Chapter 6

Chapter 3. Our Lord Has Changed! - Episode 1

'Indeed, our lord has changed! For the first time in ten years, he fell asleep while reading documents in his office, and now he's checking documents on the training ground in the morning!'

Haez stood by the window, watching Jared walking quietly alone on the training ground.

It had been an hour since Jared started walking on the training ground.

Haez couldn't understand it.

Just yesterday, Jared had been a lazy person who found it troublesome to move from his bedroom to his office.

Walking and moving for more than ten minutes somewhere?

It was something that would never happen.

At most, the time he walked the most in his daily life was when he went on an inspection tour of the territory.

He had to go out to the main gate of the mansion to get into the carriage.

But even that was only a few minutes at most.

'What on earth is going on? Could my prayers have been answered? Even the head of the guard and the butler said the same thing as me! They said the lord has changed.'

The Jared that Haez remembered was always yawning at the tedious daily routine with sleepy eyes.

The only time his face showed any vitality was when he was eating delicious food.

But now, the dull and listless look in his eyes was gone.

His eyes were now full of energy! It was a huge change.

'Could my prayers have been answered?'

Haez recalled.

Thinking back to the young and vibrant Jared from his childhood, she had prayed for him to return to the handsome and impressive lord he once was.

Everyone had shaken their heads and given up, but Haez had always believed that one day the lord would come to his senses!

It seemed that her belief had become reality. Since yesterday, it felt like a dream.

'But I shouldn't get too excited. I shouldn't make a fuss, I need to stay calm!'

Haez calmed herself down.

She felt so happy, but she wanted to be more careful. Jared was precious to her.

* * *

"Damn body! I'm out of breath even though I walked very slowly. Wow, I'm sweating even though I just walked in this cold weather? My stamina is terrible."

It had been over an hour since he started walking on the training ground.

He thought he wouldn't get tired at all since it was more like a stroll, but his body was drenched in sweat.

"Huff."

His body kept sending signals that it wanted to rest, regardless of his will.

Most of all, he craved something sweet.

In my previous life, I didn't particularly like chocolate. If anything, I preferred candy.

But this body kept randomly thinking about sweet chocolate every few seconds.

After adjusting his diet yesterday and avoiding the meat and sweets he usually ate, he felt like he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

"Chomp."

Thinking about the sweetness made his mouth water. But the thought that he couldn't eat it made his hands tremble.

"No, I won't eat it. I won't eat it."

Suppressing the sudden surges of appetite, he continued to review the documents.

They were documents related to the territory, long documents about the internal state of the territory.

He had Haez bring them last night, but it took quite a while to read them all because there were so many.

And he had just finished reading the last page.

Right then.

The system message appeared as if it had been waiting.

Looking at it, it was information he had seen many times in the territory management screen in the game.

'The game system came with me to this life. Of course, this is a unique ability that only I have!'

Having the awareness of both my past and present lives, it was easy for me to realize how special this information window was.

Being affected by the game system. This was the only privilege I, an extra, could enjoy.

"Let's see..."

Every July 1st, when the main star Deus and the guest star Vendela align in the sky.

A large-scale invasion by the demons targeting the Crevia territory occurs.

[Special Situation 2: The lord of the neighboring Majorca territory, Horgus, publicly criticized Lord Jared of Crevia territory, saying he cannot trust him at all!]

[Special Situation 3: The bandit king Volcas sent a letter stating that if the corn they have is exchanged one-to-one with the mana stones of the Crevia territory, there will be no bloodshed.]

'Is this a territory, or just a piece of abandoned land? How could the lord look so gullible that the bandit king would send a letter with such ridiculous content?'

Seeing the updated territory information, I was shocked.

There was not a single proper statistic among the internal affairs.

The security level seemed high, right?

That's just a misunderstanding.

It's only because the territory is so small, like a hole-in-the-wall shop, that the required security level is very low.

In large territories, the maximum security level displayed on the right side of the territory window is often 1000, or even 10000!

In other words, Jared's territory management before my awakening was a mess.

To put it bluntly, it was neglect.

Not even a neglect-type game, but in reality, managing the territory's internal affairs like this is like saying everyone should die together.

'Loyalty 18... This is the kind of number that comes up when the territory residents are cursing me.'

The loyalty of the territory residents was as bad as the number suggested.

At this level, the residents would probably be cursing and complaining about me while eating or drinking.

'Well, don't be surprised. I knew the land was barren and the territory management was a mess.'

I calmed myself down.

It wasn't something I just found out; I knew from the moment I woke up and saw my body that I had a long way to go.

This is all a burden I need to bear and overcome. There's no need to be discouraged by just this.

I have experience turning a territory that was even worse than this into an S-grade territory in the game!

Of course, that was when I was at a high level, but it's not impossible.

'First, let's check if there are any useful people in the territory.'

I started to skim through the documents on the vassals.

The territory's state had likely been a mess because the right people were not placed in the right positions.

If no one had been assigned tasks, the territory management wouldn't have been possible at all.

Judging from the fact that it hadn't completely broken down, it was likely that only the bare minimum positions were filled.

After reading the documents for a while.

"Wow, this person with commercial talent is assigned to agricultural development?"

"No, why would a lifelong warrior be assigned to commercial tasks...?"

"Why would someone with such a bad reputation in the territory be in charge of security?"

"The head of the territory's direct trade guild is a parachuted appointment. His experience in the commercial sector is too short!"

I was shocked.

There wasn't a single person placed in the right position.

All of them were mismatches.

From the records of their past activities, it was clear what each person was interested in and what they were good at.

But none of that had been considered.

In the game, it was common sense to assign people to positions based on their tendencies, stats, and suitability.

The more they worked in the field they were interested in, the more the synergy effect would be amplified.

This was common sense.

But in the game, many territories were poorly managed because of poor personnel placement.

To prevent such disasters, players needed to regularly meet with them to understand their complaints and confirm their desired fields of work.

However, many players found this tedious and often just filled the positions and neglected them.

Of course, the outcome for such players was obvious. They would lose their territories and become penniless wandering players.

If territory management were such a simple matter that could be handled haphazardly, I would have become the top-ranked player in the game.

Managing people is that difficult.

'First, let's gather the vassals. With the Insight skill, understanding their tendencies will be easier now.'

-Hand over the Insight!

"Isabella, you're still here? No way. Insight is essential for territory management. I won't give it back."

-We'll see how long you keep it!

"You can have it when I die. I don't know when that will be, though."

-I want your eyes!

Ignoring Isabella, who suddenly appeared and disrupted my concentration, I headed to the office.

I will implement the first personnel reshuffle.

The current state of the territory is beyond the brink of collapse.

First, I need to stop that.

* * *

"Let's see..."

While waiting for the vassals.

I checked my status as a mage in the office.

My magic stat is still not high enough to use magic freely.

However, my understanding of magic up to the 4th class is more than sufficient.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

A magic orb appeared and disappeared repeatedly in my hand.

I was repeatedly canceling the casting, but fortunately, there was no problem with the flow of mana in my body.

This was due to the Eucalisse family's mana cultivation technique, which I had inherited from my father.

I had practiced the 'Eucalisse Mana Cultivation Technique' since I was young, and after the age of ten, I was so familiar with it that my mana circulation continued even when I just breathed.

Because of this, even after the shock of my father's death made me give up on cultivation, my body continued the process on its own.

Knock knock knock.

At that moment, a knock was heard.

"Everyone, come in."

As my voice was heard, the vassals gathered for the meeting started to enter one by one.

'What's that smell?'

But something was off.

In this serious meeting where the lord had gathered the vassals.

For some reason, the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.

'Really, this is a mess. I need to re-establish the lord's authority.'

I clenched my fists.

The lord's authority is directly linked to the vassals' loyalty.

If I manage the territory like water mixed with water or alcohol mixed with alcohol, it will definitely fail.

I stood up.

And shouted at the vassals.

"Who is it? Who drank a lot of alcohol in the middle of the day and came to the meeting?"