ALL NOVEL chapter 47
47 – Inspection of the Territory
Somehow, I managed to resolve the situation. Hugging her once definitely helped to soothe her anger. However, this time, both the Teacher and Patricia seemed more menacing with their glances…
But do you know what? If you dare, don’t mention the story of what happened in the palace to Eileen. I won’t forgive anyone who touches my feelings!
However, even so, the cold stares were unbearable, so to escape, I swiftly fled from the castle, using the pretext of inspecting the situation of the Viscountcy.
Actually, it was not just an excuse. Since the reconstruction of the territory hadn’t been that long ago, compared to when I left Silverwood, there might not be any drastic changes. But still, since I had left the territory deserted for almost a month, I needed to see how it was functioning.
Moreover, once I go to Westvern in a few days, it will be difficult for me to return to Silverwood for a while. That’s why before leaving, I wanted to capture the scenery of Silverwood in my eyes.
What did I do when I arrived at the Viscountcy?
Well… as soon as I arrived, I was physically assaulted and sent straight to the castle…
Anyway, as I walked out of the castle and headed for the village, I saw well-maintained roads and neatly arranged buildings.
“Mmm~ It gives a sense of peace.”
Silverwood before the war… how should I put it? It had a typical feeling of a ‘rural territory.’
It was like seeing scattered mud on unpaved dirt roads that one would see when weeding oxygen plants in a past life and crumbling buildings that looked like they could collapse with just a touch.
My memories from my past life were not that vivid, and after living 15 years in this world, I had adapted to some extent, so I didn’t hate it that much. However, to me, who still retained a bit of modern sensibility, it wasn’t a village that could be called a nice place to live, even with good words.
But how is it now? Paved roads with stones, well-built buildings using sturdy stones and solid wood, and even cleanliness in designated areas where waste is disposed of.
This level can be compared to any city. No, cities are dirtier than here. This is a place where all sorts of scoundrels gather to find work.
“Did we become better off after the war?”
Of course, because we had to rebuild everything from scratch, we were able to take bold measures that were not possible before due to various land issues and complex relationships between the people of the territory. However, above all, it was made possible thanks to the Duke, my grandfather, who generously supported us.
Looking back, I suddenly feel how great my father was, despite his poor relationship with his father. How much trouble must they have had for us to receive only a hundredth of the support we get now?
As I walked and thought about this and that, people recognized me here and there on the street.
“The Duke! Have you returned from the palace?”
“hahahaha, it’s been a while, sir.”
“If you came back, you should say something! Would have caught a pig!”
“There’s no need to go that far…”
“What are you talking about? You did something for us, Duke!”
“That’s right, that’s right. I still remember how you tried to sacrifice your life for us that day.”
“We only knew you as a young lord, but we had no idea you were such a great person who cares so much for us. You’re truly great, Duke!”
“Wow!!! The Duke! The Duke! The Duke!”
“Uh? Wait, wait! I’m going to be crushed…”
I was almost squashed by the sudden rush of people who worshiped me, but fortunately I managed to escape. I felt like there had been a similar incident in my past life…
As I quietly slipped away among the people, I heard the sound of two men fighting and turning my head, I saw familiar faces.
“Marcus! Allen! It’s been a long time!”
“Duke! You’ve come back!”
“It’s been a while.”
They were my civilian friends, Marcus and Allen.
“Oh, you guys look so stylish. Weren’t you guys just small-time tailors who patched up cheap clothing? You guys have become completely gentlemen.”
“Well, it’s all thanks to you, Duke.”
Marcus bragged proudly about his newly tailored fancy clothes. Many artisans also moved into the territory during its reconstruction, and Marcus seems to have gotten his clothes from one of these new skilled artisans. Allen wasn’t as flashy as Marcus, but he wore neat leather clothes.
“So, any girls you’re seeing lately? Why are you dressed so handsomely?”
“That’s because…”
Marcus tended to speak too much, but basically, he started dating Amanda, the daughter of the weaver Mr. Wolverton who lived next door.
“Kid… Wasn’t Amanda a somewhat popular girl in the territory? How did you end up with her?”
“Well, didn’t I perform reasonably well when we fought against the evil West Veren… No, Kamus? Since I have some reputation in the territory, it was natural for Amanda to confess to me first.”
“Other than whining, what else did you do? Well, it wasn’t useless, but…”
“hahahaha, is that so? But at least it was helpful somehow.”
“Anyway, what were the two of you doing here?”
“I brought the skin of the prey I caught to sell. Doesn’t Alan’s place not do leather work?”
I wondered why you were holding the skins… Well, Marcus is a hunter and Alan is a leatherworker, so they do have a connection. I didn’t know that Marcus had only just properly started hunting.
“Your lordship, that son of a b*tch sold this kind of leather for only ten silver coins. Marcus, that bastard, has no conscience.”
“Hey! How are the skins? If you sell them somewhere else, you should get at least fifteen silver coins!”
“Not to mention all the scars on the leather from the arrows you shot. And you stripped the leather off like a retard, so the edges ended up all frayed. You’re far from being like your father.”
“Blackguard…!”
Hm…So that’s why you were so upset before you saw me. What a truly common reason for a dispute.
It’s not my place to get involved in such trivial matters.
“By the way, by the looks of both of you, I can tell you’re living pretty well these days.”
“Oh my, please don’t say that. Thanks to you and the Duke, our lives have gotten much better. And most importantly…”
“Most importantly?”
“That thing is gone, isn’t it? That thing.”
“What? What thing… oh, that thing?!”
After Marcus pointed somewhere with his finger, I remembered what “that thing” Marcus was talking about.
“That damn statue is gone..!”
“Oh my lord, even if you put it that way, it was still a ‘mature’ sculpture. You should be careful with your words in the future.”
“Do you think so? I never liked it in the first place.”
“I do agree with your opinion about that part, but…”
They were talking about the Benedict statue.
The statue had been standing in the middle of the village, blocking the way. Supposedly, it was a sculpture of the glorious life of Sir Benedict, who is the representative saint of our territory… but really, it was just a huge eyesore. The fact that Benedict is the representative saint of our territory is itself absurd. Sir Benedict’s image can be seen anywhere in the country, so why should he be the representative saint of our territory? If you take into account the statues and tapestries from other territories, there must be more than thirty instances of this.
Sir Benedict himself was a great person with many achievements, and so at every place where he visited, everyone claimed him to be their saint. So while he was certainly a great person, he couldn’t be representative of our territory.
Why was such horror erected in our territory?
It’s all because of our father. If anything bizarre happened in the territory, assigning father as the culprit would account for two-thirds of the cases. Are you doing that again, Father?
The reasons were simpler than you might think. It was because “another” noble visiting our territory had referred to Silverwood as a rural town.
A normal person would either ignore such criticism, or address it in a way that would help to develop the territory.
Unfortunately, our father was quite far from being “normal”.
He believed that the reason those nobles had mocked him was because there wasn’t a large, splendid statue in the territory, as there was in other territories. To me, it sounded like a bunch of excuses. It seemed like he just wanted to erect a large, imposing statue in the territory.
Anyway, the ambitious project to erect a statue that Father had started was sh*t-show from the beginning. To start, he hired a con artist instead of a real sculptor to sculpt the statues, and the second thing was that the spot where the statue was to be erected was on the main road used by the people of the territory.
Of course, not only the people of Yeongji, but also the courtiers around including Sijongjang, strongly opposed the idea, but my father insisted that it be placed there, claiming that it would be prominently visible from the castle when the statue was erected.
As a result, the people of Yeongji were forced to endure the inconvenience of not being able to use large means of transportation, such as carts, or having to go around cursing and swearing when they had to move large or small objects, not to mention that the statue itself, instead of being a proud symbol of Yeongji, became a laughingstock, carved like a fool.
Fortunately, that eyesore eventually disappeared when the Kaamus people used the stones as projectiles during the previous war and destroyed it, but before I left for the palace, I discovered that some unscrupulous individuals were plotting to restore the statue (surprisingly, there were some fans of that monstrosity).
So, I worried that when I returned to the palace, that eyesore would be erected again, but thankfully, the wise people of Yeongji managed to thwart that audacious attempt.
“I’m really glad that eyesore is gone.”
“Yes, me too. I remember how angry I would get every time I had to use a cart.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Well, then there shouldn’t be a problem with both of us living comfortably, right? Ha…but it gets a little bothersome to speak like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Please speak frankly, Viscount. Except for Amanda, I can offer anything for you.”
“Why me… sigh, forget about it. Anyway, if you both agree…”
I spoke to the two while shoulder to shoulder.
“Do you guys have any intention to go to Westburn with me?”
“Yes?”
“Yes? Really? Thank you so much! Looks like there’s no one else but you guys!”
“Yes??”
Two fresh slave gettos!