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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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One day, a tsundere senior in our department, who was constantly criticizing isekai and cultivation novels but kept reading them to the end, said this:
“The protagonists live such a comfortable life.
Okay, let’s say a high school or college student can introduce technology like the Bessemer converter, but how can the population just increase without any problems when food production increases?
Does it only produce the same results?”
“No, isn’t that the case historically too?
After England introduced the four-field crop rotation, it surpassed France’s food production and became known as the world’s breadbasket while gaining a population increase buff.”
Then that graduate school senior grabbed my head and said,
“That’s only looking at the good aspects that appeared due to the increase in food production, but it wasn’t like that when food itself was virtually the base currency.
It was good that production technology increased.
But accordingly, many peasants became unemployed.
If 100 kilograms of food is produced by 1 person instead of 10 peasants, the employer can just reduce employment from their perspective.
Those people were exploited as industrial revolution workers.”
“Yes…”
“But if you look at novels about territory management, even though they don’t have machines to utilize like that, what happens if they only increase surplus food production?”
“The number of unemployed people will increase like crazy, becoming bandits or criminals.
Even if they dispose of the rest that doesn’t sell…”
As he said, in our territory where we have tremendously increased food production, we are now in a situation where we have surplus food.
Of course, nobles cannot immediately fire peasants who are protected by customary laws.
However, there is still a sufficient possibility that the value of peasants will decrease compared to before.
And to prevent that, in the end, we need a group that will consume a lot of food…
The answer is ultimately military expansion.
**
A few weeks after becoming the lord of Kreutel, one day.
As usual, I woke up in the morning, changed clothes with Ella’s assistance, and was on my way to the office when Varso quickly walked up to me.
“Oh, Varso. What’s the matter?”
“Yes, young mas- no, Your Excellency. The mercenaries you ordered to gather have finally arrived.”
“Let’s go quickly.”
**
When I entered the training ground surrounded by a shoddy wooden fence outside the castle of the Kreutel Marquisate, there were about 100 mercenaries standing with high morale.
Each was holding various weapons such as long spears, crossbows, swords and shields, maces, and axes, and was wearing iron armor, albeit breastplates.
When I first saw Helmut’s mercenaries, they were each wearing different armor, so it was a bit of a contrast to see these guys wearing somewhat unified armor.
So when I looked around at Helmut, who was suddenly standing next to me, and the mercenaries over there, Helmut tried hard not to meet my eyes.
When I reached out my hand and asked for a greeting from the mercenary who looked like the captain with a feather in his helmet, that mercenary spoke in a voice that sounded like his ears would fall off.
“It is an honor to meet the renowned Marquis Kreutel!
I am Vice, the captain of the Red Bear Mercenaries.
And the guys behind me are all mercenaries belonging to my mercenary group.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Mercenaries go wherever there is a request.
In return, please keep your faith in us!”
I firmly grasped Vice’s hand in front of me and said,
“As promised, I will hire you for life.
No, if you want, I will even give you the opportunity to become a knight later.”
At those words, Vice’s eyes widened.
It makes sense.
In this era, the position of “knight” is not simply a “profession” but a “status” and “privilege.”
So much so that even prisoners captured during war, if they are knights, are treated the same as nobles, given respect and treated well.
“Re-really?”
I smiled and then answered Vice,
“I can’t do it right away because there are watchful eyes, but someday.
Of course, if you join our territory now with lifetime employment, I will guarantee you a fixed income that will allow you to live a better life than now.
If you can’t believe me, hey Helmut!”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“You’re also a former mercenary, right?
Have you ever seen me break a promise?”
Helmut looked back and forth between me and Vice, then grinned and said,
“Didn’t you already make me a knight?
Now, if I get married, it would be perfect.”
At those words, Vice made a shocked expression and looked at Helmut.
“Well, what did you want me to do for you?”
“I swear loyalty.
From now on, our mercenary group belongs to Your Excellency Marquis Kreutel!”
“I look forward to working with you.”
**
My name is Jack, and I am the third son of a peasant in the Kreutel Marquisate with no inherited property.
At least I can do various odd jobs under the lord of the village, and cultivate the directly managed land to the point of death, so I won’t starve to death…
But life was still miserable.
All I could eat every day was not even meat or bread, but 2 bowls of bland and clear barley and wheat porridge, and during times like winter when there was nothing to eat, I couldn’t even get one full bowl.
So some guys are sometimes deceived by the promise of food, women, and alcohol and try to become bandits, but they all enjoy it for a week to a month and then get caught by the soldiers of the marquisate and get their heads cut off.
But now, thanks to the lords introducing the four-field crop rotation or whatever and becoming wealthy…
I can get 2-3 bowls of thick barley porridge to eat every day, but there’s no guarantee that it will get even better…
No, still, at least I can eat my fill every day, so that’s something.
Even so, the other peasants who grew up with me when I was young are having a blast these days.
Even Max, the peasant who used to plow the fields with me, is now bragging that his family eats bread every day instead of porridge…
What about me…
“Hey, Jack! What are you doing! Work!
Do you not want to eat porridge??!”
“No! No, sir!!”
“Work!!”
***
After working all day like that, I finally got paid and headed to the market that opens in the village.
I should go eat some beer and rye bread for a change…
“Come on, cheese bought from Hamburg.
If you buy 1 kilogram of cheese, we’ll give you 1 kilogram of bread for free!”
“How about salted fish?
If you put it between bread, it’s just… sweet. Sweet!”
“How about a steaming mystery stew?
One bowl of the eternally boiling mystery stew is half a copper coin only for today!!”
Even though the market comes only once every two weeks, it was always lively as usual.
Cheese and bread recommended by the merchants, even salted fish…
In the past, when there was nothing to eat, they only sold mystery stew, but now everyone seems to be living well enough.
Still, even at this age, my greatest luxury is drinking a glass of beer on payday, not even getting married like others…
Suddenly feeling miserable, I sighed and said,
“Ha, what am I doing at this age…
Jackson next door is already married with two children…
And I’m living like this as a peasant’s third son…
This won’t do, today I should at least go to the brothel…”
**
I entered the inn I usually visit called “Peasant’s Rest.”
There are always riff-raff like me who eat and drink cheap beer with rye bread or occasionally cheap salted fish as a side dish.
Sitting on chairs made from the inn’s used oak barrels and tables made by cutting boards that break with a tap, to enjoy a moment of rest and the maximum luxury.
So, unless unavoidable, the smell of meat is rarely present here, but as I entered the inn, the smell of “pork” wafted through.
Perhaps it’s because everyone’s livelihood has improved thanks to the reforms of the young master, no, the lord who has now become Marquis Kreutel.
Suppressing such feelings, I raised my hand to call the inn’s waitress to place an order, and the waitress approached me with quick steps.
“What can I get for you?”
“A glass of beer, rye bread, and salted fish.”
“Yes, please wait a moment.”
After a short while, the waitress brought the beer, rye bread, and salted fish I ordered.
The beer with a mixture of brown and yellow colors and white foam bubbling up, the bread filled with halved rye, the fish slightly salted and pickled…
The maximum luxury I can enjoy only once a month.
It’s possible thanks to the young master trying a new farming method and increasing the harvest…
In the past, I would come here and eat mystery stew or…
What’s the point of thinking about this.
I picked up the salted fish, put it on the rye bread, took a bite, and then washed it down with beer.
The salty taste of the salted fish was covered by the rich taste of rye, and the beer erased the lingering stickiness…
Isn’t this the taste of heaven?
That’s why even priests and Deus said it’s okay to drink beer.
But the beer tastes much richer in barley compared to before, perhaps because more barley was added…
“Haa… This is the taste.”
Like that, for about 30 minutes, I enjoyed the beer, salted fish, and the bread I eat once a month, and when I was about to leave the tavern, suddenly the door of the tavern opened.
And through it entered a man wearing fancy clothes mixed with black and blue, although not as shiny as the clothes worn by knights.
The man then smiled, looked at the waitress of the tavern, and said,
“Give these gentlemen sitting here a glass of beer and the pork roast I reserved.”
“Well… actually, we roasted a whole pig…”
Upon hearing those words, the man spoke with an expression full of bravado.
“Oh no, what a tragedy!
If that’s left over, it won’t sell…
Alright, I’ll buy it all.
Hey, you guys over there!
I’ll tell you a good story, so call all your friends.
Some of you clear out those cheap tables and oak barrels to make space for sharing the pork!”
As soon as those words ended, most of the men quickly went outside to gather their friends, and I helped push the oak barrels and tables into the corner.
And after an hour passed, enough men had gathered to fill the store.
Seeing that, the man spoke with a smile.
“You guys, don’t you want an opportunity to start your life anew?
Then come to the army.
I am Sergeant Heinz, a soldier… no, a sergeant serving Marquis Kreutel.
You guys can also become like me if you achieve a bit of merit.
And with my salary, you can live without envying knights.
You can put several whole chickens on your family’s table three days, no, five days a week!
And we provide bread and meat too!”
At those words, the men and I made dumbfounded expressions and looked at the man who called himself a sergeant.
“It’s true, why would I come all the way here to lie to you guys?
And don’t you know that if you carelessly use the name of Marquis Kreutel here, you’ll be stoned to death?
It’s true, even if you can’t do as well as me, if you serve in the army for 7 years, they give you free land.
So if you save your salary well and leave, you can become a free farmer.
Anyone want to join?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
Occasionally, when peasants are conscripted into the army, let alone salary or pay, they don’t even give rewards unless you behead a knight or a captain of 30 men.
Moreover, in the army that boasts a harsh environment where they don’t even properly provide food, so you have to buy food with the money you brought…
Even though you have to be in the army for 7 years, they give you land?
This seems like a scam…
So I thought it was nonsense, sneered, and said,
“Mister Sergeant, cut the crap.
Even though our Marquis is great, there’s no way he can do that much…”
The guy named Heinz looked at me saying those words, sneered, and then showed me an order with Marquis’s seal and stamp in front of my eyes.
The seal and stamp that anyone living in this marquisate can recognize, even if they are blind…
The fact that he presented that means that this sergeant is carrying out the “marquis'” orders…
“You stupid fools!
The Marquis is personally giving you idiots an opportunity to save your lives by giving you a chance to enlist as soldiers!
Haven’t you even heard the story of Sir Helmut, the famous former mercenary knight who is the specialty of our territory?
He will really give you land! As proof, we’re giving you plenty of pork and alcohol.
And under these beer glasses… there is ‘one gold coin’ as your contract payment, so if you want to sign a contract, drink the beer and take the gold coin.”
…
If it’s really an opportunity to change my life, if I can endure 7 years without being looked down upon anymore and become a free farmer, get married, and live without envying others…
Even if it doesn’t work out, I have nowhere lower to fall anyway, right?
So I was the first to finish my beer and took the gold coin inside.
“Alright, Mister Sergeant! I will join the army!”
“Good, what will the rest of you do?”
**
That day, Marquis Kreutel was able to gain 100 soldiers from the poor.
I read that report and said with a smile,
“As expected, since ancient times, if you just lay out alcohol and atmosphere, they’ll do anything…”
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