Lind, who had just obtained the lordship, did not rush to deal with the pile of paperwork but instead called over Lauri, the veteran who had followed him along the way.
Since Lauri was a second-tier professional, the knights treated him relatively well. After arriving in the territory, he began slacking off, joking around with Lena’s knight, and even managed to become something of a celebrity among the knights.
When Lind called for Lauri to come over, Lauri was somewhat reluctant, saying he wanted to mingle with the knights.
However, he eventually came over.
“Is it really so interesting to hang around those noble knights?”
Lind’s face was full of helplessness. Since they hadn’t been here long, Lind could still get people to come over, but if he waited another couple of days, the knights would likely treat Lauri as one of their own.
“At least I won’t get whipped.”
Lauri casually found a stool and sat down lazily. The two had become familiar with each other during their escape, considering themselves old friends, and had no airs.
So Lind didn’t engage in small talk but stated directly, “First, let everyone in the territory stop their work and let your border troops take over management. We need to register everyone’s names, ages, and professions.”
“If conditions allow, we also need to create household records.”
Lind had already done simple registration with Lauri while escaping with the subjects, but Lauri grumbled, “Hey, Lord, simple registration is fine, but creating household records is something those veterans aren’t good at. Household registration isn’t just casually writing down names like before, and most of those border troops can’t read, only a few can write.”
Lind glanced at Lila beside him and replied, “This maid will lead the other maids to assist you. It doesn’t need to be as detailed as the other nobles do; we just need to figure out how many households we have in the territory.”
Since Lena didn’t need that many maids, Lind decided to bring the entire maid team to be managed by Lila. Most of these noble maids could read a bit, and as natural service personnel, serving others was just a part of their duty. Rather than leave them idle, it was better to have them serve the people.
Then, as if he had already planned it, Lind continued directing, “Also, inform everyone except the knights of Lady Lars to gather by the riverside tomorrow morning; I have something to announce.”
After saying that, Lind prepared to leave.
“What are you going to do?”
Lauri asked curiously, watching Lind get ready to leave the lord’s tent.
“I want to check what resources the Duke Lars sent for his precious granddaughter.”
Lind casually picked up a list filled with resources from the office desk and muttered, “And I need to figure out how to set up the tents.”
After arranging matters, Lind sighed as he looked at the list in hand.
“The wealthy live extravagantly.”
Since Lena had already taken the knights to run away, the transfer of power went very smoothly; after all, Lind was the nominal lord, and no one would refuse a day’s rest.
However, the registration was somewhat troublesome. Apart from Lena’s knights, most people in the territory were commoners, and there weren’t many literate individuals since household records also needed to be created; those accompanying Lind also needed to be re-registered.
Fortunately, the maids were quite responsible. After all, for these maids who had sold themselves to noble families, being busy wasn’t scary; having no work to do was the most frightening.
Registering the common refugees wasn’t something these maids found hard to accept, as it was at least a proper job. In the maid circle, any piece of gossip was more twisted than this, and it was not uncommon for nobles to throw their maids to the refugees after tiring of them.
Along the way, several serfs had no names, so Lauri had to scratch the back of his head and come up with some funny names. After those serfs were given these names, they thanked Lauri by kissing his boots, and Lauri, under Lila’s disdainful gaze, accepted the kisses from the serfs with a clear conscience.
Lind was even busier than the two, thanks to Lena’s chaotic management; the numerous supplies had already become a mess, and he had to personally check which ships carried what supplies.
Moreover, setting up tents was even more tiring than Lind had imagined, with standards differing somewhat depending on the terrain.
With the guidance and help of supervisors, he finally managed to set up a large tent by himself.
After finishing this task, it was already close to evening, and Lena finally returned with her knights, holding two wild chickens.
“How’s the work going, my lord?”
As she entered the big tent, Lena took off her helmet, and the glistening sweat mixed with her beautiful golden hair. Although she was sweating profusely, Lena’s mood was clearly very excited; it had been a long time since she had galloped freely with her knights like this. Upon returning, she even had the energy to tease Lind.
“Terrible.”
Lind, who was still writing something by the oil lamp, put down his quill and said solemnly to Lena, “What you did previously was a complete mess. Everyone’s daily meals vary, and the work differs too. The people who set up tents today you sent to unload goods the next day, and then the following afternoon, they were sent to build fences. And your standards for clearing land and setting up tents are inconsistent; even the goods to be unloaded each day are different.”
“There were even three supervisors and two knights managing a single serf at once; you might as well have done nothing.”
Probably genuinely angered by Lena’s previous chaotic management, Lind had changed from his earlier submissive demeanor and started to be more assertive.
Facing Lind’s criticism, Lena turned her face away, awkwardly whistling.
In truth, Lena also knew that her management of the territory over the past few days had been chaotic; several families hadn’t been settled yet, and she often forgot the orders given in the morning by the afternoon and then changed them immediately after being reminded by the knights the next day.
Turning her face away was Lena’s last act of stubbornness.
Watching Lena turn away, Lind calmed down; after all, the person before him was his thigh to cling onto and his financial backer. Moreover, scolding her wouldn’t make the territory any better.
However, what mattered most was that Lind noted Lena was indeed listening to his complaints and even turning her head away, indicating that she still had some sense of shame and knew that she wasn’t doing very well.
Lena, just like in the game, was clear yet somewhat foolish; as long as it didn’t involve her former fiancé—the Fourth Prince Klan Augustine—this noblewoman seemed to understand the nuances of urgency in matters.
However, Lind hadn’t anticipated that Lena, the eldest daughter of the Lars family, would be utterly incapable of managing the territory.
“Lady Lars, since the duke’s treaty states we are to jointly manage the territory, I need to discuss something with you. Regarding the resources at the dock, I need to requisition a portion first. Is that alright?”
Then, Lind handed Lena the list of resources he had prepared. Lena merely glanced at it symbolically and, feeling uncertain, said, “No problem, my lord; you can use whatever resources you want.”
After returning the list to Lind, Lena also waved the wild chickens in her hand and said, “My lord, don’t be angry; eat my chicken.”
