Chapter 48: How to Make Land (3)

It hurts. It hurts even though no one punched, kicked, or whacked me with a club. This numb, stinging pain is real.

Viscount Lacona thought to himself. However, his pain was inevitable. After all, Lloyd had dropped a massive truth bomb on him in front of more than a hundred people. He was caught off-guard.

“Alright, so let’s go over it one by one. You claim that half of the Maritz Wetland belongs to your viscounty, am I right?”

“Of course.”

“And so, you claim that half of the recently reclaimed wetland must be under your ownership, yes?”

“That is right as well.”

“But there is a grave loophole in such a claim.”

“A loophole?”

“Yes,” Lloyd replied. “The loophole is that you have forgotten that this land has been long abandoned.”

“How is that a loophole?”

“For your claim is violating the Royal Land Act of the Kingdom, which the most revered King protects.”

“What…?” The viscount flinched.

Lloyd chuckled. “Land Act of the Kingdom, Title 321. My proof is in the special exemption regarding the development of barren land.”

“Land Act? Title 321?”

“Yes, the act dictates the ownership of barren land that’s been abandoned if it gets reclaimed. Now, let’s walk through the act one by one, shall we?”

“What are you…”

“Article one states the purpose of the law regards the development of long-standing barren land and the establishment of ownership of the reclaimed land.”

“Excuse me?”

“Article two states that barren land is land that has been abandoned for over 100 years without any residential or cultivation activities transpiring on the land.”

“Listen to me first…”

“Article three states that any and all land that meets the requirements listed below will be recognized as belonging to the developer of the barren land. First, the land must be developed with a clear purpose through the investment of capital and labor. Second, the land must be able to support a residential building. Third, the land must be able to support long-term agricultural activity. Fourth, the land must have produced at least one harvest of a crop variety specified by law.”

“Come on, listen to me first…” the viscount muttered, his voice in a rush.

However, such a protest was immediately silenced by Lloyd’s eloquence which spared him no second to rebut

“Article four states that in the case the developed land meets all the requirements listed in Article Three, the land shall be owned by the developer, and it can be registered in the land registry of the Kingdom following the proper procedures.”

“Article five states that the items required to enforce the law shall be determined by the royal law regulations. That’s all. If you want to listen to it again, please press number one. No customer service agents to help you out, so why don’t you shut your mouth and accept defeat?”

Lloyd chuckled as the viscount was at a complete loss of words.

What kind of brat is this?

Viscount Lacona stared hard at him, his gaze dismayed and dumbfounded. The eldest son of Baron Frontera was an incorrigible hooligan. The viscount had heard rumors about this person. Everyone said that he drenched himself in alcohol every day and wreaked havoc on the fiefdom. They also said that reason was recently knocked into him but no one knew what had happened. That’s why the viscount had thought lightly of Lloyd. Even when this notorious hooligan stopped him and started to refute his claims, the viscount thought that a fledgling boy like him wouldn’t know much of anything.

The viscount had decided to shut this pesky kid up at once and head to meet the baron.

However, it turned out that he was wrong. This boy. He’s not an ordinary kid. Lloyd, in fact, was more than ordinary. He may be young, but the viscount knew better now than to try to take advantage of his young age. The viscount would surely go back home penniless.

He swallowed, his throat dry.

There was a law like that in the Kingdom? It is my first time hearing about it. But he’s full of confidence, so I doubt he is making things up. Wait a minute. Could it be that he had prepared beforehand because he knew I’d come here? Is that how he studied the law in advance?

At that instant, the hairs on the viscount’s arms rose. If his presumption was true, he could not think lightly of this eccentric bastard, who was horrifyingly meticulous. What is this guy?

The viscount collected his thoughts. He couldn’t back out like this. The Maritz Wetland was a vast land, and half of it took the southern landmass.

This posed a perfect opportunity for him to usurp the land for free. With every fiber of strength left in his soul, the viscount racked his brain. Think. Find a loophole in that boy’s words. Rebut him with a perfect reply…Oh, wait. That’s it.

An idea hit him and the viscount’s eyes brightened. With eyes overflowing with confidence, he stared down at Lloyd.

“The Land Act of the Kingdom. That is an interesting story.”

“Isn’t it? The law is always fair.”

“Yes, I’m sure it is. It is fair that it gives a fair opportunity to a person like me. Just like now.”

“What is it that you want to say?”

“What do you mean? Well, let me explain it to you. You see, it appears that you have yet to meet an important requirement for this developed land to be yours.”

“An important requirement?”

“I’m talking about crops! Crops! Wahaha!”

The viscount smiled in utter satisfaction. He looked like a predator that had found its prey’s weakness.

“You mentioned it loud and clear while you were narrating the act. You said that the barren land must meet several requirements in order for it to be regarded as developed. I believe one of the requirements was that the land must have yielded crops at least once.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Hahahaha! This is why you have a lot to learn, boy! Child, have you harvested any crops in the land?”

The viscount beamed, smiling like a winner. I won, you brat! The viscount was content. Here came a fledgling brat who attempted to fight back using the law and the viscount used the very thing against the boy to silence him. Yes, yes, the viscount thought so to himself.

That was until Lloyd let out a scoff.

“That is really funny.”

Not a hint of embarrassment flickered across Lloyd’s face. He only smiled but in amusement.

He looked like a sadist seeing someone struggle.

Putting on a bright smile, Lloyd said, “Actually, I just wanted to show you something. Hold on. Could you please rein your horses to the side? Just a little bit?”

“What…?”

“Two steps, that’s all.”

“What are you…?”

“There you go. Good, good.”

Lloyd stretched out his hands while the viscount was left in dismay. He stroked the white horse’s head and gently tugged the rein to the side, causing it to neigh and move two steps to the side. It happened so spontaneously that the viscount hadn’t had the time to stop him.

“What are you doing?!”

“Please, just a second.”

The viscount protested, but it was useless. Lloyd threw a half-assed answer and bent his waist forward, reaching toward the ground.

Humming a happy tune, Lloyd said, “Whew. Thankfully, it’s unharmed. You have no idea how worried I became when I saw you had to stop your horses right over here out of all the places. I was afraid that you would step on these.”

“Excuse me?”

“Here, do you see this?”

Lloyd, all hunkered down, pointed at the ground. The viscount’s incredulous gaze traced Lloyd’s fingers and there he saw it.

“Weeds?”

“Wrong. It’s onions.”

Lloyd grabbed a chunk of green leaves that sprung up out of the ground and carefully dug the earth, pulling it up gently. A luscious red-brown onion was plucked, looking delicious and sweet. A bright smile formed on Lloyd’s face, the corners rising all the way up to his ears.

“Oh, my. Congratulations. You just watched the greatest moment in the history of the reclaimed Maritz land. Its first crop ever. I won’t ask you to pay for my show. I am not stingy. Anyway, I am so glad the onion grew to a good size, hahaha.”

The viscount’s face darkened. He was dazed. Lloyd brushed off the dirt that had smudged around the onion. He held it out to the viscount.

“So, I’ve proven to you now that we do meet the requirement of having to yield crops. So what now? Here you can take this. You’ve come a long way. Take it as your souvenir. I just think it would be improper of me to send my guests back empty-handed.”

The viscount didn’t take the onion. To be more exact, he couldn’t. In shock, he could only gaze down at Lloyd, trying to make sense of what was happening. The viscount wasn’t alone in his trance. The knights were the same and no one had time to get angry. Lloyd chuckled and tied the onion around the viscount’s horse saddle.

In a firm and cold voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, Lloyd said, “Then take care then. Javier?”

Lloyd’s voice searched for Javier.

“They are our valuable guests. Make sure you walk them out.”

“Yes, your word is my command.”

Javier quickly read the room and moved forward. He had already figured out the exact situation. Not only that, he understood more than anyone else the very steps Lloyd had taken to prepare for this moment. He knew because he was the very person who had planted the onions. Whew…Planting onions was quite challenging. Javier lightly sighed.

It must have been around the time when they were installing vertical drains. If Javier remembered correctly, it was either the morning after he had drilled holes in the designated areas or the time he told himself that his job in this construction project was finished.

Lloyd had summoned him and given such a random order, “Grow some onions. Start from today.”

At first, Javier thought this was some sort of a secret signal. He wondered if he had failed to find the special meaning hidden behind those words. However, that wasn’t the case as the command was literal. Lloyd was ordering him to grow some onions. When Lloyd shoved a small pickaxe and a bag of fertilizers into his arms, Javier realized once more that he wasn’t joking. Of course, Javier felt defiant. Up until that day, he had accepted to work in construction because it was for the development of the fiefdom, but growing onions was another thing.

“I wonder why you are entrusting me with such a task.”

This task wasn’t fit for a knight as it was a farmer’s job. However, why was the young master ordering him this task? He wanted to find out why, at least. So he asked and Lloyd chuckled and answered in a nonchalant manner. His words were far from being nonchalant.

“Because the onion you’ll grow may come to protect the Maritz Wetland in the future.”

What Lloyd said sounded important. He couldn’t just brush it aside and ignore him. Now that he had heard what it was for, Javier couldn’t refuse to obey. He must have a reason. There must be a hidden motive he isn’t telling me.

Thinking that in his head, Javier obediently took the pickaxe and the bag of fertilizer. He planted the onions. Of course, the job wasn’t easy as he had never farmed before. I had no idea that growing something involves so much work. Javier was an orphan. His parents had died in a war when he was five. If it weren’t for the saving grace of Baron Frontera, he would have died on the streets.

To repay his debt, he gave all of himself to mastering swordsmanship. It was his attempt to fulfill the promise of protecting the lord by acting as his sword. With everything going on in his life, he wasn’t able to gain farming experience and the same went with growing onions.

I had to get a lot of help from farmers.

They offered him endless advice and nagging as well. Thanks to them, he was able to grow onions successfully. Today, that single vegetable saved the reclaimed Maritz land from the viscount. Did Master Lloyd really predict this situation would happen? There was no other explanation for his behavior. The more Javier thought about it, the more impressed he was with his young master. However, there wasn’t time to be impressed. It was time for Javier to dance to Lloyd’s brazen and perfect tune.

“I am Knight Javier Asrahan, who serves Baron Frontera. I will escort you out on your way back.”

Javier quickly jumped in with expert manners while the viscount was still lost in confusion.

He then naturally led the viscount and his men before they could voice opposition.

“Let us go, Viscount. Over there.”

“Uhm…”

Finally jostled out of trance, the viscount shuddered, but he was too late. Soldiers and other men that belong to the barony were gazing hard at him, intently paying attention to every word he said and he was completely beaten by the brat’s arguments. What if he continued to persist and refused to move away or blew his fuse, not accepting his argument?

That would be the same as throwing his reputation to the ground. That would be the same as tainting his own reputation. I got properly served. Viscount Lacona licked his lips, his mouth growing bitter. He shot a glare at Lloyd before turning away, and he gritted his teeth as he was escorted out by Javier. Once the viscount was gone, Lloyd stood with a content expression on his face, and the soldiers murmured among themselves in excitement as they looked at him.

“Did you see that? Did you just hear that?”

“Of course I did. Viscount Lacona’s face was priceless.”

“He was entirely beside himself. Wahaha.”

“Whew, serves him right.”

“I know, right? How dare he try to steal this land when we endured this murky place to build everything.”

“Whew! You’re right. We’ve shoveled all day to make this land. How dare he try to freeload off us.”

“Zero conscience, really. And Master Lloyd wonderfully served him, that heartless bastard.”

“Gosh, that felt so good! I know I can sleep well tonight.”

The civil engineer soldiers giggled happily. This vast land used to be a murky wetland, abandoned and useless. Who changed this place? They did it with one shovel in their hands and beads of sweat dripping down from an entire day’s worth of work.

This land was the product of their persistent effort and labor under the burning sun. They could never look at the viscount favorably as the noble demanded to give up half of the land for free. They secretly cheered for Lloyd when they heard the dispute between their young master and the viscount. So, Lloyd’s victory felt like theirs.

My young master is the best! The soldiers clenched their fists, their thoughts unified. They were proud and content. The very object of their pride and contentment, Lloyd, grimaced as he looked at them.

“What are you all looking at? Something funny here?”

As soon as Lloyd scolded, the soldiers jumped to action right away. They resumed shoveling at lightning speed, showing zero signs that they were watching the dispute. Since these soldiers worked with Lloyd through various construction projects, they somewhat had some hazy understanding of what Lloyd was like.

It’s bonus time soon! Keke.

Despite his sharp tongue, the young master cherished his men very much. Despite his severe scolding, the young master guaranteed break time. Despite the hard work, the young master gratefully presented each of them with a thick bonus. The soldiers’ faces brightened as they imagined the bonus they would be receiving. The Frontera barony was a rural province in the eastern region of the kingdom. The biggest construction in the history of this fiefdom was waiting for its finale.

But of course, the people didn’t know. They didn’t know that the construction wasn’t over.

That it was just the beginning of a larger transformation. Lloyd didn’t have any plans of stopping. Everything he had done up to this point was for reclamation. From now on, it was time to develop their work.

Before manufacturing the waterwheel to finish off the reclamation project, Lloyd went to the baron to propose a new plan. Once the plan was laid out, the baron nodded happily in agreement. The following day, the barony announced the “The Reclaimed Maritz Land’s Migration Plan.” Upon hearing the plan of his northern neighbor, Viscount Lacona hurled the piece of onion he was fiddling with at full swing against the wall.