Chapter 2 - 002 - Retainers
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002 - Retainers
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Upon re-examining the amount of debt, it was a tremendous sum. Rodney clutched his head at how it was more than he had expected.
「In this state, he managed to run the territory well enough...」
Upon recalling his past life memories, he tried incorporating bookkeeping and keeping accounts. According to that, if there were no debts, he could somehow manage within the tax revenue, but just paying the interest on the debts required an amount exceeding the year's tax revenue.
In other words, they would need twice the current tax revenue. Moreover, this was only to pay the interest, so to reduce the principal, even more tax revenue would be necessary.
Rodney felt dizzy at the realization that there was no way they could get by on tax revenue alone, no matter how he thought about it.
「This was something I didn't want to know or understand.」
There were three parties to whom they owed debts: their patron (yorioya), Count Banyusas; the merchant Hacklehoff; and Baron Menisas.
Of these, Count Banyusas would likely allow them to postpone repayment. In relation to their patron Count Banyusas, Rodney's Forvas Knight Baron house was a client (yoriko). This patron-client relationship, as the characters suggested, was a lord-vassal relationship close to a parent-child bond.
To maintain such a relationship, Count Banyusas's house would not abandon the Forvas Knight Baron house. If they did, other clients would think they wouldn't be helped in times of trouble, and the lord-vassal relationship would no longer hold.
Moreover, if the Forvas Knight Baron house were to become a client of another noble, Count Banyusas would lose face and become a laughingstock. That was a disgrace in the world of the nobility.
Therefore, though he would receive a displeased look, if he bowed his head, he should be able to get them to wait for repayment.
The merchant Hacklehoff was the biological father of his mother Sharume. For Rodney, he was his grandfather. If Rodney bowed his head, he would likely wait for repayment, and if he groveled, there was a possibility he would cancel the debt. Depending on the situation, he might even be able to borrow more. Rodney understood Hacklehoff to be that kind of person.
But he couldn't go that far. If he relied on that from the start, he would end up relying on it in a slipshod manner afterward.
「However, despite receiving aid separate from the debt, did he sell all of it to put toward repaying the debt? It was a pitiful story, but he must have been that desperate...」
Father had been using the aid from his grandfather to repay debts. Because of that, Rodney and his family couldn't wear decent clothes, and their meals were meager.
「I'm in no position to talk about my father either... It's poverty that's at fault.」
Among the three, the most troublesome was Baron Menisas. A baron was a higher rank than a knight baron, but as fellow clients of Count Banyusas's house, they were on equal footing.
There was no blood relation nor lord-vassal relationship. In a sense it was an equal relationship, but precisely because of that, it was troublesome.
「Even using Father's condolence money, I can't fully repay the debt to Baron Menisas, can I?」
Due to the head of the house dying in battle, the royal family had granted condolence money. Even putting that toward repayment, he couldn't even fully settle the portion owed to Baron Menisas.
「If there's no money, we have to earn it. But how?」
The idea that came to mind was one: the creation of a specialty or famous product industry.
Creating an industry couldn't be done immediately. But it wasn't as if he had no ideas at all.
He had ideas, but to get to the point of making money, further expenditure would be needed. How to get through that expenditure and until the industry took shape — having to think about that first was a headache.
If he started an industry, Rodney himself would need to gain combat capability. As the heir of a knight baron house, he had trained in the sword since childhood. However, Rodney had virtually no talent for the sword.
He had trained by swinging a sword every day since childhood, but for some reason, it never looked right. His father also had no talent for the sword, so for a time he almost gave up, thinking he had strongly inherited that blood. But Rodney continued his efforts at least.
Now that he had become the lord, he needed power to supplement his completely useless swordsmanship. For that, he had to enter the Labyrinth.
Inside the Labyrinth dwell monsters called Selvanui. The Selvanui attack humans. It's not because they are carnivorous, but because it is engraved in their instincts to attack humans.
When you defeat a Selvanui that attacks humans, its corpse disappears. Instead, something called a Life Light Stone remains. If you take in that Life Light Stone, you can rarely acquire Origin Power.
Origin Power is a special power useful in battle. It was common knowledge that any noble would have at least three of them.
Also, Life Light Stones could be exchanged for money, so they were valuable. However, nobles had to deliver a fixed number of Life Light Stones to the royal family each year. In short, it was like a tribute.
Rodney had not acquired a single Origin Power. The Life Light Stones collected after setting aside those for tribute to the royal family were exchanged for money to put toward debt repayment. Therefore, no Life Light Stones came to Rodney.
「Even if I start an industry and repay the debts, dying in war would ruin everything. I have to gain power while starting an industry... That's tough.」
He decided that the soldiers would continue to collect the portion for tribute to the royal family as before, and Rodney himself would have to collect Life Light Stones for his own use. Having thought this, Rodney acted quickly.
Rodney gathered his retainers. Though the Forvas Knight Baron house was among the lowest nobles, it had vassals called retainers.
There were five retainer houses, but three retainers had accompanied Rodney's father to war. Of those three, one had died in battle. The remaining two had somehow survived, but they were injured and unable to move for a while. Therefore, those two were absent due to recuperation.
Of the three who gathered, two were in their fifties. One was a woman and childhood friend two years older than Rodney.
「Thank you for responding to this sudden summons.」
He first lightly expressed his gratitude for the sudden call.
「I apologize for getting straight to the point, but this house is on the brink of collapse.」
「Lord Rodney. What do you mean by 'on the brink of collapse'?」
It was Rodmel, the head retainer, who asked for confirmation. He was a stalwart man who had served as a retainer since Rodney's grandfather's time, and was the most senior retainer. He was muscular and emanated a vigorous aura that belied his age.
「At this rate, this house will go bankrupt. We have no money.」
「Money... you say.」
Not only Rodmel, but the other two also furrowed their brows. It was common sense in this country that nobles did not concern themselves with money. In reality, there were many nobles who were like misers, but those sorts used the pretext to hide their true nature.
For Rodney, who had memories of his past life, this situation was unacceptable. He didn't want a life of luxury, but he didn't want to live in such poverty that he struggled even to eat that day's meal.
「This house carries a massive debt. With our current tax revenue, we cannot repay even the interest, let alone the principal.」
「Lord Beck never said anything, however...」
The other retainer in his fifties, Hortus, spoke up. He too had served as a retainer since the grandfather's time. His build was not as stalwart as Rodmel's, but he was still more robust than the still-growing Rodney.
「He probably kept silent so as not to worry everyone. I didn't know either. That's why I've decided to start an industry unique to this land.」
Rodney could see the three's expressions darkening, but if he didn't act, they would be in a situation where they would have to flee in the night.
Each of the five retainer houses had fields. All the grain and vegetables harvested from there belonged to the retainer houses, so if anything, they lived better than the debt-ridden Forvas house, their lord.
In exchange for allowing that, they worked for the Forvas house.
「You say you will start an industry, but that is not simple, you know.」
Rodmel asked with a grim expression.
「I know. But I have an idea, so I want your cooperation.」
「And what is that idea?」
「It's in the eastern forest. It'll be fine, this will become an industry.」
Rodney explained that if they processed a certain plant growing wild in the eastern forest, it could become an industry.
The three wore dark expressions, but that was largely because they couldn't understand Rodney's explanation. Since Rodney himself wouldn't have thought of starting an industry using that plant without his past life memories, he had no complaints about their expressions.
「...I understand. I will listen carefully to the difficult explanation from now on, but I hope I can be of help in starting the industry.」
「I, too, like Rodmel, support Lord Rodney's thoughts.」
The two veterans supported Rodney's idea. This was a consideration not to find fault with the first policy of the new lord, so they didn't think it would succeed.
「I can't judge whether something is good or bad when it hasn't been done yet. I'll complain after we do it.」
The third retainer, Yulin, spoke for the first time. She was the daughter of the retainer who died with Rodney's father. Her younger brother had inherited the house, but he was only nine, so Yulin was serving in his stead. Her crimson eyes seemed to glare at Rodney, but that only expressed her strong spirit; she bore no ill will toward Rodney.
「Yulin, you're just as always.」
This time, Forvas house had granted condolence money to the two injured and the one killed. It was a painful expense amid this debt struggle, but if they didn't give it, it would affect future lord-vassal relationships. Yulin didn't want to flatly deny Rodney, who had done that despite the debt.
「Now, there's one more matter.」
The three adopted a listening posture.
「From now on, I intend to enter the Labyrinth and defeat Selvanui as well.」
「What, Lord Rodney himself will enter the Labyrinth?」
「Eventually, I'll have to go to the battlefield. If I don't have Origin Power by then, I probably won't survive. So, I'll enter the Labyrinth for my own sake and acquire Origin Power.」
The three found that convincing. They knew that combat capability was vastly different with or without Origin Power. Moreover, Origin Power was useful even for fleeing.
「With Father dead, this house has a three-year exemption from military service. During that time, I'll start an industry, repay the debts, acquire Origin Power, and raise my combat capability.」
The retainers would lead soldiers to collect Life Light Stones for tribute, and Rodney would collect Life Light Stones for himself alone. Taking his position into account, he told the three about the current situation and future vision.
「If Lord Rodney says he will do it, I won't stop you. However, I cannot overlook you entering the Labyrinth alone.」
Yulin stared at Rodney with a sharp gaze as if piercing him.
「As Yulin says, Lord Rodney. The Labyrinth is a dangerous place. At least bring soldiers with you.」
「I also oppose Lord Rodney entering the Labyrinth alone. Please bring soldiers as Lord Rodmel says.」
「In that case, I will accompany you.」
When Yulin offered to enter the Labyrinth with Rodney, the two veterans' expressions softened.
「Hmm, if it's Yulin, it should be fine. What do you think, Hortus-dono?」
「If Yulin is with him, I feel at ease.」
I really lack trust, don't I... But Yulin has a track record.
Rodney and Yulin were childhood friends who played together when they were young. Even back then, Yulin was energetic, and when they played sword fight, Rodney was quickly defeated.
It was the same even now; the difference in their swordsmanship was like heaven and earth. Yulin had the sword talent that Rodney lacked. And Yulin had entered the Labyrinth with her now-deceased father and others, building up achievements. Unlike Rodney, who had no talent, that led to the trust of other retainers and soldiers.
「We will diligently collect the Life Light Stones for tribute. Lord Rodney, please enter the Labyrinth with Yulin. Please never enter alone.」
「If all three say so, I'll obey. Yulin, I'm counting on you.」
「Leave it to me.」
Yulin answered with her chest puffed out, like a big sister protecting her younger brother. She herself had lost her father, but she did not show it. Rodney felt that she was more mature than himself, but that was not it.
Yulin was also sad. But she had no time to grieve. She had a mission: to raise not only her real younger brother but also Rodney, her childhood friend who was like a younger brother, into respectable people. It was not something she could accomplish alone, but with her strong sense of responsibility, she was convinced she had to do it.
Especially because her unreliable childhood friend had become the lord, she thought she had to be reliable. The seventeen-year-old girl, whose sense of responsibility and worries never ceased, unconsciously remained on edge.
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