Nothing in the seawater?

Edward Thompson would never agree with that.

In his homeland, the struggle for the sea is no less fierce than the struggle for land; a blue-water navy is the ambition of every nation.

While marine resources are indeed difficult to exploit, they are by no means less abundant than those on land. In this world, he cannot be sure whether there are mineral deposits hidden beneath the sea—after all, according to current knowledge, only dragons can produce gems and metals.

But the fishery resources in the seawater are absolutely immense and incalculable.

In the Grand Duchy of Sapphire, there is a lot of wasteland and a severe shortage of manpower. They can barely manage to farm, let alone develop fisheries. Yet a very crucial problem arises: elves are all controlled by the nobility and cannot affect so much farmland, resulting in very low agricultural output.

Take Flower Town, for example—the area of arable land is by no means small, but the population it can support is pitifully few.

The fewer the people, the more they are bound to the land by the nobility and the noble system, helping the nobles farm, paying heavy taxes, and supporting the nobles’ luxurious lifestyles.

“The direction for Flower Town’s development is this vast blue Sapphire Sea!” Edward Thompson felt a surge of excitement.

As long as there is a fishery nearby, it can provide a continuous supply of food. Only when the commoners are well-fed can they work hard to have children; with a larger population, more taxes can be collected.

With more taxes, his own life will be better!

Of course, these are not the most urgent matters. The development of fisheries cannot happen without ships, and Flower Town is still some way from being able to build them. His meager savings can’t buy more than a few boats.

“Let’s go. Once we finish inspecting the last stretch of the border, we’ll head back.” With a flick of the riding crop, the fire dragon horse neighed and galloped along the sandy coast of the Sapphire Sea.

The sand was a pale yellow, clean and tidy, with occasional large trees resembling coconut palms. The afternoon sunlight was blocked by their canopies, casting patches of shade.

With a bit of development, this would be a perfect summer vacation spot.

After finishing the beach inspection and returning to the starting point at the edge of Thorns Ridge, Edward Thompson officially completed his inspection of Flower Town’s territory. The group rode toward the castle. Marcus and the four retainer knights saluted and took their leave to return home. They had their own houses in the town.

The castle was only the residence of Edward Thompson and his male and female servants.

“Master, my heart is at ease seeing you return safely.” The old butler Carter, together with the servants, lined up to welcome Edward Thompson’s return.

“Even on my own land, even magical beasts need to mind their manners.” Edward Thompson joked. “Mr. Carter, is everything well in the castle?”

“Of course.”

“That’s good. Mrs. Mason, please prepare bathwater for me—I need a bath.”

“Yes, master.” Mrs. Mason was nearly forty, had never married, and had always worked at Tulip Castle. She was now in charge of all the maids in Edward Thompson’s castle.

All the maids, but in fact, there were only three.

And the total number of servants in the castle was only ten.

The butler Carter Crock managed all affairs in the castle and was considered Edward Thompson’s confidant; the housekeeper Mason Field managed all the maids and assisted Carter in the daily management of the castle; the cook Abby Spoon was in charge of everything in the kitchen.

The male servants included the personal attendant Thomas Scissors, the regular servant Tom Pigpen, and the assistant servant Jesse Washwater.

The maids were all regular maids: Maisie Thread, Debbie Window, and Megan Cowtail.

There was also a cook’s assistant, who was also a maid but answered to the cook Abby; her name was Irene Fourfingers.

Four Fingers—a very strange surname. Apparently, one of her ancestors had only four fingers, so when registering the family name, they simply used Four Fingers—don’t expect illiterate peasants who have spent their whole lives in the countryside and almost never traveled far to come up with any elegant surnames.

The nobility wouldn’t allow them to have elegant surnames, either.

After Edward Thompson was helped out of his leather armor by Thomas, he changed into casual clothes and went upstairs. The old butler Carter immediately called out loudly: “Jesse, take the master’s fire dragon horse away and remember to add extra beans to its feed—it’s been working hard all day. Mrs. Abby, go to the kitchen and prepare dinner; tonight, the master should have an extra portion of roast meat. Mrs. Mason, remember to lead the maids in preparing bathwater for the master. Tom, you need to go to town to fetch water. Thomas, you must clean the master’s leather armor.”

“Yes, Mr. Carter!” the servants replied.

Only then did Carter nod in satisfaction.

Although the castle was small, the servants few, and life a bit lacking, he was the butler here, managing all the daily affairs of the castle and serving as the master’s capable assistant.

He enjoyed this sense of comfort and authority.

……

The bathwater was just the right temperature. Although these maids were not as skilled as those at Tulip Castle, under Mrs. Mason’s direction, these newly indentured maids had already adapted well to their work.

Edward Thompson lay in the bathtub, enjoying the feeling of being soaked in warm water.

He had thought about promoting equality for all, letting the people of this world experience the light of democracy in a civilized society. But he was very clear-headed: these servants’ very survival depended on serving the nobility, sheltering under the wings of the nobles in order to live.