CH 114

Why did I decide to join the Orrard family? To answer this question, I have to look back at the events that took place during the long winter vacation.

I sat upside down in my chair and looked toward the fireplace but there was no warm glow from the fire, because a woman with silver hair reminiscent of snow is wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace.

“Would you move out of the way? It’s not getting any warmer in here.”

“I think it’s just the right temperature.”

“I guess that would be just fine there but what about me?”

“I don’t know.”

With that, Yulis tilted his head like a cute little squirrel.

I sat back in my chair and looked at Hal, only to get a nod back. I turned to the others, but their reactions were the same. It’s useless to say. They must have just agreed to that.

After giving up and looking at Hal, Zion, and Macbeth at the table in turn, I called out to them.

“Well, let’s begin our regularly scheduled meeting. Then, starting with Hal, we’ll go clockwise.”

Hal stood up lazily and began to speak.

“First, let’s start with the current situation. The Viscount’s family has made a lot of progress in the past year.”

Hal is right, the Viscountry has grown a lot in the past year. Population, tax revenues, and production rates have all increased more than they have in the past few years. This is because the larger the size, the greater the rate of increase.

We are now a flying bird. Domestically, our family was becoming a force to be reckoned with. Well, it was only in the last year or so that we finally began to understand the domestic situation, and the intelligence agencies began to function.

“The shortage of civilian officials has been eliminated thanks to the graduates of the academy, and we now have more money to spare for construction and imports. In addition to the traditional business of specialty products, the production and export of clothing made from processed cotton is also going well. We are not inferior to the great aristocrats in terms of money,” he said.

“So we’re doing well, right?”

The farmers are settling the land, the saltwater sorting is going well, and food production is not a problem but the Alcala family didn’t leave, which is a concern.”

That’s right. I don’t know why, but the Alcala family did not withdraw. It may be because they are making a profit by tapping into our market, but I believe there are other reasons because I received a letter from the Marquis of Alcala. The letter said, “I have decided to respect my daughter’s wishes. I believe in her.”

I think Claire probably felt guilty for injuring me, so she told the Marquis something. The rest, well, there are some minor problems but nothing critical.

I don’t know what kind of problems are “minor problems,” but if I make a mistake, I’m stuck. For us, who were in a situation where we could have been dead in the water if we made a wrong move, such problems were not even a problem. I’m sure Hal will take care of it.

“Thank you. Next, Zion.”

When I nominated him, Zion stood up quickly. Whenever I saw him, I used to worry about his shaded, fragile appearance, but now he was looking very healthy.

“The construction of the outer wall and moat surrounding the city has been successfully completed. I am now in the process of directing the minor works and planning the construction of the new city.”

Our city had been transformed into a solid fortified city thanks to the successful completion of the construction work orchestrated by the Orrard family. They are even planning to build a new city for the growing number of people.

“Thanks for your help, Zion.”

“No, I’ve been so overworked that I haven’t been able to sleep, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.”

“Sorry about that.”

Planning the construction of a city requires a lot of work, but apparently it is not enough for the genius Zion. Or perhaps I had pushed him too hard, working morning and afternoon on the site and designing at night.

I made Zion sit down to work then I nominated Macbeth.

“Macbeth.”

“The number of soldiers and civil servants of the Viscount domain has now exceeded five hundred.”

Macbeth stood up, brushed his long blond hair out of his face, and then said.

“And the skill level?”

“The new recruits are excellent, and their spears are as good as those of my squires.”

“And the peasants? Are they trained well enough to defend themselves against bandits?”

Macbeth laughed dryly when I said that.

“Yes, of course. A long bow is better than an ordinary soldier, isn’t it?”

“That’s great! What kind of training are they doing?”

When I asked out of curiosity, Macbeth made a very subtle face and shifted his gaze to Yulis.

“The training at our school is extremely spartan, isn’t it? Because of that, the soldiers who we teach impose extremely severe training on the others to relieve their resentment.”

“Heh, heh…….”

“The farmers can’t complain as long as they are getting paid. The brunt of it goes to the bandits, and as soon as they find them, they borrow weapons from us and go to lay waste to them…….”

I felt very uncomfortable and just looked at Yulis silently but she just tilted her head again. I was worried that she really didn’t understand.

Well, let’s put that aside. I understood why Hazuki was not here today, saying that he was busy increasing the production of weapons.

After Macbeth’s report, I took stock of the current situation. There are some things going on, but overall the situation is going well. This is because each and every one of them is doing a wonderful job.

In addition, seeing her sitting in front of the fireplace, I hate to admit it, but it is probably due to the efforts of Yulis who has put all of this together.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I looked at Yulis again.

“I wouldn’t mind a compliment, if you don’t mind.”

“How do you know this?”

She read my inner thoughts, which she was not supposed to understand.

After that, I gave Yulis the appropriate compliments and summarized the situation for everyone.

“Well, to sum up, we are doing too well.”

Everyone, including myself, let out a sigh at that comment.

“We can’t be neutral anymore…”

“Yeah. Since we have this much strength, money, and logistics we have become a nuisance.”

Although we do not yet have the ability to fight with the three families, we have become a nuisance to them. The territory is expected to continue to develop steadily in the future. It was still good for now, but they were bound to cause some kind of incident soon.

“So now I have a question for you, Chris. Did you get any information at the school?”

“Yes, I did. The campus is divided into the royalist faction, the prime minister’s faction, and the neutral faction.”

“Then, which side do you think we should be on?”

“The Prime Minister will win in the current situation.”

The first thing I need to do is to make sure that I have a good understanding of the situation.

It’s not like I haven’t made any moves over the past year either. I had started showing up at Alfred’s salon through Kiyo. When I looked at Alfredo’s faction, I found that there were competent people there based on the information I had obtained through tests, the mock battle, and other activities.

Furthermore, I conducted research on the situation of the aristocrats, which I heard from Yusuk, and other merchants who I had snuck in through the Sotheby’s Trading Company. For this reason I had already gained an understanding of the level of trustworthiness of each of the nobles, and I could say with certainty that the Prime Minister’s faction that Alfred was in would win the battle.

“Chris-sama thinks so, too? Above all, the power of the neighboring Topo Empire is great.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I agreed with Hal and when I turned to Yulis, she nodded back. That’s how I decided to join Alfred’s camp.