Novice Alchemist 5-28

 

Chapter 5-28 : Taking Measures For The Future Ⅱ

 

「Store Owner-san, if you can’t control yourself and end up killing that bastard, you have to deal with the witnesses.」(Kate)

「That’s right. You have to kill all the witnesses and leave no evidence behind. But, can you even do that?」(Iris)

「Geez! I won’t kill that man!」(Sarasa)

They worried too much…

Seeing their serious expression while saying that, I couldn’t help but sigh and shake my head.

I’m sure I can control myself… but…

I think I should make some kind of non-lethal poison for offense just in case I snap.

If Baronet Kirk really burned down my store as we imagined, there’s no way I could let him go without being punished, right?

While wondering if there’s a recipe for making the poison I need in the Encyclopedia of Alchemy, I grinned spontaneously.

Madison-san and his men started whispering to each other after seeing my grinning face.

「Captain, I think we just heard something we shouldn’t hear…」(soldier 1)

「At times like this, you should pretend you didn’t hear anything.」(Madison)

「But, Captain, they have treated our injuriesー No, they have saved our lives! If there’s something we can do to repay their kindness, I think we should do it, and the only thing we can do for these ladies is to deal with Lord Kirk!」(soldier 2)

「He’s right. In the end, if we don’t do something about him, our families’ lives will be in danger!」(soldier 3)

「Unlike you guys, I no longer have a family… However, I can’t just let the lord take control of the lives of my friends’ families! I don’t want you guys to experience the sadness of losing a family! Captain, we have to stop that evil man!」(middle-aged soldier)

「「Senpai…!!」」(younger soldiers)

A few young soldiers hugged a middle-aged soldier who seemed to be their senior and shed tears.

I was honestly quite moved at first, but then Iris-san interrupted.

「Hold on, hold on! Don’t just suddenly make up your mind as if you’re going to a war or something! You’ll all get killed if you go now! Anyway, I think you should go to my family’s territory as planned for now. I asked my father if you can migrate to our family’s territory, not just hide there temporarily, and he said he would welcome you anytime. 」(Iris)

「Move to… The Lotze Territory…?」(Madison)

「Yeah. You can bring your families if you want.」(Iris)

Normally, the more residents a territory has, the higher the tax revenue is and the more powerful that territory is.

Therefore, it’s difficult for a feudal lord to let their people migrate to another territory.

However, migrations within the country are not prohibited by law. You can live wherever you want within this country. There’s no restriction for that. Even the local lord can’t stop you.

The reason why the government allows that is because they hope that the local feudal lords will do their best to make their respective territories as prosperous as possible so that their people don’t want to leave.

If there are people who run away from a territory, that means there’s a problem with the way that territory’s feudal lord governs.

Because of that, the feudal lords in this country compete with each other by developing their own territory to become the most prosperous one. The country believes that this kind of competition will increase national power.

By the way, if a feudal lord fails to govern their territory and leads it to destruction instead of prosperity, the government will demote them and confiscate the territory from them.

People are free to move to other territories as they like. However, it’s a difficult thing to do, especially for common people. There’s no guarantee that they will be able to lead a good and financially stable life in their new home.

After all, it’s difficult to find a job and a place to live, especially if you don’t have connections or relatives in the new place.

Common people will never move to another territory unless they are forced to do so.

However, because these soldiers knew the difficulty of adapting to a new place, they were not smiling even after listening to Iris-san’s words.

「We’re thankful that your father will allow us to live in his territory, but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to live a good life there. If I’m not mistaken, the Lotze Territory is an agricultural region, right? Most of us are amateurs in terms of farming…」(soldier 1)

「Besides, I doubt there will be any remaining land for us to cultivate.」(soldier 2)

「That means we should start by clearing the forest, huh? Sounds like a lot of trouble…」(soldier 3)

「Oi, oi. Why do you sound pessimistic? No matter how hard it is, if it can save our family’s lives, then there’s no reason not to do it! Fortunately, we all have trained our bodies in order to become soldiers. Clearing the forest to make our farmland shouldn’t be a problem for us! 」(Madison)

「Captain…」(soldier 1)

「Yeah. Captain’s right!」(soldier 2)

「I’m sorry for being pessimistic… Now that I think about it, starting life from zero is not a bad idea.」(soldier 3)

「Geez… Why do you guys like to jump to conclusions so hastily?」(Iris)

When Madison-san and his men fell into an ‘it’s better than dying’ mood, Iris-san interrupted them again and shook her head.

「I said my father will welcome you to his territory, didn’t I? Don’t worry about land to cultivate. Well, it’s hard to say that you can expect a profitable harvest as soon as you move there, but you don’t have to start from clearing the forest.」(Iris)

「Really…? So, you have land for us to cultivate? That would be awesome, but…」(Madison)

Not only Madison-san, but his men were also looking at Iris-san with doubtful faces.

As one of the soldiers said earlier, normally, farmland is something that is passed down from generation to generation.

Therefore, there’s no excess farmland that can be used by immigrants, so it’s natural for them to be doubtful.

「I understand why you’re doubtful, but we will cooperate. Not only us, but Store Owner-dono will also cooperate with you. Right, Store Owner-dono?」(Iris)

「Eh…? I mean… Yeah, of course!」(Sarasa)

「So, Miss Alchemist will help too? Then it will be possible…」(Madison)

Madison-san and his men looked at me for a moment and then nodded to each other in agreement.

By the way, I taught Lorea-chan and Kate-san some spells to cultivate land.

I think it will be a good opportunity for them to put what they have learned into practice.

「Although we will cooperate, you still have to work hard, but it’s better than staying in South Strugg and dying, right?」(Iris)

Seeing Iris-san say that with a smile on her face, the soldiers’ expressions brightened.

「Of course! Thank you, Ma’am!」(soldier 1)

「Ma, ‘Ma’am’…? Uhh… Can you address me with something else?」(Iris)

「Then, what about ‘Iris ojou-sama’?」(soldier 1)

*ojou-sama = young lady

「Ugh… The people in my family’s territory call me ‘Iris ojou-sama’. If you’re going to become a citizen there, you can call me that, but… Oh, well, you can call me whatever you like.」(Iris)

「Understood, Iris ojou-sama!」(soldier 1)

Iris ojou-sama, huh…?

Honestly, that sounds weird to me…

No, not only me. It seemed that Lorea-chan also felt the same. She asked Kate-san.

「Is she really called ‘ojou-sama’ in the Lotze Territory…?」(Lorea)

「Yeah. She is the rightful heir of the Lotze Family after all.」(Kate)

「「Iris ojou-sama…」」(Sarasa & Lorea)

Lorea-chan and I tried to say it at the same time.

There’s nothing wrong with it.

Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it, but…

The word “Ojou-sama” somehow made me think of an elegant lady in a gorgeous dress, which is far from Iris-san’s image.

「By the way, Kate-san, what about you? How do they call you?」(Lorea)

「Umm… “Kate-sama”…」(Kate)

「「Kate-sama…」」(Sarasa & Lorea)

Coincidentally, my voice and Lorea-chan’s voice overlapped again.

Kate-san’s family is the retainer of the Lotze Family, so it’s not strange that the people in the Lotze Territory call her that.

Unlike “Iris ojou-sama”, I feel like “Kate-sama” fits her persona so much.

 

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