Published: March 11, 2025
Chapter 23: Confession
After breakfast, Merlin instructed Meg to lead the slaves in organizing the caves, ideally to chop down the trees on the mountain and see if they could make a small boat; this way, they could properly visit the lake in the mountains. Meanwhile, Merlin planned to explore the area around the castle to see if she could find a suitable place for improving the land.
In Merlin's eyes, improving the land was a top priority. As long as the land was improved, they would have the foundation to survive and the hope to continue living.
Although she didn't know much about Zhao Hai's spatial farm, seeing that he could improve the land and bring out eighty thousand pounds of radishes indicated that his abilities were related to agriculture.
Merlin didn't understand the magic of the spatial farm, but she was a smart person and, having lived a long life, had rich life experiences. Therefore, she was able to guess at least part of the truth.
However, noticing that Zhao Hai hadn’t shared anything with her, she refrained from asking further. She knew that Zhao Hai was now in charge, and he had become much more decisive than before. If she pressed him for answers, it might seem inappropriate.
When Zhao Hai heard that Merlin wanted to inspect the terrain around the castle, he insisted on going along. In the few days since arriving in this foreign world, he had spent most of his time either in the castle, wandering the mountains, or busy in the spatial farm. He had never had a chance to explore the surrounding areas, so this was a perfect opportunity to do so. After all, it was his territory.
Since Zhao Hai wanted to go, Wood and Stone naturally had to accompany him. However, Zhao Hai decided to only bring Wood along, leaving Stone behind to help Meg watch over the slaves. He felt uneasy about leaving Meg alone with a hundred slaves.
As Zhao Hai and Merlin left the castle, Wood walked alone on the mountain, carefully observing the terrain, while Zhao Hai and Merlin walked along the foot of the mountain. Given Merlin's age and her status as a mage, her physical condition was not the best, and Zhao Hai was no better. They knew that if they climbed the mountain, they would likely tire out quickly.
This was the first time for both of them to venture so far from the castle. As they walked and surveyed their surroundings, they found the Black Earth Wilderness to be quite peculiar. The semi-circular mountain was dotted with only short trees and wild grass, surrounded by a vast plain that stretched as far as the eye could see, devoid of anything particularly appealing.
The terrain on the mountain was somewhat complex, yet since the mountain was not very high and had few trees, they could see the topography clearly from below, so there was no need to worry too much.
After walking along the mountainside for over three hours, they felt increasingly desolate, finding nothing new; the black earth remained black, and the barren mountains stayed barren.
Zhao Hai glanced around and turned to Merlin, saying, "Grandma Merlin, let's take a break. Our territory is too vast to explore in just a day or two. If we can't manage it, we'll wait for Grandpa Galen to return. We came here on horseback, and walking like this is really tiring."
Merlin was also quite exhausted. As a mage, she wasn’t as physically strong, and while she could manage some household chores, traveling at this pace was truly taxing.
They casually found two stones to sit on. When Wood saw them sitting down, he quickly ran down from the mountain and came to Zhao Hai's side, saying, "Young Master, you rest here; I'll go look around."
Zhao Hai nodded, "Alright, be careful." Wood responded and turned to head back up the mountain, showing no signs of fatigue.
Merlin sat on the stone, gazing at the endless stretch of black earth before her, and sighed, "When we first heard that the empire had assigned this land to us, we were truly in despair. Everyone knew that the Black Earth Wilderness was a dead zone where nothing grew, and being assigned here felt like waiting for death."