I WANTED TO INCREASE OUR POPULATION AND RECRUIT some folks who could manage everything in my place, but things never went quite the way you wanted. Going around to nearby towns and villages was an option, but that would mean picking a fight with the nobles in charge of those towns and villages. What should I do?

“Maybe I’ll ask the Bell & Rango Company for help,” I whispered.

Esparda nodded. “I believe that would be for the best.”

Guess I had the right answer! What a relief. “Heh heh. Let’s have them head to the capital and other big cities first. They can recruit people looking to make money, and I can set their pay higher than the baseline in the capital. There’ll be all kinds of jobs available, so we can hit a wide range of people! We can also hit up the Adventurers’ Guild with escort and dungeon-diving quests at the same time. They’ll be all, ‘wow, Seatoh Village sure is affluent and awesome!’ If we can hire an expensive team of mercenaries, they’ll basically function as publicity!”

Now, Esparda! Lavish me with the praise I deserve!

Instead, Esparda looked back at me with a reserved expression. “The Bell & Rango Company is already recruiting and running publicity for us in the capital and in House Fertio’s territory. I have already sent requests to the Adventurers’ Guild as well. This was all in the report I delivered to you—”

I interjected hastily. “Ah, I read it! I totally did! I knew that!” If I didn’t bluff my way through this, I had hell in store for me: twice the usual amount of study. Elegantly, I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and shot Esparda a cynical smile. “I already knew all that. I’m talking about drumming up publicity in other big cities! I was also thinking of having the Bell & Rango Company buy some more slaves for us. We have plenty of jobs here for hard-working people.”

For a long moment, Esparda considered me with narrow eyes. I averted my gaze and took a deep breath. Finally, he said, “Fine. In that case, I must send them the order. What is your budget for this?”

There it was. He was trying to catch me in a lie. My well-honed Esparda Radar was screaming at me. If I’d read the report, I could give him a proper answer based on how much money we had…but frankly, I had no clue what our financial situation looked like. How could I? I’d been busy marching to the front lines, rebuilding fortress cities, fixing strongholds, all sorts of stuff!

But Esparda would never accept that as an excuse. Not this study demon.

“Let me see… Last time, it cost something like three platinums to purchase 150 young and healthy slaves, right? In that case, let’s raise our budget to ten platinums.”

There! I’d dodged any direct references to the report, but also presented him a concrete number. Esparda raised a single eyebrow and stilled, but after several seconds of silence, he replied, “I see. Given Seatoh Village’s current fortune, it would be safe to spend thrice that amount. Why ten platinums?”

“Well, if we move a ton of people here at once, that’s a lot to handle in terms of room and board, not to mention education,” I said, trying to sound like someone who had been thinking about this for a while. “And if we buy too many slaves in one go people will get the wrong idea about me, plus the market will suffer. I think we should buy a few at a time.”

Esparda’s expression relaxed minutely. “Hmm… That makes sense. It seems you’ve put a great deal of thought into this. You will hear no more from me. About the petition for more equipment for the Chivalric Orders, however…”

It was another two hours before I finally managed to flee the manor. As I walked through the village, I hunched over and sighed.

“I’m so dead.”

Till and Arte both smiled at me. Till said, “Excellent work.”

“Personally,” Arte ventured, “I think it’s incredible how much you’re managing. I only understood about half of what Sir Esparda said.”

I flashed the girls an ambiguous smile. Given Arte’s age, it was impressive that she understood that much of the conversation, but she might take that the wrong way if I said it aloud, especially since I was younger than her. Instead, I took a look around the village.

Following Esparda’s advice from a while back, I had enclosed a pretty wide area with the wall, meaning we currently had a ton of open space in the village. But in the context of our future plans, we had barely enough ground to accommodate all the people we wanted to bring in. As always, Esparda is one step ahead. Talk about

wisdom.

As I walked around, I talked to myself about my vision for Seatoh Village. “I still want more restaurants, clothing shops, and other miscellaneous goods stores on this street. I’d also love to have an open market with stalls. We can set up some blacksmiths near the dwarf forge, and then we’ll need carpenters, storage units for the businesses… Oh, and a fancy residential district and park. Hmm, what else do we need?”

We had long since passed the point where we could reasonably describe this place as a village, but given how long we’d been doing it, I was committed to the name to the very end.

Arte, hearing my monologue, raised a hand. “Don’t we need a hospital?”

“Oh, I forgot about that. We totally do.” I smiled at her.

Till raised her hand next. “I would like a library!”

“I see, I see. What about education? We probably need schools, huh? Could we get by just teaching reading, writing, and basic arithmetic? People won’t be able to read books without those skills.”

“Wait, you want to teach the commoners, too?” Till asked.

“I’d like everyone to get an education.”

Arte cocked her head in confusion, and Till and Khamsin exchanged looks. Apparently that wasn’t standard practice. In Scuderia, the nobility hired tutors, while middle-class folk like knights or merchants sent their kids to be educated at cram schools. Under this system, only those born into affluent households could receive an education. Everyone else had a fundamentally different relationship with money and regularly juggled high expenses, making it commonplace for those born into poverty to receive no education at all.

There were exceptions to this, obviously. For example, someone could become a merchant-in-training, which would give them the opportunity to receive an education. But that sort of thing was relatively uncommon. I supposed that even Earth had entire  nations with low literacy rates, so it shouldn’t be that surprising; only places with financial means could provide education to everyone, and in this world, that felt especially true.

That being said, the smarter your citizens were, the easier it was to develop your territory.

“I have to find people who can be teachers,” I muttered as I built the bare minimum of new family housing and group housing for singles. “But we just don’t have enough hands in either Seatoh Village or Espa Town. I guess my only option is to pick people out from the new batch of immigrants.”

Sounding a bit confused, Arte said, “Um, Lord Van?”

“What’s up?” I turned around and she pointed at one of the houses I’d just finished.

“Is it just me, or have you gotten very fast at building houses?

Especially after all the construction work you’ve been doing?”

“Huh?” I glanced quickly around at my surroundings. She was right; it had only been an hour, and I’d already built a bunch of homes. I wasn’t just getting faster at creating weapons, but also at making buildings. I looked at Till and Khamsin, who both wore looks of fascination. “When you’re able to come up with plans and zone in on the details in your head, I guess the creation process gets faster. That would explain why I’ve gotten so good at constructing buildings. When I was making Fortress City Murcia, the walls still took quite a while, so maybe I’m just not that good at imagining the details for that sort of thing. Not yet, anyway.”

I was still working it all out in my head, so my explanation was vague, but my companions still nodded.

“Well, it would normally take years to build an entire town or castle,” Arte pointed out.

Till said, “Lord Van, if you keep pushing yourself too hard, His

Majesty is going to force more work on you…”

“You are amazing, Lord Van!” said Khamsin.

Three people, three different responses, and the only open praise was from Khamsin. Till had a point, though; standing out wasn’t a great idea.

I kept working it out in my head. How should I handle it all going forward? “It feels like my imagination is the key to all of this,” I said quietly. “How detailed I can get, y’know? I bet if I go a long time without building something, my production speed will slow down. It would be in my best interest to keep making things proactively…”

The next problem: how could I increase our population? That would dictate the speed at which we took down Yelenetta, after all.

Jard

WHEN HE SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE, JARD returned home. It was his first visit to House Fertio’s manor in a year. Three months after Van was exiled to a border village, with rumors spreading about him sending his youngest son away, Marquis Fertio sent Jard and Sesto to large cities to learn how to govern. Having his second and third sons work as city governors and educating his eldest to prepare him as his successor were strategies to make it seem as if everyone was being strictly educated, not just Van. The marquis hoped to avoid any nasty rumors.

Jard, however, was panicking. For a member of the nobility, turning seventeen was a critical milestone, and yet here he was, a governor in some random city. He was a candidate to become the head of the family and both he and Sesto possessed fire magic, making them influential even among their brothers. So why was he stuck governing a city instead of receiving training to be the next head of the family?

Considering the frequency with which Jalpa was sent to war, there was no telling when he might fall in battle. That was precisely why the candidacy for his successor was so important, or so Jard had thought.

Jard governed a city in the southern end of House Fertio’s territory, the opposite direction of Van’s Seatoh Village. He heard reports of Van becoming a baron and going to battle with Yelenetta, and he saw this as a great opportunity. When the head of the household sent Jard an urgent summons to return home, it felt like the perfect chance to show his true strength as a candidate for Jalpa’s successor.

Overjoyed, he hurried home and stood before Jalpa, raising his head to announce himself. “Father! Your son, Jard Gai Fertio, has returned!”

Jalpa nodded, impassive. “How did it feel to govern a city?”

Jard’s expression grew serious. “I feel that I have learned how a lord is meant to govern his city: how to profit, and how to develop it. To further solidify our house, I am prepared now to test my strength on the battlefield.”

Narrowing his eyes, Jalpa stared down at his son as if scrutinizing every inch of him. He had assigned experienced aides to Jard and Sesto and knew that both of his sons had spent the year learning from them. He also knew that the cities to which he sent his sons were affluent and peaceful. As long as they treated the job seriously, they would have been able to produce results; it was an easy task.

According to the aides’ reports, Jard and Sesto simply performed their duties as lords. That was all. Jalpa was not foolish enough to take this at face value. These aides were reporting on two young men who might take Jalpa’s place. They would want to shy away from negative assessments and exaggerate any positive news as much as possible. In the year that his sons were away, neither of the cities they worked in had changed significantly, for better or worse, and the aides reported only that the young men did their jobs as governors.

Jalpa’s conclusion was that his sons had been lazy. He scowled at Jard, then sighed lightly. “In the year that you governed your city, Van exterminated a large dragon, became a baron, developed his village into a fortress city, and produced results on the battlefield. As his older brother, are you not embarrassed?”

Jard grimaced. “N-no. I suspect Van received aid from Count Ferdinatto.” It was impossible for his little brother, not even nine years of age, to perform those feats with his useless magic. “Rumor has it that Count Ferdinatto’s daughter now lives in Van’s territory, and I think it is safe to say that my little brother has become one of the count’s pawns. He leaned on Count Ferdinatto’s aid to slay the dragon and develop his territory. In his position I could do the same, if not better.”

Jalpa had felt the same way his son did in the beginning, but now that he had seen Van’s magic firsthand, Jard’s assumptions came off as pure delusion. “Cease with this nonsense. His Majesty has personally visited Van’s territory and recognized his accomplishments. If Count Ferdinatto had a hand in any of this, he would never have so much as attempted to fool His Majesty. Besides, to take down a dragon normally requires assembling fully equipped Chivalric Orders of two to three thousand knights, not to mention a team of first-rate elemental mages. His Majesty would certainly have noticed Count Ferdinatto doing something so bold.”

Jard attempted to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. He was caught off-guard by his father recognizing Van’s accomplishments, and he struggled to piece things together. Had his father summoned him merely to reprimand him?

Again, Jalpa sighed. “Last month, we took down one of

Yelenetta’s critical strongholds,” he said at length. “Have you heard?”

“Y-yes! I would expect nothing less from you, Father.”

Jalpa frowned. “I see. Well, that stronghold is now being managed by Van.”

Jard blinked a few times, wide-eyed. He squeezed out his next panicked words through a tense jaw. “That’s impossible! The boy is not even ten! How could he manage such a strategic location?!”

Jalpa nodded, then snorted. “The men who fought in the battle to take the stronghold have already returned to their respective territories, but I imagine they will begin prepping for the next battle. The riffraff who remained to assist Van were all viscounts and below.

Unfortunately, I was unable to slip any loyal orders into their ranks.”

“What is His Majesty thinking, leaving a stronghold to low-level nobility?” Jard muttered. Jalpa shrugged and shook his head.

“I’m certain His Majesty believes that even low-level nobility can defend the area for a month or two. Even if many of them fell in battle, it would be no great blow to our national defenses. I do not intend to let all of this transpire beyond my watch, however, and as such, I have dispatched Murcia to aid Van.”

Jard’s head whipped up. “I see. Then if anything were to happen, Brother Murcia could take command, and his successes would be credited to our house.”

“Precisely. But we must not forget that House Fertio has always displayed its value through battle. I suspect that His Majesty will ride this wave of success straight into Yelenetta, stripping away more of their land, and that is when our house will exhibit its true worth.” He locked his eyes on Jard. “That is why I summoned you and Sesto.”

Jalpa was lying. In reality, His Majesty had ordered Murcia to cooperate with Van, but Jalpa made it sound as if the plan was his. Jard had no way of knowing this, of course, so he took his father’s words at face value, concluding that this was all a test for him as a candidate for the head of the house.

“I understand. Sesto and I will show them the true power of House Fertio,” Jard said, smiling ferociously.

Jard

JARD WAS GIVEN THREE THOUSAND MEMBERS OF HOUSE Fertio’s Chivalric Order. As they assembled weapons and goods for their march, Sesto joined up with him.

“Sesto! Long time no see!”

“Long time no see, Brother.”

Jard noticed then that his little brother’s expression was dark, his voice rather gloomy. “Did something happen?”

Sesto frowned pitiably and sighed. It looked to Jard like he’d grown a bit, but hunched over as he was, he actually appeared smaller. He nodded. “Father scolded me. He said I played around with my money and couldn’t even maintain my city after doubling my city’s taxes…”

“Ha ha ha! You idiot, all businesses give us favorable treatment because we’re House Fertio! If you hold a banquet or something, any number of nobles from viscount rank on down will come to you with plans to make money. But there’s no use crying over spilled milk,” Jard said, throwing his brother a proverbial life vest. “Just raise your tax revenue by an additional fifty percent and have the merchants look for money-making opportunities for you.”

In Jard’s view, Murcia was a powerful rival in the line of succession but Sesto was destined to become Jard’s right hand man. He valued his younger brother in that sense. Sesto was weak to temptation, and his indecisive nature meant that he would never truly become Jard’s rival.

Jard looked down at the map he had spread open on the table. Before Sesto’s arrival, Jard had held a strategy meeting with the commanders of the respective Chivalric Orders in this very room. The meeting’s primary objective was to go over the geography and the enemy’s combat strength. Now, however, Jard was pointing at the map like a veteran warrior.

“Sesto, this here is Scudet, and this is the stronghold that we took from the enemy in the last battle. There’s another stronghold on the coast, but it won’t be easy for them to attack us from there because we have the geographical advantage. More importantly, by taking this fortress, we have flipped positions with them; they are now on the defensive.”

Sesto nodded vaguely at this, the smattering of knowledge

Jard held. “Because we took this fortress?”

Jard chuckled at his brother’s confusion. “Do you not understand? Think about this from Yelenetta’s perspective. What would happen if we were allowed to further invade their lands?”

He put his finger on the map and slid it along horizontally.

Following this action with his eyes, Sesto then came to a quick realization. “Ah! They would be isolated. In other words, they’d be forced to hole up while we pincer attacked them. That would leave them unable to get supplies, right?”

Jalpa nodded, satisfied, acting like a teacher although he had himself only learned this fact minutes prior. “Precisely. In essence, if Yelenetta doesn’t take back this stronghold, they won’t even be able to attack us. Conversely, we can use the newly acquired fortress to strike at them, but if we leave it unoccupied, Yelenetta will send their forces to take it back. After all, there are enemy cities and defense points located in three different directions; it would be easy for them to resupply.”

“I see now… So Yelenetta will attack again soon?”

Jard smiled boldly and folded his arms. “Exactly. That is why we must be prepared for battle at any time. We must ensure that the Chivalric Orders we’ve been loaned have the best equipment and supplies. We should also supplement them with mercenaries and adventurers, if at all possible.”

Sesto looked down then, a pathetic expression on his face. “Ah, but I don’t have any money left. What should I do?” he whispered, his face turning pale.

Jard laughed toothily. “Fear not! With the victories that lie ahead of us, you can borrow as much money as you need! Borrow from a company and prepare your men. This is the perfect opportunity to add some accomplishments to your name. Surely you don’t wish to fail because you were too cheap?”

“R-right, I get it,” Sesto replied, nodding confidently.

A battle to obtain territory was an excellent chance to acquire military achievements. Any noble would view this as an opportunity to rise in the ranks, and that meant that the price of supplies and hiring mercenaries would skyrocket. Goods and personnel were so hard to come by that even having the money available didn’t guarantee that you could get what you wanted. House Fertio was certainly both wealthy and powerful, but regardless of how many companies and mercenary groups lent their support, a considerable amount of money would still need to be spent.

Despite all of this, Jard felt victory was all but assured, so he did not hesitate to spend the cash. In the end, he not only emptied his own pockets but also borrowed a great deal of money to support his war effort.

Van

“HEEEEY! I’VE GOT NEW MACHINE BOWS FOR YOU ALL!”

“Lord Van!” Khamsin called back. He was noisily loading machine bows, arrows, and bolts onto one of the new war wagons. “We already have enough for everyone!”

In the back of the wagon sat Van, manufacturing new weapons, and Lowe, watching this happen. Lowe was unsure what to do with all the new arms. It was all a bit chaotic.

Nearby, members of the Chivalric Order watched this uncommon sight with pained smiles as they looked over the new weapons.

“Lord Van’s made a new type of machine bow,” said one member.

“Man, I feel bad for the enemy,” remarked another.

They laughed among themselves, but their eyes displayed the trust they had in Van. All their armor had already been replaced with hybrid-style equipment made from wood blocks and mithril. This new equipment was light and flexible while also boasting high defensive capabilities—and the most vulnerable sections were all coated with mithril to boot.

Because of how the production process worked, all the old equipment could be reused, so there was no shortage of materials. This was also why Van was able to use any free time he had to perform experiments and modify pre-existing designs. He had already attached suspension to the carriages and replaced all their wheels with tires made from the most appropriate monster hides. At this point, these were the most comfortable carriages in the world.

Elsewhere, the Chivalric Orders hunted monsters, which also served as excellent training. The citizens with free time on their hands made preserved foods and helped to prepare for the long military campaign ahead. In this way, Van was able to prepare for war without breaking the bank.

“Lord Van, we have more folks looking to move here!” called a lookout.

“Okay!” Van responded breezily. “What kind of shape are they in? If they seem hungry, feed them first and let them take a bath!”

“Understood!”

The lookout in question nodded as if this happened all the time, then returned to the front gates. In Seatoh Village, immigrants were a weekly occurrence and something everyone had long since grown accustomed to.

Well, save for the traveling merchants, the newly arrived former slaves, and the adventurers. “This really is such a strange village.”

“Right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chivalric Orders or nobles act so kind to outsiders.”

“I think Lord Van is just unique.”

Overhearing this conversation, Van turned around. “Unique? I feel like that could be a little misleading…”

The lord of this village, a paradise to its citizens, disliked being described as “unique.”