New chapter of May Our Village be Happy is out (1/2 chapters)

 

 

Current State of the Territory (1)

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

“Good morning, Mika-sama.” (Helga)

It was morning. Mika was called so, and he awoke.

Rising and casting his gaze restlessly about the surroundings, he recalled.

“Ah, so that was how it was…” (Mika)

Yesterday evening, upon the entreaties of the villagers, he had resolved to become the lord of this village, and thus became Mika Valentine. He had taken the manor, once the dwelling of the former lord’s family, as his temporary residence, and their bedchamber as his provisional chamber, and there he had fallen into slumber.

“Good morning, Helga.” (Mika)

“Yes, good morning. Allow me to prepare you for the morning.” (Helga)

With a gentle smile upon her lips, Helga, the aged servant of the manor, approached Mika. He washed his face in the water she presented in a wooden bucket, and permitted her to lightly arrange his hair. Rising from the bed, slightly too broad for a solitary sleeper, he accepted his garments and changed from his nightclothes.

The number of servants who attended a noble household varied according to the size of the territory it ruled. Mika’s birth house, the Carossa Household, which governed a populace of some 700, retained five servants. In contrast, the Dondando Household, the prior lords of this village, employed but two. Helga, who tended the household’s internal affairs, and Ivan, an elderly man who bore responsibility for the external labors. For the present, Mika retained them both as they were.

“Good morning, Dimitri.” (Mika)

“Good morning, Mika-sama.” (Dimitri)

Leaving his chamber and descending to the ground floor of the two-storied manor, Mika encountered Dimitri in the large room serving as both hall and dining chamber. Dimitri, too, had been assigned to reside here as his attendant and guard.

Once Mika, as lord, took his seat at the table, the morning meal began. Bread, soup, and a dish of eggs resembling scrambled eggs were set forth, and Mika dined together with Dimitri, conversing with him over the meal. Helga and Ivan, the other servant, were to take their own repast after Mika and Dimitri had finished.

When the meal was ended, Mika drank his after-meal tea and then idled away the time until Marcel should arrive for their forthcoming council. Having had little leisure the previous night to observe his new abode, he now took the opportunity to survey the manor.

It was, in truth, a modest two-storied wooden house, not of great size.

The dwellings of lesser lords were of two sorts. The first was the castle. Yet such castles were not of the massive and impregnable kind Mika had known in his former world, but rather small fortifications upon natural or artificial hills, surrounded by earthen ramparts or palisades of logs, within which stood a wooden or partially stone-built hall, a storehouse, and a watchtower. Such had been the form of the Carossa Household’s own residence. The other type was the manor house, such as this one, a hall of one or two stories, often enclosed by a wooden fence.

Having concluded his brief inspection of the interior, Mika stepped into the rear garden, which was likewise not expansive.

“…Fufu.” (Mika)

He beheld the rear garden, neatly kept by Ivan’s mowing, and a smile escaped his lips.

In one corner lay wooden practice swords, once used by the former lord Dondo’s younger brother and nephews, who had borne responsibility for maintaining public order. Here and there, too, lay cast-off furniture, the failed works of Dondo, whose pastime had been carpentry. These awaited their destiny as firewood.

The manor still bore the traces of its former occupants, who had fled, spurned by their own people, never to return. In their place, Mika now stood. He himself, and none other, was now the lord, the sovereign and the protector of all within this land.

“Fufu… ahahaha!” (Mika)

From within his breast welled up joy, until Mika, his countenance radiant, raised his arms in exultation.

“Hurrah! This is my territory! I am the lord here!” (Mika)

His dream was fulfilled. He had become the master of a territory, albeit of but one small and poor village. Yet it was his cherished dream, his long-yearned-for territory. Here would he live, govern, protect, and bring prosperity, leading his people into happiness as he walked the path of life.

 

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In the forenoon, Marcel arrived at the manor, and Mika held council with him, examining the present state of the Valentine territory and considering its future course.

The current population numbered 29 adult men, 33 adult women, and some 40 children, totaling but little short of 100 souls, to which Mika and Dimitri had now been added.

The extent of Mika’s newly acquired territory comprised the village, its farmlands, and the surrounding lands within reach of proper administration. To the north rose hills which was in other directions, forests spread. Eastward, a stream descended from the northern hills to the southern forest, and the villagers made use of its waters.

Paths connected the territory with neighboring lands through the gaps of the forest to the east and west. Yet the southern forest was vast and deep, making passage to the territories beyond nearly impossible. Dangerous magic beasts dwelt in its depths, and to attempt a crossing was sheer folly.

To the west lay the Collette territory, which Mika had passed through upon his journey here. The Collette Household governed a village of some 200 people, twice the size of Valentine.

To the east stretched the Fontanier territory, consisting of two villages with a total of some 500 people, again much larger in scale.

Beyond Fontanier, past two further territories, lay the Yuteirainen territory, which held a city of 2000 and seven villages, amounting to 4000 souls. This territory formed the economic heart of the surrounding region.

Beyond the northern hills, the Meldas territory governed a village of four hundred. Though the hills were partly forested and not easily crossed, it was nevertheless possible on foot, and some intercourse existed with Meldas.

Of the two routes westward from Yuteirainen, the southern side where Valentine, Collette, and Fontanier lay, and the northern side where Meldas stood, the northern was the more prosperous, for its forests were fewer and human settlements more easily spread. Thus, the main flow of east-west traffic naturally passed through that side.

“It is said that because the southern side of the hills was yet undeveloped and sparsely peopled, the first lord, Doran Dondando-sama, perceived the potential for new settlement and built this village. For more than fifty years since, peace endured. From time to time, savage magic beasts emerged from the forest, petty thieves attempted robberies, or minor skirmishes arose with neighboring territories, but no peril ever threatened the village’s existence. Never before had we suffered an attack by so great a band of brigands.” (Marcel)

“I see… Then truly, from the perspective of these territories, the war in the west was a most unwelcome nuisance.” (Mika)

Mika spoke with a wry smile, to which Marcel responded with one of his own.

According to Dimitri, who had been conscripted as a soldier, the war into which Mika had been drawn was waged between two great lords who contended for influence in that region.

What began as a quarrel over borders escalated, one side summoning the support of surrounding minor lords and kin among greater houses before launching an assault. The other side gathered allies in response, and both armies clashed with forces nearing a thousand each. Dimitri’s side was defeated, overwhelmed by a flanking attack from the west, collapsing utterly and fleeing eastward. Pursued relentlessly, hundreds of routed soldiers scattered and never returned, becoming unable even to find their way back to their homelands.

It was such lost conscripts who, having no other recourse, turned to brigandage. The band of brigands that attacked the village the previous day was almost certainly of this kind.

For the region, it was a grievous misfortune to have been inundated by brigands born of another’s war. Of all, this village was the most ill-starred, for it was struck by a company fifty strong under the command of a seasoned mercenary.

Why such a skilled mercenary, capable of commanding 50 men, had fallen to brigandage would never be known, for he had perished beneath the blow of a log. Mika surmised, however, that the man had lost his company in defeat and, seeking to rise again, had gathered scattered soldiers to strike at what seemed an easy target.

Mika could not help but sympathize with the Dondando Household, who had faced an unprecedented threat. Yet to abandon their people and flee first of all was inexcusable.

“Well, those brigands we repelled yesterday were likely the largest such band among the deserters. Now that their leader has been slain and they have scattered, no great threat remains to this territory. Should small bands appear without proper commanders, I shall easily drive them off myself.” (Mika)

“Yes. In that respect also, we are greatly heartened that you have deigned to become our lord, Mika-sama.” (Marcel)

“Ahaha, thank you. Then, I should also like to hear the present state of agriculture, which is the chief industry of this territory.” (Mika)

“As you command.” (Marcel)

Marcel inclined his head and began to relate in detail the condition of the village’s agriculture.

 

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