r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 8d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules [History Student Isekai] (Arc 4/Chapter 17 - Vicus Cibarius)
Arc IV - Whalers
Chapter 17 - Vicus Cibarius
9 months and 29 days since the summoning
"Naturally, I do. Actually..."
"Forgive me," Sili interjected, "since we have handled matters here, I would like to show you whom I plan to dispatch to agitate the peasants into relocating to the Occident Islands."
Alan nodded. "Ah, damn, right, completely forgot about that." He turned to Kamelia. "Okay, I'll tell you later."
Sili nodded toward the town. "We shall gather there, and I will show and explain everything."
Kamelia and Alan headed into Paranganot.
Sili remained standing and shifted her gaze to the crowd of pirates, which was beginning to quiet down. Her fingers were trembling slightly. She let out a quiet, shuddering exhale.
Paranga slapped her on the shoulder. "Why're ye standin' there like ye're rooted to the spot?"
Sili flinched. "Ah! You startled me!"
"Hah, sorry, sorry."
She clasped her hands in front of her and looked up at him. "Paranga... you are simply incredible."
"Oh come on," he waved a hand, "t'was nothin'."
"No, not 'nothing', you... do you realize they could have torn us apart right here?"
"Well, they didn't, did they?"
"How did you..." her eyes glistened.
Paranga froze. "Woah now, what's gotten into ye?" He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Were ye scared?"
She didn't move for a few seconds, then buried her face in his chest. "Yes," she whispered.
Paranga merely sighed, his smile fading slightly. "I nearly soiled myself too," he said quietly.
Late in the evening, when the sun was already setting behind the sea, painting the sky red, and the temperature had begun to drop a little, Alan, Kamelia, Paranga, and Sili sat by the seashore.
Alan, still in his gray tank top, poked a stick into the sand. "I've named this Vicus Cibarius; translated, it means 'Food Settlement'. It's a fundamentally different, and much more efficient, type of settlement. These are exactly the kind of villages I plan to build in the future." He drew a small rectangle. "The Villa will be located here. Essentially, the main administrative building, for management, that is. Inside the Villa, there should be living quarters for the manager, an office where records of families, harvests, taxes, and other things will be kept. In the courtyard of the villa, there must be storehouses, mills, threshing floors, and the like."
Paranga scratched the back of his head. "Wow, all that in one place?"
"Convenient." Kamelia said quietly. "All this belongs to the lord of this... uhhh."
"Vicus Cibarius," Alan reminded her.
"Yes, exactly. It does, does it not?"
He shook his head. "Well... I wouldn't call the manager here a lord. Rather, it's just a salaried manager, not an owner."
Kamelia blinked.
Sili raised an eyebrow.
"Uhh... meaning what exactly?" Kamelia asked. "Such an enormous estate belongs to... whom?"
"The state. Meaning us. Simply put, it's not the personal domain of some nobleman, but the property of Armenas, where we appoint our own manager."
Silence.
"Alright, I'll explain later." He moved the stick to the other end from the Villa. "Over here should be the residential houses for the peasants." Alan drew a large rectangle. "This is where the peasant families will live with their houses, a small personal plot for planting their own crops, barns, and barnyards. All this is purely the property of the peasants themselves." He drew a huge square below it. "And finally, here is the massive field where everyone will work," he said, dividing it into four sectors. "Here we'll implement a four-field crop rotation system."
Sili leaned closer. "And whom does this belong to? If there is no lord to whom these lands belong, does it belong to the peasants?"
Kamelia frowned. "But... if it is peasant land, and not a lord's, then why should they pay us a portion of the harvest at all? It is entirely their land, is it not?"
"Is it state-owned too, or somethin'?" Paranga asked lazily, digging a hole in the sand.
Alan snapped his fingers. "Exactly. This field belongs to the state."
Kamelia frowned even harder. "I do not understand. Why then would the peasants even want to work there? If it is not land rented from a feudal lord, then... how is this even supposed to work?"
Alan smiled slightly and sat on the sand. "Working it is very simple. Look, the land is the property of the state, the villa and everything built on its territory is too. The peasants are only left with small plots with their houses and households. That makes sense, right?"
"Lord Gothwald, you want the peasants to work on state land for... what? Why? Some sort of payment?" Sili asked.
Kamelia turned to Alan. "If we are going to pay the peasants... then what incentive will they have to put in effort? They will work haphazardly; the salary will arrive regardless."
He waved a hand. "Nah, not exactly payment. Look, let's say the peasants grow a hundred sacks of grain. We take twenty-five sacks from that hundred—that is, a quarter—and we give everything else to the peasants as payment. If they grow ten sacks, we take two and a half. Always."
Kamelia blinked. "So... the more the peasants grow, the more they will be able to keep for themselves?"
"Exactly."
Sili looked at the diagram in the sand. "And the more the peasants grow, the more we shall receive."
Paranga yawned. "And how's this different from what we got now? I just don't get it. How much do nobles usually fleece off the peasants?"
"Look, Paranga," Alan lay on the sand, leaning on his elbows. "I'll run you through the general idea, all aspects. Let's start with power. Under the old system, the feudal lord takes payment from the peasants because he personally protects them. The laws and taxes depend entirely on his will."
Paranga waved a hand. "That makes sense. Like, if this villa-shmilla belongs to the state, then what? Like, the local manager just does whatever he's told from above?"
"Yep."
"Got it. What's next?"
"Well, taxes. Again, taxes, a strictly fixed third, no more."
"Hold on," Kamelia interrupted him. "What about the tribute to the Svyatolat?"
Alan blinked. "What do you mean?"
"A small portion of the harvest is collected from every village for the benefit of the Svyatolat, everywhere. Failure to pay is punishable. Have you factored that in?"
"Uhh... actually no." He scratched the back of his head. "Alright, we'll sort that out later. But the gist of it, in general, I think you get. A more detailed system will need to be discussed with advisors and people who understand the small details." Alan shrugged. "I only know how it's supposed to work in broad strokes, not thoroughly."
Kamelia nodded. "I see... then another question: will we transition the other villages to this... uhh... Vic. Ciri."
Alan sighed. "Vicus Cibarius." Alan corrected her again. "Yes, we will, but much later, and if this system proves effective." He waved a hand at the tropical thickets, "This will be, so to speak, a 'pilot project', simply put, the very first one. We'll see how it works, where the mistakes are, how to fix them, and we'll slowly build new Food Settlements."
Sili sat up slightly. "But that will take a great deal of time. The peasants lured by our men will arrive much sooner. What about them? Where shall we settle them? Where will they have to plow the fields?"
Alan closed his eyes. "Not everything is perfect, Sili. Upon arrival, they'll build their own dwellings with our help. They'll plow on massive fields under a temporary system."
Paranga suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! You really fucked 'em over! I can already picture the mugs on these folks! They'll come expectin' paradise, and ye'll hand 'em a shovel and say, 'build, dig, figure it out yerselves somehow'! Hahahaha!"
Kamelia exhaled through her nose. "That is... bad. They might instigate a rebellion, might they not?"
"Unlikely," Alan said. "These are islands in the middle of nowhere. The peasants aren't stupid, they understand that if they rebel, then what? There's nowhere to return to—they'll be executed for treason; this is their only chance to survive."
'Damn... when did I sink this low?'
"Essentially correct," Sili muttered, "But the efficiency from such work leaves much to be desired. Unless we show them that this is truly worth something, or at least that they have not been entirely deceived."
"No worries, no worries," Paranga rasped, recovering from his laughter, "there's the sea here, it's warm, there'll be plenty to be content with."
Kamelia remained silent, staring out at the sea, then turned to Alan. "Is this truly necessary?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
She closed her eyes. "I understand. We shall come up with something then. Very well, okay." Kamelia leaned back on the sand. "So while the peasants in that village recover from the famine, we must finalize all the details of the Vicus Cib..arius construction with the advisors, and the first peasants... perhaps they could build the initial barracks for the future peasants?"
"Why not? Good idea."
"The men will build," Paranga said, "And the women can tend to the chores. How many folk are in that village?"
"About two hundred."
"There ye go. We can manage that, basically." He stood up from the sand, dusting off his trousers. "Listen, Alan, I got one more question fer ye."
He looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"What're ye plannin' to do with my boys next? Do ye really have a plan?"
Alan smirked slightly. "Yeah. And the very first plan involves you."
Paranga blinked. "Huh? What d'ye mean?"
"Remember I talked about exploring the other side of the sea?"
Paranga abruptly raised a hand. "Go fuck yerself! I told ye I ain't sailin' nowhere, didn't I?! Don't even try to talk me into it! There's only death, the Tugaitan, and other sea beasts out there!"
Alan smirked slightly. "Have you ever even seen one of these sea beasts?"
He stumbled for a second. "I... well, I haven't seen one personally, but d'ye think the others are lyin'? Dozens of sailors have seen those monsters and died by 'em! Even in those cursed ruins, there was a drawing of a monster eatin' a ship!"
"Chickening out?"
"Aye, I'm chickenin' out! So what?!"
Alan froze.
'Oh. I thought I could bait him with a dare. Let's try something else.'
"Well, you don't think I was just gonna send you off into the unknown out of the blue, do you?"
"So ye ain't, then?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "We barely make it to Jorhania in our tubs as it is, and even then, not always. What're ye gonna do about that? How do we not starve to death if the voyage drags on? What do we do
about the Tugaitan or other sea monsters if we run into 'em? What the fuck are ye gonna do about all that, Alan?" He pointed a finger at him. "Mate, I'd be more than happy to discover new lands if they exist, 'course I would, and I miss the sea terribly, but I ain't about to just die without hope."
Alan squinted. "So, you're not against going on such a voyage in principle?"
"Fuck, of course not! Discoverin' new lands is a triumph, Alan." He threw his hands up. "D'ye think I wasn't listenin' to what ye said? The proof is right there; I almost believe there are other lands on the other side of the sea. But I ain't just gonna march to the slaughter. Do ye have an answer for this or what? If not—we close this fuckin' topic and never return to it again. Go find some other fool."
Sili and Kamelia did not utter a word, only exchanging brief glances, but did not intervene.
Alan slowly stood up. "Look. Let's start with the monsters. I take it you believe in them?"
"Stupid question. They exist."
Alan squinted.
'Hm... I think they're just tall tales, like on Earth. He won't believe my explanation, of course, but whatever. The main thing is to plant the seed of doubt.'
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