I Reincarnated But Will Try To Live Without Using My Cheat Ability - CH 269

After a round of negotiations, the return of the POWs will be processed.

The Governor will be in charge of the exchange of POWs for gold on site.

I myself am also stuck in this situation.

I entrusted the ransom money with the Governor and have him purchase the necessary supplies from Isabeau’s trading company.

This is a good opportunity for him to learn how to allocate a limited budget.

We are not in a position to take taxes from the new territory.

If we come up short, we will provide aid again from here.

How much can be reduced by what I do?

I’ll let them develop a sense of finances.

If he can estimate the shortfall, it will be helpful to us too.

Even though we are processing such daily tasks, the coming day will arrive without any regard.

It is Maman’s inspection.

We received a report that a ship had arrived in the port.

All the preparations for receiving are done.

I’m going to take Mil and Kiara to meet them.

It’s been almost 3 years.

Mil is a little nervous, but I hold her hand and reassure her.

She seems to have calmed down a bit.

It is still early spring and the sun is not too strong, but Maman comes down from the boat with a parasol.

I wondered if it was the custom for a lady to wear a parasol.

She hasn’t seen me in almost three years, but she hasn’t changed much in terms of appearance.

Maman smiled at me and Kiara.

“Alfred and Kiara, it’s been a long time.”

I bow to Maman.

“Mother, it’s been a long time.”

Kiara followed suit.

“Mother, it’s been a long time.”

I cough a little and looked at Mil.

“I have already written to you, Mother, but I would like to introduce you again.”

Mil bowed with a slightly nervous look on her face.

“My name is Milva.”

Maman smiled and bowed to Milva.

“I am Alfred’s mother, Alessandra. I heard that you took a local woman as your wife, but… She is very beautiful. It must be difficult to be Alfred’s wife.”

“N-No. It’s been hectic, but I’m very happy.”

I guess it’s not a good idea to just stand around here while talking.

“Well, let me show you around town.”

They all nodded and headed into town.

Maman, who is riding in the carriage, looks at Mil.

“Alfred, may I have a word with Ms. Milva alone later?”

“I don’t mind. But Mil is nervous, so please be gentle with her.”

Maman chuckled quietly.

“There is no such thing as a mother-in-law picking on her daughter-in-law. As a mother, I want to know how she came to marry Alfred. I don’t think she became your wife to gain power in our family.”

Mil looked at me like she wanted help.

“It’s all right. I’ve already explained everything.”

Mil looked as if she wanted to say something, but nodded.

If I covered for her too much, she will think that I feel insecure about me marrying her.

I led Maman to the house.

Maman would not be coming alone, but with her guards and servants, so there were about 50 people in her party.

Even this is modest for a visit of a great aristocrat…

After lunch, I showed Maman around the town and she asked me many questions.

She was very surprised at the small percentage of humans.

“You said discretion… but you ruled unexpectedly. But from what you said, it is very reasonable. If anything, perhaps the frontier suited Alfred’s talents better.”

“It’s a place where people who don’t fit into conventional society are fleeing to. We need a social system that is agreeable to those people, too.”

“The road with less swaying carriages is also wonderful. We should have this introduced in the main house. It’s not going to happen anytime soon, though.”

I chuckled.

“It will take a little longer. The succession to the throne is still going to be a bit of a mess. It would be better to wait until the effects of the reform of the governing structure have been resolved.”

Maman smiled meaningfully and leaned closer to me.

“Lord Ferdinand has a message for you. He wants Alfred’s opinion on the situation in the royal capital.”

With that, she took a letter from her pocket and presented it to me.

She’s giving it to me secretly during her inspection.

In other words, there is a possibility of all kinds of trouble.

I silently took the letter and put it in my pocket.

“How should I reply?”

“You can attach it to your correspondence with the main family. Just be careful.”

“I understand. I will inform Mother of the arrangements later.”

“So, this town even has a public bathhouse. I guess once word of the social welfare system gets out, there will be a lot of folks who will want to come here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“When the plague spreads, the damage is so severe that the cost of maintaining public bathhouses seems to be zero”

Maman nodded her head.

“I didn’t know that it was that bad, but I can see why Alfred is putting so much effort into it. So we can assume it’s that important.”

“Worst case scenario, you expect 50-60% of the population to be blown away.”

Maman looked up.

“There’s no way you can maintain a territory like that.”

“The method of transmission varies from disease to disease. The Black Death, as described by the apostles, is transmitted when the pathogen grows in the body of a rat and the flea sucks the blood of the rat, which in turn sucks the blood of a human. The main sources of infection appear to be rats, lice, and human fleas. Other than that, it’s pretty much preventable by human immunity, as long as they are clean and well nourished. So public hygiene is important.”

Maman thought for a little.

“In other words, there are food shortages due to bad harvests in many places. You see this as a dangerous situation.”

“Yes, that’s right. The Scala family’s territory will be fine, but other families’ territories may experience outbreaks.”

“I’ve heard some good things. Let’s make them do something about it.”

The tour was conducted while explaining measures that we thought would be good to implement at the main family.

The dinner ended in a friendly atmosphere with small talk.

Afterward, I saw Mil off to head off on her own as she was called by Maman.

After I was alone in my room, I checked the letter from Papan.

Hmmm…each house is in limbo waiting for the apostle’s descent.

But there are some forces that can’t wait and are making their move.

Is there a possibility that someone will see the reply?

Should I have Maman hand it over to Papan first?

In Japanese, it is difficult to use Caesar’s cipher or the Vigenere cipher.

The Uesugi cipher seems to be the only choice here.

While I was busy making the cipher, the door to the room opened.

It seemed that Mil had returned.

“Welcome back.”

Mil looks like she wants to say something.

She came right next to me and put her face close to mine.

“Al, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a family relinquishing the right of succession to the main family, including its descendants!”