Fun Territory Defense of the Easy-Going Lord ~The Nameless Village Is Made Into the Strongest Fortified City by Production Magic~

br>If you are a merchant, please state your company and personal name.
If you are a guard, please state your affiliation and name.”

　The person who claimed to be the lord said this to us.
It was a young voice.
For a moment I couldn’t tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
(T.N.
Note: I see we have the same problems.)

“Hey, brother,” I murmured, “Didn’t he just state his name as ‘Van Nei Fertio’ just now?”

　Lango nodded from behind I then replied back with a puzzled face.

“Could he really be the fourth son of the Marquis Fertio family? There’s a certain rumor going around…”

　When I asked that to my escorts, Air and the others all nodded.

“We’re based in the first city.
I’ve seen him a few times.
That’s the kid.
He is famous in the town because they just can’t stop talking about him.” (T.N.
Note: The ‘first town’ is likely the capital.)

　Indeed, I had heard of such a story.

　Since we siblings had only been in that city for a week at most, we had never seen the rumored fourth son of the Marquis family.

　No matter which angle you look at him from, he looks like a child of less than ten years old.

　Since he was a lord, there was no shortage of chatter in the first city about him, especially since he was the most approachable of the four sons.

　Apparently, he is a genius who can derive twenty things from a single piece of knowledge when other can only derive one.

　If he talks to a merchant, he will understand what kind of business you are doing with just a few questions, and he will even give you precise advice on how to do business and what products to sell.

　If he talks to the townspeople, he is friendly and shows responsibility and concern that you wouldn’t expect to see from a child.
It is said that when a child was about to be sold into slavery, he rescued him with his own money.

　I thought such rumor were just household tales, since rumors are exaggerated every time they spread through people, but I was curious when I heard that Master Van had left the city.

　Apparently, he was driven away and assigned lordship of a remote village, but I can’t understand why Lord Fertio would send his most talented son to some remote backwater.

　There are precedents for children of genius being alienated and neglected.
However, that is likely not the case as, even though he was sent to such a remote location, it is apparent that he has received an incredible amount of support.
After all, how else could such a huge fortress arise out of thin air?

　There are several possibilities, but there is no point in speculating about them here.

　Concluding my thoughts, I opened my mouth.

“My name is Bell from the Mary Trading Company.
The other merchant is my brother Lango.
The guards are from the B-ranked party led by the adventurer Air-san, the ‘Silver Spear’.”

“You are permitted to enter the village.
Welcome, we have been waiting for people like you.”

　In just a few moments, we were cleared for passage.

　The drawbridge smoothly lowered, connecting the road to the village.
Then the gate opened and allowed us to see the view inside.

　The view of the village inside was completely alien, nothing like what I remembered

　I don’t know what they were made of, but solid houses stood in regular rows, forming a beautiful townscape.

　The streets are still made of dirt, but the neat and tidy townscape still feels strange to me.
But when I saw familiar faces coming toward me, I knew that I was finally able to confirm that I had reached the correct location.

“Hello, thanks for taking the time to travel all the way out here.”

　Rhonda, the village chief, appeared and gave me a warm greeting.
Immediately, the villagers began to gather around us.

　We only come once a month, so the villagers always welcome us when we come.
Because it makes so many people happy, we always make sure to come here even though we generate only small amounts of profit doing business with these people.

　As I was talking with Rhonda and the villagers, I saw Master Van walking towards me.

”Hello, thanks for taking the time to travel all the way out here.”

　Being in the presence of a lord, I bowed at his greeting.

　Then we talked for a couple of minutes, and I became convinced that the kid named Van was a pure genius.

　To top it all off, I was told by the villagers that the transformation of this village was entirely due to Master Van and his men.

　I couldn’t believe it, but there was no reason for the villagers to lie to me.

　The villagers said that they saved the village from being attacked by a bandit gang, rebuilt the village’s defensive wall far more robustly, and even rebuilt the village’s housing.
On top of that, they say he designed and created everything himself, including those ballistas.

　The rumors about Van were true.

　And so, I became irresistibly curious about this mysterious and competent child named Van.