Chapter 54 (2/2)

Thankfully, there were no particular complaints.

♥♦♣♠

“Fuoo……”

After the afternoon work and dinner, I was relaxing in the bath.

This world also has the custom of using baths (though not to the degree of using it everyday like in modern j.a.pan), so there was already a bathtub in Jiiteias Castle. However, there’s no gas heater nor water service, so the tub has to be filled with hot water every single time.

I meant to prepare it myself, as it’s just a personal enjoyment, but……

“Gio-san, is the hot water enough?”

“Ye-, yea, it’s perfect.”

I got found out by Mora when I was carrying the bathtub, who then wrested all the preparatory work away from me.

All 5 dark elf sisters made a bucket relay carrying hot water up, so the bath really is hot and feels absolutely great, but……

“Having girls do heavy labor for the sake of my own bath…… I think it might be better if I just used a spell or two……”

“This isn’t heavy labor at all~ From now on, Gio-san is officially my Go-, Goshujin-sama after all. Please allow us to be of more use to you!”

(T/N: Fun fact. Just like danna, goshujin can mean either ‘master’ or ‘husband.’)

“Muu……”

I just realized that this is the flip side of what Claura said earlier.

Since they truly want to work for me, then I should gladly accept their feelings.

“...... By the way, I want to get out now though.”

“Understood! I’ll wipe you down then!”

Un. Sorry, but that I can’t accept.

♥♦♣♠

“Margils-sama, please take a look at this.”

The next morning, Irudo and Sedam showed me a sheet of paper, On it was a point form list of the things that I need to do.

Here they are, all 4 of them:

Repairing the road to the castle

Procuring soldiers to guard the castle and road

Taking control over the villages in the domain

Procuring a steady source of funds

“First of all, you’ve got it make it possible for people to get in and out of the castle even without the help of your wizardry.”

Sedam began his explanation. It’s true that only having the shortcut is inconvenient, and it was me who destroyed the mountain road in the first place.

“Next, and I’ve already mentioned it last night, but you need soldiers. When you’re here, we have almost nothing to fear when it comes to fighting, but the responsibility to maintain public order on the mountain road and the nearby territory has now fallen on you. You can’t very well wander here and there and everywhere everyday, right?”

“We would need at least 30 soldiers at our current state.”

Maintaining public order, huh. I think I remember the Carbanera Grand Cross mentioning something to that effect when he ceded the castle to me. To be honest, I’m a bit reluctant to hire 30 more people on top of our current number, but…… I guess I’ve got to learn to stop reacting so much to ‘merely’ 30 people, huh.

“...... That’s fine, then. But ‘villages in the domain’? What’s that? I thought there’s only Yuule Village around here.”

“Oi oi, the Knight Order guys said that there are 3 villages of hunters and lumberjacks inside the forest, didn’t they?”

“...... Did they? And this ‘domain’ thing…… does that mean that those villages are part of our domain?”

“Please say ‘my,’ not ‘our.’ But yes, they are. You can collect taxes and labor from them, but on the other side, you also have the duty to give them protection.”

“Wait, wait, wait. The Knight Order only gave me this castle, you know. There was no mention of any villages……”

A cold sweat accompanied my contention, but Sedam and Irudo merely looked at each other. What is with those puzzled faces.

“Margils-sama, castles are built for the purpose of defending land. So it naturally follows that the area around the castle would also belong to the lord of the castle.”

“Didn’t Lelis already proclaim that they’ve ceded ‘all territorial rights of Jiiteias Castle and its environs’ to you? So there’s no problem at all.”

“More like, that in itself is a problem……”

Mu mu……

I feel like I can no longer just say “I don’t really want the territorial rights~” by this point in time.

The amount of responsibility seems to have gotten a ton heavier all of a sudden……

“My Lord!”

Though it needs not be said, Leiha is stationed beside me. It is extremely rare for her to proactively join a conversation not related to her.

“What is it, Leiha?”

“Please pardon my forwardness. However, it is this one’s humble opinion that every single person blessed with the privilege of living inside the domain of the Great Wizard whose greatness can be hidden by neither heaven nor earth would feel naught but sheer delight for the fact.”

“......”

I think that Leiha speaking out her opinion like this is her way of processing what she was told yesterday.

…… Saying all that about me, is she trying to imply that I should also stop lowering myself?

More like, isn’t this “the person who said it should do it first,” the modern interpretation of “starting with Wei”?

“Oh alright. Then in the near future, I’ll give each of those villages a visit, tell them that they can be relieved about having a new feudal lord.”

At that moment, I did not yet realize it.

Actually, no, maybe I was just trying to not see it.

The fact that it was the first step towards the task of ‘founding a nation.

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