Chapter 126: CH 120

When I entered the office, Frenssen, who was working on documents, stood up and bowed to me. Considering our relationship, I didn’t think I needed to say empty courtesy words to Frenssen, so I asked him directly, “So, what did you find?”

“As expected, this region is having a hard time dealing with the refugees.”

“Right.”

I sat down in the office chair and let out a sigh. If this was a suspense or mystery movie, this was probably the scene where our conversation would be wiretapped, but that sort of magic didn’t exist in this world. Even if it did exist, who the heck would use it to wiretap the conversation of a suburb town’s governor? The fact that I had begun to think about this kind of random thing might be a sign of me being stressed out.

Ah, for God’s sake, why the heck did I get assigned to this kind of place? I finally could somehow understand why Father told me to be prepared at that time. Ah… I wanted a cup of delicious tea. If only Lily was here…

Lily had actually said that she wanted to accompany me here, but I refused. I mean, I couldn’t exactly take Lily who was the kingdom’s hostage to keep Mazell in check with me. Of course, I didn’t say this to her.

I used her safety as an excuse to persuade her to stay in the capital. Well, this excuse was true, though. There was a risk that the capital might get attacked by demons just like in the game, but unlike the game, the Knights in the current capital were still alive, so at least for now, the capital was still a very safe place.

On the other hand, Anheim was a pretty dangerous place. You couldn’t call the military force here an elite. The terrain here wasn’t easy to defend, the public order was still chaotic, and there would be a battle against Gezarius soon.

Lily accepted my explanation, though begrudgingly. She showed me a face like a puppy who was hurt, so I felt like a villain.

“Is there an archive here?”

“Yes, but most of the documents in the archive are documents related to this region’s administration, the trial records, that sort of thing.”

“I see.”

As expected, since Anheim wasn’t the place where the Knap estate was located, there were no Knap house’s private documents being kept there. The information I could get in this countryside region was limited, so I needed to return to the capital as soon as possible. There was one more thing that I needed to do for me to be forced to return to the capital… With that thought in my head, Sir Behnke, who held the position of my current chief aide, opened his mouth.

“Was it fine to do that kind of thing in the meeting?”

“It’s fine. I want you to check how the bandits are allocated, like who got the most laborers, and who got the troublemakers.”

“Understood.”

I wanted to know the power dynamics of the guilds here. I knew I wouldn’t be able to know all of this place’s power balance just by investigating the laborers’ allocation, but at least I might get a rough understanding. I also needed to find out the power dynamics between the town and the surrounding villages in the Anheim region.

Two main types of villages were built near a town. One was the village that was built without the help of the town. This kind of village used to be autonomous, but became affiliated with the town because they asked for the town’s protection against demons.

The village chief of this kind of village was usually quite influential and was often a member of the Pledgers Council.

The second type of village was the village built by former residents of the town. Usually, a family’s second or third child who somehow lost their job in the town, so they went to cultivate the land outside of the town. The cost of development for this kind of village was paid by the town, so this type of village was essentially the town’s subordinated village.

However, the actual relationship between the town and the villages was often more complicated. After all, a village meant the existence of able villagers who, if united, might be capable of raising a rebellion against the town. For me to know the exact power dynamics between the villages and Anheim town, I might need to survey the villages directly.

“I don’t mind if the region’s governance goes through the Pledgers Council first. After all, our current priority is to stabilize the public order in the entire Anheim region. Have the officials we brought from the capital identify the problems of this region that existed since it was still part of a Marquisate.”

“Understood. Is it okay to not make any major changes to the town’s governance?”

“It’s fine. I’m His Majesty’s governor, so although I could improve the state of the territory to a certain extent, I couldn’t make any major changes on my own.”

“I see.”

Sir Behnke nodded. Did he just… casually probe about my intention toward Anheim?

In the first place, my primary aim was to get out of here and return to the capital as soon as I took care of Gezarius. I didn’t have any time to make major reforms in Anheim. Well, I would use this chance to test my idea, so I could implement it in the county if it was successful.

“Welner-sama. Sir Holzdeppe, Sir Kesten, and Sir Gekke are here to see you.”

“Let them in.”

With Frenssen’s reply, the people outside entered the office. With this, all of my current staff had finally gathered.

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Well, although I called them my staff, my real relationship with each of them was different. With Gekke-san, although he seemed to evaluate me highly, our relationship was still a money-based relationship, so I couldn’t ask him to do anything unreasonable. I mean, I already felt grateful because he accepted my half-year contract.

Gekke-san brought a total of 60 mercenaries here. There were accountants, healers, and even cooks, among the 60 mercenaries. In addition to that, Gekke-san and other mercenaries were also strong, so I was glad that I could completely use the mercenary team as a combat force without needing to spend additional human resources and money. Since Gekke-san was now my employee, I called him ‘Sir’ in public.

As for the cost of hiring Gekke-san’s mercenary team, I charged all of them to the kingdom. I might be called brazen, but I didn’t care since, for the current me, additional infamy was actually helpful. Although I got a glare from Father, after I had explained my reason, he reluctantly agreed.

As for Sir Holzdeppe, he was the representative of the military personnel that the kingdom had lent to me. In this world, people like him were called appointment chiefs. Normally, when a well-established noble was appointed as a governor, he would bring his own military force, but in my case, I was just a young noble heir, so I didn’t have my own military force to accompany me.

However, it would stain the kingdom’s honor if they let me go to Anheim with no military force, so for appearance’s sake, the kingdom lent me some people. In addition, since the people of this world were muscle-brained, I could be sure that the military personnel that the kingdom gave me were skilled to a certain extent.

Of course, I was sure that Sir Holzdeppe knew about the demon general, but the knights and the soldiers under him might not know, so I have to build trust with them as much as possible.

Then, there was also Sir Kesten, who was the military instructor that Grand Duke Seyfart sent to me. Sir Kesten was probably older than Father. He looked old enough to have retired, but his physique still looked good. His combat ability was definitely on the level of active military personnel. I would probably lose if I fought with him. He also seemed to be a person who I could trust to lead the troop I was planning to make. I think the Grand Duke had chosen him with that in mind.

Most likely because the Grand Duke had already told Sir Kesen something about me, he was quite friendly with me from our first meeting. The Grand Duke lent me 5 other instructors excluding Sir Kesten, but he was the best among them all.

Then, there was Sir Behnke, the representative of the officials I had been given and effectively my vice governor. I didn’t know who he was, actually. Father was the one who sent him to me. Sir Behnke was a middle-aged man with a fine beard. He seemed to be younger than Father, but I was sure he was at least in his mid-forties.

I accepted him because Grand Duke Seyfart also seemed to be satisfied with him. I tried to investigate a little where he was assigned before he came to my side, but I couldn’t find anything. Well, since both Father and the Grand Duke seemed to approve of him, I was sure that he at least wouldn’t drag me down.

There was a chance that he was someone who was sent to me to monitor me, but I wasn’t worried about that since I had nothing to hide. Rather, I hoped Sir Behnke was prepared since I would wring him dry.

Lastly, just like usual, Neurath, Schunzel, and Frenssen also accompanied me as my direct subordinates. I felt they had drawn the short end of the stick by having me as their superior, especially considering what I planned to do in the future.

“Good work everyone. First, for a time being, I want Sir Gekke and his team to check the surrounding terrain. If Sir finds any demons, don’t hesitate to hunt them down since I will also buy the demon materials.”

“I understand. I will make sure to divide this job with the adventurers.”

“Thank you. Then I want Sir Behnke to assist me in political affairs. After all, I can’t take care of both the town and the entire territory’s administration on my own.”

“Is it fine for you, sir, to be frank like that?

“Well, sugarcoating my words won’t bring any benefit.”

From the very beginning, I was planning to dump all jobs that didn’t have to be done by me to others. My top priority now was to think of a plan to deal with the demon general’s army, not to govern the territory.

“Sir Holzdeppe, you go to the town and create an amicable relationship with the guards and the town’s citizens, so the town’s public order will be maintained. Remember that if you act arrogantly because you’re my, the governor, direct subordinate, I’ll punish you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sir Kesten, I want to make a support troop in the future, so go to the town and bring me some useful people for this support troop among the citizens and the refugees.”

“I understand. But, may I also bring people who have already worked for the town?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Our current priority is to gain more soldiers. After all, we’ve destroyed 3 bandits’ bases, so we must strengthen our military to prepare for their retaliation.”

I needed more soldiers with a certain level of training, even if they were from the slums or the refugee camps, so that I could fight Gezarius. I couldn’t just announce ‘we would be facing the demon general in the future!’ so I used the bandits’ future retaliation as an excuse.

After all, human rights protection didn’t exist here. Many people and organizations here would treat refugees as a convenient labor force. Since I was the governor, not some kind of slave dealer, no one should be able to complain even if I drag them into the military.

I was sure that the people who would be brought to the military forcefully would send me some complaints, but hearing their complaints was better than being killed by Gezarius because the soldiers I had were lacking.

After that, I gave several other orders. Once I was finished, Frenssen said, “Incidentally, Welner-sama, the influential people of this town have offered to host a banquet to celebrate our arrival.”

“How generous of them.”

Here it came.

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