198

Please save me!"

"We will help stabilize the territory!"

"You can't do this!"

Count Cavaldi's vassals wept, but Giselle did not blink an eye.

And the knights of Fenris, including Gillian, were accustomed to such situations.

Because they had already occupied the Digald County and carried out a large-scale purge.

"Eww! Please save me!"

"I am a noble! Let go! Let go now!"

"You punk who doesn't even know the law!"

The vassals were dragged out, wailing. As Gillian and the knights left, Belinda asked cautiously.

"Your Highness, are you sure it's okay? This territory is much larger than ours, but we're seriously lacking in administrative power."

"It doesn't matter. If you keep them, they'll cause bigger trouble later."

If Claude and other officials of Fenris had been there, they would have been terrified and tried to stop Giselle.

As Belinda said, managing the countship requires more manpower than before.

But Giselle had no intention of letting them live.

All the vassals here are in league with Count Desmond.

Even if I kept him, it was obvious that he would betray me whenever the opportunity arose. Even if it was difficult at the moment, I had to make sure to kick him out when the time came.

"First, Belinda, lead the people here and confiscate all the property. Claude will take care of the rest when he gets here. Also, tell the soldiers not to touch the residents."

"all right."

The people of Cavaldi's territory were trembling with fear and anxiety, as their lives depended on the disposition of the new invaders.

It was natural to be wary of Count Cavaldi, who had suffered so much from him.

But such worries were in vain as the Fenris occupation forces silently went about their business.

All he did was clear the battlefield, check the property of Count Cavaldi and his vassals, and then guard it.

After a few days of this, Claude finally arrived with a few officials.

"Hey, Claude, come in quickly."

"Hahahaha! You won! You really won! That's really amazing!"

Claude, who had been worrying every day, was thrilled and excited as soon as he saw Giselle.

Jiselle snickered at the sight.

"Is it good?"

"Ah, great! To take over the county! And we've taken over the largest iron ore deposit in the North!"

"You were against it at first, right?"

"I did that because I was afraid it would be a problem. I was also afraid of the aftermath of how things would turn out at the Duke's house."

"Are you not scared now?"

"Honestly, it's already scary, but what can I do about what's already happened? I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow."

Claude answered brightly. Anyway, Giselle had been at odds with the dukedom before he joined.

Since I can't restore our relationship now, I decided to just be happy with what I got.

The expanded territory, resources, and population were something that anyone running a fief would be happy about.

Giselle continued, laughing again at Claude's teasing.

"What do you think? Now you can trust my skills a little?"

"Yes, yes. I believe you. You have two wins out of two, a 100% win rate. Your Majesty, do whatever you want."

Jiselle clicked her tongue. No matter how much she thought about it, it sounded sarcastic, but since it was a happy day, she decided not to argue and just let it go.

"Yes, first, check out the current status of the territory. We need to start stabilizing and developing it as quickly as possible. Belinda will have already collected all the assets of Count Cavaldi and his vassals."

"Leave it to me! I'll start right away!"

Claude answered excitedly and immediately led the managers to begin assessing the situation.

Claude's mouth opened wide when he first saw Count Cavaldi's personal wealth.

"Awesome, awesome, awesome, this is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy!"

Gold coins and art were piled up to the point where the warehouses were about to burst. The wealth he had amassed by monopolizing the iron ore in the North was truly beyond imagination.

Claude muttered as he unconsciously stuffed a bunch of gold coins into his pockets.

"I, I am rich now! No, our territory is rich… … . Huh! What am I doing now!"

When he turned around in surprise, he saw Wendy and other managers looking at him with contemptuous eyes.

"Oh, oh my. Don't look at me like that. I've been living so poorly that I didn't even realize it… … ."

Claude said with a sullen look in his eyes, putting the gold coin back where it was.

"First, figure out exactly how much money you have. If you get caught embezzling even a penny, I will never forgive you."

"...All right."

Several of the lower officials began to compile an inventory of Count Cavaldi's assets. Claude also checked the assets of his confiscated vassals.

"Wow, they were crazy."

The wealth hidden by the vassals was also considerable.

How much do you have to exploit and bribe the people to accumulate this much?

Claude was a man who lived as a slave with integrity and without receiving a single penny… … Honestly, I was really envious.

I guess that's why everyone lives doing bad things.

"Okay, quickly figure this out and report back. If I'm going to assign these guys work later, I'm going to have to give them some serious mental training."

I just want to let them all rot in prison, but even a cat's paw is too small. Since the administrative power is lacking, it was a situation where they had to use them even if it meant making them slaves.

Claude, who had shaken off his foolishness, moved to check the military warehouses this time.

"Crazy… … . Is that how it was?"

The abundance of gold and silver treasures was amazing, but the iron ore and iron ingots piled up in countless warehouses were even greater.

It wasn't for nothing that this place was called the largest iron ore mine in the North. Perhaps the other lords didn't know that Count Cavaldi had piled it up like this.

Even with all this wealth and resources, we were starving because of the drought. No one can know what will happen in this world.

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Claude, who had been absent-minded, soon laughed out loud and rejoiced.

"There are so many high-end weapons! Our soldiers won't have to dress like beggars anymore! Wow!"

It was enough to arm all of the territory's troops with heavy infantry.

After quickly looking around the other warehouses, Claude went straight to his temporary office to check the administrative documents of the County of Cavaldi.

"Oh, there was more than I thought?"

As smelting technology developed, there were many more blacksmiths and craftsmen than in other territories.

Count Cavaldi also knew the importance of iron ore and meticulously managed it by keeping track of miners, blacksmiths, and other technicians.

"Bring the other documents too!"

Claude kept exclaiming in admiration as he checked the piling up documents.

No matter how barren the northern fiefdoms, a county was still a county. The County of Cavaldi was far more populous than the smaller baronies.

The expansion of territory was good, but the increase in population was an even greater benefit. It would be possible to fill the shortage of labor and gather more troops than before.

"Damn it! Tell the Duke to come with Desmond! Come on!"

Claude's liver swelled up in an instant.

As the population and resources increased, confidence grew.

If I were to actually fight, I would be trampled without even being able to use my strength, but I was so happy right now that I didn't even have to make such a cool-headed judgment.

As soon as he had a rough idea, Claude ran straight to Giselle.

"Your Majesty! Our great Lord! We will begin work on stabilizing the territory right away!"

"Oh, good. How is it after checking it out?"

"This is amazing! At this level, we can increase the power of the territory much faster! Since the land has expanded, we can build more facilities! First, I plan to improve the treatment of the miners and the territory residents and further increase productivity!"

"Yeah, you know there's always a shortage of time, right? Let's get this done quickly."

"Understood! Oh, but where did you lock up the vassals here? They ate a lot of them! I will make them slaves and make sure to educate them mentally!"

"Why them?"

"I guess they don't know the territory well and want to use it under my control. If it's this big, Fenris' current administrative power simply can't handle it."

"… … Oh, right. The lower-ranking officials are in prison. Since there don't seem to be any spies, I'll release them all. Take them and use them as you see fit."

"What about the vassals who were originally given important posts, aside from the lower-ranking officials? Are they there too? People like the general, the finance officer, and the military commanders!"

"… … ."

"Your Majesty?"

"Dead."

"… … Words are different. Did he die for a reason? Or did you kill him?"

"I killed him."

Claude asked cautiously at the neat answer.

"...why?"

"They were all guys who fell for Desmond. There's a reason they're so rich."

"Ugh… … ."

Claude scratched his head and then lowered it.

It would be right to kill all those who fell to Desmond. However, the current Fenris officials are busy running the original territory.

"This is f*cked up… … . We're really screwed… … ."

Claude muttered, lost in thought.

I'm so busy right now that I can't even rest, so how am I supposed to run this vast county?

The joy faded away and reality set in heavily.

Giselle spoke to Claude, who was twisting his body and not knowing what to do.

"Let's take care of the busy stuff first and then think about it. Now is not the time to just worry, right?"

"… … Okay, I understand. I will first release the food and appease the people of Yeongji."

Claude stepped back with tears in his eyes.

It is not something that a person who killed his servants should say, but the lord's words are correct. Time is of the essence, so worrying about it won't solve anything.

For now, I have no choice but to run like crazy.

* * *

"Wow, this is a real mess, a total mess. How on earth did you manage it?"

Claude clicked his tongue as he looked at the skinny miners before him.

The warehouses were filled with treasures, but the people of the countship were all on the verge of death.

The miners looked at Claude with a mixture of fear and hostility.

To be precise, he was looking at the wagons behind him.

'Food… … . It's food… … .'

'Did you steal it from somewhere else?'

'We have nothing left to lose… … .'

Miners were treated relatively better than other residents.

Because the miners who dug up iron ore were the foundation of the wealth of this territory.

But when the drought came and the war began, the supplies that had been providing them were cut off. Even what little they had was taken away by the military.

'You bastards… … '

'If only you guys hadn't invaded… … .'

'You dirty invader bastards!'

The miners were gritting their teeth in secret, even as they watched the situation unfold.

Originally, it was normal to curse the evil lord Count Cavaldi and lived that way.

But the situation was made worse by the invaders, and hostility naturally blossomed.

They had no expectation that the food would be shared among them. They all knew that the drought was so severe that even the nobles were in trouble.

They could not help but think that the invading army was moving around their territory like this, taking everything they had.

Claude chuckled as he watched the miners.

'Oh, that's how it is at first.'

The people of Fenris Estate also showed this listless appearance and looked at me with hostile eyes.

The people of the estate who are suffering under an evil lord have no choice but to do so.

In the awkward atmosphere, Claude gestured to the soldiers behind him.

"Give them food first. Give them plenty. Oh, by the way, there's almost no meat. That's really hard to get these days."

The miners looked dumbfounded as they received sacks full of flour and some corrosion.

You're sharing food in these difficult times? Isn't it normal for them to take it from you?

As the miners stood there speechless, Claude began to babble.

"Why? Is it not enough? Hey, give us one more each. Just hand them out generously. If you save them, they will all rot."

"omg!"

The miners gasped in surprise at Claude's words.

What I received just now felt like a dream, so I couldn't believe that they were giving me more.

But when the soldiers came and handed each miner another sack of wheat, the miners immediately fell to the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Heartfelt expressions of gratitude poured in from all sides.

Claude clicked his tongue at the sight. How much did Count Cavaldi manipulate people that they all looked like slaves?

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's why they say the nobles of the north are so vicious. Come to think of it, Count Ferdium is really amazing. He lives such a hard life, but he's never been exploited even once."

Count Cavaldi would not have intentionally made them slaves.

That way, they could collect taxes. And it was clear that they continued to pressure him by using the soldiers.

If you look at the way he drove people to this point, he was no ordinary vicious man.

"Now, under the leadership of the new lord, this place will be much different from before. Everyone just needs to work hard at what they have been doing. I will pay you enough, so don't worry about that either."

Despite Claude's words, the miners were not quick to believe him.

Instead, he just hugged the food sacks tightly and looked around at the people around him.

Being worried that someone else might steal it from you is proof that your humanity has hit rock bottom.

Claude, who had seen many such people, furrowed his brows and gave a strong warning.

"Anyone who touches another person's food will be put to death as soon as they are caught. Never forget this."

In this situation, being gentle is of no use. Rather, setting an example and punishing the person works better.

The miners bowed their heads at Claude's bleak warning.

"I will keep that in mind."

They also had a sense of humor. There was no way they could go against the wishes of the occupying forces who had invaded by force.

If he were to starve any longer, he would naturally take what was from the person next to him, but if he were full, he would remain quiet for the time being.

Similar things happened all over the territory. Claude and other officials visited every small village to distribute food.

The reaction of the people of Yeongji was no different from that of the miners, as they did not think that food would continue to be distributed in the midst of a severe drought.

"Tsk tsk, I guess I'll need some more time."

Although the release of food stabilized the public sentiment, it did not completely alleviate anxiety.

It took several months for the Fenris Estate to become successful in farming and distribute food.

In order for the entire territory to unite and fight against a powerful enemy, they had no choice but to steadily support and increase trust in the lord.

Giselle also nodded after receiving Claude's report.

"You won't believe it easily, since you've only been exploited so far. Once you realize that there's an abundance of food and your life gets a little better, you'll change like the people of Fenris."

"Yes, this part will inevitably take time, so we will provide steady support."

"Okay. Then, shall we start the next step? We've got more resources and more people, right?"

"Should I start from there?"

Giselle nodded to Claude's question.

"Of course, that's the first step. The County of Cavaldi has more than other places, but that's not enough. We need to increase productivity several times over what it is now."

Residential areas, farmland, and public facilities will need to be built steadily over time in the future.

But after taking possession of this territory, even more important facilities were created.

It was a large-scale smelting and blacksmithing facility capable of mass producing iron weapons and tools.