299 – Now, let’s get ready for the next one. (2)
The administrators of Penris were busier than ever. With the territory having expanded significantly, there was much more to do.
Many administrators, including Claude, had crossed over to the Desmond region.
Before arriving, Claude had briefly thought, “Wouldn’t it be better to die than to live buried in work?” but once he got to Desmond, it felt fresh and new.
“Can you believe it? This is really going to be our land. I never thought such a day would come.”
His reaction was much calmer than when they occupied the Cabaldy region. He had been overjoyed back then, so logically, conquering a larger territory like Desmond should have made him even happier.
But the enormity of this achievement was so vast that it felt almost unreal, dulling his emotions.
“Is this real? I can’t be dreaming, right? Wendy, pinch my cheek… ah, she’s not here right now.”
Claude gazed around with misty eyes.
He vividly remembered his first time in Penris. Back then, he had thought Ghislaine was rich and the heir to the Great Lord, only to be gravely disappointed.
Dragged to a miserable territory and reduced to a slave, he had really struggled. Who would have thought a day like this would come!
“Although I’m still in a dirty situation… our lord has truly become a great lord now.”
Experiencing such a monumental event left Claude in a daze. His current feelings were just that he was glad he hadn’t died because Ghislaine lost.
But that state of composure didn’t last long; as they finally arrived at the castle, Claude began to lift his chin with pride.
“Ahem, I am the Chief Officer of the Great Territory Penris. I must start maintaining some dignity from now on.”
He couldn’t help but feel a sly smile creeping onto his face. It was hard to restrain the excitement bubbling inside him.
Inside the wagon, Claude collected his voice and practiced an imposing expression, muttering to himself.
“To those who have suffered for so long under the injustices and evils, I will restore justice! We shall build a new era from now on… Huh, why am I so cool? Everyone must be moved by this, right?”
Chuckling to himself, Claude admired his own charm. While riding in the wagon, he failed to hear the murmurs of the territory residents.
“Word has it the one coming is the Chief Officer of the territory.”
“They say he’s the Lord of Bribes from the North? A corrupt and vicious man, they say, don’t trust him as he lies through his teeth.”
“I’ve heard he’s a gambling addict and he’s also rumored to be crazy. In any case, we shouldn’t let him spot us.”
“Oh man, with a guy like that, I can only imagine how much trouble he’ll bring us. I’m already worried.”
The territory residents sighed with concern just at the sight of Claude’s wagon.
Unaware of the disdain he was receiving, Claude strode confidently into the castle.
“The Chief Officer has arrived!”
Though a slave, rank-wise he was still second in command in Penris. The knights and soldiers waiting outside the castle bowed their heads as Claude approached.
Claude arrogantly nodded in acknowledgment.
“Ha, it was a good decision not to run away. I am the Chief Officer Claude of the Great Territory! I’m really feeling the Chief Officer vibes, truly.”
“Oh my, the Chief Officer is here?”
Belinda waved her hand cheerfully, and Wendy, standing next to her, slightly bowed her head to Belinda before approaching Claude.
Seeing her, Claude instantly felt tears welling up and shouted.
“Wendy! Do you have any idea how scared I was without you? Waaaah!”
Claude came running with arms wide open, sniffling. Wendy quickly pushed his head away, glancing around.
The passing soldiers and servants seemed to be trying hard to suppress their laughter. Wendy bit her lip. She had noticed it before, but this guy truly had no sense of shame.
“Move… please.”
“Waaaah! Don’t leave me!”
“Please… just…”
Wendy’s face turned crimson with embarrassment. Even as an assassin with little emotional fluctuation, it was quite a feat to bring out such a reaction in her.
After a few tussles, Claude gathered himself again and resumed his haughty expression.
“Ahem, shall we go meet the Lord now?”
“Shall we head out?”
Wendy glared at him as he walked ahead confidently, shook her head a few times, and then followed behind again.
Ghislaine waved excitedly when she saw Claude.
“Hey, Claude! Welcome!”
“Ahahaha! Congratulations on becoming the Great Lord!”
As Claude laughed heartily and congratulated her, Ghislaine asked in surprise,
“You seem more composed than I expected. Weren’t you planning to die from all the work?”
“Ugh, where did you hear that? I’m not dying out of frustration, you know? Once the territory stabilizes, I’ll just relax and die looking fabulous!”
Ghislaine replied with a wry smile at Claude’s ambition.
“Right, well… I hope that day comes.”
“Well, enough with the greetings… You’ve killed all your retainers, right?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, understood. Looks like it’s just us who will die now.”
Claude nodded at Ghislaine’s neat response. No matter how shocking it was, when a person goes through the same situation multiple times, they start to get used to it.
Ghislaine is a war lord, constantly expanding her territory through war. What needs to be done after acquiring a new territory is obvious.
“Then I’ll start working right away.”
“Sounds good, as always…”
“Yes, yes, quickly and surely.”
Claude waved his hand dismissively, as if he understood everything, and turned around. His nonchalance really embodied the spirit of a Great Territory’s chief officer.
“Hey, I’m not done talking yet…”
Ghislaine called out in disbelief, but before she could finish, Claude was already gone. Left alone, she let out a hollow laugh.
“Right, first we need to assess the situation and stabilize things. We can talk later.”
Claude immediately led the stewards to assess the current state of the territory.
‘I got caught last time trying to sneak away with stuff. This time, I’ll be more clever!’
With a solemn heart, Claude first checked Count Desmond’s personal assets and muttered.
“Why… is it so pitiful?”
It wasn’t exactly poverty level, but it was just around the average wealth of ordinary lords. He expected more from the owner of a Great Territory, but it didn’t even compare to Count Cabaldy’s wealth; it was less than half.
“Was Count Desmond really this pure and upright?”
Not quite. He wasn’t extravagant, but he spent a considerable amount to maintain his noble dignity.
Claude hurriedly rummaged through other retainers’ personal belongings and the territory’s storages.
“What the heck! Why is everyone so poor!”
Every storage was lacking in substance.
In Claude’s mind, Desmond was practically the incarnation of malice. Therefore, he should have accumulated more wealth than the corrupt Count Cabaldy.
“Who stole everything already?!”
Claude, fuming, finally understood what happened after checking the pile of documents.
“Wow, these guys were actually serious.”
They had gathered all the territory’s resources to wage war against Ghislaine. Most of the territory’s wealth had already been exchanged for food and military weapons.
“Ugh, these aren’t much help to us.”
The supply team that followed after Ghislaine dealt with Desmond’s main force naturally surrendered. Thanks to that, they did acquire numerous weapons and supplies, but it didn’t help Penris much.
Food was already overflowing and the iron armaments and tools were being replaced with Galbarium.
Even if they got a ton of weapons, it would just lead to more labor costs and time to remelt them. If they had to pick something useful, it would only be the siege equipment.
“Hmmm, since these armaments can’t be sold anywhere, should I sell them cheaply to the Crown Prince faction while I’m at it?”
If there were at least other resources, he could have figured something out, but now, the entire Desmond Territory was in tatters, leaving him at a loss.
It seemed they had also confiscated the residents’ properties. Perhaps in the hope of giving something back later, they had organized how much was seized per household.
“Count Desmond wasn’t a total scrooge, it seems.”
Even while gathering resources, he didn’t just seize things recklessly. It was very much like Harold, marked by a noble mindset and pride.
After getting a rough understanding of the situation, Claude prioritized the tasks.
“Hmm, first, I should distribute food to the territory residents.”
“Well, first I have to distribute food to the territory residents.”
Desmond’s territory has a high production capacity for food. Not only wheat but also various crops grow abundantly. However, after he sold a large quantity of food to Ghislaine, the aftermath of the drought caused the situation to worsen.
In the meantime, a massive merchant group swept through, and the remaining food was all requisitioned as war supplies. So the situation for the territory residents was not good at all.
As always when conquering new lands, stabilizing public sentiment was the top priority.
When Claude arrived, pulling a caravan of food supplies, the territory residents looked on with complicated expressions.
“That used to be all ours…”
“They might take even more from us. Didn’t we hear it’s a poorer territory?”
“Damn it, how did we lose to those village bumpkins?”
The faces of the territory residents were filled with worry and dissatisfaction.
If only they had won the war, they would have received plenty of rewards. Count Desmond was fearsome, but at least he wasn’t the type to break promises.
But since they lost the war, they wouldn’t receive any rewards. Their circumstances had already gotten worse due to the drought, and now it was truly hard to make a living.
The reason they were broke was that Count Desmond had taken almost everything, thinking he would win the war quickly and leaving just a little bit of food. Yet, they were misplacing their resentment.
They believed that their rewards for winning the war were lost because of Ghislaine. Especially the territory residents living in the central area, who had a lot of pride in their territory, were the most dissatisfied.
Claude scratched his head as he looked at the grumbling territory residents.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? Why does everyone seem to dislike us?”
They’d end up liking him later anyway.
Chuckling to himself, Claude then shouted loudly.
“We will provide the rewards that Count Desmond promised! And we’ll give double!”
“…?”
The territory residents’ eyes widened. They weren’t expecting anything at all, so hearing that they’d receive double was hard to believe.
Among the people watching, a neatly dressed old man stepped up and asked.
“Is that really true? Will you truly give us that much?”
“Absolutely! I’ve never told a lie in my life!”
The territory residents all shot him distrustful looks. Odd rumors about Claude had already spread all over Desmond Territory.
Not understanding why he was receiving such looks the moment he arrived, Claude got irritated.
“I’ll distribute it right now! I’ve set up temporary distribution centers all over, so bring the certificates you got from Count Desmond! But since everyone contributed different items, we’ll unify it and distribute food for fast handling!”
At those words, the expressions of the territory residents brightened. Receiving food was obviously a greater benefit. They needed it to survive immediately, and whatever was left could easily be sold to passing merchant groups.
As the rumors spread, the territory residents approached the distribution centers with a mix of trust and distrust.
“Wow! They really are giving it!”
“I received more than promised!”
“Count Penris is the best!”
To them, it didn’t really matter who the lord of the territory was. The lord who treated them well was the best.
Unlike other territories in the North, there weren’t many people in Desmond starving to death.
So, just by distributing food, the livelihoods quickly stabilized.
The residents of poor villages in the outskirts were even more excited than those in the central area when they received food donations.
Unlike the central citizens who had at least a little loyalty to Count Desmond, they didn’t even know who he was.
They had simply paid taxes and received some provisions when asked.
But now, with no demands made and food given instead, praises for Count Penris grew daily.
“See! They really are giving it! Trust me!”
Claude danced around the Desmond region. As he quickly consoled the territory residents, their hostility towards Penris significantly decreased.
“Ugh, but there’s another issue at hand.”
Even if the hostility lessened, the atmosphere of the territory didn’t stabilize overnight. It was the aftershock caused by Count Desmond taking all the troops away.
Stability didn’t come all at once. It was the aftershock of Count Desmond pulling all his troops out.
Claude blinked tiredly and gave Ghislaine a new report.
“There are way too many crime organizations popping up. Especially after the rumor spread that Desmond was defeated, a bunch of weirdos started crawling out of the woodwork. Looks like they’ve made ambitious plans to establish themselves amid the chaos of the occupation.”
“Really? More crime organizations?”
“Of course! Since Count Desmond took all the guards with him, it’s only natural. It’s going to take some time to sort this mess out.”
“Hmm, the territory residents must be quite shaken, right?”
“Absolutely. There are so many who are eyeing the food we distributed that they can’t even sleep properly. Some have already been robbed. We still haven’t fully taken control of the administration and public order.”
It was an area that couldn’t be handled in one go. The administrative system needed changes like Penris, and a lot of management was necessary.
Moreover, to maintain order in this vast territory, military forces needed to be appropriately deployed. Though trainees were continuously arriving, there was still a manpower shortage. Securing order was ultimately a time-consuming issue.
“Hmmm… We need to stabilize things quickly.”
Count Desmond was merely one of the hurdles. The faster they stabilized the territory, the sooner they could start preparing to fight more formidable enemies.
They needed to build a fortress, unite the villages, and set up various facilities. But if the territory residents were too anxious to focus on their work, it would be a huge loss.
“How long do you think it will take?”
“We’re trying to secure order by deploying knights and hunters, but it’s not easy. We don’t know the terrain well, and we aren’t collaborating well with the territory residents. It’ll take at least half a year to get things organized.”
“No way! That’s way too long! Look at all the things we have to do, and you want to spend months just catching criminals?”
“Hah, you think it’s that easy? It’s not just about catching them and calling it a day.”
You can’t just waltz up to someone and say, “Hey, you’re a criminal? Die.” That’s why crime organizations survive secretly and stubbornly.
So nobles often turned a blind eye to crime organizations as long as they paid their taxes well. It was convenient to use them for dirty work.
Even if you catch people recklessly, that’s not the end of it. You also need to verify if they actually committed a crime and go through a trial to determine their punishment.
“It’s the sneaky ones that are the real problem. You can grab the ones committing crimes right now, but how do you deal with those lurking around doing bad things? They aren’t doing anything wrong at the moment.”
It seemed trivial, but it was a surprisingly important issue. If they skip proper procedures, it could lead to the territory residents distrusting their lord.
Some of the captured folks might not even be criminals, and even if they knew they were, the lack of due process could plant seeds of unconscious anxiety and resentment, fearing that they might become a target next.
That’s why nobles always pretended to uphold principle and law, at least on the surface.
Of course, a wicked lord wouldn’t care about the insecurities of the territory residents, but Ghislaine couldn’t appear to be that kind of lord.
“Hmmm… But we can’t just leave it be, right?”
“Exactly. We need to strengthen order and prevent any reckless activities. We’ll just have to keep suppressing and monitoring them. After some time, things should stabilize. That’s just how it is.”
“That’s too inefficient. It takes too long, and I don’t like it. It looks like I have no choice but to step in again.”
“What… what do you plan to do this time?”
“Isn’t it enough to just not give off the impression that the lord is executing laws as they please? As long as there are no rumors about the lord taking innocent people, we should be fine.”
“Well… that’s true.”
“Then it’s not hard. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, crime for a crime.”
“Wait, what?”
As Claude responded with an uneasy look, Ghislaine grinned.
“Bring me my mask. I must deliver divine punishment to those scoundrels.”
As long as no one found out it was him, he was in the clear.
The Plunder King and his 40 thieves would take care of the problem.
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