Chapter 55 — Laying the Foundation

The workers had grown used to Gao Yang's appearances. This "somewhat strange great noble lord" was always fond of wandering about the noisy, cluttered worksite, and would even seek out the mud-footed folk for a chat. At first this had made many of them nervous and uneasy, but by now...

The nervousness remained, but the unease had faded a great deal—especially after Gao Yang made good on those two immediately visible promises: "everyone who works earnestly gets to eat their fill" and "those who work especially hard get meat." The common folk and serfs of the domain now felt considerably more trust and closeness toward this new lord who kept his word and was renowned far and wide.

Gao Yang passed through the busy labor site and came to the wooden shed at the edge of the field. Beside Hetty stood a dark-skinned man who looked like a farmer, the two of them earnestly discussing something, while Sir Philip stood guard at the side.

Gao Yang's nearly two-meter frame had a commanding presence. As soon as he drew near, Hetty looked up and then rose to her feet, and the farmer, who had his back to him, turned as well. Seeing it was the lord, he hurriedly bent and bowed: "Lord..."

"No need to be nervous," Gao Yang waved a hand. "I just came to see how things are going."

Then, with some curiosity, he looked at the man who seemed like a farmer yet was discussing problems with Hetty: "Are you an expert on farming?"

In the common human tongue of the Loren Continent, "expert" and "scholar" were the same word. Hearing Gao Yang address him so, the farmer at once waved his hands, nervous and frightened: "How could I compare with those learned great personages... I'm just a farmer..."

"His name is Norris," Hetty put in by way of introduction. "He's a farmer on the domain, very skilled at tilling. When I needed someone to ask about clearing and cultivating land, I found him."

Gao Yang looked Norris up and down. This was a typical medieval peasant: dark-skinned, gaunt, with thick hands and feet, an expression of humility on his face. He looked perhaps forty or fifty, or perhaps older, but Gao Yang did not dare guess his true age. Heavy labor and malnutrition made every commoner on the Loren Continent age prematurely. Though humans of this world, when healthy, had lifespans exceeding those of Earth, and the average age of nobles had already reached one hundred to one hundred and fifty (without using magic or other external means to extend life), in reality ninety percent of this world's population was unhealthy—many laborers were already doddering in their twenties.

The commoners of the Cecil domain could at least keep body and soul together and lived somewhat longer than those of other domains, but the premature aging brought on by labor was still unavoidable.

The farmer named Norris turned his neck a little nervously under Gao Yang's gaze and offered a humble smile.

But it was precisely that humble smile that made Gao Yang pause for a beat.

How long had it been since he had seen a smile on the face of a poor man in this world?