Chapter 26 - Chapter 26: Talent is a Treasure
"...Ei... um, Noein-sama."
"Huh."
Inside the manor, in his own office, Noein had fallen asleep; he woke up when Matilda called out to him and gently shook his shoulder.
"Sorry, Matilda, I fell asleep."
"Noein-sama, are you feeling unwell or something?"
He returned a smile to her as she asked with a worried expression.
"I'm fine, thank you. I just got a little tired from pushing myself too hard with work."
"Then, at the very least, why not take a short break? I shall brew some tea."
"Yeah, I think I'll take you up on that."
"I will bring it immediately."
As Matilda left the office after saying so, Noein stood up from his chair and stretched.
The development was proceeding extremely smoothly, there were no longer immediate worries about money, and the livability of the manor was nothing short of comfortable.
However, Noein was currently facing a major problem.
A shortage of manpower.
If one were to manage a territory, work such as clerical tasks and accounting was unavoidable. Until now, he only had to calculate income from monster hunting and expenses for shopping, but currently, with the sale of raw lapis lazuli and payments due to the construction rush, the movement of money had increased, and inevitably, the management duties for those figures had also surged.
Furthermore, since the men of the settlement took turns going to the Lestiio Mountains for mining work, and performed corvée labor such as maintaining wooden fences and roads or the heavy lifting of house construction around the residential area, there was also the task of organizing those shifts. Adjusting them so that the balance of working days and such did not become poor was quite grueling work.
Because the men spent a lot of time away from the farmland due to various corvée duties, it was also necessary for the remaining settlers who were free to tend to the farmlands of those who were absent. Shifts for that had to be organized as well.
Therefore, Noein had been continuing a considerable amount of overwork—handling these detailed clerical and accounting tasks, helping with farm work using golems himself whenever manpower was absolutely insufficient, and cutting down forests in the intervals to expand the flat land...
A succession of unfamiliar tasks: managing the work of dozens of settlers and grasping and recording all the finances of a territory, small as it was. Stress accumulated, and sleep tended to become insufficient; to be honest, he was exhausted.
That said, there was no one else he could rely on besides himself.
Matilda could handle basic reading, writing, and calculation, but she had to manage this manor and perform housework such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and preparing the bath. Furthermore, the maintenance of the lord's fields was currently left to Matilda. Now, she could only help Noein to the extent of doing so when she had free time.
To free up Matilda's hands, he wanted to hire maids from among the women of the settlement, but the current residential area did not have that much leeway in manpower.
The retainers like Yuri had experience with money counting and supply management during their mercenary days, so if they wanted to, they could likely handle supporting Noein. However, they had duties as retainers, such as maintaining public order within the settlement, patrolling the surroundings, and shopping in Retovik, and they also had the management of their own fields.
As for Yuri, who had experience with clerical work as a former mercenary captain and would be the most reliable, he was away from the settlement for more than half the month to manage the mining work in the Lestiio Mountains.
Edgar could also read, write, and calculate since he was the village head's son, but he had the job of organizing the farmers and providing guidance on farm work.
In the current Arqvist territory, there was a fatal shortage of talent capable of intellectual labor who also had free time. Noein felt strongly once again that if there were at least one person who could handle clerical work and accounting...
While he was letting his thoughts wander at length, Matilda brought him warm tea. He received it and took a sip.
"I feel it might still be a bit early, but maybe I'll try asking that person..."
While relaxing with the aroma and taste of the tea, Noein muttered softly.
...
A few days later, Noein was heading to Retovik for shopping while manipulating the golems. Today's companions were Matilda, Pence, and Mai.
Since pack horses had come to the Arqvist territory and he had been liberated from shopping duties, he had left the last few shopping trips to the retainers; nevertheless, there was a reason why Noein himself was heading to Retovik this time.
Half a day after leaving the settlement, they arrived in Retovik and entered Eliza's shop.
"Hello, Eliza-san."
"Oh, welcome, Baronet-sama. It has been a long time."
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to show my face directly lately."
"No, no, I am grateful that you always buy so much food from my shop."
Because the population of the Arqvist territory had increased significantly, the transactions with Noein had become a considerable profit for Eliza. From Eliza's perspective, Noein was one of the VIP customers she especially wanted to welcome.
After purchasing food as usual and paying the fee, Noein brought up a certain topic with Eliza.
"By the way, Eliza-san, I have a bit of a consultation..."
"Oh, what is it? If I can be of help, I would be happy to assist."
Noein continued his story to Eliza, who answered pleasantly.
"Actually, in my territory right now, we have a shortage of talent capable of desk work such as clerical tasks and accounting... I thought that as a merchant, Eliza-san might have connections to such talent, so I wondered if there is anyone you could introduce? If there is, I intend to take care of their migration."
"Someone who can do clerical work and accounting, and would migrate to Baronet-sama's territory... I can't think of anyone immediately. I am sorry."
"I see. As expected, then."
"If they can read, write, and calculate, they can find a good job even within Retovik. People who think about migrating to another territory are quite rare..."
"Ahaha, my territory is still very much the countryside, after all. I understand, sorry for asking too much of you."
While exchanging such a conversation, Noein noticed that Eliza's daughter, Anna, who was listening nearby, had a face that looked as if she wanted to say something.
She had something she wanted to say. But she couldn't quite make up the resolve to say it.
Anna was in such a state, but just as Noein left the shop and was about to return, she spoke up as if she had made up her mind.
"U-Um! Baronet-sama, that talk of migration, c-could I please be the one to take it!"