Steel Empire
Refugees

After the battle was over and the area cleared, the gates to the city of Kufstein were once again opened, and thus, refugees from all German-speaking regions began arriving in Kufstein in search of a better life. Many of these people do not have the ability to carry anything of value; therefore, they simply hope that they will be welcomed with open arms.

Berengar's words of political reform brought a lot of interest among commoners towards Kufstein; it had become a haven in the minds of many who had never set foot in his territory. While the conditions they would face were much higher than the life they had before, no doubt a working life awaited them.

While Berengar went to war, Linde was left behind to act as a guardian. This was a shocking revelation for the nobles who were currently made up of the House of Lords who had been burdened with the task of ushering in Berengar's vision as he left. Because Berengar has not found a suitable candidate for the Chancellor, the one under his system was basically the one he appointed to act as a sort of Vice President whose voice would break ties in the House of Lords, and who would act as a caretaker leader. when Berengar left, he had appointed the person he trusted the most around him as the Regent who was of course Linde.

Currently, Linde is sitting in the Berengar office space where she signed the bill into law; the bill is specifically designed to deal with incidents with growing refugees. Although previously they had waves of peasants who escaped from their masters and entered Kufstein, the, now it seems that the whole world is struggling to gain a position within the city or in the many surrounding towns and villages. Berengar had previously established an Immigration Department that handled identity verification and the assignment of labor to newcomers. Currently, Linde is in the process of approving an increase in their budget so they can hire more people to deal with the ongoing refugee crisis.

Although the city of Kufstein was designed with rapid growth in mind, he could hardly believe the costs incurred in finding suitable jobs for these migrants and providing education for themselves and their families. Now that she is no longer pregnant, Linde can enjoy a glass of wine or a glass of beer every once in a while, and as such, she licks her lips as the delicious taste of red wine slips down her throat.

It had been weeks since Berengar had first set out for war, yet he had already begun to desperately want his return. While she was thinking about when her lover would finally come home, the office door opened, and Henrietta stood in the doorway. Over the past six months, Linde's relationship has gradually improved. Although Henrietta will always be on Adela's side, she becomes accustomed to the idea of having a niece, and therefore, has spent a lot of time with baby Hans, which resulted in some degree of hospitality to form between her and Linde.

Given that the Castle had become so deserted without Berengar or his Parents, he could only turn to Linde to socialize. So, the little loli approached Linde, who was busy signing the documents, and asked about what she was doing.

"What are you doing?"

Linde let out a heavy sigh as she put down her fur pen and smiled at Henrietta before answering her question.

"I'm managing your brother's affairs for him. With the war, many farmers came to Kufstein in search of a better life, and therefore, I had to expand the Immigration department and the Ministry of Education. I also had to put a lot of them to work building their own tenement house, which of course takes time and money for these unskilled farmers to learn how to properly handle construction jobs."

"Is there anything else?"

Linde sighed heavily once more and put her tired head on her fist before complaining about all the work she had to do.

“Due to the war, arms sales increased rapidly, resulting in considerable profits, but I also needed to expand the garrison and increase new field troops for the Berengar war effort. Although 5,250 people might seem like a lot, in the end, there will be losses, and those people need to be replaced so I need to delegate certain sectors of the industrial district solely to produce weapons and armor for our own troops. I really don't know how your brother can do this much work every day; it's exhausting!"

Therefore, Linde took out a bottle of wine and poured more into her cup as she took another big sip from the golden cup. He was well aware of the large army of Teutonic knights coming to their borders, and he needed to deploy more troops to Berengar so that when he completed his conquest, he could face the Church's forces. As such, he has begun a period of conscription in which all male residents of Kufstein aged 16-20 years are forced into military service for an unspecified period of time. This was also true for all the migrants who went to Kufstein; thus, the number of Berengar's forces grew rapidly, he said, so much so that the weapons factories could not meet the demand for the equipment needed to send and train conscripts.

Linde's problems are temporary; once properly distributed to these areas and educated in the trade necessary for their careers, the Viscounty of Kufstein will gain a significant amount of benefit from this population growth. Fortunately they have implemented a four-field system and other agricultural advances; as such, they have enough to feed a rapidly growing population without relying on imports, at least for now. Deciding she needed a break, Linde got up from her desk and walked over to Henrietta before suggesting.

"How about we take a nice hot shower? I started to ache from sitting in this chair all day."

Henrietta smiled and nodded while approving

"Sounds fun!"

because of this, the two girls escape to the massive bathhouse built in the Castle, where they swim in hot water the size of a small swimming pool. Linde will return to her stack of documents after she completes a short period of relaxation.