Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

At this time, Levi had already returned to the lord's manor where Yalina was staying.

The academy had been established after Levi returned from the Flower Fairy Kingdom. In its first intake alone, nearly three hundred students had been forcibly enrolled.

Yes, forcibly.

Many commoners were unwilling to send their children—who had already become part of the workforce—to study. They believed learning was nothing more than a waste of time.

But under Lord Levi's authority, they still sent their children.

With so many children, the scholars recruited by the territory simply couldn't handle the workload. They excelled at educating elites, but they were completely unprepared for this kind of mass education.

That was when Levi activated his cheat.

The Enlightenment Aura he had copied from Thumbelina had grown stronger through constant use. Its effects had surpassed those of its original owner, Thumbelina herself.

Whenever Levi quietly activated the high-level Enlightenment Aura, everyone within its range became like they had collectively taken the miracle drug NZT-48 from the movie Limitless in Levi's previous life. It greatly unlocked the potential of their minds, enhanced concentration, and strengthened their spiritual capabilities. If Levi wished, he could even grant animals within the aura intelligence comparable to that of humans.

Many of the students were not particularly bright. But once enveloped by Levi's Enlightenment Aura, it was as though they had been fitted with external genius brains. Their learning ability became astonishing. In less than a month, they mastered knowledge that might normally take years—or even a decade—to learn.

The scholars were completely dumbfounded.

They could only call it a miracle.

Even after Levi ended the lessons and deactivated the Enlightenment Aura, causing the students to return to their original levels of intelligence, the knowledge they had learned remained firmly stored in their minds.

They would never become scholars themselves.

But they were more than capable of handling basic clerical work.

The only issue was that they were still too young.

Nevertheless, they would become seeds for the future, transforming into development potential for the territory and playing roles far beyond imagination.

Levi was laying the foundation for the future.

But that was not all he was doing.

He had also established literacy classes within the military.

This was something he had started long ago, but the results had always been mediocre.

That changed when Levi acquired the Enlightenment Aura.

The soldiers began making progress at a rate that shocked everyone.

And this was something outsiders found extremely difficult to investigate.

In a short period of time, Levi cultivated a large number of people capable of handling administrative work.

These individuals became his instruments of governance.

Transferred out of the military and dispatched throughout the Silverclaw Peninsula, they significantly strengthened Levi's control over the entire region.

Not only that, but Levi also used the Enlightenment Aura to improve the combat capabilities of his soldiers.

He did not hesitate to teach the foundational techniques of knightly breathing methods.

With the assistance of the Enlightenment Aura's cheat-like super-brain effects, the soldiers quickly mastered those fundamentals.

Although most achieved poor results for various reasons, a number of them still stood out and reached the level of knight squires.

This was another remarkable application of the Enlightenment Aura—its contribution to territorial development.

As military strength increased, suppressing the remnants of the former Silverclaw Viscount's faction became much easier.

As more people acquired knowledge, there was no longer any need to compromise with the noble class that had previously monopolized literacy and education.

As the territory's chief administrator, Yalina found handling government affairs much smoother as well.

Levi's entire territory was like a wound-up clockwork machine.

Its pace of development accelerated even further.

A thought crossed his mind, and he cast Detection.

The state of the territory immediately appeared before his eyes—

...

Territory: Silverclaw Peninsula

Title: Count

Area: 242.2 km²

Population: 62,421

Farmland: 15.3 km² of Bittervine cultivation, 87 km² of other crops

Military: 5,000 troops

Settlements: 2 cities, 4 towns, 54 villages

Special Products: Cement, pottery, salted fish, refined salt...

Income/Expenses: +453 gold coins/month

Evaluation: A rapidly developing territory

...

This was the overall status of the territory.

Whenever Levi focused on a specific category, more detailed information appeared.

There was no need to elaborate on the territory itself.

Levi's army had defeated the Silverclaw Viscount's coalition forces and occupied his lands. The entire Silverclaw Peninsula—more than two hundred square kilometers—had become Levi's domain.

Even the Duke of Silverbrook had been forced to acknowledge this reality and formally granted him the title of the new Count of Silverclaw.

Within those two hundred-plus square kilometers stood two cities.

One was the former Silverclaw Viscount's capital, Silverclaw City.

The other was the coastal city Levi was currently constructing, with a planned area exceeding ten square kilometers.

There were also four towns.

These included the original town surrounding Coldwind Keep, along with three towns that had belonged to the Silverclaw Viscount's territory.

One of those towns had been directly under the Silverclaw Viscount's control, while the other two belonged to the two barons who served beneath him.

Then there were the villages.

The original Hornreach had no villages at all.

All fifty-four villages had come from the former Silverclaw Viscount's territory.

Of those, more than half—including various manors—had belonged directly to the Silverclaw Viscount himself.

The other half consisted of lands belonging to the barons and knights under his command.

Of course, they all belonged to Levi now.

Levi had the recovered Sky Knight Rune lead forces to occupy them one by one, accept their surrender—but not their surrender terms. He then recruited laborers to build cement roads, linking those towns, villages, and cities together. This not only improved transportation but also strengthened his rule.

Later, after copying Enlightenment Aura from Thumbelina, Levi used education to quickly cultivate a group of intellectuals with basic administrative skills. After leaving military service, they became administrative officers and were dispatched into the villages, towns, and even Silverclaw City.

The impact of these people was enormous—almost impossible to overstate.

They broke the nobility's traditional grip over those regions, allowing Levi's will to reach the common people directly.

This enabled Levi to gain complete control over the entire Silverclaw Peninsula.

After witnessing this situation, the elite personnel who had once served under the Silverclaw Viscount finally abandoned any intention of engaging in passive resistance against Levi.

Some relocated with their entire families and sought opportunities elsewhere.

Others chose to join Levi's faction and make a fresh start.

If they wanted to leave, Levi did not stop them.

If they wanted to join, Levi did not refuse them either.

After all, he had Detection.

Nothing could escape his eyes.

This ability was far superior to the White Snake Meat from the neighboring kingdom.

White Snake Meat allowed people to understand the speech of animals, but it depended too heavily on the animals themselves. What it revealed was only the surface of things, making its limitations obvious.

Detection was completely different.

It could reveal causes and consequences alike and could even project future developments.

Levi was confident that none of these people could stir up trouble. Instead, they would gradually be assimilated into his faction and become part of his territory's strength.

The population under Levi's control had now reached 62,421.

That was far more than the number of people directly governed by the former Silverclaw Viscount.

Not only that, but Levi's method of governance was far more effective at unlocking their productive potential.

By providing food, modest wages, and promises of future land distribution, Levi mobilized the population to clear farmland, work in factories, maintain public order, defend the territory, and perform countless other tasks, turning them into the screws and gears that kept the territory's development machine running.

Thanks to their efforts, the entire territory was changing with each passing day.

Its rapid development attracted even more merchants to come and trade.

Through the sale of refined salt, pottery, and salted fish—the latter becoming an industry only because refined salt production had become so abundant—the territory had actually achieved a positive cash flow.

Despite Levi's massive investments and extensive construction projects, the territory was still generating several hundred gold coins in profit every month.

That came as a surprise even to Levi.

It also noticeably improved the mood of Yalina, the territory's chief steward.

At that moment, after seeing Levi return to the lord's manor for one of his rare visits, Yalina brought several people to meet him.

Among them were the heads of two merchant guilds, a middle-aged man with a calm and composed demeanor, and a beautiful but pale-faced woman standing at the very back.

Ever since a mysterious grain merchant had appeared in the territory, the two merchant guild leaders had become even more respectful toward Levi.

They were afraid Levi would become disappointed in them and remove them from the list of authorized trading partners within the territory.

Now that Silverclaw Refined Salt was being sold throughout various nations and generating tremendous profits, they simply could not—and dared not—abandon Levi's territory.

As a result, they did their utmost to fulfill every request made by their lord.

For example, finding a doctor.

The two merchant guild leaders said to Levi: "My Lord, please allow us to introduce Dr. Crabb."

"Dr. Crabb is renowned throughout his homeland for his superb medical skills and his seemingly limitless knowledge. He is known as Doctor Know-All."

Then they turned to the composed middle-aged man.

"Dr. Crabb, this is the new master of the Silverclaw Peninsula, the Count of Silverclaw. His Lordship's reputation is known throughout the continent."

"Oh?"

Levi raised an eyebrow.

Since he had not activated Detection, he simply observed the man with interest.

Most of his Magic Power had been consumed by repeated use of Enlightenment Aura, and it had yet to recover.

Doctor Know-All, Crabb, appeared completely unfazed by either honor or insult.

After hearing the introduction from the merchant guild leaders, he merely nodded lightly toward Levi and said: "Good day, Count."

Levi's thoughts stirred.

If this was indeed the doctor from the fairy tale who possessed a treasure capable of healing all manner of wounds, then such confidence was perfectly understandable.

That treasure no longer held much appeal for Levi, however.

After all, he had already obtained Rapunzel's Healing ability.

Still, his territory needed a doctor.

So he replied with equal courtesy: "Good day, Dr. Crabb."

Getting straight to the point, he continued: "Dr. Crabb, as you can see, my territory lacks doctors."

"I intend to establish a medical clinic, and I need a highly skilled physician to serve as its director."

"Can I trust you with that responsibility?"

Levi planned to evaluate the man's medical abilities—without allowing him to rely on that treasure.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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