Chapter 123: Refugee Crisis

After the battle was over and the area cleaned up, the gates to the city of Kufstein were once more opened, and as such, refugees from across the German-speaking regions began to arrive in Kufstein in search of a better life. Many of these people did not have the ability to bring anything of value with them; as such, they were merely hoping that they would be welcomed with open arms.

Word of Berengar's political reforms brought a great deal of interest among the common folk towards Kufstein; it had become a paradise in the minds of many who had never stepped foot in its territory. While the conditions they would find themselves in were vastly superior to the lives they had before, no doubt a life of labor awaited them.

While Berengar was off at war, Linde was left behind to act as regent. This was a shocking revelation to the nobles who currently comprised of the House of Lords who had been burdened with the task of ushering in Berengar's vision while he was away. Because Berengar had not found a suitable candidate for Chancellor, which under his system would basically be the man he appointed to act as a sort of Vice-President whose vote would break ties in the House of Lords, and who would act as a temporary leader when Berengar was away, he had appointed the person he trusted most around him as Regent which was of course Linde.

Currently, Linde was sitting in Berengar's office space where she was signing bills into laws; these bills were drafted specifically to handle the incidents with the growing refugees. Though they had previously had an influx of peasants fleeing their masters and entering Kufstein, it now seemed as if the entire world was fighting for a position within the city or the many towns and villages around. Berengar had previously set up a Department of Immigration that handled identity verification and assignment of labor to the newcomers. Currently, Linde was in the act of approved increasing their budget so they could employ more people to handle the ongoing refugee crisis.

Though the city of Kufstein was designed with rapid growth in mind, she could hardly believe the costs incurred in finding appropriate jobs for these migrants and providing education for themselves and their families. Now that she was no longer pregnant, Linde could enjoy a glass of wine or a mug of beer now and then, and as such, she licked her lips as the delectable taste of red wine slid down her throat.

It had been weeks since Berengar first departed for his war, and yet she had already begun to desire his return greatly. While she pondered about when her lover would finally come home, the door to the office opened, and Henrietta was standing in the doorway. Throughout the past six months, her relationship had gradually improved Linde. Though Henrietta would always be on Adela's side, she became accustomed to the idea of having a nephew, and as such, had been spending much time with the infant Hans, which resulted in some degree of amiability to form between herself and Linde.

Considering the Castle had become awfully lonely without Berengar or her Parents around, she could only turn to Linde for socializing. Thus, the little loli approached Linde, who was busy signing documents, and inquired about what she was up to.

"What are you doing?"

Linde sighed heavily as she put down her quill and smiled at Henrietta before answering her question.

"I am managing your brother's affairs for him. With the war, plenty of peasants have come to Kufstein seeking a better life, and as such, I have to expand the department of Immigration and the Department of Education. I also have to put many of them to work in building their own tenements, which of course takes time and money for these unskilled peasants to learn how to handle a job in construction properly."

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Henrietta really did not understand half of what Linde was talking about, but she pretended like she knew as she smiled and continued to chat with the woman she once despised.

"Anything else?"

Linde let out a heavy sigh one more and rested her weary head on her fist before complaining about all the work she had to do

"Due to the war, the arms sales have increased rapidly, thus generating sufficient profit, but I also need to expand the garrisons and raise new field armies for Berengar's war efforts. Though 5,250 men may seem like a lot, eventually, there will be losses, and those men need to be replaced Thus I need to delegate a certain sector of the industrial district solely to producing arms and armor for our own forces. I seriously do not know how your brother manages to do this much work every day; it is exhausting!"

As such, Linde pulled out a flagon of wine and poured more of it into her chalice as she took another large sip from the golden cup. She was well aware of the massive army of Teutonic knights that was coming to their borders, and she needed to rally more troops for Berengar so that when he finished his conquest, he could deal with the Church's forces. As such, she had begun a period of conscription where all male residents of Kufstein aged 16-20 were forced into military service for an undesignated period of time. This also applied to all migrants who made their way to Kufstein; as such, the numbers of Berengar's forces were growing rapidly, so much so that the arms factories could not keep up with the demand for the equipment needed to field and train the conscripts.

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Linde's problems were temporary; once properly distributed to the regions and educated in the trades necessary for their careers, the Viscounty of Kufstein would gain a significant amount of benefits from this population growth. Luckily they had implemented the four-field system and other agricultural advancements; as such, they had enough to feed the booming population without relying on imports, at least for now. Deciding she needed to take a break, Linde got up from her desk and walked over to Henrietta before suggesting.

"How about we go take a nice hot bath? I'm getting sore from sitting in this seat all day."

Henrietta smiled and nodded while agreeing

"That sounds fun!"

as such, the two girls absconded to the large bathhouse constructed in the Castle, where they swam in a heated body of water the size of a small swimming pool. Linde would return to her mountain of paperwork after she had finished a brief period of relaxation.