Boundless Family Upgrades For The Deadbeat Lord

Raymond’s expression brightened slightly. "Exactly. We don’t need pretty salt. We need enough of it to stop food from rotting."

Lily nodded vigorously beside her. "I told them that too. One merchant keptsaying the refined salt was suitable for noble households, so I told him starving people don’t care whether their salt looks noble."

Raymond looked at her. A slow smile appeared on his face. "Good girl."

Lily looked pleased again.

Marianne continued before the conversation derailed. "We also purchased twenty large barrels of cooking oil and rendered animal fat. For seasoning and food preparation, we secured approximately three hundred kilograms of mixed condiments in total. That includes dried pepper, garlic, mustard seed, dried herbs, several local spice mixtures, vinegar, and two preserved fermented saucesthat are commonly used in Valmere."

Raymond leaned back slightly. "Perfect. If I have to eat unseasoned boiled grain every day until spring, I’ll personally declare war on the Goddess of Life."

Marianne’s expression twitched.

Lily gasped. "Young Master!"

Raymond waved dismissively. "I’m joking. Mostly."

Marianne cleared her throat and returned to the ledger. "For preserved protein, we bought approximately three tons of salted and smoked meat. The shipment is mixed. Beef, goat, pork, and preserved poultry."

Raymond nodded slowly.

That amount wouldn’t allow twelve hundred people to gorge themselves every day, but it wasn’t supposed to. The purpose was nutritional recovery and supplementing the grain and vegetable supply.

Marianne continued. "We also purchased five hundred kilograms of dried beans and other legumes. They were substantially cheaper than meat and should store well through winter."

Raymond tapped one finger against the desk."Those are more important than they look. Keep them in dry storage and make sure the kitchen incorporates them into the ration system regularly. These people have been starving for too long. They need protein, not just enough starch to stop their stomachs from hurting."

Marianne nodded. "Understood." She turned another page. "We purchased forty crates of eggs packed in straw. Those will need to be distributed quickly because they will not keep for the entire winter."

Raymond nodded. "Put them into the immediate ration program. Prioritize children, the sick, and anyone still showing the worst signs of malnutrition."

"Yes, my Lord." Marianne’s finger moved lower. "As for livestock, we acquired ten ordinary workhorses, as instructed."

Raymond’s eyes immediately sharpened. "Ordinary?"

Marianne almost looked offended.

"Entirely ordinary."

"No hidden magical bloodlines?" Raymond asked.

"No, my Lord." Marianne shook her head.

"No descendants of some legendary war stallion that once carried an emperor into battle?"

"No."

"No Heavenly Dragon Emperor ancestor?"

Marianne stared at him with wide eyes, she was quite speechless.

Lily snorted as she rolled her big eyes at him.

Raymond nodded with satisfaction but deep down he was kind of disappointed. "Excellent. I specifically asked for horses that pull carts. I don’t care if their ancestors descended from the Heavenly Dragon Emperor."

Marianne finally allowed herself a faint smile.

"We also purchased six sturdy oxen for future heavy agricultural work and thirty chickens as starter livestock. The chickens are currently being moved into temporary coops near the repaired stables."

Raymond’s brows rose. "Good. Very good."

He leaned back and looked over the list again. The numbers weren’t extravagant for a large city, but for Althoff they represented an absurd improvement in material security. Clothes. Blankets. Salt. Meat. Beans. Oil. Spices. Eggs. Horses. Oxen. Chickens.

A month ago, the town had barely possessed enough food to survive another week. Now they were discussing livestock management.

Raymond slowly exhaled. "How much did the entire trip cost?"

Marianne gave him the figure.

Raymond processed it silently, then nodded.

The expense was significant, but nowhere near enough to threaten the fifty-thousand-gold cushion he had received from the System. More importantly, every coin had purchased something useful.

Then Marianne hesitated as she has something to say.

Raymond noticed immediately. "What?"

"There is one other matter, my Lord."

Raymond’s fingers stopped tapping. "Go ahead."

Marianne closed the ledger halfway. "The Golden Road Merchant Company’s branch manager was exceptionally curious about us."

Raymond’s expression remained neutral.

Marianne continued. "He knew exactly where Althoff Barony was. More importantly, he knew the territory’s reputation. He asked several times how House Althoff could suddenly afford such a substantial purchase."

Raymond’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What did you tell him?"

"That House Althoff’s internal finances were not his concern."

A small smile touched Raymond’s lips. "Good. You did well."

Marianne nodded, but continued. "He didn’t press after that, though he did make one comment before we left. He asked whether House Althoff had discovered a new mine somewhere within the barony."

Raymond’s expression froze for the briefest moment.

A mine. Of course. From the perspective of outsiders, Althoff had been bankrupt.

Everyone knew it. The territory couldn’t grow food, produced almost nothing valuable, and had been governed by a drunk who sold whatever he could get his hands on.

Then suddenly House Althoff sent a trade party into another region carrying enough gold to place a large winter order. Naturally people would ask questions.

Raymond rested his chin lightly against onehand. "So the outside world has finally started noticing us."

He didn’t particularly like that. The Althoff Barony’s greatest advantage during his first month had been irrelevance. Nobody cared, nobody expected anything and nobody saw a reason to interfere. But the moment money started moving, merchants would notice.

And merchants talked.

Raymond’s eyes sharpened for a secondbefore he leaned back. "Let them speculate. We haven’t done anything illegal, and I’m under no obligation to explain House Althoff’s finances to a merchant company."

Marianne nodded. "Understood, my Lord."

Raymond sat forward again. "Now, regarding distribution. I don’t want those clothes unloaded into the middle of town and thrown at people like we’re feeding chickens. Lily, create a household registry using the population records."

Lily immediately straightened. "Yes, Young Master."

"Children receive priority. Then the elderly, the sick, pregnant women, and anyone else whose physical condition puts them at immediate risk. After that, distribute the remaining winter sets to the general adult population." Raymond instructed as he looked seriously at Lily.

Lily nodded as she began making notes.

"Blankets?"

"By household size. Larger families receive more. Make sure every sleeping area has enough coverage before we start giving out extras."

Marianne nodded.

Raymond continued. "The salt stays under centralized storage. Same with the preserved meat. If we distribute everything at once, half the town will panic-hoard and the other half will start trading it."

"Agreed," Marianne said.

"The eggs go into the immediate ration program tomorrow morning. Beans should be incorporated gradually. The horses are for transportation first. I am officially tired of watching elite Knights drag vegetable carts like oversized farm animals."

Lily covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Raymond pointed toward her. "Don’t laugh. It hurts me every time I see it."

Marianne smiled. "And the oxen?"

Raymond thought for a few moments and then said. "Keep them healthy through winter. When the frost passes, we’re going to expand agriculture far beyond fifteen hectares. They’ll have plenty of work then."

Raymond leaned back, considering the final item. "The chickens remain breeding stock unless the kitchen absolutely needs them. Eggs first. Meat later. I’d rather thirty chickens become three hundred before we start throwing them into soup."

Marianne nodded firmly. "I’ll make sure the stable workers understand."

Raymond finally closed the ledger."Good. You’ve both done enough for today."

Lily immediately opened her mouth. "I’m not tired."

Raymond stared at her.

Lily stared back at him and then she yawned. A long one. Her mouth opened wide enough that she immediately lifted both hands to cover it.

Silence filled the room.

Raymond raised one eyebrow.

Lily’s cheeks puffed slightly. "That wasn’t a yawn."

Raymond slowly nodded. "Of course."

"It wasn’t." Lily protested.

"Naturally." Raymond smiled slightly.

"I was just... breathing deeply." Lily lowered her head and said with a red face.

"With your mouth wide open." Raymond gave out a soft chuckle.

"Yes."

Raymond nodded solemnly. "A rare medical condition."

Marianne turned away, but her shoulders shook slightly.

Lily narrowed her eyes at both of them.

Raymond waved toward the door. "Go sleep before you accidentally breathe deeply into the floor."

Lily climbed down from the chair with great offense. "I am going because I have administrative duties tomorrow, not because I am tired."

"Whatever helps you sleep." Raymond casually waved his hand.

Lily huffed and marched toward the door, her oversized uniform trailing after her.

Marianne stood and bowed politely.

"Thank you, my Lord. We will begin organizing the distribution first thing tomorrow."

"Get some rest first."

Marianne nodded and followed Lily into the corridor.

The door closed softly behind them.

Silence returned.

Raymond remained seated behind the desk for several moments, listening to the faint activity outside. He eventually stood and moved toward the window.From there, he could see part of the road leading toward the castle grounds.

Another wagon from the basin was arriving, loaded high with bundles of grain. Farther away, workers were unloading thick stacks of winter clothing from the trade convoy.

The newly purchased horses were being led toward the repaired stables. Oxen stood beside them. Crates were being carried into storage. Beyond the roofs of the town, the reinforced communal longhouses stood where collapsing shacks had once been.

Clean water flowed through the new line near the square. The granaries were filling, the military had grown, the people were recovering.

A month ago, Raymond had inherited a dying barony that couldn’t even guarantee tomorrow’s meal. Now, for the first time, Althoff possessed nearly everything it needed to survive the coming winter.

Raymond rested one hand against the edge of the window. His expression slowly changed. Survival had consumed every decision he had made since arriving here.

Food.

Water.

Shelter.

Security.

Winter clothing.

Medicine.

Manpower.

He had been solving one emergency after another so quickly that he hadn’t allowed himself to think much farther ahead.

But now those emergencieswere beginning to disappear. Althoff had food, manpower, military strength, livestock, gold and a functioning infrastructure.

Raymond’s eyes narrowed slightly as a new thought formed in his mind.

If surviving was no longer the only question...

Then what came next?

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