I helped work in the fields in the morning and then helped the lumberjacks in the afternoon.
　It's hard for my body to do this kind of work.
　But thanks to this, my muscle mass seems to have improved.

　I am visibly faster at cutting trees.
　Before, I could barely cut one tree.
　Now I can cut two trees without magic.

　The lumberjack training in particular is remarkable.
　It tends to focus on the upper body, but this training helps to develop balance in the lower body.
　No matter how much you swing with your hips, if you don't have a strong foundation, you won't be able to transfer the force to the wood.

　The lumberjack showed me his leg, which was abnormally developed.
　I'm sure it was because he was stepping on them hard at the time of impact.
　Could this woodcutter be the reason?
　If I gave him a sword, he might be a good swordsman.

　Today, he would finish cutting the last one.
　He exhaled with a huff and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

'You!　What are you doing!

　There was another angry voice in the background.
　It was a voice I'd heard somewhere.
　I turned around, and sure enough, there was a Basak standing there.

　His face was as red as molten iron.

'What are you doing, boy!

　What........... I'm cutting down a tree....

"This is my land. I don't allow you to cut down trees without permission!

　Yeah?　Isn't that strange?

　The one who governs this territory is my father, Luxol.
　Basically, the people of the territory have rented the land from Luxol, and places like the forest and the river are common property of the people of the territory.
　It was strange for Basak to claim that it was his, no matter how I looked at it.

''Lacelle-kun. Sorry, you can't cut down those trees over there.

　The woodcutter comes in a hurry.
　When the Basak saw the woodcutter, he tapped him on the head.

'You can leave the work to the children, but how dare you have them cut down in my place?

I'm sorry.

I'll take the money for the trees you cut from your earnings as punishment.

Oh, no...

This is why we can't use [the villagers].

　Without excuse, the Bassac has gone away.

　He's still a pompous old man.
　The other day, he was carried away in a pissy state by the men of his domain.
　It seems he's already forgotten that abomination.

　But, you're a [villager] again........
　Do we discriminate so much just because we can't use magic?
　In fact, this woodcutter is doing a legitimate job even though he can't even use magic.
　I don't think he can be blamed for being a professional [villager], but.......

　That woodcutter was disappointedly slumping his shoulders.

''I'm sorry, woodcutter uncle.

Yeah. It's okay. I'm sorry my uncle didn't explain it to me. This land across the river belongs to Mr. Bassac.

　There is a creek running through the mountains, and apparently the land is owned by different people on both banks.
　One belongs to the Bassac, he says, and the other to the Bassac.

　No..........
　It would be strange to claim the mountain in the territory as your own in the first place.

''You still don't know about it, Lacelle-kun. Originally, Bassac-san was a landowner in this area.''

　However, they don't have a land deed, apparently.
　It's just that Basak is claiming it on his own.
　Luxor, who hadn't been an aristocrat for long, came to such a land as a lord.......
　I see. The trouble is obvious.

　It's the good-natured Luxol.
　I guess he can't say anything strongly, shying away from the self-proclaimed landowner.

　On the contrary, Bassac is only increasing.
　He has also begun to set his own purchase price for the trees.
　There is a rumor that he has been putting money in the hands of the lumber merchants and pocketing a few percent of the sales.
　It's a true king of the mountain pretensions.

'Tomorrow is fine, but how am I going to live from next month?'

　The woodcutter holds his head up.
　Then I held out a white flower.
　It was a wild flower, not unusual in this mountain.

'Thank you, Mr. Lasell. You're consoling your uncle, aren't you?'

　He plucked the flowers from the child's hands.
　The woodcutter suddenly begins to cry as he looks at the pure white wild flowers.
　Then I gently take his hand.

'Uncle. Pretend you've been tricked and go sell these flowers to the apothecary.

What?

I'm sure I could sell it for more than I could cut down a tree.

　I gave him as much of a childish smile as possible.


　◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆


　Night--.
　The lights go out in the houses of the Stark territory.
　The entire territory is asleep, and the sound of insects and the faintest breaths of sleep can be heard.

　In the midst of all this, there was one house with a light on.
　It was the house of the Bassac.
　As a former landowner, it was as large as the Stark family's mansion.
　There was a carriage parked in its doorway.

　A single lamp was flanked by a Basack and a man wearing a hooded eyelet facing each other.

'Here's the advance,'

　The man holds out the bag.
　When Bassac checks it, he sees that it contains a large amount of gold coins.
　He grins and mutters.

''Indeed....''

Are you sure you're going to be able to sell it?

The lords here are made of muscle, even their brains. They don't know much about these things.

"I hear you're a former Knight Commander...

That mountain was mine to begin with. I'm not going to sell my own land!

　The language is distracting.

　The two men are talking - which Bassac insists is his - about buying and selling land.
　Bassac has been trying to sell the land secretly, without people watching.
　Of course, it was illegal.

'By the way, you guys.... What are you going to do with that land?　You said something difficult before about a cuckoo boar or something...

You don't need to know that.

　The man spits and leaves the house without further ado.
　The carriage began to move at a brisk pace.
　The dust that rolled up in the air shook the white flowers that were blooming at the side of the carriage.


　◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆


　A few days later.
　I was chopping wood as usual.
　Then the woodcutter comes in, looking very excited.

'Lacelle-kun!　Thank you!　That flower......... For some reason it sold for an absurdly high price.

Good for you, Uncle.

'It was the demon grass, wasn't it? How did you know that? You're a [villager], right? You can't even use 【Scholars(Professor)】's appraisal magic or anything like that...

I just happened to remember seeing it in an illustrated book.

By the way, what's this magical plant do to you?

I think we'll find that out soon enough.

　The woodcutter tilted his head.

　Then, the issue of Don echoed through the territory.

''Come to think of it, today was the territorial division, wasn't it?

　The Territorial Division is a place where the territorial residents meet once a month to discuss
　Troubles in life. Incidents that occur outside the territory are discussed.
　The rules and regulations set by the Territorial Council must be followed and are legally guaranteed.
　While it had a role like a parliament, it also served as a court of law to decide on the treatment of those who committed crimes.

　Me and the woodcutter headed to the territory's square.
　The people of the territory had already gathered there.
　The facilitator is the lord, Luxol.
　In his hand, he holds a white flower.

''Isn't that magical grass? Why is my lord........

　The woodcutter nodded his head.
　Soon after, the territorial meeting began.

　Luxor's voice echoed cheerfully through the territory.

''Let's get right to it, gentlemen. I regret to inform you that some of our people have committed a grave breach of trust.''

　Many of the lords buzzed at the boisterous cutting of things.

　Then Luxor stood in front of the human.
　It's a Basak.

　The situation is such that they say the culprit is you.
　And yet the stubborn father doesn't move a bit.
　He stared back at the former knight, Luxol, as if he were a tiger.
　You are a great old man........

''Mr. Bassac. I know you're from this area. I know you're from this area, and I've tolerated you for a long time. But I can't let you get away with this.

What are you talking about, Miss Luxor?

　I blurted out.
　He begins to pick at his ear shit, as if to provoke me.

　Luxor lets out a breath.
　It's as if he's trying to cool his pent-up anger once.
　Then he holds up the example flower.
　I let my magic power pass through that magic plant.


I'm not a fan of this kind of thing,'' he said, "the lord here is made of muscle, even his brain is made of muscle. I'm not familiar with these things.


　Basak's face instantly froze.
　Naturally.
　Because what he heard from the flowers was unmistakably his own voice.

　Even the lords who were listening were surprised.
　Some stood up, indignant at the words that insulted their lord.

　The words continued.

The mountain was mine to begin with," he said, "and I sold my land. I'm not going to sell my land!

　The decisive words echoed.

　The territorial section went quiet in a hush, passing through indignation.
　Among them, only Luxor's voice sounded cheerfully.

''This is called hissing grass, and when given magic power, it has the ability to re-voice the human voice it hears. It's used in the royal capital to take notes. I have also used it when I was in the knight's group. However, I didn't know that the magic weed grew all over the territory until Lasell told me about it.

　Whoops, I get a look in my direction.
　I didn't know how to react, so I gave him a smile that I wasn't good at for now.
　But one step before that.
　Basak's shout echoes through the small territory.

'That's bullshit!　Mrs. Luxor.... You're saying that because I'm a pain in the ass, aren't you?　All you want to do is involve your countrymen and sentence me to a private prison sentence.

It's not like that...

　Bassac is clearly bullish.

　Well, then, how about this?

　I knead my magic inside my body.
　I release all the magic amount at once.
　Then I react to all the hissing grass in the territory.

　The next thing I heard was the voices of the territorial residents.

''It's another beautiful day.''

"Lacelle, you have good instincts.

"You want to buy this land?

"Sigh.... It's hot today. I need a drink.

...so how much are you willing to pay?

"For the sake of our cuckoo boar...

　I could hear people's voices from all over the place.
　Of course, the voice of the Bassac, too.
　It was louder than the other lords, so I could easily recognize it.

　All they said was that they were selling their land.

　As is to be expected, even Bassac seems to be at a loss for words.
　He slid down from the chair he was sitting in with his mouth sloppily open.
　The one who appeared in front of him was Luxol.

　He was filled with anger.
　It was the first time I had ever seen my father with such a scary look on his face.

"Mr. Bassac, this estate is not my land. "Mr. Bassac, this is not my land. It is owned by my country and by the king. You have disobeyed the king. It is clear treason.

　From the scabbard at his waist, he pulls out his sword slipperily and releases it.
　It's a great spirit.
　It's not Lacelle's father.
　The one who was there was the Knight Commander, Luxor.

''Hii........ Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

　The Basak finally let out a scream.

　If you are hit by that sword qi, there won't be a single hapless citizen.

　You can't help but bow your head.
　He rubbed his forehead and asked for forgiveness.

I'm not going to be able to get rid of it. ''Please, please, Luxor. ''My lord!　I'm not selling the land. We're gonna give back every advance we get. But that's why I'm not going to give my life.... Or, please, don't.

On one condition. I must testify before the gendarmerie in King's Landing as to who you have dealt with. You must release your land to the lumberjacks. And I'll have your lumberjacks change theirs.

Okay, okay.

　Through clenched teeth, the Bassac drank all the terms.

　A cheer went up from the lords.
　The woodcutter watching next to me took my hand.

'That's great, Lacelle,' he said. He can cut that mountain tree at will.

I don't get any deductions.

''Ah..... Anyway, why did the whispering grass suddenly start talking just now? Lacelle-kun, did you do something?

''No way........ I'm a [villager].

　I cowered my shoulders.

　It was painstakingly difficult to fill the entire territory with magic power, but it worked.
　In parallel with the muscle mass training, the amount of magic power released seemed to be growing steadily.

　Maybe it's about time.
　The next step is the actual battle training.