Focusing on Territory After Breaking Off the Engagement

Chapter 8: Monsters

“What is all this?”

Monster corpses were piled up on B Field.

Looking closely, they were Black Goblin corpses.

Just then, Isaac approached.

“Master, I apologize. We fought hard, but we couldn't protect the cultivated land.”

Isaac's upper garment was torn, and wounds were visible through it.

“Are you okay? What about the others?”

The place where the injured were gathered.

Five slaves lay there, motionless.

“Don't tell me…?”

“They're fine.”

Grandfather, who had approached unnoticed, said.

“Grandfather?”

“They were hit by the goblin's paralysis poison. They'll wake up after some time passes.”

It was fortunate they hadn't died.

Whether their current status was slave or not didn't matter.

Because they were people who worked for me and would strengthen my faction.

“What happened?”

“Well, about that. Goodness gracious, they say the bridge was breached.”

The bridge crossing the western river.

It connected the current River Village and the former West River.

Now it served the role of controlling monsters so they wouldn't cross the water.

“Did the vigilante corps miss them?”

“I don't understand it either, but that's what they say.”

It wasn't even a wide area; they just needed to watch the bridge.

But they missed them?

Were they slacking off?

Or did they doze off?

If so, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

As humans, mistakes can happen.

However…

For now, I stopped thinking about it.

Because I had to deal with the immediate matter first.

“Grandfather, we'll have to put the clearing of C Field on hold.”

“We should. The injured slaves need to recover too. Anyway, if it weren't for the slaves, A Field would have been trampled as well.”

B Field, which suffered damage this time, was where clover and ryegrass grew.

Since there were no livestock, it didn't matter much even if it became devastated.

On the other hand, A Field was different.

Barley was growing there.

“That's truly fortunate. Please call a healer and treat them.”

“Don't worry about that.”

Day broke, and only 1/3 of the slaves came out to work.

Because I had ordered anyone with injuries, or even severe muscle aches, to rest unconditionally.

All the slaves were deployed to A Field.

Until the treatment was finished, all work was stopped, and we decided to focus on A Field.

While I was kneeling in C Field using Land Recovery, Isaac approached.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“Those with muscle aches can work.”

After seeing hope, the slaves had definitely changed.

The fact that the slaves stepped up to protect the cultivated land might have been because of this.

“Rest well.”

“But, we need to finish clearing C Field…”

I raised my hand to stop Isaac's words.

“We'll plant wheat in C Field. There's still time, so focus on resting.”

Wheat is planted in autumn and harvested in summer.

There was still time before autumn arrived, so there was no immediate rush.

“Understood.”

Isaac bowed his waist.

“Isaac.”

“Yes, Master.”

“You all will follow my orders, right?”

“Of course. Please entrust us with any task.”

“Pick out the swift ones and have them watch the bridge.”

“The bridge, you say?”

“Yes, this incident might not have been a coincidence.”

“Understood, Master.”

I trust Grandfather.

I also trust the people of River Village to some extent.

However, I cannot say that there are no Brilda's people among them.

Because she was the supreme authority in the territory along with my father, the Frontier Viscount.

This wasn't the only thing I did.

I wrote a letter to Father.

Asking him to send Hans.

This wasn't the first time I sent such content.

When I returned to the territory after breaking the engagement with Alencia,

I had sent a letter to Father then too.

What happened at the Vampiars estate, why I had no choice but to return, and at the end, I had written a request to send Hans.

Of course, no reply came.

Hans didn't come either.

“Since it happened once, monsters can cross over anytime. If only Hans were here at such times…”

Hans.

A knight of the Frontier territory.

He showed talent in swordsmanship from a young age and is highly anticipated as the future sword of Frontier.

He was also my guard, the future Young Lord.

Until I went to the Vampiars Duchy.

“Hoo...”

I reviewed the letter I wrote this time.

I wrote in detail why Hans was needed.

But it seemed unlikely he would send him.

“Does he already not consider me the Young Lord?”

If Father doesn't send Hans, what should I do?

I already thought about the next plan assuming Hans wouldn't come.

I entrusted the letter at the village hall, and went to find Grandfather.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“Grandfather, could we acquire some weapons?”

“Weapons?”

Grandfather's gaze turned towards my waist.

“They aren't for me. I intend to arm the slaves.”

“The slaves? Won't that be dangerous?”

“Right now… it should be okay.”

It was definitely a burdensome matter.

Arming slaves.

In extreme cases, a rebellion could occur.

Because slaves are originally those with nothing to lose.

But, right now?

Those who have seen hope?

Those who had nothing to lose now have something to lose.

The possibility of them staging a rebellion is small.

It's not just because of hope.

River Village's own military strength isn't bad.

No, for a village, it's strong.

Because a significant portion of the residents are hunters.

Let's assume, in an extreme scenario, that the slaves defeat the entire River Village.

Would the slaves' future then be bright?

That's not the case either.

Because this time, the Frontier territory army would move.

In the end, there's nothing to gain, only things to lose.

‘Thinking again, the possibility of slaves rebelling is low.’

“The slaves are fine. I will control them.”

“Hmm… follow me.”

The place Grandfather and I went to was the arrow shaft workshop.

A place where Grandfather used to be the owner in the past.

Now it had been sold off in parts to several villagers.

“Everything except the weapons we don't have is here.”

“Of course, everything except the weapons you don't have would be here...”

Pang! Pang!

Grandfather seemed embarrassed and slapped my back several times.

As we went inside, people greeted us.

Grandfather accepted the greetings familiarly and continued deeper inside.

And there, various weapons were lined up.

Mainly ranged weapons.

Various types of bows were visible, and there were crossbows too.

“Crossbows would be good. How many can we get?”

We cleaned out all the crossbows from the arrow shaft workshop.

Since there were no immediate surplus funds, we agreed to pay the cost after the barley harvest.

.

.

After the farm work ended, before the sun set, we gathered in the open space.

“From now on, you will practice the crossbow.”

The slaves received the crossbows with complicated expressions.

“It seems likely that monsters will come again. So we must prepare in advance.”

Grandfather helped with the crossbow training.

Because he had worked as a hunter for a long time, he knew how to handle various weapons.

One day, two days.

Three days, four days.

With each passing day, the accuracy of the crossbows improved.

‘Crossbows are definitely better than bows.’

Bows and crossbows have pros and cons.

In the case of bows, the firing rate is fast.

Attack power increases proportionally to training.

On the other hand, crossbows take time to load.

Instead, the time to become proficient is short.

According to Grandfather, one week is enough to learn basic loading and firing,

and after learning for two weeks, one could hit stationary objects.

“Load!”

At Grandfather's voice, I stopped thinking and raised my head.

The slaves loaded the bolts in unison.

“Fire!”

Shushuk.

Shushushuk.

Dozens of bolts struck the wooden boards set up in front.

Roughly 70% hit the target.

‘If it's this level, crossbows are fine, and we just need to complete the watchtowers.’

Just because they hold a crossbow doesn't mean slaves who only farmed can fight monsters.

That's why watchtowers are being constructed around the farm.

***

Frontier Estate, 3rd Floor.

Brilda sat in her chair, and her personal maid, Anna, stood beside her.

“You wrote it quite long. In the end, it means it failed, right?”

“That is correct.”

There was Brilda's person in River Village.

He was an administrator of River, a position where he could obtain various information.

And it was also good for plotting things behind the scenes.

“The truly important A Field is safe, and only the place planted with weeds was destroyed? And you call that half successful?”

Brilda tossed the paper aside.

Anna picked it up and burned it in the candle flame.

“What do we do now?”

Brilda was regularly receiving reports on Elwin's movements.

Then she heard one piece of news.

It was about the barley grown on the farm not being contaminated by Magi.

At first, she doubted it.

She secretly sent a mage to investigate.

As a result of investigating with magic, there was truly no Magi.

‘How? Why? Did he really meet the Goddess of the Earth?’

Numerous questions passed through her mind.

No answer came.

She couldn't find the reason.

Instead of pondering how it was done, she thought about what should be done going forward.

The conclusion reached was to ruin the farming.

If only her son Gibson completes his coming-of-age ceremony.

She could bring him the Young Lord position.

Until then, Elwin just needed to not stand out.

“Aaaaargh!! There wasn't much time left!! There wasn't much time left, why did something like this happen!!!”

“Madam, please compose yourself. Even if Elwin farms, Sir Gibson will become the Young Lord.”

Brilda calmed down a little at Anna's words.

“Right. That's true.”

What the lord of Monster Island needs is strength.

The strength to protect the land and its people from monsters is needed.

But… even so.

“Send another letter. Tell them to trample A Field as well.”

She didn't want even small variables to arise.

Not until Gibson became the Young Lord.

“Understood.”