I pointed at Eclair and spoke bluntly.

“How dare you!” she snapped.

Just then, Filo came running up, pulling Melty along behind her.

“Mel-chan, Master is over here!”

“I know! Calm down, Filo!”

“Melty! Perfect timing. What were you thinking letting this knucklehead govern a territory? Are you stupid?”

“We meet again after all this time and that’s what you have to say to me?!”

“Just what do you think makes me unfit to govern?!”

Eclair’s furrowed brow made it clear she was upset.

“Seriously? I’m sure Melty has noticed this, too, but Eclair . . . You obviously understand absolutely nothing about what governing a territory entails.”

“What?!”

“I’m certainly no expert, but I still understand what’s necessary to manage a territory and make it livable.”

I looked at Eclair and pointed to a chair. Melty subtly instructed her to sit down for me. Raphtalia and the others . . . I’d just leave them to getting caught up for now. We were going to be busy with other things soon, after all.

“First of all, governing a territory is about more than just owning the land. The people that live on that land are important.”

“I understand that much. That’s why I’m trying to bring the people that lived here back.”

“I’m saying that just bringing them back isn’t enough!”

I drew a picture of some people on the ground. That would represent the population.

“To rebuild the territory, you’ll need people, clothes, food, and housing.”

Securing food would come first. In a world like this, hunting monsters and using them for food would be quickest. Next would be a base of operations for daily life—housing and the like. And then there would be clothing. That would include equipment, too, in this world.

“As for the people, I totally get wanting to prioritize the people that originally lived here—those that were lost. But it’s not realistic. It’s not about how much we can prioritize them. There simply aren’t enough of them.”

“I . . . I know that! Princess Melty is working on that.”

“I am, but there haven’t been many people interested in taking part in the reconstruction. My mother seems to believe that your involvement, Naofumi, will make residents of Siltvelt and elsewhere want to cooperate, though.”

“That may very well work in our favor, but let’s be realistic. Time is limited. We need to be snatching people up greedily.”

Sigh . . . Of course, this wasn’t Raphtalia’s village, so it’s not like I needed to say anything, but still . . .

“I don’t really know what being nobility in this country entails, but establishing a safe living environment is what you need to be focusing on right now. Oh, but isn’t it just horrible to be stuck with rebuilding some ruined territory with no future?”

Eclair hung her head upon hearing my words.

“What were you doing during the two and a half weeks I was gone? Training?”

“I’d say that’s pretty accurate,” said Melty.