Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement Vol. 2

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Mitsuha had her guests wait a few days because that was how much time her servants needed to properly clean up. Once they were done, she sprung into action.

First, she issued an order that no one could enter her room under any circumstances. She would use her office for normal paperwork and for giving orders to her servants and other subordinates, but she needed a more secure environment for handling more important documents and working on the PC she’d brought from Earth.

Mitsuha also had to consider her own safety. She had chased out the six malignant servants, but there were now six people out there somewhere with a grudge against her. They could easily assist bandits or spies by leaking information.

And though the remaining servants hadn’t betrayed her so far, they could always be bribed or threatened into doing so—for example, if their family members were taken hostage. Because of this, Mitsuha stored all her top-secret items in her bedroom, which was outfitted with maximum security. With that, she was able to sleep soundly at night.

Letting anyone in there is gonna be a big no-no. The maids insisted I let them clean my room, but they relented when I told them I can do it myself.

Next, it was time to make her habitat more enjoyable. For that, she wanted to bring her own bath, cookware, and water tanks with pumps from Japan. At present, cooking and drawing water were tasks handled by servants. As she reflected on this, something occurred to her.

Should I really bring that stuff over? If I do, the servants in charge of those things would lose their jobs, right? They’re good, diligent people. I don’t want my land’s unemployment level to rise just because of my own selfishness.

In the end, Mitsuha had decided to only set up her security system, an AV system, a mini-fridge, an LED light stand, a fan, an electric heater, and a generator to power it all. She gave up completely on air conditioning.

Now it was time to restock on employees. With a third of them getting discharged, she needed replacements, as well as a defense force.

I’ll probably have to hire people from my own county. After all, I can’t just pull them out of other counties, and the free people in the capital would take too long to get here. Hmm, let me chat with Anton about this.

Mitsuha wanted to start off by hiring a few people she could trust, then expand from there. After all, she was planning to have her hand in all kinds of operations. She even planned to search for the relevant specialists in the capital when the time came.

Mitsuha had chased out the head chef, but she was satisfied with the young sous chef they still had. Under the previous ruler, the head chef had taken care of the noble family’s cuisine, while the sous chef handled prep and the servants’ meals.

Honestly, I’m fine with just one chef. The servants don’t eat at the same time, they take turns. Plus, I don’t need any big, fancy meals with all kinds of options I’ll probably never eat. He’ll do just fine by himself.

Huh? Someone’s at the door?

Oh, it’s the merc and the merchant. No, of course I haven’t forgotten them. Probably.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, I really am. ‘Time is money’ is especially true for mercs and merchants.”

“Oh, no need to worry. Considering what the future holds, I didn’t mind waiting a few days,” said Petz.

“Yeah. Same here,” added Willem.

Well, that’s good to know. Time to talk business.

Petz consulted Mitsuha about merchandise and taxes. Taxes differed depending on the county. Key trading locations and sparsely populated countrysides were radically different, so that much was obvious. Since her county had similar conditions to the Bozes’, Mitsuha decided to make her trading climate similar to theirs, except a bit better—twenty percent of the sales price seemed reasonable in her mind. A remote land like hers already meant an increase in travel expenses, and the local purchasing power was still pretty weak.

Afterward, she and Petz devised a trade route. It would begin at the capital, go to the Bozes’ county, then head to Yamano County before going back again. Petz would also stop at towns and villages along the way, and by the time he arrived at Mitsuha’s territory, he would have sold the capital’s best wares. The locals would have to choose from the remaining supply, or whatever he had purchased during his travels.

Petz would pass through the same towns on his way back and buy up goods to sell in the capital. This would minimize the distance he’d have to travel, reduce decay on perishable goods, and lower the damages in case of a bandit attack.

To lure the trader into bringing good merchandise to her territory, Mitsuha had to make it profitable, whether by allowing price flexibility or by lowering taxes. Taxes couldn’t be too low, however, as that would obviously reduce the county’s revenue.

I also have to keep a good balance with the other counties. Hmm...

“What if I taxed your goods at twenty percent, and you handed over any items you didn’t want to take back with you so we could do consignment sales with them. We’d handle that at our local store, so you wouldn’t need to buy any space or hire workers. There’d be zero financial burden on you.

“Also, I’d send out some crafts made in our secret workshop. They’re bound to make a killing, trust me. I could also do consignment sales with those, if you’d like to handle the commission.”

“Huh?”

Petz almost couldn’t believe Mitsuha’s lucrative offer. The low tax—lower than in the Bozes’ county, at that—was one thing, but the idea that he could turn all his excess goods into cash without spending anything was even more enticing. After all, wares that didn’t sell on his first visit to a town weren’t likely to sell during his second. A merchant would prefer to have more space for the things he could sell at the capital.

If someone took all the goods he couldn’t sell, he wouldn’t have to buy smaller amounts of new ones. This would allow him to leave the capital stocked up on enough of the fancier, more superior goods to supply both counties. And a free consignment agreement was like a free shop for him.

“Um, yes, please!” he replied hastily.

The “secret workshop” was a lie, of course; Mitsuha was merely planning to resell goods from discount stores on Earth—avoiding any currently for sale at Mitsuha’s General Store, of course. This would surely increase her profits and the value of coming to the Yamano County, perhaps even increasing the frequency of tourists and visitors.

However, all of this was only a temporary solution. She needed to act fast and make sure things could continue without her.

This is great and all, but ultimately it’s a band-aid fix. I’ve gotta act fast and make sure things can continue here if I disappear or whatever. So, I’ve got to think of something that can be made in my county and sold for a profit.

First things first, though, I need to set up a store run directly by the local government... myself.

Mitsuha and Petz had yet to discuss what goods he should bring and how frequently he should visit, but as these required the opinions of Anton, the servants, and the townsfolk, they decided to fine-tune it later.

Next up is the merc, Willem.

“Any idea what kind of defenses we’ll need?” Mitsuha asked.

Willem cracked a strained grin. “Well, that depends on the enemy, so I can’t tell you much. Though, geographically, this isn’t a place that could be easily attacked by another country, so you could probably expect anything from small packs of monsters to large bandit gangs.”

Yamano County had 676 people: 260 in the main town, 290 total in the three farming villages, 79 in the two mountain villages, and 47 in the fishing village. For a viscount’s territory, the population was quite low.

I wanted this, though. It used to be a baron’s land... but what should I do to protect it?

“Should I bring someone from outside or look among my own people?”

“Hmmm. This place’s far, so hiring someone from the capital would be expensive. Anyone who has family there wouldn’t want to leave, either. And let’s not forget about loyalty.”

Outsiders might choose to desert when backed into a corner, or perhaps even decide to become bandits right after being hired. This area was so obscure that killing a lord’s family and escaping with their wealth wouldn’t be impossible. Worse yet, the murderers could very well end up not getting caught. This was a world without photos, newspapers, or TV, and you couldn’t hope for a proper investigation.

Guess I’m going homegrown! It’ll help me look for potential hires, too. I’ll just have to get Willem to train them. But how long would it take for a recruit to be somewhat useful?

Ah! I’ve got it!

“Willem, I’m hiring you as an army commander for Yamano County. I plan to have a maximum of five career soldiers, all of whom will be commanders. Next, I’ll round up thirty-six of my people and make them juggle both work and military service. We’ll periodically pick new groups until we’ve got around two hundred men at least somewhat capable in battle. Once all that’s done, we’ll pick out the ones with potential and make them into permanent soldiers.”

“What?”

“You are capable of making men’s bodies, minds, and equipment ready for battle, yes?”

“Err, yes.”

Mitsuha had decided to take the universal conscription approach. With so few people at her disposal, she couldn’t support a large permanent army, but a small one wouldn’t be enough for simple patrols, let alone a defensive battle. That was why she’d decided to enforce mandatory shifts of duty, during which many men would have to balance their professional and military obligations. She wanted to target able-bodied men who had no illness in their families and who could afford to step away from their work without much consequence. And once one group’s time was up, they would switch.

This wouldn’t damage her county’s productivity too terribly, and since they would come from their own homes, it wouldn’t burden her or the servants much, either. She would at least make sure they were fed hearty lunches, however.

The thirty-six worker-soldiers from each shift would be split into four squads of nine each. Those nine would be split either into trios or two groups of four with the ninth acting as a group leader. There would be four officers above them all and Willem at the very top.

Mitsuha would allow women to learn to wield a weapon, too. Even if they didn’t end up in battle, she felt it would be good for them to have a means of self-defense.

Now, universal conscription might have seemed like the device of a warmongering nation, but even permanently neutral Switzerland, often considered to be a symbol of peace, had universal conscription. Swiss men were required by law to learn how to use weapons, nearly every household owned a gun, and the people were prepared to at any time assemble into an army of 100,000. For a “symbol of peace”, the country was actually quite militaristic. It took part in a military-industrial complex as well, exporting lots of lethal weapons.

You occasionally get weirdos saying Japan should become as neutral and peaceful as Switzerland, but since their neutrality’s armed, it’s basically like saying, “Screw with us and see what happens!” If Japan wanted to be like them, it’d have to do forced conscription, allow the possession of firearms, and start growing a defense industry. If you ask me, things are pretty peaceful as is.

Mitsuha also recalled that she had to create a census. One was absolutely necessary when it came to matters of military, taxation, and welfare. Keeping a population of less than 700 in check wouldn’t be too hard, however, especially not with the laptop she’d brought over. She planned to make print copies, too, just in case.

I also gotta return to the capital, check on the store, and take care of that one thing. Then I’ll return to Japan and get cracking on that other thing. Oh man, am I busy! I was supposed to have it easy! Why’s this happening?

Yeah, yeah. I know I pretty much asked for this.