Ch.289Epilogue (2)

Time, the flow of time, truly passes by quickly.

Especially for those who lead busy lives, the perceived passage of time feels even faster, and thanks to that, the time I experienced truly flew by in leaps and bounds.

To what extent? Well, to the point where the remaining three years and some months of my term as the pioneer village chief seemed to pass in a single breath.

Three years. For some, an incredibly long time; for others, an exceedingly short one. And during that time, the pioneer village I led underwent nothing short of a massive transformation.

First of all, its scale now deserves the title of “city” rather than “village.” The wooden walls that were once about 80% empty are now packed with buildings, and the outer walls that surround them have not only expanded but also transformed from wood to stone.

The walls, constructed by consuming all the stone from nearby quarries and the labor of stonemasons, were built to an extraordinary level, not only in height but also in scale, with watchtowers and turrets positioned throughout.

And as the scale grew this much, naturally, the residents of what was once a village and is now a city… the citizens have also increased significantly in number.

There are about 8,000 citizens with formal citizenship in the city of “Kamiyū.” Add to that roughly 4,000 workers without citizenship and resident adventurers, plus a considerable population living outside the city proper.

For example, near the otherworld “Small Forest,” a small village has established itself as a base for logging, fur procurement, and mining.

Additionally, to the south of the city of Kamiyū, there are several satellite cities and villages where residents with farmland somewhat distant from the city live, and along the river, a village focused on logistics transport (water transport) and fishing has grown in size.

If all these small villages and satellite cities are included, the population of this entire area amounts to as many as 20,000 people.

In fact, saying 20,000 is modest; considering that this doesn’t account for the floating population, the actual figure could rival 30,000.

In any case, the city of “Kamiyū,” where over 10,000 humans reside, is incomparable to the pioneer village it once was, and consequently, its scale and industrial composition have certainly changed in many ways from before.

First, there’s the fact that tax revenue now constitutes a larger portion of the city government’s income.

The taxes collected from various sectors are actually sufficient to manage the city without issues, and furthermore, they can cover the salaries of the approximately 200 officials who now staff the administration.

Particularly, even excluding everything else, the fact that tax revenue alone can cover the city’s operational funds means that the city itself has reached a stage where it’s becoming a complete economic entity in its own right.

Of course, besides these taxes, our city’s income can now be supplemented from various sources.

The most representative of these is what has now become the region’s specialty product: meat substitutes. To be precise, what’s sometimes called soy protein, or soy meat.

The main demand comes from using it as an ingredient mixed with meat to make inexpensive sausages, and in this harsh era, wouldn’t it be difficult for meat substitutes not to have demand?

Especially thanks to the characteristic that allows for easy increase in volume when ground and mixed with low-quality meat, we’ve practically monopolized the nearby low-cost meat market to the extent that specific laws have been enacted regarding it.

Meanwhile, following these soy proteins, the next highest in demand comes from the increased agricultural and livestock production due to the extensive use of the four-field crop rotation system. That is, income related to increased grain and livestock by-products.

After implementing the four-field system for about three years, the village’s agricultural production has reached a stage of remarkable improvement, and thanks to this, at this point, there wouldn’t be any problems as long as there are no emergencies like abnormal weather conditions.

Especially since Mother, who has “returned,” is a typical Earth Mother goddess type with qualities of abundance and fertility, and the impact of her blessings on our territory’s farmland has far exceeded enormous levels.

The size of each grain affected by the blessing is more than 1.5 times the average. Most vegetables like turnips and cabbages are the same, and even clover and rye grass used as animal feed grow several times faster.

Even in this abundant environment, livestock uniformly show signs of high fertility, which could explain why the number of livestock has increased insanely.

With so many livestock being slaughtered, most meat has become dirt cheap, and the only expensive meat comes from animals like donkeys or pack horses that can’t be eaten because they’re used as agricultural tools.

When internal supply overflows like this, situations naturally arise where methods to export it are sought, and the grain market of the city of Kamiyū has essentially become the city’s fundamental business today.

More precisely, a route opened up to export to the Holy Empire, allowing us to sell grains enthusiastically to those people who are crazy about wheat.

The climate of the Holy Empire varies by vassal state, but it’s generally cool with very barren soil, and in such an environment, the crops that grow well are at best rye or turnips.

If they had even potatoes, it might have been incomparably better, but in a situation where potatoes have not yet arrived from the New World, they ultimately rely on rye and turnips.

When they’re eating sour and hard bread full of rye with turnip soup, wouldn’t the demand for inexpensive grain from the west naturally increase?

Also, the salt rock business, which was the village’s fundamental industry… naturally decreased in proportion as supply struggled to satisfy the internal demand of the city.

At a point where a population exceeding 30,000 has settled, the salt from the salt mines is barely enough to meet the demand of these 30,000 people, so there simply isn’t enough volume to export externally.

Although the number of salt mines themselves has tripled from 2 to 6 compared to three years ago, the population has increased by as much as 60 times, from 500 to 30,000 people.

And even as these industrial changes were taking place, the military power of this region also achieved remarkable growth.

To give the most representative example, the guards who were originally in charge of maintaining public order and security have formally become men-at-arms, professional soldiers in their own right, and their numbers have increased to be able to handle 30,000 people.

The pure number is exactly 500. Moreover, among them, there are about 80 who have become cavalry by purchasing horses, albeit light cavalry, so the soldiers needed to protect the village are already more than sufficient, even excessive.

A cavalry unit consisting of 80 horsemen (even if they are light cavalry) greatly contributes to maintaining public order in this vast land, and at the same time, they are prepared to demonstrate their military power in case war breaks out.

In addition, the 420 infantry receive not only salaries but also equipment support at the territory level, so they receive supply equipment in addition to their privately purchased gear.

Gambeson (quilted armor) and chain mail. Pot helmets and leather gauntlets. Some have also privately acquired plate breastplates, greaves, or even high-quality helmets if they can afford them.

They are armed with halberds and shields after receiving formal training, along with personal secondary weapons. Particularly, the content of formal training in this era includes methods to “strengthen the body with magical power.”

Thanks to this, they are truly elite infantry capable of leading the village’s conscripts, and at the same time, they often show active involvement in maintaining public order based on their unique military discipline.

On the other hand, there are also those who have taken a slightly different direction, namely the 24 mixed-blood werewolves belonging to the “Basilisk Platoon.”

Originally, they were closer to werewolves who received special treatment because they were directly under my command, but after rumors about them spread, mixed-blood werewolves began to join our village one by one.

Most of them, oppressed because of their innate appearance, quickly adapted to the village that was uniquely friendly to werewolves, and at the same time, they came to resemble a special forces unit, receiving equipment under my command.

However, there were surprisingly many cases where “real ones” pretended to be innocent and approached, so filtering them out was nothing short of my primary responsibility.

Their number is about 69. The leader is Lucius Wolfblood. Originally, Hannah was in charge, but after being fired for some reason, it became like this.

Well, there are various other conditions attached, but the truly important content actually corresponds to this.

In the coming spring, our pioneer village will now exceed the “pioneering period” of 5 years, at least in terms of scale, and will be formally incorporated into the administrative organization of Baron Alzar’s domain—

And at the same time, after going through several processes, this region was also scheduled to be reorganized as my personal territory according to what was discussed in advance.

※ ※ ※

And so, as the spring of the sixth year arrived, and the city that was once a pioneer village and its surrounding areas were finally being organized as my personal territory after meeting the conditions.

Meanwhile, my family and I were even busier with another matter.

Namely, the imminent establishment of the “Duchy of Alzar.”