CH 329

Our ship docks in the Port of Koenigvelg and we disembark. It seems that the people who are coming to pick us up are mainly those who are related to the port and those who are entrusted with local governance and military administration. There is no sign of the general public rushing in.

“Welcome back, Lord Caan!”

“Stefan, I see you’re back home, are you?” I said.

The last time I met Stefan was during a training session at Cien Naval Port. He takes care of the orphans of Koenigsvelg, and organizes the port workers, and Stefan himself is excellent in his own way. But if he’s going to join our navy, he’s totally lacking in training.

The structure of the ship is different, the maneuvering is different, and the navigation is also different. Our ship is also equipped with artillery, so they have to learn how to handle it, and even those who have been sailors elsewhere have plenty to learn.

It’s a relief that Stefan has brought together promising sailors and jobless orphans from Koenigsvelg and joined the House Caan Merchant Fleet. Now is the time to want even a few excellent and reliable subordinates and soldiers. Stefan’s men can be trusted, and there are many excellent people among them.

“Yes!” Stefan said. “I’m back after training!”

“Is that so? It looks like you’ve become even more reliable. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!” Stefan said, smiling and puffing up his chest.

When he was around me in Koenigsvelg before, I thought he was a guy who didn’t know much about etiquette, but he must have learned how to treat his superiors during his training at Cien. His demeanor and language are much better.

“Hello, Your Lordship, I see you’re still as good at charming men as ever.”

“Haah?” I snap. “Still unable to speak to your superiors properly, eh, Schwartz? Do you want to train again down from the recruit level?” I asked as I glared at him.

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Who’s charming who? Stefan is a serious and good guy at heart. At first, he grew up in a slum-like environment, and since he was a child, he worked in harbors and was an apprentice sailor.

It was only improved because the basics of being a navy man were hammered into him during recruit training. He shouldn’t be with someone like Schwartz who has become an admiral but can’t fix his barbaric way of speaking.

“Oh, anything but that!” Schwartz replied. “I don’t think I can survive the hell-like training the House Caan Merchant Fleet’s recruits are put through.”

“”””Wahahaha!”””” The surrounding sailors burst out laughing all at once.

They’re almost like pirates, but that’s what’s entertaining and reliable about them. Some people might get mad at me, saying that it’s not the proper attitude toward the highest ranks of the military, but being able to be this relaxed is probably the necessary courage for men of the sea.

“We are happy to welcome you back, Lord Caan.”

“Thank you for the welcome,” I said. “But I do believe I asked for no need to greet me?”

Next to greet me are those people who were looking smugly at the men of the House Caan Merchant Fleet. These are the people who are entrusted with the administration of the town. Well, I’m not sure if they’ll remain in their positions in the future.

During the previous war with the Kingdom of Polsky, the people who had been in charge of the administration so far and other influential people had only been allowed to stay in their positions as temporary administrators and consuls. After all, we couldn’t just set up our governing system at that time.

Until the conclusion of the treaty regarding the end of the war and the determination of the Lords within the Kingdom of Ploiss after that, the Caan-Carruthers Allied Forces were only temporarily ruling and controlling the towns, and at that point, it wasn’t even mine. The temporary rule from me was only to carry out the war.

After that, it was formally my territory, although strictly speaking, it was not my territory, personally, so there were more things I had to do. However, since this place has become my territory, there are more things I can decide freely. For example, if I fire these temporary governors…

“Ha… we beg your forgiveness,” one of the House Caan dock workers said. “We were planning to welcome you alone, but these people didn’t listen to what we said and headed here on their own…”

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I don’t think they’re very happy with it. Even though the locals depended on them in times of war, they probably think that in peacetime, the navy from a foreign land is no different from pirates. It’s not as if I don’t understand that feeling, but their attitude is too blatant.

I wonder if Koenigsvelg is due for a fundamental reform… most of the Caan Knights Nation was originally territory taken back from Polsky. Some of the Free Cities nominally remained in the Kingdom of Ploiss, but in reality, a large number of Polskis were also flowing into them, and even if they were only temporarily placed, the current administrators are not ours…

“Haa…… Shall we move on, then?” I said.

“Yes.”

I start moving with Kanbee and others. The people who had come to meet me had already been sent home. From now on, I’m heading to the mansion that I’ll be using during my stay. As expected, I can’t think of going to government affairs now that I’ve arrived today. First, we need to unpack and organize our stay here.

“We have to build a mansion for House Caan,” I said.

“Hmmm… indeed…” Kanbee muttered. “Forts… castles… palaces…”

I think a lot about Kanbee’s words. To be honest, I think old-generation forts and castles are no longer useful. Now that we have developed artillery, wars will change from now on. A prehistoric fort would fall in no time.

We have no intention of letting our artillery flow out to the surroundings, and there is almost no possibility that Koenigsvelg will be attacked somewhere soon.

Even if there is a possibility of being attacked from the sea, a surprise attack by land would be almost impossible. It’s almost impossible to get past our surveillance network and information transmission network and invade here earlier than the intel can get to us. But… the enemy would have thought the same thing. It should have come as a surprise to anyone in this era that we had taken Polsky like a lightning bolt striking it down

It’s not good to underestimate me just because I have some knowledge. Should I also consider the possibility that the enemy will take measures beyond my imagination? Then, should Koenigsvelg be fortified to some extent?

But…. a walled city has many drawbacks and weaknesses. Considering the s defensive power, it’s cost-effective, or rather, it doesn’t have much benefit to be obtained…

Expandability is severely limited and expansion requires major renovations. The time and expense would be doubled. And it will be crowded in a very unsanitary and limited space. If there is an epidemic, it will spread quickly.

Instead, when you are attacked, if you have artillery, it is the perfect target. Even a stone fortress cannot withstand artillery fire. It collapses easily. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s completely meaningless, but the demerit is too great for the defensive power you get.

If you were to build one, would it be better to build something like a palace with a strong symbolic meaning rather than functioning as a wartime fort or castle? If the enemy is someone like me, building a fort or castle won’t do much.

The only problem is where to build such a palace. The current Koenigsvelg also needs land readjustment, but if I take over the vast land to build a place where I live, there will be a lot of backlashes. Therefore, it will be the construction of a new city. Should we build a new city centered around the new Caan Mansion and centralize administrative functions?

“I need to think about it, but… let’s do it again tomorrow…” I said.

“Yes!” Kanbee said, backing down.

It’s true that there are many things to think about, but I just arrived today, so I can’t do this and that all of a sudden. There is still time. And it’s not something you have to decide right away.

Considering the process from start to finish, it’s definitely better to start early, but even if the decision changes by a day or two, it won’t have much of an impact. First of all, take a good rest today and think about it again tomorrow.

The next day, I arrived at the Koenigsvelg government office, but there were many problems…

“Haa… how did you keep reporting that all was going fine?” I asked.

“No…, that…, this is…”

“We had no problems here in Koenigsvelg.”

Some of them were confused by me, but most of them thought it was natural and there was nothing wrong with it, and I even thought they were being defiant.

“Even if Koenigsvelg in the past was fine with this, I should have instructed you all to shift to the new system. So you’re saying the reports were all lies?” I asked.

“That is……”

It’s been like this all along. Koenigsvelg’s ruling system remained unchanged. It’s not just Koenigsvelg’s fault. I’d say that’s the case with everything except my new system. So I’m not going to blame myself for that. Such was the system once upon a time. That’s great.

The problem is that they didn’t do anything even though they reported that they were “progressing” with all the things I ordered them to change. If you don’t do it, don’t do it, if you can’t do it, report that you can’t do it. Forces that oppose drastic change will emerge everywhere. Well, in this case, these bureaucrats are exactly the opposing force against change…

Anyway, if there is such an objection and you can’t implement it immediately, you should report it. It is not acceptable to say that it is progressing smoothly with a false report but that nothing was actually been done. This is not a problem that can be settled by just saying, “Let’s do our best from now on.”

“I am dismissing all of you here and now. Thank you for your hard work,” I said.

“Wha?!”

“Th-Thats’s outrageous!”

They all react at once. Absolutely outrageous.

“I’m the Lord of this territory,” I said. “You’ve constantly acted against the Lord’s instructions and even gave false reports. Normally, the death penalty wouldn’t be enough, right? Is it okay for me to have all of your property confiscated and all your family members killed? You were temporary governors, so I’m only showing you compassion because I think it would be too terrible to strictly apply the law. But I don’t care either way, do you?”

“Guh!”

“Hold-Hold a moment, please!”

“I was just forced into obedience by the others!”

“Ah! Bastard! How unfair! Don’t blame others for your mistakes!”

“Haa…”

It’s useless… It’s true that I was giving them a favor. If one of our generational vassals does something like this, we will apply the law strictly. Contrary to the Lord’s will, they repeatedly violated orders, and on top of that, they make false reports to hide it. If you do such a thing and forgive it with a sweet face, there will be no law or order. That’s why if they do that, the Lord will have their whole family and the ruling administrators killed.

But these guys were just temporary people who had been involved in Koenigsvelg’s administration before. That’s why I thought I’d just dismiss them with a light sentence because they didn’t know our laws…

In the first place, you can’t enact the law if you don’t know it. The premise is that you must know. It’s widely publicized, so you have to know it yourself. It’s a given that everyone knows about it. Like, I didn’t know that killing someone would be a crime, I didn’t know there was such a law, but it wouldn’t pass in court.

It doesn’t mean that you can be forgiven because you didn’t know, but if you don’t know, it means that those who didn’t try to know are to blame. This is normal. Even elementary school students know it.

“Either way… no matter what excuse you make, the decision will not change,” I said. “You have demonstrated your abilities and worth, and I have judged your abilities and worth. Until then, people like you are not needed in the government system from now on.”

“You! You’re just a little girl! Don’t get carried away!”

And now you show your true nature… From the beginning, you must have despised me as just a little girl. They haven’t even seen the last war. They were just hiding in a safe place. And when the war is over, they will come out and try to sit in power again.

I thought that if it was good enough, I could continue to leave it to you, but this is no good. It’s hard to choose a successor to replace the head at once, but if you look sweet now, that will just be keeping the roots of trouble infesting the foundations.

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“Understood,” I said. “Then let’s strictly apply the laws of our territory to everyone. Let’s have a fair public trial later. Take them away.”

“Roger!” the soldiers cried.

“Wha?!”

“Ho-Hold! We have We have nothing to do with it!”

“That’s right! Only he should be put to death! We didn’t say that!”

“You little bitch! You’ll see the consequences of this!”

As I watched the administrators being dragged away by the soldiers, I held my head in my hands as I thought about the future.