"Lord Jared has really changed! For the first time in 10 years, he fell asleep while looking at documents in his office, and now he's checking papers at the training ground in the morning!"
Hayes was watching Jared quietly walking alone at the training ground through the window. Jared had been walking for an hour now. Hayes couldn't understand it.
Just yesterday, Jared was a lazy person who found it bothersome to move from his bedroom to his office. And now he's walking and moving for more than 10 minutes? That's something that could never happen.
The most he would walk in his daily life was when he went out to inspect the territory. He had to go to the mansion's front gate to get on the carriage, but that was only a few minutes away at most.
"What on earth happened? Did my prayers really work? The head maid and the butler said the same thing as me! They said Lord Jared has changed."
The Jared Hayes remembered was someone who always had sleepy eyes, tired of the daily routine. The only time he looked lively was when he was eating delicious food. But now, there was no trace of his old dull eyes. His eyes were full of energy all the time! It was a huge change.
"Did my prayers really work?"
Hayes recalled how he used to pray for Jared to return to the bright and lively lord he was when he was young. Everyone else shook their heads and gave up, but Hayes believed that one day, Lord Jared would come to his senses! And it seemed like that belief had become reality, as if it was all a lie since yesterday.
"But just in case, I shouldn't get too excited. I need to calm down and not make a fuss!"
Hayes comforted himself. He was very happy, but he wanted to be more careful because Jared was someone important to him.
"Darn body! Even though I walked really slowly, I'm out of breath. Wow, I'm sweating just from walking in this cold weather? My stamina is terrible."
It had been over an hour since I started walking at the training ground. I thought it wouldn't be tiring since it was less than a stroll, but my whole body was drenched in sweat.
"Huff."
My body kept sending signals that it wanted to rest, regardless of my will. More than anything, I craved something sweet. In my past life, I didn't really like chocolate. If anything, I preferred candy. But this body's craving for sweet chocolate kept popping up every few seconds. After adjusting my diet yesterday and avoiding the usual meat and sweets, it felt like I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
"Slurp."
Thinking about sweetness made my mouth water. But knowing I couldn't eat it made my hands tremble.
"No, I won't eat it. I won't."
I suppressed my sudden cravings and continued to look over the documents. They were documents related to the territory, long papers about the internal state of the land. They were the documents I had Hayes bring to me last night, and there were so many that it took a while to read them all. I had just finished reading the last page.
At that moment, a system message appeared as if it had been waiting.
[Successfully accessed information about the Crivia Territory.]
[Information about the current state of the Crivia Territory is updated for 'Jared'.]
The information looked similar to what I used to see in the territory management window in <Paradiso>.
"The game system followed me into this life. Of course, this is a unique ability only I have!"
Since I had awareness of both my past and present lives, it was easy to realize that this information window was special. Being affected by the game system was the only privilege I could enjoy as an extra.
"Let's see…"
[Territory Information - Crivia Territory]
[Rank / Affiliated Country: F / None]
[Internal Affairs - Agriculture: 015 / 050]
[Internal Affairs - Commerce: 016 / 050]
[Internal Affairs - Security: 075 / 100]
[Internal Affairs - Science: 017 / 100]
[Internal Affairs - Loyalty: 018 / 100]
[Military - Total Personnel: Currently 228]
[Special Situation 1: The Crivia Territory is adjacent to the Forest of Nightmares. Every year on July 1st, when the main star Deus and the guest star Vendela align in the sky, there is a large-scale invasion of monsters targeting the Crivia Territory.]
[Special Situation 2: The lord of the neighboring Majorca Territory, Horgus, has publicly criticized Lord Jared of the Crivia Territory as someone who cannot be trusted!]
[Special Situation 3: The bandit king Volcas sent a letter saying that if they exchange their corn for the Crivia Territory's magic stones one-to-one, there will be no bloodshed.]
"Is this a territory or just a piece of land that's been left to rot? How much of a pushover did the lord seem for the bandit king to send such a ridiculous letter?"
I was shocked by the updated territory information. None of the internal affairs numbers were decent. And the security seems high? That's because it's an F-rank territory, so the required level of security is very low. In a large territory, the maximum security level shown on the right side of the territory window stats can be 1000 or even 10000!
In other words, Jared's territory management before my awakening was a mess. To put it bluntly, it was neglected. If this were a neglect-based game, but in reality, managing a territory like this means we're all doomed.
"Loyalty 18… That's a number that comes up when the people of the territory are cursing you out while eating or drinking."
The loyalty of the people was terrible, just like the bad vibe the number gave off. At this level, complaints and curses about me would be as common as side dishes and snacks during meals and drinks. It meant there was a lot of dissatisfaction.
"Okay, let's not be surprised by this. I knew the territory was in a poor condition and poorly managed from the start."
I calmed myself down. It wasn't something I didn't know and just found out; I knew from the moment I woke up and saw my body that there was a long way to go. This is just another burden to bear and overcome. There's no need to be discouraged by this.
I have experience turning a territory that was in worse shape than this into an S-rank territory in <Paradiso>! Of course, that was when I was at a high level, but still, it's not impossible.
"First, let's see if there are any useful people in the territory."
I started to go through the vassal information documents. The fact that the territory had been in such a mess likely meant that the talents weren't placed in the right positions. If they weren't given any tasks at all, the territory wouldn't be functioning. The fact that it wasn't completely paralyzed suggested that it was barely holding together.
As I read through the documents, after a while.
"Wow, they sent someone with commercial talent to develop farmland?"
"Why would they put a lifelong warrior in charge of commerce?"
"They put someone with such a bad reputation in charge of security?"
"The head of the territory's merchant group is a parachute appointment. They have too little experience in the commercial field!"
I was shocked. There wasn't a single person placed in the right position. It was all mismatched. By looking at their past activities, it was clear which field they were interested in and skilled at. But none of that was considered.
In <Paradiso>, when managing a territory, it was common sense to assign talents based on their tendencies, stats, and suitability. The more they worked in their desired field, the more synergy was amplified. This is basic common sense.
But in <Paradiso>, there were often cases where poor talent placement led to the ruin of territory management. To prevent such disasters, players needed to frequently meet with them to understand their grievances and confirm their desired work fields. However, many players found even that bothersome and just filled positions with warm bodies and neglected them. Of course, the outcome for such players was obvious. They would lose their territory and become penniless wandering players.
If territory management were such a simple issue that could be done haphazardly, I would have become a top-ranked player in <Paradiso>. Managing people is that difficult.
"First, let's gather the vassals. With the Insight skill, understanding their tendencies will be easy now."
"Give me back my Insight!"
"Isabella, you're still here? No way. Insight is essential for territory management. I'm never giving it back."
"Let's see how long you can keep it from me!"
"Take it when I die. I don't know when that will be, though."
"Give me back my eyes!"
Ignoring Isabella's sudden interruption, I headed to the office. It's time for the first personnel reshuffle. The current territory management is beyond a mess and on the brink of collapse. That has to be stopped first.
"Let's see…"
While waiting for the vassals, I checked my condition as a magician in the office. My magic stat wasn't high enough yet to use magic freely. But my understanding of up to 4th-class magic was more than sufficient. Pop. Pop. Pop. A magic orb appeared and disappeared repeatedly in my hand. I was repeatedly canceling the casting stage, and fortunately, there was no problem with the mana flow in my body. That was because I had been practicing the Yucales family's mana technique, a family secret passed down from my father.
I had been practicing the 'Yucales Mana Technique' since I was young, and by the age of ten, I was so used to it that just breathing would circulate mana. Because of that, even though I gave up training in the martial arts after the shock of my father's death at fifteen, my body continued the process on its own.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then there was a knock on the door.
"Everyone, come in."
As my voice sounded, the vassals summoned to the meeting began to enter one by one.
"What's that smell?"
Something was off. In this serious meeting where the lord had summoned the vassals, there was a strong smell of alcohol for some reason.
"This is really a mess. I need to reestablish the lord's authority."
I clenched my fists. The lord's authority is directly linked to the vassals' loyalty. Running a territory in a wishy-washy manner will definitely lead to ruin. I stood up from my seat. And I shouted at the vassals.
"Who is it? Who came to the meeting in broad daylight reeking of alcohol?"