"Come in, Tonsen. Sit down," I motioned him toward the chair.
He came in and sat down. "My lord, what can I do for you?"
"Not much, I just called you here to talk." I closed my book and placed it onto the bookshelf.
"Do you have a family or any family members, Tonsen?" I asked.
"Yes, I do, my lord. I have four children and a wife."
"Okay. I want you to take your family and go to my fishing village. Would you be okay with that?" I looked him in the eyes as I asked, but he looked conflicted.
"My lord, do you want us to protect the village?"
"No, let me make myself clear."
"I want you and your family to go there. You will be the owner of that place, and I'll call Orec back."
"You will collect taxes for me and keep half of it for yourself. What do you think?" He looked surprised and happy.
He collected himself and answered, "My lord, that would be my honor," and bowed down.
"Get up, Tonsen. I will give you fifty gold coins—you can use them however you like, but make sure you're doing a good job."
I took out the bag I had prepared before he came and put it on the table.
"Take it. This is your capital to develop."
"Yes." He took the bag.
"Okay, you can take your leave. You will depart in two days, so make sure you and your family are ready."
"Yes, I will take my leave." He bowed and left the room happily.
Hmm... Let's give ownership of all the villages to him first, and in the future, I'll let him have the whole island too.
"Oh right, let's send a letter to the council with some gold."
Let me write it first.
I took out some paper and ink and started writing.
Let's get some supplies for me, like paper and ink. We can buy some fish—dried or salted—maybe salt, and most importantly, tools.
I don't think the quality will be as good as ours, but it's better than nothing. After writing and letting the ink dry, I stamped it with the seal.
"We need clothes, animals, and iron too, but that's for another time."
I took my book and opened it again.
I want to go to the mainland. These islands just aren't good for permanent long-term development.
Let's read. I'll make some time for the twins tonight too.
The Next Morning
"Sigh… That was a tiring night." After my morning routine, I went to the meeting room with Allia.
"Good morning, my lord." She looked tired.
"I'd like to say the same to you too, but it doesn't look like it." She smiled shyly.
"Ahem, thank you, my lord. What do you need me for today?"
"That's fine." I started talking with a smile on my face. "Send a letter to your father. I want him to come back in two days."
"Is there any problem with my father, my lord?" she asked.
"No, just write that he can take all his property with him and come back tomorrow. I'll send someone else to that village."
"I will do that right after this, my lord."
"Yeah. Tell him the slaves and their old possessions are now his too."
"And send this letter to the council." I pulled out a letter and some money from my storage and handed it to Allia.
"Umm, my lord... this money?" She looked surprised.
"Yeah, send that money to the beastkin with the letter." I smiled.
"And I will give you 100 gold coins. You can use them however you like."
"Yes, my lord. I will buy whatever we need," she said determinedly.
"Sigh, no—that's yours. As your sisters are my women, I can at least do that much."
"As for the manor's needs, I'll give you whatever you need. Just tell me in your reports from now on."
She looked embarrassed and happy. "Yes, my lord." Maybe I should act better toward them.
"Deliver one chest for each of them to my room tonight. Personally. Tell your sister too."
"You can take your leave for now."
"Yes." And there she goes.
I turned to my maid. "Go call Drata for me."
It really feels good to have loyal people around you. It's... refreshing somehow.
Hey system, I just want to ask—these people my parents gave me, they are loyal, right?
[Yes, they are. But not absolute. If you don't do anything bad to them, they won't rebel.]
Like how bad?
[They wouldn't rebel if you sent their family to war and they died. But let's say you tortured and killed that person's family member—then they would rebel.]
So there are limits, but they're pretty high. That's good.
But... you really can't be normal in any way. What's with torturing my own men? How is this system even made?
"Sigh, whatever... whenever I think anything about you, it gives me a headache." I took out my book and began reading. In a few minutes, Drata arrived.
"I'm here, my lord," Drata bowed.
I put the book on my leg. "Yeah, come here. Take a seat."
I pulled out a map and gave it to Drata. "Open it. It's the map of this island."
Drata took the map and opened it on the table.
"My lord, this will help us a lot—especially before winter in the forest." His eyes lit up as he began to study the map.
"Yeah. This is yours as captain. Make sure you've studied where we're going before winter."
I pulled out another map. "And this is for the others. Put this in the training grounds so everyone can study and learn what's going on on this island."
He put one hand on his heart and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will at least make the soldiers study and learn it." He looked excited.
I nodded in approval. "That's good. Do you have anything to report?"
"No, my lord. Nothing serious. Same fights with goblins. We don't even have any wounded anymore. But about our weapons..."
"Well, my lord, after the blacksmiths found better equipment, they were able to repair most of the weapons, but we still have some broken or unusable ones."
"Is that so? Alright. Take the weapons you need from storage. You can ask Ellia for it. In the future, you don't need to ask—just send someone to get it if you need it."
"If there's nothing more, you can take your leave."
"Yes, that's all." Drata saluted and left the room.
Okay, time to train and get ready for the night with the twins.
"Let's give them four days of rest every week, or they'll die from exhaustion."
I put the book into my storage and began walking toward the training area.