Finishing The Territory Management

“I have returned. Hehehehehe…”

“Master, I have returned.”

Caro and Al returned to the hut.

“Good work, both of you. Were you able to complete the mission safely?”

Kent thanked the two of them for their efforts. However, Caro seemed a little strange.

“Caro-san, what is wrong?”

“Eh? It is nothing… it is not. According to Al-chan, she was able to absorb the magic power properly.”

“Really? I am sorry for making you do something difficult.”

Judging from how tired Caro seemed, Kent thought she must have struggled to persuade Verna. In reality, it came from mental exhaustion because she had used a different method.

Caro began taking off her clothes and started changing. Kent somehow stared at her as she did so.

“Kent-san, what is the matter?”

“No, I was just thinking that your skin is beautiful, Caro-san.”

“Even if you praise me, nothing will come out, you know?”

Caro said that mischievously.

“Masterrr. Please look at me toooo.”

“Al, there is no need for you to take off your clothes, is there?”

“I just somehow feel like taking them off… Is that no good?”

“No good. Please put your clothes on.”

“Tch.”

Al put her clothes back on in disappointment.

After a little time passed, someone knocked on the hut.

“Yes, come in.”

“Excuse me. Kent, Caro-sa… Al, dinner is ready.”

“Thank you. We will go now.”

Verna entered and came to tell them that dinner was ready. When she tried to call Caro’s name, she seemed about to say something, but Kent did not notice.

After Kent and the others finished dinner with Verna’s family, they returned to the hut, injected magic power into Al as part of their usual daily routine, and went to sleep.

Starting the next day, Kent decided to carry out the final stage of the farmland reform. Until now, he had mainly chosen crops that could be used as food, but from today, he would start cultivating fruits, which were luxury goods from the perspective of commoners. They apparently traded for high prices, and Kent thought they would become a major source of income.

“That said, all we are doing is planting fruit tree saplings on empty land and growing them to a certain size.”

From the list displayed on the terminal, he randomly chose saplings such as mandarin oranges, figs, persimmons, chestnuts, kiwis, apples, cherries, peaches, grapes, pears, and so on. He divided the land into plots, had the farmers help with the planting, and then had Al use her ability to grow the saplings enough so they could be harvested starting this year. Due to time constraints, they could not use the method of harvesting once as they had with the vegetables, so they only harvested the fruits that could be harvested at the current time among the fruits they had grown. Even that alone allowed them to harvest a considerable amount. Including the ones that had not reached harvest, Caro wrote down the care methods in a notebook and entrusted it to the Town Head so it could be consulted whenever they had trouble with farm work.

In parallel with that, Kent decided to provide the townspeople with simple recipes for cooking the excess flour in town. In this world, flour was not used for anything besides bread and simple things made by dissolving it in water and baking it, so he suggested menus such as udon and savory pancakes. For the time being, he provided the lacking seasonings and so on, but he assigned them the homework of seeing whether they could each arrange the recipes and manage somehow without using the seasonings he had provided.

And several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the next day became the day Kent and the others would return to the town of Tior.

On this day, Prim had visited while leading a merchant caravan to buy the harvest for the second time.

“We were able to buy many good things again this time. I will bring the payment to Caro-san’s house.”

“Prim. I am sorry for asking something unreasonable of you.”

“Not at all. As a merchant, I am grateful that I was able to have exclusive sales of things that no one else could sell at this time of year. Thanks to that, Father praised me a lot.”

“I see. Then I am glad.”

After the loading of the cargo was finished, Caro and Prim were talking.

“Then I will see you at the academy the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, then I will return ahead of you.”

“Kent-san, see you again too.”

“Be careful on the way.”

Seen off by Kent and Caro, Prim led the merchant caravan, including the loaded wagons, and returned to the town of Tior.

“Kent-san, thank you for your hard work. With this, the assignment Father gave us this time is finished. We will not know how he judges it until we return, but I think you did more than enough work, Kent-san.”

“That is true. I think we did everything we could. I feel like things will surely move in a good direction.”

Caro and Kent said that while seeing Prim and the others off.

“Master, Lady Caro, you are finally getting engaged.”

“Oh my, Al-chan.”

“When you say it like that again, it feels embarrassing.”

After Al said that, Kent and Caro looked down in embarrassment.

“Kent-san, Caro-san. So this is where you were.”

“What is it? Is there some problem?”

The Town Head came before Kent and the others. Seeing that he was breathing a little heavily, it seemed as though he had been looking for them.

“It is not that, but since Kent-san, Caro-san, and Al-san will be returning tomorrow, we decided to hold a modest farewell party tonight.”

“Is that so? I am sorry for making you go to the trouble.”

“You might say that you were only carrying out your duties, but thanks to you, Kent-san, the town has become lively, and everyone can now live with smiles. And with Verna’s matter as well… I am very grateful. The people of the town feel the same gratitude too.”

“When you say that much, it makes me feel that our efforts were worthwhile.”

The Town Head invited them to a farewell party, and since Kent had no reason to refuse, he decided to accept.

“So, is the venue here?”

“Yes, we decided that everyone should do it together…”

The place Kent and the others were guided to was the town’s central square. It seemed that most of the people living in this town had gathered there. Because of that, although it was a small town, it was filled with many people. The food and so on had already been prepared, and they were ready to begin at any time. That said, the food was mainly vegetables, with a little fruit added as well. There were also dishes that used flour. In short, the dishes used things that had been harvested here.

“This might be a little lonely?”

“Yes. Since it is from the Acting Lord, how about secretly adding something?”

“That is true. It should be fine to at least provide drinks.”

Caro made that suggestion. So Kent said he was going to the restroom and left the area, then ordered a large quantity of alcohol and juice from the terminal. Several hundred people had gathered in the central square, so it became quite a large expense, but including it as thanks for their cooperation, Kent did not hold back.

“Chuck-san, may I have a moment?”

“Yes, what is it?”

Kent called out to Chuck, the Head Guard, who had come to the venue with his family. Judging by his appearance, he was in casual clothes, so he did not seem to be working right now, but since there was no one else he could ask, Kent stopped him despite feeling sorry.

“Your wife is a beautiful person.”

“Well, she is my wife, and I am proud of her.”

Before getting to the main topic, Kent said that to Chuck. Chuck answered somewhat happily. He had a small child with him, and perhaps because his wife had been a noble young lady, even though she wore commoner clothes, she still had a certain elegance. Perhaps noticing Kent’s gaze, Chuck’s wife gave Kent a small bow.

“Actually, I prepared drinks behind this building as refreshments from the Acting Lord, but there are too many to carry. Could I ask the guards to carry them?”

“If that is the case, it is an easy task. Then it should be treated as a gift from the Acting Lord, not from Kent-dono, correct?”

Chuck read Kent’s intention and asked again.

“Yes, please handle it that way.”

“Understood. Then I will speak with my wife briefly and gather some people.”

After speaking briefly with his wife, Chuck ran into the crowd.