Chapter 160: |
Chapter 160
That alone was enough.
“The heaven has not abandoned us!”
“The light of the Houston Kingdom Army has come to our aid!”
Just then a message occurred to me.
[A quest occurs!]
[Restore the devastation of war!]
(Humanity Quest)
Precedence: Chinese medicine level
Quest Description: The castle is in a terrible state, covered in the ravages of a terrible war. If things continue like this, countless patients will arise. As a healer, restore the ravages of war!
Clear Condition: Repair war damage
Reward: Bonus level up x2, 60 skill points
Special privilege: People’s admiration and support
Raymond immediately gave his first order.
“I’ll get to the welcome speech later. Let’s get started with the urgent repairs. First, Elmud.”
“Yes, my lord!”
The skill ‘Disaster Command’ acquired upon promotion to Peacekeeping Force immediately began to shine.
Raymond was able to give precise instructions to suit the situation.
“Elmud, along with the castle’s strong men, repair the collapsed infrastructure. And Lao, you figure out what supplies the castle is currently lacking. And the healers, including Hanson and Linden…”
Raymond gave the most important command to the healers who followed him.
“Heal the sick and injured. If there are any critically ill patients that you cannot treat, tell me immediately.”
Raymond looked at the people with sad faces.
Both hygiene and nutrition were in shambles.
The perfect conditions for an epidemic to spread.
No, maybe there is already an epidemic going on.
‘We had to act quickly.’
“In the future…”
Raymond spoke to the people looking at him.
“I will not let anyone die in vain. Please follow me.”
“…!”
Those warm and trusting words brought tears to the people’s eyes.
So Raymond started working for the people.
* * *
Raymond doesn’t know how time passed.
Raymond had a hectic time, either treating patients or directing the recovery site.
‘I’ve been involved in several battles and the damage is severe.’
The Ruin Castle was sieged and defended several times during the war. It fell and was retaken three times.
In the process, enormous damage occurred and there were more than one or two places that needed to be taken care of.
‘What’s more serious is the condition of the patients. There are too many patients who are not receiving proper treatment.’
Because all the proper healers had fled to the safety of the rear, patients injured during the war were left without any treatment.
As a result, there were countless patients who suffered and died, and even those who barely survived were in critical condition.
As if things weren’t bad enough, waterborne infectious diseases were spreading due to poor hygiene.
“Hanson, give that patient an IV drip!”
“Lindon, you go with the new healers and take care of those in light condition!”
“I will treat this patient. Prepare for emergency surgery!”
While directing the recovery site, Raymond also devoted himself to treating patients whenever he had time.
It was a very busy time, with no time to breathe and not even a proper meal.
‘If I hadn’t raised my stamina stat in advance, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.’
Raymond sighed.
Now his stamina stat is a whopping 74 with the added bonus effect!
But even though the stamina stat was so high, it reached its limit because it was so difficult.
Thanks to this, he had to repeatedly direct the recovery site during the day, treat patients at night, and then collapse into a deep sleep next to the patients.
Finally, Raymond let out a sigh.
‘Ugh. This is hard.’
It was so hard that he even thought about giving up.
But there was a reason why he had to be strong.
Right here, the title of great lord!
Because if he stabilized the Rafald region, he was promised that sweet spot.
‘I couldn’t give up.’
‘Just hold on a little longer. The hardships will only last a moment. Once you settle down, things will get a lot better.’
Raymond clenched his fist.
‘If I become a great lord, I will enjoy a life of luxury! As a healer and as a lord, I will enjoy the greatest wealth and honor!’
And there was another reason to be strong.
It was for the people who looked at him with eyes of trust.
“Thank you, Healer.”
“Thanks to you, healer, my daughter is alive. Oh my, thank you so much.”
For reference, the people initially called Raymond “Delegate”, but due to difficulties in calling him that title, they changed to “Healer”.
Because in their eyes, Raymond was just a healer dedicated to them.
The people who received help shed tears of gratitude over and over again.
Even though Raymond was a materialistic person, he couldn’t help but feel rewarded when he saw that.
‘Okay, just hold on a little longer. When I’m done, I’ll be able to eat the best beef every day. And I’ll also have my dream meal, lobster.’
While he was thinking about such a rosy future, he suddenly fell asleep.
And after less than three hours of sleep, one patient woke up with his condition worsening.
After that, it was a repetition of the same day again.
The people of Ruin Castle were moved to see Raymond gritting his teeth and struggling for them.
“Thank you for taking such great care of us.”
“Where in the world can you find someone like that?”
“A person like that will become our lord?”
From somewhere, the lords also heard that Raymond would later become their lord.
Such a high person is in a more difficult place than anyone else, and he humbles himself more than anyone else and works hard for them.
The people of Ruin Castle were so grateful that they almost shed tears.
“I have never seen anyone so compassionate before.”
“It’s so different from the previous garbage lords.”
“The previous lord only thought about collecting taxes in some way.”
“The rumors weren’t false.”
“He is truly a light.”
The light.
The word dug deep into the hearts of the people of Ruin Castle.
Raymond’s nickname during the war was “The Light of the Houston Army.”
But the people of Ruin Castle thought of the nickname like this.
Raymond is the ‘light for them’ who came to give warmth to those who are suffering from the devastation of war.
“We won’t just sit still either!”
“Let us follow the Lord and work hard together!”
“… Isn’t he a permanent resident yet?”
“I don’t know! He’s going to be our lord soon? From now on, he’ll be our lord!”
“Yeah, he can never go anywhere else!”
Everyone started calling Raymond “Lord”, hoping that he would not leave.
Thanks to Raymond, the Ruin castle began to recover from the sorrow of war and regain its vitality.
However, Raymond, who was repairing the damage to the ruined castle, encountered an unexpected difficulty.
The officials who were supposed to handle the detailed affairs of the estate refused to follow him!
As a result, a mountain of documents ended up in front of Raymond.
It was all because of Lemarton’’s tricks.
* * *
The throne of the kingdom of Houston.
There was a figure biting his lip after hearing the news about Raymond through the crystal ball.
It was the third prince, Lemarton!
As expected, Raymond was showing outstanding ability.
‘But even he has his limits.’
Now Lemarton did not ignore Raymond.
He acknowledged that Raymond had some remarkable abilities of his own.
But Lemarton’s keen eye saw Raymond’s weakness.
‘You’re a healer. You probably don’t know anything about administrative work. You don’t have anyone to delegate work to either.’
Raymond’s weakness is that he is a healer!
Of course, the fact that he is a healer was a huge advantage in this case.
But post-war recovery isn’t just about patient care and on-site command.
There was an important area of administrative work.
Raymond was a novice in this area.
‘Administrative work is a field that you can never master unless you study the related content. Even you, there’s no way you can do it.’
In fact, this was a shortcoming not only for Raymond, but for many lords.
Administrative work could not be mastered without specialized study.
But not all lords studied like that.
Therefore, a significant number of lords were not familiar with these administrative tasks.
Then how do they run the estate?
This is done through management below.
This is because such small paperwork is the job of lower-level officials, not the lord.
‘But what if there are no managers to work under?’
Lemarton raised the corners of his mouth.
He turned on the crystal ball.
-Your Majesty, I greet you.
“So, did you do everything I said?”
-Yes, I bought off all the existing officials in Ruin Castle. I bought them with a huge amount of money, so they will never work for that bastard.
“Was there anyone who refused?”
-Ni one refused the offer because the amount was so large.
Then, the opponent in the crystal ball revealed his dark insides and said this.
– Also, the managers knew that he would be kicked out in six months. So they all accepted the offer without hesitation.
Raymond didn’t know it, but the new lords who had been appointed to the Rafald region had all finished conspiring.
They decided never to follow Raymond.
Without the cooperation of the lords below, Raymond would not have been able to achieve any success in restoring the damage done to the Rafald region.
So it was a foregone conclusion that he would fail his bet with the king.
Lemarton looked satisfied.
‘It’s a given that he’ll fail even if we leave him alone, but it’d be better to make it even more certain.’
Lemarton thought.
This trick will tie his hands and feet.
‘Without any help from the management, he has no way to handle administrative work, let alone repair the damage in the Rafald region. He won’t be able to properly handle the affairs of Ruin Castle.’
When moving to a new territory, it was essential to seek help from existing officials.
But since his hands and feet have already been cut off, his administration will be paralyzed and he will not be able to do anything properly.
If that happens, there is only one result.
Raymond would be an incompetent man who couldn’t even manage the Ruin Castle, let alone the Rafald region.
It was a simple but deadly trick.
‘I spent a lot of money on this, but I don’t regret it.’
Lemarton thought.
By the way, he couldn’t use his official work to bribe the managers, so he had to use his personal money.
It was a considerable amount of money, even for a prince like him, but it was worth it when he thought of the trouble Raymond would suffer.
‘The throne does not belong to a lowly being like you. You are fit to see dirty patients. The throne is fit for someone like me.’
Thinking like that, Lemarton opened the book with a cheerful expression on his face for the first time in a long time.
It was a book on imperialism.
* * *
“All the existing managers have submitted their resignations?”
“Yes, brother.”
Raymond frowned.
‘Oh no. What should I do?’
A mountain of documents came into view.
It was an amount that was simply impossible to handle.
No, Raymond might have done administrative work, regardless of the amount. He had never studied anything related to it.
‘This is not my job. There should be lower level managers.’
He is a delegate and temporary lord.
It wasn’t his job to take care of such petty administrative tasks.
‘If I get caught up in this paperwork, I won’t be able to do more important things.’
At that moment, Lao spoke carefully.
“There is talk that His Royal Highness Prince Lemarton was involved in this incident.”
“…!”
“This is information I learned by accidentally overhearing the managers gathering and talking privately.”
Raymond’s expression furrowed.
He knew Lemarton was starting to keep an eye on him.
But is this such a petty trick?
“Anyway, I’ll talk to the managers again. It’s impossible to run the estate without their help.”
The moment Lao was about to get up from his seat, Raymond shook his head.
“No. Leave it alone.”
“Older brother?”
“I would rather elect new officials.”
After coming to the castle, Raymond spent time with the people of the estate.
Thanks to that, he was able to talk to them a lot.
‘They said that all the existing officials were evil and corrupt officials.’
The original lord of Ruin Castle was a vicious lord who followed the Archduke Berard.
As such, the lower-level officials were all known to be corrupt, and the people were gnashing their teeth.
‘In this situation, it would be better to kick out all the corrupt officials and elect new ones.’
In retrospect, it was a good thing.
He was worried about how to deal with the existing corrupt officials, but they left on their own.
‘Of course, there will be growing pains for a while. And it won’t be easy to elect a new manager.’
Still, it was better to cut out the rotten part even if it meant going through pain.
‘In a way, it seems like Lemarton actually helped me.’
Moreover, that wasn’t all that Lemarton helped with.
Now that the corrupt officials have resigned, he can investigate them without hesitation!
‘We need to investigate and confiscate the money.’
Raymond drooled secretly at Lao.
‘We must also confiscate the money that the corrupt officials received from His Majesty the Lemarton.’
It felt like Raymond could somehow confiscate a huge amount of money.