38

The number was very small compared to the beginning, but the remaining people couldnt be taken because they had to repair the houses destroyed by the fight against the Goblins.

Ten people? The lord must be crazy!

Even if the number of goblins decreases

The volunteers that were not there from the day before looked like they couldnt believe what was going on. It wouldnt be weird to shout out that it was a vain bluff if one heard it without context. And thats what they did.

We found a goblin village ahead. There are about 50 of them.

After listening to the report, I turned to the ten volunteers standing behind me. All of their facial expressions were full of distrust and fear. The volunteers, who swept away a large-scale village with me the day before, werent here, so the others didnt seem to trust me easily.

Are you guys scared?

They were silent at my question. It was hard to believe this. Honestly, if I were in their position, I would have thought that the others had taken a bowl of medicine as a group.

Im sure youre all scared. Youre probably thinking, Only ten people came to clear up the Goblins village. I think its right to kill this crazy bastard and run away.

I didnt hear an answer, but they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. If it was hard to believe, I had to show them myself.

As I have said before, I have never allowed anyone to die.

Light begins to flow out with my words. Unlike the knights who realized what I was going to do, the other peoples faces looked surprised. Light started to flow out of my body. Then, after the buff magic settled on them, their distrust disappeared.

* * *

Wahahahaha! Die, you bastards!

The Lord is with us!

They didnt seem to believe me until a little while ago

It felt absurd, but I maintained my composure because I had already seen it once before.

You bastards! Stick your necks out!

The saint is with us!

Yeah, since I was cosplaying as a saint, I understood.

God is with us!

Ha! Take Gods wrath!

Hey, you crazy shits!

It was absurd when they even uttered remarks that would be considered blasphemy. Were they the ones who looked at me with disbelief because they couldnt believe me? I felt sorry for Goblins, who ran away and trembled in fear because of the crazy followers. And those followers were the ten volunteers who didnt even receive systematic training or proper weapons.

The time it took to slaughter more than 50 goblins wasnt that long. If a weapon broke while using it, they could just break their bones with their bare hands. Every one of them was as brave as an extremely fortified warrior! This time, it was hard to kill all of them because I didnt raise my bow, but since most of them were dead, I didnt need to catch those that ran away.

Rather, it would be better to have them confuse themselves because they would realize how dangerous humans had become. After finishing the village instantly, I felt a sense of fear for a moment as they gathered to me in unison. I think it was worse than before.

Lord! Some of them are running away!

Haha! Theyll never cross Hines again!

Hahahaha! Those losers!

The scene of them talking made me smile awkwardly. Well, I guess it was a shallow distrust.

Wellwell done.

Yes, as a volunteer who has to protect your home, its good to be loyal. At least they wont be unhappy with what Im trying to do. Its a little shaky, but its not bad! I thought so.

Its not bad to take care of your image. So, exactly two days later, as I was inspecting the changes taking place in my estate

OhHoly Saint!

The saint is here! Clear the way, you bastards!

The rumors spread fast. Whether these are volunteers or missionary priestsI was beginning to regret the first decision I made.

* * *

As a lord, it was a success to win the trust of the people who resided in this land. It didnt matter since it was my estate, and I was in the highest position anyway.

Astrea, the conquering king of the Borde, the Paladian Empire, told me every time.

[Dont forget, its not livestock that you lead, but free-willed men. You have to make them follow you with their own will. You shouldnt lead them forcefully.]

He taught me harmony and not politics, so I didnt learn politics as a king in depth, but at least I sympathized with what he said from time to time. It was a small estate with only 200 people, but everything starts from poverty.

From a nearby commercial city, Bernille sent me a charter. I heard that the leader of volunteers did a good job, so he had prepared a lot of supplies. That could delay the return date a little

Amy, who was waiting for my return, was also working as my secretary. It was unusual for a woman to be in this position in the kingdom of Al Rown, but I hired men, women, children, and old people alike as long as they were talented.

Amy seemed moved by my appreciation of her worth.

The rest of the estate documents are here. What else do you need?

Its getting late; I want to clean up. Go take a break, stop working.

Stopworking?

She looked at me with surprise.

Well, how long are you going to wait for me? You cant even sleep properly.

I cant

She tilted her head as if she were a puppy abandoned by her master.

Dont want to go home?

-You know a lot, but you dont know how a girl feels.

She had feelings for me?

Perserk sighed as if she found something ridiculous.

-Its not that she has feelings, but its hard to explain. Anyway, its not right to throw away a childs heart that wants to help you.

Perserk was experienced and wise. After she said that, Amys gaze got on her nerves.

WellSi.. DaveyI can do well! I mean

I sighed briefly as I watched her fumble her words. I didnt know that it would come out like this, even though I took care of it in my own way.

Yeah, well, theres nothing we can do now. Instead, Ill need a lot of your help, so be prepared.

Yes!

Thats fine. So take a break for now.

I couldnt help it.

Ill see you tomorrow then.

Yes!

As soon as she regained her energy, she left the office. I let out a deep sigh.

Ive never really paid close attention to her, though.

-Well, it seems that the girl feels quite responsible for you since you saved her life.

Ah, that corrupt, low priests business. I indeed saved her, but I couldnt forget that it was only half my intention. I felt guilty for no reason for thinking so. Nodding without a word, Perserk sat lightly on the old desk. Then she squinted, peering through the papers under her butt.

By the way, youre thousands of years old, but you still know how to write well.

-I didnt just play and eat that whole time.

She said so and reached out to a document that was much larger than her body and swept it away.

What do you think?

-Do you want a cold assessment?

For now.

-If you lift the curse right now, the territory will be back to normal in at least five years. And its about 20 years before you make it into the land you want.

Her judgment was quite accurate. Lifting the curse on the dying land wouldnt immediately change everything.

So thats just based on your judgment?

-No way. Will you listen to what I think about the land?

Ill listen.

She laughed with satisfaction. As she sat down, she reached for a small document and pointed to one across from her. Then the small document came up lightly with a light wind and flew in front of me.

Are you able to deal with physical force?

-Its possible if Im controlling just a small force. Thats enough to lift a bit of light stuff like this.

Nevertheless, she looked satisfied.

-This estate doesnt have accessible water, so the water supply is a mess. Is that all? The livestock industry has shrunk rapidly in the past few years, while the food stockpile of crops has led to a low deposit of food.

She kept going.

Thanks to a large amount of platinum you got from robbing the capitals Information Guild, you can endure it for the time being, but its a temporary solution. The most serious is also the issue of funding.

It was as she said.

This land has almost no profit.

It is inevitable to feel extremely underdeveloped compared to other territories.

But theres a lot of ways.

-Ill tell me what you think.

Her eyes, smiling beautifully, seemed to be full of expectations. Im sure she wasnt checking what was on my mind either. After thousands of years of living, life would be as boring as it gets. It was understandable.

The good news is that, despite my expectations, the region has quite a few able young people. The first way is to use them by hunting monsters or animals.

Thats the worst-case scenario.

Even if the government called for the reform of the territory tomorrow, the peoples trust in the territory is not great enough. If you use them for hunting monsters, you could hold out right away, but thats where growth ends.

The second option is to produce specialties, but its hard unless you solve the situation with the land.

-Im sure youre right about that.

Finally, trade. How do we get diamonds with corn?

She tilted her head at my words.

-Theres no reason for another city to trade from here, and there are no items that we can trade anyway.

If we cant trade with people, we can trade with the other races. But just in case, lets look into the territory first.

We had to try anything we could for now.