Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 206

206.

It took exactly one day for Lillian to stabilize the magic circle and for Vikan to bring the stored food through it.

“Start by solving Grenian’s famine,” I commanded.

My subordinates moved quickly at my command.

Even Olivia stepped up to take care of food distribution.

Showing Olivia, the Crown Princess, taking part in the work would motivate the subordinates and reassure the people that I was taking care of them.

I called Vikan and Ken separately.

“Exactly how much food is stored?”

Vikan answered my question confidently.

“Enough for all the people living in Grenian to eat comfortably for about a year!”

I nodded.

“Good. The most urgent thing is to soothe the public sentiment in Grenian.”

Poverty isn’t a problem that can be solved with just food.

Continuously supporting the poor is like pouring water into a bottomless pit, so I was concerned about providing them with self-sufficiency measures.

One of these measures is the construction of the Magic Tower.

It was a plan that had been established before, but it had been sluggish due to the Kingdom Union’s provocation and the lack of food.

Rio Den and David didn’t have the capacity to promote the construction of the Magic Tower, but now that I am here, I plan to realize all the existing plans.

“What about the funds needed to build the Magic Tower?”

“It is difficult for the Vikan Merchant Group to raise funds alone. So, I want to attract a few more merchant groups.”

Ken objected.

“The more merchant groups that participate, the more interests you have to manage. If you don’t have enough funds, it’s better for the Vikan Merchant Group to borrow money from other merchant groups.”

Vikan’s face hardened.

I agreed with Ken’s opinion.

“Ken is right. The main focus of the Magic Tower construction is the Vikan Merchant Group. It’ll be difficult if others get involved.”

“It is difficult to borrow a lot of money with my credit.”

I answered Vikan’s words rather firmly.

“Find a way. You can use my influence. That’s why I only accepted one merchant group.”

Vikan flinched.

“Nobles and merchants are in a relationship where they use each other for their own benefit. I need funds to build the Magic Tower, and Vikan needs political influence to grow the merchant group further.”

I finished speaking, looking into Vikan’s eyes.

“I think I have given you enough political influence. Storing food was a great job, but I feel like I wasted my influence with that alone, don’t you think?”

Ken explained my words in detail.

“Your Highness’s influence is rising rapidly. The head of the merchant group is not actively using it yet. You can look at how other merchant groups use the influence of high-ranking nobles for reference.”

Vikan nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Don’t think of it as a heavy burden.”

I patted Vikan on the shoulder.

“I’m asking you a favor.”

After sending Vikan out, I leaned deeply into the chair in my office.

“In the end, it’s money.”

“Originally, everything requires money,” Ken replied with a smile.

“The fact that we were able to supply food to Grenian was all thanks to the head of the Vikan Merchant Group.”

“That’s right. Recently, the work has been concentrated on the head of the Vikan Merchant Group and Hamilton. I have to solve that problem too.”

Ken shook his head.

“The parts that the two people are in charge of are solely their responsibility. There is no need to attach someone to the two of them. Both of them already have enough manpower.”

Ken quickly continued.

“Your Highness, please do your best to soothe the public sentiment in Grenian. I will schedule external events tightly.”

“External events?”

“Yes. Announce the news of the Magic Tower construction and directly announce the self-sufficiency measures for the poor, such as wages paid at the same time as construction.”

“Is it just for show?”

“It is also necessary to invite the nobles of the former Pireon Kingdom to a banquet.”

“Hold a banquet in this situation? How many people are starving to death and dying from epidemics?”

Ken countered my objection.

“Your Highness, the banquet is also a way to soothe the public sentiment.”

It seemed that the meaning of the banquet I was thinking of was different from the banquet Ken was thinking of.

“It is true that nobles drink and enjoy themselves at banquets, but large-scale banquets naturally allow commoners to drink and enjoy themselves as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think of large-scale banquets as a kind of festival.”

I nodded, saying, “Ah.”

The festival is not just for the nobles to enjoy, but as Ken said, the benefits go to the commoners as well.

Because commoners are given alcohol and meat that are difficult to eat on a regular basis.

Also, just taking time to enjoy themselves away from their daily lives can provide enough comfort.

“You also need time to grasp the nobles as a whole, so hold a banquet.”

“I need to see what kind of guys the lords are in the territories where people are dying so much.”

I did not examine in detail the lords of the territories who hurriedly passed by on the way to Grenian.

Even if I stayed, it was only to sleep, and I spent most of the more than two weeks camping out.

“I’ll leave the banquet to Olivia.”

Ken agreed.

“Originally, the Crown Princess should manage the social circles.”

“I’ll tell Olivia separately.”

Ken added one more concern.

“I think the Crown Princess will want to participate in the local war with the Kingdom Union, so please persuade her well.”

I smiled.

‘Well, she’s a Sword Master.’

Olivia is more suited to the battlefield than the social world.

But now was the time when Olivia’s political title as Crown Princess was needed.

The justification for gathering nobles from the Pireon Kingdom is a banquet, and the place where secret words are exchanged is a social gathering rather than a banquet.

‘Olivia will get to know the noble ladies at the banquet, and she will find out the details while presiding over the meeting.’

Olivia had to pretend to be a socialite for a while, but I believed she would do well.

“Since the big things are over for now, let’s announce the details about the Magic Tower construction directly tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Actively reflecting Ken’s opinion, I was directly touring the entire Grenian.

Olivia was by my side as the Crown Princess and as a bodyguard.

“This used to be the residential area of the nobles, but everyone ran away during the war, and now it is empty. After the nobles left their homes, people looted them, and now it is nothing more than ruins,” Rio Den guided me and Olivia.

“The ruins will be cleaned up to some extent and used as the site for the Magic Tower construction.”

“The location itself is very good because it is a residential area for nobles.”

Rio Den agreed.

“Yes.”

“As the head of the Vikan Merchant Group knows, there are nobles who claim ownership of the residential area.”

I frowned involuntarily.

“Guys who abandoned it and left during the war?”

“I heard that they are arguing that they should return to Grenian after the war, restore their original homes, and live there. Some of them are hiring mercenaries to drive out the wandering vagrants.”

I asked Rio Den for an accurate explanation.

“What do you mean?”

“Since it has become a ruin, the poor have started to come and live near the residential area, but they are being driven out by force. They can’t mobilize private soldiers, so it seems they are using mercenaries.”

I put my hand on my forehead. There are more than one or two problems.

“Have all the people who settled in the residential area been kicked out?”

“The people who had been pushed out of the existing slums had settled in the ruins of the residential area, but since they were pushed out from here as well, I think they are probably wandering the streets.”

I decided to deal with the mercenary issue first.

“Is there a mercenary guild branch in Grenian?”

“Yes.”

“Go and bring the branch manager yourself.”

I was thinking of getting testimony directly from the mercenaries rather than calling the nobles who hired them.

‘This is going to be the site of the Magic Tower. It’s going to be difficult if there are nobles who claim rights to this place.’

Even the emperor cannot easily take away the private property of nobles.

‘The nobles gave up their rights to the private land when they abandoned their homes and fled during the war. And hiring mercenaries to drive out commoners is clearly illegal.’

I was planning to use these two facts to incorporate the Magic Tower construction site into my private property without any difficulty.

Grenian is a direct territory, and I was guaranteed the title of Margrave here, so I am no different from a lord.

There was no reason to recognize the private property of other nobles in my territory. Especially to the nobles who abandoned it when they had to protect it, and now that peace has returned, they are trying to take it back.

I left the ruined residential area and continued to tour the city.

I showed a kind smile to the people I met.

Most of them complained of hunger and cold.

I comforted them that food distribution would continue and that Grenian would soon restore its normal functions as a city.

“I’m going to tear down and rebuild the royal palace too.”

I ordered all the luxurious items in the splendid royal palace to be disposed of and converted into cash as much as possible.

I announced that I would hire the poor and commoners to build the Magic Tower and hold a festival to comfort the minds and bodies exhausted by the war, and the response was very enthusiastic.

After dealing with people all day and returning to the palace, I was overcome with fatigue.

“There’s really a lot of work to do.”

Olivia said, taking my clothes.

“It’s probably because the war hasn’t been over for long.”

Knock knock-!

“Your Highness, it’s Gail.”

I put on a comfortable top and answered.

“Come in.”

Gail appeared and bowed his head.

“You said you patrolled near the border?”

Gail was also busy all day today.

He had been looking at all the northern borders, including the ruins, with David.

Grenian was the capital, but it is a city that borders the country. Because the Pireon Kingdom had a special relationship with the Kingdom Union, the capital could be in the form of bordering the country.

So Gail’s role is important.

Because he is the commander in charge of the entire border.

“Yes. I have looked around everything, and there was a provocation from the Kingdom Union, but I handled it well.”

I exclaimed, “Huh.”

“Was there a provocation today too?”

“Dozens of people provoked at the border, and I took up my sword myself.”

That means Gail killed them himself.

“I let about two people live and sent them back to imprint my existence on the Kingdom Union.”

I nodded.

“Good. If Gail is there, they won’t be able to provoke easily anymore. How about the ruins?”

“I’m thinking of setting up a commander’s quarters near the ruins. If Lillian starts researching, the Kingdom Union may provoke even more fiercely.”

“Thank you, Gail.”

“I’m just doing my best in the role I’ve been given.”

Gail is always a reliable person.

“Go and get some rest today. Let’s talk about the detailed issues such as the conscription of soldiers tomorrow.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Gail bowed his head and left.

The sunset was already setting outside the window.

“Running a territory is no ordinary task.”

Olivia opened her mouth at my words.

“Isn’t that why His Majesty gave you a direct territory, Your Highness? As a kind of management class before managing the Empire.”

“The class has too much work and is too big, but well… I don’t think Olivia’s words are much different.”

I also thanked Olivia.

“I’m sorry for entrusting you with hosting the banquet and entrusting you with managing the noble ladies.”

Olivia smiled brightly.

“It’s something I should do as the Crown Princess. You don’t have to be too sorry. Do you want me to take up a sword and go to the border? Dangerously?”

“Well, wouldn’t the enemies be in danger?”

I blew away the fatigue of the day with a joke.

There are several problems, but I believed that I could do it well enough.

“By the way, how many nobles are there?”

“There are over two hundred.”

“Nobles who lived in the capital?”

It’s almost the same as the number of nobles living in the Imperial capital.

I clicked my tongue.

Olivia shook her head.

“I think it will be a difficult banquet.”