207 - The Era of the Fourth Generation
Inside the jewel.
Exhausted, I was crying for help to the Fourth Generation.
"I can't do this anymore. Could you please lend me your wisdom?"
Nearly two weeks had passed since the start of the land reclamation, but the results had been disastrous.
Failure, and more failure. Even when things seemed to go well, they ended in failure, forcing me to start over from scratch—a cycle I had repeated for the past two weeks.
In the Round Table Room, the successive heads of the family and Mireia-san were looking at me with "good grief" expressions.
The Fourth Generation stood up and beckoned me over.
Then, the Fourth Generation headed toward his room of memories. I looked around, but the other former heads simply told me to go.
Mireia-san was smiling and waving at me.
"...I wish he'd just give me the advice here,"
I muttered as I headed toward the room of memories. Once I passed through, the surroundings were different from usual.
The Fourth Generation's room of memories usually consisted of a single road stretching infinitely. However, today, there were horse-drawn wagons, laborers, and the figure of a young Fourth Generation commanding them.
The young Fourth Generation—Marks—was issuing orders to those around him.
However, the atmosphere was not very good.
"What is the meaning of this! What did you use most of the prepared materials for?!"
The ones being scolded were the residents of the newly incorporated territory. A prominent local figure was speaking to Marks on their behalf.
"Actually, the village needed materials. Since there was no great rush here, we borrowed them. We will certainly provide them once they are needed."
Teenage.
Young and having only just become a Baron, Marks was being looked down upon by the local prominent figure. Normally, even if the opponent is younger, one does not take such a dismissive attitude toward a lord.
The Fourth Generation, who had stood beside me before I noticed, sighed as he watched his former self.
"Honestly, looking back now, I wonder what I was doing."
"How did it come to this? No matter the circumstances, this attitude is not something you direct at a lord. Using materials without permission..."
He couldn't complain even if he were killed. Or, it wouldn't have been strange if severe punishment had been handed down to the entire village. However, the opponent remained smiling in front of the frustrated Marks.
"This place won't go well anyway. If it's just going to be wasted, we might as well put it to effective use."
"The Walt family are upstarts, after all. I understand the feeling of impatience."
"Well then, we are busy, so we shall take some of the men back."
The residents standing behind Marks glared at the residents who were acting on their own. However, the numbers were different.
"...There's a rift between the original Walt family residents and the new residents from the start."
It was a terrible piece of land.
A river flowed nearby, but the embankments had collapsed and weren't being repaired, so water was flowing in.
Marks watched the departing residents with frustration. Then, a knight of the Walt family placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Marks stopped him with his hand.
"Lord Marks! Are you going to overlook that attitude! Those were materials provided by the Walt family. They openly said they stole them!"
Similar voices of opposition could be heard from the surroundings.
The Fourth Generation watched the scene with a wry smile.
"Truly unreliable. Back then, I thought every part of my territory was the same. From the first generation down to me, the fourth... the Walt family was well-united. We were a Baronetcy, small, but we had a town and were relatively wealthy. But you see, when the territory suddenly expands, the previous methods of governance don't work at all."
Marks had been too young to manage not only the prominent locals but also the surrounding minor lords. And, for better or worse, the Walt family's original residents recognized the Walt family as their lord.
"It was tough. Until then, that approach worked, but in territories where the Walt family had no credit, they looked down on me without hesitation. Dealing with that gave me a headache, and the sudden increase in paperwork... yeah, it was truly difficult. In reality, if they were Walt family residents, they wouldn't laugh and say they stole materials. I was bewildered, wondering if these people were serious."
I didn't understand what the Fourth Generation wanted to show me. I understood that there were difficult times, but did that have anything to do with the current matter?
"Um, is there a connection between my reclamation project and this memory?"
Then, the Fourth Generation smiled.
"Liel, what was I called in Liel's time?"
"The one who held the position of head of the family the longest in the Walt family, and an expert in domestic affairs..."
In fact, the Fourth Generation had built the foundation of the Walt family as a Baroncy. It was the Fourth Generation who developed the territory with the perspective of a much larger land, rather than just a town and surrounding villages like a Baronetcy.
The Fourth Generation looked embarrassed.
"Yes, it's truly shameful. But despite being spoken of that way, in reality, I was piling up failures like this. I took on work that was beyond my capacity, failed, and lost trust."
Then, the scene shifted.
In a room of the Walt family mansion, Marks was processing documents at a desk. Peeking in, I saw reports coming from the prominent locals about incredibly trivial matters.
"...It feels like reports of children's quarrels are coming in."
When I said that, the Fourth Generation laughed.
"Actually, there are many of those. The lord is expected to judge them, but since money is involved, you can't cut corners. However, the sheer number is the problem. At this time, the territory suddenly ballooned, and since there weren't enough vassals, I did nothing but work."
Then, a middle-aged man with a straight back entered the room. He seemed to be the head of the Foxus family at the time.
"Lord Marks, you must not push yourself too hard. Your mother was also worried."
Marks looked up and nodded, knowing the other was the head of the Foxus family.
"I know... no, I understand."
He corrected his manner of speaking, adopting the form of superior and subordinate. The Fourth Generation explained.
"Until then, we were neighbors, but since we were a Baroncy, the surroundings were treated as dependent vassals. At the time, there were territory changes, and we were the only large-scale lord in the vicinity. The land to manage increased, and I had to look after the surroundings, so it was tough."
The Fourth Generation was laughing, but it looked like a situation where one couldn't possibly laugh. It seemed like a miracle that from this situation, the Fourth Generation built the foundation of the Walt family—the Walt family as a Baroncy.
The Fourth Generation looked at the head of the Foxus family with a hint of loneliness.
"...A reliable uncle from the neighborhood suddenly became a subordinate, so I didn't know how to interact with him. Moreover, he was incredibly cooperative. That's why, whenever I hear the name Foxus, I think about repaying the favor."
The scene changed.
It was a small village. However, it had been severely ravaged. The fields were in ruins. Buildings had collapsed, and some places had burned.
Marks had gathered manpower and was having them help with the reconstruction.
When it was finished and Marks was leaving, the villagers seemed extremely grateful.
The Fourth Generation said.
"Steady progress from small things, right? I wondered why I thought big things would succeed when I couldn't even get cooperation... I helped a village attacked by monsters. To me, it was a small job. However, after that, the villagers here began to cooperate proactively. Also, perhaps they thought I was a relatively good lord? They became more and more cooperative. That was when I learned the importance of accumulating small successes."
I remembered what the Fourth Generation had been saying before, wondering what he wanted to show me.
The Fourth Generation turned to me and said,
"Liel, you have the knowledge and the technology. Everyone is trying to cooperate with Liel. In this situation, whose responsibility do you think it is that failures continue?"
I looked down.
"It's mine."
"Most of it is Liel's responsibility. Before, I taught you to leave the things that should be left to those around you, but this time, shall I teach you to firmly manage the things that need managing? That balance is extremely difficult, though."
The Fourth Generation changed the surrounding scenery. Then, it projected the scenes of us working over the past two weeks.
While wondering if such a thing was possible in the room of memories, I felt ashamed looking at myself.
Being pressed by Clara.
"Liel-san, this much material is needed here. I believe money is important, but the foundation is crucial."
And then, Adele-san rushed over to me.
"Do you think we have that kind of money! We have plans for the future, but failures have continued and the budget is insufficient. If we don't cut where we can, we can't even start the work!"
Hearing the opinions of the two, I was unable to judge and had incorporated their opinions half-heartedly.
Seeing my flustered appearance from a third-person perspective like this, I felt pathetic.
The Fourth Generation looked at me and laughed.
"Clara-chan has a tendency to obsess too much over knowledge. But in this case, you should have adopted Clara-chan's opinion. Adele-chan is... well, she's strong with documents and money calculations, but she inevitably neglects the actual site. Money management is important, but because she doesn't know the site, it feels like that's dragging things down. Well, what I'm trying to say is... Liel failed in the selection of personnel at the first stage."
Rather than the work stage, I was pointed out for a personnel selection error, leaving me gaping with my mouth open. Instead of being told what was wrong with the work, being told it was a personnel error was unexpected, and I couldn't react.
The Fourth Generation complained about my personnel selection.
"You should have brought Eva-chan and the others. There's a forest nearby, so it would have been good to have them work in that direction. Also, Novem-chan and Miranda-chan? If either one of them were here, I think they would have normally managed this group."
"...I'll make changes as soon as tomorrow."
"If you make changes at this stage, Adele-chan and others will overthink things. That girl will definitely worry that you chose Clara-chan over her. Or rather, Clara-chan is... surprisingly good at getting along with those around her, but she doesn't back down at all when it comes to her hobbies. Other than that, she's fine."
If that's the case, I'll have to proceed with the work with the failed personnel selection as is. As I slumped my shoulders, the Fourth Generation gave me a secret strategy.
"Now then, here is some advice for such a Liel. Though, I won't say anything about the work itself. Failure is also an important experience. Now, listen. This is a very important thing..."
The Fourth Generation's advice. It was—.
"Clara, please summarize the necessary materials in a document again later. Then, Adele-san, please secure those materials. Unless this succeeds, we cannot move forward, and I'll hear about the amount later. Maxim-san... please do not stray from your own work. Aria, you're with Leold-kun—no, Leold-sama, exterminating monsters in the forest. At that time, do not charge ahead and make sure to provide proper follow-up."
First thing in the morning, I gathered everyone and confirmed today's work content.
Looking at everyone, each of them seemed to want to say something, but when I clearly decided the policy, they didn't speak up.
Adele-san also didn't argue, as she couldn't afford any more failures. After all, it was obvious that not succeeding at all would result in a worse outcome.
However, Aria spoke up.
"Listen, Liel... wouldn't it be better if Maxim-san and I were the main force and we put the others on follow-up? The work would definitely be faster that way."
I smiled.
"Who said to annihilate the monsters in the forest? You just need to deal with them enough so they don't interfere with the work. What's the point of having your follow-up if we want Leold-sama to gain experience?"
Follow-up—the follow-up Aria spoke of was carrying luggage or skinning materials from monsters.
But does the heir to the Archducal house need such skills?
Thinking about it, it's something he should experience, but it would be problematic if he did nothing but that.
(Since it's a country with a muscle-brained national character, it'll definitely be more highly evaluated if he's said to have succeeded in domestic affairs while also exterminating monsters.)
From the start, the purpose of this reclamation was to build achievements for Leold-kun. I thought it would be fine as long as the domestic affairs succeeded, but I hadn't considered the nature of the land at all.
(First, one location. Once we make this a success, I'll have him take command of the domestic affairs in the next one.)
Since Aria looked a bit awkward, I decided to follow up with her later.
Looking around and confirming that no questions were raised, I spoke.
"Now, today is about cleaning up broken materials and such. Since it'll get in the way of the next task, we'll remove everything once."
The Fourth Generation's advice was very simple.
Until now, I had only given my companions instructions for the overall goal. However, in a situation where incompatible personnel acted on their own thoughts and dragged each other down, that was very bad.
I should have given more detailed instructions.
And even when I spoke of a large goal, I hadn't considered how each individual understood it.
For someone like Aria, if I told her to prevent monsters from interfering with the work, she naturally thought of annihilating the monsters. I'm appalled. What I'm appalled by is the current Aria, who could actually carry that out.
I raised my voice slightly.
"Listen. First, we make this a success. Otherwise, there won't be a next time."
First, one location.
If we make this a success, at least it's not a total failure. If things go well, I might be able to get more cooperation from those around me using this success as a reason.
—The Fourth Generation's advice.
It was "the morning greeting for everyone"—in other words, "the morning assembly."
Until now, because there were people like Novem, Miranda, and Monica, the will had been unified in advance.
It had worked because the numbers were small. And even though the numbers increased, the Valkyries have a direct line with me. Since they carry out my orders, these morning assemblies had been a mere formality until now. No, I hadn't considered them important in the first place.
(The basics really are important.)
It was a day that reaffirmed such things.