With that thought fresh in my mind, I announced our victory.
“We’ve caught the bandits! I promise to God, I will never allow anyone else to make my people suffer!”
My men cheered loudly when they heard my words, and my first battle ended in victory.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lord Weiss, I heard all about how you defeated the enemy leader!” Meg said. “You even saved me before. You’re so strong!”
“Ha ha ha, thanks.” I beamed at the compliment. “Guys like him are no sweat when I’m serious.” Of course, the truth of the matter was that I’d passed out in the carriage going home and made Rosalia worry about me.
Well, that was all right. More importantly, my approval rating with citizens changed significantly after taking care of the mafia. Meg spoke to me excitedly, her eyes full of reverence, and it wasn’t just her. The guards watching me from afar also seemed to have more respect for me now.
“You know, I’m really glad that you’ve gone back to how you used to be, before Lady Firis came and the previous lord declared that he was choosing a different successor.”
“I’m like how Weiss used to be? Really?” I wondered.
“Ah, forget I said anything. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I apologize,” Meg said awkwardly. She ran off without saying more.
I watched her leave, then greeted the guards and went to my office to start working. It wasn’t long before someone knocked. Rosalia, who was waiting at my side, opened the door for them.
“Excuse me,” said the civil servant, “Lord Weiss, are you certain about this? Can you really afford to not only temporarily reduce taxes on the citizens but also distribute food to the poor?”
“Yes, actually,” I answered. “Fortunately, I got my hands on the gems and gold that those criminals were hiding in the mansion. I also have the fortune my family hid away. After making my people suffer so much, I want them to see better days.”
“Well, it is true that your public image has improved…” He looked like he wasn’t sure how to continue, so I went on instead.
“I mean, it’s just a drop in the bucket, but that’s better than nothing, right? I know I’ve caused you a lot of trouble, so I’d be grateful if you shared your knowledge with me going forward.”
Most of the people who recognized me as the true lord at this point were the soldiers who were present for the battle or people who heard about the details of what happened. I needed another way of showing my people that I was a different person now, and it had to be something that was easy to understand. Lowering taxes, something that affected everyone, was a viable option.
Additionally, Barbaro and his men unfairly collected money from merchants and even tried to dip their fingers into the illegal drug and slave trades, so I was glad I was able to stop them before that could happen. We were on the path to improving public safety.
I didn’t know where he was planning on getting slaves and drugs from, but I did get the names of the noblemen he was dealing with, so I’d make do with what I had.
The problem was that, even though I knew what was going to happen in the future and which moves would be effective, game knowledge alone wasn’t sufficient to help me run the territory or handle business-related matters. I needed to educate myself.
“There’s some stuff I want to study. Do you have any good recommendations for textbooks?” I asked Rosalia, once I had finished my discussion with the civil servant.
“Hm, you should take a look at the previous lord’s room.”
“Guess that makes sense. I’ll go check it out.”
The former lord… Weiss’s father and mother… Truth be told, I didn’t have much information about either of them. At the end of the day, Weiss wasn’t part of the main cast. The most important thing about him was that his little sister was one of the heroines. He was just a springboard to bigger plot beats. The development team probably didn’t want to use precious resources on detailing his parents.
“Lord Weiss, are you all right?”
“Yeah, no problems here…”
Rosalia and I made our way to the previous lord’s room, but for some reason, my body felt kind of heavy. I must have looked under the weather, as Rosalia was watching me with concern.
After I put my hand on the doorknob, my hand stopped moving, as if it was out of my control. What was going on? Despite the strange sensation in my body, I opened the door—and suddenly lost my balance.
“Lord Weiss?!”
Just as I heard Rosalia cry out my name in concern, I lost consciousness.