Ch.211Maintaining Public Order (1)

About a few weeks after the inquisitors from the Inquisition and their attendants had completed their investigation and left…

During these few weeks, quite a few changes had occurred in the village.

The biggest change in the village at this point was the implementation of the previously planned relocation of new residents.

Charlotte and Droop, who had temporarily left the village under my orders, traveled to nearby cities to recruit people and managed to bring a total of 150 new residents to the village.

In modern terms, this might be fewer people than those living in a single apartment building, but considering the historical context, 150 people is certainly a number that could constitute an entire rural village.

Especially in the beginning, we mainly recruited simple laborers since we needed to establish the village’s foundation and infrastructure, but now the situation called for strengthening the village’s internal structure rather than simply increasing the population.

Thanks to this, we were able to recruit various skilled specialists this time, as well as key talents needed to properly expand the village’s scale.

For example, about 50 of these 150 people were either specialized craftsmen (mainly with skills not yet present in the village) or their families who worked in the same trade.

For instance, the arrival of a dyer skilled in creating various dyes and fabric coloring, professional stonemasons who had been in constant demand in the village, and a brick master who would bring innovation to village construction were all very welcome additions.

It was particularly fortunate that despite having a good clay deposit near the village, we had almost abandoned it due to the lack of a skilled brick maker. With a brick master joining us, this situation would greatly improve.

In this era, bricks weren’t just used for building walls; roof tiles and floor tiles used similar materials and processes as bricks.

Because of this, it’s no exaggeration to say that a brick master would naturally know how to fire tiles, so being able to produce in the village what we had been importing until now was definitely advantageous.

Additionally, the brick kiln could also be used to make charcoal, and in any case, the village could potentially gain a new export product.

Meanwhile, besides these 50 craftsmen and their families, the other newcomers were about 100 volunteers who had chosen to relocate.

Most of them represented a very common demographic: people who had moved from rural areas to cities and worked as day laborers.

In farming households that owned land rights or the land itself, large families were common to secure enough labor. But what happened to the children (other than the eldest son or daughter) who didn’t inherit the land from their parents?

Usually, while some might stay if labor was needed, the rest would eventually leave their hometown for cities where jobs existed, as their labor was no longer required at home…

Could the life of day laborers, living hand to mouth, ever be smooth sailing?

They barely survived by buying oats and rye with the coins earned through daily labor, and might secure steady employment if they built up some social reputation.

But typically, they couldn’t settle in one place and just kept moving from job to job—and these were exactly the type of immigrants most preferred as simple laborers in pioneer villages.

They had experience helping their families farm in rural areas and had worked various labor jobs in cities.

Naturally, they also had the desire to escape their current impoverished lives.

Because of this, such people were usually prioritized for village relocation, and the 100 new people who joined our village were no exception.

Most were urban poor with no visible criminal records, and about 90% of them had rural farming backgrounds before moving to cities.

In a situation where we needed to quickly reclaim land, expand farmland, and grow the village structure all at once, workers of this type who could immediately be deployed as farmers were highly preferred…

Indeed, after relocating, they immediately began clearing the farmland they were allocated while also earning money as day laborers in the village to buy food.

Especially in this situation where most other farmers were focused on cultivating their own land, these new immigrants greatly contributed to providing the labor needed for various village projects.

At the most basic level, they worked on construction projects, building new facilities or repairing existing buildings, and their labor was also excellently utilized in the logging and mining operations that always needed manpower.

Thus, while the village gained a fresh wind with 150 new residents, such novelty isn’t always entirely positive.

Particularly when 150 people newly join the population, it would be difficult for this to be purely positive…

For instance, as the village population grows, there’s a natural deterioration in public safety.

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In truth, when the village was small, crimes and minor conflicts couldn’t really occur even if people wanted them to.

With such a small population, the level of attention each individual received was on a completely different scale, and with so few people, any misdeed would inevitably be noticed.

But as the population grew substantially and society expanded, the blind spots naturally increased as well…

Following exactly this principle, the frequency of minor conflicts in our village has been increasing.

Of course, these aren’t serious crimes or organized criminal activities, but rather minor disputes that naturally increase as the village population grows.

Situations like people getting into arguments that escalate into fights, neighboring farmers clashing over agricultural issues, or children’s fights spreading to involve their parents.

In short, these aren’t “incidents” caused by wrongdoing but rather common everyday disputes, with the worst cases being drunk people becoming violent.

To be blunt, these were such mundane conflicts that it hardly seemed worthwhile for me to personally pass judgment on them.

However… that doesn’t mean these conflicts should be left unaddressed.

To put it plainly, our village needs guards.

Guards, to summarize in one word, are a special occupation that combines security guard, police, and soldier—people who maintain public order during normal times but convert to soldiers in emergency situations.

This is why most men-at-arms (professional soldiers) double as guards, maintaining public order and security in cities, and then convert directly to soldiers when war breaks out.

Modern people might find it very strange for soldiers to double as police, but considering the average standards of this era, having separate personnel for maintaining public order is more of a privilege of cities rather than villages.

For these reasons, I personally want to recruit guards for maintaining order in a village that has surpassed 500 residents, but…

‘…Hmm, is this right?’

To be honest, considering the potential impact, this choice definitely needs to be made carefully.

Appointing guards means giving someone in the village small but definite authority.

And naturally, such authority produces power for those who hold it.

Until now, the village structure has been simple unless authority was given to those who already possessed some form of power, including physical strength. But giving villagers armed authority isn’t something that can be explained simply.

To be frank, anyone with power would be tempted to wield it freely for personal gain, and I simply cannot trust these human creatures enough to entrust them with power.

I’m sure if I create guard positions, people will try to use them for personal benefit, and I don’t want to see people appointed for maintaining order abusing their authority.

I do trust humans. In a different way. I trust that they will definitely try to use any power given to them for their own benefit, and act as if they’re something special just because they wear a small armband of authority.

If that’s the case, rather than this…

…What if we try raising a proper military force to protect the village?