206 - Domestic Affairs
"Now then, that brings us here. This is the land that has yet to be touched. There's a river nearby, yet it's not being utilized effectively at all."
Clapping my hands while looking at everyone gathered, I was the only one whose tension was ridiculously high.
The lineup consisted of Reold-kun, Clara, and men scraped together from nearby villages.
From our side, in addition to Clara, Aria, Maxim-san, and Adele-san were participating.
Additionally, the Valkyries were clapping for me with expressionless faces. I wonder... the mass-produced units are starting to look cuter in comparison.
A river flowed nearby, but the grass on the ground grew up to the waist. There were forests around, and my skills—Map and Search—revealed that there were many monsters within them.
I had brought out a large porter and gathered the materials I deemed necessary. In the midst of these preparations, Reold-kun raised his hand.
"Liel-san."
"Alright, first, let's stop with the '-san'. You can just call me Liel. Anyway, make sure not to add '-san'."
I told Reold-kun something important. Reold-kun tilted his head slightly, but nodded and asked me a question.
"Um, even if you suddenly call me out and tell me to develop this land, the Archducal Family is stretched thin budget-wise, you know?"
Knowing the internal affairs of his own house, Reold-kun exposed the Archducal Family's financial situation without hiding it anymore.
(Well, since I've been investigating, I know it down to the single copper coin. It's true the Archducal Family has no money. But it'll be a problem if things stay this way.)
Yes. For the Archducal Family to be able to prepare a budget on their own, autumn would have to pass. Moreover, most of that would disappear into war expenses, condolence money, and so on.
I gave a smile.
"It's fine. In this world, money exists where it exists. I've borrowed some this time too. Oh, I just took an advance. I'll definitely pay it back someday."
This time as well, I asked Vera and borrowed money. I can't forget Fidel-san's contemptuous gaze, but Vera lent it to me, saying things like, "I guess it can't be helped."
I'm one to talk, but Vera is surely the type of woman who spoils men.
Reold-kun looked at me, then shifted his gaze to Clara.
"He's quite an impressive person, isn't he? I've only heard rumors."
Clara adjusted the position of her glasses.
"...Well, if you only look at his track record so far, he's perfect. You'll be a bit disappointed once you know the internal details, but that too is part of Liel-san's charm."
Reold-kun directed a gaze of admiration toward me. He looked at me as if he were looking at a hero from a fairy tale.
(What is this... my heart hurts. Because I'm trying to use Galleria for my own sake, my heart hurts terribly.)
From inside the jewel, the Third Generations and others spoke.
'Kuh, those innocent eyes hurt!'
'D-don't look at me with those eyes!'
'...Everyone used to have beautiful eyes in the old days.'
'This feeling of heartache... to think a pure gaze could be this painful.'
'No, even I can't bring myself to play a prank on this child.'
I cleared my throat and decided to begin the explanation.
"Now then, this time Reold-kun will be the person in charge of developing this land. There are many monsters here, and if it rains, the small river overflows and floods everything. Developing it will be very difficult."
The gathered men nodded in agreement with that opinion. They were the second and third sons of the surrounding area, known as those who lived in their parents' rooms.
"But why develop land like that?"
"I'd be more grateful if you just let us expand the fields normally."
"The village old lady said that people have tried to develop this place several times in the past and failed."
To the men who weren't very keen, I declared.
"That's exactly why! If you develop this place, the credit will go to Reold-kun—the next Archduke. Bit by bit, starting from small things! Let's build a track record here and then tackle the flood control works of a larger river!"
However, Reold-kun looked around.
"Um, this is a very small group for land development, isn't it?"
I had thought so too. I thought there would be more spare men, but as expected of a country that has continued to fight repeatedly, manpower was precious.
It was also a busy season, so only a dozen or so men—the troublemakers of the village who couldn't inherit their family homes—had gathered.
"Well, let's just say the manpower is a small elite force. We'll develop it quickly with magic, get results, and report to your big sister."
Reold-kun nodded, though he seemed a bit conflicted. Then, a slightly suggestive laugh from the Fourth Generation could be heard from the jewel.
'...Liel, you're quite full of yourself. Perhaps I should study a bit in the field.'
Three days passed since the start of the development.
"Gyaaaa, the levee collapsed!!"
Cracks appeared in the levee made with magic, and as water leaked from them, the wall crumbled and the dammed-up water erupted with force.
Because it had been dammed, it gained momentum, and I, who was nearby, was drenched.
Then, Adele-san, who had been giving instructions nearby, was also drenched. Clara had fallen from the impact and was floating in the river.
As she floated along, drifting away, I went to retrieve her, and Maxim-san came running.
"My lady! Now, please dry yourself quickly!"
Handing a towel to Adele-san, he protected her from the gazes of the surrounding men. I retrieved Clara from the river water, but he didn't bring a towel for me.
Rather, Adele-san, trembling with rage, looked toward me.
"That's why I told you! I said let's make it a bit more sturdy! Or, let's make it in a way that changes the flow of the river itself!"
Adele-san, whose clothes were clinging to her body because she was wet, complained to me. However, Clara, who spat out water, didn't stay silent either.
Wiping her wet glasses.
"The one who started talking about the budget and hated using materials was Adele-san. I said we should reinforce it more, just as it's written in the books."
Clara, who had been dispatched in the form of being sent from the Galleria Archducal Family, was treated as Reold-kun's assistant this time. I intended for her to use her accumulated knowledge to be of great help in this flood control.
That... was the plan, but she and Adele-san couldn't stop clashing.
"I explained that if we used the knowledge from the books exactly, the budget wouldn't be enough! That's why I said we should somehow reinforce it using other methods! In the first place, there should have been a more efficient way!"
As the two opinions clashed violently, Maxim-san and I used gestures to try and soothe them both.
Maxim-san to Adele-san.
"My lady, it can't be helped that it broke. We must improve it and proceed with the work next time."
"Uuu, the unnecessary expenses are increasing again..."
As for me, I soothed Clara.
"Clara, is there any other way? Some different knowledge?"
"I believe I chose the best option. Besides, if we had used materials from the start, there wouldn't have been extra expenses."
Both Adele-san and Clara were muttering complaints to each other. Since both were important issues, I didn't know what to say either.
However, laughter could be heard from inside the jewel.
It was Mireia-san.
'This is great. This is wonderful, Liel. That follow-up, and the current situation where you're failing and making no progress at all, is so entertaining!'
This person has a quite nasty personality. She was definitely playing the innocent act in front of the Sixth Generation. The Sixth Generation said she was a kind younger sister, but I thought that was absolutely a lie.
(As expected of the ancestor of Miranda and Shannon.)
Only the two ancestors with problematic personalities are like this, but that's not different for the other successive heads.
The Third Generation also seemed to be enjoying it.
'I absolutely thought that would break.'
The Seventh Generation also agreed while laughing.
'Me too. Liel, you must be more careful with these kinds of preparations.'
If they knew, they could have just told me, but the successive heads just watched.
As this was happening, Reold-kun came running from the direction of the forest.
"S-someone! Aria-san is—!!"
Turning my face to see what had happened, Aria emerged from the forest, carrying the head of a large bear over her shoulder.
She was splattered with blood, but it was surely the blood of a monster. The brown-furred brown bear is a tough, ill-tempered, and troublesome monster.
It seemed Aria, who had finished it off with a spear, had carried it out of the forest.
"You're noisy. Don't make a fuss over a bit of blood."
Reold-kun, it seems he had actually been raised quite overprotectively, and this was his first time doing something like this outdoors.
(Was Glacia-san a brother-complex?)
When Aria threw the brown bear onto the ground, one of the Valkyries handed a wet towel to Aria.
Upon receiving it, Aria wiped her face, neck, and hands with the towel.
"I mean, there are too many monsters. Way too many! Before I knew it, Maxim-san was gone, and the other Valkyries are working."
To clear the forest, many of the Valkyries were cutting down trees, removing branches, carrying logs, and pulling up stumps.
Aria sighed as she looked at Reold-kun, who had slumped onto the ground.
"If you're like that, you won't be able to move when you go to the battlefield."
Worried about Reold-kun, Aria spoke to him.
To such an Aria, I—.
"Aria, you were also terrible at first—"
Mid-sentence, receiving a glare from Aria, I shut my mouth.
The Valkyries brought towels for us as well. I handed a towel to Clara first, then looked around.
Because we had dammed it poorly, the surrounding ground was soggy. I sighed, thinking I should have dealt with the grass first.
Looking up at the sky, the sun was shining brilliantly, and sweat flowed down my cheeks.
(...It's not ending easily at all. I thought it would be over quickly with magic.)
It seems my thinking was naive.
Night.
The third day was coming to an end, but there were no results that day either.
In the original plan, we were supposed to carry out flood control, build a levee, and change the flow of the river.
If things had gone well, it wouldn't have been strange to have started building the foundation of the village.
Due to continuous failures, the plan wasn't progressing at all, and the successive heads inside the jewel only dodged whenever I asked for advice.
They probably have some reason for not giving advice, but I was getting tired too.
I pitched a tent next to the porter and sat on a wooden box chair there, sighing under the light of a lantern.
In a place where I had stacked wooden boxes and placed a board to make a desk, I looked through Adele-san's report.
"The lost materials are logs... damn, money just disappears as time passes."
Money is needed to move people. To be precise, food. And tools are necessary for development. And tools wear out. Sometimes they break.
In a situation where some tools were washed away by the water and couldn't be found.
"It's not going well."
As I sighed, a voice sounded at my tent. It was Reold-kun.
"Um, are you awake?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah."
Inviting Reold-kun into the tent, I told him to sit on a wooden box. Having sat down, Reold-kun looked down.
"I'm sorry."
"Eh? For what?"
While I was confused by the sudden apology, Reold-kun began to speak bit by bit.
"Until now, I've been in the mansion... I didn't think flood control and development would be this difficult. I knew it in theory, but even so, I didn't think I'd be unable to do anything."
Perhaps he thought he could do more, and he seemed frustrated by his own helplessness. He looked regretful, saying that he had followed Aria into the forest during the day but couldn't do anything significant.
"Liel-do... Lord Liel, I've heard you've been successful as an adventurer. Even though you're only two or three years older than me. I feel pathetic."
Surely, if he had seen me failing during the day, he wouldn't have had such an impression. While I was thinking it was good he hadn't seen, Reold-kun continued.
"Was I all talk? I thought that if I handled domestic affairs, it would be for the sake of the Galleria Archducal Family. I was dissatisfied that my sister only does war, and yet in the end, I can't do anything..."
Looking at the depressed Reold-kun, I decided to speak to him.
"...I'm also still groping in the dark through trial and error."
"You are, Lord Liel? I can't believe it."
I wonder how I look to Reold-kun, who seemed puzzled? With a bitter smile, I prepared a drink and handed it to Reold-kun.
"I'm nothing but failures. I've caused trouble. And I'm continuing to cause trouble to those around me in real-time. For that matter, cooperating with Galleria is for my own profit too."
Reold-kun gave a bitter smile.
"I heard from my sister. I never thought you'd be exchanging letters with the Witch of Lusworth. Certainly, if it were known, my sister's life would have been in danger. But from my perspective, that's also a mystery. Why would you go this far for us?"
In a sense, I am a blackmailer who threatened Glacia-san. But at the same time, I am a benefactor who prevented the adventurer she had been exchanging letters with from being caught.
While the two countries are at war, those around them wouldn't be pleased to know the tops were connected behind the scenes.
To Reold-kun, I seem to be a mysterious existence for having prevented that.
Scratching my cheek.
"Well, I have various goals. I want to have coordination between Zain and Rolfis. And as a stepping stone to Lusworth. If Galleria recovers and receives support from Zain and Rolfis, and further becomes close with Beim, Lusworth will be cornered in no time."
Hearing that, Reold-kun said.
"...If that happens, there will be no reason for my sister to exist. At worst, it'll be assassination."
I gave a smile.
"Well, if that happens, I'll just take her (as a comrade). In fact, I want that combat power."
Reold-kun looked slightly surprised.
"...Is that so? Aria-san was also strong. She was a different type from my sister, though. My sister's combat style inevitably results in large casualties."
While Aria can fight against individuals or groups, Glacia-san's combat style is apparently specialized for the ultimate group battle.
If that's the case, she's more than sufficient as a military force. From now on, I wanted that kind of power too.
"I'm not a good person either. I'm cooperating for various reasons. So, Reold-kun, you should use me to build a track record too. If this succeeds... surely, the way people look at you will change."
Will it succeed? Such a thought crossed my mind, but I immediately switched my thinking. I have to make it succeed.
Hearing that, Reold-kun nodded with a smile.
"I understand."