Starting Today I'll Work As A City Lord

The study room was extremely quiet. Everyone was watching Lucas, who was frowning in deep thought. They all knew he was planning something.

"Annie, if the territory gains another thousand people before next year's harvest, will we be able to sustain them?" Lucas suddenly turned his head to ask Annie. Before making a decision, he needed to reference some specific numbers.

"Oh, oh, let me check." Annie nodded and quickly flipped through her notebook.

The daily grain consumption of Sedona City was recorded and submitted every three days. This was a special requirement of Lucas, as it allowed him to monitor the changes in the city's grain supply. Such records often provided the first indication of any changes occurring in Sedona City.

Freya's ember eyes widened as she looked at Lucas. What is happening now? Could he be planning to take in the slaves from Blade City?

"Young Master, there are currently seventeen granaries that are full," Annie said as she scanned her notebook and reported the data. "Also, the amount of wheat sold in the market these past few days has been very low, only about one-twentieth of what it used to be. Based on the current consumption rate of Sedona City's population..."

Annie pulled out a pen and quickly performed calculations in her notebook. After a while, she said, "Even if we add 5,000 more people, we can still manage until next year's grain harvest."

"Five thousand people?" Lucas frowned. This number didn't satisfy him. He asked in a low voice, "Does that include excluding the portion used for brewing?"

"I've already excluded that. I also accounted for a ten percent reserve for emergency rations." Annie said crisply. This emergency reserve was something Lucas had taught her to prepare, primarily for wartime needs.

"Very good!" Lucas praised, then fell into deep thought again. Initially, he had prepared enough wheat to feed 15,000 people. However, with more people joining Sedona City midway and the additional use for brewing, the amount of grain available for direct consumption was only enough for about 12,000 people.

Of course, the wheat harvested and stored by the commoners themselves wasn't included in this calculation. This meant that Annie's calculations were based on the full city's population consumption.

This was the safer approach. If the commoners ran out of their stored wheat at home, they would turn to the market to buy more, and this variable needed to be accounted for. After all, they couldn't know how much wheat each household had stored.

"Freya, what's the specific situation with Blade City?"

Lucas's dark eyes turned to the wolf-eared girl. He was determined to acquire more people. Adding 1,000 more workers next year for land reclamation could produce enough food to sustain tens of thousands of people.

In this era, population was the greatest resource—at least for Lucas. For other nobles, excessive population was a burden because crop yields couldn't keep up. Combined with the nobles' greed and extravagant lifestyles, it often led to the death of countless impoverished commoners from starvation.

No matter where you were, the common people always bore the greatest suffering. They either starved to death, were forced into unpaid labor, or got caught up in the chaos of war.

However, Lucas didn't share these concerns. His territory currently had enough food to support 10,000 to 20,000 people. He wasn't shortsighted, focusing only on immediate gains or losses.

If he brought in 1,000 additional slaves now, by the time spring arrived next year, the value they would generate would far exceed the cost of providing some wheat during the winter—several times over, in fact.

Moreover, once he planted the rice he brought from Earth, along with improved wheat varieties and potatoes, even an additional 100,000 people wouldn't strain his resources.

This era truly was one of vast land and sparse population. People clustered around cities, while areas farther out were completely uninhabited. Even if the land was fertile, no one had the spirit or drive to develop it.

Of course, this was also due to the abundance of wild animals in this era. For instance, the areas slightly farther from Sedona City were all wilderness. Next year, Lucas planned to start reclaiming this land—and that endeavor would require a significant increase in population.

"You... you're thinking of taking those slaves?" Freya's ember eyes gleamed with a hint of excitement.

"Why not?" Lucas's lips curled into a smile as he said lightly, "There's plenty of barren land outside Sedona City waiting for people to plant wheat."

"This..." Freya turned to look at Annie. After getting her nod of approval, she began recounting her experiences in Blade City, focusing particularly on the details about Santner, the former prince of the Valtoria Beastkin Kingdom.

"Oh?" Lucas raised an eyebrow and looked at Annie, asking curiously, "You don't get along with this Santner?"

"Not at all—our relationship is terrible," Annie said, spreading her hands in exasperation. "That disgusting guy has always been eyeing my father's throne. If it weren't for the fact that he's my father's only remaining brother, his crimes would have landed him on the gallows long ago."

"Good!" Lucas's lips twisted into a cold smile. Based on Freya's account, he surmised that Santner had likely been operating in Blade City for at least two years and had now completely taken control of the city's lord.

The so-called Moon Fruit, in Lucas's view, was essentially a drug that created addiction, much like opium. He hadn't expected that this era would already see people entangled in this "fruit of desire."

Lucas pulled a rolled-up map from a drawer, spread it out on the table, and gestured for Freya to come over. "Tell me about Blade City's geographical location." He said.

"Yes!" Freya immediately stood up and moved to the desk to study the map closely.

The moment she saw the map, she was stunned. This map was incredibly detailed—every mountain, river, and road in the area around Sedona City was marked, including the small hill where she had once hidden. It was even visible on the map.

This map had been compiled at Lucas's request, based on records kept by Aiden and his patrolling soldiers. Rough distances were also marked, as Lucas was planning to eventually create a sand table model for more strategic planning.

"Here, it's roughly in this area." Freya said, pointing at the map.

"Good!" Lucas nodded. The location Freya indicated was only an approximate direction, as the map didn't yet have detailed markings of that area. This confirmed that Sedona City hadn't had any direct contact with Blade City yet.

"Blade City's location is quite some distance from the Whispering river," Lucas mused, resting his chin on his hand. "The first half of the journey can be done by boat, but the second half will require traveling on foot."

"That stretch of road takes about a day," Freya added. "Including the boat ride, it's a two-day journey."

"The problem now is how to deal with Santner's pursuers." Lucas said, tilting his head as he thought.

Blade City certainly wouldn't let him take away the slaves without a fight. The movement of 1,000 slaves would be too conspicuous, and if Blade City wasn't completely oblivious, they were sure to notice.

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