Chapter 28 (1/2)

There were two kinds of people who visited the estate.

Those who strove to learn and study letters, and those who only wanted to converse with Ernst. The adults were often the latter.

And both of those were people whom Ernst met in the estate.

“In the old days, this was still a place where you could make a living. But nowadays, that ain’t the case anymore…?”

“That’s right. How’re the children s’posed to live from here on…”

The ones currently chatting in front of Ernst were people from the Kata and Latelle villages. These two groups were people who lived nearby and were able to reach the estate after walking one hour on foot.

Of course, this sense of distance was according to Meissen’s standards.

“Back when us few were kids, we had winter work to do in the winter. But now, there ain’t any…”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s ‘cause of that, all I’m doin’ now is drinking tea all carefree.”

“You guys, watch your tongues. If I were the Lord right now, I wouldn’t give ya permission to set a single foot in my estate.”

“That’s right. And besides, this ain’t tea but hot water.”

At that, the adults roared with laughter, and Ernst smiled wryly.

He would have liked to serve them tea, but Ernst had never drunk any tea or the like ever since coming to Meissen. Meissen’s financial problems were worse than Ernst had anticipated, and there weren’t any luxury items at all.

“What was the work you performed during the winter?”

“Well, that was a whole buncha stuff. Like growin’ wheat…”

“But ya could do that now, couldn’t ya?”

One of the farmers teased.

“In Meissen, if ya don’t work all year round, ya won’t be able to eat. Grow some wheat, grow some potatoes. But, in the past, there were more jobs to go around.”

“Yeah, money-makin’ jobs.”

“Ya could weave baskets with the wheat straw, or weave nets… but nowadays, if ya don’t use it as kindling for the fireplace instead, you’ll freeze in the winter…

“You can’t make kindling out of the trees?”

“We would chop ‘em down before winter came, but… in the past, there were more people goin’ out to do it. Nowadays there’re less people in the village, and it’s harder to get enough firewood for everyone.”

“Well, for us, we lost our jobs.”

The women started talking with determination.

“In the winter, we took the sheep’s wool that we’d sheared earlier in the spring so we could weave and knit it, and that in itself kept us busy. Meissen’s wool could fetch a good price over in Rintz fief, and even in the Caprix fief over in Lux Kingdom.”

“Aah, back in those times I could even buy some firewood for myself.”

“So you own some sheep?”

“In the past, we did. Up until when, I wonder~? Think I kept them up until seventy years ago, or so.”

“Humm. Did you end up having to eat them?”

Around that time, Ernst was certain that the wheat crop had been particularly poor.

“Well… that was part of it, yeah. But the biggest reason was the Caralime village.

At the women’s words, the remaining villagers didn’t disguise the scowls on their faces.

Ernst looked down, watching the militia’s training.

Recently, the soldiers had achieved remarkable growth.

It was because the leadership had come out. Once the captain gave a single command, they were able to quickly carry it through.

All of these people had become soldiers because they had been poor.

If they joined the militia, they would be given food and a place to sleep. Moreover, if they were in the militia, they would be exempt from taxes. The villages sent out their able men to the militia so that the burden of taxes on those villages would be lighter.

And, of course, it was also a way to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

The people of the town also came to Ernst’s audience hall. The town was made up of people who had the rank of merchants.

“Still, up until about 50 years ago, trade was still a viable business, too.”

The traders of the town of Saiquani grumbled.

“I sold clothes, I sold confectioneries. I also sold books.”

“Books?”

“Yes. Well, that said, in Meissen there wasn’t anyone who bought books other than the lord. He sure bought a whole lot of different kinds of books…”

The man sent Ernst a meaningful glance.

It seemed to be saying either ‘Do you know the contents of those books?’ or ‘Ernst can also buy books from me’.