Chapter 33

A Lord’s Responsibilities and Duties (1)

A translucent message announced that 「Management Mode」 had been unlocked. No sooner had I wondered what it was than a stream of related messages appeared before my eyes.

* * *

「Management Mode」 serves as a guide that allows the [Player] to manage and view information about a realm they own.

A [Player] who has unlocked 「Management Mode」 can use the following features.

1. The [Player] can acquire ‘Realm Experience’ to increase their ‘Realm Level.’

As the realm’s level rises, you can research various realm activities and acquire and apply effects that benefit the entire realm.

2. The [Player] can view the status of their realm’s material and human resources, including its finances.

3. The [Player] can check for hidden resources within their realm.

You can also view information and progress on ongoing research, production, trading expeditions, and dispatches.

For further details, please refer to the 「Management Mode」 section.

* * *

The clear, well-organized explanation made it easy to understand. I also immediately realized that this, too, had been one of Ian’s abilities.

‘Was this how Ian managed to lead the allied army so flawlessly?’

The allied army had brought together people from across the continent. As the continent’s Hero and the allied army’s Supreme Commander, Ian had commanded and led them not merely skillfully, but perfectly. There had been grumbling, but no infighting. Apparently, abilities like these had made that possible.

And then...

◆Error: The player does not own a realm.

It was an ability I couldn’t use just yet. As the message said, I had no realm that I ‘owned.’

Of course, as House Whitewolf’s eldest legitimate son, I held the authority of the young lord. But that didn’t make me the lord—in other words, I didn’t own the county. My father hadn’t left me any inheritance at all. As things stood, the person who could be considered its owner was my younger sister, Seraphia.

Well, Seraphia had even signed a written pledge offering to hand the lordship over to me, but...

‘There’s no need for that.’

More precisely, I had no intention of getting hung up on the county. Using the ability on the allied army later would be enough. After all, the requirement for 「Management Mode」 was a ‘realm’ that I owned.

The ability wasn’t going to disappear just because I didn’t use it right away. There was no need to cling to Whitewolf county. Earning quest experience and leveling up was satisfying enough.

Then, without warning, a new translucent message appeared before my eyes.

◆A Territory Quest has arrived.

Another Territory Quest. Before I could even wonder about it, the details scrolled into view.

* * *

Not content with setting up a trading company in a flash, you hit the jackpot on your very first trading expedition!

Shoulders squared! Nose in the air!

But your triumphant swagger, like a victorious general bearing news of conquest, was short-lived!

Huh?! Whaaat?!

I’m... not the lord?

A figurehead lord! A scarecrow!

A mere public face! A puppet!

Why, you’re nothing but a patsy of a lord!

You think that’s too harsh?

Have you forgotten what you did to the people of your territory?

Beating them at the slightest excuse!

Beating them because you were in a bad mood!

Shaking them down when you had no money for booze!

Stealing when you had no money to gamble!

Compared to that, calling you a patsy is nothing!!

You wicked person! You terrible, terrible person!

Do you even know what the people think whenever they see you?

Die... No, that’s a bad thing to say.

Drop dead... No, that’s nasty.

Ascend to heaven...?

Okay! Please ascend to heaven!

... That’s what your people pray for every single day!

That’s how far your authority as a lord has sunk into the abyss!

But have no fear!

There is a way to haul your authority back out of those depths!

What might that be, you ask?

Authority only carries weight when you fulfill the responsibilities and duties that come with it!

Now, clever as you are, you know what to do, don’t you?

Fulfill a lord’s responsibilities and duties, and claim the authority that comes with them!

* * *

==[A Lord’s Authority Comes from Responsibilities and Duties]==

[Details] - Raise the affinity of your territory’s residents to [Trust] within 90 days.

[Reward] - <Lord> Authority

[If Declined] - 「Management Mode」 functionality revoked.

“...”

I was speechless. Even setting aside the quest’s mockery, the penalty for refusing went beyond coercion. It was practically a threat.

And affinity progressed through the stages ‘Hatred < Loathing < Anger < Conflict < Indifference < Closeness < Friendliness < Trust < Affection.’

◆For reference, your territory’s residents currently have [Loathing] affinity toward you!

◆Individuals in the [Loathing] state dislike and resent you!

◆Those in the [Loathing] state do not display active aggression toward you, only a passive aversion that makes them reluctant to be near you.

... Well, there you had it. [Loathing] was Kai’s affinity state, while the required [Trust] was Seraphia’s. In other words, I had to turn Kai into Seraphia.

That sounded a little odd, but if I didn’t do it, 「Management Mode」 would be revoked. And I had to do it within 90 days. This really was nothing short of a threat.

Still, it wasn’t all bad.

‘I can earn experience, at least.’

Clearing quests was a far more efficient way to earn experience than hunting monsters. A single quest had given me a whole three levels. Judging by the experience requirements, I would have to rely on quest experience to level up from now on.

But I couldn’t get a quest simply because I wanted one. I still didn’t quite understand how that worked. It seemed they were issued only when certain circumstances and conditions aligned.

In short, I had to take quests when I could get them, and clear them whenever possible. This Territory Quest was no different. There was nothing to think over. I accepted.

◆Beginning Territory Quest [A Lord’s Authority Comes from Responsibilities and Duties].

‘A way to raise the residents’ affinity...’

It was a little awkward, but not particularly difficult. The hint was in the quest itself. A lord’s authority came from responsibilities and duties. In other words, I simply had to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a lord.

And what were those responsibilities and duties?

‘I can buy the supplies they’ll need for the coming winter and bring them back.’

Keeping my people warm and well-fed.

As luck would have it, I was in Frecce, a free city specializing in commerce. Goods from all over the continent gathered here, so there was no shortage of supplies for enduring the bitter cold.

There was only one problem: money. But at the moment, even that was no obstacle.

‘As for what we earned this time...’

Before founding Predator Merchant Company, I’d had roughly thirty thousand gold. Purchasing wagons, wages, tolls, stall fees, tools, and all the other expenses had come to about 9,800 gold. That was close to my initial estimate of ten thousand.

‘Good thing I didn’t have to pay for the meat.’

I’d hunted the monsters myself, so there had been no cost for raw materials. Otherwise, thirty thousand gold wouldn’t have come close to covering it.

And the final amount we’d earned was...

‘142,450 gold.’

That was a return of more than fourteen times the investment.

It was enough to prepare the county for winter. More than enough, in fact. And I could have earned even more. By raising the price of monster meat, I could have made thirty times my investment, or even over a hundred times. That was no exaggeration.

So it wasn’t as though I wasn’t tempted, but...

‘The price is just right as it is.’

I had no intention of raising it much.

Monster meat couldn’t become a custom and a luxury exclusive to the upper classes. That would only push it further from the public’s attention, and Predator Merchant Company’s name would likewise fade from the continent’s awareness.

My goal wasn’t merely a profitable trading company. It was the greatest trading company on the continent. To spread Predator Merchant Company’s name far and wide, it needed to remain part of ordinary people’s lives, just as it was now.

That didn’t mean giving up profits.

‘I’ll make my money off the nobles.’

I just had to set a much higher price for the Rex meat sold to them instead.

Originally, I’d planned on charging around ten times as much, but...

‘I’ll have to make it at least a thousand times the price.’

It was an absurd price. But I didn’t care. In fact, I was certain it would sell even better. Nobles were a breed exceedingly fond of the words ‘privilege’ and ‘luxury.’

By setting the price that much higher and feeding their vanity with the promise of the finest premium product, I was sure to get them opening their wallets. Besides, what the hell could they do about it?

‘I have a monopoly on monster meat.’

I was the only person on the continent who could produce and distribute Rex meat.

“Everyone, assemble!”

With my thoughts in order, I gathered the staff members and soldiers.

“Write down every item I mention from now on. Don’t miss a single one.”

I listed the supplies the county needed, one by one, and gave them more than enough gold to pay for them.

“Once you’ve finished writing, go purchase those supplies immediately, primarily from companies belonging to Frecce’s merchants’ guild. Move out.”

“Moving out!”

The staff members and soldiers answered vigorously and moved in perfect order. They were quick on their feet. Seraphia had certainly assigned me some capable people.

“Well, I’d better get going too.”

Naturally, I had work of my own. My first task was to track Ian’s movements. But I couldn’t investigate everything myself, so I intended to use the merchants’ guild.

The merchants’ guild held a firm grip not only on Frecce, but on the other free cities as well. Its immense wealth gave it absolute power in those cities, much like that of a lord. In other words, if Ian had visited a free city anywhere on the continent, he was bound to have been caught in its information network.

Knowing Ian’s personality, he was almost guaranteed to have raised all sorts of hell... No, caused some sort of incident. That was one reason I’d drawn the merchants’ guild to my side rather than shutting it out.

I’d made a great deal of money this time. If I spent generously in return, the guild would never be able to refuse my request. This, too, was an investment of sorts.

But a merchant who invested only in the ‘value’ right before their eyes was a fool. A merchant who invested with nothing but ‘profit’ in mind wouldn’t last long.

That was why the continent’s greatest trading company I intended to build...

“If I’m going to spend, I might as well spend freely.”

Predator Merchant Company would be a company that invested in ‘people.’

* * *

The season of bitter cold was slowly approaching. Yet even before it had begun in earnest, heavy snow was falling on Whitewolf county.

All contact with the outside world had been cut off. With the roads frozen and buried in snow, wagons could no longer travel, making both resupply and movement itself impossible.

Her expression deeply troubled, Seraphia listened to the report from Bernard, the head steward.

“I’m afraid... we must prepare for a prolonged period of isolation.”

This winter looked set to be harsher than any before it. Cold that froze the skin allowed no productive activity whatsoever. They would have to survive on the supplies stockpiled during the previous season. But...

“Our food and firewood reserves are woefully inadequate.”

Their stockpiles were far too small. The unusually cold weather this year had been compounded by the late count’s sudden death.

“More and more people are falling ill, but...”

Viruses and bacteria couldn’t survive the cold, but that didn’t mean there was no illness. Hypothermia, frostbite, respiratory conditions... There were deadly ailments caused by exposure to the cold.

“We lack medical supplies, so they are going untreated.”

Whitewolf county had nowhere near the resources needed to treat them.

Cold-related illnesses didn’t require complicated treatment. Keep the patients warm, give them hot meals, and let them sleep somewhere warm, and they would soon recover. But... they didn’t have those things.

“The water has frozen as well, making drinking water extremely difficult to obtain.”

They lacked even the simplest supplies essential to life.

“A considerable number have collapsed from dehydration, too...”

It was a crisis on every imaginable front. Above all...

“The residents’ anxiety... has reached its peak.”

The greatest problem was that they were losing hope of surviving. As suffering continued in such harsh conditions, more and more people would lose the will to live. That despair would spread like an epidemic, sickening the entire county.

“...”

Seraphia gently closed her eyes. Steeling her resolve, she slowly opened them again.

“I’ll accept House Veneron’s proposal.”

“You mustn’t!” Kai shouted.

But Seraphia was resolute.

“It’s the only option we have now.”

Perhaps it was the firmness of her resolve, but Kai could find nothing to say.

“It’s the only way to protect our people.”

He knew she was right. Accepting House Veneron’s proposal was the only way to overcome their current predicament. Shouting objections without offering any alternative would be nothing more than throwing a tantrum.

It was... unbearable, this helplessness he felt. What... what good was his so-called prodigious talent when there was nothing he could do?

Talent alone couldn’t protect Seraphia. There was a limit to what he could protect her from with mere martial strength.

Kai clenched his fists so hard they might break. Deep despair and boiling anger at his own inability to do anything—that was all he could muster in this situation.

It was at that very moment.

“W-we have an emergency!!!”

A soldier of Whitewolf Castle flung the door open and rushed inside.

Barging in without so much as a knock was the height of rudeness. Kai’s brow twitched.

“Haaah...! Hah...!”

But seeing the soldier’s frantic expression and hearing him gasp as though he might collapse, Kai put off reprimanding him and asked what had brought him.

“What is it?”

“Lord Adrian...! Lord Adrian is...!”

And for some reason, the soldier’s answer mentioned Adrian.