Chapter 76 The Sense Of A Storm
Sara was heading to the office building for the first time in a while.
Since her schedule for the day had suddenly cleared up, she decided to bring some light snacks and visit Marquis and Robert.
As she arrived in front of the office door, she heard a loud, angry voice coming from inside.
'What's going on? I think that's probably Grandfather's voice.'
Sara hesitated, wondering if she should knock on the door in this situation. Usually, Rebecca would be by her side, and when she was unsure, she would rely on Rebecca's judgment. But today, Rebecca was taking separate action. Sara realized that this was the first time she was approaching the office without Rebecca.
As she stood hesitating in front of the door, it suddenly opened. It seemed that Benjamin, who was about to leave, had opened the door, but he stopped when he saw Sara standing there. However, Benjamin's expression was surprisingly pale.
"Miss Sara, you were waiting. Please come in. I'm in a hurry, so I'll excuse myself."
As soon as Sara entered the office, Benjamin quickly left the room. Marquis, Robert, and the bureaucrats remaining in the room all wore subtle, tense expressions.
"Earlier, I heard Grandfather's voice. Did something happen?"
Marquis and Robert exchanged glances, nodded, and urged Sara to sit down on the sofa. The maids received a basket of snacks from Maria and began preparing to serve them.
"There's been a report of a riot."
"What? A riot?"
"That's right. The hunters who manage the Grandchester family's hunting grounds are dissatisfied with their treatment and have started a riot."
"Was there a problem with their pay?"
The Grandchester family's hunting grounds were located in the forest at the foot of the Aklar Mountains. This forest was home to a variety of creatures, from small animals like rabbits and foxes to large magical beasts like wild bears.
The Grandchester family's hunting tournament, held from late autumn to early winter, is a popular event even among the nobility.
Sara didn't know, but the hunting grounds require constant maintenance. Rather, managing the forest itself is crucial. To ride horses, well-maintained forest paths are necessary. They need to remove unnecessary branches and vines, and even mow the underbrush.
As the trees grow, the forest becomes denser and more overgrown. If they leave it alone, the trees will keep growing, and the forest will become dark and gloomy. That's not only bad for visibility but also prevents individual trees from growing large.
To improve this situation, they need to adjust the number of trees according to their growth through 'thinning' and remove dead or broken trees through 'clear-cutting.' These removed trees are mainly used as firewood.
Sometimes, large trees are cut down for use in building structures or furniture, but the Grandchester family prioritizes the scenic beauty of the hunting grounds, so permits to cut down giant trees are rarely granted.
Since the hunting tournament isn't held all the time, the pests that come down from the mountains during other periods need to be hunted. The ones who hunt these pests are the hunters.
"The ones managing the forest with the hunting grounds are the Baron Walt family, relatives of the Grandchester family. The Baron Walt pays the woodcutters a reward according to their needs, but doesn't pay the hunters."
"That's why?"
"Instead of a reward, they let the hunters take the game as is."
"I see. That's not strange at all, then."
The game can be used for meat, fur, and sometimes teeth, horns, or internal organs, so it's understandable that the Baron's treatment is acceptable if the hunters can take the game as is.
"The woodcutters receive the forest management fees as a reward and are also allowed to sell the thinned wood as firewood. The hunters complained that this was unfair."
"I see. But isn't the profit from firewood and the like relatively small?"
"Maybe it's because we bought a lot of firewood for storage, which became one of the reasons."
Robert, who had been facing his desk, came over to the sofa and joined the conversation. It seemed that the maids had brought lunch and were the reason for the gathering.
"Do you think the hunters are unhappy because the woodcutters' income has increased, Uncle?"
"That's part of it. But I think the main problem lies in the division of labor."
"Division of labor?"
"Yeah. In the past, many hunters and woodcutters did both jobs. They'd usually work as woodcutters, but when monsters appeared in the village, they'd become hunters. However, recently, more people have started specializing in hunting. Most of them are adventurers registered with the Adventurer's Guild, but they can't make a living just by hunting, so they do both jobs, you know?"
Robert explained while munching on a sandwich.
"In short, the problem is that people who used to benefit from both hunting and woodcuttering are now complaining because they're not getting both benefits anymore."
"I see."
"Do you know that the Grandchester hunting grounds prohibit unauthorized hunting?"
"Yes, Miss Rebecca taught me that."
In fact, the Grandchester hunting grounds prohibited anyone without permission from hunting. Therefore, they couldn't touch any game that hadn't entered the village. They weren't even allowed to shoot arrows until they left the designated hunting area.
By the way, Sara was a member of the Grandchester family, and Rebecca was a guest, so the two of them were allowed to hunt in the forest. Just the other day, they had gone hunting for horn rabbits near the fairy's spring.
"There are exceptions to that rule. In reality, the woodcutters who manage the forest are allowed to hunt to protect themselves."
"That's not surprising."
"But the standard for 'feeling threatened' is ambiguous. In reality, woodcutters who are struggling to get by might enter the forest and hunt for food."
"Ah, I kind of get it. So, the woodcutters are doing what the professional hunters can't do, right?"
"That's right."
Baron Walt also knew about the woodcutters' actions, but since they weren't doing it on a large scale, he had been turning a blind eye to it.
It's unbearable for professional hunters who can't hunt in the hunting grounds to see the woodcutters proudly bringing back their prey. As time passed, several hunters were caught hunting in the restricted area beyond the boundary.
When Baron Walt questioned them, they brazenly said, "We tried to hunt beyond the boundary, but we failed and escaped into the hunting grounds. We can't just leave the injured beasts behind."
Despite this, the illegal hunting continued, and Baron Walt arrested several hunters and imprisoned them. He intended to make an example of them and punish them severely, but that night, the hunters rioted and surrounded Baron Walt's mansion.
Of course, the Baron Walt family, who were responsible for managing the hunting grounds on behalf of Grandchester, couldn't back down in the face of such violence. They requested the knights of the territory to intervene, and the riot was quickly suppressed.
However, the dissatisfaction among professional hunters still lingered.
"What are their demands?"
"They want permission to hunt in the hunting grounds."
"That's impossible, isn't it?"
They can't grant their request because it would ruin the venue of the prestigious national hunting tournament.
"Then Uncle, why not recognize professional hunters?"
"Hmm, that's a tricky issue."
The truth is that the Grandchester hunting tournament has been gaining popularity over the past few years, thanks to the efforts of the young Marquis couple, who have been investing in social events. The participating nobles bring in foreign currency by building facilities around the hunting grounds and the capital, which greatly benefits the management of Grandchester.
On the other hand, the hunting grounds have been expanding every year, and the number of woodcutters managing the forest is insufficient. Moreover, facilities like accommodations and horse pastures have been built around the hunting grounds, and the damage caused by wild beasts to these facilities has been increasing annually.
"In short, both woodcutters and hunters are necessary. But hunters can only wait for wild beasts to appear, which means their income is unstable, right?"
"That's correct, Sara."
"And it's frustrating to see the woodcutters bringing back their prey from the hunting grounds, isn't it?"
"That's true."
'What a pain!'
"I understand that much, but is there a reason why Mr. Ben rushed out just now?"
"Benjamin is the nephew of Baron Walt. It seems his cousin got hurt in the recent riot, and he's furious about it. He's demanding severe punishment for the hunters. I scolded him for getting too worked up, but he didn't seem to be listening."
"I see. I'm worried about Ben too."
For some reason, Sara had a feeling of impending doom.
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