Chapter 92 – Pioneers Part 2

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“Hey, is it true that you closed up shop just to participate in the mass recruitment of the Shining Star Clan?”

“Yeah, it’s true. I decided to move together with my entire family.”

“Oi, oi, are you really okay with that? You’re going to that Great Demon Forest y’know? Lots of nobles tried their hand at developing that place, but all of them ended giving up in defeat.”

“You guys are already aware, right? I’m talking about the fact that the money they’ve invested in this endeavor is leagues apart from those previous noble’s investments. According to the rumors, it seems they used up all the money they were able to earn from selling off dragon materials. Nobles who get promoted from a commoner background really know their stuff, I tell you.”

“Yeah. Even our workshop’s made a killing from all the orders they placed. ……But still–”

“The previous nobles who made attempts to develop the forest failed because they utterly underestimated it. They couldn’t possibly develop that place without knowing a single damn thing about it. But Lord Corinth is different. He’s an active A-rank adventurer based in Gantz y’know? If there’s anyone who knows the Great Demon Forest inside and out, it’s him. He made a living exploring the place after all. And such a man placed all his bets on developing it. There’s no way it’s gonna fail this time.”

“”That’s true.””

“There’s also the rumor of him taming a dragon. I feel like it’s really gonna go well this time, so I decided to ride the wave before it’s too late.”

“There’s also a rumor that thousands of pioneers were mobilized for the project. Are you guys aware of the benefits they offered for recruiting craftsmen? It looks like we don’t actually need to build homes ourselves if we manage to get recruited. Lord Corinth will provide houses for us instead. They’d need to build houses for hundreds of craftsmen you know. You can’t do something like that if you don’t have at least a thousand men working on it.”

“Is that really true……? Hm. Maybe I’ll try applying myself.”

“If you’re really planning on applying, you better do it soon. I saw the situation in the Craft Guild earlier. It was heavily crowded with people who are applying for a spot.”

The video ended when the men stood up from the table and left the pub.

“It looks like we’ll be able to recruit enough craftsmen without any problems huh.”

“The other day, I heard many were quite disappointed when we announced that we weren’t recruiting locals as pioneers. It’s a bit regrettable, seeing how excited the people are.”

“Yeah. But we have to prioritize the thousands of people under Cleria first.”

We first estimated that the family members of the late earl’s private army, which was about 2000 men strong, numbered about 5,000 or so, but Walter says that estimate was a bit too small.

It seems commoner families had many children, and even Walter had ten siblings himself. That’s a number that’s practically unheard of on my home planet.

He said we should consider that a single household had an average of at least four members. Since the late earl’s army numbered about 2,000 people, even if each of them only had four family members, that would mean we’d have about 8,000 additional people to take in.

It’s possible to bring in additional pioneers to the Sea of Trees from the royal capital later on, but I would like to put down a solid foothold on the area first. I don’t want any problems cropping up from biting more than we can currently chew.

“According to Yumi, if we’re fine with taking in orphans, we’d be able to bring as much as we can,” Sharon commented.

“Hm? Oh, Yumi’s the orphan you girls took in, right? That’s great info. Okay then. Let’s conduct large-scale recruitment of pioneers once the city within our territory is fully up and running.”

“Right. We really need to increase the number of imperial personnel as soon as we can,” Selena added.

“Captain, it’s about time.”

“Oh, it’s time already huh. Alright. I guess we should go then.”

About an hour ago, a messenger from the church visited the inn and told us that the bishop requested me to come over at 1 o’clock in the afternoon if it was alright with me.

Everyone was indignant due to the bishop’s act of calling upon a baron such as myself, but the messenger seemed rather distraught, so it might be something really urgent.

It’s probably related to the archbishop election.

I headed to the church together with Selena and Sharon via carriage along with several escorts.

A Sister was already waiting for us by the entrance as soon as we arrived at the church, and she immediately brought me to the reception room for nobles. The entire place had a hectic and tense atmosphere about it today.

Bishop Gertner arrived immediately. He looked like he was brooding over something.

“I’m sorry for calling upon you on such short notice, Lord Corinth.”

“No, I don’t mind. Is there something urgent you need me for, Bishop?”

“……Well, it can be said that I had no other choice but to have you come, Lord Corinth. Have you seen dreams about the Goddess’ apostle recently?”

Hmm, he’s starting by asking about the apostle, so I suppose the matter he’s concerned about is related to it huh. Judging from the bishop’s brooding look, maybe the situation requires the apostle to show up again?

The bishop seemed to have forgotten all about Sharon and Selena who were behind me.

“As a matter of fact, I indeed saw one last night.”

“Truly!? When will the apostle appear? Could you please tell me, Lord Corinth!?”

The bishop was so distraught that he looked like he was about to pounce on me at any moment. Judging from how flustered he was, the matter seems to be pretty urgent after all.

“Please calm down, Bishop. Can you tell me about the matter first?”

“Ah, I’m truly sorry. Actually, the appearance of the apostle in response to my call during my sermon has caused quite a sensation within the church’s ranks. That’s but natural, of course, but the impact was a little too strong. Cardinal Evo, who was supposed to travel overseas to a neighboring country, suddenly changed his schedule and stopped by here instead.”

(Iris, what’s a cardinal?)

『It’s a church official position one rank above archbishop. It’s practically the third most influential and powerful position in the Ruminas church.』

Hou. That’s quite amazing. So he was two ranks above bishops huh. Now I understand why Bishop Gertner was so distraught.

“Do you mean he’s already in this church?”

“That’s right. He’s currently resting in a separate room. He had already met and talked with me the other day as well.”

“I see……”

“……The Cardinal has already convened the local bishops, and they are starting to arrive here one after another. As things stand, I am probably going to be instructed to call upon the apostle in the presence of the Cardinal and my fellow bishops.”

Was this the reason why Bishop Gertner was blue in the face right now?

The apostle was the messenger of the Goddess, so if it doesn’t show up, Bishop Gertner will probably not be punished harshly, but he would surely be placed in a highly unfavorable position instead.

“Lord Corinth, can you tell me about your dream now?”

“……Unfortunately, I can’t tell from the contents when exactly the apostle would appear.”

“Ah……”

“But there’s no need to worry. According to my dream, you would raise your arms to the sky just like how you did on that day, and the apostle would then appear.”

“………Is that really true?”

The good bishop asked with a stunned expression.

It was more convenient with this kind of arrangement since the bishop wouldn’t have to pay attention to the sound of the bell before ‘calling upon’ the apostle.

“It’s true.”

“Oh…… Dear Goddess.”

The bishop proceeded to kneel down and began to pray intently while making complicated gestures. He must feel like he’d been saved by divine intervention or something.

Haa…… He truly seems to be praying with the pious heart of a bishop, and it’s making me feel quite guilty tricking him like this.

Before long, the bishop finished his prayer.

“Please excuse me, Lord Corinth. I was just so grateful that I forgot myself for a moment.”

The bishop seemed to have noticed the presence of Selena and Sharon as well and acted embarrassed.

“It’s fine. I understand completely, Bishop.”

There was a knock on the door, and a Sister peered from outside the room.

“Your Excellency, everyone is ready.”

“Ah, this is truly the will of the Goddess.”

I heard the bishop mutter such words under his breath.

It really was perfect timing. I’m sure the good bishop does indeed have the blessing of the Goddess. Yep.

When I tried to excuse myself because it seemed he would be busy with his own matters, I was stopped by the bishop and invited to stay for a bit longer. Does he still have other matters to discuss with me? Well, it’s not like I had any other particular business today, so I suppose it’s alright.