The Struggle of a Weak Aristocrat in a Different World Our Domain is Surrounded by Large Aristocrats

C84: At the village

“I see. I’ll put that into practice next time!”

The middle-aged man looked at me as the seeds floated and sank in the water and gave me a good answer.

“When the time comes, I’ll send one of our internal affairs officers with some salt, so don’t forget to apply.”

“Okay. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, yes, village chief, the former chief. How’s he doing?”

“My father seems to be doing well with his cotton cultivation and he was looking good the other day. It’s a mixed feeling to see him succeeding in cotton cultivation, which I pushed aside.”

The son of the former village chief chuckled and muttered to himself.

Children were playing happily, running and laughing loudly in between the wooden houses.

“It’s good to see the kids are doing well.”

“Thanks to the potatoes, we’re able to feed them and make some money.”

I looked at the village where the children were playing again, following the example of the village chief who looked at the children with love. Then I felt something strange about the village.

Even though the children’s voices echoed in the air, the village seemed to be somewhat deserted and not full of life.

I asked the village chief to confirm my suspicions.

“Can I ask you something, Chief?”

“Yes. How can I help you?”

“Where are the adults?”

“They’re training now.”

The village chief replied as he exhaled.

“Training?”

“Yes, sir. Some time ago, some bandits appeared nearby.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes, the bandits have been defeated, so they’re not here now, but the Viscount family seems to be busy lately, so we’re training in case of emergencies.”

In the past, when bandits appeared, we would happily head out to take them down, but in today’s busy environment, I guess I haven’t been able to keep up with my work as a police officer.

Besides, there are rumors about the development of our territory and the number of bandits may increase in the future. If that happens, we won’t have any choice but to split our forces, so it’s a good decision.

“I’m sorry about that……”

I apologized for not being able to guarantee the safety of my people.

“Please don’t apologize!”

The village chief hurriedly stopped me from bowing my head, then pointed to the children and continued.

“Thanks to you, Chris-sama, the children are doing so well! I’ve never been so happy!”

The chief smiled cheerfully.

That’s right. I’ll have to work hard to protect that smile. That’s why the adults in the village must be training so hard.

“I’ve got a few minutes, and I’d like to take a look at the training, so show me around.”

In order to help, I asked the village chief to take me to the place where they were training.

In a wide open area near the forest, the villagers were pulling the strings of their crude bows and shooting arrows. Everyone in the village had sweat on their foreheads as they trained earnestly. However, the arrows were flying in a direction far off the target, with no sign of hitting.

It seems that they are not too familiar with the bow. To be honest, I was afraid that if they revolted, I would be in over my head, but this seems to be okay.

If this continues, they won’t be able to protect the village if the bandits come. I can’t afford to lose my precious farmers.

They need to be trained properly!

“Chief. What would happen if I gave you some money to pay for rigorous training?”

“That’s what I’d like to see. But what kind of rigorous training?”

“Oh. You will continue to train as before, and every few days I will send some soldiers with weapons, and you will receive instruction from them.”

“If you can give me a stipend for that, it will increase the power of the village, and I would very much appreciate it.”

I was glad to hear a positive reply from the village chief.

As for the manpower to be sent, should I send the new graduates of the private school to the village for training and agricultural instruction?

The graduates of the private school will be the future of the family. It’s not a bad idea to give them some hands-on experience. Besides, although I will train them, I won’t give them my family’s high-quality weapons, so I won’t be afraid if they rebel. If I send more soldiers, I won’t have to worry about them taking my weapons.

“Thank you for your kind words, but we can’t pay for the village’s equipment or protection, so please understand that.”

“Don’t worry about it. But isn’t it enough to just practice now? Everyone is getting more skilled day by day.”

I see. Is it normal to wonder why I would want to pay to train them? To be honest, I just want an excuse to pay the farmers, but I’ll try to convince them.

“For now, I’ll just show you how good you’ll be if you start training from birth.”

With that, I walked away from the village chief, borrowed a bow from a villager who was surprised by my sudden arrival, and moved about fifty meters away from the target.

That’s a really shoddy bow. With the strength of this string, I wonder if this distance is the limit. I looked at the bow and thought about that as I held the arrow, squeezed the string, and released the arrow with ease.

A cheer went up from the villagers far away. It seemed to have hit the target. Then, as I walked back to the villagers, I fired another shot at the target, and it instantly split the arrow that had been stuck in it, and the sound of splintering wood roared like a thunderclap as it pierced the target.

Then, the cheers that I had heard earlier went silent as if they were not there at all. It’s normal for them to be surprised, I didn’t think I could do this in the past either…….

I remembered the days when Yulis made me practice until all the arrows hit the target, and tears welled up in my eyes……

I reached the stunned villagers and the chief and opened my mouth.

“I don’t think you’ll get this far, but if you keep training, you’ll hit the target. Does this make you want to do the training?”

“Yes!”

Not only the village chief, but also the villagers shouted. It sounded a little strained, but let’s just say it went well.

“When Yulis gave me the go-ahead, we’ll work out the details and send someone back to you, so you can decide by then.”

“Yes, sir. Please tell Yulis that I look forward to working with her.”

“Yeah.”

He seemed to think that Yulis was more important than me, but I agreed with him and went home.