“Ah, I’m so full.”

Hiro pat his satisfied stomach and take a breath.

The hearth and large claypot worked perfectly. The bread baked in it was very fluffy and tasted much better than what we had previously.

Mari, his old maid had been in the village for most of the time. She cooked for the laborers at the drain digging project in place of Leila who she asked to spend more time with the young lord, Piero Sraffa. Mari seemed to find out the intimate relationship between her lord and the young maid.

Sandwiches with vegetables from the garden, topped with sauce made by Leila, were even more delicious. It was a masterpiece that made his cheeks drop.

Combining the best ingredients with the decent skills, it was undoubtedly one of the best dishes he had ever eaten since coming into this world.

“The tea will be ready soon, please wait a moment.” Another young maid, slightly older than Leila, Jane was preparing the drink.

"I am worried as the work progresses slowly. We badly need to use the river. Well, before that, we need to increase the number of residents first…”

Even with the newly arrived three female mercenaries and a fisherman, there were only two hundred twenty residents. It might be normal for Baronet territories, however the number was too little for such vast territory. 

Thanks to the female mercenaries who taught scavenging and the fisherman Alfio, the food problem had been solved, so now Hiro needed to find more residents.

The remaining residents were inherited from his late father. In that case, he had no choice but to invite people from other lands, but he doubted anyone would want to move to the border villages.

Daciana who had been eating silently between Mireille and Ninya spoke out.

"When we were at a town in Viscount Canelles land, I gathered some information." All eyes were looking at the magical healer with auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back.

Sensing the attention from everyone, Daciana added,

"I heard that refugees have created a temporary settlement in land bordering us and Baron Brancaleone Dora. It seems they fled from a war that occurred in another territory. If you are looking for subjects, it might be worth considering.”

Hiro's eyes sparkled with newfound hope. "Yes, we must investigate this further. If there are refugees in need of shelter and opportunity, it is our duty to extend our hand to them."

They went to the outskirts of Buelnes village.

They had a meeting in a newly made hut. 

Suddenly, there was commotion among the villagers who were working nearby.

Curious about what happened, they went outside.

Then, they saw a girl stumbling towards the house.

“Who… can… help…”

She was a girl, about the same age as Leila.

She had scrapes all over her body and her clothes were dirty. It seemed like she had been running for a long time. She looked exhausted and about to collapse at any moment.

“Help… me…”

With a thud, the girl collapsed.

She fell in a dangerous way. He hurriedly ran towards her.

“Are you okay!?”

“Haa… haa…”

As he approached and touched her cheek, it was quite hot.

It seemed like she had a fever from exhaustion. This was not good.

“Matta! Help me carry her!” Hiro asked the chief of Buelnes village to carry her.

The girl who collapsed seemed extremely tired, so I laid her down on the bed in the hut for now.

There were only Hiro, Jane, Leila, Daciana, Mireille and Ninya in the hut.

Since villagers couldn't enter the small hut, they were looking at us through the window.

Villagers drew cold water from the well and placed it on her forehead, waiting for a while.

There was nothing else he could do for now.

As they watched her for a while, wondering if she’s fine… slowly, she opened her eyes.

“Hmm, where is this…?”

She slowly sat up and looked at the surrounding too.

She still seemed confused and bewildered, as if she had not fully grasped the situation yet.

“Are you fine?”

“Y-yes… Who are you…?”

“I’m Piero Sraffa. You collapsed in our village.”

“Oh, I see… Thank you for taking care of me. I’m Enri. Nice to meet you.”

While swaying her chestnut-coloured hair that reached her shoulders, the girl introduced herself that way.

Her face was symmetrical, similar to the girls in the hut. All peasants didn't possess symmetrical faces except Jane and Leila. Symmetrical faces were perceived as beautiful in Hiro's original world. Based on that standard, Enri could be considered as a cut above the rest among the commoners. 

All girls in the region were fair-skinned, although their complexion varied. The athletic Mireille for instance, was tanned due to exposure to sun. Enri was slightly tanned due to sunburn. She wore woolen clothes and her chestnut coloured hair tied into a braid. 

Hiro noticed slight muscles covered under her long sleeve. He figured Enri must have increased her muscle mass in her arms and legs and got the slightly tanned skin, from chores. 

She had a strong but childish vibe about her. Even though they had just met, she felt like a very capable person.

“So, why are you here, Enri? You seemed to be in a hurry.”

“Y-Yes! I need to hurry!”

Enri seemed flustered as she tried to get out of bed.

But in that moment, she grimaced in pain. It seemed like her whole body was aching from running for a long time. This was the perfect time for that… thing.

"Just wait a moment, please.”

“Huh?”

He held in his hand a bottle of water that he had prepared.

“Please drink this. It will make you feel better.”

“…I understand.”

Aisha hesitated a little, but she drank it.

It seemed that she trusted him at least a little.

After she finished drinking, she appeared refreshed.

“Enri, could you tell me why you’re in such a hurry?”

“I came here seeking help. Is Lord Aleo Manca territory close from here!?”

“Uh, no. It’s quite far from here.”

“Oh no… I must have gotten the direction wrong…”

Enri hung her head sadly.

Baron Aleo Manca ruled a territory located north from here.

Enri said with a fading voice, “What should I do…”

He couldn't just leave her like this. Let’s ask her what happened for now, he thought.

“Can you tell me what happened? Maybe there’s something I can help with.”

“Mister… thank you.”

Enri who had regained some composure, began to speak slowly.

“I am from a small village. Carne Village, located in the northeast of the Sraffa territory. It’s a frontier village with few people, but the villagers are all kind, and we lived happily, though modestly.”

Manca territory was located further northeast, separated from Sraffa territory by a Baronet territory. Hiro did’t know the details, but based on Piero's memory, he had heard that there have been various disputes as Baron Aleo Manca was indifferent to the plight of his subjects, and his late father was angry about it once.

“Recently, there have been many problems in the Manca territory, such as famine and the occurrence of bandits. The damage started to occur in my village too, so we evacuated to the nearby land. At first, we had some supplies and were able to live in makeshift shelters in the land… but then a problem arose.”

Enri continued speaking with a frightened expression.

“Knights under the local lord came to our place… At first, they demanded food from us. Since we didn’t have the power to fight back, we had no choice but to comply with their demands.”

That was reasonable, Hiro thought as the refugees settled down on a demesne owned by a lord.

"The amount of food the knights demanded gradually increased. If we gave them anymore, there wouldn’t be enough for everyone to eat… When we explained this, the knights started threatening us, demanding ‘women’ instead.”

“…That’s terrible.” Ninya yelled.

It’s easy to imagine what kind of fate awaiting them.

“The villagers refused, but the knights wouldn’t allow it. They said they would kill one villager at a time if we didn’t give in… That’s why I sneaked out from under the knight’s eyes and came to seek help… Because everyone will die if I don’t…”

Enri spoke with tears in her eyes.

Hiro believed it took courage to leave the villagers behind and seek help. If the knights had found her, she would have surely been captured and suffered a terrible fate.

And if he left things as they were, the villagers would also suffer the same terrible fate.

Hiro couldn't just ignore that. After all, he was the lord of this territory, so he couldn't turn a blind eye to the problems that occur nearby.

“Enri, can you guide me to where the villagers are?”

“Huh?”

Hiro put on his coat for going out. The other girls and even Matta had determined look.