Homesteading in a fantasy world

Val and Tim were excellent companions for my first night back, but they are going to sleep as it was late into the night. The world around me was quite quiet, but I could still hear some of the night creatures going about their business.

It was peaceful sitting near the slowly moving river, and I always found it hard to accept such peace could be part of this world when just a few weeks ago we were constantly battling.

I certainly know that when this happened to me for the first time, I could barely handle the quiet. It's better now, and this night certainly helped me feel normal. I’ve gained a lot, but I truly hope that things will be more quiet in the coming years.

Now, that being said, I can’t stop advancing, but I think war certainly isn’t the preferable choice. Hunting higher-ranked monsters and defeating broken dungeons should be my only combat ways of advancing.

Especially hunting, because I’ve been too cavalier about collecting elemental seeds. They need to be developed for a long time. Getting them would be a force multiplier for me and something I shouldn’t push back.

I should also consider not just fighting but purchasing those cores. I wonder what kinds of elements are in this world. I think there might be quite a lot. Slowly, I could feel a plan starting to emerge.

Of course, there are two other ways of leveling up. First is just working on my homestead and doing things here, especially continuing to take apprentices, even if I can’t truly give all my time to them. They should soon be coming back here as well; they have been helping near the capital.

The final way is to make items. Crafting is something that gives experience to two of my classes, and I know that people can reach quite high just doing that. Thanks to a few of my abilities, I can make quite high-end items for my rank.

That reminded me of an unpleasant fact. I would need to make a rank 3 organization. At the start, it would just be on paper, but I would need members soon; otherwise, the license for my organization could be revoked, and I would have to join someone else’s.

It’s another headache that I don’t want to deal with, but I somewhat understand the need. I can feel power inside me when I use my rank three energy. I could probably solo the entire army in less than an hour without using large AOE abilities.

People like that would be extremely dangerous and would need better monitoring. Fortunately, it seems that the World Council at least understands that people who have reached this far need autonomy. Otherwise, things would go badly quite fast.

I need to get my hands on a Rank 3 organisation handbook and rules. Need to learn the rules; otherwise, a simple step could be a costly one. Unfortunately, those lessons I have already learned, but I survived and will here as well, until I get strong enough to change the rules that I don't like.

But most of this can wait, not the Rank 3 organisation stuff, but the rest can wait until I’m a bit more recovered. At least the harvest will soon begin, and I will be helping everyone else as well, not just my own land or my former apprentices, but the nation-owned land too. I sat for another hour just doing nothing before I as well went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up a bit disoriented, but fortunately, I remembered where I was before anything unfortunate happened. I could already smell the breakfast cooking and joined Tim for a healthy but modest breakfast.

When I asked Tim about it, his answer was quite profound and something I didn’t disagree with. "Hard times are ahead, but if we start preparing for them now, they won't be that hard." I completely agreed with that, even though there was a chance that we would have plenty of food, especially if we expanded our hunting efforts. Still starting to cut back on our expenditure right now would help quite a lot.

It wasn't hard to get the necessary materials so I could start learning more and creating the charter for my Rank 3 organisation. The good thing was that Rank 2 individuals could be full members, so at least I could have a few people join from United Freeholds. But unfortunately, Rank 1 people, while they could join as junior members, wouldn’t count towards our membership goals.

The coming days would have been quite pleasant if it wasn’t for so much reading and the occasional pains that flared up. On a particularly rainy afternoon, I felt an emergency stick break. I snapped the pencil I was writing with and grabbed the connected book I had to read the information about what was going on. Apparently, representatives of the World Council would be coming here in a few hours to take me, once again, in front of the council to be charged, guilty or not, of attacking downwards.

At least they were asking permission to show up, and I quickly wrote back that they should be given permission, but that I wasn’t going to go and meet them, and that they should be escorted here.

Once again, I had done nothing wrong, but apparently, people think that they can take advantage of me. Attacking down was actually quite a serious charge, and something that made every noble shake with fear. I have learned quite a lot about this topic in the past few days, and they couldn't do absolutely anything to me unless they were trying to get me there for some other reason.

It only took three hours and a little bit more when I heard a knock on my door. I had just continued to work, as this time I wasn’t going to play by the rules. I didn’t invite them in; instead, I went to the door and opened it.

“Hello, how can I help you?” I said to the seven people, three of them rank three, looking quite miserable in the rain, who obviously didn't want to be here. They were escorted by a few of the stronger Vikings, but they wouldn’t even stand a chance against the people who had come.

“Rich Dirt, you are charged with attacking down in a crucial moment during a war, changing its outcome,” he said. I could see that he wanted to continue to speak, but I held up my hand, silencing him.

“I do not know who sent you here or what evidence they have; they’re wrong. The only reason I ranked up was because my opponent was rank three, and he was like that before me. Honestly, I would have brought him up on charges, but well, he’s dead,” I said. A small smile came to my face when I remembered his death.

“While I won the battle, it did leave some long-lasting damage, which is why I didn’t come to the capital and why I won’t be joining you in heading towards the council headquarters. I have a lot more important things to do, like creating a charter for my rank 3 organisation.”

There was a moment of silence when I stopped speaking, and I could see every one of them inching their hands towards their weapons. “Are you refusing to be arrested?” the head guard said.

"No, you can place me under arrest, but I just won’t be going with you. And if I’m found guilty, you can come right back here and tell me, or administer any punishment the World Council gives me. Yes, I know what that means, but tell them that I won’t accept any conclusion if the witness isn't mind-read about what he or she saw."

My words made them hesitate, but only about 10 seconds of silence later, the head guard spoke. "Very well, don't make me hunt you. If I have to come back, I will make sure you will suffer." As they started to turn away, and before I closed my door, I did say one more thing, "It would be a fun time, unfortunately, it won't happen."

I went and sat back down. I only sat for a few moments before I stood back up and started to make dinner while I monitored how they left. Was it that bitch of a queen again? She just couldn’t leave it alone.

Well, I should have that report in about a week, and then I will find out who accused me and if I’m guilty or not. I’m 100% certain that I won’t be, but I wonder how I ruined their plans.

Then it hit me. The queen's bodyguard had been quite close to 3rd rank when I last saw him. They probably wanted me to go there, and he would find a reason to challenge me, and in the current state I am in, I’m actually not confident in beating him. Wish I could see their faces when I just don’t show up.