The merchant carriage finally rolled out of the village square. It left behind a trail of dust and a very confused Viktor.
I turned my attention back to my new companions. Oderick Frieland and his granddaughter, Hana Frieland.
"Let us take a walk," I suggested. I effortlessly hoisted the heavy sack of raw coffee beans over my shoulder. "I want to show our newly returned magic user what we have been up to."
We strolled through the narrow, muddy paths of the village.
Hana looked around. Her dark eyes widened in absolute shock.
The suffocating aura of despair that usually choked this settlement was completely gone. Instead, villagers were chatting animatedly. Plump, golden bundles of wheat were being carried into homes, ready to be milled and cooked. Children, who usually laid weakly in the dirt, were actually running around.
Hana stopped in her tracks.
She turned to her grandfather, a deep frown creasing her forehead.
"Grandpa... where did they get all this wheat? Do not tell me you went into debt again. Did you beg that bastard Leonard for scraps?"
Oderick chuckled warmly, patting her shoulder.
"No, my dear. Not a single copper coin was given to the Baron. All of this is the pure result of the farming we started."
"Farming?" Hana scoffed. She crossed her arms, looking entirely unconvinced. "On this cursed land? You have got to be kidding me."
"Seeing is believing, Miss Hana," I said smoothly. I gestured for them to follow me toward the plains.
We took our time walking to the edge of the settlement. I intentionally slowed the pace, letting Hana absorb the shifting atmosphere of her home.
Finally, we reached the agricultural plots.
What was once barren, cracked dirt was now a sprawling sea of gold. The wheat fields stretched wide, swaying gently under the afternoon sun. They looked perfectly ripe, practically begging to be harvested.
"Wow..." Hana whispered. Her jaw dropped slightly. She took a step forward, completely mesmerized. "How is this even possible?"
"The soil here is not cursed," I explained, setting the heavy sack of coffee beans on the grass. "In fact, it is incredibly fertile. It can sustain a wide variety of crops. Add a little bit of my unique ability to accelerate plant growth, and you get a permanent solution to famine."
Hana slowly turned to face me. The initial awe in her eyes faded, quickly replaced by a sharp, piercing suspicion.
"Wait a minute."
She narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to me.
"Who exactly are you? I have never seen you in this village before. And suddenly, my grandfather hands you the position of Village Chief?"
She placed a hand on her hip.
"Are you a spy from Balan? Did Leonard send you to lull us into a false sense of security?"
She had just realized the absurdity of Oderick handing the village over to a complete stranger. She was sharp. I liked that.
I offered a relaxed, disarming smile.
"You are quite skeptical, Miss Hana. I assure you, I am nothing more than a wandering traveler from a distant, fallen land. I happened to wash ashore on your beach."
I placed a hand over my heart, looking at her with practiced sincerity.
"This village saved my life. They gave me shelter when I had nothing. I am simply repaying that debt by ensuring they never go hungry again."
Hana stared intently into my eyes, searching for a lie. She was still skeptical.
Fortunately, a timely interruption saved me from further interrogation.
A villager, his clothes stained with dark soil, approached us from the fields. He had just finished his shift tying the harvested stalks.
"Lord Fragha!" the farmer called out, bowing deeply. "I just wanted to thank you again. My wife and children ate until their stomachs were full this morning. We owe you our lives."
Hearing the raw, unfiltered gratitude in the man's voice finally softened Hana's gaze. Her tense shoulders relaxed. She started to believe me.
However, the farmer lingered. He looked down at his muddy boots, hesitating.
"Is there a problem?" I asked gently.
"Well, milord..." The farmer scratched his head. "We are incredibly grateful for the wheat. Truly. But... it is just plain wheat. We have no side dishes. No meat. Since we all transitioned to farming, the fishermen abandoned their posts. The last batch of fish we caught rotted days ago."
I rubbed my chin.
A staple diet of pure carbohydrates was not enough to maintain morale or proper health in the long run. They needed protein. They needed fish. But the village had no salt reserves to cure them, and the warm climate caused rapid decay.
I thought deeply, calculating the variables.
Then, an idea struck me. A brilliant, modern solution applied to a fantasy setting. But I needed a specific catalyst.
I turned to the young woman beside me.
"Miss Hana," I said, my eyes gleaming with sudden inspiration. "Forgive my bluntness, but what kind of magic can you use?"
Hana blinked, taken aback by my sudden enthusiasm.
"Oh. Well, I can use basic fire magic, a little bit of wind magic, and ice magic to freeze things."
"BINGO!"
I shouted the word so loudly that Hana physically jumped back, startled.
"Perfect!" I clapped my hands together. "Alright. We have work to do."
I immediately requested an assembly in the village center. But this time, I only called for the men who previously worked as fishermen.
Dozens of rough, sun-baked men gathered around the well.
They were led by a massive, intimidating figure. He was a former sailor from Balan village, exiled here years ago for a mistake he never spoke of.
He was heavily muscled, with deeply tanned, exotic skin. His head was completely bald, but he sported a thick, untamed brown beard. An iconic, jagged tattoo of a shark covered his chest, highly visible beneath his open, worn brown vest.
The giant stepped forward.
"My name is William Roberts," his voice rumbled like a distant storm. "You can just call me Roberts. I heard you made some brilliant moves with the dirt, milord. Even Oderick stepped down for you."
"Thank you for the compliment, Roberts," I replied calmly, meeting his intense gaze.
"So, what do you need from us?" Roberts asked, crossing his massive arms.
I stood tall. I adjusted my posture, puffing out my chest. I took a deep breath, slipping effortlessly into the persona that had almost won me a presidency on Earth. It was time to rally the troops. It was time for a grand oration.
"O rulers of the oceans and warriors of the waves!" I bellowed, my voice echoing across the silent square.
The fishermen blinked in unison.
"Behold the vast sea that stretches before us!" I pointed dramatically toward the distant horizon. "It is a field of life, a bountiful domain granted to us by the heavens to conquer with our bare hands and our woven nets! We are fishermen! We are brave souls who never tremble before the wrath of the storm or the biting chill of the midnight winds!"
I paced back and forth, waving my arms with theatrical passion.
"Today, our backs are bent! Not from the heavy weight of a glorious catch, but from the crushing weight of tribute! We are squeezed dry by greedy landlords and men in stone castles who have never tasted the salt of the sea!"
I slammed my fist into my open palm for emphasis.
"They sit comfortably in their towers, feasting on the sweat of our brows, while our boats are left to rot against the crashing waves! Remember this! The ocean was not created for the pampered nobles! It was forged for us, the men who dare to wager their lives on wooden rafts to feed our families!"
I paused to catch my breath, preparing for the next grand stanza of my speech.
However, the reaction of my audience was not exactly what I expected.
Instead of a roaring cheer, there was an awkward, dead silence.
The fishermen exchanged confused, tired glances. A few of them scratched their heads.
"Is the new Chief okay?" one fisherman whispered to his friend.
"He is way too energetic, bro," the other whispered back, rubbing his temples. "I just wanted to know if we are going fishing today."
Behind me, Oderick stood completely frozen, unsure of how to react to my sudden theatrical outburst. Hana, meanwhile, had literally plugged both of her ears with her index fingers.
"We need to find a way to gag him," Hana muttered under her breath.
Roberts cleared his throat loudly. He shifted his massive weight, looking at me with a mixture of respect and intense awkwardness.
"Uhm... just get to the point, milord," Roberts said bluntly.
I coughed into my fist, quickly dropping my raised arm. My grand political persona shattered instantly against the wall of their simple practicality.
"Right. Ahem," I straightened my collar, recovering my composure. "The point is this. I want you all to go back to fishing. Catch as much as you can. And do not worry about the fish rotting ever again."