Chapter 94

The development of the Brutois Earl's territory has been underway for nearly three months.

Recently, the influx of people has been increasing day by day.

First, the engineers arrived, and they have been advancing the construction of houses and workshops.

Then, those who wished to relocate from the surrounding villages and settlements moved to the agricultural land to grow not only rice and wheat but also vegetables.

For convenience, the layer where the castle was built is called the Honmaru, the layer where the vassals reside is called the Ninomaru, the layer with the residential area for commoners, commercial district, and industrial district is called the castle town, and the agricultural land is called the production layer.

"How many people have moved to the production layer from the surrounding villages and settlements?"

"Um, according to the statistics from two days ago, it's 4,025 people."

Peron flipped through a stack of papers and answered my question.

"Ud, how is the construction of the castle town going?"

"It's going smoothly, sir. Thanks to the many materials from monsters brought from the 'Rune Labyrinth,' there are also many people moving here for those materials. Merchants from the capital and cities like Brunhild are visiting and setting up shops, and blacksmiths and other engineers are continuously moving in and establishing workshops!"

"Yansu, where are you from?!"

Since the last time we met, your way of speaking has changed. Should I say something about it?

When I shifted my gaze to Peron, he slightly shook his head, so it might be a waste of time.

"Is the circulation of the town established?"

"Of course, sir! That's why we're here!"

Ud, who is in charge of the castle town's construction, puffed out his chest and spoke with a loud voice.

"That's quite a bit of confidence. Well, if I took that confidence away from Ud, there'd be nothing left."

"Sir! Why did you say that?!"

As always, he's a quick responder.

Even Peron and your subordinates are taken aback.

"I'll leave the continued development of this Eastwood to Peron and Ud. Peron, manage Ud as the overall supervisor. Do you need anything?"

"People."

"People, I agree. Please wait a bit longer."

"Got it!"

Ud's enthusiasm hasn't changed.

The capital of the Brutois Earl's territory is named Eastwood.

Eastwood means 'East Forest' in its literal sense.

The name was chosen because most of the territory is adjacent to a large forest, and the lake where Eastwood is located is surrounded by the forest.

I thought it was a good name, but Clara said, "There's no twist at all," and Carla said, "It's just like Christopher," which made me depressed for a few days.

Originally, I was supposed to be ennobled to a viscount, but since the territory only included Bruto Island, a small number of personnel was sufficient. However, due to the king, I became an earl and received the Brutois Earl's territory, leading to a significant shortage of personnel.

I feel guilty for overworking my subordinates, but it's not easy to gather more people, and it takes time to train them, so for now, we have to rely on the current personnel.

"Next, Fedler?"

"Hmm, the security of Eastwood is entrusted to Revis, with Primera as his assistant. There are occasional minor disputes within Eastwood, but no major disturbances. We have confirmed and eliminated D-rank monsters in the vicinity of the Great Forest. In the area around the Rune Mountains to the north, monsters are occasionally sighted, but near the Rune Labyrinth, almost no monsters appear, and the situation is stable."

"Hmm, is Revis working diligently?"

"If he slacks off, the work piles up and his neck won't turn."

"I see, it's just right for him. Hehehe."

Fedler nodded in agreement and began reporting on Fort Felk.

"Fort Felk is entrusted to Wick, with Job as his assistant. They send out squads to eliminate monsters almost daily, ensuring the safety of the road. However, both Eastwood and Fort Felk are short of personnel."

"I've issued a recruitment order throughout the kingdom. People will gradually gather, so please bear with it for a while. If there are no other issues, we'll conclude here. I'm returning to the capital. Military matters are entrusted to Fedler, and internal affairs to Peron and Ud. If any problems arise, I want you to handle them within your respective jurisdictions. If a major issue beyond your authority occurs, I want you to proceed with the consensus of the three of you."

"Hmm!"

I'm working hard as the head of a noble family and as a new noble.

When will I be able to have a relaxed life...

The Bruto Trading Company's dormitory was renovated into a large store, and the store was relocated, making it the main branch.

The main branch has three floors dedicated to the store, with the rest used for negotiation rooms and warehouses. A lift for moving goods and escalators for easy floor transitions have been installed.

Of course, elevators and escalators do not exist in this world, so the escalator installed in the Bruto Trading Company's main branch has become a topic of conversation.

The grand opening sale lasted three days, but due to the novelty of the escalator, even citizens who were not shopping came to ride it, and the flow of customers did not stop even after the sale ended.

A café was set up on the first floor to provide a place for rest, serving mainly tea and sweets, which has become popular not only among women but also men.

The second floor stocks food and sundries, attracting many housewives and adventurers looking for preserved food.

The third floor features weapons, armor, and magic items, with the main branch exclusively offering a mithril full plate mail as a highlight.

The mithril full plate mail costs 60 million S, and I thought no one would buy it, so it was more of a gimmick to draw in customers.

However, the reason I thought no one would buy it was that I believed only high-ranking nobles would be willing to spend such a large sum, and they rarely visit my Bruto Trading Company, which mainly sells products for adventurers and the general public.

So, it was surprising when the Margrave of Sedzimir in the north bought it... every time!

After that, we opened branches in Brunhild and Eastwood.

The store manager of the capital's main branch remains Prietta, with Clara as the branch manager in Brunhild and Penes as the branch manager in Eastwood.

They have been trained by Phelia for over a year and are now slaves, and they excel in customer service and inventory management, so I can trust them with the stores without any issues.

For the security department, I assigned slaves as subordinates to Clump, Beckner, and Benesetta. Clump is in charge of security at the main branch in the capital, Beckner at the branch in Brunhild, and Benesetta at the branch in Eastwood. Clump is also the head of the security department, but his main responsibility is the security of the main branch.

I thought they might be feeling lonely without their drinking buddies, but they are still going out drinking every night with their assigned slaves.

It's reassuring to see that they haven't changed, no matter where they go.

The development department's Jullietta, Rock, Jamon, and Selka have moved their base to Bruto Island.

Bruto Island is rich in rare minerals and materials, and a large workshop has been built, so the development environment has improved for the four of them. They are also assigned slaves to take care of their daily lives, allowing them to focus on development without any worries.

I also set up a workshop in Eastwood to process seafood and appointed the mermaid Marmel as the head of the workshop.

She is knowledgeable about seafood, and she was happily processing products using the soy sauce, miso, and mirin I created.

I have also freed all of them from slavery.

Since they haven't repaid the amount I paid for them, the remaining amount is deducted from their salaries as a loan to me.

However, my slaves are well-treated, so they have consistently not desired to be freed.

Ben Azukas, who used to be a staff member of the Adventurer's Guild, is working on a job in Eastwood.

I'll talk about that later, but using Ben Azukas's connections, I was able to hire several excellent civil servants, which was a pleasant surprise.

I also appointed a man named Victor, introduced by Ben Azukas, as the second vice-chairman of the Bruto Trading Company, entrusting him with the management of the company in my place.

Phelia, who is also a vice-chairman, is the chief vice-chairman and is in charge of the audit department with her subordinates.

The audit department keeps a close eye on internal irregularities in the Bruto Trading Company, so I don't think Ben will betray me, but if he tries to privatize the company, we can take action in advance.