Chapter 1689 - 234 - The Duchy of Lerbia (5)

"I think it's a reasonable price, honestly, and I also believe this arrangement could help the duchy quite a lot once everything is properly settled," I told him.

"Well, it is not really a duchy anymore," he replied, correcting me with a faintly tired expression. "In fact, I intend to ask the kingdom to officially recognize this land as a territory of the Milham Kingdom. I believe that would be the better choice for everyone here, especially since the King does not seem like the kind of person who would treat us the same way the former duke did."

"Well, do you think the people living on this land are actually going to agree to something like that?" I asked him, because changing the political status of their home was not exactly the kind of decision that could be made casually.

"I asked them beforehand, before I went to the kingdom, and they told me that whatever decision I made, they would accept it," he explained. "They also said that if they eventually found the arrangement unbearable, similar to what we experienced under the duchy, then we would simply have to find another way again. I understand that we probably would not be able to achieve freedom if things eventually came down to that. The kingdom has a much larger military force than the duchy ever had, and since there are hardly any military personnel stationed here anymore, I do not think we would have much of a chance if we openly rebelled. There are simply too many things we could lose if matters reached that point. Even so, we will not just sit around doing nothing and wait for someone else to decide our future. If we had to make a deal with the devil himself to protect our people, then we would do it."

Well, I certainly liked his determination, as always, although I thought that saying he would be willing to make a deal with the devil was taking things a little too far, even by his standards. Still, I could not exactly say that I was surprised by his attitude, because he had always possessed an unusually strong sense of responsibility toward the people under his care. He was probably the sort of person who would probably take on an unreasonable amount of trouble if he believed doing so would keep everyone else from suffering, which was admirable in its own way, even if it occasionally made me wonder whether he had ever heard of something called self-preservation.

"If you would allow me, would you mind if I put someone in charge here?" I asked him. "I am not talking about appointing another ruler or anything like that. I would rather have someone stay here who can oversee things, keep an eye on the situation, and report to me from time to time so I can understand how everything is progressing."

"You are planning to put someone in charge here?" he asked, looking slightly surprised by the suggestion.

"Well, I suppose that is part of my plan," I replied. "I understand that you may not particularly want someone coming here and taking responsibilities away from you, but I think having another person around could give you some footing while also allowing you to develop your own leadership. The person I am planning to assign here also has a good understanding of farming, since she already has quite a lot of experience with that kind of work."

"I see..." he said, apparently giving the idea some serious consideration. "Well, I suppose that if that is the case, we would be willing to welcome her, but..."

"It's not going to be that easy, huh?" I said, already understanding where he was going with his hesitation.

"You have to understand, Mr. Faust, that it is not going to be easy for the people of Lerbia to trust someone right away, especially someone who is supposed to have some kind of authority over them," he explained. "The previous leader took advantage of the wealth of this land for his own benefit, and then he went so far as to forbid us from enjoying the benefits produced by the very land we lived on. People here are naturally going to be suspicious of anyone who comes along claiming that they intend to help us."

"I understand that it is not going to be easy," I said, nodding as I listened to him. "However, I think we should at least give it a chance before deciding that it will fail. Let us try it out first and see how everyone reacts. Is that acceptable to you?"

He looked at me for a moment without saying anything, almost as though he were carefully judging whether my words were sincere. I could understand his hesitation, considering what the people here had already experienced, because rebuilding trust after someone had abused their authority was never going to happen simply because a new person showed up and promised that things would be different.

"I will introduce you to her first," I told him. "After that, you can introduce her to the people of Lerbia yourself and let them speak with her properly. They can decide what they think about her after actually meeting her. Then we can see whether she is suited for the position. If she is not, then we can simply reconsider the arrangement and find another solution. If you believe she is suitable, and the people here eventually come to the same conclusion, then I think it would be worthwhile to have her stay and help with the territory. What do you think?"

"Well, if I can make sure of that for myself first, then sure," he said after another moment of consideration.

He still did not seem particularly enthusiastic about the idea, but I could hardly blame him for being cautious. This territory was valuable enough that it needed proper management, and although changing its status and placing it under the protection of the Milham Kingdom was already a major improvement, I did not believe that would be enough by itself.

The people here still needed someone capable of providing leadership and keeping things organized, because leaving an entire territory without someone properly coordinating its affairs would eventually cause problems. The former duke might have been absolute scum, but I could not deny that he had been capable of managing the territory's trade and other affairs efficiently. His biggest problem was that he had managed everything for his own benefit, which meant that his competence had only made his exploitation of the people even more frustrating.