“Our Baumeister Knight Territory is actually large enough to be comparable to the archduke’s territory.”
After breakfast, I get the explanation from Erich-nii-san, who on the noble side of the same mother with me, about the facts of our parent’s family’s Baumeister Knight Territory.
I was worried that they might thought it was strange for a 6 year old boy to ask a question, but my new parents, the other brothers and the employees didn’t feel odd about it.
Or rather I, who is ten years younger than the fifth son Erich that look mild and intellectual, was treated like an immature eighth son, so I got not that much attention until now.
It can save me from trouble sometimes due to being treated as someone immature.
“If we develop everything then, Father…”
“If we can develop it. Yeah…it must be hard for margrave.”
But from Erich-nii-san’s dull tone, that is as if we could develop it.
My new hometown, Baumeister Knight Territory, is in the south-east that faces the sea.
But in-between the land that we had barely started spread a vast savage land and forest.
In this forest that the people called “Demon forest” has ingredients and medicinal herb of various natures. There are also some places that produce a mineral or a jewel. It can result in enormous wealth if it could be developed.
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But this forest is, at the same time, also a monster den.
The mechanism of a monster outbreak was unknown, but the common wild animal becomes huge and brutal. It clearly indicates that such creature emerged naturally from such ecosystem.
With their abundant reproductive power, even the weakest creature could be too hard for normal people.
On the other hand, it gives fur and tusk of expensive material when defeated. The meat is delicious and high-quality too.
So there are adventurers that specialize in subjugation. The adventurer guild that supports and manages them exists also, but the problem is that even the adventurer guild refuses to establish a branch office because the Baumeister Knight Territory is in the frontier.
“The strong adventurers certainly would get big income in the Demon forest, but a monster den of that level exists in many places in the continent…”
It was said that there exist thousands of places varying from a small to a large area where such monsters live in the Lingaia continent.
They lived in the wilderness, prairie, river, lakes and marshes, just like our forest.
After certain areas have become monster territory, it would eliminate the human or other animals they found that had wandered inside.
The miserable death of the Brihedar margrave army that Arthur talked about was the result of making light of the monster territory.
“About the margrave army’s end, Father and also the previous Brihedar margrave who were too impatient…did they get punished from the royal palace in the capital city after that?”
It is also the job of some adventurers with comparable ability to hunt the monster by secretly invading the monster territory with only a few people.
Of course there are also many people who lose their lives, but since the income is big as much as it is dangerous, they can make a fortune. There are many people who become famous and serve in royal palace including a noble from Erich-nii-san’s story.
“But Erich-nii-san. Then why did they refuse to establish the guild branch?”
“Since they’re busy.”
It appears that there are also multiple areas where monster lives near Imperial City.
They have not come out for some reason, not even one step from their territory, but they give no mercy to military forces and adventurers who invade.
Humans who invade the monster territory to get rich quickly are fighting desperately with monsters that try to eliminate them.
Even with many people becoming an adventurer, there are also those that are worn-out, so there are still a lot of untouched areas inhabited by monsters in the center of the Lingaia continent.
That is why this area can’t be developed. The Helmut Kingdom and the Urquhart Holy Empire also call the area where the monsters live as the “Nevus continent” in annoyance.
“I’ll also think that our Baumeister Knight Territory is an area in the frontier where someone with the title of a knight had just possessed vast territory.”
The origin of the Baumeister Knight Territory was a poor knight who lived in poverty without duty, took 10 poor people and started a farm village in this open ground.
“The royal palace didn’t seem to have thought that humans would begin a farming village on this ground. The Baumeister Knight Territory was admitted at once when they received the report that our ancestors had succeeded in setting up a village.”
That said, this Baumeister Knight Territory is located in the most remote region, to the extent that trade means with the outside are limited.
“There are three villages that had developed at the foot of a mountain range that runs through the border area in the north and west. The population is about eight hundred people whose main occupation is agriculture with a bit of hunting, gathering things, and saving a few mined iron and copper.”
The neighbor, Brihedar territory’s border was involved in a painful experience related to us in the western part. An alliance of small and weak lords just like us in the northern part gathered their territory together.
But at the same time, the wyverns that live in swarms travel through mountain range. There are also a lot of monsters that live elsewhere so the only method of trade is trading with the caravan that come once every several months.
“They barely pass through the thin mountain path if they are with guards, but with the required adventurers as escorts, the imported goods become expensive.”
Due to going very far to such remote villages, guard duty seems to be unpopular with the adventurers as there is the possibility of wyverns attacking the caravan.
That makes the reward rise rapidly, so the item prices also go up in response. It appears that there is no tariff placed as declared by Arthur with his lord’s right.
“Because the caravan will not comes if we place a tariff.”
Erich-nii-san kept explaining to me with a wry smile. In short, all of our sides are surrounded with areas where monsters live.
The kingdom approves the local area and the huge savage land as one of our territory. However to start with, it is impossible to be developed by a small and weak territory in rural area.
This is the reality of my new home, the Baumeister Knight Territory.