordinary noble, these resources would be excessive.

But for a bastard of the Riptide Family, it seemed somewhat shabby.

Though numerous, the true inner members were only the two Conquest Knights and one Deacon, the only three personnel trained by the Riptide Family.

The two clerks were civilian employees chosen by Roman under a contract.

And the status of the chef, male slaves, and maids was lowly; they could be considered personal property.

The speaker was Deacon Seth, responsible for assisting Roman in managing his fief and his properties.

Seth was nearly forty years old with a solemn demeanor, a straight posture, and neatly pressed clothes without a wrinkle, appearing both clean and professional. He was also the only one who hadn't carried timber with Roman.

Roman said with a smile, "If noble etiquette can help me to conjure a manor out of thin air, then I wouldn't mind using it."

Seth had once served as a family tutor for the Riptide Family, specifically Roman's etiquette teacher. However, his old-fashioned and elegant demeanor made him unpopular—otherwise, Roman wouldn't have picked him up; he was only interested in his extensive managerial experience, not caring about his lectures.

"""

This old fellow is a genuine gentleman, the kind you can take advantage of as if he were a nobleman.

Roman looked towards the two Conquest Knights chosen from the family.

One was named Aaron, and the other was named Green.

Neither had been officially knighted, but they were strong, and their youth boded well for their potential; they were considered promising.

"Pack your things and prepare to settle in," Roman told them.

Green found it unbelievable, "Are you really planning to settle down here?"

Roman snorted, "Why else would I have built the house before nightfall?"

Moor wiped his sweat, spent half a day with Roman, and felt that he was not going to be demoted to the pigsty, he then suggested, "Lord Roman, noble knights, if you don't mind, we could stay in Sige Town for tonight…"

"I do mind," Roman interrupted, waving his hand.

Medieval market towns were complete pigsties; not even a dog would stay there. It was better to sleep in the wild where at least the air was clean and sanitary.

The knight named Aaron saw that Roman had made up his mind, so he turned and drove the carriage forward to start unloading the luggage.

Green, however, morosely said, "I don't mind."

Roman glanced at him, "Then go ahead, but don't come back."

"As you command!"

Green had a resigned expression on his face, then said loudly to Moor, "Lead the way."

"Huh?" Moor looked bewilderedly at Roman and Green, then at Aaron, who was unloading the luggage, and at Seth, who couldn't bear to look directly.

A single sentence made a Conquest Knight betray his own lord.

Was I the one sowing discord?

Moor was deeply shocked.

"This…" Moor looked troubled; was this a test of his loyalty? What if he really led Green there, and Roman immediately signaled with a smashed cup, then five hundred axemen would leap from the bushes and chop him into mincemeat?

But to him, even a Conquest Knight was akin to a lord.

Green walked towards Moor, only to be kicked by Roman.

He staggered, turned, and looked bitterly at Roman. You suffer here yourself, but why thwart my search for other lodgings?

Roman glared at him.

Green could be considered a homegrown son of the Riptide Family, having grown up with special training from the family; his chance of betrayal was much less than Roman drawing a Six Star.

Roman had a capacity for tolerance, mainly because he had led Green astray—they had grown up together, influencing each other, or else Green would not have spoken such seditious words.

Roman stopped Green's antics and turned to Moor, "You may go now, come early tomorrow, I have orders for you."

With that, he waved and dismissed Moor and the group of slaves.

Moor hesitated to speak, saving his life for now. But he harbored doubts about his future, suspecting this was not a proper noble.

Unable to figure it out, he had no choice but to lead his people away.

The slaves were in awe, feeling today was the most unreal episode.

Did you know the new lord? I've carried logs with him.

Who would believe it if told?

…

After sending Moor away, Roman's attending chef had prepared dinner, not very lavish, but passable.

Room allocation was straightforward.

Roman had a room to himself, the two knights and the deacon shared one, the rest were free to choose.

With early spring arriving, the earth awakening not long before, there weren't many insects.

Several wooden boards were arranged into makeshift beds, Roman lay on his bed, studying the game interface and features, and didn't sleep for a long time.

"""