Jewel's Inner Sanctum.
Exhausted, I went crying to the Fourth Generation.
"I can't do this anymore. Could you lend me some wisdom?"
Two weeks since we began pioneering had almost passed, and the results were dismal.
Failure after failure. Even when things seemed to go well, they failed, and we had to start over from scratch. This cycle had repeated for these past two weeks.
In the Round Table Room, the Successive Heads and Mireia were looking at me with exasperated expressions.
The Fourth Generation stood up and beckoned to me.
Then, the Fourth Generation headed toward their room of memories. I looked around, but the other Successive Heads just indicated for me to go.
Mireia was smiling brightly and waving at me.
"...If only I could get some advice."
Muttering, I headed to the room of memories, and upon passing through, the surroundings were different from usual.
The Fourth Generation's room of memories typically depicted an endless straight road. However, today, there were wagons of supplies, manpower, and a young version of the Fourth Generation directing them.
The young Fourth Generation—Marks—was issuing orders to those around him.
However, the atmosphere was not very good.
'What is the meaning of this! Where did you use most of the supplies I prepared?'
He was addressing the residents of the newly incorporated territory. A prominent local figure was speaking on their behalf.
'Actually, the village needed the supplies. There was no great urgency here, so we borrowed them. If they become necessary, we will certainly provide them.'
At age ten.
Young and newly appointed as a baron, Marks was being looked down upon by the local figure. Normally, even if the other person was younger, once you became a lord, they would not take such a condescending attitude.
The Fourth Generation, who had somehow ended up standing beside me, gazed at his former self and let out a sigh.
"Good grief — looking back now, what was I even thinking?"
"How did it come to this? No matter how you look at it, this kind of attitude isn't something you direct at your lord. Using the supplies without permission…"
They wouldn't have been able to complain even if they'd been killed. Or rather, it would have been perfectly reasonable for severe punishment to be handed down at the village level. And yet, in front of Marks, who was seething with frustration, they wore smiles.
"This place isn't going to work out anyway. If it's going to go to waste regardless, we might as well put it to good use."
"House Walt is a family that rose from nothing, after all. I can understand the impatience, but still."
"Well then, we're rather busy, so we'll be taking our manpower back now."
The villagers standing behind Marks glared at those who had acted on their own. But there was a difference in numbers.
"…There's already a divide between the original House Walt villagers and the new ones, isn't there?"
It was wretched land.
Rivers flowed nearby, but the levees had crumbled and no one had bothered to repair them, so water was flooding in.
Marks watched the retreating villagers with a bitter expression. Then, a knight of House Walt placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his hip.
Marks stopped him with a raised hand.
"Sir Marks! You're going to let their attitude slide? Those materials were prepared by House Walt! They brazenly admitted to stealing them!"
Similar voices of protest rose from those around him.
The Fourth Generation watched the scene with a wry smile.
"Truly hopeless. Back then, I thought everywhere was the same as my own territory. I was the Fourth Generation, continuing the line from the First — House Walt had been run well. We were a baronet-level family: small, but with a town and reasonably prosperous. But when the territory suddenly expanded, everything I knew about governance stopped working entirely."
Marks was too young to unite not just the local notables but also the minor lords in the surrounding area. And for better or worse, House Walt's original villagers already recognized House Walt as their lord.
"It was rough. It had always worked before, but once we dealt with territories where House Walt had no credibility, they'd casually look down on us. Figuring out how to handle that gave me headaches, and the sudden increase in paperwork — man, it was really something. In truth, if they'd been House Walt's villagers, they never would have casually laughed about stealing materials. I was genuinely baffled. Are these people serious?"
I couldn't tell what the Fourth Generation was trying to show me. I understood that there had been difficult times, but did that have anything to do with what was happening now?
"Um, does my land reclamation have anything to do with this memory?"
Then, the Fourth Generation smiled.
'Lyle, what was I called in Lyle's time?'
"In House Walt, you were the one who held the position of head for the longest time, and they called you a master of internal affairs, among other things..."
In reality, the Fourth Generation had built the foundation of House Walt when it became a barony. Unlike a viscounty's town and its surrounding villages and settlements, it was the Fourth Generation who had approached territory development from the perspective of a much larger domain.
The Fourth Generation looked a bit embarrassed.
'Yes, it's quite shameful to admit. But despite being talked about like that, this is what it actually looked like—piling up failure after failure. I'd take on work beyond my capabilities, fail, and lose people's trust.'
With that, the scene shifted.
In a room within the Walt family estate, Marks sat at a desk processing documents. Peeking over his shoulder, it turned out to be a rather awkward report from a local notable.
"...A report came in that sounds like a squabble between children," I said.
The Fourth Generation laughed.
'There really are a lot of things like that. As the lord, you have to judge them, and since you can get money out of it, you can't neglect it. But there were so many. At this time, the territory had suddenly expanded, and we were short on retainers, so all we did was work.'
Just then, a middle-aged man with a straight back entered the room. He appeared to be the head of House Foxes at the time.
'Lord Marks, you must not overwork yourself. Your mother was also worried.'
Marks looked up, recognized the man as the head of House Foxes, and nodded.
'I understand... no, I do understand.'
He corrected his speech, adopting a superior-subordinate tone. The Fourth Generation explained.
'Until then, we were neighbors, but since we were a barony, the surrounding areas were treated as subsidiary domains. There had been a redistribution of land at the time, and in this area, we were the only lord with any significant scale. So the land under our management increased, and we had to look after the surrounding areas as well. It was tough.'
The Fourth Generation was smiling, but it looked like a situation far from laughable. Seeing the Fourth Generation—the one who had built the foundation of House Walt as a barony—from this situation seemed almost miraculous.
The Fourth Generation looked slightly lonely as he gazed at the head of House Foxes.
'...The uncle next door who used to be so reliable suddenly became my subordinate, so I didn't know how to interact with him properly. On top of that, he helped me out tremendously. That's why whenever I hear the name House Foxes, I can't help but think about repaying the favor.'
The scene changed.
It was a small village. However, it had been extremely ravaged. The fields were in shambles. Buildings had collapsed, and some had been burned.
Marks had gathered manpower and put them to work on reconstruction.
When the work was finished, as Marks was about to leave, the villagers appeared to be deeply grateful.
The Fourth Generation spoke.
'Starting with small things, building up little by little. I couldn't get any outside help, so I don't know why I thought the big things would succeed... I helped a village that had been attacked by Monsters. It was a small job by my standards. But next time, the villagers themselves took the initiative to help out. And maybe they started to think of me as a reasonably decent lord? They became more and more cooperative. That was when it happened. That was when I learned the importance of accumulating small successes.'
I recalled what the Fourth Generation had been trying to show me and what he had been saying from the start.
The Fourth Generation turned to me and said.
'Lyle, you have both knowledge and skill. Everyone is trying to cooperate with you. Given that things keep failing, whose fault do you think it is?'
I looked down.
"Mine."
'Most of it is Lyle's fault. Before, I taught you to delegate where you should delegate, but this time, I want to teach you to properly manage what needs to be managed. That balance is extremely difficult, though.'
The Fourth Generation changed the surrounding scenery. Then, it displayed the work we had been doing over the past two weeks.
While I was thinking that such a thing was even possible in a memory room, I saw myself and felt ashamed.
Clara pressed in on me.
'Lord Lyle, this amount of materials is needed here. I understand that money is important too, but the foundation is crucial.'
And then Adele came rushing toward me.
'Where do you think we have that kind of money! We have future plans ahead, and with nothing but failed projects, the budget is running dry. If we don't cut costs where we can, we won't even be able to do the work in the first place!'
I listened to both of their opinions but couldn't make a decision, so I half-heartedly incorporated both.
Watching myself flounder like this from a third-person perspective, I couldn't help but feel utterly inadequate.
The Fourth Generation looked at me and smiled.
"Clara-chan tends to be a bit too fixated on knowledge, but in this case, you really should have gone with her opinion. As for Adele-chan... she's strong with paperwork and financial calculations, but she tends to underestimate the practical side. Managing money is important, but her lack of practical experience is what's dragging things down. So, what I'm trying to say is... Rael, you failed right from the selection stage."
Not being criticized for the work itself, but for a mistake in choosing the team, left me dumbfounded with my mouth agape. Being told it was a selection error, not a flaw in the execution, was so unexpected I couldn't react.
The Fourth Generation was complaining about my team selection.
"You really should have brought Eva-chan along. There's a forest nearby too, and having her focus on that aspect would have been better. Or maybe Novem-chan or Miranda-chan? If you had even one of them, they could have managed this group just fine."
"...I'll change it starting tomorrow."
"Making a change at this point would make Adele-chan overthink everything. She'd definitely worry about why you chose Clara-chan over her. And speaking of Clara... she gets along surprisingly well with others, but when it comes to her personal interests, she won't budge at all. Other than that, she's fine."
It seemed I would have to proceed with this failed selection after all. As my shoulders slumped, the Fourth Generation offered me a secret piece of advice.
"Now then, let me give Rael some advice. Not about the work, of course. Failure is important experience too. So, here it is. This is a very important point..."
The Fourth Generation's advice was—
"Clara, could you prepare a written list of the necessary materials for me later? And Adele, please handle securing those supplies. We won't get anywhere if this doesn't succeed, so we can discuss the budget details later. Maxim... stay focused on your task. Aria, you and Leold-kun—no, Leold-sama, will handle Monster extermination in the forest. When you do, don't rush ahead; make sure to provide proper support."
First thing in the morning, I gathered everyone to confirm today's tasks.
Looking at them, each seemed eager to say something, but once I clearly stated the plan, no one spoke up.
Even Adele didn't object, since she couldn't afford another failure. It was obvious that a complete lack of success would be the worst outcome.
However, Aria spoke.
"Hey, Rael... wouldn't it be better if Maxim and I took the lead while the others played support? That way, the work would definitely get done faster."
I gave her a smile.
"Who said anything about annihilating the Monsters in the forest? Just deal with them enough so they don't interfere with the work. How is letting you provide support supposed to help Leold-sama gain experience?"
Support. By support, Aria meant carrying luggage or stripping materials from the Monsters.
But would the heir to the royal family really need such a skill?
Come to think of it, it was the sort of thing one should have experience with, but having him do nothing but that would be a problem.
(A country full of muscle-brained thinking — saying he quelled the Monsters while also succeeding at domestic affairs would absolutely earn more praise)
From the very start, this development project was meant to build up Leold's track record. I'd assumed that as long as the domestic affairs succeeded, everything would be fine, but I hadn't even considered taking the local conditions into account.
(Start with one place. Succeed here, and then next time, have him take the reins on the domestic side too)
Aria looked a bit awkward, so I decided to follow up with her later.
I scanned the surroundings and, confirming that no one had any questions, spoke.
"Right, today we're clearing away the broken materials and debris. They'll get in the way of the next job, so we remove everything at once."
The Fourth Generation's advice. It was something very simple.
Until now, I'd only been giving my companions broad, big-picture objectives. But in a situation where people with poor compatibility were each acting on their own ideas and getting in each other's way, that approach had been a serious problem.
I should have been giving much more specific instructions.
And even when I did spell out the big goals, I never considered how each individual person was interpreting them.
Take Aria — when I told her to stop the Monsters from interfering with the work, she jumped straight to annihilating them. It was terrifying. What made it terrifying was that Aria was actually capable of pulling it off.
I raised my voice a little.
"Listen. First, we make this place a success. Because if we don't, there's no 'next time' for us."
Start with one place.
If we succeeded here, it wouldn't be a total failure at minimum. And if things went well, we might be able to leverage that success to gain even more cooperation from the surrounding area.
— The Fourth Generation's advice.
It was the "morning address to everyone" — in other words, a "morning assembly."
Until now, we'd had Novem, Miranda, and Monica around, so we'd been able to align everyone's intentions in advance.
It had worked fine up until now because the numbers were small. And even with the increase in headcount, the Valkyries had a direct line to me. Since they carry out my orders, these morning assemblies had been nothing more than a formality up until now. No — I hadn't even placed any importance on them in the first place.
(The basics really are that important.)
It was a day where I reconfirmed that.