Chapter 1
『World Archive』, a territory-simulation game.
Starting as either an imperial family member or a lord, this game became a global hit and an enormous worldwide success thanks to its diverse, appealing characters and the freedom to do almost anything you could imagine.
I've loved simulation games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms since I was young, so I became completely absorbed in it.
I enjoyed the game in my spare time while working at a company, then died from overwork and transmigrated into it.
………What is this insane situation?
It was true that I liked the game, but I was just an ordinary gamer.
I hadn't left a hundred thousand characters' worth of hate comments like some people,
nor had I surpassed a hundred thousand hours of playtime like others.
I was merely an ordinary gamer, more common than a pebble lying in the street, who played in snatches after coming home from work.
Yet I died of overwork and transmigrated into it.
No… even so, isn't this way too out of the blue?
Anyway, after being thrown into this sudden transmigration and spending a moment in confusion,
I adapted to life in this other world, assessed the situation, and came to a conclusion.
Hmm……I'm fucked.
* * *
『Baron Calix Kron』.
That was the character I'd transmigrated into.
This character, a young lord of House Kron, located at the southernmost edge of the Novarens Empire, was, in a word, 『ordinary』.
His appearance was 『ordinary』, his family 『ordinary』, his stats 『ordinary』, and his character 『ordinary』.
He didn't even have a 『Blessing』, a special ability that practically every named character possessed.
If I had to name anything special about him, it would be his luxuriant silver hair—something that could be called a family trait.
Anyway, because this character was so utterly ordinary, he had no presence in the game whatsoever despite being a young lord and a baron.
He had even less presence than the 『Baekhasain (the four characters whose combined stats don't reach 100)』, who had gained popularity as gag characters due to their pathetically low stats.
Of course, that wasn't why I was despairing.
No matter how small the family or ordinary the character, House Kron was one of the families known as pillars of the Empire, so I could still be considered a silver-spoon heir.
From my perspective, ground down by a Monday-through-Sunday grind in my previous life, this was a very welcome situation: I could live the rich life I'd only dreamed of.
The problem was the timing.
The year I transmigrated was Imperial Year 1162.
In a few years, the Empire would be swept up in civil war.
The Empire was currently divided.
There were various factions, such as the Imperial Princess faction, the Imperial Prince faction, and the Northern Grand Duke faction,
and every noble family was supporting one of them for its own reasons, or remaining neutral and watching.
This balance would inevitably collapse in a few years.
Depending on the route, it might be 『the Emperor's Assassination』 or 『the Invasion of the Blood Relatives』.
But in the end, that event would occur, and the 『War for the Throne』 over the imperial throne would begin, marking the start of the main story of World Archive.
And once that war began, House Kron's territory would become Target No. 1 for plunder and get stripped bare.
It couldn't be helped; its location was simply perfect for plunder.
To the west of House Kron was a family of the Imperial Princess faction, and to the east was a family of the Imperial Prince faction.
On top of that, our family currently supported neither side, so we had no faction's protection.
On top of that, we bordered the sea and had amassed more wealth than a baronial family had any business possessing through salt production.
Rich, weak, and politically easy pickings—that was House Kron, created so players could loot it to their heart's content at the start of the game.
Shibal…
I had plundered it thoughtlessly when playing the game, but now that I was the one involved, it was truly fucking awful.
After learning that if I did nothing, it wouldn't be long before the territory became everyone's punching bag and was looted, I holed up in my room and agonized for days.
And after one week, I made my decision.
“Is anyone there!?”
Clatter!
“Yes! My lord!!”
At my shout, the door immediately opened, and a knight who seemed to be one of my guards entered.
I spoke to him at once.
“Summon the steward Hart right now.”
“Yes! Understood.”
I summoned 『Hart』, the steward who ran the territory as my—more precisely, Lord Calix's—hands and feet.
From now on, I would issue orders to him as the lord I wanted to become.
From this moment on, I would become a 『Loved But Incompetent Lord』.
* * *
Over the week I spent in my room, I thought about many things.
At first, I considered using my knowledge to develop the territory and attach myself to the prince or princess to receive protection.
But that was too dangerous.
『World Archive』 had over 200 endings, and depending on the route, major characters died in droves.
On top of that, even when it seemed a particular faction was about to win, all sorts of events occurred at random to maintain the balance, making it impossible to let one's guard down until the very end.
No matter how much I used my knowledge as a transmigrator to make my chosen side the victor, my head could be chopped off the instant an assassination event was triggered.
The next method I considered was becoming a villainous lord instead.
The reason the territory was invaded once the main story began was the wealth accumulated in House Kron.
If I became a debauched villainous lord and squandered that wealth, our territory would be less worth invading.
But after thinking it over, I rejected that idea too.
If I spent money and lived in luxury like that, I would become a bad lord and earn a notorious reputation, while the territory would still retain its value as a source of salt.
Then the likelihood of another lord invading to drive out the evil lord and secure the salt would actually increase.
I needed a survival-king route where the territory would generally not be invaded, and even if it was, I could survive, avoid being dragged into political struggles, and live a peaceful life.
After racking my brain for a week in my room, I found that route while watching the morning sun rise and seeing a vision of Gigachad.
It was the 『Loved But Incompetent Lord』 route.
“Lord Calix, did you call for me?”
“You came, Steward Hart.”
The door opened, and an elderly butler with a kindly face and a proud white beard entered.
This man was Steward Hart Ansus, the current steward of our family.
If Calix's memories were correct, he was a seventy-year-old man with little time left before retirement.
I'm sorry, Grandpa.
I need to survive, so I'm going to abuse an old man a little.
“I'm sorry for shutting myself away in my room so suddenly.”
“Not at all. It has only been three months since the late lord passed away… You have every right to act this way.”
Steward Hart was like a grandfather to Calix.
He probably thought I had shut myself away for a while from the shock of my father's death.
Well, he wasn't wrong, since mental trauma was indeed why I'd gone into my room.
I began my performance, recalling the Calix in my memories as much as possible.
“I thought a lot in my room. About how I should govern the territory after succeeding my father… and how I could improve the lives of my subjects…”
“I see… Sob! If the late lord could see Lord Calix thinking of the people, he would surely be moved.”
Steward Hart shed tears, deeply moved as if he were looking at a grown grandchild.
Not a bad start.
“So, though this is sudden, I would like you to carry out my order.”
“Say the word. I swear on the name of House Ansus that I will become your hands and feet and carry it out.”
Steward Hart's eyes shone as he prepared to receive my order.
I delivered the words I'd prepared to Steward Hart.
“Starting today, double the daily wages paid to the serfs.”
“…………Lord Calix, I must have lost my hearing with age. Please say that again.”
“Starting today, double the daily wages of every laborer working in the territory's salt fields.”
At my words, Steward Hart's expression visibly darkened.
The expression of a grandfather looking at his grandchild vanished without a trace, and his eyes were practically asking me, ‘Has this boy gone mad?’
“M-My lord! That won't do. Raising the workers' wages so suddenly will strain the family's finances! And…”
Even so, perhaps sixty years of experience as a steward had taught him something, because Steward Hart immediately composed himself and began speaking to me.
I cut him off with a gesture and said what I had prepared.
”Steward Hart… do you remember our family motto?”
”At the lowest place…“
”Think of the highest place… Father always told me to keep our motto in mind whenever I governed the territory.”
With my back to the window, I spoke with an expression of deep contemplation.
I wanted him to believe that this was a decision reached after deep thought, not something I'd come up with impulsively.
“Until now, I had never once thought about them—the people at the very bottom, and how hard and painful their lives are.”
“My lord…”
“So I want to look after those at the very bottom first…”
Steward Hart's face crumpled as if he were about to cry upon hearing my words.
He was probably moved that the young Calix he remembered had shed his childishness and, honoring the late lord's will, issued an order as a lord.
“You gave this such deep thought, my lord… My thinking was far too shallow. Please forgive me.”
Steward Hart apologized to me.
Then, after further discussion of the details regarding compensation, he left the room.
“As you have ordered, I will double all daily wages starting tomorrow.”
“I'm counting on you… Steward Hart.”
Steward Hart bowed to me, then closed the door and left.
Bang.
“…Has he gone?”
Once Steward Hart left, my strength drained away, and I collapsed into the chair.
When I took off the uncomfortable cloak, I felt a cool breeze blowing in.
“Wow! Acting like a lord is tougher than I expected. Ugh, this is uncomfortable!”
To understand why I suddenly doubled the daily wages while pretending to be a thoughtful lord, you first need to know about my mentor.
The person I had chosen as my mentor was 『Liu Shan』.
Yes, Liu Shan—the son of Liu Bei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Liu Shan may have been an icon of incompetence, but he wasn't a tyrant.
Though incompetent himself, when he had capable ministers, he listened to them and governed passably, which meant the people didn't hold a bad opinion of him.
After Shu fell, his decent standing with the people, combined with his incompetence, led them to decide that it would be better to leave him alive and make use of him than to kill him needlessly. He became the Duke of Anle, lived out his natural lifespan, and died.
To live comfortably like Liu Shan, enjoy my full natural lifespan, and die!
That was my goal now.
To achieve it, I needed to become a lord who was beloved and popular with the people, yet so incompetent that he brought his territory to the brink of ruin and posed no threat anyone needed to fear.
The order to double daily wages was the first step toward that.
Overnight, the family's expenses doubled.
Clearly, it wouldn't be long before this expense drained the family's fortune and exposed my incompetence to the entire country.
Of course, I couldn't let the territory be completely ruined, so restoring things to their original levels at the right time would prevent any problems.
Pleased with my perfect plan, I drank the tea the maid had left for me.
It really was a perfect plan.
- Two Months Later -
Bang!!!
“My lord!!!”
Two months later, Steward Hart suddenly burst into my office, kicking the door so hard it nearly broke.
I restrained myself after nearly swearing up a storm in surprise, then asked Hart,
“Damn! Ahem… Steward Hart? What's the matter? Why are you rushing in like this?”
“T-The salt fields!!!?”
“The salt fields? Did something happen there?”
Since last week, it had been harvest season at the salt fields, so it was certainly a time when some accident could have occurred.
What could have happened to make Steward Hart so shocked?
What was it? Had a dike burst or something?
”The salt fields' output has increased by 300%!!“
“…What!!!!!!!?”
At that moment, my perfect plan began to explode.
Something… something had begun to happen.