Kayal said with deep affection and tenderness, completely embodying the role.
Mordred, being a straightforward child, saw Kayal's 'benevolent father' appearance, completely disregarding past grievances, and immediately burst into tears, throwing herself into Kayal's arms.
"There, there…" Kayal gently stroked Mordred's golden hair, smiling faintly, "But you'll have to endure some hardship in the future, won't you? Because you and Lily look alike, for Lily's authority, you'll have to wear a mask in front of outsiders from now on—"
Kayal hooked her chin with his finger, a mischievous smile on his face: "Besides, our Mordred's adorable face, if other men look at it, I'll get jealous, you know~"
"Yes, Father." She smiled with tears in her eyes, Mordred radiating a charm no less than Artoria's, a completely different kind of charm, soft and alluring; she truly was a wonderful girl.
"Then, thank you for your hard work." Kayal untied the ropes behind her back, gently patted the cowlick on her head, which was just like Artoria's, and stood up from the bed: "Alright, stand up, my [Royal Guard]."
Of course, the two were just joking, but from then on, besides the Silver-Eyed Claymores, a red-clad knight was added behind Kayal.
A red-robed knight, completely enveloped in red armor, wearing a demon-faced bull-headed helmet.
"Hmm… no matter what, there are too few people in Camelot!" Kayal looked at the large blank areas on the map, all of which could be planned and built as city foundations… After unifying Camelot, as long as he controlled naval power, no one could interfere with Camelot's development.
If all the cultivated land could be planned, the energy that would erupt… was truly something to look forward to.
"Then, let's go worship the gods." Kayal smiled as he mounted the Unicorn, with only two guards behind him, Teresa and Mordred, placing heavy trust on Mordred's shoulders, making the innocent Mordred feel both happy and deeply responsible, often startled by the slightest rustle in the grass.
Hearing Kayal's words, she was utterly confused, only seeing Kayal pick up a picnic basket, put in mead and cider, then fill it with apples and slices of translucent smoked meat; she seemed very puzzled by Kayal's actions.
After taking a tea set, the three rode their horses to the fields in the wilderness; these fields had just been harvested of wheat, and if following future methods, corn would naturally be planted next—it could ripen again before the snowfall.
But in this world, besides sweet potatoes brought to Camelot by peddlers, there was no news of corn at all, even though a long-distance fleet had been dispatched, led by some of his more favored disciples, including those in botany, mineralogy, navigation, and weather, who, despite having entered the field, were still not considered experts for this era.
The sailors were all experienced veterans, but the journey between these two continents was still full of dangers, especially from the Ireland region; not only did they have to guard against wandering Gauls, but the most troublesome were the floating giant icebergs—the Arctic was not melted yet!
Perhaps going from Iceland, to Greenland, and then landing in Canada would be a good choice, but the danger of three ships encountering Gauls would greatly increase at once.
So, the sea route was chosen, directly crossing the Atlantic to land on Finnurland Island.
The final destination was the North American continent!
However, these things still needed time to accomplish.
The three rode their horses leisurely across the bare ridges to the vicinity of the forest.
At this time, most farmers had sold their surplus grain to Red—Piaotian Literature—but then they couldn't sit still and became busy again—the commune organized and hired idle farmers to dig reservoirs and irrigation canals, which Kayal planned to use for planting rice next year, and after harvesting it, planting another season of wheat, thus doubling the yield.
Although it was the first time planting, Kayal's words were more effective than an imperial decree, and the farmers were quite active; moreover, Kayal provided all the rice seeds, and the money earned was theirs, so if they lost, they only lost a bit of effort; farmers naturally liked this kind of government.
Let's give it a try, they're just farmers with a bit of strength, aren't they?
While the men were busy, the women were not idle either; they liked to plant flowers in their backyards; these flowers, to be honest, if not for the lack of scale and Kayal's discouragement, would yield more profit than wheat—they are raw materials for perfume, and perfume is a luxury item, said to be worth its weight in gold!
But the problem was that Kayal didn't like luxury goods!
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality!
Once those above have a preference, those below will imitate, and this trend might become uncontrollable.
Currently, Camelot has not even reached the level of a developing country; talking about pursuing luxury goods is simply ridiculous.
Upon reaching the edge of the forest, the surrounding area could no longer be clearly seen.
Mordred was confused about what Father was doing here, when Kayal whistled, and a huge forest wolf emerged from the woods.
Startled, she drew her sword without thinking and stood in front of Kayal; although she was only about three years old, she had heard of 'devil-like beasts,' and a creature this large was unlike any wolf, it could only be a magical beast!
Cold sweat dripped down, hoping Kayal would flee quickly.
But instead of fleeing, Kayal smiled and stroked her head; it felt nice, but was this the time for such things?
Just as Mordred was about to get angry, she saw the giant forest wolf suddenly shrink, eventually transforming into a slender and delicate young girl.
"Holo, long time no see." Kayal smiled faintly.
The completely naked girl showed no shame, only continuously sniffing the fragrant air, asking with slight excitement: "Apples! Apples, right! You brought apples?!" With a confident and excited question, the girl named Holo was already overwhelmed with excitement.
"More than just apples!" Kayal took out the cider: "Ta-da! Look what this is!"
"Could it be!" Holo's eyes sparkled like stars, watching the bottle of fruit wine with drool dripping to the ground: "Fruit wine!"
"Bingo!" Kayal pulled out the cork, and a rich aroma wafted out; two of the four people present simultaneously swallowed, for this was Kayal's first batch of fruit wine, other than grape wine, from when he first brewed wine twelve years ago!