Chapter 111. The price of war is a bitter law (4)
“Your Majesty said this.
‘…This war is the arbitrariness of Grand Duke Adran. I’m sorry, but I can’t cover up his selfish behavior.’ They told me to take responsibility.”
“….does not make sense!”
The Count pursed his lips.
Unsurprisingly, in his home country, he was determined to remain ignorant of the responsibility for the war.
It’s dogmatic.
Even a child knows that it is impossible to start a war without saying anything to the country in the first place.
Right now, Adran’s position is obviously abandoned like cutting off a lizard’s tail.
The Count was indignant at that fact.
When you are in favor of war, when will you come and leave the blame to him alone?
“Didn’t you expect that anyway?”
Adran just shrugged his shoulders as if it were someone else.
The read letter was simply put in the stove and burned.
If you keep reading it anyway, it will only make you feel sick.
“I’m rather glad it ended like this.”
In some cases, he may have come to the point where he has to be personally summoned to his home country and held accountable.
In the worst case, he might have had to step down as the lord.
The responsibility for unwillingly committing a war is that heavy.
Especially if it’s a defeat, it’s even more serious.
Rather, it was the result of the achievements he had made in his home country.
Well, that’s all over now.
“I’d rather not talk about this any more.”
Compared to that, I decided that the current situation was better.
“The problem is compensation.”
In the case of the Principality of Sezepen, the situation was complicated to give up the territory.
Perhaps expecting that, Ernesia Kingdom demanded that they hand over the direct amount of money and slaves rather than territory.
“40,000 slaves for 800,000 gold coins?…
Considering the size of the territory he rules, it is by no means a small amount.
“To repay, it will be bone-breaking for a while.”
Even if you want to take responsibility and hide somewhere, you won’t be able to hide because of this debt.
But it is impossible not to pay.
Will I be able to pay it all off before I die?
The cost of losing the war was the shackles of debt that made it impossible to wage war again.
‘…I just want to run away anywhere.’
My heart is like a chimney, but I really can’t run away so irresponsibly.
Shouldn’t you be responsible?
‘The Ernesia guys also have quite a bit of mercy.’
After all, aren’t they the ones who benefited from this war?
It was obvious that even a simple reparation payment would surplus to a certain extent compared to the materials consumed in the war.
Well, since he himself was aiming for that benefit and betting on it, he couldn’t complain.
Even if there is dissatisfaction, the reality is that we cannot protest against them by force anymore… We have to adapt.
The one who actually waged a fight on his own was himself.
I am at least aware that I am not in a position to grumble about what is unreasonable here.
‘Then now the problem is how to pay off these debts.’
A man who was once touted as a war hero is now just a debtor.
Now feeling funny about that fact, Adran sincerely thought about how to pay off this debt.
? ? ?
While returning to Fahilia, he was thinking of making an interim settlement, so he ordered Dia to receive statistics on the current territory.
“Umm, the total population is about 65,000…?”
The villagers I brought and settled when I first took office as lord.
Afterwards, the slaves brought in to be selected as soldiers…..
After the current war, they had to taste a little peace for a while, so I was only making them do small chores.
‘I guess I’ll have to make full use of this number soon.’
It would be a waste to let this many people settle down and rot.
It was initially increased because of the war, but the plan was to continue to increase the population, including slaves, from the beginning.
In addition, sooner or later, if you receive an award for merit on the battlefield, the number of people will increase even more.
At that time, Pahilia will also become a large estate with a head count of over 100,000.
There are a lot of slaves, but there is no problem.
What if there is an overabundance of labor? Can you do the work?
‘Because I have no intention of leaving Fahilia in the countryside forever.’
A considerable amount of manpower is required for the development plan.
There was also a need for labor from the beginning, so slaves were continuously increased.
‘Well, I’ll consider that in detail one more time later.’
Anyway, what I’m doing now is just an intermediate check.
This is confirmation to move on to the next step.
After looking at the number of people, I checked the funds.
Not just the budget within the territory, but also the route the current funds come in.
I thought it would be a bit of a hassle to figure it out this time, but surprisingly, the documents that Dia had organized were neatly organized with numbers.
‘Dia did a good job on this.’
Although I did teach him some tidying up.
It goes beyond simply practicing what you have learned and putting it to good use.
Shouldn’t you consider changing your name from a true exclusive wizard to an exclusive secretary?
Thanks to the end of the war, there were signs that the current flow of funds was gradually normalizing.
The peddlers, who had been saving themselves for fear of war, are also coming and going, so it won’t take long for them to become active.
For a while, the products I developed were also somewhat damaged by the war, but the gap will soon be filled.
In addition, the process of bringing in the newly acquired territory is now going smoothly.
It will probably be completed in my domain sooner or later.
‘This is no problem.’
I’m trying to get my business back on track.
The territory will grow and the population will also increase.
From the manager’s point of view, it couldn’t be more satisfying.
But we should not be satisfied here.
What I want is not a great lord.
He is a playful lord who spends his life comfortably in a manor full of honey.
“good! Let’s play more in the future!”
The more money you have, the more you have to play.
It was a time when I was contemplating whether to finish the day with such a neat conclusion and go out to play.
“Arel? Are you there?”
I heard Kania noona calling from outside the office.
Even knocking knocking seemed to have something to do with me.
“…Who is your sister?”
I forgot the document I was looking at and almost lost it.
for a moment?
Did your sister knock just now?
On a fictional day, noona who didn’t listen when I nagged her to knock and broke through the door naked every time she had business?!
Every time I change the material of the door, it is useless, so recently, I even developed a special alloy and made me think about whether I should make a door?!
….Ah, I had a useless thought for a moment.
Yes, I’m glad my sister understood the concept of knocking.
The doors that have been smashed in the meantime must now become irritable.
“are you okay. Come on in.”
It’s not like I was doing anything weird anyway, I was just looking at the paperwork, so there’s no problem with my sister coming into the office.
When I told her to come in, my sister opened the door properly and came in.
‘…. It’s strange too…
Unlike other times, the atmosphere was overly calm, so I was suspicious.
That’s why people look suspicious when they do something they wouldn’t do.
It’s been a long time since I realized it.
“Arel… Actually, I have something to tell you now…
Strangely, he looks at me and hesitates.
Is this Kania noona, who usually came in confidently and talked to me confidently after blowing up an entire training ground?
Just in case, I secretly checked my sister’s condition, but I was right.
“are you in hurry?”
“No, I’m free.”
From birth.
“…Um sister? What accident did you have?”
I naturally started asking about it.
” Eh’?”
“I won’t get angry, so tell me honestly. Now you know that I don’t get mad at you for blowing up a training ground or two.”
Or have you drilled a hole in the wall?
Or did you annihilate an entire village?
The only thing that came to my mind was that it was something that would make my sister feel depressed now.
….No, more than that, I was more appalled by my thinking of taking my sister’s mistake for granted.
….Since when did my sister get treated like a demolition horse?
“wait for a sec! Why do you think I would do that?!”
“Put your hand over your heart and reflect on your usual behavior. Do you really have nothing to worry about?”
I really followed my words and looked back.
“You don’t have anything to worry about?”
Isn’t that what you mean?
“More than that! That’s all my trust is! I didn’t do anything this time!”
this time?”
“ah. no. than that! I really have something important to say right now!”
Trying to change the topic blatantly.
Did you really buy something behind my back?
If you investigate it, it will all come out? Let’s be honest.
“So if you didn’t get into an accident, what happened?”
It’s nothing else, and it’s really not a normal thing if my sister brings up a story this seriously.
I thought I’d listen to it seriously.
“That’s what you mean.”
My sister stuttered as if it was hard to get the words out.
what the hell is going on?
“Actually, I think I have to go back to the palace.”
hmm?
“Come to think of it, the time has come for me to return home one more time. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my mom. Actually, I bought a present, but I couldn’t go because there were so many things to worry about.”
This time, he was about to go down to the palace when receiving titles and awards.
“Or should I go only with my sister first this time?”
If that’s the case, don’t bother.
Because it is my creed to go whenever I want to go and to see when I want to see.
“That’s not it…
But my sister shook her head.
“Isn’t it Radyon?”
“I really have to go back to the palace…
It was only after hearing what my sister explained afterwards that I understood the meaning.
There was one thing I overlooked in the excitement that the territory would develop because of the award I would receive in the future.
It means that I am not the only member of the royal family who played an active part in this war.
First of all, there is the oldest brother who was in charge of the Northeastern Front.
Since my older brother is in the position of the crown prince, it is natural for him to make a contribution.
Of course, praise is given, but the older brother’s position does not change or change with that.
Even if you do something to be praised, it’s natural…
It’s really sad to be an heir.
next is me
In my case, it was not a natural position.
It was right to be mentioned because he made a contribution as a lord’s point of view.
But here’s what I forgot.
It was about Kania’s older sister.
“…A letter telling you to return to the palace?”
huh.
An order came down to her sister to return to the palace.
The person who gave the order was none other than my father.
Originally, Father did not consider it desirable for Kania to train as a knight, even though it was temporary, so he was only looking for an opportunity to call him up at any time.
But why now?
That has to do with that merit.
