Chapter 163 - 161 Former Gran Territory's Seaside
I had arrived at the seaside of my new territory, the former Gran Territory.
The plan I was considering was to consolidate the fishermen and let them use the good fishing grounds equally, but it seemed the various fishing villages were in opposition with each other.
(Guess I'll just wrap things up quickly!)
I investigated using 'Presence Concealment' and 'Concealment'.
There were three main fishing villages, but the middle village seemed to have the largest population and the most power. The net boss was like a village chief, and the three villages were by no means on good terms.
So, I visited the weakest village.
"My name is Shivans O'Brien, and I have become the lord of this territory. I would like to pay my respects to the net boss, if I may?"
Upon hearing that the net boss was bedridden with illness, I decided to treat him as well.
"You must be Baron Shivans von O'Brien. I am Taizou, the net boss here. This is my daughter, Kairi, and the one beside her is my two-and-a-half-year-old grandson."
Kairi had the feel of a gyaru.
She had a sharp-looking face, blonde hair, and was a beauty with big breasts. She seemed to be in her teens, but I was curious about her husband and was about to ask when three men came stomping in.
"Kairi! It's about time you became my woman!"
"Give it a rest, Gonta! Who'd ever want to be your woman?! Besides, it's not decided my husband is dead yet!"
Taizou complained to the three who were snickering.
"Do you have any idea who this person is?! This is the Lord! Don't cause a commotion!"
"A brat like this? What Lord? There's no way a noble would come to a village like this, right? Look at his clothes, he's an adventurer! He's just claiming to be one, right? Well, at least he's got a good face, huh?"
Kairi complained to the three who were laughing raucously.
"If you look down on him for being young, don't come crying to me when you get hurt later, you know?"
"By this brat? Us? Don't make me laugh! My stomach hurts!"
When he tried to grab me, I threw him outside, and Gonta ended up covered in sand.
"Big Brother!!"
The other two seemed to be his younger brothers.
"My, my? An ugly fool who doesn't even know manners. Who do you think you are?"
The three brothers were furious at being mocked by me.
"Unlike you, who's just claiming to be one, we are bona-fide sons of the net boss!"
Hearing the commotion, the villagers gathered.
"What's going on?"
"The good-for-nothing three brothers are here..."
"Are they gonna rape someone again?"
Seeing the villagers hiding their daughters and wives, I burst out laughing.
"'Sons of the net boss' my ass! You've got no real ability, and your faces look like sharks! The only thing 'bona-fide' about you is that you're criminals, right?"
In a flash, at a speed they couldn't see, I kicked them in the crotch. To everyone else, it just looked like the three suddenly grabbed their groins, and they themselves didn't understand what had happened.
But... they seemed to understand that something inside them had made a "squelch" sound, and that it was now useless and in intense pain.
"Y-You... what did you do?"
"Nothing. You must have caught some strange disease from someone, huh?"
They had some idea, but couldn't deny it outright. "Remember this! We'll definitely crush you!" the three said, crawling away on their hands and knees, receiving applause from the villagers.
I cast 'High Heal' on Taizou and made him drink a nutritional drink, and he perked right up.
"Amazing! But... Lord, we don't have money for..."
"It's fine. It's enough if you work hard from now on and pay your taxes. If there are others who need treatment..."
Before I could finish speaking, people started coming one after another.
"Doctor! My back hurts!"
"Lord! I have a headache, you see?"
"My shoulders are really stiff..."
"I think I caught a cold..."
There were about fifty villagers in total, so I decided to examine everyone.
"O-Oh, there's nothing wrong with me!"
"I'm fine too, you know?"
Then I said, "It hurts when you press here, right?" and when I pressed, some people winced in pain, surprising everyone.
From noon, I built a large bath behind the net boss's house and told everyone, "Feel free to use it!" then borrowed the kitchen to cook.
Kairi was surprised and tried to stop me.
"That's women's work!"
"In my territory, men cook too... and I'm told it's quite delicious."
Leaving a surprised Kairi behind, I started cooking.
There was a fish similar to flounder, so I made a simmered dish and some fried pieces, which were well-received. I also used the bones to make ara-jiru and served that.
"Oh! Lord Shivans, you even cook despite being a noble? This is exquisite! Everyone, eat up!"
"I'm honored to receive such praise from the net boss."
When I bowed my head, the villagers laughed.
I also served sake, and everyone got in high spirits and became talkative, telling me about this village.
"Lord. Kairi is still waiting for her husband to come home, you know! Isn't that admirable? Kairi's husband and the others went out to sea on a boat three years ago and never came back. It's because of Gonta and his lot!"
"What do you mean?"
Listening to the story, it seemed the central village monopolized the good fishing grounds and prevented the villages on either side from fishing. So, they went far out seeking other fishing grounds and lost contact while out at sea.
Then, Kairi, who was full of a delinquent vibe, came to pick a fight with me.
"Must be nice being a noble! Living the easy life off our taxes!"
I didn't deny it and just drank my sake, which made her complain even more. Taizou, the net boss, tried to step in.
"It's fine. We don't become nobles because we like it, but there's no doubt we're disliked. For example, if I said I'd provide good fishing grounds for everyone, you'd have to leave this village, your home, right? Some people want good fishing grounds but don't want to leave their home. In the end, lords are bound to be hated."
Everyone fell into thought at my words.
"True, I don't want to leave here..."
"But this village is just getting more and more desolate..."
Kairi also started saying she didn't want to leave this village.
"He's probably not coming back, right?"
"If you're going to raise a child, you should go to a good fishing ground!"
I understood what the villagers trying to persuade her were saying, but Kairi said, "But, just in case. If he comes back and no one is here, that guy would be in trouble. I have to be here, even if it's just me..."
"But Kairi-chan, you've already been waiting for three years. If he were alive somewhere, he should have come back by now, right?"
The aunties said this worriedly.
The aunties kindly explained the situation to me...
Kairi's husband and four others went out fishing on a boat.
At the time, Kairi was pregnant, and her husband was the type who wouldn't back down once he said he was going. The other four weren't very keen on it. The reason was that the sea was rough, so they opposed going far, but they were pushed by the argument that things would only get worse if they stayed, and reluctantly went.
As a result, five widows were created.
All of them were single, but apparently they were enjoying themselves in moderation while taking contraceptives.
"We'll think about it if it happens! You understand that women have needs too, right?"
They were saying carefree things.
But Kairi was the only one with a serious expression.
"Because I fought with my husband back then, saying 'We have a child now! There's no future like this!' I ended up causing trouble for everyone too..."
I understood that she was still blaming herself.
"I understand the feeling of blaming yourself. But you have to start living looking forward now! Kairi-chan, you have to live on for your child too! Your husband and the others made the final decision and went out themselves!"
One of the aunties said a good thing, and everyone agreed. Then, an old man poured me some sake.
"Young master, you've got it tough despite being so young. You even care about us! The previous lord or magistrate would have just ordered us around without mercy and that would be that."
"I just want to do what I can and make everyone happy."
Then, another old man poured me sake and said, "I think Gonta will come back for revenge. That guy's been throwing his father's power around and doing whatever he wants!"
"That's right! Gonta and his lot monopolized the fishing grounds and went crazy, saying 'If you want to fish, give us your women!' They were originally after Kairi-chan too! They wanted to marry her, take over this village, and turn the women here into sex slaves or prostitutes for the three brothers! That's what a guy from that village said!"
I already knew they were good-for-nothing brothers, but this really drove it home.
I said, "I'm sorry to ask..." and asked Kairi and the others about the missing husbands' characteristics and their boat, but I thought (There doesn't seem to be anything particularly distinctive about them).
Then one person said, "Hey, Kairi? Didn't Jinta wear something like an amulet around his neck?"
Kairi's husband was apparently named Jinta, but I could only infer the pendant's characteristics from vague memories. However, it was less clear than I'd hoped, so I ended up not finding out.
Around the same time, Vel and the Marine Corps were trying to capture various people.
Thugs with power, like the small-time pirates who extorted money from boats passing through the canal, claiming it was 'tax!', were running wild.
(I'll crush the petty power that Gonta and his father Samekichi have been wielding, acting like they're the lords!)
The next morning
Gonta and his two brothers appeared before us, leading a large group of fishermen.
"Coming to visit without an appointment during breakfast is, I must say, quite boorish."
My smiling remark seemed to irritate him.
"Shut up, you brat! I've got business with that old man Taizou and Kairi! This village is mine! We three are gonna take good care of Kairi! Hand her over now!"
I laughed loudly and shouted, "You fool!" which made Gonta flinch.
"Hah! What can you do alone?! Everyone! Get him!"
When he ordered the fishermen he'd brought, our villagers cowered. The women hid in the shadows, trembling. But... the villagers thought something was strange and watched closely.
No one attacked me.
"W-What are you doing! Take down that brat!"
The three Gonta brothers screamed and yelled.
"If you want it done so badly, you three go yourselves!"
"Honestly! They've got nothing but rape on their minds."
"All three of them, old as they are, are they idiots or what?"
"They've never even been out fishing!"
"You couldn't even handle one guy alone, could you? Little rich boys?"
Rather, they were mocked by the fishermen they'd brought, and the three brothers were on the verge of tears.
"W-What are you guys saying..."
Then, one man stepped forward.
"Let me tell you something, grandsons of the net boss. You're good-for-nothings who pride yourselves on your family name, don't work, and only rape women. You've been forgiven for your stupid deeds until now, but this time it's no good. That person is a genuine Lord! Your father Samekichi is probably already in chains by now."
The fishermen knelt before me.
"T-That can't be..."
The three brothers, told off, mocked, and abandoned by everyone, had their spirits completely broken and were crying.
So I asked Gonta.
"Did you like Kairi?"
"It's not like that. She just had a sexy face and body, so I just wanted to get a piece of her! She's a woman who can't forget her husband, right? I'd drug a woman like that! While she cried, I'd rape her, and if she went crazy with lust, that'd be the best, right? And then, once I got bored, I figured I could sell her off quick! Look at that face and body! Don't you think so too?"
I was thinking, "Don't ask me to agree with you," when Kairi, realizing she'd been insulted as having a sexy face and body and was slated to be sold to a slave trader, was filled with murderous intent and tried to hit him with a stick, but was stopped by those around her.
"So? Did you kill Jinta and the others? You killed husbands and boyfriends in other villages too, just to get at their women, right?"
This was what everyone had been thinking.
"No! Sure, I thought if Jinta died, I could get with Kairi and the others right away, but I never thought about killing him! It wasn't me with the other villages! It was my little brothers who killed the men who were in the way!"
The two younger brothers panicked at having the blame shifted onto them.
"That's dirty, big brother! You killed people too!"
"That's right! Besides, I heard Jinta and the others are alive! There's even a guy who said he saw them in the neighboring Port Town Marino!"
A story that was hard to believe suddenly came from Gonta's younger brother.
It seemed Gonta and his lot thought that if they drove them out of the fishing grounds, they'd be in trouble and would offer up their wives...
(If they're alive, why don't they come back?)
Despite my doubts, I captured Gonta and his brothers and said, "Apologize to the people you've caused trouble for." They cried and performed dogeza.
Then Vel and the others appeared.
"We've captured Samekichi, young master!"
"I see. There seem to be other crimes too. Confiscate Samekichi and his family's assets and compensate the victims. Also..."
I decided to draw portraits of Jinta and the others and have them searched for.
Meanwhile, Gonta was reunited with his captured father in the carriage prison and finally realized his own foolishness, crying.
"We... we lived feeling like we ruled the world. But thinking about it now, everyone was laughing at us for being useless! It's all my old man's fault! If he'd raised us properly, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Don't blame others! You're thirty years old! You three were the ones who got a kick out of playing thug! Don't you dare say that to me now!"
They were having an ugly internal squabble, but from now on, they'd be construction laborers, and after that, they'd probably spend the rest of their lives regretting it while working in the mines until they died.
The captured Gonta and his brothers confessed honestly, surprising Vel and the others.
"What is that young master guy? We felt like we were caught in invisible spider webs. Before we knew it, we were isolated, and when we realized it, we were in this state..."
"The young master is thoughtful. You were probably already trapped from the moment you got involved with him!"
"We won't defy him anymore..."
The three said in unison to Vel, but he just laughed and said, "Too little, too late."
Four days later.
Jinta and the others were indeed alive.
But the five of them didn't come back; instead, they sent a letter.
The contents were...
They hadn't been shipwrecked; their catch was zero, and while they were at a loss, another fisherman called out to them, saying, "If you go to Port Town Marino, there's work!" so they hurried there. At first, they planned to earn some money, get some food, and go back immediately, but gradually it became more comfortable, and they no longer wanted to return to the poor village.
[We know we all have wives, and we haven't forgotten. But after about a year passed, we each found new relationships, and now all five of us have wives and children here. It's too late now, but we have no face to show you. Please think of us as dead and forget about us.]
With this, four of the wives were able to let go.
"I'm not hung up on them!"
"Right, right! I thought they were long dead anyway!"
"Tonight, I'm gonna get embraced by a good man!"
"Ufufu! Maybe I'll even have a threesome!"
The men also laughed it off, saying, "Well, that's just how fishermen are!"
The only one who couldn't accept or understand was Kairi.
"Hah? He said he'd love only me for his whole life, the bastard! I'll kill him!"
She tore the letter to shreds and said to one of our Marine Corps soldiers, "Take me to Jinta! I want to see if it's really him!" so I took her there using Instant Movement.
(I'll stop it if it looks like it's going to turn into a bloody scene.)
I thought I could just restrain her with 'Bind' if worst came to worst. When they met again, she cried, saying, "Jinta, you really are alive! I'm so glad!"
I imagined it would immediately turn into a bloody scene, but Kairi showed a mature response. Then Jinta bowed his head.
"I felt bad for you, but I found a woman I truly love. I'm saying this now, but I could never stand up to you, the net boss's daughter, and when you got pregnant, there was a part of me that felt relieved, thinking 'My role is over now.' You were always complaining and angry, so you scared me. I always wanted to run away..."
"Is that so... I'm sorry for being a nagging woman..."
Then I said to Jinta, "This might be meddling, but..."
"Kairi-san was pressured by Gonta from the neighboring fishing village, but she believed you were alive and kept waiting for three whole years. I think she truly loved you."
Thinking there might be a chance for him to live with Kairi and his son again, I suggested it, but Jinta immediately denied it.
"I'm sorry. Life with her was painful for me. In the old days, I always wanted to embrace her because I liked her sexy face and body. I think I was just young."
He said that now, her face was scary, her cooking was bad, and she was always complaining. On top of that, even their night-time activities were painful, and he couldn't enjoy them at all, he vented his dissatisfaction.
"I see. So you're satisfied with your new life?"
"That's right! Just leave me alone."
Kairi was stunned to hear her husband's true feelings, but perhaps she had given up? She thanked Jinta, and I carried her back, almost cradling her.
When we got back, she said, "Let's drink!" and started drinking heavily.
"So, I'm bad at both cooking and sex! He thought I was a nag, huh! Then give me back my virginity and the days from when we met until now! That's what you're thinking, Lord Shivans, right? And drink more! You can't drink my sake because my face is scary, is that it?"
Kairi was causing a scene and getting tangled up with me. Everyone else, not wanting to get caught up in it, quickly fled, leaving us alone.
"Um, Kairi-san? ...Your breasts and your... down there are completely exposed, so, um, I think you should cover up?"
"Is the young master a virgin? It's fine, it's not like seeing it will make it disappear! Fishermen's women are seen all the time! Damn it! I should have played around too!"
I calmed her down, set up a barrier to prevent damage, and at an appropriate time, cast 'Sleep' on her to put her to bed.
The next morning
When I woke up and was changing, Kairi woke up. She held her head and said, "Ow ow..." in a hungover state.
"What was so wrong with me? You're a teacher, right? Tell me! My mother died young, so she never taught me how to cook. I didn't know anything about relationships between men and women, or sex either... Was it all my fault?"
Then I recalled what Jinta had said.
"Probably, Kairi was too eager for Jinta to become the net boss quickly. He probably felt the same way at first. But he couldn't live up to Kairi's expectations, they grew apart, and his feelings drifted away. Isn't that how it was?"
"That might be it... I should have devoted myself to him more as a wife and as a woman. Even if I realize it now, it's too late... I should have tried harder instead of saying I couldn't cook or didn't understand femininity..."
"You're still young, you have time!"
"R-Really? Teach me all sorts of things! You're a teacher, right?"
Her breasts and pussy were completely exposed, but she still seemed a bit out of it, so I took her to the bath, cleaned her up, and then had her suck my dick.
"It's good to lick it using your tongue! That's right... like that."
She hadn't even done this with Jinta, so I taught her. She seemed to not fully understand what she was doing, but when I told her I was teaching her how to devote herself to a man, she started awkwardly.
I released a lot into her mouth and said, "You have to swallow the semen. Come on, drink it." She seemed to have trouble swallowing it, but she did. After that, I cast 'Sleep' on her, took her to her room, and let her sleep soundly.
Everyone woke up in the afternoon, but they were all limp from hangovers.
"My mouth feels weird. It's all sticky...?"
"Oh my? Did you suck someone's dick, Kairi?"
The aunties laughed at her.
"I'd be jealous if it was the teacher!"
"I'd swallow for the young master too!"
Teased by the women, and with her memory hazy, she came to confirm.
"I don't remember, but... did I say or do anything weird?"
I wanted to say yes.
"You said you wanted to devote yourself to a man."
"I see... is that so... but it wasn't Gonta or Jinta!"
She muttered "Those scumbags..." resentfully, but then fell into thought, as if searching her memories of the night before. However, she was plagued by a hangover headache and soon couldn't focus on that.
Over the past four days, I had also been cooperating in the town development. Sea Capital had been digging many canals to create waterways, but this was also to enrich the sea.
I consolidated the existing fishing villages and created a new fishing town. The reason I made it accessible by boat from the sea was to build a fish market along the river. Fish would be unloaded directly from the boats for auction.
Beyond the port of the fishing town were rich fishing grounds, and offshore, I created artificial reefs and exterminated the sharks. The usable parts of the caught sharks were given free of charge to the fish paste factory, which was appreciated.
In the fishing town, I built many comfortable houses for everyone to move into. I also prepared boats. I cast 'Revive' on the ships we had captured, making them look brand new. I distributed them to everyone, so they could go fishing immediately.
Women and children could work in the salt fields or market, and I also prepared many other jobs like restaurants, the fish paste factory, a sewing factory, nurses, and nursery teachers. Taizou, who became the net boss of the new fishing town, was delighted.
There was a cape to the west of the fishing port, which also served as a breakwater.
Using earth magic, I also developed the area around the cape, creating a wharf, and named the top of the cape's tip the Panorama Sky Open-air Bath, so the fishermen could enjoy it.
"Lord Shivans. Is it really alright for me to be the net boss?"
"Of course. It's the will of everyone!"
When I shook hands with Taizou, everyone was overjoyed.