"Well then, that's how we ended up here. This is land that's still completely untouched. There's a river right nearby, yet it hasn't been put to any use at all."
I looked around at the assembled crowd, applauding away, while I was the only one standing there like an idiot with my enthusiasm cranked through the roof.
The lineup consisted of Leold, along with Clara and the men she had rounded up from nearby villages.
From our side, Clara wasn't the only one present—Aria was there too, along with Maxim and Adele.
On top of that, the Valkyries were applauding me with perfectly blank expressions. What was with that... The mass-produced ones were starting to look cuter by comparison.
A river flowed through the area, but the ground was overgrown with grass that reached up to waist height. Forests surrounded us on all sides, and through my Skills—Map and Search—I could tell they were teeming with Monsters.
We had brought out large Porters and gathered what we figured would be necessary materials. In the midst of all this preparation, Leold raised his hand.
"Rael."
"Alright, first things first—let's drop the honorifics. Just call me Rael. And make sure you don't add any '-san' either."
I conveyed this important instruction to Leold. He tilted his head slightly, but nodded and then put a question to me.
"Um, even if you suddenly summon us here and tell us to develop this land, the royal family is barely scraping by financially, you know?"
Leold, who knew his own family's situation all too well, laid bare the royal family's financial circumstances without any pretense whatsoever.
(Well, I'd already looked into it, so I had a handle on things down to the last copper coin. The royal family definitely didn't have money. But leaving things as they were would be a problem.)
Right. For the royal family to be able to put together a budget the way things stood, autumn would have to pass first. And even then, most of it would be devoured by war expenses and consolation payments.
I said with a smile:
"Don't worry about it. There's money in this world—it's out there, just waiting to be found. I went and borrowed some again this time. Ah, it's only an advance. I'll pay it back properly someday."
This time too, I had asked Vera to borrow money. I couldn't quite forget Fidel's disdainful glare, but Vera had said something like "Oh, I suppose I can't help it" and lent it to me.
Not that it's my place to say, but Vera was definitely the type of woman who'd end up spoiling her man.
Leold looked at me, then turned his gaze to Clara.
"He's really something, isn't he? I've only ever heard rumors, though."
Clara adjusted her glasses.
"Well… if you look only at his track record so far, he's perfect. It gets a little disappointing once you know the full story, but that's part of Lyle's charm too."
Leold turned an admiring gaze toward me. The way he looked at me, you'd think he was gazing at some hero out of a fairy tale.
(What is this… it hurts. It hurts like hell because I'm trying to use Galleria for my own sake.)
From inside the Jewel, the Third Generation and the others spoke up as well.
"Ghk— those innocent eyes are painful!"
"D-Don't look at me with those eyes!"
"…Once upon a time, everyone had beautiful eyes like that."
"This aching in my heart… I never imagined a pure gaze could hurt this much."
"No good—even I can't bring myself to play tricks on this one."
I cleared my throat and decided to get started on the explanation.
"So then, this time Leold will be taking on the role of person in charge of developing this land. There are a lot of Monsters around here, and when it rains, even the small rivers overflow and flood everything. It's going to be incredibly tough to develop."
The men who had gathered nodded in agreement. They were the second and third sons from the surrounding area—men known as "housebound," those without land or inheritance of their own.
"But why develop that kind of land?"
"We'd honestly be grateful if you just expanded the farmland normally."
"An old woman in the village told me that people have tried to develop this place several times before and failed every time."
To the men who weren't exactly enthusiastic, I made my declaration.
"That's precisely why! If we develop this land, the credit will go to Leold—the next Duke. We build up results from the small things, bit by bit! We prove ourselves here, and then we move on to bigger river flood-control projects, how about it!"
But Leold looked around at the people gathered.
"Um, this is a pretty small group for land development, isn't it?"
I'd been thinking the same thing. I'd assumed there'd be more hands to spare, but for a country that had been fighting battle after battle, manpower was precious.
It was a busy season too, and the only ones who'd shown up were about a dozen men—the village misfits, the ones who couldn't inherit their family homes.
"Well, let's call it quality over quantity. We'll use magic to clear the land in a flash, show off the results, and report back to Big Sis!"
Leold frowned in thought for a moment, then nodded. And from the Jewel, I caught the Fourth Generation's faintly knowing laugh.
"...My, my, Laiel, you're in awfully high spirits. Perhaps it's time for a little practical lesson."
Three days after we'd thrown ourselves into the development work, it happened.
"Gyaaa! The levee broke!!"
A crack had formed in the levee we'd built with magic, and water started seeping through. The wall crumbled, and all the water that had been held back came roaring out.
Because we'd been damming it up, the pressure had built—and I, standing nearby, got completely drenched.
Adele, who'd been issuing orders nearby, was soaked too. Clara had been knocked off her feet by the force of it and was floating down the river.
She was bobbing along and drifting downstream, so I went to retrieve her—and that's when Maxim came sprinting over.
"Milady! Here, quickly dry yourself off!"
I handed Adele a towel and shielded her from the gazes of the surrounding men. Then I fished Clara out of the river, but nobody had thought to bring a towel for me.
Come to think of it, Adele was shivering as she stared at me.
"I told you so, didn't I! I said we should build it sturdier! Or at the very least, build something that redirects the river's flow entirely!"
Adele, her soaked clothes clinging to her body, was letting me have it. But Clara, having coughed up all that water, wasn't about to stay quiet either.
Wiping her waterlogged glasses...
"You're the one who started going on about the budget and didn't want to use building materials. I told you we should reinforce it more, just like the books describe."
Clara had been dispatched from the Galleria royal family, and this time she was serving as Leold's assistant. I planned to put all that accumulated knowledge of hers to good use in the flood-control project.
That had been the plan… but I ended up clashing with Adele no matter what.
"If we'd just applied the knowledge from the books directly, I explained that the budget wouldn't be enough! So wasn't that why I said we should try to reinforce it some other way? Besides, there had to be a more efficient method available!"
When their opinions collided head-on, Maxim and I took to calming each of them down using gestures and signals.
Maxim approached Adele.
"My lady, what's broken can't be helped. We need to improve our approach and move forward with the work."
"Ugh, more wasted expenses…"
As for me, I went to soothe Clara.
"Clara, isn't there any other way? Maybe some different knowledge or approach?"
"I chose what I believed was the best option. And besides, if we'd used proper building materials from the start, we wouldn't have ended up with these extra expenses."
Both Adele and Clara kept muttering complaints about each other. Since both were raising valid points, I had no idea what to say.
Still, I could hear laughter coming from inside the Jewel.
It was Mireia.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect, Leold. All your damage control, the whole mess where nothing's moving forward because of failure — it's so entertaining!"
This woman was seriously twisted. She had definitely been putting on an act in front of the Sixth Generation. The Sixth Generation had called her a gentle sister, but I was utterly convinced that had to be a lie.
(As expected of Miranda and Shannon's ancestor.)
They may have ended up with two problematic personalities for ancestors, but that was no different from the other Successive Heads.
The Third Generation seemed to be enjoying it too.
"I totally knew that thing was going to break."
The Seventh Generation agreed with a laugh.
"So did I. Leold, this is exactly the kind of preparation you need to handle with care."
If they knew, they should have just told me, but the Successive Heads just stood there watching.
As we stood there, Leold came running from the direction of the forest.
"S-someone! Aria is—!!"
When I looked toward the source of the commotion, Aria emerged from the forest, gripping the massive head of a bear and hauling it out.
She was drenched in blood, though it must have been from the Monsters. A Brown Bear — even among Monsters, they're tough, ill-tempered, and a real nuisance.
It seemed Aria had taken it down with a spear and dragged it out of the forest.
"You're so noisy. Don't make a fuss over a little blood splatter."
It turned out Leold had actually been raised rather sheltered — apparently this was his first time doing anything like this outdoors.
(Gracia, were you that much of a bro-con?)
Aria tossed the Brown Bear to the ground, and one of the Valkyries handed her a damp towel.
Taking it, Aria wiped her face with the towel, then cleaned her neck and hands.
"Besides, there are so many Monsters. Too many! Maxim disappeared without a word, and the other Valkyries are all busy with their work."
To clear the forest, most of the Valkyries had been cutting down trees, stripping branches, hauling logs, and pulling out stumps.
Aria looked at Leold, who had collapsed onto the ground, and let out a sigh.
"If you keep this up, you won't be able to move when we reach the battlefield."
Aria was speaking to Leold out of concern.
Seeing Aria like that, I—
"Aria, you were just as bad at first—"
Halfway through, I caught Aria's glare and shut my mouth.
One of the Valkyries brought towels to us as well. I handed one to Clara first, then looked around.
Because I'd blocked things off too aggressively, the surrounding ground was a muddy mess. I sighed, thinking I should have dealt with the grass first.
When I looked up, the sun blazed down on me, and sweat streamed down my cheeks.
(…This isn't ending easily at all. I thought magic would wrap it up quickly.)
I'd apparently been too naive.
Night.
The third day was drawing to a close, yet there was nothing to show for it.
The original plan had been to manage the waterways, build up the levees, and redirect the river's flow.
If things had gone well, I could have been well into laying the village's foundations by now.
But failure had piled on failure with no progress in sight, and the Successive Heads inside the Jewel wouldn't offer a single useful piece of advice—just deflected every time I asked.
There was probably some reason they wouldn't help, but I was getting worn down.
I pitched a tent next to Porter, sat on a chair made of a wooden crate inside it, and let out a sigh in the glow of a lantern.
Stacking wooden crates and laying a plank across them to make a desk, I leafed through Adele's report.
"The materials lost were the logs… damn. Time passes and money just evaporates."
Moving people required money. To be specific, food. And clearing the land required tools. And tools wore out. They broke.
With everything washed away by the water, even some of the tools were nowhere to be found.
"This isn't going well."
As I sighed, a voice called out from my tent. It was Leo.
"Um, are you awake?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah."
I invited Leo into the tent and gestured for him to sit on a wooden crate. Once seated, Leo hung his head.
"I'm sorry."
"Hm? About what?"
Taken aback by the sudden apology, Leold began to speak in halts.
"Up until now, I've been living in the mansion… I never realized how difficult flood control and land reclamation could be. I knew it in theory, but I never thought I'd be completely useless."
He'd probably thought he was capable of more — frustrated with himself for falling short. Earlier, he'd followed Aria into the forest and been vexed that he couldn't do much of anything.
"Lord Lyle… I hear you've found success as an adventurer. You're only two or three years older than me. I just… I feel so pathetic."
Surely, if he'd seen me failing earlier today, he wouldn't have that impression. I was glad he hadn't been around to witness it, but Leold kept going.
"Was I all talk? I believed that if I took up domestic affairs, it would benefit the Galleria royal house. I was frustrated that my sister does nothing but wage wars, and yet in the end I can't do anything either…"
Watching Leold so dejected, I decided to speak up.
"…I'm still fumbling my way through trial and error too, you know."
"You, Lord Lyle? I can't believe that."
What must I look like to this bewildered guy? I let out a wry laugh, prepared a drink, and handed it to Leold.
"I've made nothing but mistakes. I've caused trouble for people. And I'm still causing trouble for those around me, right now, in real time. To top it off, I'm only cooperating with Galleria because it's in my own interest."
Leold managed a wry smile.
"My sister told me. I never imagined you'd be exchanging letters with the witch of Rusworth. I understand — if anyone found out, her life would be in danger. But from my perspective, it's still a mystery. Why would you go this far for us?"
In a sense, I was a blackmailer who had threatened Gracia. But at the same time, I was also a benefactor who had prevented an adventurer she'd been corresponding with from being captured.
If word got out that the leaders of both nations had been secretly connected while their countries were at war, nobody on either side would be pleased about it.
By preventing that, I must have seemed like a rather enigmatic figure to Leold.
I scratched my cheek.
"Well, I've got a number of objectives. Getting Zayin and Rolfis to coordinate is one. You could say the Rusworth angle is another. If Galleria gets back on its feet, receives support from Zayin and Rolfis, and moreover builds a rapport with Baim, Rusworth will be cornered in no time."
Hearing that, Leold—
"…If that happens, my sister will have no reason to exist. If things go poorly, she could even be assassinated."
I smiled.
"Well, if it comes to that, I'll just take her in as an ally. Realistically, I want that fighting power."
Leold looked slightly surprised.
"…Is that so? Aria was strong too, you know. She was a different type from my sister, but still. My sister's fighting style inevitably causes a lot of collateral damage."
While Aria could fight both individually and against groups, Gracia's fighting style was apparently the ultimate specialization in group combat.
That was more than enough to make her a valuable asset. Going forward, that was exactly the kind of fighting power I wanted.
"I'm not exactly a good person, you know. I'm cooperating for a number of reasons. So you should use me to build up your own track record, Leold. If this succeeds… I'm sure everyone's perception of you will change."
Would it succeed? That thought flickered through my mind, but I quickly shifted my thinking. I had to make it succeed.
Hearing that, Leold smiled and nodded.
"Understood."