And then, when I heard various stories from Earl....
This earl's policy was decent!
Now, it was the time for the people to endure, and he was tightening the people a little, but it couldn't be helped because it was a situation like this.
It would be foolish to leave things as they were.
Doing so would significantly delay the recovery of the territory.
Then why…?
While I was thinking about this, I noticed that Sabine-chan seemed to be fidgeting for some reason...
Oh, that!
"Excuse me, Earl-sama. Please take a short break…" (Mitsuha)
When I said that, Earl noticed Sabine-chan's condition and made a surprised face.
"Th-This is, sorry for not being considerate enough! Hey, Arte, guide Her Highness around!" (Earl)
Of course, Earl apologized to Sabine-chan, not to me who asked for a break.
Yeah, that's because they'd been refilling the tea many times since a while ago.
And the princess couldn't bring herself to ask "Let me use the toilet" when visiting someone.
Other people would have to be aware of that and take it into consideration in advance.
But when I was with her, she was always proudly saying, "I want to go to the bathroom!", so I forgot. Sabine-chan was properly switching between when she was with me and Colette-chan, and when she was visiting nobles and doing business as a princess.
As expected of a princess! Sasu-Sabi!
And we never used words like toilet or restroom. It's just a break, a breaktime!!
The servant guided the two of us to the "room for that."
I was still fine, so I was just going to accompany Sabine-chan.
And when I arrived at the "room"…
"Ane-sama, please…" (Sabine)
Sabine-chan said so and sent me a hand sign that said, "Request transfer."
Ah….
The toilet at the General Store Mitsuha, at the Yamano family's Japanese residence, at the territory mansion, and the toilet exclusive for Sabine-chan I made at the royal palace. Was it difficult for her, who was used to them, to use other people's toilets?
Maybe she used it normally before, but... well, maybe there's nothing we could do about it...
I know how you feel…
There was a female servant, but there was no problem.
After Sabine-chan entered the room by herself and closed the door…
Continuous transfer!
I left Sabine-chan in the Japanese residence, and I was the only one in the original position.
The maid might have seen me flashing for a moment, but she probably didn't even think about it. She would have just thought it was an optical illusion, or that she was dizzy...
And the two of us waited patiently…
"Umm..." (Servant)
Somehow, the servant started talking to me.
That's amazing!
It was not normal for a servant to talk to a noble, especially a guest who came with Her Highness.
Not only did it ruin the reputation of the noble who employed her, it was also disrespectful towards a noble who was a guest. Even so, it might still be a light punishment.
…I didn’t think it would go so far as to be considered an outrageous attack, though…
Anyway, it was usually not what it should be.
"Earl-sama is a good person. The scar on his cheek was from trying to protect the villagers from the imperial soldiers…" (Servant)
Wow…!
What is that…!!
A young servant would risk her own life to protect her master? How much do you admire him! Besides, what's that episode?!
It was a sudden visit, so they didn't have time to prepare.
In other words, this was a word that was really said by this servant's will.
…Impossible….
Is it even possible….?
But well, for now…
"The Goddess and Her Royal Highness see through everything. About Earl and the loyal servant who showed courage in spite of himself…" (Servant)
Ah, the servant had tears in her eyes.
No, what else could I say in this scene!
…well, I just said that it was a sightseeing, and I didn’t say that I would help or overlook it, so I didn’t take any promises.
However, for those who believed that Earl was a good person, those words only sounded like salvation.
Yes, that's certainly true if Earl was as good a person as we believed him to be. And it seemed that that's actually the case, which made me feel a little frustrated...
After 10 minutes, I got Sabine-chan back with a continuous transfer.
I didn't know if it was big or small, so I adjusted the time to be a bit longer.
And it seemed that it ended on time safely.
Sabine-chan, who came out of the small room, approached me and quietly said a few words.
"…I used tea…" (Sabine)
And in her hand was a 500ml PET bottle that had become empty.
Oh, I see!
It would be strange if the pot was empty even though she had used the toilet. So, after using the toilet in the Japanese residence, she went to get a plastic bottle from the kitchen, and then returned to her original position to wait...
As expected, Sabine-chan.
For the time being, I received an empty plastic bottle from Sabine-chan and put it in the kitchen of the Japanese residence with continuous transfer.
Well, she went to the bathroom empty-handed, so she couldn't come back with something like this.
And then, we went back to the room where Earl was waiting…
"Sorry to keep you waiting"
Well, it was not me, it was Sabine-chan's fault, and it was not a good topic for a man to interject, so Earl just nodded silently. That's the proper etiquette in these situations.
"That's why, not only the stockpile in the storehouse, but also the crops in the field, next year's seed, everything… The few crops left in the field were trampled, and the soil was trampled and hardened, making a mess. And to prevent the villagers from resisting, to prevent the royal soldiers from receiving supplies, and to prevent the pursuit, the houses, storehouses, and wheat fields were set on fire…" (Earl)
After hearing more details after that, it seemed that it was already terrible. Even if it was only half the story, it was pretty awful.
…and somehow, Earl didn’t seem to be really telling lies….
Of course, in order to quickly rebuild the territory, it's inevitable that the people would have to endure for a few years. It would be a problem if this situation continued forever, but if the harvest were to fail due to bad weather or disease at a time like this, people would starve to death.
And I just couldn't believe that Earl was a person who oppressed the people of his fief…
Or rather, I didn't think he didn't understand that "The territory and the Earl's family have no future if they crush the people of the fief."
What did the lords have to gain by destroying their territories?
It would be one thing if he was planning to take all the money and throw away his territory, but if he planned to pass on the territory and the title to his children, grandchildren, and future generations...
Oh, I see!
If we looked at it from a different perspective, if he didn't intend to continue or prosper the territory, and just wanted to temporarily collect money…
“Earl-sama, could you spare a few days?” (Mitsuha)
"…Eh?" (Earl)
Yes, there's something I'd like to try.
Author's Note
Notice!
In the December issue of Kodansha's "Monthly Shonen Sirius", which will be released on October 26 (Wednesday), there will be a comicalization of "Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement" and the cover of the novel, color frontispiece, illustrations, etc. An interview with Keisuke Motoe, who is in charge of the animation, will be posted!
As everyone who has seen the teaser PV has vaguely guessed, the animation is probably not an "animation of a novel", but an "animation of the comic version"! (^^)/
Please take a look at the interview with Motoe-sensei!!
Edit History
5 Oct 2023: grammar correction, improved readability.