[Due to Buldrokkas'tee's current unemployment, letting a giant man nearly three meters tall be her personal bodyguard seemed a bit excessive
[Due to Buldrokkas'tee's current unemployment, letting a giant man nearly three meters tall be her personal bodyguard seemed a bit excessive
[Due to Buldrokkas'tee's current unemployment, letting a giant man nearly three meters tall be her personal bodyguard seemed a bit excessive. She therefore assigned him and his subordinates a task: to travel with her to inspect the Originium mine owned by her family, located in the northern ice fields of Ursus.]
[Of course, at first, she intended to use the mine to make money for herself to fund her research. But she had to change her mind after seeing the condition of the mine upon her arrival.]
[The sight of numerous Infected, with mineral crystals growing on their bodies, huddling together shivering from the cold in small, dilapidated tents that could barely keep out the wind. There were even children, the elderly, and even pregnant women who didn't even have the strength to hold a pickaxe. Yet, some still forced themselves to continue working, not even noticing their arrival.]
[When Ludy went to ask those people why they were still working, even though no one was supervising them, they, upon seeing an unknown young girl approach with a group of people dressed like imperial soldiers, immediately replied in fear. A noble who owned a nearby mine had made them an offer: to dig ore from this mine and sell it to them at a set price.]
[After Ludy learned of the price they were offered, she was furious. The price those people offered was less than the cost of a loaf of bread in her city. But because they knew these people had no other choice, they dared to do something like this, seeing that they had no jobs and were also sick and dying Infected.]
[When the mine workers learned that the young girl before them was the owner of this mine, they looked terrified and quickly bowed down to apologize to her in despair, afraid that she would punish them for selling the ore without permission. But on the contrary... Ludy was not angry at them at all. She loudly declared for the miners here to stop what they were doing, before calling them all to gather in her family's residential area, which had now been abandoned for a long time.]
[After arriving, she began to distribute the large amount of food she had to them, and also ordered a large quantity of clothes from the city to be delivered here. She also asked Buldrokkas'tee's subordinates to help clean the surrounding houses to serve as living quarters for them and the people who worked in the mine. Of course, Ludy would help them too.]
"Whew... another one done," Ludy wiped a bit of sweat from her face. Even though she was in an ice field with sub-zero temperatures, the heavy exercise had made her quite tired. It was probably because the heat in her blood didn't agree with this cold temperature, which she had just realized was her weakness.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone's footsteps approaching. When Ludy turned, she saw a massive body with giant, eye-catching deer antlers walking into this small house where she was.
"Uncle Buldrokkas'tee? Is there something you need? Did your men find anything suspicious?" Ludy asked him, seeing that he had come to her without any followers, not even his son, Grovasel.
"..." Buldrokkas'tee said nothing for a long time, making the already freezing atmosphere feel even colder.
"Uh... are you perhaps dissatisfied that I—" Ludy was thinking that he was angry about her ordering his subordinates to do menial work. But she stopped her thought after hearing his next sentence.
"Why are you doing this..."
"What do you mean, uncle?" Ludy asked with a confused look. Buldrokkas'tee then looked outside, towards the spot where the Infected were gathered, eating like starving people.
"You know they are the Infected."
"And?" Ludy said with a questioning look, as if what she was doing was normal. This made Buldrokkas'tee, who was holding a spear, begin to speak in a tone filled with displeasure.
"I am wondering... if you intend to use them as a tool through that kindness."
"Sigh... here we go again," Ludy, upon hearing that, could guess what he was thinking. She hugged the broom in her hand, resting her cheek on it with her elbow, as if she had heard this kind of thing many times before.
"Let me ask you something. Why does everyone keep saying, 'Don't help the Infected like this, don't look at the Infected like that'? Are you saying that by helping someone, I want them to be indebted to me for life and ask them to do something to repay me? Seriously... that's so ridiculous!"
"A world without help is no different from a world without kindness, and kindness is a natural and special right of human beings. So what's so strange about me wanting to help my fellow human beings, when I have the opportunity to do so right in front of me?"
"Or in your eyes, do I look like someone who sees other people's lives as a joke... or do you actually think I don't look human, but like a Sarkaz like you, who does everything for themselves!" Ludy crossed her arms, looking straight at Buldrokkas'tee with a serious expression. This made the Wendigo, a man who had lived for over two hundred years, fall silent, unable to say anything. But soon, he spoke in a flat but gentler tone than ever before.
"My apologies for my suspicion... I truly misjudged you."
"You are a true noble of Ursus, Ludy Manfred Gustav."
After saying that, he turned and walked out of the house, leaving Ludy to wonder what he had wanted to tell her.
But it seemed that after that incident, Buldrokkas'tee had a clearly better attitude towards her. Unlike before, when he was usually quite quiet and didn't respond much unless necessary, he now acted like a kind old uncle who would always give her advice, and he also talked much more. It made Grovasel, who had traveled with her, complain about whether the old man had taken the wrong medicine, because what he had said all day today was more than all the sentences he had spoken when he was at their old home in the empire.
Ludy could only shake her head, not knowing the reason either.
After cleaning and distributing clothes to the mine workers, Ludy called everyone to a meeting at her residence in the center of the residential area.
"The reason I've called you all here today is to consult about the problem that has occurred with our mine. The matter of the owner of the neighboring Jenner family mine taking advantage of our mine without the consent of the Empire and my Gustav family. I want to hear everyone's opinion on what I should do with those people."
Grovasel was the first to raise his hand and offer an idea immediately.
"We should probably report this to the Empire."
"I've thought about that, but looking at the Empire's situation with the war against Higashi, they probably don't have time to care about a feud between two small mines. Of course, I've also considered the case of sending the matter directly to the prince, but doing so would only tarnish the royal family's reputation. Big Brother Grovasel wouldn't want to see a headline saying 'Little Fiancée Uses Prince's Power to Demand Rights for the Infected' on the front page, would you? Of course, I damn well don't want to see it either!"
"Farsighted, and a thorough analysis of the situation... Grovasel, you should learn a lot from her about this," Buldrokkas'tee praised Ludy, while slightly criticizing his son for his lack of caution.
"You talk too much, old man," Grovasel grumbled irritably.
At that moment, one of Buldrokkas'tee's soldiers raised his hand. He was a bushy-bearded Feline man named Murphy, who served as Buldrokkas'tee's military advisor and was the second most senior after Buldrokkas'tee himself.
"Then how about sending someone to negotiate with the family that owns that mine? After all, we're nobles too. They should feel some shame and compensate us for something," Murphy said.
"That sounds like a good suggestion, Uncle Murphy. But I've already sent someone to gather information on the Jenner family. I heard they are nobles who have grown rich from selling ore from their mines for a long time, even before my Gustav family. They even gave advice to my mother when she first took control of the mine. If they use this as an excuse to end the feud between us, it would leave us with nothing to do but give up."
"Gathering information on the enemy beforehand is a quality worthy of a warrior..." Buldrokkas'tee continued to praise her without letting up, which made both Grovasel and Murphy look at him strangely, as the old man seemed to be praising Lady Ludy more than usual today.
"Then what do you think we should do, Ludy?" Grovasel asked her directly.
"I've thought of many ways, big brother," Ludy smiled.
She then began to explain her plan to them step by step. From wanting to attract workers from other mines and nearby villages to join her by offering better wages, housing, and breakfast and dinner, to putting economic pressure on other mines by selling the ore from her mine at a lower price to attract customers to buy only from her mine. Due to the wealth of the Gustav family from the past, she now had nearly thirty mines in this ice field. Although it was a large number in the eyes of ordinary people, it was still only at a normal level for an old noble family like hers.
"Even though your plan sounds plausible, where are we going to get the budget to invest? And what about the mining equipment? This place isn't called the 'Ice Field of Despair' for nothing. The number of people who die in the mines here in a month is more than the total casualties in a whole month of war. Not to mention the constantly disrupted supply transportation due to the harsh environment, and the sudden natural disasters that cause many mines to collapse and create subsequent problems. How are we going to handle those problems when even the Empire can't?"
"It's not that they can't solve it, but they choose to ignore it..." Ludy said with a serious expression, before looking straight at Grovasel.
"Big Brother Grovasel, what do you think the Ursus Empire has invested in the most over the past five years?"
Instead of Grovasel answering the question, Buldrokkas'tee spoke up instead.
"...War."
"Yes... war. And when they win a war, they put all the money into the army and continue to wage war. They have never known defeat, until a few days ago. And look what happened. Ursus suffered heavy losses, but the Emperor didn't even announce their defeat. He's even thinking of waging war against Higashi next, without caring about the soldiers' morale. I'm not trying to say that His Majesty the Emperor doesn't think about his own people, because maybe Ursus is too big for someone like him to handle alone. So we have to look at the source of the problem, which is the nobles stationed in this place."
"What are their family names again?" Ludy pretended to think.
"...There are three families ruling here... Marquis Enciodes, Marquis Charlon, and finally... Duke Koschei," Grovasel replied. As someone who had worked alongside the prince for a long time, he naturally remembered the names of many important figures who ruled in various areas, especially the name of Duke Koschei.
"Yes... but it seems that with the disappearance of Duke Koschei, there are only two ruling families left here. And from what I've heard, Duke Koschei didn't seem very interested in ruling here anyway. He would often let the two families share the benefits among themselves. But now that he's gone, they've started to divide factions and expand their power openly. It's a common sight among the trashy nobles of this country."
Ludy had done some research on this place, and arriving directly in the territory of the Deathless Black Snake naturally made her feel anxious. She therefore needed the cooperation of Buldrokkas'tee and his soldiers to prepare for any potential situations. But seeing that he had indeed disappeared, she felt a sense of relief.
"Marquis Enciodes and Marquis Charlon have long been famous for their military rule, but on the other hand, they also have a bad reputation for corruption. This can be seen from the fact that the people in the city are not treated very well, whether they are commoners or the Infected."
"So what are we going to do? Didn't you say yourself that we can't ask for help from the Empire? Don't tell me you're going to ask for help from those two families."
"Big Brother Grovasel, I'm not a lamb that walks into a tiger's den waiting to be devoured... on the contrary, I'm going to take advantage of them."
"And as for the Jenner family, I'll make them regret ever messing with my things..." Ludy revealed a grim smile that made even the onlookers shudder, except for Buldrokkas'tee, who just nodded in admiration and said it was a smile befitting a commander.
[Three months later, the mines in the various ice fields began to experience different problems, as they were attacked by a bandit group called 'Patriot', who raided and stole their ore one by one. But they found that those people did not harm or kill anyone, only creating fear among the guards who faced them.]
[The various nobles who owned the mines were confused as to where this 'Patriot' group came from. They only knew that the leader of the group was a Sarkaz who used blood-related powers. This led them to think that the attack must be related to a group of Sarkaz mercenaries hired by someone. But after a long investigation, they found a clue about the 'Patriot' group: they only attacked the mines that were directly under Marquis Charlon.]
[This made all of Marquis Charlon's suspicions fall on Marquis Enciodes, his only rival, leading to a meeting being held. The Enciodes faction denied all accusations and even retorted that they would not stoop to such dirty tricks. But Marquis Charlon still didn't believe them, and a long argument ensued.]
[Until after the meeting ended, a few days later, there was no more news of attacks from the 'Patriot' group. Until almost a month had passed. This time, the mines ruled by Marquis Enciodes were attacked, but this time, the violence was greater than ever before. There were cave-ins, the burning of supplies, and even the killing of officials inside. All of this was done by the group calling themselves 'Patriot' again, but this time, they didn't see the group's leader using blood-related powers. Instead, it was a giant man in heavy armor with Sarkaz-like horns.]
[This led Marquis Enciodes to think that Marquis Charlon had hired Sarkaz mercenaries to attack him. Even though he had done nothing wrong, he was framed and treated like this. Being a hot-tempered person already, Marquis Enciodes mobilized all the soldiers he had and marched to the Charlon family manor. The Charlon family, who didn't know the news yet, upon seeing that they were being invaded by Enciodes, thought that they had been tricked. Marquis Enciodes was the one behind the 'Patriot' group that had attacked his mines. In a rage, he had already prepared a defense plan long ago and ordered his nearby forces to assemble immediately. As soon as the two forces faced each other, they wasted no time on words and charged at each other without a second thought.]
[The battle ended in three days, with the victory going to Marquis Enciodes, who had superior forces. As for Marquis Charlon, who managed to survive, he immediately took the matter to the Empire. But with Ursus currently at war with Higashi, the Emperor delegated the matter to his son instead.]
Fyodor, receiving the order from his father, immediately took care of the matter as assigned. Of course, Fyodor already knew about this from what Grovasel had told him. And that made him feel impressed by the foresight of the young girl named Ludy, who could anticipate his father's way of thinking as if it were the back of her hand.
Moreover, if Fyodor could successfully resolve this matter, not only would he receive praise from his father and the northern nobles, but he might also gain the power of Buldrokkas'tee, a former commander whom his father trusted.
'That girl is truly my lucky charm... I hope that in the future, when she grows up, she will help me rule this country and make Ursus greater than it has ever been.'
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