Arc-7 Ch-38

“If it were me, first I’d increase the tax revenue of this land.”

“Hmm, then for that, what means do you plan to use to procure the funds?”

“Of course, through commerce and trade with the royal capital and other territories. Selling goods that others don’t have but that only our place possesses at high prices is the basis of business, after all.”

“I understand Roxanne’s opinion, but the answer lacks specificity. I was asking ‘by what means.’ Unless you give an answer that takes that part into consideration, it’s impossible to convince me, so answer accordingly.”

“Uuuuh~”

Roxanne groaned as she pondered. Melanie, sitting next to her, was looking at a booklet that detailed this floating island.

From her constantly moving gaze, it was clear that Melanie wasn’t just vaguely reading the booklet.

The fact that she planned to gather as much information as possible in advance before answering my question could be inferred from her attitude of not reacting at all to her older sister Roxanne, who was the same age as her.

As their mother, I had no intention of complaining about my daughters’ attitudes.

After Leon and the other three had departed, what was now taking place in the Yumelia residence was modeled after one of the educational methods I often received during my time as a duke’s daughter.

The aim was for the teacher to give the ladies a specific topic, have them individually collect information, and make them think of their own solutions to improve their thinking skills.

To be honest, I disliked this educational method.

No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say I used to dislike it?

At that time, I was the Redgrave duke’s daughter and also the first prince’s fiancée, receiving intensive education to become the next queen.

Becoming the next queen of the Holfort Kingdom meant being obligated to be the most excellent woman in this country.

Therefore, what was demanded wasn’t ‘a better choice’ but ‘the best choice.’ After all, if the royal family governing the country made a wrong judgment, many citizens could be affected and lose their lives to famine or war.

Thinking that way, I always sought answers that would be recognized by everyone during my education as queen and in the discipline at the duke’s house.

However, the world doesn’t always have clear answers, and in situations that change by the second, it’s very common to realize later that the previous judgment was wrong.

Thinking ability and memory ability may seem similar, but they’re clearly different. If anyone could become a wise ruler or sage king simply by reading textbooks, no one would struggle with governance and turmoil would disappear from the world.

Now that I had become a parent, I understood that what the teachers were seeking was the attitude toward the given task and the correction of biases or errors in thinking that appeared in the process of deriving the answer.

As I, who didn’t particularly like lectures of this format, was now willingly applying it to my own children as a mother, a wry smile escaped me.

It might’ve been a naive belief, but I once thought there was a clear answer to every problem that occurred in this world, and that if everyone lived purely and righteously, they’d surely be rewarded.

If you took the titles of those you faced at face value and kept making the best moves like in a board game, you’d surely win someday, so everyone should behave as I wished.

However, that was nothing more than the supremely arrogant act of recognizing people as pieces.

As a result, I was abandoned by my fiancé and the peers of the same age around me, my engagement with the first prince was broken off, and here I was now.

Although the first prince who had unilaterally broken the engagement later achieved numerous accomplishments, he eventually descended to commoner status. Many of the noble sons and daughters who had abandoned me also fell into ruin because of their behavior during the war or after losing the protection of the duke’s house.

A little before the war with the former Fanoss Duchy broke out, the court of the Holfort Kingdom at that time had been a hotbed of long-standing political corruption and prejudice. If Olivia hadn’t become the saint, it would surely have been destroyed.

It’s only natural that those who have witnessed such a tragic situation become far more passionate about educating their own children.

“After all, the greatest resource on this floating island is none other than the elves. So wouldn’t it be good to give the elves high-paying jobs and collect taxes from them?”

“I think that would’ve been possible before the war. However, in the current Holfort Kingdom, there are regulations on the employment of demi-humans. Even nobles aren’t allowed to keep what were called exclusive servants as slaves.”

“What’s the difference between the exclusive servants that Mother mentioned and ordinary butlers or servants?”

“…Look it up yourself when we return to the mansion.”

“?”

The topic for this occasion was ‘How to develop the elf village?’

Simply waiting idly inside the house for Leon and the others to return safely from the ruins didn’t suit my nature, but going outside the house while in hiding was also problematic.

In such a situation, as I continued conversing with Roxanne and Melanie, before I knew it I was giving a lecture to my two daughters like this.

Incidentally, the youngest child Dylan was still young and couldn’t understand the content, so he was blankly staring outside near us.

Among the children remaining here, the oldest, Leah, said nothing and went outside.

It seemed he had managed to endure it in front of Leon when he was heading to the ruins, but the feeling of being left behind was probably strong.

My and Leon’s children had big differences in personality and appearance when seen from the outside. In addition, because we were new nobles with a shallow history, there were no traditional disciplines or educational methods passed down through generations in the nobility.

Generally, nobles provide their children with unique guidance suited to their own rank and the scale of their territory, in addition to basic noble education.

Sons from houses that produce military officers don’t receive education meant for political bureaucrats. The qualities required also differ between court nobles living in the royal capital and feudal lords managing territories, so correcting their children to suit the house becomes a natural outcome.

However, the education I received was the highest level in the kingdom, from the Holfort royal family and the Redgrave ducal house. No matter how one looks at it, it isn’t an educational method that should be applied to a new noble house in the frontier.

That said, the educational policy of the Bartfort family, which could be called the lowest rung among nobles, was far too low in standard for the sons and daughters of an earl to receive.

To begin with, the head of the family, Leon himself, hadn’t even received the minimum education expected of a noble.

After all, right up until just before Lionel and Ariel were born, his only thought had been, “I want them to grow up healthy and do whatever they want to do.”

As a commoner father, that might’ve been perfectly reasonable, but as a noble father it was an excessively immature educational stance. Seeing Leon like that made me think, “I have to take the lead myself,” so I forcibly pushed aside the depression of pregnancy and turned it into a sense of duty.

As a result, in the Bartfort family it was primarily I who took charge of educating our six children. Thanks to that, Leon ended up being treated as the kind and gentle father, while I was seen as the strict and frightening mother, which I found quite dissatisfying.

“But the restrictions on the jobs demi-humans can take only apply to places stipulated by law, right? I think the best way for a place like this village to earn money is through tourism.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, Melanie? Are you saying my idea is wrong?”

“Roxanne, who loves fancy things and expensive items, seems to like elves because so many of them are beautiful, but I don’t really care about appearances.”

“If it’s the quickest way to make money and we have enough people, we should do it without hesitation. We can start with light taxes and gradually increase them once profits begin to roll in, and there won’t be any problem.”

“That makes you sound like a money-grubbing noblewoman.”

“Of course I won’t just collect taxes and leave it at that. I’ll properly use part of the tax revenue to improve the floating island’s environment. Even our family can’t keep developing with just hot springs and farming, so Father and Mother are working hard in various ways, aren’t they?”

Among our six children, the one most gifted in political matters was our second daughter, Roxanne. Her attitude of subtly asking me about the finer points of management and trying to learn them in advance was something I found commendable even from my perspective as her mother.

The only issue worth deliberately pointing out would be that Roxanne came across as greedy regarding all sorts of things.

Roxanne loved extravagant items, and she understood the natural law of society that acquiring what one desired required paying a corresponding price.

To fulfill her personal desires, the territory had to prosper. Seeking knowledge and connections for that purpose was certainly one of the proper attitudes for a ruler.

However, if the desire for prosperity became too strong, there was always the risk that she might unconsciously turn into a tyrannical lord who imposed oppressive rule.

In fact, in the postwar Holfort Kingdom, many of the lords who were executed on the grounds of lacking governing ability had possessed no awareness whatsoever that they themselves had been practicing misrule.

To them, the people of their territory had been nothing more than winged insects whose purpose was to pay the taxes they required. Squeezing taxes out of them to satisfy their own desires had been instilled in them by their parents as something perfectly natural.

When I myself was young, I used to regard commoners in territorial management as nothing more than numbers written in reports.

What changed the distorted perceptions of the nobles in the Holfort Kingdom was the postwar period, and the existence of Olivia, who became the Saintess, played an extremely large role.

The contrast between nobles who merely panicked in the face of national crisis and a Saintess of commoner origin who saved the country clearly transformed society’s consciousness.

Many commoners began educating their children and sending them to the Royal Academy, and the country started actively appointing talented individuals regardless of social status.

Thanks to the momentum of postwar reconstruction, the social structure within the Holfort Kingdom continued to undergo transformation even now.

As a result, the only places where aristocratic values still remained deeply rooted were remote frontier regions far removed from the changes in the center, where everything tended to depend on the personal qualities of the lord himself.

Ironically, that description fit perfectly with the newly risen frontier noble family, the Bartfort earl house, which had strong ties to the Redgrave ducal house, the foremost among the feudal noble families.

In recent years, there had also been an increase in cases where people dissatisfied with their lord’s governance went directly to the royal capital to submit petitions.

Nobles were already prone to being seen by the public as people who indulged in luxury, so Roxanne’s personality in this regard couldn’t really be called a desirable tendency when thinking about the future.

“I can’t see elves as having that much value. More importantly, is having a good-looking face really that important?”

“Of course it is. People judge others they meet for the first time almost entirely by appearance. Having superior looks is a perfectly sufficient weapon, I think.”

“But that’s only when the other party is human, right? The opponents are elves. If you’re surrounded by handsome and beautiful elves, wouldn’t the value drop?”

“That’s…”

“Also, elves have very long lifespans. Even if they look about the same age as you, they might actually be older than Father or Mother. No, they might even be older than Grandfather or Grand mother.”

“…”

“Having someone whose appearance never changes from the time we’re born until we die… doesn’t that feel creepy? They’re like pictures or dolls, and I find it a little scary.”

When Melanie questioned Roxanne’s thinking, Roxanne was momentarily at a loss for words.

Even though they were twins, there was a clear difference between them. These twins differed far more in personality than in appearance.

Roxanne was rich in sociability and interested in management, while Melanie was knowledgeable and always hungry for more knowledge.

With personalities this different, one would normally expect them to get along poorly or at least stop interfering with each other, yet strangely they never fought and simply asserted their own opinions.

However, when personalities and areas of strength were clearly distinct, there were also groups that naturally divided roles and helped one another without conflict.

It was truly fascinating that such a phenomenon could occur even within the extremely small unit of a family, and among sisters who were especially close in age.

“Then, Melanie, how would you make this island prosper?”

“Yes, Mother. First, I’d investigate whether there are any resources that can only be obtained on this floating island.”

“For example?”

“Unique flora and fauna native to this floating island. It might also be good to investigate the ruins. If we can determine the effects of animal organs or medicinal herbs, and if we can effectively use the elves’ knowledge and magic to breed or cultivate them, I think turning them into specialty products to sell would be the best approach.”

“…Melanie, isn’t that just something you came up with because I already answered Mother first?”

“It’s your fault, Roxanne, for answering without thinking it through properly.”

…Perhaps they really didn’t get along that well after all. Still, if it only amounted to childish bickering at this level, it felt rather endearing.

The way Melanie demonstrated her thirst for knowledge was probably because, among our daughters, she resembled Leon the most in both appearance and personality.

After I became engaged to Leon and before we married, I helped with farm work quite often, but I was terribly bad with the small animals and insects that I had never even seen in the royal capital’s mansion.

While Leon was away from the territory, I grew enough to at least manage the household vegetable garden, but even well into my mid-twenties I continued to struggle terribly with handling small animals.

Among the three daughters I gave birth to, Ariel could catch insects, snakes, and mice without batting an eye. She even used them to chase other children around.

In contrast, Roxanne would scream and run away the moment she saw such small animals. Her preference for extravagant things might be a reaction to that part of herself.

Then what about Melanie?

Unlike Ariel, who ran away from studying and helping out, or Roxanne, who hated getting dirty, Melanie quietly helped with Leon’s farm work.

She could touch plants and insects without hesitation, and whenever she had a question she would throw it at Leon with her sharp intellect. To satisfy Melanie’s thirst for knowledge, Leon and I constantly bought her books.

I could surmise that this answer of hers also stemmed from the knowledge she had accumulated that way. As a mother, even if she seemed a bit quiet, it was only natural for me to feel affection toward such a diligent daughter.

“Since elves live so long and possess a great deal of knowledge, I think they know many things we don’t. If we make good use of that, they could live properly without having to adopt the same way of life as us.”

“I see. Since you say that much, it seems you have a specific plan in mind.”

“In the booklet explaining this floating island, there are creatures listed that don’t inhabit any other floating islands. I believe there is a sufficient possibility that a detailed investigation would reveal something useful.”

Melanie’s opinion was quite intriguing.

The many floating islands, large and small, on which we lived were completely isolated from one another by the sky in between.

Because of that, each floating island had developed its own unique ecosystem, and numerous species existed that lived only in that specific location.

It was probably due to differences in altitude, sunlight hours, or the components contained in the soil. In many cases, attempts to raise a creature from one floating island on another simply did not succeed.

If such a creature held rare value, it could very well become a major industry for the territory. Feudal nobles had always been fiercely protective of the specialty products of their domains and regulated them with utmost care.

Did the knowledgeable Melanie learn about such aspects of the world from books?

If she had come up with and derived this answer on her own, she was quite a reliable daughter.

“But Melanie, there is a problem with your thinking.”

“Where?”

“How much money and time would that creature investigation require? A few years might be acceptable, but are you seriously suggesting we take a leisurely approach that could drag on for ten or twenty years?”

“But elves live so long, so they could solve that problem.”

“Come on now, everything requires money first and foremost! And even if we investigate properly, there’s still the possibility that we get no results at all! No noble or merchant is going to lend money for a project that looks like it might turn out to be a complete waste!”

Seizing the moment, Roxanne pressed Melanie with her questions.

It was quite harsh, but it was a pointed remark very much in line with Roxanne’s strong sense of economics.

Melanie’s idea omitted practical elements: the necessary expenses and time, contingency plans in case of failure, and how to secure distribution channels in case of success.

That was probably precisely why the elf village currently relied on tourism to cover the territory’s revenue.

Not much time had passed since elves and other demi-humans were officially recognized as citizens of the Holfort Kingdom.

Even though they had been granted citizenship, they were still barred from entering educational institutions, faced difficulties borrowing from financial institutions, and were subject to employment restrictions. Their situation had not improved much compared to the past.

It was understandable that, in a situation where restrictions kept piling up while obligations only increased, one might choose to adapt by conforming to human society or, if that proved impossible, begin plotting rebellion instead.

Changing the trends of the world takes a very long time, and long-lived elves might be struggling to keep up with the dizzying pace of change and feeling bewildered.

However, this was the work of those who handled politics in the royal capital or of the saint who saved people at the temple. It wasn’t a problem that a mere provincial lord and his wife should become involved in.

To begin with, the reason I ended up in this situation was because the people entrenched in the political center dragged Leon into it.

At most, I suppose they could suffer a little for it. I had no obligation to go so far as to serve them.

“…Where did Leah go?”

I shifted my gaze away from Roxanne and Melanie, who were continuing their debate, and looked out the window. Leah, who should have been there just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

The uneasy feeling that arose when no children were within sight was probably an unfortunate habit of mothers, and it didn’t change no matter how many children one had.

“I don’t know.”

“If it’s Onii-sama, he’s probably outside.”

“I can’t see him anywhere. Where did he go?”

“How would we know something Mother doesn’t?”

“…I’ll go look for him. You two take care of Dylan.”

“Understood.”

“Please be careful.”

I left Dylan with the twin sisters and stepped outside the house. The area around the house was thick with trees, making it difficult to see very far.

For some reason, I couldn’t shake this bad premonition. Among Leon’s and my children, the ones most likely to cause trouble were Ariel first, followed by Leah.

Excluding Dylan, who was still young and required a great deal of care, the frequency of causing incidents went in this order: Ariel, Leah, Roxanne, Lionel, and Melanie.

The fact that the top three had all inherited personalities similar to mine filled me with a slight sense of self-loathing. Why was my hot-blooded nature so easily passed down to the children?

Ariel was overly energetic, ran away from unpleasant things, and fearlessly charged at opponents even if they were boys. 

Roxanne, because of her pride as a noble, tended to provoke others unconsciously.

As for Leah’s issue, if I had to point it out, it would be that although he excelled in physical ability, but lacks the awareness and caution expected of a noble.

He wasn’t crude, but he tended to think of solving most problems through force. He didn’t actively start fights himself, but he had often jumped on the bandwagon and escalated disturbances.

Because he was close in age to Ariel and their personalities overlapped in certain ways, within the group of children in the Bartfort territory, Ariel acted as the leader while Leah always served as the second-in-command.

On top of that, among the children, Leah admired Leon the most. In itself, that was a heartwarming father-son relationship.

However, Leah focused only on Leon’s side as a soldier and didn’t really recognize his gentler aspects.

Perhaps because he had inherited Leon’s physical traits, he prioritized training his body over studying, believing that he would achieve accomplishments of his own someday.

She was probably one of the few people in the kingdom who genuinely liked the derogatory nickname “villainous knight” that the enemy forces had given Leon.

Leah had asked to accompany Leon to the ruins, but it was Leon himself who stopped her.

Among our children, the ones who listened well were Lionel and Melanie. Leah belonged to the category of those who didn’t give up easily.

In the worst case, he might be secretly following Leon and the others. Driven by that anxious thought, I scanned the surroundings.

“Leah!”

My voice, unusually high-pitched, echoed through the forest. There was no reply.

“Leah!!”

When I called out loudly once more, I heard a rustling sound from deep within the woods. Feeling somewhat relieved, I turned around, and a black-haired boy was standing there.

My eyes immediately noticed the swelling on both of his eyelids.

┳⁠━━━━⁠━⁠⁠━⁠━⁠━━━⁠┳  

Authors Note  

┻━⁠━━━━⁠━━⁠━━━⁠┻  

This was a scene depicting Angie interacting with the children, along with some political discussion. Melanie’s idea refers to insular speciation in biology, in other words, Galapagosization.

It presents an external perspective on why the elves ended up choosing that kind of policy. 

In reality, as in the original work, personal and racial grudges are also involved.

Next time will focus on Leah-kun and Angie’s interaction, along with disturbances beginning to occur in the settlement.

P.S.: At the commissioner’s request, I had Ozuwani-sama draw an illustration.

Also, the illustration previously received from 9430-sama has been posted on pixiv.

Thank you very much.

Ozuwani-sama: Pixiv (NSFW warning)

9430-sama: Pixiv

I would appreciate any opinions or impressions you might have, as they would encourage me going forward.