Noel was led to a certain spot where everyone could see him. He was the honorable knight that saved this village after all.
The people thanked him one by one. Even the pair of kids that wanted water from him before he went to the dam. It was truly such a sight.
Noel received their thanks and eventually managed to find some time to get a good meal.
While eating, the farmer approached him again to thank him for everything he had done.
"Thank you so much, Sir Iadre." The farmer lowered his head politely.
"I'm just doing my job. Though, I wonder will you be fine from now on? After all, your hand…" Noel looked at him worriedly.
"Ah, please don't worry about me, Sir. I can still work on something else and my son can take my job on the field too."
"I see." Noel felt a little relieved knowing that the man would be alright from now on. However, Noel also had another thought about this feast. "That's right, do you mind if I know the recipe on how to cook these dishes? They're delicious."
"Ah… I'm sure the people who worked hard on the dishes will be glad to share it with you. And the village chief shouldn't have any problem in writing it down."
"That's great." Noel was happy because if he could keep remembering more and more recipes and cooking it for himself, he would be able to escape from Anna's delicious meal. "And I have one more question to you. What do you think a village needs the most?"
"Pardon? I don't quite understand your question."
"While doing this, I want to know more about the people all around the kingdoms. I'm sure that every village, town, big cities, have their own problems. I want to know more about it, so I want your opinion about it."
"Ah!" The farmer nodded with a serious expression. "To be honest, there is not much that we actually need. For us, as long as we can survive during the winter and don't get extorted by taxes, we're already happy."
"Survive the winter…" Noel muttered in a low voice.
"Yes. In the winter, we barely have any harvest. So, it's hard for us to get enough food. We can manage with the firewood, but at least one person always die every winter because of the cold. If there's a prolong winter, we might even experience famine." The farmer sighed.
"But can't you just hunt more animals and store it so that it will become your food supply? The same applies to the field."
"Yes, we can, but our field is limited. So, it's hard to produce that level of food since we need to bring the majority of them to the city for tax."
"I see." Noel took this opinion seriously. For the first time in his life that he started regretting not learning anything from his father. If he worked hard back then and learned various stuff in governing a territory, he would be able to get some answers.
Unfortunately, he could only collect ideas for now before solving the problem one by one.
"It's a good talk, thank you." Noel smiled, thanking him for the opinion.
"Are you going to retire to your room, Sir?"
"The village chief has prepared the room for you and I can lead you there. What do you think?"
The farmer then led Noel to the village chief's house and opened Noel's room. Although it wasn't good or fancy, the room had enough space to move around and the bed was quite soft as one would expect from the best house of the village.
After that, the farmer finally left Noel so that he could rest.
Noel had washed his body in the dam before going back, so he was already comfortable enough to sleep. But there was one thought lingering in his mind.
Medal: Exceptional Citizen Merit
Requirement: Help 300 Citizens (59/300)
Reward: Exceptional Citizen Medal and 10 Honor Points
"The lowest rank of a noble is a baron. A baron usually have around 40-50 villages along with its own city. Normally, a baron has five thousand people in his jurisdiction. If I somehow become a baron and do something good to my own citizens, I think I can easily finish this mission multiple times.
"And the higher my rank, the more people under my jurisdiction. It's basically farming Honor Points.
"Still…" Noel closed his eyes, remembering all the smiles he received from the villagers. In his heart, he felt happy just to see that smile. Yes, he was just happy that he could help people.
The mission was just a kind of bonus for him.
"After this mission, I know that helping them doesn't mean I need to save them one by one. I just need to solve their problems. That's why if I make a great governing system, I can help them. Then, if they have a problem in their village, I can dispatch soldiers to help them.
"Father, I know that your son was useless in the past. I do regret my laziness in the past, but I promise you that I'll be a better person and become a great lord in the future." Noel smiled as he finally fell asleep, tired from working for three days straight.
The next morning, Noel received the proof of completion from the village chief before going to the dam to destroy the dam.
It seemed a few villagers followed to see the complete destruction of the dam. Noel smiled and cut the dam apart. The water velocity increased a bit, but it should return to a normal river tomorrow.
When Noel cut down the dam, the people cheered because they could finally started fishing again and the water could be used for their daily needs.
Noel waved his hand with a smile as he bid his goodbye to the villagers as he started his journey to the city before visiting the Master Blacksmith.