Chapter 86

A knight with a fief can truly be called the lord of a castle and a land.

Basically, because they have the right to tax and judge within their territory, they can govern quite freely.

However, with rights come obligations.

My position is to serve the Fontana family as a knight, and I will swear allegiance to Carlos, the head of the Fontana family.

Swearing allegiance means, in broad terms, following Carlos's orders. I must pay taxes to the Fontana family from the taxes I collect, and if summoned, I must gather troops and rush to his aid.

Gathering troops is something I must always keep in mind.

This area has long been plagued by unrest.

Originally, a single royal family had united the nobles to form a kingdom, but as the royal family's power declined, the nobles' power grew, and they could no longer control the chaos.

Powerful noble families waged war on other noble families to seize territory, and opposing forces retaliated, a cycle that continues without any force to stop it.

Fortunately or unfortunately, due to the nature of the land, it was difficult for other countries to interfere, so despite the chaos, it was not invaded.

This is why the wars have continued.

Because of this situation, when I rose up with a group, no other nobles sent troops.

From the perspective of other families, it was fine as long as the Fontana family suppressed the riot, and if the Fontana family lost by some mistake, they could seize the opportunity to take their territory.

That was their thinking.

War can break out at any time.

Because of this state of affairs, nobles must always be prepared to mobilize.

The same applies to the knights under their command.

If the Fontana family, my lord, calls, and I cannot immediately gather people and go to the battlefield, I might lose my territory.

I finally managed to get my hands on a good fief.

To maintain it, I need to take various actions.

What I need most right now is money.

Due to the consequences of naming things as I pleased, I am completely broke.

If I were summoned in this state, I wouldn't even have the funds to prepare food, and my troops would turn into a group of bandits scavenging for food.

However, to earn money, I need to create a system that generates income even if I am away from my fief.

In other words, I need to urgently establish an organization that can manage the internal affairs of my fief.

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"Attention, everyone. I would like to announce the personnel assignments for the Valka Knight's fief."

I gathered the main members in the castle and announced.

I can't manage the fief alone, no matter how hard I try.

So, I decided to use everyone who could be of use.

Everyone here has been given the Valka surname.

This means that as a knight with a fief, I have appointed them as knights under my command.

In other words, just as I have sworn allegiance to the Fontana family, they will swear allegiance to me and work for me.

Incidentally, if they do something outrageous, I can judge them without any problem.

"First, the merchant, Trion Valka. He will be in charge of internal affairs with me."

Among those given the Valka surname, the most valuable is someone who can read and write.

Most farmers cannot read or write properly.

This old man can not only read and write but also do calculations.

I think he had agreed to open a store in the new settlement, but I want him to handle the accounting for the fief instead.

"Next, Brother Part-time and Vargas will be my battalion commanders. Gather the farmers regularly for training."

Ideally, I would like a standing army, but maintaining a permanent force is too expensive.

Currently, it's impossible to keep a standing army.

So, I decided to appoint Brother Part-time and Vargas, who performed well in the recent conflict, as leaders to train the farmers alongside their agricultural work.

"Next, Father, I'll leave the security to you. Feel free to arrest anyone who uses attack magic in daily life without question."

On the other hand, I decided to hire people permanently for maintaining order.

Among those I granted magic, some accidentally hurt others with magic.

An organization to deal with such incidents was necessary.

In this world, where the saying "even a Buddha's patience has its limits" doesn't apply, I decided to set a standard of allowing two offenses but not a third.

It's a tough job, but I hope you'll do your best.

"Next, Madoc and the two village chiefs will serve as judges with me. We will codify the rules, so please be prepared."

Next is the judiciary.

In this world, when parties cannot resolve an issue, they generally resort to a trial to resolve it.

However, the problem is the lack of laws.

Basically, disputes are resolved by a powerful person hearing the parties' stories and making a judgment, with the goal of reaching a verdict that both parties can accept.

But it can be confusing.

So, I decided to create laws.

However, if I create laws based on my previous life's knowledge, I will surely fail.

Therefore, I decided to form a panel of judges with the two village chiefs and Madoc, who have experience resolving disputes in their communities.

If we can create laws based on the greatest common divisor of past precedents, that would be ideal.

"Next, Gran will continue to be in charge of crafting. If you need anything, please consult him."

I plan to continue having Gran make various things.

However, he seems to prefer making things he likes rather than organizing people to work together, so I will assign someone to assist him.

"Finally, the rest of you, I would like you to handle miscellaneous tasks for me."

I decided to directly employ a few people who caught my eye.

They are the ones I noticed during the construction of the castle and roads.

When building roads, most of the work was done with magic.

However, a few people suggested ways to make the work easier, such as "If we do it this way, it will be more efficient."

Most people just followed instructions, but these individuals could think for themselves and offer suggestions to improve efficiency.

They are probably smart, even if they can't read or write.

So, I need to use them.

As someone with the Valka surname, they can use the "Meditation" spell to recover from fatigue.

I will make them work as hard as in a black company.

Thus, my fief management began.

Thank you for reading.

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