Ch.50Ingnel’s Estate (3)

Several days after the attack. The incident was brought to a relatively smooth conclusion when an envoy sent by Baron Ingnel arrived at the settlement.

Not long after we sent word that this knight from Ingnel was in our custody, along with our negotiation terms, Baron Ingnel’s administrator submitted compensation matching our conditions and a pledge not to seek revenge, all while heaving deep sighs.

Whatever changes might occur in Baron Ingnel’s family succession plans after this, it’s probably not something worth much consideration.

Of course, that knight Lord Ingnel is likely desperate to resolve what he perceives as an injustice, harboring resentment toward the harsh(?) treatment I inflicted on him, a fellow nobleman.

However, if there’s one thing he’s forgetting, it’s that the “we’re all in this together” mentality of noble society doesn’t only work in his favor.

Rather, it works even more strongly for nobles like me who have greater power and definite potential—not that he would understand that.

Add to this the fact that I clearly had justification for my actions in this matter, and I think we’re well past the point of needing to worry about future repercussions.

The noble society will certainly accept my “mistake” as youthful impetuosity and overlook it. In fact, quite a number of nobles who hear of this will likely support my legitimacy.

This is because in this world, there exist nobles who are reasonably generous to their “subordinates” just as there are trash nobles. Furthermore, if we’re being honest, this incident involved a “noble” attempting to plunder another “noble’s” private property.

Fundamentally, plundering looks bad even when targeting commoners, but the moment Lord Ingnel attempted to commit such an act against another noble, he essentially forfeited all his advantages.

Anyway, thanks to these reasons, I no longer needed to worry about future repercussions. Now, looking at the spoils I gained from preventing this “plunder,” I felt conflicted.

Forty gold coins as ransom for Knight Ingnel and his retinue. Ten gold coins as payment for returning their equipment, including the warhorses that now belonged to me. Additionally, about fifty silver coins demanded as compensation for damages.

It was strange that despite having fought a kind of “war,” far from becoming poorer, I had actually grown wealthier. Only then did I truly understand that warfare in this era was less about killing the other side and more like a business venture.

Perhaps because memories of my previous life where war meant complete destruction still lingered, I occasionally felt odd when witnessing phenomena that contradicted common sense.

However, that’s not to say we escaped without any losses….

“Lord Alzar. About 80 percent of the crops planted in our fields have been damaged beyond recovery. At this rate, we’ll have far less food than planned.”

“…That’s a serious problem.”

Indeed, the biggest issue facing me now is the high possibility of winter food shortages, thanks to those knights destroying our carefully cultivated fields.

The only consolation is that the turnips are mostly intact since they grow underground, and although it’s a bit late, we could still start growing rye now and harvest it by winter….

“…We’ll need to purchase grain.”

“Yes, my lord. Even if it’s just mixed grains, our territory needs food immediately.”

Since our food distribution plans were based on the expected harvest from those fields, we need to secure additional grain from somewhere, anywhere, as soon as possible.

However, there’s one significant problem….

“…Buying from nearby areas will be disgustingly expensive.”

“It can’t be helped. We must be prepared for that.”

The cost of purchasing grain from Baron Colland’s territory, where this settlement is located, and transporting it here would likely be several times higher than the price of the grain itself.

First, Baron Colland’s territory has an industrial structure focused more on developing unexplored lands and monster by-products rather than agriculture, inevitably making grain prices higher.

Additionally, even if we purchase the grain, the transportation costs would be substantial.

We would need to rent livestock and wagons to transport enough grain to feed dozens of people for several weeks, hire personnel to operate these wagons, and employ escorts to protect the caravan from monsters and bandits.

Of course, we could potentially save significantly on labor costs by hiring random passersby, but who knows what might happen in this harsh world with poor public security if we did that?

Therefore, it’s safer in many ways to hire personnel who have been somewhat vetted for such tasks, but naturally, the cost of hiring such verified personnel is several times more expensive than usual.

In short, in this situation where I might have to spend all the money gained from the recent battle if I handled things honestly, I decided to… tackle the problems one by one, starting with what could be done immediately.

“Corin, I’m assigning you the grain transport mission.”

“Yes, my lord. I will follow your orders.”

The first task I assigned was appointing Corin as the grain transport manager.

Firstly, he’s one of the few people I can trust with such a mission, and secondly, to minimize the number of escorts needed.

However, simply sending Corin alone would create numerous potential problems, so I naturally added several more methods to my plan:

“Also, Corin, go to Baron Colland’s capital and recruit settlers for our pioneer village, focusing on retired adventurers.”

“Settlers… my lord?”

“Yes, try to recruit family units if possible. Even if they’re not families, try to gather about 30 people.”

The plan was to recruit retired adventurers as both villagers and escorts, reducing labor costs while also addressing the village’s military strength issues.

It was already time to accept new residents as the village was gradually developing some capacity, so why not solve multiple problems at once while recruiting residents?

And the people who perfectly meet these conditions are none other than retired adventurers who have formed families.

The Adventurers’ Guild basically absorbs unemployed workforce, and the profession of “adventurer”… unless you’re a high-ranking adventurer, doesn’t actually receive very good social treatment.

High-ranking adventurers might be praised as shields protecting humanity in times of crisis, but the vast majority are perceived as low-class thugs who cause trouble with their meager fighting skills.

After all, if someone had a proper job or had properly learned some skill somewhere, they wouldn’t choose a profession like adventuring where you live day to day, and might not even keep your life intact.

Of course, this only applies to bottom-tier adventurers.

By diligently completing requests, building up skills and credit, and formally joining the guild through effort, an adventurer can become a typical high-risk, high-return freelancer and capable talent once they’ve established themselves.

Combat skills are a welcome qualification anywhere in this harsh world, from personal bodyguard to military non-commissioned officer, and some even enter a knight’s service and eventually become true knights themselves.

Taking this a step further, successfully settling down and forming a family means they’ve accumulated enough funds to retire as an adventurer and found land to settle on.

In other words, a retired adventurer with a family is considered a proven talent based on this fact alone.

Of course, one might wonder if an adventurer living such a modestly successful life would come down to a pioneer village like this, but the key here is that I am essentially the next heir to this territory.

If they could possibly form connections with me, they could live comfortably, and surprisingly many retired adventurers do move to pioneer villages like this.

Even in medieval times, these people fundamentally understand that filth causes disease and weakness, and the countryside is generally cleaner than cities, making it potentially better for raising their children.

“If all else fails, you can use my name with the Colland administration or the Adventurers’ Guild. They’ll likely cooperate fully without complaint.”

After I left Corin with these words of advice, he stared at me blankly for a moment before bowing his head….

“Ah, one more thing.”

“Speak, my lord. I’m listening.”

“Yes. Replace the adventurer hiring costs with exemption from settlement fees. Use gold coins for necessary expenses, and if possible, purchase a few pack horses. Also….”