IHBWAT 15

Chapter 15

The Strange Lord

<Preparing for Winter 1>

Description:
A harsh winter is approaching. As lord, you must ensure that your people can spend the winter in warmth and safety.

Secure sufficient heating resources and food supplies, and prepare measures against unforeseen accidents.

Give your people a warm winter!

Conditions

• Secure Blackwood (Charcoal): 3.195 / 100.000 tons

Rewards

• Territory Experience +50

• Lord Experience +50

• Unlock Preparing for Winter 2

“Oh! It’s a chain quest!”

Cliff’s eyes lit up.

He had never imagined something like this before.

Then all he had to do was keep progressing.

Cliff spoke.

“How many more kilns can we build?”

“That depends on how much time you give us. If we work with the people who built this one, I think… this time, about eight days per kiln should be enough.”

Eight days for one kiln?

That wouldn’t do.

That was merely the construction time.

Producing charcoal from the kiln required a similar amount of time.

There’s not enough time.

Winter preparations had to be completed before winter arrived.

And this was only Preparing for Winter 1.

There was also Winter Preparation 2.

There might even be a third stage.

He didn’t know how far the quests would go, but he wanted to complete them all.

Roughly fifty days until winter.

Then he would throw everything he had into those fifty days.

To do that, he first needed manpower.

“If each member of this team became a team leader and was assigned a few laborers, how many kilns could we build?”

“The first kiln took us about eleven days. But since we’ve already done it once… the faster teams could finish in seven to eight days. Even the slowest teams should complete one within nine days.”

“Nine days…”

Cliff’s eyes sparkled.

Time was precious.

Excluding Anton, there were nine people on the current team.

Ten teams.

How many workers should each team have?

When Cliff had recruited soldiers, well over a hundred able-bodied men had appeared.

The harvest season was ending.

It was time to put them to work.

“Nigel.”

“Yes, Acting Lord.”

“You, the servants, and the maids all saw how charcoal was made in the kiln, didn’t you?”

“That’s true, but…”

Nigel looked confused as to why Cliff was asking.

Cliff grinned.

“Then I’ll leave this kiln to you. It can’t stop running. If we want as much charcoal as possible, the kiln has to keep working.”

The task itself was simple.

But exhausting.

Most importantly, someone had to watch the kiln constantly without sleeping.

“And have the soldiers go out and gather three or four laborers each. Tell them they’ll be fed well while they work. And once the job is done, each person will receive a sack of wheat.”

Lords of this era possessed the right of conscription.

They could summon their subjects for forced labor.

They didn’t have to pay wages.

They didn’t even have to provide food.

Absolute authority.

People were dragged into labor and had to buy their own meals or bring lunchboxes.

It’s absurdly unfair. Convenient for me, but I’m doing this to save lives anyway.

Even without the work, he intended to distribute food.

Otherwise, people might literally die from overwork.

Everyone here was half-starved.

It’d be nice if I could provide meat too…

Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

Still, things could have been worse.

Thanks to Cliff’s trade with Tom and Beluman’s downfall, the territory had sufficient grain.

And with taxes waived this year, the villagers were better off than usual.

Instead of taxes, the territory would undertake a massive public project.

Before that…

Cliff checked his status screen.

The broadest section was the territory window.

[Elimis Territory (Lv. 3)]

• Economy (Lv. 1)

• Military (Lv. 1)

• Culture (Lv. 0)

• Environment (Lv. 1)

• Mana (Lv. 0)

• Special (Lv. 0)

• Diplomacy (Lv. 0)

• Education (Lv. 0)

Remaining Points: 1

Let’s check Environment first.

Environment had leveled up automatically.

And it had granted him skill points.

Environment Skills

• Fertile Land (Lv. 0): Improves soil quality, increasing crop growth speed and quality.

• Resource Regeneration (Lv. 0): Slows the depletion of forests, rivers, and other resources.

• Disease Prevention (Lv. 0): Reduces outbreaks of infectious diseases and pests.

• Climate Resistance (Lv. 0): Grants resistance to heat and cold.

“Oh!”

Every single one looked tempting.

Still, Resource Regeneration was immediately ruled out.

We’re nowhere near resource depletion yet.

There simply weren’t enough people.

They needed a larger population before resource shortages became noticeable.

For now, Climate Resistance seems best…

A better chance of surviving winter.

People wouldn’t suddenly become warm in winter or cool in summer, but they would endure extreme temperatures more easily.

Nothing was more important for winter preparations.

I currently have three skill points.

At least one had to be invested.

In the end, his choices became:

• Climate Resistance: Lv. 2

• Disease Prevention: Lv. 1

He skipped Fertile Land again.

There’ll be opportunities later.

Winter came first.

And since colds were technically contagious diseases, Disease Prevention made sense.

His final remaining point went into Military.

This time, Physical Training!

Training naturally improved physical strength.

But there were limits.

He intended to mobilize even the soldiers for labor.

A full-scale draft of the entire territory.

No exceptions.

“Here.”

As work began, Cliff handed a shovel to Theobald.

Theobald seemed to ponder Cliff’s intentions.

But he accepted it.

“We’re digging.”

“…I’m working too?”

“Of course. Have you forgotten you’re the best laborer in this territory?”

Theobald frowned.

‘Sir’? More like he sees me as nothing but a slave.

But there was nothing he could do.

He took the shovel.

Following Cliff’s instructions, he headed toward the workers.

The team leaders were assigning tasks.

First came leveling the ground.

“Our team will finish first!”

The team leaders were highly motivated.

Naturally.

They had all once been Beluman’s slaves.

Now they belonged to the lord.

They could stay in their homeland.

But they were still slaves.

Most of the people who had built the first kiln shared similar circumstances.

So Cliff declared:

“The first team to finish will earn their freedom. How about it?”

Of course, that didn’t apply to Theobald.

“Even if the others are freed, they’ll remain my subjects. But you’re different.”

That was Cliff’s explanation.

Theobald would eventually leave.

He adjusted his grip on the shovel.

Then he froze.

What is this…?

He saw something unbelievable.

And everyone else did too.

“A-Acting Lord…?”

What lord picked up a shovel and worked among common laborers?

“What are you all staring at? Move your hands already! Are you planning to watch a noble work while you loaf around? This territory is strange. Isn’t it normal for the people below to work twice as hard when the person above them is working?”

Cliff scolded them as he began digging.

Unable to stop him, everyone hurriedly picked up shovels.

Even the team leaders who had been planning to supervise quietly joined in.

Only one person remained motionless.

Theobald.

“…Master, are you really doing this?”

“Of course. If you’re the greatest laborer in the territory, then I’m second place. Right now, you and I need to shovel quickly if we want this work finished sooner. Besides, isn’t it a bit much for a servant to take it easy while his master is working?”

Cliff.

He had always been suspicious.

But today, more than suspicious, he seemed…

Interesting.

And amusing.

“The greatest laborer…”

It felt strange.

He had heard similar words earlier.

Back then, it had sounded like he was being treated as a slave instead of a knight.

Now…

It felt warm.

He had been acknowledged.

It reminded him of the praise he’d received from his master during childhood.

“Don’t worry, Master. Even if the greatest laborer in the territory rests a little, there’s no way I’ll accomplish less than you.”

“Oh? Then want to make a bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“If you win, I’ll let you bathe in warm water tonight. Hey, team leader. You’re the judge.”

Cliff resumed digging.

Theobald laughed again.

“Very well. I’ll accept. Tonight, I’ll enjoy a warm bath for the first time in a long while.”

“I’ll even throw in some slime.”

“I can’t afford to lose, then.”

The two greatest laborers in the territory.

And it wasn’t an exaggeration.

Within mere hours, the leveling work was complete.

A task that should have taken up to two days was finished in less than half a day.

“…I lost.”

Cliff raised both hands in surrender.

Because they’d started late, evening had already arrived.

It was time to stop.

“Everyone, dismiss and get plenty of rest. You’ll need it to work again tomorrow. Good job.”

Cliff dismissed the workers.

“Come on. A promise is a promise. Let’s get you that bath.”

* * *

Cliff kept his promise.

But not in the way Theobald had expected.

“…Is navy blue your preference?”

“Of course not.”

“Even if it isn’t true, rumors will spread.”

At that moment, two men were sharing the same bath.

Cliff chuckled.

“Refusing flowers and summoning a man instead is enough to start rumors.”

“Who cares? And even if they do spread rumors, no one would dare say them openly. Your face is terrifying enough. If people value their lives, they won’t gossip about either of us.”

Crack.

Something about those words irritated him.

One thing was certain.

He’s truly impossible to understand.

Acting Lord Cliff.

Theobald found himself curious.

Why was this man working himself so hard?

“Why… do you push yourself like this? Even if you didn’t, winter wouldn’t threaten you or your wife.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

Cliff thought for a moment before answering.

“But… living alone isn’t very fun, is it?”

Then he smiled.

“We have to save them all. I don’t have a hobby of collecting corpses. If I can already see people who’ll likely die this winter if left alone, how could I just sit back and do nothing?”

Because of that…

He personally picked up a shovel and joined the laborers.

Theobald couldn’t help thinking:

What a strange lord.

No.

What an ideal lord.