Chapter 2

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One month after starting to curry favor with the commoners, the atmosphere in the "Baybaron" territory had clearly improved.

When I went to inspect the farmland on the outskirts of town, the farmers waved at me with smiles on their faces.

"Miss Lise! Thank you so much for buying us those shiny shovels!"

"It's my duty as the lord. Keep up the good work from now on."

It's a relief to see them so happy. It was worth it to use my meager savings to get them new iron farming tools.

For some reason, my deceased parents had given the farmers wooden tools.

Our land is so hard, you can't properly till the fields with those things. How stupid is that?

As I was wondering what they were thinking, a man who seemed to be the leader of the farmers approached me, looking uncomfortable.

"Hey, Miss Lise! My stupid son got hurt messing with the iron tools...! It's not a serious injury or anything... but, you know..."

"Ah, I'll heal him, don't worry. Any wound of a vassal is my wound as well."

"Thank you so much, Miss Lise!"

After saying something that sounded good, the man bowed dramatically.

Hehe... I hope this improves the food situation a bit. For the sake of getting me some good food to eat!

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When the farmers were given iron tools, they were more confused than happy, wondering, "What is this young lord thinking?"

Iron tools could potentially be used as weapons of rebellion.

Therefore, in most territories, farmers were not allowed to own them unless they had the lord's utmost trust.

This was especially true in lands ruled by lords with little talent for offensive magic.

Despite this, the new lord, who could only use healing magic, appeared in the dusty farmland without a frown and left a sufficient number of iron tools.

"With such worn-out tools, you can't get your work done properly. Please use these."

He said this in a gentle tone, though flat.

Ah—If that was all, it would have been fine. The farmers, though confused, would have accepted them gratefully and everything would have been peaceful.

But then, an incident occurred.

"Damn it! You damn noble! You're here to bully us again, aren't you!"

The son of the farmer who seemed to be the leader threw a mud ball at the lord—!

The moment the mud splattered on his cheek, the atmosphere froze.

Then, a few seconds later... the farmers realized that if they did nothing, the child would be killed!

They couldn't let that happen. So, they picked up the newly received tools and tried to attack the young lord—but,

"I see... I remember that the farmers around here fled from a cruel lord. I'm sorry for startling you, young man."

"What... Why are you apologizing to me!? I threw a mud ball at your face...!"

"It's nothing, it just means you have a lot of energy. As a lord, I find that quite encouraging. —From now on, use that energy to help your parents, okay?"

He said this and gently ruffled the confused child's hair.

"..."

The farmers were taken aback by this scene and, in front of the new lord, they all knelt down at once.

"My stupid son is sorry! I'll work my hardest for you!!"

"I can't believe it... There's a noble as kind as you...!"

"I swear on the tools you gave us! We'll work hard to turn this land into a great farm!"

Some of them were even in tears. Lise Baybaron's actions were so shocking.

Forgiving the dirty child's outburst and counseling him like an older brother... For the farmers, who had been treated like trash by the nobles, it was unbelievable.

Ah, now I understand. He truly trusted us, his vassals, and gave us the iron tools!

Thus, the farmers were easily won over by Lise—and at the same time, they thought this:

"If the king of this country were someone like him, how wonderful it would be...!"

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