```


    Before thisnd became part of Viscount Lance''s fief, poverty and hunger shrouded the area, and the food harvested each year was never enough to sustain them. The vigers in the nearby hamlets frequently fluctuated between being full and starving due to theck of sufficient grain.


    There were hardly any elderly people of advanced age in the viges, as theck of food, inadequate clothing, and poor nutrition meant that many could not survive the winter.


    The young people, unable to seek work elsewhere because of the children, would till the fields in spring and harvest in fall and go hunting in the mountain during winter. They hunted rabbits, birds, and even small wild boars.


    If they encountered arge wild boar and were lucky, they might survive, but if luck was not on their side, they could end up losing their lives in the woods.


    The wild boars in the nearby forests would ravage the crops during harvest time. The already meager yields would be further diminished after the destruction by the boars... not enough to eat... simply not enough...


    The former viscount, seeing that thisnd was not profitable, had requested a transfer and left. Other nobles were also aware of the extreme poverty here and were unwilling to annex this region into their fiefdoms.


    Coming here didn''t just mean a failure to collect taxes; it might also necessitate opening up the granaries to provide relief to the people—something utterly uneptable to those nobles.


    In their eyes, these vigers were lowly peasants, without value because they could not generate profit.


    Even the recruitment of soldiers bypassed this ce, for the people were malnourished, with sallow skin and scrawny frames,cking any fighting strength.


    What use could they be at the barracks besides eating?


    Hope had been abandoned, and many vigers had even prepared to flee their homes in search of refuge. Then, at that moment, Viscount Lance arrived.


    With his certificate of nobility in hand, he appeared before them with a smile.


    The first thing Viscount Lance said when he arrived was, "From now on, you are my subjects. Where is my Viscount''s mansion? Are there any cute and pretty maids?"


    When the maids of the town appeared before Lord Lance,


    Lord Lance fell silent for a long time before he muttered, "These are not the maids I envisioned. It''s not just that they aren''t fair-skinned; they aren''t even as good-looking as me..."


    The maids'' uniforms were washed out, their makeup was far from exquisite, they were thin as poles, and their eyes were devoid of any sparkle...


    "No wonder that fat-faced scoundrel told me that for just thirty Gold Coins, he could make me a Viscount with a fief."


    Taking a small advantage only to suffer a major loss! So true are the words of the ancient sages...


    They thought Viscount Lance would run away upon seeing the state of his fief, but not only did he not flee, he settled in.


    In the following days, he took Captain Tixia''s father and a few other knights to understand the situation within the fief before concluding that thend''s inability to yield good crops was due to its exhaustion.


    It needed rejuvenation.


    The vigers, being farmers, knew well the importance of rejuvenating the soil. They had tried to do so but to no avail.


    Lord Lance said that was because the materials they used for rejuvenating the soil were inadequate. In time, he would prepare a batch of high-quality materials for them.


    Lord Lance also said that it was crucial to respect thend. Thend nurtures people, and in turn, people must care for thend to maintain a beneficial cycle.


    Not many days after, Lord Lance left. They thought he might never return once he left, but to their surprise, he came back in less than a fortnight, bringing them a batch of precious soil nutrients.


    At that time, they did not know that the substance brought by Lord Lance was Dragon dung; they only knew that this fertilizer worked wonders.


    After using these materials on thend, even the wild boars in the mountains dared note down anymore, and sometimes they would even find rabbits that had been frightened to death in the fields.


    At night, no wild beasts lurked around the vige, and the patrol teams investigated this phenomenon for several days.


    A year of rejuvenating the soil led to a bountiful harvest the following year, and the vigers of the various hamlets were finally able to eat their fill.


    After two years, the grain harvest was enormous, and the crops were plentiful. The young people in the vige were no longer skinny but began to put on muscle.


    Three years into the soil''s rejuvenation, Viscount Lance''snds saw the emergence of dung thieves, who, upon being caught, were nearly beaten to death.


    Out of kindness, Lord Lance fined them some money and let them go.


    In the fourth year, Viscount Lance disappeared... The night before his disappearance, he said, "It''s been four years, and the maids of the Viscount''s mansion are finally quite fetching..."


    And then, the next morning, Viscount Lance was nowhere to be found...


    ```


    Lord Viscount''s disappearancested nearly six years, and during the time of his absence, they would receive a batch of precious fertilizer at regr intervals, which theyter discovered to be dragon manure!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Outside, a pound of dragon manure could sell for several silver coins, or even a gold coin.


    As they gradually grew more prosperous, adventurers and Bounty Hunters began to appear within Lord Viscount''s fief.


    Upon seeing the dragon manure, they were all willing to pay a hefty price for it.


    The people of the fief did not sell, knowing that these fertilizers were procured by the missing Lord Viscount at the risk of his own life.


    Enjoy new stories from empire


    If they sold the fertilizers, how could they possibly face Lord Viscount?


    If they truly sold it, they were not selling dragon manure, but Lord Viscount''s life.


    Lord Viscount had said, "Thend nurtures the people, and the people nurture thend; no matter the time, we must persist in nourishing the soil."


    The better thend was nourished, the rounder and luckier the people became.


    Lord Viscount was right, as they nurtured thend, their days slowly improved and their people became increasingly strong.


    The smiles on the vige children''s faces became more and more beautiful.


    The girls grew more and more charming.


    Lord Viscount liked charming girls, and vigers with daughters had a dream to send their grown girls to town, to be maids in the Viscount''s manor.


    To serve Lord Viscount tea and water.


    Some vigers hoped that their girls would be knights and grow up to protect Lord Lance.


    To thank Lord Lance, they renamed their town to Saint Blue Town.


    The color of the Knight''s Regr Attire was also changed to blue and gold.


    If the buildings in the town were painted, they would be covered with ayer of blue and then adorned with some patterns.


    In the years of Lord Lance''s absence, the originally dpidated vige had drastically changed.


    The vige was remodeled slowly ording to the paintings made by Lord Lance.


    Before leaving, Lord Lance had already nned out the future appearance of his fief...


    Such a good lord, yet because he had gone missing for a few years, those at the royal court actually wanted to revoke Lord Lance''s title!


    Even if Lord Lance agreed to part with his title, they would never ept it!


    To prevent the royal court from revoking Lord Lance''s title, they had been negotiating with the court until they heard that Duke McDonna had rebelled.


    Then, without hesitation, they joined Duke McDonna''s forces. Duke McDonna also promised them that he would definitely not retract their Viscount''s title after the events, much less disturb his fief.


    If they were sessful, they might even elevate the Viscount''s title to that of an Earl, and expanding the fief would pose no problem at all!


    Duke McDonna seeded, the Royal Family fell, and the princess disappeared amidst the chaos of war, leaving it uncertain whether she was alive or dead...


    They managed to preserve Lord Viscount''s title!


    Lord Viscount had given them hope amidst despair and led them to better days.


    Should anyone dare to bully Lord Viscount, they were ready to fight to the death.


    "Captain Tixia, record a message for me and then send it to Lord Lance to see if he still recognizes me."


    "Okay."


    Tixia sent a message back to Lance, which included a recording of the maid.


    Before long, she received a reply from Lord Viscount.


    [Who the hell turned my charming maid into a piggy girl?!!!]