The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations - Chapter 299

Chapter 299: Now, Let’s Prepare for What’s Next (2)

The administrators of Fenris were busier than ever. With the territory having expanded significantly, the workload had increased proportionally.

Claude, along with many other officials, had crossed over into the newly captured Desmond estate’s region.

Before arriving, Claude had briefly thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to just die than be buried under work like this?’ But once he reached Desmond territory, a flood of emotions overtook him.

“This is all really ours now? I never thought a day like this would come.”

His reaction was far calmer than when they had taken over the Cabaldi region. Back then, he had been so ecstatic he couldn’t contain himself. Considering Desmond was far larger than Cabaldi, it would have made sense for him to be even more jubilant.

But the sheer magnitude of their achievement made it hard for him to process, let alone feel overwhelming joy.

“Is this for real? I’m not dreaming, right? Wendy, pinch my cheek, will you… Ah, right, she’s not here.”

Claude looked around with a wistful gaze.

Memories of his first days in Fenris flooded his mind. Back then, he had mistaken Ghislain for a wealthy successor to a great lord, only to face crushing disappointment when he learned the truth.

Dragged into a destitute territory, reduced to a slave, and enduring endless hardships—he never imagined such an absurd day would come.

“Even now, I’m still stuck in a filthy position… But to think our lord has actually become a Grand Lord.”

When faced with something monumental, people often become dazed. That was precisely Claude’s current state of mind.

If Ghislain had lost, Claude himself would have been killed anyway. He was simply grateful to still be alive.

But Claude’s brief calmness quickly gave way. As they neared the castle, he began to puff himself up.

‘Ahem, I am now the Chief Overseer of Fenris, a grand dominion. I’d better start paying attention to my dignity.’

A smile kept creeping onto his face. It was hard to suppress the corners of his lips from rising.

Sitting in the carriage, he adjusted his tone and put on a stern expression, muttering to himself.

“For all those who have suffered under injustice and evil for so long, I will restore righteousness! From this day forth, we shall create a new era… Heh, I’m so impressive. Everyone’s going to be moved to tears.”

Claude grinned, basking in his own brilliance. However, he failed to notice the murmurs of the citizens as his carriage rolled past.

“The one coming is supposed to be the Chief Overseer of the territory.”

“They call him the Bribe King of the North. I heard he’s incredibly corrupt and vicious. Don’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth.”

“Rumor has it he’s a gambling addict. Some even say he’s a lunatic. Anyway, we should avoid catching his attention.”

“Ugh, with someone that notorious, how much suffering is he going to inflict on us? I’m already worried.”

The citizens, just by looking at his carriage, let out concerned sighs.

Unaware that he was being criticized the entire way, Claude entered the castle with an air of grandeur.

“The Chief Overseer has arrived!”

Though technically a slave, he was still ranked second in Fenris. Knights and soldiers, waiting outside the castle, lowered their heads as he passed.

Claude gave them a haughty nod in return.

‘Ah, good thing I didn’t run away. I’m the Chief Overseer of Fenris, a grand dominion! This feeling—this is why I took the position.’

“Oh my, the Chief Overseer has arrived?”

Belinda waved cheerfully, and Wendy, who stood beside her, inclined her head slightly toward Belinda before approaching Claude.

As soon as Claude saw Wendy, his eyes welled up with tears, and he shouted loudly.

“Wendyyy! Do you have any idea how scared I was without you? Huuuuwaah!”

With tears and snot streaming, Claude spread his arms wide and ran toward her. Wendy, acting swiftly, pushed his head back with a hand while glancing around.

The passing soldiers and servants seemed to be holding back their laughter, their lips twitching. Wendy bit her lip in frustration.

‘I’ve noticed this before, but this idiot has no sense of shame.’

“Get… away.”

“Don’t leave meee!”

“For the love of—please… stop…”

Wendy’s face turned bright red from embarrassment. For an assassin like her, known for her lack of emotional expression, even this reaction was a testament to Claude’s ability to test her patience.

After a brief scuffle, Claude finally composed himself and resumed his pompous demeanor.

“Ahem, shall we go meet the Lord?”

Wendy glared at him as he strode forward with unfounded confidence, then shook her head a few times before following behind.

When Ghislain saw Claude, he waved warmly.

“Hey, Claude, you’re here!”

“Ahaha! Congratulations on becoming a Grand Lord!”

Claude laughed heartily as he offered his congratulations, prompting Ghislain to ask with a slightly puzzled expression.

“You’re holding up better than I expected. Weren’t you saying you’d rather die than work any more?”

“Ugh, where’d you hear that from? I’m not dying out of sheer spite! Once the territory stabilizes, I’m going to slack off, live like a king, and die in style.”

Ghislain gave a dry response to Claude’s ambitious statement.

“Sure, well… I hope that day comes for you.”

“Well, enough of the pleasantries… You’ve taken care of all the retainers, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Got it. Guess that means it’s just us left to die next.”

At Ghislain’s succinct reply, Claude nodded. No matter how shocking something might be, people get used to it after experiencing it enough times.

Ghislain was a warlord, after all. He expanded his territory through war. The tasks that followed acquiring new lands were predictable.

“Alright, I’ll get started right away.”

“Good, as always—”

“Yeah, yeah, quickly and efficiently.”

Claude waved his hand as if he already understood everything, then turned and walked away. His casual confidence now perfectly fit his role as Chief Overseer of a grand domain.

“Hey, I wasn’t done talking…”

Ghislain called out in disbelief, but Claude was gone before he could finish. Left alone, Ghislain let out a faint laugh.

“Well, first things first. We need to assess the current state and stabilize things. We’ll talk later.”

Claude immediately rallied the administrators and began surveying the territory.

‘Last time, I got caught while trying to smuggle things out. This time, I’ll make sure to skim off the top discreetly!’

His first task, grandiose as it sounded, was to check the personal wealth of Count Desmond. But as he muttered to himself, disappointment hit him like a brick.

“Why… is he so broke?”

He wasn’t completely destitute, but his wealth was no more than what an average lord might possess. For someone who ruled a grand domain, Claude had expected far more—at least double what Count Cabaldi had.

“Was Count Desmond really such a paragon of virtue?”

Not quite. While Harold wasn’t extravagant, he did spend a fair amount maintaining the dignity befitting a noble.

Claude hurriedly rummaged through the personal coffers of the other retainers and even the estate’s storerooms.

“What the hell! Why is everyone broke?”

Every storage room turned out to be similarly underwhelming.

In Claude’s mind, Desmond had been nothing short of the embodiment of evil. He’d assumed Harold would have hoarded more wealth than the corrupt Count Cabaldi.

“Did someone already steal it all?”

Furious, Claude flipped through the mountain of documents, finally realizing what had happened.

“Wow, these bastards were really serious about this.”

They had mobilized every last bit of wealth to wage war against Ghislain. Nearly all the territory’s resources had been converted into food and military equipment.

“Tch, none of this is going to be much use to us.”

After Ghislain had defeated Desmond’s main forces, the supply units that followed had surrendered. While Fenris acquired a substantial amount of weaponry and supplies, most of it wasn’t particularly helpful.

Fenris already had an abundance of food to the point of surplus. Their armaments and tools were being replaced with Galvaniium equipment, so the surplus iron weapons would just cost additional labor and time to melt down. The only remotely valuable items were the siege weapons.

“Hm, I can’t exactly sell the weapons… Or can I? Maybe I’ll curry favor with the Royal Faction and sell them at a discount?”

If there had been other resources, Claude might have figured out a way to make use of them. But with Desmond’s territory completely stripped bare, all he was left with was a headache.

Even the citizens’ wealth had been fully requisitioned. At least, to Harold’s credit, meticulous records had been kept of how much had been taken from each household, possibly with the intent of later compensation.

“Guess Count Desmond wasn’t entirely heartless.”

Even while stripping the land of resources, Harold hadn’t acted arbitrarily. His aristocratic pride and mindset were evident in the structured way he had gone about it.

After getting a rough sense of the situation, Claude began prioritizing tasks.

“Hmm, first of all, we need to distribute food to the citizens.”

Desmond was a region with high agricultural output, not just for wheat but for a variety of crops. However, the aftermath of a drought—exacerbated by the large-scale sale of food to Ghislain in the past—had left the region in poor shape.

Adding to this, the great merchant guilds in the area had been destroyed, and whatever food had remained was requisitioned for war efforts. The citizens were in dire straits.

As always, stabilizing public sentiment was the top priority when conquering a new territory.

When Claude appeared with carts full of food, the citizens watched with mixed emotions.

“All of that was originally ours…”

“What if they take even more from us? Isn’t their territory supposed to be poorer than ours?”

“Damn it, how did we lose to bumpkins like them?”

The faces of the citizens were filled with worry and discontent.

Had they won the war, they would have received substantial rewards. Count Desmond was a fearsome man, but he wasn’t the type to break his promises.

However, with their defeat in the war, they were left empty-handed. Already struggling due to the aftermath of the drought, their situation had become even more desperate.

The truth was, they had been left destitute because Count Desmond had been overly confident in his swift victory, leaving only a minimal supply of food while requisitioning everything else. Despite this, the citizens misplaced their resentment.

They believed the rewards they would have received had been snatched away because of Ghislain. This sentiment was particularly strong among the citizens in the central region, where pride in their territory was higher.

Claude surveyed the disgruntled citizens and scratched his head.

“This is strange. Why does everyone hate us wherever we go?”

Still, he knew they’d come around eventually.

With a sly grin, Claude raised his voice and announced loudly, “We will deliver the rewards Count Desmond promised—double the amount, in fact!”

“…?”

The citizens’ eyes widened in disbelief. They hadn’t expected to receive anything, let alone double the amount.

An elderly man, dressed neatly and standing out from the crowd, stepped forward cautiously.

“Are you serious? Do you truly intend to do this?”

“Yes! I have never told a lie in my entire life!”

Despite his declaration, the citizens’ expressions remained skeptical. Strange rumors about Claude had already spread far and wide throughout Desmond’s territory.

Claude, oblivious to the suspicious gazes directed at him, flared up indignantly.

“I’ll prove it to you by distributing the rewards right now! Temporary distribution centers have already been set up, so bring the certificates you received from Count Desmond! To streamline the process, we’ll convert everything into food, since everyone contributed different items.”

At those words, the citizens’ faces brightened. Receiving food was undeniably better. It was something they desperately needed, and any surplus could easily be sold to traveling merchants.

Word spread quickly, and the citizens flocked to the distribution centers, torn between hope and skepticism.

“Wow! They’re actually giving it out!”

“And it’s more than we were promised!”

“Count Fenris is the best!”

For the citizens, the identity of their lord didn’t matter. The best lord was simply the one who treated them well.

Unlike in other northern territories, people in Desmond hadn’t been starving to death en masse. Simply distributing food was enough to stabilize the situation swiftly.

In the impoverished villages on the outskirts, the reactions were even more enthusiastic than in the central region.

Unlike the central citizens, who had some lingering loyalty to Count Desmond, many of the villagers didn’t even know who he was. They simply paid taxes and gave what was demanded of them, nothing more.

Now, with nothing being taken from them and food being distributed instead, praises for Count Fenris grew louder by the day.

“See? I told you it was real! You should’ve trusted me!”

Claude, practically bouncing with energy, moved from village to village, calming the citizens. His efforts significantly reduced hostility toward Fenris.

“Grr, but there’s another problem brewing,” he muttered.

Even though hostility had diminished, the region’s overall stability was far from secured. This was largely due to the aftermath of Count Desmond mobilizing all available forces for the war.

Claude blinked tiredly as he submitted his latest report to Ghislain.

“Too many criminal organizations have popped up. Especially after word spread of Desmond’s defeat, all sorts of scoundrels have come crawling out. It looks like they’re trying to take advantage of the chaos during the occupation to establish themselves.”

“Criminal organizations?”

“Well, with Count Desmond having taken even the garrison troops, it’s no surprise. Cleaning this up is going to take some time.”

“Hmm, the citizens must be pretty shaken.”

“Of course. Many of them can’t sleep properly because of all the people trying to steal the food we distributed. Some have already been robbed. Since we haven’t fully established administrative control or law enforcement, things are still in disarray.”

Resolving these issues wasn’t something that could be done overnight. The administrative systems had to be restructured to mirror Fenris, and more officials were needed.

In addition, maintaining order in such a vast territory required strategic military deployment. While more recruits were steadily being brought in, the manpower was still insufficient. Securing public safety would ultimately take time.

“Hm… We need to stabilize things as quickly as possible.”

Count Desmond was merely one hurdle among many. Stabilizing the territory quickly was essential to prepare for even more formidable foes ahead.

A fortress had to be built here, villages needed to be integrated, and various facilities had to be constructed. However, if the citizens remained consumed by anxiety and unable to focus on their work, the losses would be significant.

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“We’re mobilizing all the knights and hunters to secure the territory, but it’s not easy. We don’t know the geography well, and the citizens aren’t cooperating with us yet. It’ll likely take at least six months to sort everything out.”

“Hey, that’s unacceptable. Six months? Do you realize how much we need to get done? Spending months just dealing with criminals is ridiculous!”

“Hah, do you think it’s as easy as it sounds? You know this isn’t something that can be solved by brute force alone.”

It wasn’t like they could show up unprovoked and accuse someone with,

‘You’re a criminal, aren’t you? Die.’

Criminal organizations survived because they operated in secrecy and persistence.

Even lords often turned a blind eye to criminal groups as long as they paid their taxes. After all, they could be useful for dirty work.

Even if they were to capture suspects indiscriminately, that wouldn’t be the end of it. They’d need to confirm guilt, determine the appropriate punishment, and go through a formal trial.

“It’s easy enough to catch those caught in the act, but the real problem is those who commit crimes covertly. How are we supposed to root out every single one of them? Especially when they haven’t technically done anything wrong yet?”

Though it might seem minor, it was a critical issue. Without proper procedures, the citizens would begin to distrust the lord.

Some people wouldn’t know if those caught were actual criminals, and even those aware of their guilt might grow uneasy. Without due process, they’d fear that an unjust punishment could one day befall them, breeding subconscious anxiety and resentment.

That’s why even the most corrupt nobles made a show of adhering to legitimacy and law.

Of course, a truly wicked lord wouldn’t care about their citizens’ concerns, but Ghislain couldn’t afford to appear as such.

“Hmm… But we can’t just leave them unchecked either, can we?”

“Exactly. Strengthening security and keeping them from acting brazenly is the only way. Constant suppression and surveillance will eventually stabilize things. That’s the natural course of action.”

“That’s far too inefficient. It takes too much time, and I don’t like it. Looks like I’ll have to step in myself again.”

“Uh… What are you planning this time?”

“As long as I don’t give the impression that the lord is arbitrarily enforcing the law, it’s fine, right? No one can say the lord is dragging away innocent people if it doesn’t look like the lord is involved.”

“Well… that’s true.”

“Then it’s not so complicated. An eye for an eye, a crime for a crime.”

“What?”

Claude responded with a wary look, but Ghislain grinned.

“Bring me my mask. Those bastards are about to face divine punishment.”

As long as no one discovered he was behind it, that was all that mattered.

The Plunder King and the Forty Thieves would take care of this issue.