Chapter 60 Governing Salt Island

Managing a fief is by no means an easy task, and recently, Daya has been pulling her hair out in frustration.

The border provinces of the empire still maintain the noble fiefdom system, lacking specialized administrative bodies where power and responsibilities are clearly divided. This means the noble themselves must act simultaneously as the mayor, the general, and the judge, handling every single aspect personally and keeping themselves frantically busy.

Old-established nobility usually select trusted brothers from within their clan to cultivate and help share the burden of governing the territory.

Emerging nobility, on the other hand, simply hand the domain over to professional tax-farmers, paying no heed to how they govern as long as the contracted taxes are delivered every month—to use an analogy a modern person can understand, it is like dumping a house onto a secondary landlord, saving all the trouble.

Daya was not a good secondary landlord.

Her nature was far too kind, and her worldly experience far too shallow. Many of the slightly older residents of the fief realized at a glance the best way to deal with this Salt Island administrative officer:

Play the victim.

Having compassion is generally considered a good trait for an ordinary person, but for certain roles, it is a fatal flaw. Even though Vessalia had warned her repeatedly, one's personality cannot simply be changed just by becoming aware of it. As a result, Daya would inevitably find herself pitying those weeping fief residents, only to gradually realize the truth afterwards and begin hating herself for her weakness and stupidity.

She even felt that she would rather be Rene’s bed-warming maid than sit in this seemingly prestigious position only to be played for a fool by the commoners.

Word reached her that Rene had finally returned.

Inside Daya’s small body, a bellyful of fury was brewing.

If there hadn't been outsiders present, she would have used her not-yet-mastered dragon-transformation ultimate move and spat a mouthful of dragon phlegm right at him to blast him to death!

Fuming with rage, Daya rushed out of her study, her hands already clenched into tight fists, intending to ruthlessly smash this irresponsible master's blockhead.

Yet she only saw Rene walking with hurried, unceasing strides into the castle hall, still giving instructions to the castle steward by his side:

"Requisition all idle fishing boats on Salt Island! As for rations, Rock Sea City will be responsible for supplying them—issue a full three months' worth at once. I am taking these fishing boats to the Rainforest Peninsula."

"My Lord Rene," the castle steward said anxiously, "most of Salt Island's fishing boats have a shallow draft and are incapable of venturing into the open sea. A single wave would capsize them."

"It doesn't matter," Rene clearly had a plan already prepared. "Tie all the fishing boats together with ropes to enhance their stability. As for the route, the family fleet will be responsible for escorting them, keeping as close to the coastline as possible to minimize the risk of being overturned by open-sea waves... Oh, Daya, you're here too."

Daya stared at him in a daze.

What, you were actually thinking about going to the Rainforest Peninsula to save the lizardmen all this time?

"That..." The rage she had been bottling up vanished without a trace. Daya stammered for a good while before whispering, "Welcome back, Rene."

The next second, she was pulled into an embrace from the side.

Vessalia wrapped her arms tightly around Daya’s small head, burying her face deep into her expansive chest and ruthlessly smothering her as she burst into laughter:

"Then you welcome me too, right, little Daya?"

Elhlina hurried over to rescue her from Vessalia’s embrace.

Too lazy to bother with the squabbling between the women, Rene walked briskly over to the long table and began examining the hydrographic map of the continental coastline.

The rainy season of the Rainforest Peninsula was coming to an end, but the White Walkers would not wait for the floods to completely subside before resuming their attacks. Dragon Peak City in the original timeline had suffered the consequences of carelessness and underestimating the enemy, and fortunately, the players had charged forward one after another, risking their lives to buy enough time for Dragon Peak City to retreat.

Retreat was the only way out. The more time wasted on other routes meant fewer lizardmen could ultimately be preserved. Coupled with the fact that this world lacked players, if Dragon Peak City played the fool again, no one would give them a chance to make amends.

Having hurriedly finished delegating his tasks, Rene called the castle steward into the study and asked coldly:

"Galvin Olero, you have served in Blood Castle for over forty years. Before Salt Island was granted as a fief, the corresponding affairs were handled by you."

"Tell me, why did my father trust you so deeply, and why was he even willing to hand Salt Island over to you?"

"My Lord," the elderly steward said, bowing slightly, "to the Fahr family, apart from its geographical location, Salt Island is practically worthless in every aspect. Successive generations of family ancestors viewed the fief residents on the island as useless refuse. As for who manages this refuse and ensures they don't cause trouble for the Fahr family, it actually doesn't matter."

"Successive generations of family ancestors?" Rene sneered. "I didn't take you for a historian. When Daya served as the territorial administrator, she received plenty of help from you as well. Many of the residents who were dissatisfied with her judgments were pacified and handled by you afterward. Did I ever instruct you to help her in this regard?"

"Pardon my presumption, My Lord," the steward said, neither servile nor overbearing. "Lady Daya is not a good territorial administrator. Although you gave no specific instructions, I dared to guess that if she governed the fief into complete disarray, you would not be satisfied upon your return."

"A steward like you, who thinks wholeheartedly of his lord, is truly a rare sight nowadays," Rene sighed softly.

Rene did not believe a single word of this steward's self-justification.

Because the most important quality for the position of a steward was "employing one's own people whose backgrounds are thoroughly understood." An old steward like this one, who had deeply entrenched himself in Salt Island for over forty years, ought to have been the first person Rene replaced upon taking office.

Only considering that tens of thousands of lizardmen would soon arrive on Salt Island, a severe shortage of management personnel across the board was bound to occur. Furthermore, the lizardmen residents naturally supported the Dragon Daughter Daya and were unlikely to be incited into rebellion by humans, so he temporarily allowed this old steward to remain in his position to squeeze out his remaining value first.

Judging from this probing, the steward was clearly not the type willing to be discarded without a fight, and he even knew that trying to suck up to Rene was useless. Only by helping a more emotional young girl like Daya could he be remembered for a long time.

Very well, you may continue to demonstrate your worth.

Rene waved a hand to signal that the old steward could leave, and then called Diamond, who was waiting outside the study, to enter.

"You have been doing very well lately," he said, sitting in the armchair with his fingers elegantly intertwined, speaking at a slow pace. "I see that the trading market on Salt Island is thriving."

"This humble one dares not claim credit," Diamond said humbly. "Salt Island's produce is far too barren, and most of the islanders only purchase daily necessities sent from Rock Sea City. Their sources of income primarily come from labor wages in the logging camps, mines, and shipyards."

"You mean to say that our Salt Island is working for Rock Sea City." Rene understood instantly, murmuring thoughtfully, "Grain, rice, and vegetables are necessities that must be exchanged; people cannot survive on seafood alone. But the lack of equivalent trade goods forces the islanders to trade cheap physical labor for these supplies. This labor takes up most of their day, leaving them unable to create more profit for the fief, and consequently, the commercial taxes are very difficult to raise."

"Your wisdom simply fills me with admiration," Diamond said, wearing an appropriately astonished expression. He had thought he would need to explain the relationship between markets, trade, and taxation to Rene, but he hadn't expected Rene to grasp it immediately. "Thanks to the batch of artisans you brought from Rock Sea City, our islanders no longer need to pay higher prices in Rock Sea City to buy ironware, furniture, and clothing, but..."

"Once the contract period ends, these artisans will most likely leave Iron Port City," Rene pondered carefully.

Given the harsh environment of Salt Island, it was actually quite suited for piracy. With an iron mine, a logging camp, a good harbor, and a shipyard, whatever they lacked could simply be taken by force.

But who to raid? The Fahr family and the nobles of the fertile lands were certainly out of the question. The Gem Archipelago overseas... forgive him, he couldn't defeat the High Elf navy.

Therefore, the pirate route was also unviable. If this problem could not be resolved, then once the lizardmen from the Rainforest Peninsula migrated over, it would merely mean an addition of tens of thousands of bottom-tier laborers, offering very limited value to the fief.

Hmm?

Rene suddenly looked at Diamond.

Pirates didn't necessarily have to go out and loot, after all! Wasn't a ready-made example right before his eyes?

"Diamond," Rene said slowly. "I remember you mentioning once that you possess all the hydrographic knowledge from the continent to the Gem Archipelago in your mind... am I right?"