“My lord, this is the result of your own decisions.”

“Huh?”

“You wanted to spend the first week in Ellen under incognito. No one in the Duchy knows that a new family has been created.”

“Ugh...Well, then at least the mansion should have been maintained, right?”

“This mansion had no owner for the past 19 years...I don’t think anyone would want to take care of it for that long.”

“True...Well, let’s destroy it. Bring in the workers, for the new mansion next week.”

“Eh? Why would you want to destroy this mansion, my lord.”

“It’s simple, I don’t think there have been many cases of migration and emigration in the Duchy. I don’t want people to remember this place as Switon. From now on, we have to work hard to imprint Ellen in their minds. And for that, we need to erase the old Switon.”

“I see...what you say is certainly true.”

“Uh-Uh...so let’s move to a nearby inn. I want to see the Duchy is doing with my own eyes.”

*******

“Not bad."

“Hmm?”, Sebastian looks at me questingly.

“The place is doing better than I thought.”

Certainly, it could be better. But without a ruler for over 20 years, I should say they have been doing well.

The inns are neat, but not enough for a noble’s standard. But accommodations for the nobles can put for later thought, I have to focus on citizens for now.

“The roads need a lot of work.”, Sebastian said with a lot of concern on his face.

“True...even the road connecting the Duchy and the capital is in bad shape. We lack trees, though”

“Tress? Yeah, now that you mention it. Tress can rarely be seen.”, this was commented by Ray.

Ray is an accountant. I accidentally ran into him in a community library while he was fleeing from the loan sharks. I had to pay the debts in his place, for him to be free. Well, it was a small price anyway.

Later on, I noticed he was unusually good with numbers, so here is.

“Ray, what else do you think is missing?”, I wanted to test him a little.

“Hmm...liveliness?”

“That’s certainly right, people have gotten used to staying under the pressure. And with that, their motivation to improve has faded away. But what else?”

“...I don’t know.”

“You have to do better...we have been walking around the whole town. There are no guards, the hospital is not maintained, the schools are shut down, and there is no emergency service department.”

“Ho...How are you even noticing them?”, Ray asked enthusiastically.

Yep...this guy should only be left with numbers and nothing else.

Ignoring Ray, I moved my attention to Sebastian,

“Sebastian, investigate where the knights are situated. Don’t let them notice you. I will take this matter to the palace, I don’t need incompetent people here. It’s better to have them fired. At the same time, when you call in the workers for my mansion next week, I want them to work on repairing the school and hospitals.”

“I will take care of it, My lord.”

“Good, let’s move on to the next place. We have a lot of places to visit.”

And thus over the next week, we visited various towns covered by the Duchy. Thus, I arrived at a conclusion,

Thighs are not bad, the capital has been doing good in managing this place. Under my rule, if I move my cards under full pressure, things should get better after a few months. 

Leaving the mansion aside, many facilities constructed by the Switon are still running. Of course, they are outdated. But something is better than nothing. 

There are various unique places that I can use to my advantage. There are even hot springs, that should turn into a hot place. I could use the rivers for my conglomerate. But at this rate, setting up my conglomerate will take weeks. Things can't stay idle for that long, I guess I need to bring someone else in,

Looks like I have to crack a deal with Luxica. 

The shoreline should serve as a port. And I need to look after the personal army as well.

Things are certainly going to get better...

The week is going to end tomorrow. The people will soon come to know that, they have been taken under a new house, “Ellen Duke House”.

"Hey Sebastians, we will be meeting the midgets day after tomorrow right?"

"It is as you say, my lord"

"Good, it is time to harvest my 7-year investments."

Ahh~~ The amount of money I am going to get should be enough for a complete revival of the Duchy. I also have the money I saved all these years for Elz.

“My lord, please don’t forget her highness Diana’s request for you to visit the palace?”

“Ah! We will go right away.”

Leaving the others in the inn. I teleported me and Sebastian back to the palace. I can teleport back to the places I have already been and when imagining the Sigil, I need to have contact with the ground.

Not bad right!!

I quickly made my way to dining. It’s still noon, they probably haven’t finished eating. Just when I entered, I heard, 

“Your Majesty, a Baron family’s heir threw acid on a commoner girl.”

Huh?

Artique here,

Quite the boring chapter. But, the next chapter will have a bit more spice to it.