Episode 56
There would be no parent who would refuse the seniority method even though they knew that their child would become a knight in the future. Since the seniority method was originally something for the nobles that did not fit with the commoners, the expectations of the people of the territory were likely to grow even higher.
“I have entrusted the slave soldiers with the training of the method of training as instructed by your Majesty, and fortunately, no one has shown any major objection so far. They do show signs of displeasure, though.”
In everyday life, commoners were the lower class. They were exploited by the nobles. Then, slaves appeared to them. They were of a lower class than commoners, and they were not even able to make eye contact.
The commoners treated their slaves as they treated the nobles. They were not violent because they were slave soldiers and not ordinary slaves, but they often ignored them or hurled insults at them. Many commoner parents would have felt uncomfortable with such people caring for their children.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. On the contrary, the people of the territory should be grateful. It’s not common for a person to endure such simple, repetitive work for hours.”
Teaching the Aura method to a baby who couldn’t speak wasn’t as easy as it seemed. It was necessary to stimulate specific acupoints while sending small amounts of Aura until the baby learned it, and this had to be repeated for a short period of time, from a week to a long period of three months. If you tried to shorten the period by increasing the amount of Aura, there was a high chance that the baby would suffer.
“Once the education on the method of sanitation is established, the infant mortality rate will decrease. We will also repeat education on things like boiling water to drink, cleaning the village regularly, and boiling and disinfecting household utensils.”
“What about taxes?”
“I just spread the rumor. There was a flood of inquiries about when to start giving birth to get tax breaks. Since giving birth is a daily routine for women anyway, they seem to be thinking that they should give birth when the tax breaks are available.”
Zeno’s women gave birth to children all their lives. This is also the reason why many women died after giving birth. Even among the children they gave birth to with such diligence, one in two died, but even in such a tragedy, the people of the land continued to live.
‘Is this the best?’
When I was a member of the Breyo family, I had no interest in the lives of the people of Yeongji. I was only concerned with preserving my own life.
Now that I have become the lord of Hebron, my vision has expanded beyond myself to include the people of the land. Also, through my two lives, I have become involved in things I would never have dared to imagine before.
“… … Do you want to live like that?”
“There is no other way.”
“You held my hand because you didn’t like that either.”
“I am different. Because there is someone who reached out to me.”
“Then the solution is simple.”
“What? Why are you making that face? The faint quivering corners of your lips, dilated pupils, flushed cheekbones, raised eyebrows. Are you thinking about something extremely dangerous right now?”
Amy had been observing me for a long time. She had taken to heart my words, ‘The role of the military is to read the mind of the lord, to make it concrete, and to put it into practice.’
“I will reach out to the women of Hebron. I will give them a chance like you. Of course, I can only train those who are capable right now.”
“Would there be such a person? Common women grow up without even receiving basic education.”
“It’s not too late to start basic education now.”
“no way…….”
“Let’s establish a Hebron Academy. Unlike other academies, it’s not a school that just hits the back of the head of the rich, but a school that brings in blind people and teaches them letters and arithmetic. Tuition is completely free.”
Amy’s shoulders slumped.
“By the way, I heard that the daughter of Count Srein was found dead.”
“In the end, that’s what happened.”
Amy responded as if she had expected it, in a nonchalant tone. She seemed more concerned about the Academy business that had been entrusted to her than the death of a woman she had never met.
“What kind of support did Count Srein receive?”
Amy took a piece of paper and pen and began to write down her ideas for building the Academy. She responded to me as she did so. Unlike me, Amy was able to do three or four things at the same time.
“The economy of Srein is in shambles. The mercenary troop hired by the Srein Counts is about 1,000, and they’ve been keeping them for almost a month. Even at 5 gold per person, that’s 5,000 gold. The military supplies purchased from the Srein Counts alone are worth 3,000 gold, and they’ve trained a standing army of 1,000 men over the past two months. With 1,000 men living off their economic activities, this year’s crops are a disaster. Even if they’re a Count, it’s hard to survive if they spend that much money all at once.”
“Then, Count Srein must be looking for something that can make money.”
In the past, Viscount Srein sent troops to the Baronial domain of Delgain in an attempt to pressure Hebron. I was not so broad-minded as to forget my old mistakes.
Amy looked up. Her blood-stained face began to come to life.
She was the type of person who secretly enjoyed bullying others.
“… …Shall we get ready?”
“Hebron is overflowing with money-making opportunities. It even has iron mines.”
There were no iron mines in Hebron. It swallowed up other fiefdoms one after another, but they were all poor baronial fiefdoms.
But Amy responded with a smile.
“Wasn’t it a gold mine? That’s what I heard. There’s an iron mine in the Srein Viscounty, too. They say the vein has dried up recently, but I think gold would be more attractive than iron to the Srein Viscounty.”
“Is the magic stone mine too much?”
“It’s excessive. It’s not just Slane, but the royal family of Zenon might also thrust a shovel into the ground. It’ll be hard to avoid the royal family’s attention.”
A non-existent gold mine has appeared in the Hebron territory.
“Then a gold mine would be good. Where would be a good location?”
“Of course it’s a wasteland. There were people who went to the wasteland to dig for gold and died. Didn’t you read The Adventures of Indiana De Johnson when you were young?”
Indiana de Johnson was the second son of the Johnson family and a knight with great exploration skills. He got lost in enemy territory during a battle and discovered a dungeon there, which he explored. That was Indiana de Johnson’s first adventure, and he later became an explorer, traveling the country and writing novels based on his experiences.
‘Even if Sir Johnson’s writings were 70% exaggeration, there would be 30% truth buried in them. He claimed that there were large mines of magic stones buried under the wasteland, but it is very possible that there were gold ore ores buried there. If only we could find a mine in the vast wasteland… … .’
Other territories have been ruled by lords for a long time. If a gold mine that has not been discovered until now were to be discovered, it might arouse suspicion.
It would not have been strange for a gold mine to appear in a wasteland that had been abandoned for a long time. Moreover, this was not the first time that news of a gold mine being discovered in a wasteland had been reported.
Based on the fact that the Kingdom of Antaria was once abundant with gold, several famous adventurers have suggested that there may be gold buried somewhere in the wasteland.
‘If there was something like that, it would have been unearthed long ago. The Zenon royal family even dispatched an earth elementalist to inspect the entire kingdom territory. Since we’re moving manpower anyway, we’ll have to reclaim the wasteland while we’re at it.’
The royal attempt was absurd. It was not realistic to search the underground veins, let alone the surface of the vast territory. The spiritists employed at the time were known to have excavated only two mines, despite receiving huge rewards.
The wasteland was not a desert. It was a barren land with sparse grass, but if reclaimed, it could be transformed into a land where people could live. To do so, the problem of water supply had to be solved first.
“If we’re going to do it, it would be natural to seek the cooperation of the Viscount Zailson.”
“I will make an informal request to send personnel. Rumors will spread that a gold mine has been discovered in the Hebron territory.”
“If you’re going to do it, try to do it on a grand scale. Instead of developing mines anywhere, imagine a situation where a city is built around the mine. I think this area on the map would be good, but you should come up with a more specific plan and choose a location.”
Since the royal family of Zeno had granted the wasteland to Hebron, it was marked on the map as belonging to Hebron. As the lord, I was free to do whatever I wanted there.
No one would have stopped them from developing a mine that didn’t exist and building a city around it.
“Yes, my lord!”
* * *
As Amy and I had hoped, a rumor spread that a gold mine had been discovered in the wasteland of Hebron. Even Viscount Jailson came to see me to find out the truth behind the rumor.
“Is it real?”
The same question was repeated for the seventh time.
Every time, I would leisurely drink my tea and respond.
“well.”
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“It’s true.”
If gold had been discovered in the wilderness, it was Hebron’s business. It was not for Zielson to get involved. There were two, or rather three, reasons why he could come to me and ask me such a blunt question.
First, I had asked for workers to work in the wasteland, secondly, I had wanted to ask after my brother Ambrod, and thirdly, I had a selfish desire to touch the now quite large Blood Wolf Wulf.
But of these, the third seemed to have had the greatest influence on Viscount Jayleson’s visit.
“Then you will be punished.”
Krrrrrr.
Wulf was reluctant to give Viscount Jailson any company.
The guy would slump down next to me and yawn, then bar his teeth when Jayson reached out.
Zyleson didn’t wear any perfume. There was a lingering scent on his skin, but judging by the scent he gave off, he must have been holding back for three or four days in preparation for today.
Zyleson looked at Wulf and asked Ambrod.
“How are you doing these days?”
“I feel alive.”
“Yeah, that’s good.”
That was the end of the conversation between the Zailson brothers.
Count Jailson leaned toward me and tried to touch Wulf’s chin with his right hand.
Wulf bit his finger gently, but Count Jailson continued to reach out his hand, as if he did not like the feeling.
“Is it real?”
“Why don’t you just ask the workers?”
Count Jailson managed to put his hand into Wulf’s mouth.
Wulf glanced at me, his expression asking if he could ask, and I shook my head.
Wulf let out a deep sigh, and Zylson tickled Wulf’s teeth and tongue.
At this point, it was reasonable to hypothesize that the gold mine was just an excuse, and that Viscount Zielson’s only goal was Wulf.
“I heard that they’re digging a tunnel. I also heard that a shaman is coming and going.”
There was no false rumor. The details were just unknown. This also meant that Hebron’s information manipulation was working properly.
“I am a wind spirit. I take care to ensure that the workers do not die from sunstroke.”
“Where in the world is there a viscount who calls upon the wind spirit to do his work?”
It was not uncommon for a vassal to do this, but it happened often in a dukedom. It was partly an attempt to shorten the construction period, but also to save expensive slave soldiers from getting hurt.
Only after giving up on Wulf did Viscount Zielson begin to seriously focus on the gold mines of Hebron.
I warned him.
“The deeper you get involved in this, the more loopholes there will be. Even the dung flies sent by Count Srein will sense something strange and leave.”
“then……?”
As I nodded, Zielson shook his head. If I had manipulated the information to target Zielson instead of Srein, his territory would have been devastated.
I offered Jayson some tea.
