CH 182

We followed the village head and arrived at a house that looked neater than the other houses.

It was the house where the head’s family stayed.

The inside of the house was as clean as the outside.

As soon as I was shown to my seat, a female demon appeared, believed to be the wife of Drent, the son of the Village head.

“Sorry, my Lord. I didn’t prepare much.”

With a pale face and trembling hands, she brought out some drinks and small pieces of fruit.

She seemed very nervous.

The Village head kept looking at us, but his mind was somewhere else.

At their extremely cautious reaction, I said to the village head with a relaxed smile.

“Take your seat.”

“No, I don’t mind standing like this, my Lord.”

“If you stand like that, we can’t talk comfortably. I’m here simply because I want to hear the concerns of this village, so you don’t have to feel so uncomfortable.”

“Um….”

The Village head sat down in a very uncomfortable manner even though it was his house.

And behind him, Drent and his wife stood in a polite manner.

“Let me introduce myself again. My name is Lim Sihyeon, and I have been appointed as the in charge of the newly created Cardis estate.”

“We heard about the swearing-in of the new lord a few days ago. We should have come to see you first and greeted you… I’m very sorry we couldn’t come, my Lord.”

“No, it’s fine. Rather, I came here because I heard that the village belonging to my territory is suffering. Can you explain in detail what kind of difficulties you have?”

“Um… It’s…”

The Village head rolled his eyes and avoided making eye contact.

He seemed to be wondering if he could really say it.

As the atmosphere felt a little stuffy, Surin, who was next to me, stepped up and opened her mouth.

“Judging from the size of the village, it doesn’t seem like a new village, and given that there are not many vacant houses yet, it seems that the situation has become difficult quite recently.”

Surin guessed the situation of the village simply by looking at it on our way here.

It was not a difficult guess, but the Village head, his son, and his son’s wife showed a slightly surprised reaction.

“We need to know specifically what kind of difficulties you are facing to help you. Lord Cardis is here to help you, so please cooperate as much as you can.”

After hesitating for a while, the village head slowly began to tell what had happened in the village.

“As you said, the livelihood in the village suddenly became difficult because of recent events.”

“What happened?”

“Before the news of the new lord came, the people of the Selberg family who previously ruled this place came to the village.”

The Selberg family?

Andras and I frowned, recalling our bad relationship with the Selberg family.

“It was not even time for them to collect taxes. They forced us to pay the taxes. The knights and soldiers who came, took away the food and properties of the village as if robbing.”

“Huh…”

The helplessness of that time got vividly revived on the face of the village head who was grimacing.

The miserable feeling he felt was still intact, and a sigh came out of his mouth unknowingly.

“The people who ran out of food survived either by begging in the city or by searching through the forest. If it had been a cold winter then most of the residents would not have been able to withstand it.”

The village head ended the story with a bitter expression on his face.

I leaned toward Andras and whispered.

“Andras, why did the Selberg family do such a thing?”

” I think it’s their revenge against Sihyeon. They did something outrageous before this village was officially included in the Cardis estate.”

“No matter what happened between us isn’t it too much to harm people who had nothing to do with it….”

“I was disappointed with the Selberg family, but never thought they would stoop this low. How can they do such a frivolous act just to get even with you? I feel ashamed that they are a noble family.”

Andras criticized the Selberg family’s actions expressing his unpleasant feelings.

I felt like I wanted to spit out some curse right away, but I calmed myself down.

Surin was next to me and those Selbergs aren’t important right now.

I calmed down the intense emotions and stabilized my mind.

After regaining my composure, the first thing I felt was sorry for the villagers.

They had nothing to do with the feud between me and the Selberg family, but they got caught in the crossfire.

In addition, I felt angry at myself because they seemed to have had a hard time because I neglected my duty as the lord.

I asked the Village head in a softer voice.

“What do you need most right now?”

“What we need the most is… food. There’s no way for us to get food right now because everything that could be used to make money has been taken away.”

“We need farming equipment. We can’t repair the broken farm equipment because we don’t even have money. If we don’t start farming properly right now then we’ll continue to suffer from hunger.”

The village head’s son also hurriedly added from behind.

Once he opened his mouth, he poured out what the people in the village needed.

I slowly talked with them to sort out the most necessary things, and promised to support them as soon as possible.

“Thank you, my lord! How are we supposed to repay this favor…”

Drent bowed his head so deeply that it looked like his back was hurting, while the village head started to shed tears as if he had finally found hope.

As the discussion came to an end, a small laugh sound could be heard from behind.

“Owwwuuuu!”

A baby demon who seemed to have just started walking was walking towards my side.

“Oh, my!”

Drent’s wife fretted and took the baby away in a hurry.

Then she bowed her head with a helpless expression.

“I put him to sleep in the room…… I’m sorry, my Lord. Please forgive him for interrupting  the meeting.”

“Please forgive his actions, my lord!”

“Please show mercy, my Lord.”

The village head’s family started apologizing to me, fearing that I might get mad at the baby.

“It’s all right. We’re almost done talking. Don’t worry too much.”

I calmed them down with a smile on my face.

The village head’s family calmed down only after seeing the smile on my face, but the baby in his mother’s arms was busy looking at the strange visitors with a curious expression, without knowing the hearts of the nervous adults.

I smiled at the cute baby without realizing it.

“The baby is so cute. Can I give him a hug?”

“Sir?! We…”

The mother holding the baby hesitated for a moment and came up to me.

I carefully held the baby which was given to me by the mother.

The small baby moved to me and hugged me.

A sweet, comforting smell that is characteristic of a baby emanated from his arms.

Even though he was in the arms of a stranger, he opened his eyes wide without any anxiety.

Glittering round eyes, the horns, wiggling hands and feet, and the look on the face, everything felt so cute.

“Awwow!”

The baby babbled and stretched his arms toward my face.

As I pushed my face close, the baby tapped my face and burst into laughter.

“Owowowwwwuuu”

Looking at how skillfully I was taking care of the baby, the anxiety disappeared from the faces of the village head and his family and everyone looked at me as if they saw something strange.

It was the most comfortable atmosphere that was felt in the room since I arrived here.

Surin also looked at me in a strange way.

“The baby really likes Lord Cardis, doesn’t he?

“Probably Sihyeon has more influence on the baby demons in the Demon world than even the Demon Lord.”

I was embarrassed by Andras’ exaggerated praise, while Surin and the village head’s family looked at me as if they believed what Andras said.

“Owawuuuuuuu!”

The sound of the baby’s laughter resounded through the village head’s house for a while.

Seeing the happy smile of the baby, I thought I should add baby snacks to the town’s support items.

I visited the second village immediately after looking around the first village.

In the second village, the situation was not much different from the first village.

The second village was also deprived of food and property because of the Selberg family.

These guys have done bad things diligently.

Totally fed up with Selberg’s vicious stupidity, I didn’t even get angry this time.

I also promised the village head of the second village to give the same support.

We got back into the carriage with the hospitality of the residents.

On our way back in the carriage, I thought about the two villages.

I sighed at the situation in the village, which was much more serious than I had expected.

Surin, who sat opposite me, smiled softly when she saw me like that.

“Are you worried, Lord Cardis?”

“I’m a little worried. It’s not difficult to simply provide support, but I don’t know what to do next…….”

“If you don’t mind, can I tell you what I think?”

“Please. I’ll listen.”

She gave a smile and began to express her opinion with a serious expression on her face.

“First, the biggest problem in both villages is food. Their problem is the same as the problem in Elden village.”

“Elden village? I don’t think anyone is starving there….”

“It’s not just a matter of having more food or less food. It’s a matter of how self-sufficient they are.”

“…”

“I know that Elden village uses its profits from strawberry production to buy food. Except for the food purchased from the merchants, the food production in Elden Village is also not good. It’s something we need to look into.”

I nodded at her logical explanation along with Andras, who was listening next to me.

“The important thing now is to increase food production, even though it may not be completely self-sufficient. Food is the most important part of running an estate.”

“Umm… can’t we just provide the village with farm equipment and other things?”

“That’s not enough!”

Surin said with a very determined attitude.

“When I looked around the village, I also looked at the land where the residents were farming. The soil is not fertile. Rather, it was more on the barren side.”

“Then… How…?”

“We have to clear the forest. Then we can easily increase the fertile land. Of course, the more we clear the forest, the more damage they will receive from the beasts. So securing a defensive force to stop the beasts should also be a priority.”

That wasn’t the end.

According to Surin, food was not the only problem in the village. Poor security, lack of basic facilities, sensitive tax issues, and the problem of dealing with foreign people who will continue to flow in.

She constantly pointed out areas that need to be improved in the Cardis estate.

She also mentioned a few suggestions on how to solve the problem, and my head kept pounding listening to so many things that needed to be done.

On the other hand, I couldn’t help but admire Surin’s ability.

Ryan seemed to have recommended her to me for a reason.

And instinctively, I realized that I needed her help unconditionally to run the estate.

I spoke to Surin with an eager expression.

“Miss Surin… No… Surin, are you interested in running an estate? Do you have any thoughts about working at the Cardis estate? I will do my best to meet your demands.”

She grinned at my suggestion. It was as if she knew that I was going to make this offer.

“First of all, thank you so much for making such an offer to me. It’s a much more attractive place than I thought, so I really wanted to work. But I’ll put my answer on hold.”

“What… Why?”

Seeing her delaying the answer, I asked for the reason with a sad expression on my face.

“Lord Cardis…. No… Sihyeon, you’re planning on giving me all your work and want to focus on other things, right?”

– FLINCH!

Uh, how did she know?

Seeing Surin guessing my thoughts like a mind reader, I trembled greatly.

As she said, I was planning on leaving all the work that involved using the head in the estate to her and leaving to work on the farm.

Surin laughed with her mouth covered as if she found my reaction funny.

“Hoho! Sihyeon is a noble now. You must learn how to hide your innermost thoughts.”

“Haha, yes Sihyeon. As Miss Surin said, it’s indeed an essential virtue for an aristocrat.”

Andras smiled softly after her.

Is it that obvious?

I felt as if I was being teased by the two, so I rubbed my face with my hands and made a grim expression.

Surin, who stopped laughing, looked at me with bright eyes and said.

“I still want to work on the estate. But I don’t want to work for an incompetent lord.”

“….”

“ I’ll give you some time. Until then, solve the problems of the Estate that I have told you about. When I come back to Cardis estate, I’ll check how it’s changed, and then I’ll give you the answer which I have put on hold.”

“… I think your homework is very difficult.”

“I think Sihyeon can do it. Please give your best.”

Surin said with a confident expression while making a fighting pose.

I smiled despondently at the pretty cute cheer.

Ah… It’s been a while since I have felt like this.

I felt this when I was a student, while given a really difficult homework assignment.

I wish I had more influence on Surin like the Demon babies…

Maybe it might have worked if Surin was a baby.

While I was lost in thought, Andras, who was next to me, called me.

“Sihyeon.”

“‥‥?”

“Now, you thought it would have been good if Surin was a baby, right?”

“….”

Ahhhh, homework or whatever, I should learn how to control my facial expression first.