Blue Advisory! (4)

The slaves were transported by teleportation in groups of 400 per day.

Amidst that, everyday life passed in a blur as I helped them find separate houses and locate their families.

After confirming that Janet and the others had vanished by teleport while hefting huge oak casks, I sent word to the princess to send “large gold coins” instead of slaves from now on.

She might be taken aback by a sudden request for large gold coins, but since I intended to open a trade road, I had to think ahead.

“Accepting slaves priced at whatever the seller asks is actually a loss. Now that I’ve brought in this many, I can run things myself afterward…”

Besides, if I counted the beastkin, the population of the domain was actually quite large.

What’s more, I realized it was incredible that a perfectly battle-ready force—resistant to outside threats—was acting as if they would obey my orders with a single nod.

“Am I… actually a huge success?”

Beni, who was sorting medicinal materials, heard my musing as I was organizing the schedule in my workshop and looked at me in puzzlement.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, nothing much—just wondering what would be fun to do next.”

Beni gave me a look that said, “Are you planning to make things bigger again?”—but honestly, there was no end to what I could do next.

Amusingly, the technical slaves sent this time were extremely capable. There were many artisans so skilled I wondered how they’d become slaves at all; as I looked them over one by one, I learned something interesting.

Their places of origin were the fiefs of some familiar nobles.

“Balsen’s fief and Doriyan’s fief, huh…”

Thinking of those two nobles who had been desperate to bring me down, I wondered if they had trumped up charges to oppress and exploit their people.

Moreover, slaves bring money. And I’d heard technical slaves were astonishingly expensive.

Because they could be worked to accomplish a variety of tasks, their value differs by each person’s skill level; most of those who arrived this time were “artisan” class.

Above that were “master” and “grandmaster,” but I’d heard there were very few masters and grandmasters across the continent; so being artisans meant they were good enough to be called top-class.

That was truly baffling.

“Those idiot nobles must have dung in their skulls.”

In other words, they sold off the very technicians who could fatten their own fiefs. Short-term profit benefits the seller, but in the long run it’s nothing but loss.

Unless this were a world overflowing with artisan-class technicians—which it isn’t—Balsen and Doriyan felt even, even, even more foolish.

“Does it even matter to me?”

I’d profited, so I might as well enjoy it. I had arranged things so most could live happily with their families, and considering I’d spent days of back-breaking work to build houses in the shapes they wanted, I intended to get my full return.

They said it would take about a fortnight for stabilization and for work to truly begin; so in about a week, I expected the goods they’d produce to enrich the viscounty.

“Janet took a hundred casks… that’s not much, is it…?”

In truth, it had taken two people to carry even a single oak cask, but I couldn’t help being curious what kind of mood would ripple through the imperial court once it spread there.

Just as I was thinking the princess might hurry back if she grew impatient—

Without knocking, the workshop door flew open, and Vincent, pale to the point of bluish white and about to drop dead, said to me:

“Th-the E-Em-Empr-ess-ss… huff…!”

I couldn’t understand a word. I gave the near-fainting Vincent water and a nerve-calming potion and asked him calmly:

“So, will you please enunciate, one word at a time, what happened?”

“Grr… f-fast… you must… go to the Grand Reception… now…”

“Why?”

“Her Imperial Majesty… has arrived!!!”

Vincent toppled backward and rolled his eyes up. It was definitely respiratory distress. It might be a brief faint, but it could be dangerous; I looked to the startled Beni to take care of him and ran.

“What on earth could she possibly want to come here and gobble up?!”

I had performed rites to avert disaster, but never imagined the imperial visit itself would be the disaster to strike my domain.

Faced with people whose expressions made me want to say “unannounced visits are unwelcome,” I was at a loss for words—but the problem was the family itself. The two who should be leading the empire, plus their daughter, had all come together.

“I do not know where to put myself, Your Majesty. How did it come to pass that you grace such a humble fief?!”

I bowed and scraped as much as possible. The Empress, face ashen, said to me:

“I heard there is a medicine that is good for teleportation aftereffects… couldst thou provide it?”

They had already retched plenty, yet still felt unwell. I ordered the frozen-stiff maids to bring various things and said,

“The medicine shall be prepared at once. But… for what reason have you deigned to come in person?”

Judging by the reek of alcohol pouring from them, it was obvious it was because of the liquor Janet had taken.

“Surely… you didn’t decide on a whim under the influence?”

As I waited with that uneasy thought, the Empress answered in a very slow, composed voice—apparently suppressing nausea.

“Had I known sooner… that thou possessed such exceptional talent… I would not have sent thee to this outland fief…”

“I believe these are things that can be made precisely because it is here.”

“Art thou not able to procure sufficient materials elsewhere…? On this occasion… I shall grant thee the rank of Count; what say thee to moving to another fief?”

Anyone hungry for advancement would have snapped up the Empress’s bait, but I absolutely did not want that.

Leave behind everything I had built here, achieved here, and endured so much to one day see bloom—leave, and go where?

Moreover, I did not consider life here bad.

Just the fact that I didn’t have to care overly about outside eyes made this a fine fief.

“I thank you for the offer, but I must decline. This place suffices.”

“Truly, a pity…”

I watched the imperial family hastily gulp down the medicine and water the maids brought. The Emperor seemed in better shape than the Empress, but his silence suggested something else; Princess Riana looked between her parents and me, face awkward and apologetic—that softened me a little.

“As expected… Viscount Ingrad’s medicine is excellent.”

It was absurd to say such a thing not even thirty seconds after taking it.

Perhaps they were enjoying a robust placebo effect. Thinking it improper to leave them there, I led the imperial family to the state guest room.

Then, after asking them to rest until they were stable, I left the manor and, surveying the area, summoned several people.

“From now, we’ll carry out a large-scale relocation. It’s temporary—please stand by there for a few days.”

I intended to move the beastkin tribes known for ferocity to places less conspicuous to the imperial family. Some looked displeased at me, but nodded anyway—likely thanks to the “neon sign” the goddess had hung on me.

Thus I had to ask the bear, tiger, elephant, and even dragon beastkin to withdraw to a day’s walk away and live there; watching them halt their work and depart, I silently cursed the imperial family again and again.

As for the Sain Tribe, the biggest problem, I had to pin them down behind the lord’s castle so they wouldn’t move; I also had to control the slaves’ behavior and mouths to minimize the chance of issues.

On top of that, I told the beastkin working at the distillery to take several days off—no need to come in—and forced clock-out, then filled the gap with slaves, telling them:

“All of this, you made and brewed. Understood?”

The slaves nodded quickly. At present, every slave working in our domain was strictly obeying whatever I said.

With working conditions and living environment—and even “benefits(?)”—fully in place, and with the promise of one gold coin per month in wages, everyone was working hard.

‘One gold coin’ sounds nice, but for a slave it’s a dream sum—an amount worthy of the name. That’s the situation on this continent.

But on second thought, what they earned for me wasn’t merely the value of one gold coin. I was dividing up all the work I otherwise would have handled alone, and estimates showed each working slave brought in an average of 10–30 large gold coins.

It was thanks to the beastkin, who gathered herbs from the Forest of the Demon Dragon at a price close to free—but the herbs I gave them in return weren’t cheap by human standards either, so it felt like a win-win.

“Since we have important guests in the domain, slaves are strictly forbidden from entering the lord’s manor. If you must enter, you will be escorted by a maid and move only under her guidance.”

Thanks to Vincent’s insistence that one must speak down to slaves, I’d gotten used to it; but it didn’t feel great. I resolved that if any wished to redeem themselves for the appropriate amount of gold and be freed, I would treat them with respect again.

Thus, in a rush, the clean-up continued, and the lord’s manor began to receive ironclad protection from knights in glittering armor.

“I should hire knights like that someday…”

Feeling a needless pang of envy, I headed back toward the entrance and was looking over the knights when one suddenly saluted me.

It was so out of the blue that I stopped in confusion and asked,

“Are you greeting me?”

“Yes. Your lordship’s fame shakes the Empire—rumor has it you will soon become a high noble.”

“So you want to get your face known in advance?”

“That is not it. I only pay my respects because my younger sister is in your debt.”

“Your sister? Who?”

“Aenia.”

“Aaah…”

Looking more closely, I saw a family resemblance. Their builds were similar, too—maybe that’s why?

For some reason, looking her straight in the face felt awkward.

“Well, she’s doing fine for now.”

“I heard from her comrades—you’ve been distributing expensive potions free of charge…”

That would blow up later if misunderstood, so I spoke immediately.

“Not free. I receive one of her specialties in return and give the potion as payment.”

At my words, the knight’s face stiffened and he asked quietly,

“Is it… monster dissection again?”

That wasn’t at the level of a “game,” though…

As I thought that, the Aenia in question, spotting her older sister, cried out and ran this way.

“Rebeccaaa—sis!!”

So the female knight before me was named Rebecca. In any case, what a family. Two sisters serving in the imperial guard orders—a point of pride for any house. Before Aenia reached us, I turned on my heel and went back into the manor.

There was nothing to gain by letting it be known our relations had improved; that thought alone drew my steps inward.