RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 56-1: Eastern Developments (Part 1)

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 56-1: Eastern Developments (Part 1)

This is the life. The salty breezes that come from the sea. A chair on a nice vantage point. A plate of croissants and a pot of coffee by the side. Yeah, this is the life... Or is it?

The wind carries with it the scent of smoky plumes of the Saigon harbor and freshly minted construction materials. The chair is nothing more than a set of white plastic chairs alongside a wooden table. The croissants are dried and the coffee is bland, both lacking the exquisiteness that is trademarked to their names. Yeah, such things are now the day-to-day company of a certain Duke. Even though Joseph has expected the cons of his decision to move half of his family to Cochinchina, he still finds it bothersome to endure. Yet, the man finds it fortunate that at the very least, he can still enjoy such frivolity, bad as they might be.

Other common families in Indochina can't even get proper roofing over their heads, despite the Feschs' best efforts. There's only so much they can do when half of the industries are paralyzed still. Most troubling would not be the material lost, but the lack of qualified workers in the manpower pool. Getting everything back up and running has been an effort and a half when there are not enough workers going around rebuilding. It's ironic to the extreme when official newsletters have it that other areas in the world are lacking in food, Indochina is sitting on an abundance of it when Joseph did an inventory check. While other regions now have a lot of unemployed workers, Indochina is facing immense shortages in manpower due to the nature of it being a resource and farming colony. It's a lucky break for them to see that the emergency storage has been untampered by nature or otherwise. Still, the stored resources will run out sooner or later. They must get the industries back to operational capacity to keep up with the consumption rate, lest they will truly be thrown into the deep end.

Joseph has plans to get around such matters... Well, more like he has earned himself a helping hand. It appears that his standing in the eyes of Princess Rosa Bonaparte, and by extension the Belkan Reich that is backing her, has paid off. It won't be long until aid will come in the form of experienced manpower of three nationalities, Belkan, Ustian, and surprisingly, Chinese. From his transcript with the Princess, the Belkans will be in the minority, yet they're experts in their fields of work. They will be best put in charge of groups of workers to expedite progress of any kind. The bulk of the manpower will come from experienced Ustians and Chinese who remain unemployed or are seeking newer pastures for many reasons. Most notably, many of these Ustians are former POWs that are released by Belka on good behavior. Other than that, the Chinese are being leased to Joseph since they're contracted workers under the Reich. Since they're being leased, Joseph has the responsibility to take care of them, lest they can complain to the Belkan embassy that is recently set up in Saigon. Regardless, things will be looking up for Southern Indochina in the future. The Duke need only hold on until the new workers arrive.

At the very least, Joseph won't need to fear a citizen revolt any time soon. The first thing he committed to when they first landed in Saigon was to get on the citizens' good grace. It was a risk, getting his wife and daughter involved in operating soup kitchens and food distribution centers, but it was a calculated one. Now, even when the people here have been a shadow of their former selves, they still look up to the females of the Ducal house very favorably. Other than that, Joseph has been a highly respected figure in the eyes of the populace. Apparently, the tale of a benevolent yet sickly Duke is a tearjerker for them, whether Joseph likes it or not. That said, he has cut back on his acting a lot when in a public setting. The man knows to utilize every advantage he can get, yet is careful about it blowing up in his face when they figure out that it's really just acting in the end.

"Good girl." Joseph complimented her. Is it weird that he's teaching her about such adult stuff already when she's barely a teenager? Well, she's soaking up the lessons and even knows how to cower an adult so it should be fine, right? Right?

Right, there had been a sleazy bastard that tried to cut the line in the soup kitchen, once. Somehow, Angela here managed to subdue the man with words and expression alone, turning the Vietnamese into a soup kitchen bodyguard nowadays. Joseph was there when Angela gave Audrey a high-five later, the two females sharing a knowing grin. Audrey has been tutoring Angela on academic and human relations things while Joseph passes on his experience as a Duke to the little girl. To be honest, he doesn't want to figure out what the lessons Audrey has been giving to Angela contain. Quoting Audrey:

"I am raising Angela to be a fine Duchess that people either respectfully step aside or fearfully fall in line."

Here's hoping the best will come out of their collective teaching program for Angela. Their daughter needs all the help she can get to gain a foothold in this dog-eats-dogs world. Right now, her brothers are already making their moves on the greater whole of Indochina. When the moment arises, Joseph doesn't think that they can see past their ambition to spare Angela.