How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 166

Winter had arrived.In truth, our preparations for this winter had been unusually short.

The war had broken out just as autumn was coming to an end.

Fortunately, it wasn't our war.

The residents of the territory had continued preparing for winter without interruption.

Thanks to the efforts of Butler Harold and everyone else, we once again welcomed a winter without shortages.

‘As expected of Butler Harold. I knew I could count on him.’

The only problem was that the war had consumed a tremendous amount of supplies.

Large quantities of food and weapons had been requisitioned, leaving noticeable gaps in our stockpiles.

Fortunately, winning the war allowed us to replenish much of it.

The food shortage was largely resolved by receiving wheat from the Cow Tribe.

As for weapons, most of the losses were recovered from the spoils gathered after the battle.

The most important consumable had been arrows.

Fortunately, the Iron Arrows produced by our territory could be reused to a certain extent.

Since we'd won the war, recovering and reusing arrows from the battlefield wasn't particularly difficult.

The casualties from the war had also been minimal.

At the most critical moments, we'd benefited from Yuria's Shamanism buffs.

Thanks to the Rabbit Tribe Priests, who had actively participated in the battle, very few people had died.

Most of the casualties had been on the Cow Tribe's side.

Nearly all of our territory's Knights had survived.

The combination of Priests and potions proved even more powerful than I'd imagined.

So powerful that it completely overturned Iron's old assumption that Priests weren't really necessary as long as you had enough potions.

There was a reason everyone was willing to pay enormous prices just to establish a Temple in their territory.

As a result, getting through the winter had become much easier.

This year was even better than the last.

Both the quality and quantity of our forces had improved.

If anything happened, the Lion Tribe—our allies—could come through the tunnels to reinforce us.

Likewise, we could also rush to assist them.

Things had become secure enough that I, the Lord, no longer needed to personally stand on the front lines.

Thanks to that, I remained in Johnson Castle today, taking care of territorial affairs.

Or rather...

Not just Johnson Territory.

Everything related to the Beastman Alliance had become my responsibility as well.

‘Winter isn't supposed to be a season like this.’

-In that regard, that muscular male was incredibly clever.

‘I would've done the same if I'd had the chance.’

For the record, as soon as winter began, Rudick and Leisha fled to the Northern Gate Fortress.

After recovering from childbirth, Celine went with them.

So did Limond, who assisted both Celine and Leisha.

What shocked me most was Rudick's decision.

He had even dragged Lady Viola and the newborn Baeyan with him and simply started living there.

I was horrified.

How could anyone bring a newborn baby to a place like that?

Surprisingly enough...

That was considered perfectly normal here.

This was a land where only the strong survived.

Even children were raised with astonishing toughness.

‘Then again, it's not really that dangerous anymore. Especially considering the Lion Tribe's support.’

Ever since the tunnel connecting Rotsy and the Northern Gate Fortress had been completed, the fortress had become far safer than before.

The Builders had also renovated the barracks into comfortable living quarters.

Ordinary civilians could easily live there now.

‘Seriously... Rudick's instincts are frighteningly sharp.’

After we'd spent nearly a month away fighting the war, and after every Beastman tribe entrusted us with their Divine Relics, my workload had increased dramatically.

Leisha was hopeless when it came to administrative work.

But had Rudick remained here, work would've inevitably started landing on his desk as well.

He usually looked like he lived without a single thought in his head.

Yet somehow, he was incredibly quick when it came to avoiding work.

“Did the trade negotiations go well?”

“Yes. We've arranged to conduct trade through Hawrun.”

“And the prices?”

“Reasonably good. We won't be selling things as cheaply as before. They seemed to read the situation too, so both sides exchanged what was appropriate.”

“Not bad.”

The Fox Tribe, who oversaw our merchant caravans, had established trade with Vines and New Level.

They contacted the other territories through Hawrun, which was practically a neutral territory, and reached long-term agreements.

Apparently, both sides had been extremely proactive.

Trying to exert influence over the Levelium Region no longer mattered.

Trading with the Beastmen had already slipped completely out of their hands.

‘Well, they apparently tried all sorts of things. Not that it did them any good.’

Lucas Castle, in the northern part of the Levelium Region, had fallen under Vines' influence.

After taking control of Lucas, Vines attempted to establish trade with the Cow Tribe.

The news reached us almost immediately.

What had Rioxen said again?

-“Trade with humans? Leave troublesome matters like that to the human chieftain. We don't want headaches anymore. Besides, no matter how they trade, he'll surely secure a better deal for us than anyone else.”

Something like that.

Under these circumstances, Vines wasn't in any position to reject our requests.

‘They're even more desperate because they're already running short on Mana Crystals.’

Unlike New Level, which possessed a Mana Stone Mine, Vines was running short on Mana Crystals themselves.

The usually immovable Lord of Vines had personally rushed to seize Lucas Castle because he wanted access to Mana Crystals from the Beastmen.

The monster Heartstones needed to produce Mana Crystals meant absolutely nothing to the Beastmen.

A few pounds of meat were enough to trade for them.

‘Looking at it that way, the Lord of Vines really stepped in it. Lucas Territory is practically bankrupt.’

Imperial citizens were still crawling all over the place.

Every useful supply had already been looted by the Horse Tribe.

And with Lucas losing even its geographical advantage of trading with the Beastmen...

What value did it have left?

Unlike the other territories in Levelium, Lucas had survived almost entirely through intermediary trade.

‘Then again... would the Lord of Vines actually abandon Lucas? With that personality?’

A greedy man like him would never abandon territory he'd already taken.

He'd probably be dealing with headaches for quite some time.

“And now... regarding the Cow Tribe.”

“What about them?”

“They're making a huge fuss demanding more potatoes.”

“Ah... those guys...”

After Yuria finished reporting that trade negotiations had gone fairly smoothly, she immediately brought up another troublesome issue.

The Cow Tribe wanted potatoes.

‘Maybe I shouldn't have introduced potatoes to them. It'll only be annoying until this winter is over. After next year they'll handle it themselves.’

Last summer...

When I first visited Rotsy after the tunnel had been completed...

Peter and Dr. Nickel had searched through the Lion Tribe's food stores and discovered an enormous supply of potatoes.

The Lion Tribe treated potatoes as emergency rations to be eaten only when facing death itself.

It was another reminder that lions were true carnivores.

Naturally, we confiscated every last potato.

We then distributed them to three places.

Johnson Territory.

Hawrun Territory.

And Haken Territory.

In particular, we dumped a massive quantity around Hawrun Castle.

Since they'd missed the normal farming season and planted nothing else, potatoes were the perfect choice.

Apparently, most of the potatoes had already sprouted due to poor storage, making them extremely easy to plant.

‘And then the potato harvest turned into a huge success.’

Many of the Hawrun refugees had apparently been farmers.

Despite it being their first attempt at growing potatoes, the harvest was spectacular.

They harvested enough to completely fill the castle's warehouses—and still had leftovers.

Even the wild potatoes produced surprisingly large tubers.

There was far more than the residents of Hawrun Castle could ever consume.

Then...

Just as the potatoes were harvested...

The war broke out.

The Hawrun residents all returned to their hometowns.

At that point, Butler Harold purchased every last potato.

Since nobody wanted to carry sacks of potatoes all the way back to the former Hawrun Region, the residents happily agreed.

‘The problem was... Johnson Territory also had a bumper potato harvest.’

Hawrun wasn't the only place that struck gold.

After harvesting wheat, we'd planted potatoes somewhat late in the season.

Just before winter began, we harvested them...

And ended up with far more than expected.

We suddenly had mountains of potatoes.

Now we had to figure out what to do with them all.

-The Cow Tribe was the perfect group to dispose of potatoes.

‘Exactly. There really wasn't any other choice.’

After thinking it over, I decided to give them to the Cow Tribe.

They were the only major Beastman tribe capable of living on vegetables.

Whenever we traded Horned Rabbit meat, we threw in a few sacks of potatoes as a bonus.

To prevent the Cow Tribe from treating them like the Lion Tribe had, we even taught them several cooking methods.

The result...

Potatoes became wildly popular among the Cow Tribe.

In particular, shredded potatoes mixed with flour and pan-fried in oil became their new soul food.

Ever since then, the Cow Tribe had been relentlessly demanding more potatoes.

Fortunately, they intended to begin growing potatoes themselves starting next year.

As long as we got through this winter, the problem would resolve itself.

“It feels a little strange to simply give them away.”

“I suppose... But what could we ask from the Cow Tribe in return? We've already agreed to exchange Horned Rabbits for wheat.”

“Hehe~ I heard the Cow Tribe has been pressing a lot of oil lately. Why don't we ask for that?”

“Ah, oil. That's not a bad idea. But don't they consume enormous amounts themselves? It sounds like they're frying every Horned Rabbit they get.”

It felt wrong to ask for oil when they barely had enough for themselves.

We needed something smarter.

“Ah... I've got it. Let's give them work instead.”

“Work...?”

“Yes. Winter is when the Cow Tribe has the most free time, isn't it?”

Unlike the mountain-dwelling Beastmen, who struggled every winter...

Winter was the Cow Tribe's quietest season.

They weren't simply the largest Beastman tribe because they were strong.

They'd also made incredibly smart real estate investments.

Unlike the other Beastmen struggling through the mountains, they suffered almost no monster attacks across the plains.

The only reason they had enough free time to protest over potatoes was because they had nothing else to do.

Giving them potatoes was one thing.

Finding productive work for all that idle manpower was another.

“Let's begin by requesting manpower.”

While the Cow Tribe lived comfortably on the plains, both the Cat Tribe and the Ape Tribe struggled every winter.

After everything they'd learned during this war, sending the Cow Tribe's surplus warriors to assist them would be a tremendous help.

The Lion Tribe, the Horse Tribe, and we ourselves were all too busy protecting our own territories.

The Cow Tribe was the only one capable of supporting the other tribes.

“And while they're at it... they can also build some roads.”

The northern part of the Levela Peninsula had terrible roads.

The route from Cow Tribe territory to Rotsy was relatively flat.

Everywhere else was a different story.

Especially the Cat Tribe's and Ape Tribe's territories.

The roads were narrow.

Monsters frequently appeared.

That was why both tribes used such tiny wagons.

Even transporting military supplies during the war had been difficult because of this.

In the future, exchanges between the tribes would only become more frequent.

The current roads simply weren't adequate.

Originally, I'd planned to start building proper roads in the spring.

Since we now had an abundance of idle workers...

There was no reason not to begin earlier.

‘Using the Cow Tribe's high-quality manpower in exchange for nothing more than potatoes... That's a luxury only the Beastman Alliance could enjoy.’

-Not a bad arrangement. They'd only be sitting around all winter otherwise.

Even I doubted the potato-obsessed Cow Tribe would reject such an attractive offer.

‘Still... I feel a little guilty. I should at least give them plenty of potatoes.’

Just as I'd more or less finished dealing with the Cow Tribe's affairs...

Someone knocked on the meeting room door.

It seemed something had happened in the territory.

Perhaps...

This would finally give me a chance to escape these endless administrative duties.

“My Lord! We've received word from the workshop!”

“Oh? Really? I'm coming immediately.”

“My Lord? We still have matters to finish...”

“Leave the minor issues to Butler Harold. Whatever happened at the workshop sounds urgent.”

Dumping the troublesome work onto Butler Harold, I immediately left the meeting room.

The Alchemy Workshop...

Had what I'd commissioned finally been completed?

My steps toward the workshop felt incredibly light.