Chapter 42. How to solve the food shortage (1)
Skinny Shiloh and Fat Meatloaf.
The two moneylenders ran away.
Of course, they didn’t forget to grant Lloyd’s request before running away.
I couldn’t help it.
Orc Arosh snorted from the side.
He glared at the two moneylenders with eyes like angry gorillas.
As soon as the word ‘these are the enemies of Baron Frontera’ came out of Lloyd’s mouth, he immediately lifted the table and slashed the heads of the two moneylenders.
Perhaps few humans could remain calm with such an angry orc by their side.
The same was true of the two loan sharks.
‘If this continues, I might really die.’
The sweat glands on Shiloh and Meatloaf’s backs were fully operational.
It wasn’t just vague fear or anxiety.
they knew
To an orc warrior, human law is nothing.
‘If I’m wrong, I could just kill us here and run away into the wilderness.’
It was like being literally killed by an angry orc.
The two moneylenders did not want to die like that.
As soon as the two of them finished the calculations in their heads, a commercial smile appeared on their lips.
“Huh? When did we say we wouldn’t listen to the Bocchan’s request? Of course you should listen. Ah, no way.”
said Meatloaf hastily.
Shiloh also took over the next words.
“It is natural. what kind of relationship are we Don’t you have a memorandum? I could write it right now.”
“Is that so? oops There is no place to be grateful.”
Of course, a clever smile bloomed on Lloyd’s lips.
So Lloyd handed out a memorandum to the two loan sharks.
The memorandum contained only two things.
Allow future payment of some of the debts owed by the baron.
The amount of interest will be reduced according to the amount of remaining debt.
‘….’
The two moneylenders agreed to the memorandum, clutching their bitter hearts.
Pushed by Lloyd’s unspoken pressure, he had to sign and even stamp.
“then…We’re done!”
As soon as they got in the way, Shiloh and Meatloaf ran like poop-sick puppies.
Lloyd tried to negotiate(?) with them.
His purpose had been accomplished.
‘It’s fine. I pulled out the maximum result that can be obtained in the current situation.’
Intimidation using Orc Arosh was very effective.
Orc warriors are blind.
Not bound by human laws.
The fist, closer than the law, could be said to be a materialized being.
Two moneylenders who enjoy abusing the law and system.
It was the perfect counter pick for them.
‘Of course, if I feel like it, I’d like to blackmail properly and make the debt itself go away.’
It couldn’t be.
Because it was impossible in the first place.
‘Because it’s illegal. Even though it’s a private loan, it’s a clear fact that there are legal debts.’
What if those debts were voided through blackmail?
The two loan sharks will definitely report.
The crime will be roughly a financial crime through blackmail.
In other words, the entire baron family is in big legal trouble.
‘That kind of thing is troublesome.’
On the other hand, what about the two agreements obtained through the memorandum earlier?
It was the maximum of what was possible within the bounds of the law.
In other words, it was to extract the maximum benefit appropriate for the situation.
‘Let’s be content with this for now. If you try to eat too much, you’ll get sick. step by step step by step. Then you will see the way.’
It was a debt that still had a long way to go.
However, if you sweat hard, you will be able to pay off all of them someday.
Thinking so, Lloyd looked back at the baron and Arosh.
“Come on, since our territory and the Iron Sand tribe are holding hands like this, we all take a selfie together to commemorate…Shall we leave at least a commemorative picture?”
“That would be nice.”
The baron nodded happily.
He tilted his head at the word that Arosh is a commemorative painting.
Lloyd told the manor manager to call in an artist.
The barony of Prontera, a country estate in the eastern corner of the kingdom.
and the strong Ironsand tribe beyond the Eastern Mountains.
It was a historic moment when the two disparate powers were reborn as an official blood alliance.
♣
It was from the next day.
Lloyd began to move busily before he could recover from the fatigue of the journey over the mountains.
‘Because I don’t have time to be blank.’
Time is not on your side.
Even while we are there, the date ticks by.
Every time the date passes, the interest payment date also approaches.
So I couldn’t waste my time.
I had to be more diligent.
Lloyd set the order of things to be done.
‘First of all, I want to dispose of the pile of treasures I received from the Orc Tribe for the construction of the ice skating rink.’
It was a treasure of gold and silver that had been used as exercise equipment for a long time (?).
Thanks to that, the damage was quite severe.
What if you dispose of them all at once?
It will be a lot of money.
Even taking into account the damage caused by being used harshly as an exercise equipment for a long time?
It was probably possible to pay off 20% of the debt.
And that wasn’t all.
There were quite a lot of steel and rebars that Bell pulled out from time to time.
In addition to the stockpiled for various construction projects to be done later, it was a rebar that was separately stocked for sale.
‘If you dispose of all the treasures and that, you might be able to get rid of about 30 percent of the principal. But there’s no way to sell them right away.’
No matter how precious and expensive a thing is, if there is no one to buy it, it is a joke.
But what about Baron Prontera?
It was just an ordinary farmer and a woodcutter and a merchant from the outskirts who stopped by the manor from time to time.
I couldn’t find anyone who would buy those treasures and rebars or pay the price.
‘But I can’t hand them over to the moneylenders alive. If I did, I’d try to hit the price. I have to change it to gold coins unconditionally.’
When dealing with loan sharks, it’s a cash run.
Having established such a principle, Lloyd thought that sooner or later he would have to go to a big city to dispose of the treasure and iron bars and exchange them for gold coins.
Of course, it was forbidden to go without preparation.
What if you blindly traveled a long way with a large amount of supplies and then go to waste?
What if I can’t find a place to sell?
That wastes so much time and effort.
In other words, it’s just a lot of nonsense.
So Lloyd went to see the baron.
I asked for a question about the merchant who will handle the items I got this time.
“If that’s the case, of course I’ll have to deal with it first. i get it. Merchants, let me inquire. So that if we get in touch, we can take the goods and go to Cremo City right away.”
The city of Cremo was a central trading city in the province of Cremona, which included the Barony of Frontera.
‘Huh, first of all, you’ll have to wait until you’re ready to dispose of things. Then, in the meantime, let’s take care of other things.’
Remaining priority work.
It was coal mining.
‘Because I’ve brought in Orc miners for that.’
Lloyd raised his head.
The clearing in front of the mine entrance.
There were 120 orc miners gathered there.
Lloyd said to them.
“Come on, I believe you have been told beforehand what you are going to do today.”
“I heard you!”
“Dig it up!”
“Crush it!”
Orc miners raised their huge fists.
Lloyd let out a wry smile.
“Yes, that’s right. I will go into this mine here and dig out the coal and split and break the stone.”
“Breaking is fun!”
“I’m excited!”
Orc miners were even more excited.
It was a pickaxe given for work, and he raised a shovel.
It seemed like it could be sent to the battlefield right away.
Was it like that?
At Lloyd’s continued words, the orc warriors widened their eyes.
“But not everyone here will be working together. There is an order to things.”
“What are you doing?”
“What are you talking about?”
I was puzzled.
I tilted my head.
Lloyd’s words continued.
“Everything is for work efficiency and safety. So from that side to there. And from here to there. Yes. That will be fine. Shall we split the group?”
Lloyd commanded the orc miners with a gesture.
After some fuss, the 120 orc miners were divided into 4 groups of 30 each.
“Good job. Then, let’s name each group for easy identification.”
“Breasts!”
“Keep your back!”
“Shoulder tight!”
“Lower body quik!”
Orc miners shouted loudly.
So, the names of the four groups were quickly decided.
said Lloyd.
“Yes, well done. Then, from now on, I will inform you of the work schedule for each group.”
Divide orc miners into groups and put them to work.
That was Lloyd’s plan.
‘One day and two shifts. And every other day.’
You will work 6 days in total.
On the 7th day?
‘I’m putting everyone to rest. Rest is important.’
And for the next six days, the day and night are switched and put in.
Previously, the group that worked during the day worked at night and the group that was put in at night worked during the day.
When Lloyd’s plan was announced, an uproar broke out among the Orc miners.
“Then our group will go in first!”
“We’re going to dig coal all day long!”
“work out! Get some exercise!”
…They were Orc miners who considered even mining work as exercise.
Thanks to this, Lloyd had to sweat for a long time to read them.
I was able to convince everyone only after I said that planned exercise and rest are beneficial for muscle growth.
Aside from that, Lloyd did worker management in many ways.
‘Because mining work is hard and dangerous.’
Each group was assigned 5 sappers separately.
made them security guards.
In addition, an additional ventilation pipe was installed in the tunnel.
Masks were also provided to block the dust.
All overtime work was prohibited.
In addition, bathing facilities were installed at the entrance to the mine.
Of course, the Orc miners provided accommodations for them to rest comfortably.
‘There’s even a warehouse.’
The warehouse attached to the baron’s mansion was expanded.
It was a storage facility to stockpile mined coal.
It took a full month to set up such a full-fledged mining system.
In the meantime, the Orc miners showed off their majesty(?) to their heart’s content.
They perfectly lived up to the expectations Lloyd had in the first place.
There really was no best miner.
Work was regarded as a fruitful exercise.
never tired
He was even full of enthusiasm.
He used a pickaxe with amazing strength.
He pushed the extremely heavy coal mine cart well.
Thanks to this, explosive momentum was attached to coal mining.
Carts full of coal came out every hour.
The heavy cart was quickly moved onto the pavement.
The warehouse of the baron’s mansion was gradually filled with coal.
Every time that happened, a smile appeared on Lloyd’s lips.
‘good. very good.’
Bituminous coal that is now piling up.
They were things that would turn into real money when winter came.
At the thought, a hearty laugh came out of me.
There was another thing that pleased Lloyd.
Ding dong.
[Good stories about you are spreading throughout the territory.]
[You showed courage and initiative by taking risks and taking the lead in saving soldiers kidnapped by warlocks.
] All the while, I praised you to my family, relatives, and acquaintances until their mouths were dry.] [
Now, all the residents of the Frontera Territory have heard
of your good story.] [All the people of the territory are praising your noble courage.]
[A large amount of RP is specially paid as a bonus for these social achievements.]
[Acquired 300 RP.]
[Current RP: 911]
‘Good.’
In my heart, it was another achievement that I had been expecting since returning to the territory.
That finally came back to fruition of 300 RP.
‘Because if I collect RP, it becomes an asset that I can use forever.’
It was an intangible asset and weapon that only he could use.
Of course, even in the midst of successive achievements, Lloyd never let go of his mind.
There was still a long way to go.
A long road cannot be only a solid road.
There must be small or large obstacles everywhere.
Obstacles that could be predicted in advance had to be removed or prepared for in advance.
“For example, the amazing eating habits of the orc miners are probably one of those potential problems.”
“Are you eating?”
that evening.
Xaviel questioned Lloyd’s words.
The silver-haired knight raised his eyes and looked at his escort, the young master.
Then his master, Lloyd, grinned as he perched on his bedroom desk.
“It is literally edible. I really want to eat like crazy.”
It was true.
The Orcs’ appetite was enormous.
If he debuted as a mukbang BJ in Korea, great success was guaranteed.
“If you look closely, it makes sense. Are you huge? Besides, it’s all muscle. Working in the mines for half a day is exhausting my stamina.”
“Well, I was a little surprised to see them eating earlier.”
“yes? Right now, we have food stored in the territory, so we are holding on. Next year, there will be an uproar.”
That too was true.
Only now could they be fed with the food stockpiled.
However, after a year or two, it was clear that the stockpile of food would run out.
“Then you will have to pay a lot of money to buy grain from the neighboring estate. If you don’t take any measures like this.”
“Somehow, it sounds like you’ve prepared a countermeasure beforehand.”
“okay?”
“yes.”
“Ding dong deng.”
Lloyd laughed happily.
“Is it because our Xaviel has been sticking with this hyung all this time? Have you become very smart?”
“I was smart from the beginning.”
“Oh did you?”
“yes. And I-”
Xaviel replied blankly.
“I am not Lloyd-sama’s brother.”
“What was it like?”
“yes.”
“Sometimes the urge to call me hyung blooms, doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never want to do that.”
“Do you hate it that much?”
“yes.”
“Hmm, I was going to pass on the wonderful secrets to this body if you call me hyung just once.”
“….”
“I wonder what kind of secret method it is?”
“no. never.”
“Tsk cheeky guy.”
“thank you. However, I am a little curious about the measures you have in mind.”
“How to solve future food shortages in Oakvale?”
“yes.”
Xaviel nodded.
The young man he serves.
Looking at it, it was confusing at times.
It was just such a moment as now.
‘I can’t figure out the reality.’
He often said nothing but nonsense.
On the other hand, it was also tiring.
There was also a clever or evil side.
To be honest, it was a bit nasty and embarrassing.
However, sometimes it was unconventional, unfathomable, mysterious, and mysterious.
For example, it was the moment like now, when he smiled as if it was no big deal and calmly talked about a plan he had never dared to imagine.
“Simple. I’m going to turn the abandoned swampland in the south of the territory into land that can be farmed. As for how to do it, I’d like to mix and apply the Vertical Drain VD method.”
“….”
“how is it?”
Lloyd grinned at me.
For some reason, Xaviel felt overwhelmed.
