On the outskirts of Larak lay a tract of land called Hu Larak.
In the ancient tongue, "Hu Larak" reportedly meant "Mother of Larak."
Throughout Enlil Province, with the provincial capital of Larak at its heart, a great number of places shared names following that pattern: "Something of Larak."
With its rich tapestry of history and folklore, it was apparently a land full of fascinating material for historians.
I had come to Hu Larak—where a large group of youths was busy clearing the ground—accompanied by Noufe.
Dressed in my governor-general's regalia and flanked by a young girl, I naturally drew their attention. The young laborers kept sneaking curious glances at us even as their hands continued to work.
Letting their gazes roll off me, I quietly observed Noufe.
She was inspecting the condition of a half-dug paddy field.
Noufe Sailing.
She was a girl I had met shortly after arriving in this region.
At first, I had simply taken an interest in her after being impressed by how cleverly she incited and directed the townsfolk during the unrest. But as we spoke, I discovered she was cultivating a new strain of rice.
By fine-tuning the variety and harvesting methods, she had achieved something revolutionary: a crop that could be harvested twice a year.
It went without saying that the volume of crops a land could yield dictated how many people it could sustain—effectively setting the ceiling on a nation's population. And population almost always translated directly into national power.
In other words, Noufe's rice held the potential to trigger an explosive surge in our empire's might.
Beyond that, I saw shades of my own childhood in her.
There was no longer any way to uncover why, but one day, I had been reincarnated as an infant named Noah Ararat.
An infant with the memories of an adult.
To outside eyes, that made me look naturally brilliant from a tender age, soaking up knowledge like a dry sponge absorbing water.
The only reason I had been able to distinguish myself from the age of six was that I was granted a dreamlike, elite education—something entirely out of reach for an ordinary commoner.
I sensed that exact same aptitude in Noufe.
I saw the distinct possibility that, given the right education, she would flourish into someone truly extraordinary.
That was why I had taken her in.
Naturally, I wanted her rice, but more than that, I knew that if she were given a noble's education, she would become someone I could entrust with the future.
She would become an irreplaceable asset—or so I believed.
And so, on this day, I brought Noufe out to Hu Larak, the land I had secured for large-scale rice cultivation.
The moment we arrived, Noufe threw herself into thoroughly examining every inch of the paddy. I watched over her until she seemed to reach a natural pause, then called out to her.
"What do you think?"
Still crouched over the dirt, Noufe raised only her head.
"It looks good. With this soil, the drainage should turn out just right. It's a paddy, so water draining too fast or too slow would ruin it, but this should work."
"I see. Does it look like the rice itself will thrive?"
"Probably. We won't know for certain until we try, but as long as we keep conditioning the soil, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Then let's build the compost yard nearby as planned."
"You're putting it close by?"
Noufe stood up, turned toward me, and tilted her head inquisitively.
"Compost yards give off an awful stench, so wouldn't it be better to put it farther away? This area is..."
She trailed off, glancing around the landscape.
Aside from the plots being tilled, the area was only dotted with a few makeshift sheds.
"There's nothing here right now, but we're going to clear this land and build houses on it, right? Wouldn't it be better to place the compost yard a bit further out?"
"I understand your logic. However, if it's too far away, hauling the compost will require hired laborers. That means wages will have to change hands. If that happens, some farmers might try to scrimp on costs, deciding they'd rather take a slight dip in yield than pay for transport."
"Oh... I see."
"That would defeat the entire purpose. For now, the safest option is keeping it at a distance that family members—like children helping out—can manage on foot."
"I hadn't thought of that... Right, that makes sense."
An expression of understanding washed over Noufe's face.
She rested a hand on her chin, casting her gaze downward toward the dirt in deep contemplation.
Her final nod seemed to signal: Got it, committed to memory.
"Conditioning the soil, huh..."
Meanwhile, I turned her words over in my mind, mulling over the implications.
Once I had organized my thoughts, I left Noufe to her musings and surveyed our surroundings.
A few meters away, I spotted a middle-aged man waiting attentively.
He stood with a slightly hunched posture, hands held low in front of him.
It was the typical stance of a peasant: desperate to avoid offending a nobleman, yet entirely ignorant of proper court etiquette.
I gave a slight wave, summoning him over.
Startled, the man hurried toward me as fast as his legs could carry him.
"D-Did you summon me, my Lord?!"
"Are you the headman here?"
"Y-Yes! Well, no! That is, I'm not really the headman, just the oldest one among us—"
"Ah, I understand."
So that was how it was.
A familiar arrangement: he held no official title, but because he was the eldest, the others had pushed him forward to act as their spokesperson.
"If the others have no objections, you will continue to serve as their headman. I'll issue a formal decree later."
"Th-Thank you, my Lord!"
"Now, deliver a message to everyone from your own lips."
"What should I tell them, my Lord?"
"The agreement was that this land would be leased to all of you, correct?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"In that case... let us say twenty—no, since everyone here is young, ten years will suffice. If you continue farming this land for ten years without abandoning it, I will give you the land outright."
"......What?"
The man froze, his face completely blank.
He looked utterly lost, unable to process what he had just heard.
"What... what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. If you keep cultivating this ground without fail for ten years, the land itself will become yours."
"............Whaaaat?!"
For several seconds, he stood paralyzed in disbelief, before letting out a deafening shout.
It was so loud that laborers tilling the soil dozens of meters away stopped their tools and stared over, wondering what had happened.
"I-Is that truly the truth, my Lord?"
"Yes. If they know the land will eventually belong to them, they will pour their hearts into enriching it."
"Th-Thank you! Thank you so much! Um, may I go and tell everyone right away?!"
"Go ahead."
Under normal circumstances, an ordinary farmer would never dare ask to cut short an audience with a governor-general—let alone the Emperor. But he was so overwhelmed with joy that he couldn't help himself.
He was no nobleman, and I had no reason to be pedantic about etiquette, so I gave him leave.
The man sprinted off, waving his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Listen up, everyone!"
As the workers gathered around, he explained the situation. First came collective gasps of shock, immediately followed by wave upon wave of ecstatic cheers.
"Incredible..."
"Hm?"
Turning to my side, I saw that Noufe had emerged from her reverie, looking back and forth between the celebrating men and me.
"To think such a method existed. Everyone is going to be so motivated now."
"You think so?"
"Yes! Under normal circumstances, working your entire life might not even earn you a scrap of land of your own."
"Originally, this was nothing but barren ground."
I swept my gaze across the scenery.
Dozens of youths were hard at work clearing the terrain.
Dark soil was finally showing where human hands had dug into the earth, but looking just beyond the perimeter of where people stood, the landscape remained raw, unforgiving wilderness.
Even to turn it into workable black loam, the youths had to constantly dig up stones, branches, and occasionally massive boulders and stubborn tree roots.
Every swing of a hoe unearthed an endless stream of debris.
It was glaringly obvious that they were taming a wasteland from scratch, making it easy to picture just how desolate it had been before they arrived.
"If that is the case, it is only right to grant it to those who shed their sweat over it."
"Normally, people in power wouldn't see it that way. Even if a landlord has tenant farmers clear a forest, the land still belongs to the landlord. You really are amazing."
Noufe repeated the sentiment with genuine awe.
To her, the idea of simply giving away real estate seemed almost inconceivable.
Looked at from another angle, that was precisely why it served as such potent bait.
Sure enough, after the headman finished explaining the news to the crowd...
The roaring cheers showed no signs of stopping.
Every single worker turned toward us, raising their hands high into the air and chanting praises in unison.
"Well... it's about time I got moving."
Turning on my heel, I spoke to Noufe as I began walking away.
Looking slightly startled, she hurried after me.
"Where are you going?"
"I have another job to attend to. You can head back to Larak ahead of me. You may use the carriage."
"If it's official business... could I come along with you?"
"Hm?"
A little surprised, I halted, turned around, and looked at her.
Noufe had the wide-eyed, earnest expression of a child pleading with their parent for a toy.
It had been a very long time since anyone had directed a look like that at me, and it felt surprisingly refreshing.
"It's a dull piece of work, you know. And a rather bloody one at that."
"In that case..."
Noufe's gaze sharpened, her expression saying, All the more reason.
"I want to see it and learn what that kind of work entails."
"Very well. But whatever happens, do not leave my side. It could be dangerous."
"Understood!"
Taking Noufe along, I walked over to the carriage tethered a short distance away.
It was a sturdy, two-horse carriage built to handle the rough, unpaved roads of the countryside without trouble.
Originally, I had planned to send Noufe back to the provincial capital of Larak in the coach while I proceeded to my next destination on foot, but I decided to take the vehicle instead.
Since Noufe was accompanying me, I dismissed the waiting coachman and sent him back on his own.
Unlike Noufe, there was no point in dragging him along into potential danger.
With only Noufe inside, I climbed onto the driver's box.
Taking the reins and whip in hand, I urged the two horses into motion.
While it naturally paled in comparison to the imperial coaches back in the capital, a carriage drawn by horses trained for a provincial governor-general offered a reasonably smooth ride.
"By the way, what kind of work is this?"
"Cleaning up after the disaster. It seems the local authorities couldn't stretch their reach out here, so I decided to take care of it myself."
"Cleaning up after the earthquake..."
I could tell from Noufe's face that she was thoroughly puzzled.
Almost every task associated with earthquake relief took place within city walls, yet the carriage was heading deeper and deeper into the wilderness, away from civilization.
It was plainly obvious she was wondering what kind of disaster cleanup could possibly be required in a desolate place like this.
Following a highway that, like the rest of the province, bore heavy scars from the great earthquake and was in dire need of repair, we drove for several dozen minutes until a lone structure loomed on the barren horizon.
"We've arrived."
I hopped down from the driver's box first, then offered a hand to help Noufe down from the cabin.
Stepping onto the dusty ground, Noufe tilted her head back to take in the imposing structure.
"Is this... a fortress?" she asked.