Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 46

Gerhard exited the Lord’s manor.

The meeting had just ended, and evening had fallen.

He looked up at the night sky and sighed.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind?”

He turned at the playful voice.

Griff approached, smiling with narrowed eyes.

“You always look so serious. What’s got you so worried?”

Gerhard’s expression tightened for a moment before relaxing.

“…I’ve been thinking a lot.”

“What about?”

“I was thinking that while His Majesty is handling all the work, I don’t seem to be doing much of anything.”

“Is that so?”

He sighed again.

Even with his retinue assisting him, Edar’s workload was considerable.

The reason he was always tired wasn’t because he was physically weak, but because he personally oversaw and approved almost everything.

‘In the first place, the Governor-General’s work should have been finished within my purview [scope of authority].’

Wasn’t that why Edar had given him such immense authority?

Judicial, administrative, military, and even command over fellow familiars.

However, among the matters Edar handled today, several should have been handled by the Governor-General’s office.

Gerhard felt regretful.

‘Everyone else is doing their part, or more.’

Pashimea building the paper mill, Rachel re-educating the freed slaves and assisting—from Gerhard’s perspective, it was quite enviable.

‘I am the Governor-General. No familiar manages a larger territory than I do. But my accomplishments seem to be the least.’

“Hmm…”

Griff scratched his shoulder, observing Gerhard’s serious expression.

“You look like you’re about to cause trouble.”

He patted Gerhard’s back.

“In my opinion, I think you’re doing enough. But if you feel it’s not enough, how about starting a business?”

Gerhard raised his head.

“A business?”

“Yes, a business. Would you like to hear about it?”

Still a playful face.

His sly, narrowed eyes looked at him.

But Gerhard couldn’t help but listen.

The Budding of Industry

“This isn’t some strange joke, is it?”

“Of course not.”

Distrust flickered in Gerhard’s eyes.

But he was the one who was eager, so he quietly waited for the rest of the story.

“Gerhard, isn’t what you’re worried about achievements?”

Achievements.

Gerhard nodded.

Edar and Griff both said that fully governing Northern Wallachia was enough, but Gerhard wanted to show more outstanding results like Pashimea.

He wanted to achieve more than just maintaining the status quo.

Griff smiled knowingly, as if he understood his inner thoughts.

“Just do something only the Governor-General’s office can do.”

“Something only the Governor-General’s office can do?”

War suddenly came to mind.

Should he go south and expand the territory?

Griff shook his head with an “Oops!”

“How ignorant. Didn’t I say at the beginning? ‘Even if I can’t rule the world, I know how to cultivate a small garden.’ [referencing Voltaire’s Candide, suggesting focusing on achievable goals]”

“Ahem.”

“Where did that spirited fellow go?”

He cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.

Even he thought it was an ignorant idea.

His words had slipped out in his haste.

“Think about what the frontier lacks.”

“Um… people are lacking.”

“That’s it. Northern Wallachia has a population of hundreds of thousands, right? Then do something that the frontier can’t do because of the lack of people, something that requires a lot of people.”

Something labor-intensive.

Scratching his neck, he pondered, and a few things came to mind.

“Do you get the idea now?”

“More or less. I’m getting a sense of a good subject.”

“For example?”

“Pashimea built a paper mill. It’s called a factory, but it’s really just a two-story building. I’m thinking of building more factories like that, but bigger and more of them.”

“That’s exactly it.”

Griff snapped his fingers with a grin.

“Even though the Great Plains has greatly increased in population by accepting freed slaves, it still barely exceeds 10,000 people. Can industry develop in such a place besides agriculture? No.”

He held the toga he was wearing and continued.

“For example, this cloth. Not a single strand is produced in the Great Plains. If needed, it has to be imported from outside. Fortunately, we have a gold mine and a transportation unit that doesn’t charge any fees, but this only leads to capital outflow. It’s also difficult to meet the demand.”

“Wasn’t there a proposal today to provide looms to each household?”

“Household handicraft industry has clear limitations, you know.”

Gerhard nodded.

Production volume and quality were bound to be inconsistent.

The costs associated with that would inevitably rise.

‘More than anything, I don’t know how many people in the frontier know how to weave.’

Most of the pioneers were of humble origin and young when they joined the pioneer group, so they either didn’t have a loom at home or became pioneers before they could properly learn how to use one.

He judged that it would be better to set up a factory in Northern Wallachia, where household handicraft industry was active, than to give looms to these people.

“If you provide the manpower and space, we’ll support you with goods. Instead, please give me priority in purchasing the products that come out of there.”

“You? What money do you have?”

“Gerhard. Just as you are the Governor-General of Northern Wallachia, I am Lord Edar’s representative. I can make as much money as I need.”

“Is that the business you were talking about?”

He sent a suspicious gaze, wondering what other scheme he was planning.

Griff met his gaze with an inscrutable smile.

“It’s confidential.”

“Hmph.”

After all, they were both familiars and could read each other’s thoughts.

He knew better than anyone that it wasn’t for the purpose of satisfying personal desires.

“Well, it’s a joke. I was thinking we should gradually increase exchanges with the inland, especially Germania [ancient name for Germany]. I’m trying to get a head start.”

“Exchange? Are you talking about trade? It seems too hasty. Can we afford it?”

Griff covered his mouth with the back of his hand and whispered.

“This is really a secret, but we’re already doing it.”

“What?”

“Lord Edar isn’t a fool, and he’s not just cultivating his garden, is he? He’s paying attention to various things in his own way. I’m just helping him a little.”

“I didn’t know.”

He asked with his eyes why he hadn’t said anything.

Griff grinned with narrowed eyes and replied.

“We don’t need to share everything with each other, do we? As long as we don’t hide anything from our great master.”

As expected, that damned sly eyes.

He was helping, but in reality, he was taking his own advantage.

Gerhard frowned.

“Damn you.”

“Thank you.”

He bowed deeply and exaggeratedly, placing his right hand on his chest.

“Anyway, don’t forget our promise.”

“Damn it… I understand.”

“Good. Then go and talk to Lord Edar.”

Gerhard frowned.

“Is that really necessary? Wouldn’t it just put more burden on His Majesty?”

Griff clicked his tongue and pushed Gerhard’s back.

“Really? Are you going to struggle alone and fail? You’re a legion commander, a governor-general, and you’re going to brag and then end up in the poorhouse?”

“Umm…”

Gerhard resisted being pushed, trying to shout that he wouldn’t fail, but he closed his mouth.

If things went wrong, it would be a disgrace.

“…Don’t push me. I’ll go in myself.”

“Yes, yes. Good luck.”

He sighed deeply, straightened his back, and entered the Lord’s manor.

The Lord’s manor, now empty of familiars, was only dimly lit by a few candles.

The coolness of the evening was already lingering.

“Your Majesty. This is your subject Gerhard.”

He carefully knocked on the door of the study.

“Gerhard? Come in.”

Opening the door revealed a light brighter than the hall.

Edar was sitting at his desk in the study, writing a document.

Gerhard felt respect welling up from the depths of his heart at the sight.

Not even a mere scribe would work harder than Edar.

Edar was visibly tired from sitting and working all day.

However, rest did not seem to have a place in his desires.

The occasional rest he took was just eating dried fruit from a bowl.

‘Truly, great patience and self-control.’

“…”

And Calliope, standing beside him, looked at Gerhard.

He flinched at the gaze from her deep blue eyes.

He read reproach in her eyes.

That he was putting more burden on her master.

‘Hmm… fierce.’

Gerhard, who prided himself on his strength, found it difficult to hold his head high in front of Calliope.

If the aura that Edar subtly exuded felt like the dignity of a monarch to Gerhard, the aura that Calliope exuded was the overwhelming presence of a fierce beast.

Gerhard nodded and went inside.

Only then did Edar stop writing and raise his face.

“Didn’t you say you were going back to the north? What’s the matter?”

“I came back because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Is that so? Come closer and sit down.”

He pointed to a chair and pushed a bowl of fruit in front of it.

Gerhard sat down and picked up a piece of dried fruit.

And just as he was about to start talking, his eyes went to the document.

The document that Edar was writing was filled with text.

The first page had a large drawing of a medicinal herb at the top.

Below the drawing, the text was dense.

The content included the name of the herb, its efficacy, manufacturing method, and precautions.

“Is this herbal medicine?”

“That’s what I’m organizing now. What I organized before this was farming methods.”

“Farming methods?”

“Yes. Not only herbs and farming, but I’m organizing everything I know. Things that wouldn’t be a problem even if the enemy knew them, and that would be of great help to the people.”

Edar collectively called it an encyclopedia.

“Knowledge and power are not different things. Knowing is power. I will disseminate this to my people so they can read it. Once the production volume of the paper mill stabilizes, I will create a printing press and print it under the name of an encyclopedia.”

“But… how many of your people can read?”

“We need to provide education accordingly. And create a system for that.”

‘It won’t be easy,’ he muttered unconsciously.

Edar chuckled.

“That’s right. It’s not easy. Even if I make it like this, it won’t be read right away. But we need to make it one by one when we have time like now, so we can prepare for the future, don’t you think?”

“You seem to be overdoing it. You should rest a little…”

He raised his hand and cut off Gerhard’s words.

“I remember a certain monarch saying this once. ‘The monarch is the first servant of the state.’ [a quote attributed to Frederick the Great of Prussia]”

Edar took out a pack of cigarettes from his inner pocket and placed it on the table.

“I like this saying very much. There were too many people around me who couldn’t understand it.”

“Is that so?”

“What if you do your part, but it becomes a futile act because of my mistake?”

“…”

He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it with a candle.

Gerhard resisted answering that it didn’t matter.

He knew that wasn’t the answer his master wanted.

Seeing his tightly closed expression, Edar smiled.

“You guys would answer that it’s okay. But most people don’t. They get disappointed, resentful, and reproachful. That’s what my life was like before I became Edar. I was a responsible person, but those around me weren’t.”

‘Life before becoming Edar.’

Gerhard swallowed hard.

The familiars vaguely knew.

That Edar had a life he called a past life.

Edar was open to his familiars, but he didn’t bother to talk about his past life, so none of the familiars knew it in detail.

Gerhard felt nervous, as if he was learning a secret of his master that the other familiars didn’t know.

Glancing at Calliope, she had the same reaction as him.

Edar stroked his chin and reminisced.

“It was like living as a one-eyed man in a country of the blind. In such a country, the one-eyed man has to imitate the blind. Otherwise, he becomes less than the blind.”

He took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled even longer.

A sense of bitterness filled the study.

“Now I sit in a position above all others. The world is still the same country of the blind. But I have the power to overcome the blind. Yet, should I live imitating the blind?”

“…”

Calliope placed her hand on Edar’s shoulder.

Edar tilted his teacup and moistened his throat, then shook his head.

“I’ve been talking too long. I’ve only made the atmosphere serious for no reason.”

“Not at all.”

“Yes, you are. So, what did you come back to ask?”

Gerhard told him the story he had exchanged with Griff.

That he wanted to build an industrial complex in Northern Wallachia.

He also revealed his plan to set up the industrial complex.

“A manufacture.”

Edar nodded.

“In other words, a factory-based handicraft industry. A space where a large number of facilities such as looms are gathered, and workers are hired to use them.”

“That’s right.”

“However, your method has the feeling of a workshop where artisans gather on a large scale to work. Is there really a need to do that?”

Gerhard blinked without answering.

“It takes too much effort for one artisan to make one item from start to finish. Wouldn’t it be better to separate the processes and have one worker in charge of only one process?”

The worker who cuts the leather only cuts the leather,

The worker who makes the holes only makes the holes,

The worker who sews only sews.

They wouldn’t need to know the entire process, and individual tasks would be easy to do.

“Indeed… that’s right.”

Edar crushed the finished cigarette in the ashtray.

“Give it a try. I quite like the plan.”

“Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

“Well.”

He smiled and looked at Gerhard.

Even though it was a smile, Gerhard felt it was too heavy.

“Gerhard, you are the Governor-General. I have given you all the authority I can give you. You have to do the work yourself. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I will repay your trust, Your Majesty.”