Chapter 38 - Chapter 37: The Migration Rush and the General Merchant
As February entered its final days, the climate began to shift toward early spring. The air grew warmer bit by bit, and travel along the highways resumed.
As the season transitioned into spring, the Arqvist Knight-Bachelor territory was undergoing a great change. It was a migration rush.
The seeds of the rumor that "the Arqvist territory is accepting refugees," which Noein had sown last year, began to sprout rapidly, as if they had been waiting for the end of winter.
New refugees arrived every few days, and in the few weeks since winter's end, the population of the territorial capital, Noeina, was on the verge of exceeding 70 people.
"Sorry for making you so busy right after you migrated here, Dmitri."
"Not at all; if anything, I'm grateful to be allowed to work to my heart's content all of a sudden. Besides, I'm being paid properly."
Noein exchanged these words with the carpenter, Dmitri, while receiving a report on the progress of house construction in the manor's office.
Having quit the construction guild he belonged to in Retovik and migrated to the territorial capital Noeina early after winter's end to start his own guild, he was immediately diligently working on the construction of new houses.
Noein had ordered many houses in advance, anticipating the increase in immigrants, but there were so many hopeful migrants that it seemed they would eventually run out at this pace.
"Still, giving a house and farmland to every single immigrant household... that's quite generous. I even ended up getting a fine house and a workshop myself."
"Thanks to the lapis lazuli vein, our territory has a plentiful budget for its size. I judged that it would be more profitable in the long run to increase the speed of development by ensuring the immigrants could stabilize their lives and start working immediately."
Indeed, the refugees who came to the Arqvist territory began growing crops, primarily spring-planted potatoes, on their granted farmland a few days after migrating. By immediately converting the accepted refugees into a labor force, Noeina's agricultural productivity was also expanding rapidly.
For now, Noein intended to give houses and farmland to at least the first 100 immigrant households, and buildings for shops or workshops if there were merchants or artisans. This was also aimed at spreading the rumor that "if you go to the Arqvist territory now, you can start a new life immediately."
"If that's the case, I'll put my heart into building these houses."
"Yes. I'm counting on you."
After finishing the discussion with Dmitri, Noein asked Anna to organize the records of construction costs and stepped outside the manor. Since he had spent the day cooped up in the office doing paperwork, he would now conduct an inspection of the village, which would also serve as a break.
Matilda was attending by Noein's side. Since there were many new immigrants whose detailed backgrounds were not yet known, she accompanied him whenever he left the manor, serving not only as an adjutant but also as Noein's guard.
The territorial capital Noeina, which already had several vacant houses for migrants even before winter, was evolving into a more lively village as the number of residents increased.
"Hey Edgar, good work."
"Ah, Noein-sama. Thank you."
After passing through the central area where the houses were clustered and heading toward the farmland, he encountered the attendant Edgar, who supervised farm work as the person in charge of agriculture for this territory.
"The planting seems to be going well."
"Yes. The manpower has increased, after all. We also plan to newly cultivate the land that Noein-sama had previously leveled and utilize it as farmland. We've also become able to use oxen."
To Edgar, who happily reported that the pace of farm work was increasing, Noein replied with a smile, "I see, that's good."
It wasn't just humans that had increased in the Arqvist territory. Before winter, the only livestock were chickens, but now they were raising pigs for meat and oxen to help with farm work.
Edgar, coming from a village head's family, knew how to handle oxen, and the pigs were possible because there was someone among the new immigrants who had made pig farming their livelihood.
If the population continued to increase at this pace, it was inevitable that meat would become scarce if they relied solely on monster hunting around the territorial capital Noeina. Noein thought it was fortunate that they had been able to start pig farming within the territory now.
Additionally, it was a big deal that Noein was freed from the task of having golems pull wheeled plows to cultivate the land, thanks to the oxen.
After speaking with Edgar, Noein walked around the territorial capital Noeina aimlessly, indulging in a stroll in the name of an inspection. The residents who saw him bowed respectfully and greeted him, and Noein waved back cheerfully.
"It's fun, isn't it, Matilda?"
"Yes, Noein-sama. I can feel the territorial capital Noeina developing day by day."
Among the attendants and residents, it had somehow become customary to attach "territorial capital" to the front when referring to Noeina.
In addition to preventing mistakes since the distinction between Noein and Noeina was confusing, this also contained their enthusiasm—the feeling that "we will develop our new land to a scale where it can be called a city."
That was why, even at this current stage where it could only be called a small village, everyone called it "the territorial capital Noeina." This was an expression of the attendants' and residents' expectations for the Arqvist territory, and an expression of their trust in Noein.
...
On another day, having received a report that a traveling merchant had come to the square of the territorial capital Noeina, Noein headed to the square himself, accompanied by Anna, who was in charge of finances, and Matilda, his guard.
"Hello, Philip-san."
"Ah, Arqvist Knight-Bachelor-sama. It is an honor to be greeted personally by the Lord."
"No, since you've gone through the trouble of coming to such a rural territory to trade, the least I can do is greet you."
He called out to a young man who was having a donkey pull a small wagon in the square, selling the goods loaded in the wagon to the residents of Noeina.
This young merchant named Philip had occasionally visited the territorial capital Noeina to trade since winter ended. He dealt in a variety of items: needles, thread, cloth, candles, soap, knives, liquor, spices, combs, cosmetics, and even some basic medicines. He was what was known as a general merchant.
Personal consumption in small villages that weren't large enough to have shops was supported by such general merchants. Starting this spring, Philip had been spending half a day traveling here to make a profit in the Arqvist territory ahead of other general merchants.
"Is there anything you require today?"
"I don't have a grasp of the manor's consumables... please discuss the specific shopping with Anna."
"My apologies. Then, let us begin immediately."
"Yes, I will read out the items we would like to buy."
Anna read the items and required quantities from the shopping list, and Philip prepared them.
In a noble territory where the lord is the absolute top, the territory's finances are directly linked to the lord's household budget. Therefore, Anna, the sole person in charge of finances in the territory, also grasped and managed the income and expenditures of Noein's manor's daily life.
In other words, she held the purse strings of the manor. The task of restocking these daily necessities was also her domain.
"That is all. The total comes to 850 Rebro."
"Understood. Here you go."
"...Yes, received."
Philip nodded after confirming the eight silver coins and five large copper coins received from Anna. With this, the transaction was complete.
"How is business in our territory?"
"Oh, thanks to you, I have been making a great deal of profit. The people of the territorial capital Noeina seem to have some leeway in their lives."
"Ahaha, well, we have both work and farmland, after all."
As the food self-sufficiency rate of the territorial capital Noeina increased, the rewards for corvée labor, such as the mining of raw lapis lazuli and land reclamation work, were increasingly paid in cash. Therefore, the residents of the Arqvist territory had more cash than farmers in general villages and had enough leeway to buy some luxury goods.
"Lately, the conflicts with the neighboring countries to the east and west have been gradually affecting the economy, so this prosperity is truly enviable."
"Is the influence of the conflicts really that large?"
"Yes. Especially in the west, I hear that the Kingdom of Lancel has launched an offensive again now that winter has ended... I hope it doesn't develop into a full-scale war."
"Indeed. Nothing is better than peace."
Looking at the recent increase in refugees, he could have predicted that the conflicts had not subsided, but he could not miss the opportunity to hear accurate information about the situation outside the territory from someone with a merchant's information network. For a while, Noein chatted with Philip, having him share the information he knew.
Eventually, when he brought the conversation to a close at an appropriate point, Philip said he would finish his business for today and return to Retovik.
As Noein watched Philip leave along the highway leading to the Koenitz Viscount territory, Pence, who was in charge of maintaining public order in the territory, approached.
"...Noein-sama, about that general merchant."
"I know. He's probably a spy for Viscount Koenitz, right?"
"Eh?"
When Pence, who had been keeping watch on Philip as an outsider, spoke, Noein answered before him.
Anna, who had been listening to the two, let out a surprised voice. It was only natural, as Philip had been wearing a gentle and friendly smile.
Incidentally, Matilda did not be surprised because she had heard this from Noein before.
"I've met Philip-san several times when I lived in Retovik, but he's just an ordinary merchant, isn't he?"
"I'm sure he is. 'Spy' was a poor choice of words. I think he's using his position as a traveling merchant to sell information about us to Viscount Koenitz."
It is perfectly normal for a general merchant to visit a village. They can enter the village without any sense of incongruity.
Therefore, Viscount Koenitz is likely giving Philip a bit of money to report on what the Arqvist territory looks like and how fast the pace of development is.
This isn't necessarily an act of hostility toward Viscount Koenitz; it's likely just to confirm the situation of the neighboring territory.
For a noble lord, this level of information gathering is a given. In fact, Noein had instructed Bart, who was in charge of purchasing, to carefully observe changes in the situation in Retovik, and he himself occasionally visited Retovik.
"...But, in that case, is it really okay to just let him enter the territory normally?"
"It's fine because we're aware of it and speaking in a way that prevents important things from being discovered. Any traveling merchant would be gathering information. I'll let him do as he likes with superficial observations. However, I want you to keep an eye on him just in case he makes any suspicious moves."
"Understood."
As Noein turned back to Pence while explaining to Anna, Pence answered while looking at Philip's back as he returned along the highway with sharp eyes.