Noah returned to the White Merchant Company’s main estate for the first time in a long while.
It was to report to Malek White, the head of the company and her father, that she had become an advisor to House Cron.
At the advanced age of fifty, Malek looked more like Noah’s grandfather than her father.
With his snow-white hair and generous features, he even resembled that old man who gave out gifts in winter.
After hearing Noah’s report, Malek was first surprised by the young lord of House Cron’s policies, which surpassed common sense.
And he was surprised a second time by the fact that Noah had become House Cron’s advisor.
“Well, this is unusual. No matter what lord or noble tried to persuade you, you only ever focused on the company’s affairs, and now you’ve decided to enter service.”
“That is how it turned out, Father.”
Noah answered with her usual cold expression.
Malek was not a bad father, but neither was he an ideal one.
He had given Noah affection, but at the same time, he had constantly tried to force his own path upon her.
Starting from positions that would benefit the family, such as “chief steward of an influential noble house,” all the way to “wife of a great lord,” he had proposed them all under the pretext of doing it for Noah’s future. Noah had become a merchant in order to survive that.
Because she had achieved results on her own and become an important talent within the company, Malek respected Noah’s choice.
More precisely, it was accurate to say he had been left with no choice but to respect it.
“It is your choice, so I will not say anything. But tell me one thing, my daughter.”
“Please speak, Father.”
When Malek spoke like this, it meant he was willing to concede a point.
In exchange, he wanted her to answer honestly, and Noah accepted the question while looking her father straight in the eye.
“When you look at Lord Cron with those eyes of yours, how much value do you see in him?”
Whatever else might be said, Malek judged his daughter Noah’s eye for people to be the best in the company.
When he heard that such a woman had decided to enter service, Malek became curious.
Just how valuable was the young lord of House Cron?
Was he a vessel capable of surviving the coming age of chaos?
Or was he a vessel beyond that, capable of becoming a new ruler of the empire?
As Malek waited for his daughter’s answer, Noah smiled brightly and said,
“I’m not sure either.”
“You’re not sure!?”
Malek was flustered by his daughter’s deflating reply.
Because the daughter he knew, as a rule, never spoke without a conclusion.
“Yes… Lord Calix is not a vessel I can presume to discuss.”
“He is that much…?”
At Noah’s words, Malek was surprised for the third time.
He knew that she looked down on countless lords and nobles.
For such words to come from her mouth, calling someone a being with a vessel beyond herself, left Malek confused as to whether he should view this as a good thing or a dangerous one.
“Ah, there is one thing I’m certain of, Father.”
“What is that?”
“I don’t know how far Lord Calix will go, but certainly…”
A young lord who had suddenly appeared at the southernmost edge.
Though he was gradually making a name for himself through astonishing reforms in a short time,
most people believed the young lord was merely overexerting himself for a while to solidify his own foundation, and paid him little attention.
But in her eyes, his actions were not on such a simple level.
“He will surely bring a 『storm』 to this Novarens Empire.”
He would bring a storm to the empire.
Noah was certain of that much.
* * *
“They say a storm is coming.”
One day, while I was spending my days insanely busy with the administrative work that had increased due to the tariff reforms, a report came in from Hart.
“A storm?”
“Yes. We received word from the 『Blue Magic Tower』 yesterday. They say a powerful storm is expected to arrive in our Cron territory one week from now.”
According to Calix’s memories, the Cron territory was located by the sea, and large storms came regularly.
Recalling Calix’s memories, I checked with Hart on our preparations for the storm.
“I see… Are the preparations for the storm going well?”
“Of course. We have prepared cloth and ropes to minimize storm damage at the warehouses, the castle, the salt farms, the stables, and so on. You need not worry.”
Hart answered confidently.
By the standards of Calix’s memories, that level of preparation was sufficient.
But the current me could not be satisfied with that much.
“Have the subjects made their preparations?”
“Yes, of course, my lord. We have informed the subjects that a storm is coming, and we have prepared cloth and rope for their share as well.”
Hart seemed to have prepared in accordance with the way I had changed.
But it was still lacking.
“Is that all?”
“Pardon?”
In my previous life, my family home was by the seaside.
So I could say this with certainty.
If a storm struck with only the preparations Hart had mentioned, people among the subjects would die.
“What about maintenance of the breakwater? What about shelters? And what about cleaning out the drainage channels?”
“Those are not yet…”
Hart seemed flustered by my words.
It was understandable. I had never pushed him this hard before.
Normally, because of the Confucian dragon inside me, I had never excessively harried Hart, but this time, I felt like I had to.
“From this moment on, our territory will begin preparing for the storm. Make storm preparations the top priority above all else, mobilize every worker, and have the knights halt their training and put them into the storm preparation work as well. Understood?!”
“Y-yes! Understood, my lord.”
I did not know what kind of expression I was making.
But Hart, after seeing my face, turned pale and rushed out of the office in a panic.
Beyond his back, the sky outside the castle was already growing overcast, perhaps because the storm was approaching.
“A storm even in another world… fucking hell.”
In my previous life, and even now, I hated storms.
* * *
Baron, who worked at the salt farms of House Cron, had recently been spending the happiest days of his life.
Thanks to the lord doubling their wages, he had finally been able to move out of his parents’ house and get a new home with his wife and children.
And that was not all.
Whatever magic the lord had performed, the prices of goods in the market had become far cheaper.
Thanks to that, Baron could now eat proper bread and meat with his family at every meal.
On top of that, the market was now full of clothes, toys, and liquor they had never seen before.
The prices were cheap as well, so Baron could buy the clothes and toys his wife and children wanted and spend happy times with his family.
It truly felt like a dream that, until last year, on days when there was no work at the salt farms, he had to feed his children gruel with barely anything in it and endure those painful times.
“All right! Everyone, let’s get to work!”
“Let’s do it!”
That day as well, he went to work at the salt farms with his friend Leon as usual.
But for some reason, everyone had gathered in front instead of going into the salt farms.
When Baron and Leon went there too, Old Man Sola, who managed the salt farm, was there.
“Right, is everyone gathered now?”
“What’s going on? Old Man Sola, did something happen?”
“An official notice came down from the lord’s castle. Let’s see here… It says a storm will come one week from now.”
“A storm!?”
At the words that a storm was coming, everyone’s faces turned blue.
The storms of the Cron territory were notorious for their ferocity.
Even last year, the roof of Baron’s house had been blown away, and his family had nearly been in serious danger; some of the workers had even lost family members to the storm.
“So, by the lord’s command, from this moment on, we will begin preparing for the storm. The lord has ordered everyone to stop work at the salt farms for the time being and focus on storm preparations.”
“The lord did!?”
“That’s right. They say the knights will come to help as well, and that ropes, cloth, and other things needed for storm preparations will be provided. Anyone who needs them is to go to the castle.”
The previous lord had also prepared for natural disasters such as storms.
But he had not gone so far as to mobilize knights and provide equipment.
Baron felt truly grateful to the lord for looking after them to this extent.
Just then, his friend Leon beside him asked,
“Then what happens to our daily wages?”
“Let’s see… It says they will be paid as usual by the lord’s command, so don’t worry.”
“My word! He’s even paying our daily wages!?”
“Long live the lord!!!”
It was alreadyありがありがありがありが deserving of thanks that he was helping them prepare, and now he was even paying their daily wages as usual!
Baron truly thought that Lord Calix was a lord sent down by the heavens.
Once things had been settled, Old Man Sola said,
“Then we need to divide up the work first, so the foremen should come forward.”
The foremen of the salt farms, including Baron, came forward and each received their assigned tasks.
They divided up tasks such as working on the drainage channels, repairing the breakwater, and securing the houses and salt farms with ropes and cloth. Everyone worked hard to protect their own property.
Calix personally traveled around the territory, observed the sight, and checked each matter one by one.
Noah, who followed Calix around and saw this, asked,
“My lord, are you afraid of storms?”
“I am… Are you not afraid, Noah?”
“They are frightening, but I am not afraid. If I stay quietly inside the house, I am all right.”
Noah, too, had seen days when storms came.
The wind and rain had battered everything as if it would all be blown away, and the frightened Noah had shut herself inside the house until the storm passed.
Easily imagining from her words what kind of experience Noah had had, Calix said,
“You were blessed.”
“B-blessed!?”
Noah was momentarily startled.
Very few people knew that she possessed a blessing.
Could he possibly know about my blessing?
As she thought that, Calix said,
“A storm experienced by those who have nothing is no different from the wrath of God. You would do well to remember that too, Noah.”
So that was the kind of blessing he meant.
Noah stroked her chest in relief and said,
“I understand, my lord. I will be sure to remember it.”
At Calix’s words, spoken as though he had experienced the lives of the subjects himself, Noah grew interested.
Just what did he experience in the past?
Deciding to ask him later, Noah changed the subject.
“Still, if you’ve prepared this thoroughly, nothing much should happen.”
“I hope so…”
Everyone in the entire territory who was able to work had come forward to prepare.
With preparations this thorough, surely nothing would happen.
Even while thinking that, I felt uneasy.
It felt as though something bad was going to happen.