Chapter 9

The day I confessed to my parents.

After finishing the morning training and comforting Dan, who was feeling down, I headed towards my father's study.

A four-year-old's body, due to the rigorous training, persistently demands a nap as a form of rest. However, I wanted to talk to my father before the time ran out, so I forced myself to visit him.

In the study, my father and the administrative officer, Nicholas, were present. When I entered, my father seemed to understand and instructed Nicholas to take care of some business, leaving us alone.

"I have something to discuss with you, Father. It's about ways to improve this village and the Lockhart territory."

My father nodded and, picking me up, placed me on a chair that was too high for a child to sit on.

"I don't know much about the current state of this village. First, I want to see it for myself. Could I have your permission to walk around the village freely?"

I had only left the grounds of this mansion twice.

The first time was last summer when we went as a family to the Black Pond, a lake in the south. The second time was on the day of the autumn harvest festival when we visited the village shrine.

In both cases, due to the large number of children, we used a cart and couldn't move around freely.

I understood that my father was concerned about my safety and kept me within the walled, secure grounds. However, I thought it was a bit overprotective. On the other hand, for a three- or four-year-old, the grounds were sufficiently large, and I had no complaints about playing, so it might not have been that overprotective.

"Freely... That's difficult. Let me think about it."

Seeing my father hesitate, I asked if there was any danger for the lord's son to walk around the village.

"The villagers are all good people, and no one would harm my son. However, this village is close to the forest, and we never know when a monster might appear. Even if we assign a guard, we don't have enough people..."

I also felt reluctant to burden someone for my sake.

"Then, how about a tour with Father? Perhaps as an introduction to the second son?"

After thinking for a moment, my father agreed to let me accompany him.

"We'll start touring the village the day after tomorrow. Nicholas and I will show you around."

My father said this with a smile and whispered to me with a mischievous look.

"You must have some plan, right? Can you tell me a little?"

"I haven't fully decided yet," I replied, and he looked a bit disappointed.

"Nicholas will be with us. I think it's better to act as if I came up with the idea."

(What, Father was thinking too? I thought he was just trying to make a good impression on Nicholas. Well, what should I do...)

"I have something I want to confirm with Father."

"What do you want to know?" he asked brightly.

"The population trend of this village. And if possible, the mortality rate of children, especially young children."

"Population... We have the Orb's registry, so we should be able to find out..."

The Orb is a magical device similar to an ID card, but it doesn't seem to keep track of population statistics, so the exact numbers are unknown.

To begin with, how is the tax for our territory determined?

"Is that so... Then, how is the tax determined?"

"The tax is based on the area of farmland and the number of livestock. Craftsmen are tax-free."

Since there is no head tax, the population is not managed.

Craftsmen are tax-free because my grandfather recruited them, and normally, taxes are levied on sales.

"First, we need to conduct a population survey."

My father, not understanding the reason, looked at me and asked, "Why?"

"If we know the annual population changes, we can understand the trends in labor and consumption. If we know the population trend, we can determine why it's decreasing, or if it's increasing, whether we need new farmland and how much of the forest to clear. With an increase in population, the demand for goods will naturally increase, and we can attract merchants."

"I see. You mentioned the mortality rate of children. Why is that?"

"Let's assume the village's population has remained constant, and fifty children are born each year. If we assume that thirty percent, or fifteen children, die each year, reducing the mortality rate to one-third, or ten percent, would result in a population increase of ten people per year, leading to a hundred more people in ten years. These would be young people who will have children in the future."

"A hundred people in ten years. I see. The logic makes sense, but protecting young children from illness is not easy. If someone can take care of them like in this mansion, it might be possible, but in poor farming households, older children, around your age, often take care of younger ones."

I was honestly surprised that my father, as an administrator, had a good grasp of the situation.

(I thought he would be more casual, but he's surprisingly observant.)

"I haven't seen it yet, but I'm thinking of a plan to increase food production and reduce infant mortality simultaneously."

My father stood up in excitement.

"Is that true! Such a dream-like idea..."

I cautioned him not to get too excited.

"I can't be sure until I see it. First, I need to confirm the village's situation..."

I persuaded my excited father and made arrangements to visit the blacksmith, carpenter, and leatherworker. Nicholas returned, and I left the room, dragging my tired body to the hall where the four of us usually take naps.

(I finally got permission to go to the village, but what will it be like? Nicholas said he would conduct a population survey, but I wonder if it will be okay... However, being a child is tough. I get tired easily and can't push myself...)

I went to lie down next to Mel and fell asleep.

After the nap, I planned to educate Mel and the other three.

It wasn't anything particularly difficult; I just wanted to teach them the alphabet in the garden.

I started a game using the alphabet—drawing circles on the ground and writing letters inside them. The game involved throwing stones in alphabetical order.

"The first one is A. What's next?"

Among the three, Sharon answered softly, "B."

I praised her, "Great, which one is B?" and she pointed to the letter B.

(Sharon knew the letters? When did she learn them?)

I was surprised and patted her head, "Amazing, Sharon." This ignited Mel's competitive spirit, and she started asking questions one after another. Even Dan joined in.

It seemed my plan worked, and they became interested in the letters.

I intended to increase the literacy rate in this village.

While the vassals can all read, most of the farmers cannot. However, this village is relatively prosperous, and people have some leisure time. I wanted to allocate this time to education.

I don't think education can solve everything, but increasing literacy would allow for the transmission of knowledge through documents, improving productivity. Teaching basic arithmetic would also dramatically improve production management.

The poor transportation is a problem, but if we can increase productivity, people will start to move. We could also create specialty products or use tax revenue to build roads.

(Although it's a bit premature, education is necessary. The security is good, so focusing on hygiene, education, and new industries will definitely lead to the village's development...)

I haven't decided whether to stay in this village or travel.

Even if I stay, the next lord will be my brother, Rod, so I need to find my place. Traveling the world might be an interesting option.

Regardless, this place will be my hometown.

I want to develop this village and repay my parents and grandfather, who accepted me. I want to do what I can.

I was just an engineer.

Being a designer sounds good, but what I did was just combining various parts, and I couldn't do anything without a computer.

I don't know how much of my half-baked knowledge will be useful, but I will do my best.

The day after next, I was restless in the morning.

The excitement of seeing the village and a new world was overwhelming.

Riding on my father's horse, I felt a bit scared by the height.

(The height is higher than I thought. There's nothing to hold onto...)

The height was several times what I was used to, and I almost clung to the saddle every time the horse moved.

My father laughed, "Are you scared?"

"Yes, I am. The last time I left the mansion, I was on the cart's bed, and I've never ridden a horse before."

I forgot Nicholas was there and spoke in my usual tone instead of a child's.

Nicholas's smile seemed to freeze, but I ignored it and clung to the saddle.

After the descent from the mansion, we passed through the gate surrounding the hill.

The gate was not impressive, just a thick wooden door that could easily be broken by large animals like boars or bears.

Rasmoor Village has five hills.

From north to south, they are the "Manor Hill," "North Hill," "East Hill," and "West Hill," with the "South Hill" being the southernmost.

The roads in the village are unpaved and run through the hills.

The houses are single-story with white plaster walls and slate roofs, and several to ten houses are grouped along the roads.

From the mansion, I could see the patchwork of fields on the hills, green pastures with sheep and cows, and pigs in the backyards.

My first impression was that it was dirtier than I expected.

(The scenery looks beautiful from a distance, but it's quite dirty up close. The roads are muddy even though it hasn't rained for four days. There's also animal waste mixed in...)

We toured each hill, observing the fields and the villagers.

When we passed, the farmers working in the fields took off their hats and bowed.

(They do respect the lord. They are indeed respected...)

The farmers were using hoes and spades to till the fields, but there were no horses or oxen.

I asked Nicholas, "Don't they use horses or oxen?"

"Horses are mostly in the mansion. Oxen are used for milking, so they don't work in the fields."

The serious Nicholas answered me, a four-year-old, politely.

(I thought the use of draft horses started a long time ago. Oxen could be used as well...)

I asked my father to let me down and went to look at the fields.

A sturdy farmer in his thirties was surprised by my appearance and ran over, thinking something was wrong.

When my father raised his hand with a smile, the farmer relaxed but still asked, "Is there something you need?"

I asked my father to show me the farming tools, and he showed me a hoe.

The hoe was similar to those in Japan, with the digging part made of iron.

(They do use iron tools. The plan to increase agricultural production with iron tools is unnecessary...)

I pretended to lose interest in the tools and picked up some soil.

(The soil feels a bit dry. It's the end of May, so they're probably planting beans or potatoes. The soil should be darker, shouldn't it? I'm not sure if my agricultural knowledge is correct, but it seems like adding fertilizer would be beneficial...)

I made my voice as cute as possible and asked, "What are you doing now?"

The farmer looked a bit puzzled, glanced at my father, and then explained slowly, as if to a child.

"I'm plowing the field to plant beans. It hasn't rained, so I'm planting now..."

He showed me the bean seeds, which were larger than soybeans and were to be planted directly. It seemed that if it rained, they couldn't plant, so they were taking advantage of the recent sunny days.

I thanked him and signaled to my father to leave. My father also said, "We're sorry for the disturbance," and we left.

After finishing the tour of the fields, we arrived at the center of the four hills, the center of Rasmoor Village.

In the center of the village, about twenty houses lined up, and among them were two two-story wooden buildings. One of them had a small sign that read "Black Pond Inn," which my father explained was the only tavern in the village.

(Do they make the alcohol here? If so, I have something I want to try...)

The other two-story building was the home of the village representative, who also served as the meeting place.

(This is the village's commercial center. For a small village, it's not much, but the ground is also muddy...)

I asked my father again, and he led me to the home of the representative, Gordon.

Gordon's wife was surprised by the sudden appearance of the lord and ran to the field where her husband was working.

A few minutes later, a sturdy man in his forties rushed in, out of breath.

"Lord, what a surprise. What brings you here today?"

"I'm sorry. My son wanted to tour the village, so I thought I'd introduce him to you first. I'm really sorry."

My father apologized, but Gordon looked a bit proud to hear that the lord had come to introduce his son.

"Of course, it's an honor to meet your son. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Gordon instructed his wife to prepare drinks, but my father laughed and declined, saying, "It's not necessary."

"I want to show him around a bit. Please, go back to your work."

Gordon looked a bit puzzled but understood that the father was just indulging his son's whims.

We left Gordon's house and went to the back, where there was a well and fields beyond.

Around the well, housewives were chatting and doing laundry. One of them noticed my father and quickly bowed.

(In a village of about five hundred people, the lord's face is easily recognizable. Since my grandfather and father were originally commoners and are approachable, the villagers don't treat them too formally... Still, I don't see any children?)

I was curious about the absence of children, especially those my age or younger, and asked my father.

"Where are the children like me?"

My father didn't know and asked one of the housewives.

"Are the children working?"

"No, the children take turns caring for each other. Today, they should be at Jethro's place."

It seemed that the village had a system where children were cared for in turns.

(I see. It's quite reasonable. If it works well, we might be able to establish something like a school...)

We left the area and headed to the dwarf blacksmith's place.