Inside his room, Lark sat cross-legged on the floor. Since receiving his new body, he never neglected mana training even once. Although the current vessel was severely lacking, with proper training, he knew that it would someday become powerful enough to perform Grand Scale Magic.

With his eyes closed, he began to forcefully move the small amount of mana in his body. He channeled it through different parts, making it circulate repeatedly. Only through this way would his body become accustomed to the existence of mana. It was this simple and repetitive exercise that will help expand his mana pool.

His breathing slowed down and the sound of his surroundings disappeared afterwards. He could no longer hear the sound of pouring snow. He could no longer hear his soft breaths. He could no longer feel the carpeted ground. All that he could feel was the serpentine-like flowing energy within his body – the erratically moving mana.

Minutes turned into hours. By the time he was done, his entire body was drenched in sweat despite the cold weather. His heart was loudly pounding, his temples pulsating. Lark exhaled then stood up. A smile slowly emerged on his face.

“This is quite fun.”

The sensation of slowly expanding his mana pool was something he had long forgotten before. Back in his previous life, his body had already attained a colossal mana pool that it was no longer possible to expand it further.

Just when he was about to go down to grab something to eat, three knocks were heard on the door and Gaston’s voice was heard, “Young Master, the residents that answered to the job offer has been gathered in the hall.”

That was fast. Lark approvingly said, “Good job.”

After leaving the room, together with the old butler, Lark went towards the hall. The guards and the servants greeted him upon his arrival. The residents, on the other hand, wore nervous faces. Some were gawking at the paintings and furniture, while some were looking on the ground, seemingly afraid of the guards.

“Welcome,” said Lark. “I’m sure you know me already but let me introduce myself. I am the Lord of Blackstone Town – Lark Marcus.”

The residents bowed their heads upon this introduction. Lark quickly counted the number of applicants. Forty-eight. It was less than he had expected.

“I will cut straight to the point,” said Lark. “I am here to offer everyone a job – jobs that would feed them. Everyone will be well compensated.”

There was a small pause. “How many of you knows how to read and write?”

The commoners looked at each other. As expected, there were none.

Lark simply smiled. He had not really expected them to know of such an advanced skill. After all, you would need at least basic education to know how to do those things. Just right when he was about to continue his speech, to his surprise, a young woman raised her hand.

“I-I know h-how to read and write,” said the young woman. Her blonde hair was frizzy and her face was filled with dirt. Her dress was moth-eaten. After seeing that everyone’s eyes were on her, she hunched her shoulders to appear smaller.

“Oh?” said Lark. His eyes glimmered with interest. “Could you tell me how you learned it?”

There were a few seconds of hesitation. “I… I once worked for a noble in Lion City. During that time, the mistress would let me accompany her to her studies. I learned how to read and write from that.”

Lark felt that she was not lying. He locked eyes with Gaston for a moment, and the old butler seemed to have realized the young master’s intent. He pulled the young woman from the crowd and let her stay near the young master.

“Name?” asked Lark.

“M-Melody, young master,” replied the young woman.

He could see her trembling shoulders. Lark was aware of his vessel’s misdeeds before. Sexual harassment, physical abuse, attempted murder. The previous owner of this body, despite being young, was a total demon. He could understand why she was afraid of a young man like him. For now, all he could do was slowly change the perception of his subjects with the passage of time.

“If you pass my little test, I will grant you an important position later,” said Lark in a small voice, just enough for him and her to hear.

The young woman stared at him in bewilderment for a moment, before nodding once.

Lark cleared his throat. “Anyone else knows how to read or write?”

After some time, no one else raised their hands.

“What I need right now are three kinds of people: Farmers, builders, and soldiers,” said Lark. “One month from now, winter will end. Of course, it’ll take at least two weeks before the snow fully melts. Once that happened, I want my farmers to immediately work on cultivating the lands in the north and the west.”

Lark noticed that some of them wore confused looks upon hearing that statement.

“But young master,” said one of the commoners. “The northern and western lands of Blackstone Town are dead. It’s impossible to grow crops in that area.”

“We have a solution for that,” said Lark.

After reading the documents left behind by the wealthy merchant that used to live in this town, he learned that there was a certain area of the town wherein the residents dumped their night soil. This practice had been going on for more than a decade now, and that single fact greatly pleased Lark. Once winter ends, he would assign some farmers to spread those natural composts to the northern and western land. Of course, there would always be a risk for disease when using human excreta, but Lark planned to secretly deal with it using magic. For now, he simply had to wait until winter ends before he could finally start cultivating the lands.

Lark clapped his hands once. “Next are the builders. It doesn’t matter if they are male or female. Under my supervision, you will be tasked to create houses at the eastern part of Blackstone Town. I plan to expand the border of the town at least twice during this year. Payment will be 6 silver coins per month. The houses built will be granted to those without a residence in Blackstone House. Of course, it wouldn’t be given for free. You will be asked to pay a monthly rent of 2 silvers and 25 coppers. The construction project will start right away this winter.”

This way, the number of homeless locals would be reduced and at the same time, Lark would be able to effectively circulate his money via the salary and rent. Since the residents would still be required to pay taxes later on, it was a win-win situation.

The commoners were clearly interested with the proposal. After all, the normal monthly income of a resident of Blackstone Town was around three silvers. The offered salary of the young master was twice that amount. Even if they were to pay for the rent, they would still have more than enough left to pay for food and other necessities. Moreover, they would be able to have their own house to live in.

But there was one problem.

“But young master,” said one of them. “You said that you plan to start the construction this winter. The snow outside has piled up till our calves. We’ll freeze to death if we work under such weather.”

This was one of the reasons why Lark immediately created heat stones after receiving the documents of Blackstone Town. He could not really wait until winter ends before he started the construction project. Waiting one and a half month just because of the stupid snow would be simply a waste of time.

“I’ve asked some of the servants to install several heat stones near the eastern border of the town,” said Lark. “It will melt the snow and greatly reduce the cold. Of course, we will provide the workers with thick clothes and hot soup to combat the cold. Rest assured, no one will die of cold during the construction period.”

The commoners were still obviously puzzled on what the heat stones were, but they nodded for now.

“Since the cultivation of the land will have to wait until the snow melts, the farmers will temporarily help the builders during this winter season. The payment will be the same, six silvers. Also, the farmers, builders, and soldiers are eligible for a house. They only need to pay the appropriate rent.”

“Lastly, the soldiers,” said Lark. Out of the forty-eight gathered here, only twenty-three were males. Lark secretly hoped that a lot of them would join his army. “Only males are allowed to become my soldiers. Soldiers will get paid eleven silvers, three meals a day, with a free small meat every four days. Also, I will allow them to stay at the cabin behind the Mansion. It should be large enough to accommodate everyone.”

The announcement stirred the crowd. Judging by the expressions of everyone, they would like to immediately jump on the offer. Eleven silvers were an absurd amount of salary for commoners like them. Moreover, they would immediately have a home once they were accepted. Even the old butler seemed shocked by the young master’s sudden declaration. Lark simply grinned at him and wordlessly told him to stay silent.

“Aside from Melody here, I have clearly stated the conditions of employment for everyone,” said Lark. “I will give everyone half an hour to decide which profession you would like to choose. Of course, if you don’t like to work for me, that’s fine too.”

Half an hour later, Gaston gave Lark the results. Twenty-three were interested in farming, while seven for building. As expected, more locals chose the job that was more familiar to them. Lark deemed that the shortage of manpower for the construction would be alleviated by the farmers during winter season. They could help move stones and wood, at least.

For the soldiers, fifteen men were interested. The remaining three locals chose to not accept any jobs. Lark’s reputation was probably the deterrent, since the offers themselves were magnanimous enough for this small town.

Lark clapped his hands once and everyone’s attention turned to him.

“I want all of the farmers and builders to gather in this hall tomorrow, same time,” said Lark. “We will immediately start the construction of the eastern border this winter.”

Those that belonged to farming and construction bobbed their heads and replied, “Understood, Young Master!”

Lark turned towards the group of men on his left. Since they were homeless and the Black Famine had just struck the Kingdom, they were skin and bones. If not for the free porridge he had been giving out during the past few days, they would have been skinnier.

“Now, for the soldiers. I will be giving out a simple test,” said Lark. He signaled the servants and soon, numerous pots made of clay were handed out to each of them. “If you pass the test, I will allow you to enter the ranks of my personal army. All benefits will be given, of course. You have my word. But if you fail to pass my simple test, do not worry. You can still choose to work as a farmer or a builder for Lark Marcus.”

Lark told the aspiring soldiers to fall in line. After receiving their pots, each of them was given three seeds. Lark would scribble down something on a parchment after asking the name of the person in front of him. To Melody’s surprise, Lark also asked her to participate in his little test. The blonde young woman fell in line and also received her pot and seeds.

After everyone received the seeds, Lark smiled. “Now, for the test. All of you will be tasked to cultivate those seeds. Make them grow – in four days.”

The aspiring soldiers were stunned, definitely confused. They applied to be a soldier, not a farmer. Why was the young master asking them to grow some seeds?

As though voicing everyone’s thoughts, someone asked, “Forgive my insolence, but young master, is this little test necessary? We’re… We’re not farmers.”

Lark seemed to have expected this question. He nodded. “Of course. Listen, if you are unable to make those three seeds grow, you will fail the test. Only those that have successfully made all three seeds grow into a small plant within the time period will be allowed to join my personal army.” He looked at Melody and said, “The same goes for you.”

The young woman nodded, saying that she understood.

Lark cleared his throat. “Any questions?”

After a period of silence, he said, “Farmers and builders, you are required to gather here tomorrow. As for the soldiers, come back here after four days. Bring the plants with you.”

After those words, he dismissed them from the hall.

Lark licked his lips and smiled. He was looking forward to the results four days from now.