The Plan the Protagonist Alone Is Unaware Of (2)
“...The Administrative Officer is becoming the Lord?”
“Well, it’s just my guess.”
Kalisa shrugged, trying to step back, but—
“You’re not the type to say things without reason.”
“That’s true.”
The two colleagues nodded with serious faces, seemingly in complete agreement with Kalisa’s opinion.
Kalisa had never received professional administrative training, but she was a woman with exceptionally developed intuition.
Naturally, not every merchant possessed eyes that could pierce through situations like that. So, that was simply Kalisa’s own ability. Unlike Jamie, who was sincere about over-immersing himself, it was an ability made possible because she always stood a step back from the situation, grasping it objectively and rationally.
“Isn’t it the instinct of every person in power to want to put a leash on a chess piece they can’t quite grasp?”
“But Kalisa. Isn’t it possible they might just call the Administrative Officer up to the capital?”
“Then what about this place?”
“It’s the North... Honestly, it’s a bit awkward to say this, but... the North doesn’t hold much value to the central government.”
“If they want to implement a policy of embracing the demi-humans, they’ll need a symbolic land, won’t they?”
Kalisa clicked her tongue and looked at her colleagues, as if to say, You two talk about political dynamics and bureaucracy all the time, how can you know less than I do?
“Do you think they’d gather demi-humans in the capital, which is already in chaos because the 2nd Prince is stirring things up? If they did that, it would be an all-out brawl.”
“......”
“Doesn’t it look good? The marginalized gathering in a marginalized land, and the 1st Prince embracing it all. That’s the picture.”
“But from the 1st Prince’s perspective, wouldn’t he want to entrust the completion of this picture to his closest aide?”
“You mean a closest aide who is among the highest-ranking in the Empire?”
Kalisa’s lips curled into a mocking sneer.
“That would look so good. A high and precious person from the capital descending personally to this dump of a land to save the poor wretches.”
“Kalisa! What are you—”
“The moment that happens, the justification is shattered. If it becomes ‘charity’ rather than ‘harmony,’ then the second-class citizens will never escape being second-class citizens. That’s what it means to leave your fate in someone else’s hands.”
At that moment, Jamie and Roland saw a glimpse of an emotion hidden in Kalisa’s eyes. It was a clear, deep-seated resentment.
“Uh, anyway, so in your opinion, Kalisa, you’re saying our Administrative Officer will become the Lord?”
“That’s right.”
Crunch.
“Mmm, this is delicious.”
The heavy atmosphere that had settled in the cafeteria was instantly dissolved by a single meat pie, baked to crispy perfection. The kitchen staff, who had been tense from the sharp conversation of the adjutants, let out small, relieved sighs.
“But it might not be such a simple matter.”
“Huh?”
“First of all, he has to receive a title. Our Administrative Officer is a commoner, after all.”
“Ah, right, that’s true.”
“And if it’s a hereditary title rather than a one-generation title, that’s another battle of justification. Ugh, it’s exhausting.”
It was never easy for a commoner to become a hereditary noble. Even Lapisha, who was always mentioned among the Empire’s top three healers, had only received offers for one-generation noble titles a few times; there hadn’t even been talk of a hereditary one.
“Still, if he caught the eye of the 1st Prince, wouldn’t it work out somehow?”
“It might work out somehow, but what if the problem is solved before our Administrative Officer receives his title, or what if the 1st Prince’s heart cools?”
At Kalisa’s words that they would be left chasing chickens, everyone became serious. And by everyone, I mean not just Jamie and Roland, but all the workers of the Lord’s Castle who had been listening with wide-open ears.
‘Our Administrative Officer needs to become the Lord, but you’re saying that might not happen?’
‘I don’t know much, but you’re saying he needs achievements, right?’
‘Achievements... Achievements. Ugh, my head is going to explode. I should ask others too!’
The workers of the Lord’s Castle liked Aiden. While they had gnashed their teeth every day at previous administrative officers, hoping a wolf would drag them away, some even expressed anxiety that Aiden might be called up to the central government if his abilities were recognized. Whether it was an acting lord or a real lord, it felt about the same to them, and they liked that he strictly maintained etiquette, saying he was neither a noble nor anything else. They also liked that every time he launched a project, their actual lives changed for the better.
Not to mention his pleasant, low-pitched voice and beautiful appearance.
And so, the workers of the Lord’s Castle decided to gladly lend a hand to ensure their superior would become their permanent superior. News spread quickly, in places unknown to Aiden and his three adjutants.
Thwack, thwack!
Farmers were digging and plowing the ground that had been frozen all winter with pickaxes and plows. Even while panting, they didn’t stop talking.
“So, the Administrative Officer needs achievements to quickly become the Lord?”
“That’s what they say! But is our Administrative Officer the type to be greedy for such things?”
“Tsk.”
The village near the Lord’s Castle had very fast rumors because many officials and castle workers lived there. Because of that, everyone nearby knew about Aiden’s personality.
“The adjutants seem to be frustrated, too.”
“If it were other officials, they would have been desperate to make achievements, but our Administrative Officer is so lacking in greed.”
“I heard, you know those hunting experts at the Lord’s Castle?”
“Yeah.”
“It seems they’re planning to catch rare monsters under the guise of training.”
“Suddenly, monsters?”
“They said if they catch a rare and terrifying beast that’s hard to even see and send it up under the Administrative Officer’s name, wouldn’t that raise his reputation?”
“That sounds plausible, doesn’t it?”
Plausible, my foot. If noble titles were handed out just for catching a few monsters, there wouldn’t be a single mercenary captain without one.
“Then shouldn’t our village do something too? It’s sowing season, so we can’t go far to catch monsters, but if we catch a bear that’s just woken up from hibernation... what was it? That thing the officials talk about... that ‘beast cleaning’?”
“Pest control.”
“Yeah, that. The merchants said so. The further you go toward the center, the higher the price of fur skyrockets. Even if it’s not a monster, if we just hand over dozens of furs to those high-and-mighty people in the center, wouldn’t that work?”
Farmers who thought of the great nobles of the center as mere merchants pulling a few carts of goods. They said this because if they sold dozens of furs at the trading post, the transaction amount would be enough to make them gasp by their standards. It was a story they could only tell because they had never seen or heard of those called Great Lords.
“Eh, still, a few furs won’t be enough, right?”
Still, not all farmers were frogs in a well; among the farmers who were out of touch with reality, there seemed to be one with a clear head.
“I heard a long time ago that those Great Lords in the center like land the most.”
“Land?”
“Not just any land, but land where you can grow crops.”
“Ah, farmland!”
“Exactly! That’s how they collect a lot of taxes. They collect a lot of taxes and use that money to raise soldiers.”
“Wow— you’ve been going around studying diligently all winter, that’s amazing!”
As the surprise was evident in the eyes of his neighbors, the man’s shoulders puffed up.
“That’s what I’m saying! If our Administrative Officer is to be recognized as a real Lord, farmland is more important than fur!”
“Farmland.”
The farmers looked at the farm tools in their hands as if they had made a promise. Until a few years ago, they hadn’t even dared to dream of iron farm tools. And these weren’t just iron-tipped, but solid iron. The merchants who sold the tools said they would wear out faster than steel, but they were incomparable to the wooden plows or stone blades they had used all their lives.
‘With this, can’t we increase the farmland, that much?’
Thanks to the iron farm tools that had been widely distributed this winter following last year, the speed of plowing fields had been reduced to less than a third of previous years. At this rate, they could easily handle increasing the farmland.
‘If I increase the farmland, it’s good for me, and it’s good for our Administrative Officer, right?’
Their bodies might suffer a bit, but they say suffering in one’s youth is worth buying. They felt that if they worked their bodies to the bone for a few years, then built a two-story house, put a few cows in the barn, and raised some sheep, that would be a life turnaround.
“To reclaim empty land, do I have to go to the Administrative Welfare Center and ask?”
“Probably, since you’ll need to check the land registry. Why, are you thinking of reclaiming some?”
“Well. *Ahem.* I should roll up my sleeves so our Administrative Officer can be called a real Lord, absolutely!”
“*Ahem, ahem.* Then should I go and inquire, too?”
“Don’t do that, let’s all go together.”
The Imperials say: The barbarians of the North are faster on their feet than they think. It was a disparagement implying they didn’t know how to use their heads, but the Northerners weren’t deeply offended by this remark.
Why use your head when you have a good body? Using your head is for people with bad bodies. Yeah, yeah.
The farmers who were talking also fully agreed with this thought. It meant that as soon as the conversation came up, they threw down their shovels and rushed to the Administrative Welfare Center.
“A reclamation boom is happening?”
A few days later. Aiden, having received the report, tilted his head. It was because of the news that the number of farmers reclaiming empty land had suddenly increased significantly.
“Suddenly?”
“Actually, it’s not a strange thing. The supply of farm tools is smooth, and the farmers’ morale has risen a lot due to the success of special crop cultivation last year. The response to the cultivation calendar and the classes by experienced farmers has also been good.”
“Still, there are too many of them all of a sudden. As if they were waiting for something.”
“Ha, haha...!”
Jamie laughed awkwardly, sweating profusely. It was difficult to bring himself to say, ‘They’re doing that to make you the Lord, Administrative Officer.’ While the talk among the territory residents showed their trust in the Administrative Officer, if the same words came out of an adjutant’s mouth, it would be an insult to the nobility. The moment it was heard that a commoner had stirred up the territory residents to become ‘Blue Blood,’ the title would go down the drain.
Even if the 1st Prince came to have a favorable impression of Aiden, nobles fundamentally didn’t see commoners as the same human beings, so they would never pull someone who openly said, ‘I want to become a noble,’ up into their world. That was the reason why, although many acting lords had come to the North, not a single one had even received a ‘one-generation noble’ title, let alone a hereditary one, and had come and gone as commoners.
“I-isn’t it a good thing! It means everyone’s desire to live well has grown...”
“That is true. Is the significant increase in fur and monster byproduct trading at the trading post part of the same context?”
Aiden asked again. It seemed the hunters were also catching beasts and monsters like crazy to boost their Lord’s reputation.
“And the fact that commercial and industrial entrepreneurs are aggressively expanding their businesses in just a few days?”
“......”
Jamie thought. The North was so scattered that there were countless villages that hadn’t even been known to exist until a few years ago, so he couldn’t understand how rumors related to the Administrative Officer spread so quickly.
“Did they discover the taste of capitalism?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
However, Aiden, who was notoriously oblivious when it came to his own affairs, couldn’t even imagine that this situation where the entire North was buzzing was because they were trying to make him a Lord. He simply thought, ‘Ah, the Northerners have finally learned the taste of money. Capitalism, it’s good!’