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119 We need to
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Translator : PolterGlast
I welcomed Viscount Tigarood
to the mansion and served him some tea.
After talking with
him—no, after observing his actions—it's clear that this person is a
muscle-brain.
I have enough
muscle-brains with Barukan, so why do I encounter another one even here? Am I
under some kind of curse that makes me attract muscle-brains?
It seems Viscount Tigarood
made a special trip to meet me.
He, a muscle-brain,
wanted to spar with me, who had reached the 10th floor of the royal capital
dungeon.
Fame travels a
thousand miles and attracts muscle-brains...
Since our territories
are adjacent, he apparently came here on short notice. Sigh.
"Master
Jojok!"
"No, I..."
I can pawn this muscle-brain
off on Jojok now!
"It's fine. Take
him on as your disciple, Jojok."
"I am a retainer
of my lord, so I cannot take someone of your peer's status as a disciple."
You're so stubborn. Be
more flexible.
If I don't get rid of
him, he'll become a nuisance.
"If he's fine
with it, then it's fine."
"Exactly!"
Viscount Tigarood
seemed overjoyed at my words.
If he had a tail, he'd
be wagging it like a dog. (laughs)
"However, I think
it would be better for him to become your disciple, my lord."
What are you talking
about?! I'm asking you precisely because I don't want that!
"Lord
Footscythel!"
Don't look at me with
such an intense gaze.
"Jojok. You will
be his master. This is an order."
This is a rare order!
"...Understood."
"Master
Jojok!"
Viscount Tigarood
knelt down before Jojok, shedding tears.
I wondered if it was
okay for a viscount to prostrate himself, but apparently, it's a custom in this
country for a disciple to do so to their master. It's a custom I don't quite
understand.
It seems Viscount Tigarood
will be staying with us for a while to study under Jojok.
Since his job is Sword
Master, the possibility of him evolving into a higher-tier job is probably low.
Go into a dungeon and level up! That's what I want to say... but oh well.
***
The knights, soldiers,
and village heads who resigned are gathered and up to no good.
They don't know that I
know everything they're doing.
"Sodon found out
that they've made contact with a bandit group."
I used Detailed
Appraisal and found that many of the knights were involved with bandits. When I
saw that, I thought, "Are you kidding me?"
Since this was when it
was a direct royal domain, it would have been a hassle for me to deal with
them, so I decided to just drive them out... but they ended up joining forces.
"A bandit group,
you say. Are they planning to plunder something?"
Gandarvan groaned with
a troubled expression.
"Sodon. Tell us
their objective."
"Okay. The
knights and heads of the villages contacted the Urug Bandit Group. Fifteen
knights, eight heads, and about a hundred soldiers who were formerly the
knights' squires are participating. The Urug Bandit Group has about fifty
people."
"The heads of the
villages will probably also gather a decent number of people."
I added a few more
details to Sodon's explanation, bringing the total number of enemies to at
least 200.
Their goal is to cause
trouble for me. It's an act of revenge for being fired. And they want to get
enough money to live on for a while.
Leaving that aside, everything
is completely their own fault, right? I can't understand what criminals are
thinking.
"They're going to
attack the lord's mansion."
In other words, my
mansion. The rumor is that I have a lot of money, both in the royal capital and
here. The rumors are not wrong. The return is worth the risk.
I haven't made our
slave soldiers' levels public, but they should be able to guess my level. It's
obvious that our levels exceed 80, but even the former slave soldiers are all
at Level 40 or higher.
It's common knowledge
in this world that a person with a level of 40 can be a one-man army. They're
on par with Barukan and the Royal Knights Commander, Barbatos.
I think the thought
process of those who are trying to attack my mansion is completely
short-circuited.
Not knowing our levels
is one thing, but I can't understand the mindset of those who mistakenly
believe they're privileged.
"So they're
targeting me. They're idiots."
"Indeed.
Targeting you, my lord, is an act of insanity."
Do they think I'm that
careless?
Even if there were
200, 300, or even 500 of them, they couldn't kill me.
I'll say it again: I
truly cannot understand what criminals are doing.
"Sodon. Are those
people only targeting the lord's mansion?"
"That's all I've
heard so far."
Sodon answered
Gandarvan's question concisely. I haven't heard anything else, but the fact
that there's no guarantee they won't target merchants is a problem. If they all
came to me, I could wipe them out all at once.
We need more investigation
on that front.
"Sodon, please
continue to keep an eye on them. Especially the village heads."
The bandits probably
just want money, and the knights' main motive is revenge on me.
But would the village
heads risk their lives for such a thing? I don't understand their motivation.
"Understood."
"Lin, please
assist Sodon."
"Yes."
Since there are three
groups of knights, village heads, and bandits, Sodon can't monitor all of them
alone. Lin and her subordinates will assist Sodon.
But they're targeting
the mansion where Anneliese lives. I can't forgive them. I absolutely won't.
It's no big deal that
the knights resigned. We have people who have been promoted to knights from
slavery.
It's a small problem
that the village heads resigned.
When I sent officials
to the areas where the heads resigned, they were apparently chased away.
I had expected this
kind of resistance, but I'm surprised they actually did it.
I think this calls for
some steady enlightenment activities, but I want to see how bad the situation
is first.
And so, I went out
into the town... for work.
It's not for fun, so I
brought officials, knights, and soldiers with me.
"Go door-to-door.
And create a registry."
I gave the knights a
map and decided who would be in charge of which section.
The Explorer job has a
skill called Mapping. This Mapping skill allows me to create accurate maps.
I have several
explorers under me. For now, I'm having them prioritize making maps of
important and troublesome sections.
There are no accurate
maps in this world.
I was shown a map at
the Duke's place, but it was more approximate than a pirate's treasure map.
Relatively accurate
maps are kept in a safe and are so tightly controlled that they are rarely seen
by the public.
That's the common
sense of this world, and it's illegal to create maps without permission. But
it's not explicitly stated on the record card, so it's a man-made law, not a
divine law.
Since Triange is a
town I govern, it's not illegal for me to create a map.
There is a law
established by the Royal Family, and nobles are free to do as they please as
long as they don't violate that law.
The Royal Family's law
is like a constitution.
The Royal Family's law
states that the decision of whether to create a map rests with the lord of the
territory. In other words, it's up to the lord to decide on map creation, and
no one else has the authority to do so.
In a noble's
territory, the head of the noble family is the law. It's an amazing country
where a single person can do almost anything they want in their own territory,
even though they're a noble.
It seems to be the
same in other countries with noble systems.
Even if I can't do it
right away, I'll eventually codify proper laws. I think it's wrong for a
verdict of guilty or not guilty to be determined by a noble's whim. That's what
I'll do in my territory.
One knight for every
five soldiers. Five groups.
They are all elites I
brought from the royal capital.
They are going
house-to-house, confirming information.
The officials are by
my side, receiving the information the knights bring back.
From now on, I'll
separate the military and public order maintenance force, and the public order
maintenance force will be in charge of population management rooted in the
community.
Of course, I'll have
them record everything on paper and regularly rotate their assigned districts
to ensure they don't lose touch with each other.
As I was patrolling,
there were already residents causing trouble for the knights.
I expected this would
happen, since there had been residents who had chased away the officials. I
asked the knights to be patient and persuade them until they were physically
attacked.
Since they were former
slaves, they're not as arrogant as the existing knights. Some of them even came
from similar backgrounds to the people they're dealing with. So it seems they
can understand how they feel.
I tend to say
unnecessary things, so I'm avoiding direct contact.
The moment the
resident laid a hand on a knight, the soldiers moved.
As expected of
soldiers over Level 40. They instantly subdued the person, even though they
were up against 10 people. The difference in level and combat experience is not
something to be underestimated.
The resident who laid
a hand on a knight was tied up and handed over to the support soldiers.
I'll have them eat
some bad-tasting food for a while. About half their fill. Or maybe forced labor
would be better?
Most of them have a
criminal record, so they'll probably become slaves anyway.
The support soldiers
are local people, but only those who have completed Gandarvan's training and
Barth's education on mindset are allowed to go outside.
The other soldiers and
knights are spending their days in training.
They are being pushed
to their physical limits to instill loyalty to the Footscythel viscount family,
and they are being taught how to interact with residents.
Yamato created this
curriculum based on his memories from before he was summoned. It's apparently
based on the training done in some military. Of course, the content has been
adjusted to fit this world. He has so much knowledge, and it's a huge help.
I won't say it out
loud because he'll get cocky, but I'm truly grateful.
"The survey of
section 10 is complete."
"Good work. How
many residents did you capture?"
"Ha. We captured
32 individuals. They all appear to be vagrants rather than residents."
A vagrant is a person
without a home and is not considered a resident. Many explorers are also
vagrants. While there are many, some explorers have homes, so it's not a
universal thing.
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