Winter slowly passed, and the snowy mountains gradually receded.
During this time, in Sean's eyes, the weather was almost always clear. According to Aria, outside the mountains, the temperature was starting to warm up at this time of year, but the damp mountain air always brought a cooling effect.
Regardless of the weather, more and more people kept coming into the mountains during this period, almost all from Koga City.
Besides craftsmen, there were mostly merchants and members of the Adventurers' Guild, specifically tasked with overseeing the construction of the market and the guild's branch, along with related matters. In this regard, Aria kept her word—she had promised to help Taylemian establish itself and continuously sent people traveling between Koga City and Taylemian.
Sean gazed at the gradually rising buildings on the large map...
Though not yet completed, they had taken shape. With the Earl's family donation of one hundred thousand gold coins, his own treasury was growing increasingly abundant. As long as he rode this wave, he estimated that within half a year, the town's entire income would double.
He couldn't save those who had died in the disaster, but by allowing the town to continue developing and attracting people, he could gradually make up for those losses.
Creak~
The hall door opened, and Luke walked in with a smile.
"Still here, my lord?" He looked at the large map spread on the table. It seemed that for a while now, his lord had been fond of staring at the map, though Luke never knew what he was looking at. It was just a map—after looking at it for so long, he should have memorized it by now.
But Luke never asked, pretending not to notice each time.
"Yeah, anything up?" Sean asked.
Usually, when Luke came to him, it was to deliver some news.
"Yes, my lord. Today, high-ranking officials from the Adventurers' Guild in Koga City are arriving. I hear they plan to leave one person behind temporarily to manage things. I thought you might want to meet them?"
The Adventurers' Guild was essentially a trading post. Buyers from various places would post bounties, and adventurers seeking work would take on the tasks—just like the archaeological team before, weren't they responding to a posted bounty?
In this town, almost no one posted bounties since everyone was relatively poor. If anyone did, it would likely be Sean himself or the local merchants. Setting up the Adventurers' Guild was mostly to catalog the resources around the town.
For example, valuable herbs or animals.
That way, outsiders who needed them would know where to find them and send people to collect them. In small places, the Adventurers' Guild mostly served this function, charging a fee and saving people the trouble of traveling far and wide.
Sean figured that only a few caretakers would be left in town, so he didn't need to meet these people personally.
"Handle these matters yourself. From now on, you and Danti will be the ones dealing with them more often. I won't get involved."
As the local lord, Sean was like the town's official. He shouldn't get too close to commercial organizations, or it might alienate the local merchants.
"Understood, my lord."
"By the way, how are Miss Aria and her group today?" The topic shifted to the Earl's daughter.
In the first few days, he had taken them around town almost daily. She was probably visiting a mountain village like this for the first time and seemed quite curious!
Later, as things got busy, Sean became occupied, and she was frequently in contact with Koga City... Though they lived in the same courtyard, they barely saw each other all day.
"I heard from Sir Cleveland that they might leave in a couple of days. Miss Aria isn't used to the mountain climate, and they seem to have other business to attend to," Luke said.
"Leaving?"
That made sense. The southern region didn't just have him as a baron. If she wanted support from more nobles, she'd need to win over others. His town was just the first stop; there would be more places to go.
"Yes, I think they're heading southwest."
"That's fine. I figured they'd only stay a few days. But since Miss Aria has helped us a lot, let everyone know we'll see them off that day," Sean said.
"Got it!"
Luke agreed but hesitated.
"My lord, are you worried that after Miss Aria leaves, her support for Taylemian will dwindle?"
Huh?
Luke's comment caught Sean off guard. His steward was good at everything, but sometimes he had too many thoughts that Sean couldn't keep up with. Why bring this up now?
"Is that possible?"
"I think so. Miss Aria is friendly, but Sir Cleveland beside her has his own ideas. These past few days, I've had people accompany him around town, and I found he's been secretly investigating our town's strength—including the size of the guard and tax revenue. Right now, Miss Aria doesn't have many nobles to rely on, so she values us. But if she gains support from wealthier nobles elsewhere, she might neglect Taylemian."
Sean hadn't expected Luke to be monitoring the knight's every move.
In fact, he had noticed earlier that even though Aria's favorability toward him had reached [Friendly], the knight remained [Neutral]. No matter how much they talked, that status wouldn't change.
So, the knight already had reservations about him.
With Luke's insight, Sean guessed the knight had learned some of Taylemian's secrets. After all, a small place couldn't hide much. The simple pace of life meant outsiders would figure things out after a few interactions.
He probably suspected Sean was profiting from the succession struggle in Koga City, but since they needed a noble's support, he hadn't shown any outright hostility.
"I have my own plans. That's why I've been having you and Danti deal with the outside merchants. In the future, when I'm away, you'll be in charge of the town's affairs."
Sean's words made Luke pause.
"My lord, are you..."
"Yeah, after early spring, I'll visit Koga City. First, to thank the Earl for his aid; second, I want to see how things are in Koga City... We can't rely on just one road to bring us all our supplies." He patted Luke on the shoulder.
He saw the man's eyes light up.
"So you've already thought of that, my lord. I was worrying for nothing!"
Uh...
Sean felt a bit uneasy inside...
He had literally just thought of that on the spot. Earlier, he had told Luke to handle the merchants for a different reason.
Sometimes, decisions came together like this—two unrelated things could be resolved with one choice. It felt like fate at work.