I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 60

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 060

60. New Weapons and Cavalry

In the estate, forced labor continued to progress.

Roads had to be built.

The progress was moving quickly, but it was still far from completion.

‘It must be difficult.’

They might be starting to think they wanted to rest. Or they might be building resentment toward him for making them work.

But Cliff believed.

The people of this generation knew. They knew what the most painful times were and understood despair.

In an environment they thought couldn’t be changed, when they wondered whether they would die or become slaves just to survive.

They remembered the times when they sold family members one by one just to barely get by.

“Ah, aah…”

Those people listened to Cliff’s words and bowed their heads.

They say old people cry a lot.

The elderly were especially like this. They had passed down despair to their children.

And as if to console themselves, one story had spread throughout the estate.

An orphan boy who grew up poor without a father.

He too died frozen while searching for food in winter blizzards for his family.

And so once again, poor orphans were created in the world… a despair that seemed impossible for humans to overcome.

It won’t work anyway.

Why else would even the lord have abandoned this estate?

Everyone had such thoughts.

But two years.

The estate had changed after enduring two winters.

Now they knew too. Things were changing little by little. Perhaps they really might break this chain of poverty.

And… this wasn’t simply thanks to external support, but they themselves would make this place prosper.

“Make sincerity your sustenance. God will bless this estate and the children of this land. Our children will enjoy blessings and our names will be respected.”

As he spoke, Cliff recalled his country from his previous life.

Though he hadn’t lived through that period himself.

‘These people are truly… the generation that created miracles back then.’

Foreign miners, nurses, and adults who even went to battlefields to earn foreign currency.

An era of dazzling rapid growth based on that foreign currency.

If the adults of that time had worked for themselves, that miracle probably wouldn’t have happened.

“May God’s blessing remain in your homes.”

Cliff said those words and left the platform.

The afterglow remained in the town square. Some people even showed tears as they made solemn resolutions.

People are fickle.

Even if they didn’t know at first, the looseness they could feel as life gradually became livable disappeared with this speech.

“Truly… it was moving.”

The elder shed tears first.

Though they didn’t cry like that, Teobaldt, Vivian, and others also looked at Cliff differently.

Heat could be felt in Teobaldt’s eyes.

He had become passionate.

‘Indeed, this is a lord worth dedicating my life to.’

Vivian looked at Cliff with more confused eyes than that.

She still had no loyalty toward Cliff. But Cliff’s speech made even her emotional.

She recalled the lord her family had served before.

‘He’s on a completely different level from the people of the Ballard Baron family.’

She wondered if people could be this different.

She had thought he was a similar person.

But the more she spent time with him, the more Cliff differed from the nobles she knew. And even non-humans felt this.

“Indeed… the lord has the qualities of a king.”

Belgimov praised Cliff.

Belgimov gave off the feeling of a sage. At his words, Cliff smiled wryly.

“A king, you say. Can just anyone do that?”

No matter how he thought about it, he wasn’t king material.

Also, it was ridiculous to mention kingship with only about a thousand households of people.

“Hehe.”

Belgimov just laughed.

Like that, the dark elf looked at Cliff as if evaluating him.

Leticia was a little different from them.

‘Ah.’

She blushed.

It was gradually time.

Ballard Barony.

Though he had conquered it through war last year, Cliff actually hadn’t done anything yet as lord of that place.

He had simply left it to Anton and Adolf.

Those two people.

‘I can trust those two for now, but…’

There was also a place he was neglecting even more.

Precisely the manor he had received from Count Platice.

“That place is important for future city planning too.”

This was why road construction was important.

If it became difficult to travel roads in summer because it was summer, and in winter because it was winter, it would be hard to supply external goods inside.

‘If it becomes like that, all work will be disrupted.’

However, work was always difficult.

If he ordered it, they had to do it anyway, but the fact that people could gradually live was also a problem. They had no motivation to do that arduous labor except for his orders.

This lowered morale.

‘It’s almost sowing season too…’

When that time came, there was a high probability that construction would be completely halted.

It was soon.

Since Leticia had gone around the fields removing moisture, this sowing was scheduled to be faster than last year.

So this speech had meaning.

“That was truly an excellent speech. The expressions of the commoners coming to work recently have changed from before. They’ve become motivated.”

It was Belgimov making this report.

He seemed satisfied, befitting someone supervising construction.

His praise didn’t sound like pure praise alone.

‘It wasn’t something I said with that intention?’

No, actually it was in his thoughts.

People gradually needed new motivation or enthusiasm. Because he was feeling that moment.

People who were still lacking but could now live.

Rather than feeling lack and moving forward, they wanted to settle for the status quo.

‘Because it’s hard.’

What they had to do was really difficult.

“Still, stamina is limited, so please don’t squeeze them too hard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. The road will be completed soon anyway.”

Hearing those words, Cliff raised the corners of his mouth.

“I’ve seen that progress is almost finished. How… do you think it will be done before sowing?”

“It might be touch and go. If we push hard, it’s not an impossible goal, but…”

“Tsk. So we’ll fail by a hair’s breadth in the end?”

Still, this is more than sufficient.

After the sowing, we can mobilize people who are free again to finish up.

Cliff said.

“Then let’s have a long holiday starting now, and have everyone return to their livelihoods. Construction will resume after sowing.”

“Hmm. I’ll do that.”

“We can still build the road before the rainy season, right?”

At Cliff’s question, Belgimov also nodded.

“I’ll definitely make that happen.”

“Please discuss it well with Elder Gusillon and proceed.”

“Yes, my lord. But… there’s something important.”

Cliff looked at Belgimov.

Seeing his serious expression, Cliff automatically became tense.

“Previously, few people came here because the roads were inconvenient. But now more people will seek out the lord’s land. This will become even more true as various projects are completed and the estate develops.”

Humans are a greedy species.

That’s why they’re never satisfied with what they have and always think others have more.

“…Should we prepare for war?”

That was what Cliff was asking Belgimov.

However, Belgimov shook his head.

“To be precise, I’m saying you need to show the lord’s power.”

“So that just anyone can’t attack us?”

“Exactly.”

A term he’d heard often in the past came to mind.

War deterrence.

Also called deterrent force.

The act of displaying power so others don’t dare challenge you.

Military strength comes first in this, followed by diplomatic considerations.

‘In that regard, becoming close to the Platice Count’s family is certainly a great help.’

Adopted son of the Platice family.

And probably the Duke’s illegitimate child.

His position served as a deterrent that prevented surrounding areas from easily waging war. But there was the case of Baron Ballard.

He didn’t know when or what incident might erupt.

He needed to sufficiently show others that he possessed military power not to be taken lightly.

“If the lord wishes, we could deploy our warriors…”

“That’s not necessary.”

Cliff shook his head.

Dark elves were too conspicuous.

Only some dark elves revealed themselves in the estate. The rest all hid in shadows and moved secretly at his command.

They were truly the shadowguards.

‘It wouldn’t be bad for others to know I control shadowguards, but preferably…’

He planned to show a different side instead of them.

Cliff spoke.

“That’s why I told them to rest from construction. Anyway… I’m planning to call the soldiers currently working on construction for new training.”

“New training… you say?”

“Yes.”

Cliff nodded.

The 50 soldiers he had recruited.

They would all probably suffer quite a bit.

‘Even if not all of them…’

Belgimov’s advice was something he had already been thinking about. When he left this estate, he wanted to display the power this estate possessed.

There was a most effective method for this.

With that in mind, Cliff assembled the soldiers.

“Attention!”

Centurion Teobaldt saluted.

Cliff returned it and examined the soldiers.

50 elite soldiers.

But these men had rarely entered actual combat.

‘Ah, never?’

Even in the territorial war with Ballard, they had only stood there.

Only Teobaldt had fought directly, shedding blood.

Other than that…

‘I practically only made them do manual labor.’

They were professional soldiers, yet all they’d done was dig ground, compact earth, lay stones, make charcoal, and so on.

Now he planned to give them truly soldier-like work.

“As you’ve seen, the estate continues to change. Accordingly, those who covet the estate will increase, and they’re likely to be stronger enemies than Baron Ballard.”

That wasn’t all.

Cliff recalled the goblin horde he’d seen in the past.

He really thought he was going to die then.

“Moreover, we must now go north to fight goblins. We must kill them, subjugate their lairs, and safely protect our people as they bring the resources there back here.”

Cliff said.

“It’s not just about defending the estate and subjugating monsters. Charging at groups that oppose me and brutally crushing them is also a quality you must possess.”

Gulp.

The soldiers grew tense.

So much had changed since the lord arrived. Even the lord’s recent speech had a very different atmosphere from previous speeches.

Perhaps their lord might really invade other estates this time.

‘When that time comes…’

‘Still, nothing changes. We fight for our lord!’

The soldiers’ mental preparation was solid.

Cliff examined them.

“From today, I’ll give you new weapons. You’ll need to train in handling those new weapons.”

New weapons.

With the arrival of blacksmiths including Marun, the estate could now produce weapons.

There was a reason Marun still hadn’t made his personal armament.

He’d been busy making these new weapons.

Of course, they weren’t anything grand just because they were called new weapons.

‘Crossbows, after all.’

And one more thing.

These crossbows alone weren’t enough to display his power.

So he had prepared.

Grrr.

Awoooo.

Black beasts began appearing beside Cliff and from all directions.

Cliff said.

“First, you’ll train to shoot these crossbows and hit enemies. Those who pass will be given partners. Train to hit enemies while on your partner’s back. Along with that, practice charge training.”

Cavalry.

More precisely, mounted archers.

Of course, no matter how he thought about it, having them become real mounted archers was impossible.

‘Even with skill assistance, that wouldn’t work.’

That’s why crossbows.

While loading was difficult, aiming itself was much more stable with crossbows and could be learned quickly.

Fire one shot and either retreat or charge.

In fact, even if they couldn’t fight on top of wolves, just being able to mount wolves while armed would be half the success.

‘Isn’t war deterrence originally about showing off anyway?’

Just having cavalry would make rival estates think twice before attacking recklessly.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————