Today, I was having an appointed meeting with Selene and Duke Gyunton through the communication magic tool where I explained to them our recent situation.
"The situation has settled down for the most part."
<still, i'm="" surprised="" they've="" adopted="" the="" consensus="" system="" to="" decide="" on="" their="" matters.="" that's="" quite="" a="" bold="" action.=""></still,>
Through the communication magic tool, Selene expressed her thanks while Duke Gyunton murmured with a shocked expression.
Well, it might be a consensus, but I wish to avoid interfering with them as much as possible and have left the matter for Baretta to handle. Currently, Teto, Baretta, and I were only participating in their meetings to see their progress.
At the start, there were many ups and downs, but they managed to grasp the flow of a meeting right after. So moving forward, the meeting will most likely be managed by the subordinate maid group under Baretta in our absence.
I think, now it was just a matter of meeting frequency and each race realizing their own problems over time, and the system they had established would operate more smoothly.
Currently, the authority in my hands was limited to managing the trade affairs we were doing with Selene and Duke Gyunton and the facilities like the boarding house and the school built for the kids. Even then, I intended to eventually delegate these responsibilities to someone else, and I would only stay as a figurehead.
"Well that's the situation, refugee problems are somehow getting managed."
<fufufu, i="" understand.="" also="" am="" thinking="" of="" visiting="" alongside="" my="" husband="" soon.=""></fufufu,>
Once we were more or less done with the current affairs, Duke Gyunton asked about the people not mentioned in the earlier report.
Among the 3000 refugees from the refugee camp who settled in the , approximately 2000 were demonkin, 300 were orphaned children or halflings, and 700 were elderly people who were incapable of doing labor.
"For them, we provided a village to live in without involving them in the consensus process, while taking some of their mana as tax."
I explained the situation of the elderly, who didn't have much to live for, in a matter-of-fact tone.
Initially, I approached these elderly with a certain contract.
<------I will provide you with the items I produced with my . In return, work on my land and fill up this mana crystal with your surplus mana and give it to me.>
The elderly, who were already tired after experiencing various things, hopped up to grab my deal, as I was the only one to extend a helping hand, and formed a contract.
I adhered to the contract and gave them houses and established a village. I also lent them some magical devices to make certain aspects of their daily life easier and arranged for food to be delivered to them.
Though they were aware that the work of filling up the mana crystal with their mana didn't amount to much so they were also managing the vegetable farms and did other side jobs they could do at home.
For the third time today, Duke Gyunton spoke with an exasperated voice, meanwhile, Selene quietly watched with an amused smile.
Teto next to me also had a grin on her face. Even Baretta was looking at me with a loving mother-like gaze.
Apparently, it was pretty obvious. And if that wasn’t enough, Duke Gyunton especially made it clear by pointing it out. I averted my gaze in an act of defiance and put up an argument.
"......It's not like that. If I had left them on their own accord, there was the risk of monsters with a taste for human flesh to appear. Also, their dead bodies might even turn into undead. This is a preventive measure, as well as a policy for recovering mana resources."
It was like hitting two birds with one stone. Though a traitor in the guise of an ally, Baretta, shot that counter-argument down.
to them.>
With Baretta exposing my facade, I pouted and looked away in frustration.
<good grief,="" why="" do="" you="" act="" so="" childish="" about="" strange="" things?="" isn't="" it="" just="" extending="" a="" hand="" to="" those="" in="" need......="">
"Trying hard to hide such things is one of the charming sides of Majou-sama!"
Duke Gyunton sighed with an exasperated expression, while Teto chimed in cheerfully. Selene, too, was nodding her head in agreement.
With the cat out of the bag, I immediately followed with my explanation to express my intent.
"That's not it, it's just if I am seen as a witch who easily comes to people's aid, we would have an endless stream of people seeking help."
While I genuinely wanted to assist the elderly for humanitarian and emotional reasons, the reality was I, who possessed an enormous mana capacity, too, didn't have limitless resources.
So since I couldn't help people without weighing the pros and cons, I decided to choose the contract option to protect the elderly.
'That's indeed a worrisome point,' hearing my explanation, Duke Gyunton, and Selene also nodded in affirmation.
<however, no="" one="" has="" expressed="" their="" desire="" to="" meet="" okaa-san="" and="" request="" us="" act="" as="" an="" intermediary.=""></however,>
<it's the="" same="" for="" us.="" but="" i="" guess="" it’s="" because="" they="" are="" still="" trying="" to="" gauge="" situation…=""></it's>
"Why? Normally, wouldn't people want to make connections?"
Not to glorify our achievement, but not only did we defeat the skeleton giant that appeared during the stampede in the western part of the continent, which turned two of the nations there into ruins, but we also helped in sorting out the refugee situation in the Iska Kingdom and settled everything in just around one year.
During that time, the existence of , which I had used to produce wheat in vast quantities, along with that one incident in the Lovile Kingdom connected to our names was unearthed, leading to the spread of the existence of and .
Nevertheless, it was kind of bizarre that there weren't any requests coming to Selene and Duke Gyunton who were my only contacts.
<well, from="" an="" objective="" viewpoint,="" okaa-san="" not="" only="" has="" a="" huge="" mana="" capacity,="" you="" even="" have="" command="" over="" powerful="" dragon.="" furthermore,="" you're="" also="" accompanied="" by="" the="" demon="" folks,="" so="" it's="" farfetched="" to="" say="" that="" your="" image="" is="" being="" conceived="" be="" like="" king="" fairy="" tales.=""></well,>
<besides, isn't="" there="" that="" ruckus="" occurred="" in="" the="" lovile="" kingdom?="" as="" a="" result="" of="" their="" foolish="" action="" toward="" you,="" king="" had="" to="" wash="" his="" hand="" off="" throne.="" it's="" nothing="" short="" nightmare="" for="" influential="" people="" who="" are="" chasing="" power.=""></besides,>
'I see,' that did sound convincing. I nodded at the explanation of Selene who had a wry smile and Duke Gyunton who stated the fact calmly.
Basically, they feared that making a connection with me rashly would be like inviting their own doom, that was why they were all gauging the situation and thinking on how to proceed.
'Is not thinking like this in itself rude?' I thought, but the situation was currently peaceful so there was no point in complaining about it.
"Hmm, Majou-sama isn't scary. Majou-sama is strong, kind, and cute!"
"Stop it, Teto. You're embarrassing me."
<fuhahaha, we="" do="" know="" that="" well.="" anyway,="" i'm="" guessing="" duke="" zerrich="" of="" the="" lovile="" kingdom="" should="" be="" using="" his="" guild="" network="" to="" spread="" impression="" how="" terrifying="" you="" are="" and="" protect="" your="" peace.=""></fuhahaha,>
It must be an action to restrain each other.
That being said, there was never a lack of fools in the world who dared to jump into such dangers.
<well, the="" mediation="" requests="" to="" us="" aren't="" actually="" nil.=""></well,>
"About that, I'm sorry."
<no, please="" don't="" apologize,="" okaa-san.="" it's="" only="" natural="" since="" our="" house="" has="" a="" connection="" with="" you.=""></no,>
I was a bit relieved that none of the two minded the situation.
The details about the mediation requests for reference were them trying to incorporate us into their respective factions.
They apparently tried to win me over with money, title, engagements, land, slaves, and other precious valuables, but as far as I could make out from their talk, there was nothing that could move my heart.
Those who genuinely sought help due to the illnesses or curses received the cure from Selene or Duke Gyunton, who handled these cases by either administering to them the medicine made from world tree leaves or Unicorn's horn, or by entrusting them to suitable individuals, thus earning their favor in return.
"I see, I didn't know people were looking out for us while we were handling the situation in the forest."
As I murmured these thoughts, I felt grateful to the Reebel Margrave House and Duke Gyunton who quietly kept the nuisance away.
I did find it bizarre that we surprisingly haven't gotten that many visitors, but that was the case, huh?
As for those stubborn fools, they tried to brute force their way to have an opportunity to contact us by requesting adventurers and mercenaries, but all their plans were thwarted by the illusion magic I learned from the Eldar Forest Kingdom.
"With this, it's the end of your political intervention, I guess."
<indeed. it's="" nearly="" time="" for="" us="" to="" hand="" over="" the="" line="" of="" command="" next="" generation.=""></indeed.>
It had been many years, but the time was nigh for the authority to shift to the young blood.
Selene and her husband, Weiss, seemed like they were ready to entrust the lead to their son. In Selene’s case, she was probably planning to devote her time doting on her grandchildren while assisting her son from the sidelines.
Duke Gyunton’s situation appeared to be no different. He was planning to pass the torch to his son-in-law and daughter, while spending the rest of his life like an amicable grandpa and dote on his granddaughters.
The sole reason I was conducting trade with the House of Margrave Reebel and the Duke Hamil House was due to our personal connection.
From here on out, the situation between the three parties would develop without our personal involvement.
With the transition of power, we would no longer contact each other for political matters, though we would keep in touch with each other to talk about mundane stuff.
