CHAPTER 19: CHAPTER 19: RYAN’S DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND THE OPENING OF THE SECOND INTERDIMENSIONAL GATE

Winter in the Northwind Province lasts four months, but in the Frozen Soil Territory, it lingers half a month longer.

Out of the total four and a half months, Ryan had already wasted about half a month. That left him four months to complete a great deal of construction.

The first priority was the three plots of farmland—these had to be completed before spring arrived, so there would be time to sow the seeds.

Next was the task of mapping the surroundings of the entire Frozen Soil Territory.

Until now, all Ryan knew was that his Frozen Soil Territory was situated in the northernmost corner of the Northwind Province—beyond that, he was completely in the dark, and that was certainly not a good thing.

Because the arrival of winter also meant that danger was coming.

The Empire was located in the northernmost part of the warm southern world. Despite its power, it still faced threats from foreign races.

Those orcs, when gripped by hunger in winter, would certainly head south.

Though Northwind Province was not the only region to suffer these incursions, it was certainly the least affected. And while it seemed that the Frozen Soil Territory had never experienced an orc invasion—being so poor that even orcs didn’t see it as a worthwhile raid—Ryan was not willing to rely solely on precedent or inertia.

So he needed to understand the broader environment surrounding the Frozen Soil Territory.

That was the second priority, just below farming.

The third priority was the ongoing construction of the Frozen Soil village—an early version of what would become the city of North Gall. It was also a critical step toward stabilizing the entire territory.

With housing in place, people could start raising chickens, or goats—and those who were a bit better off might even raise a cow.

Eventually, a little farther from Rhinohorn Mountain, they could have their own fertile plots of land—grain from which would largely belong to them.

With these things established, the Frozen Soil Territory would gain an unprecedented sense of cohesion. Ryan understood this very well: the majority of his population would come from another world, and these outsiders needed to be given a sense of belonging in the territory.

Once a sense of belonging and unity were established, Ryan could move to the next phase: creating more needs for them.

That’s right—Ryan had thought this through very clearly. The birch bark he wrote on was already filled with plans.

To keep his subjects from drifting through life aimlessly, he had to create demand: better homes, more livestock, perhaps even shops or workshops, blessings, knightly breathing techniques, and more.

By creating demand, the Frozen Soil Territory’s development could progress rapidly along the trajectory Ryan envisioned.

Besides those three major tasks, the fourth was the military.

Ryan never saw farming as a safe and peaceful task.

After all, his first bit of capital came from the contribution of Sir White. Without strong military power, even farming couldn’t be done in peace—especially not in the North, where food was scarce.

One could even say that in the North, military might was the most critical resource.

So why did Ryan list this as the fourth priority?

Because his current territory couldn’t yet support more knights, squires, or soldiers.

To have qualified soldiers, Ryan had to bestow blessings. To him, the spiritual energy required for blessings wasn’t much of an issue—at worst, he could make another trip to the other world.

The key issue was still the first one.

Food.

A slave consumed less than half a jin of grain per day—sometimes even less.

A commoner consumed about one jin. And most of the time, they went hungry.

Like when Ryan had first arrived in the Frozen Soil Territory—back then, the villagers were gaunt and pale from constant hunger.

But a soldier? A soldier with the physique of a knight-in-training—how much food would he need?

Ryan had asked Brand, and the answer he got was: three jin.

Under normal conditions, with two to three hours of daily training, each soldier would consume three jin of food per day.

And periodically, soldiers also needed meat in their diet. Ryan was generous—in spite of the limited stores, he ensured they had meat once every three days.

He wanted his soldiers—his army—to maintain peak combat strength, and that came at a cost.

So the daily consumption of the forty-odd soldiers under his command was no small number.

It wasn’t that Ryan didn’t want to bless more squires. Just a light tap of his finger could give someone the benefits of two to three years of training. With a power like that, he’d love to have thousands in his army.

He currently had 778 points of spiritual energy (after spending ten points to bless Bain’s family). If that could be used to form an army of 100 knight-trainees, he could take control of a 30-li radius around Rhinohorn Mountain.

But alas, food wouldn’t allow it.

If he really tried that, in just a few days, the slaves would be starving. In a month or two, commoners would start dying of hunger.

In short, in the North, food is the foundation of everything.

Even a dragon, if it showed up, would first have to be fed.

Those were the four most important matters. Besides them, there were many secondary ones.

For example, the Frozen Soil Territory still needed plenty of warm clothing for the cold. His soldiers needed standard iron swords and armor, and also warhorses.

In terms of domestic development, peasant households would need chickens, ducks, geese, goats, cattle, horses, and salt.

He also wanted to build a road that would pass through the southern forests and swamps—so they wouldn’t have to climb mountains every time.

Lastly, the Frozen Soil Territory needed its own economic development. Even the nearby domain of Baron Hatton was far wealthier than his own.

Because of all these plans, he hadn’t even had time to look after his baronial fortress.

Ryan was truly broke.

Under his current development plan, not a single initiative could be called a cash crop. Even if he accomplished all of the major and minor goals, Ryan still wouldn’t have money.

At best, he would have just caught up with the average baron’s territory.

"The current Northern Frontier likely can’t support further expansion. So the destination must once again be the other world."

He looked at his spiritual energy panel:

[Spirituality: 778]

[Divinity: Deer Spirit’s Blessing]

"Still takes 100 spiritual energy to open a portal for 24 hours. The destination remains the continent of Aeksnier—the pRyan where the Deer Spirit is worshipped."

"If I can find even one or two villages and bring the people back this time, it will be a success."

With that thought, Ryan called out to Brand outside.

"Brand, take ten soldiers and come with me."

One hundred points of spiritual energy vanished. The spatial gate opened. Even though they had experienced it once before, Brand and the others still couldn’t help but feel amazed.

This time, Ryan did not bring Beard along. The old steward had recently become the busiest man in the Frozen Soil Territory, as Ryan had handed over all supervisory duties to him.