Chapter 15
Although there were many things to work with on the coast, the current situation was honestly desperate.
People were still living there, so the houses weren't in ruins, but that was about it.
The village's primary assets, livestock like cows and pigs, were nowhere to be seen.
The trees visible here and there had their bark mostly stripped off, exposing their inner flesh, as if people had eaten it.
The mercenary knight acting as an escort sighed and lamented.
"If they were cornered enough to eat even tree bark, they would have become bandits not long after."
If someone were asked whether they'd rather starve to death with their family or become a bandit, most people would choose the latter.
It takes a saint or a sage to not waver when faced with starvation and despair.
"Have you gathered all the villagers?"
"They're gathered in the square in front of the village chief's house."
If this were 21st century Korea, there would be no need for me to gather all the villagers.
I could just review and discuss important matters with the village chief and then notify everyone.
However, in a world where authority precedes equality, I, as the lord, had to appear in person to show dignity and mercy.
The residents would only feel at ease after seeing that the ruler's power was firm.
As I approached, the mercenaries surrounding the villagers shouted in loud voices.
"It's the lord! Everyone, show your respect!"
Hearing that command, they immediately knelt down and pressed their heads to the ground.
This was completely different from the posture we often imagine in the Middle Ages, where people kneel on one knee and just bow their heads.
The relationship between serfs and lords was, with a bit of exaggeration, like that between slaves and masters.
So it was natural for them to bow so low.
"You may raise your heads and sit comfortably. And who is the chief of this village?"
A white-haired old man with a bald head answered.
"I am Diego, the chief of this Bio village."
"The village's situation doesn't seem good, how is it specifically?"
You could tell just by looking at the villagers' appearance.
Even the village chief had a gaunt face and clothes that were worse than patched rags.
The other residents were, with a bit of exaggeration, only slightly better than African refugees.
Anyone who couldn't grasp the current situation seeing this would be a blockhead.
"Oh, my lord..."
The village chief and others once again pressed their heads to the ground.
Then they all started wailing and crying loudly.
With over 300 villagers making noise at once, I couldn't understand what they were saying, but...
They were probably begging for mercy, saying their family members were starving to death, and so on.
If you didn't feel sympathy seeing this tragedy, you'd honestly be a psychopath.
But even if you feel sympathy, you shouldn't forget to establish authority.
"I asked the village chief. Chief, how is the village's situation?"
"It's as you see, my lord. Because the village's food ran out a month ago, we've eaten cows, chickens, and even dogs. Besides that, we're at the level of stuffing anything edible into our mouths."
Diego started shedding tears.
The reality of having to starve to death because they were weak and poor must have felt horrific.
I've never starved in this world or in reality, so I don't know how they feel.
How must it feel to watch your villagers, wife, and children dying without being able to do anything?
I know it must be terrible, but I can't even imagine how horrific it is.
"At this rate, we'll all die, won't we? So we were going to sell the orphaned children in the village to buy food to survive this year."
By 21st century standards, this village chief deserves to be killed right now.
However, by the standards of this other world, this was sensible behavior.
Talk of human rights and equality for all only works when you can eat regular meals.
In a situation where survival is urgent, sacrificing the minority to save the majority is essential.
"My lord, please show mercy."
I would of course exempt them from taxes and provide food support to prevent the people from starving to death.
I had already heard about the bad situation before coming here, so I hired mercenaries and brought everything needed to rebuild the village, including grain flour, salt, and so on.
"Whether to show mercy or not is for me to decide."
However, if you show mercy recklessly, you'll be taken advantage of in some form.
21st century Korean community center officials face unimaginable trouble every day from those receiving the country's welfare benefits as basic living recipients.
The reason is that they think it's right for the country to provide for them because they're poor.
It's true that it's the duty of the Korean government to take care of poor people, but why does the right to receive care become a position of authority...
In this other world where the class system exists, it might not go that far, but the village chief would probably try to do silly things like constantly asking for tax reductions when paying taxes. Because it worked once.
To prevent that, you need to pretend to receive something.
"What does this village produce?"
"Our village is by the seaside, so all we do is catch a few fish by fishing, gather shellfish, and farm. There's nothing else."
"I'll decide what's useful or not. Tell me everything, even if it's just worthless weeds."
The perspective of people in this other world and mine is fundamentally different.
So what seems useless to them might be a treasure to me.
"...... There's a weed on the back mountain that makes your stomach a bit sour if you eat it when you're really hungry. And there's a seaweed that grows on the rocks by the shore."
Seaweed, could that be seaweed?
Seaweed soup is really good for pregnant women.
Moreover, since people in the Tuscan Empire don't eat it at all, I could sell it expensive to nobles as a good tonic for pregnant women.
"The seaweed is slippery so the texture isn't great, and it's a bit salty, but it's edible."
100% that's seaweed.
Others might not recognize its value, but to my eyes, it looks like brown gold.
If I just add a bit of seasoning, I could sell it at the price of gold for a while, couldn't I?
Since I can't collect taxes from these people anyway, I should take this seaweed for now.
"Considering your circumstances this year, I'll specially accept that seaweed, no, seaweed. Gather about 100kg, and for the rest, grow it as I instruct."
"Understood."
"If you promise to keep just that, I'll specially treat it as if you've paid taxes this time, and I'll also provide relief supplies necessary for your living."
The village chief had a blank expression.
Originally, in exchange for accepting such useless seaweed, I exempted them from taxes and even provided relief supplies.
By Tuscan Empire standards, it would be normal to bow so low in gratitude that your back breaks.
'I accepted weeds as tax considering their circumstances.'
Then he started stammering.
"Is that really alright with you, my lord?"
With the money I earn, it wouldn't be a problem even if I didn't collect a penny of tax from these villagers.
No, even if I fed all these guys, it probably wouldn't put a hole in my wallet.
The village chief suddenly started rubbing his hands together.
"Thank you for your heavenly grace, my lord."
"I only did what I had to do."
The people pay taxes to the lord, and in return, the lord protects the people's safety.
Anyone who doesn't even do this basic thing doesn't deserve to be a lord.
"Out of gratitude for your grace, my lord, I'd like to offer my daughter as a maid, what do you think?"
A lord has the power of life and death over serfs.
However, serfs are also humans and seek their own well-being and petty power.
Here, this village chief Dario must have thought like this.
If he could get his daughter to become my maid and receive my favor, his treatment would improve.
Moreover, since I'm a passionate 20-year-old, he probably calculated that there's a high chance I'd make a mistake.
The village chief showed me his daughter.
She's pretty enough to confidently recommend.
If she's just cleaned up and fed well, she'd definitely become pretty enough to top a university class.
"She's certainly pretty, but do you really want to die for trying to pull this trick on me?!"
"I, I had pure intentions..."
Most male nobles, especially young masters my age, would find it hard to refuse a maid of that level of beauty.
Honestly, it's not easy for me to suppress my boiling desires alone either.
And he probably intended to entrust some territory management to me by becoming something like an in-law.
Rather than being swayed by sexual desire, it's this guy's intention.
His attitude of trying to play king using the lord's authority is disgusting.
I should clearly set an example on this occasion.
Having decided, I pointed the sword at my waist to the village chief's neck.
"I asked if you thought I wouldn't know your trick. Did you think I wouldn't know your intention of trying to offer your daughter to me to keep holding onto that petty power?"
Even a construction site foreman gets cocky.
Let alone a village chief of over 300 people has quite a bit of power.
"From now on, you'll only be able to exercise that power if I allow it."
Although I put a sword to his neck, I don't have even a speck of intention to behead him.
I don't particularly want to kill someone just for this much, and imagine if a newly arrived lord killed the village's biggest elder on the first day.
How turbulent would public sentiment become?
So it's most appropriate to just draw the sword to show dignity.
The village chief's crotch became wet.
"Chief, no, I'll say this only once to all of you. Don't think about challenging my authority."
I'm going to plant and spread technology in this village that will make money just by knowing about it.
For that, the most important thing is securing confidentiality.
And the confidentiality of this era comes from fear of the ruler.
"If you respect my authority and remain loyal, I will freely provide relief supplies without any cost when needed, just like now. Furthermore, I'll make sure all of you eat your fill."
I am not a philanthropist.
I have no intention of saving all the serfs in the Tuscan Empire from food shortages.
However, I won't let anyone under my command go hungry.
"On the contrary, if you ignore my authority, unpleasant things will happen."
Separate from horizontal communication, top-down command is essential in any organization.
If this isn't maintained, it will surely fail.
Also, now that I think about it, seaweed is really as precious as brown gold to me.
But to the people here, it's just a mere seaweed.
If I provide relief supplies after receiving such a thing, they'll think it's suspicious.
Ha, since it's come to this, let's take in the orphans who have nowhere to go in exchange for saving them.
Anyway, they're my subordinates too, and it's right to protect them as far as my hand can reach.
"Since the village chief seems uncomfortable with receiving just seaweed, I'll also take the orphans of this village."
Since I've taken them in with my own hands, I should teach them well and help them get jobs in suitable places, or have them work under me.
While looking around at the orphans, there was a girl who particularly caught my eye.
Black hair and eyes, snow-white skin, plump lips, and a small face.
Especially her skin, it was white as if she had naturally applied makeup.
For a moment, I almost blurted out nonsense.
'This is really a walking idol.'
Moreover, her chest was quite, no, considerably large, so she had a good figure too.
To become a courtesan, you need status, but with looks like that, if she just had minimal education, she could easily become a courtesan regardless of status.
She was beautiful enough to catch attention wherever she went.
I suddenly understood why the villagers tried to sell the orphans to overcome the famine.
With beauty like this, even slave traders would pay a hefty sum.
"What's your name?"
"It's Chloe, my lord."
Since transmigrating to this other world, I hadn't even held a woman's hand.
So it should be okay for me to have one beauty as a maid around me, just like other nobles.
"From now on, you're my personal maid. Stay by my side 24 hours a day."