I meant to post this yesterday after the depressing chapters I swear! Was just having some internet problems. As a side note there"s still like 3-5 more of those depressing side stories, just remember back to the MC asking G.o.d how everyone died so far. The first bulk of side stories including those comes up after volume 1 ends in another 10-11 chapters.
Otoko Aruji - Chapter 42: A Fundamentally Happy Story
Year 7438, Month 10, Day 4
Shanleid is probably the eldest daughter of Marquis Webdos son, Sendel, in order words Marquis Webdos granddaughter. In other words, in this territory you would
start counting from the top to find what place she would be in terms of importance. In this case, "importance" is the same as a high social standing. It"s not as if
she"s made some great achievement. Well, right now isn"t the time to talk about something like that. And on the second line of Identify, there"s "Marquis Webdos
Knight". She was a member related to the knight group as well. Since I wasn"t too sure on the difference between a viscount and a knight I wanted to check the sub-
window but I can save that for when the discussion ends.
However, I wonder why in the world someone with this kind of position would come out to this countryside? I wonder if it"s an inspection of the base for producing
rubber products? This is bad, I haven"t cleaned it up. However, for it to be an inspection it"s unnatural that she doesn"t have anyone accompanying her. Since she
hasn"t been introduced to us yet I"m pretending not to know, but I wonder if my behavior isn"t awkward all of a sudden? I start to feel worried because I feel like
in this world the territory lord could brush away a viscount from the countryside as if he was brushing away dirt.
In any case, there"s no other choice than to wait until everything calms down. The families of the squires have started to gather I"m sure they"ll talk about Jadd as
well. Hegard probably won"t talk about it until the families of all of the squires gather I"m sure.
Hegard and Sharl confirm the condition of making rubber products with Mill. Normally it would be about the period to make deliveries and we didn"t do any deliveries
the last period, so we have a lot of stock, since it would be scary to get scolded by father we never stopped with the production. We"ve produced enough stock to
make deliveries twice. After confirming that father told me to organize the goods and went right away to tell the squires that they would be leaving tomorrow to make
deliveries. Organizing the goods is obviously going to be done after our discussion.
After everyone was gathered, Hegard starts to talk. Among the people who gathered I heard the voices saying, "Who"s that beauty?" and "Jadd isn"t here." stop.
"Everyone, for starters you"ve all done well giving it your best while we were gone on the campaign. Thanks. And I just heard but it seems the cultivation is going
well as well, you"ve really done a great job. Thanks."
Hegard says that and makes a bit of a painful expression.
"In regards to the campaign but, Yunis, I feel sorry for you but Jadd died. Those cowardly Devas b.a.s.t.a.r.ds smeared poison on their arrows. He died from that poison. I
wished for everyone to return safely but it was no good. It"s fine if you resent me."
Yunis is Jadd"s wife and Whitney"s mother. She raised her head firmly and said to Hegard with tears flowing down.
"Since Whitney has taken over as a squire I thought this would be the last time that person goes on a campaign, but I guess it can"t be helped. If he died like a
true squire on the battlefield then that"s fate. There"s no reason to resent the lord."
After hearing that Hegard apologizes to Yunis once more. After that he talked about the general war situation of the campaign this time and said.
"I"m sure it"s about time everyone wants to know so I"ll introduce you. She"s the eldest daughter of the leader of the knight group Sendhel-sama and the
granddaughter of Marquis Webdos. Her name is Shanleid Webdos."
Shanleid walks forward from the group behind Hegard and lowers her head. Everyone is surprised by the sudden appearance of a person of high standing and goes quiet.
I am too.
"Just as Viscount Greed just introduced, my name is Shanleid Webdos, pleased to be meeting you all. However, I will be marrying Farnestan-sama in one month and
become Shanleid Greed. In regards to everyone, I"ll be in your care from now on."
After saying that she lowered her head again. Even if you say that all of a sudden...
Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment but soon after it was an uproar as if you poked a bee"s nest. I mean isn"t that true? It"s the wedding of the lord"s eldest son
and the partner is the granddaughter of the direct family of this territory"s lord. Mill and I are spoiled by our older brother so we"re facing the ground with a
complicated expression. I gently take a look at Farne and he"s embarra.s.sed being teased by everyone. Next to me Mill is looking up at Farne as well.
"Furthermore, I"m very sorry but to add to the report that Viscount Greed-sama just said about the battle this time... This time our Marquis Webdos territory"s
Webdos Knight group was central force during this battle but the one that took command over everything was the Knight Jeffrey Bitwaz the sub-leader of the kingdom"s
first knight group."
After saying that lady Shanleid Webdos held her words for a moment. Come to think of it whenever we heard the reports from Hegard until now there was never any
information like that.
"Just as was reported by the Viscount-sama, the battle took place on the western side of the Dart Plains. There wasn"t much of a difference between the number of
soldiers on either side and because of problems with the terrain we had to take them on from the front, but in the end our Kingdom of Rombert came out with the
victory. That"s even though the numbers were about the same and normally it would be a battle of many losses brought into a draw. Even though it was in part due to
the command of Lord Bitwaz, the forces of Bakkudo village played an active role in contributing to this."
I wonder what in the world she wants to say, though it"s gotten a bit more detailed it"s no different than what Hegard just said.
"However, it isn"t just that. While there were several battles, Rombert only gained the advantage after several fights around the middle stage. Until then there
wasn"t much damage to either side and it was believed that both sides would take equal damage... After several conflicts that could be called skirmishes the
commander of the knight group I was a part of died. Since that"s something that happens all the time it isn"t the problem here. The problem is after that the trend
of the battlefield quickly started to change. The one who commanded the force that took the lead was the one who had just been knighted this spring, lord Farnestan
Greed. Of course, it was also in part my father the knight group leader that appointed him but lord Farnestan Greed also received an unusual push from that platoon"s
commander. Normally it"s an exchange that would never happen. Since there were more experienced knights that belonged to the platoon. Normally the next one who
becomes the commander is the knight that has been there for the longest time."
Well, it"s only obvious since it"s older brother. He"s excellent after all. I don"t understand what"s the problem at all. When I look to the side Mill is acting as
if it"s only obvious as well. However, I"m sure he was also envied.
"I"m sure my father had considered over it after seeing him train together with the knight group but in any case the knight leader used his authority and made the
youngest knight Farne, No, Lord Farnestan Greed the commander of my platoon. Obviously, some of the more experienced knights were displeased by this but, Far, Lord
Farnestan Greed shut them up by showing his true ability. In the first battle he lead he defeated six enemy soldiers. After that no one complained about his
position. In the next battle he succeeded in cutting into the enemy camp, in the battle after that he was given rear guard during a retreat and succeeded in keeping
the damage to zero. In the next battle he was given some freedom to make his own decisions and after it started he charged at the perfect timing and was able to
damage the enemy greatly. After that during the final battle he proposed himself directly to Lord Bitwaz and detoured around the battle behind the enemy and
succeeded in cutting down the enemy commander Baron Kobitt."
As the commotion gradually got larger when it got to the point of cutting down the enemy commander there were voices of, Amazing~" or "As expected of Farne-sama".
Hmhmn, isn"t all just stuff that"s only obvious for older brother, what is there to be surprised about? Mill isn"t particularly surprised either but is making a
proud face. I wonder if I am as well? Rather than that isn"t she being too familiar saying Farne. Ah, isn"t it fine?
"After our triumphal return to the capital he was praised with a first-cla.s.s achievement, in the knight group his promotion and admission to the first knight group
of the kingdom was considered, but Lord Farnestan Greed refused all of that and excused himself from the knight group in order to return to Bakkudo. His reason was
that he must succeed after his father viscount Hegaryarl Greed and develop this territory."
...Seriously? As expected of older brother, he"s so cool~ If you mention the first knight group of the kingdom then among the stationary troops of the kingdom of
Rombert it"s the elites, and the only ones allowed to be members of it are the purebred soldiers, I"ve heard it"s a huge honor. Normally you"d have to gain
invest.i.ture as a knight then after that gain some experience and only people who"s abilities have been recognized are allowed to take the harsh test to enter. I
don"t know how much they get paid but even just the promotion within the Wedbos knight group is significant, he refused all of that huh? Everyone is swallowing as
they listen without a cough.
"His majesty, Thomas Rombert the Third was very disappointed but when it comes to the heir of a territory the wishes of the person them self are given priority. After
that, Viscount-sama please take over."
"Ahhh, umm, what was it, I didn"t think it was very good to praise my son too much... Well, that"s the case. And so. Instead of Farne, Mill it was decided that you"d
be able to take the entrance examination for the first knight group of the kingdom next year. They do it at the start of next year. Since you"re almost an adult,
it"s a good chance. Go and give it your best."
Eh? Ehhh?!? Did Hegard not just casually say something amazing? I reflexively look at Mill. It seems like Mill doesn"t know what she was just told. And Farne walks
up next to father and adds to that.
"Mill, you"re skilled with the ken and can use magic better than I can. Thinking it would be no good I tried asking Lord Bitwaz and he said it would be okay. It"s
not like I used you as a scapegoat or anything? Among the knight groups a.s.sociated with the king, the first knight group is the smallest but filled with elites, even
just taking the entrance exam should be a good experience but... since you have no experience in a knight group it"ll be fine with just the live combat exam and even
if you were to fail since you"ve taken the exam for the first knight group you"ll be able to take the entrance exam for any of the other knight groups... Hey, do you
not want to do it?"
Since Mill was dumbfounded and not making any sort of reaction Farne"s voice gradually lost its enthusiasm. No, I think she"s just surprised and can"t speak. After
all, I"m surprised as well.
"Eh? I...I don"t not want to do it. But will I really be able to enter the first knight group?"
"That"s why I said there"s an entrance exam. Already acting like you"ve pa.s.sed? I"ve heard the exam is considerably harsh?"
Farne says that while teasing her but his eyes aren"t laughing.
"Ah, Yeah, Yes. Exam...There"s an exam right... Yes, I"ll give it my best!"
Mill"s choice of words has gotten suspicious but I"m sure shes trembling inside as well.
"Yeah, I"ll train you plenty until the exam. And I"m sure you"ve already realized but Shani is invested as a knight as well, be prepared because we"ll both wring you
down."
Aa~ Older brother is also calling her by a pet name. And he hasn"t even realized it as well.
"Yes, Lord Greed, Lord Webdos, I"m in your care!"
I guess Mill has recovered she replies in a formal manner of speech.
I guess they were satisfied with that response, older brother and my parents are nodding, but Shani"s expression seems a bit stiff. I wonder if she"s nervous in
front of all the villager"s she doesn"t know.
After that we discussed Jadd"s funeral and Farne and Shani"s wedding date, during that banquet not just Shani"s parents but the territory lord Marquis Webdos and his
wife, her grandparents will partic.i.p.ate so things will be crazy with where they"ll lodge. Since there"s nothing we can do about lodging, there"s no choice other than
to open up several rooms in our house.
By the way, when it comes to older brother"s wedding there"s something that I have to think about.
It"s fine if he marries Shani. Well, there"s no reason for me to be against it and fundamentally you could say it"s good news. But, I wonder how much of our family
secrets we"re going to reveal? And how much of what are we going to conceal? There"s a necessity to confirm stuff in that area.
Obviously, even though we"re in the countryside, since it"s the marriage between n.o.ble heirs rather than the consent of the individuals themselves, it"s more about
the consent between families. As far as I can tell from Shani, she"s not acting reserved towards Farne, and even seems to have a good impression of him. I think that
there"s no problems there, or rather I want to think. It requires confirmation though.
If I were to take a suspicious viewpoint then after taking all of the information about the production of rubber she could divorce him. Though I don"t know of any
families that have divorced so I don"t know if that"s possible. Since us brother and sister are the children of the lord and we had things like training and
production of rubber we don"t have very many close friends within the village. Even then Farne and Mill are good mannered and good looking so before I was born and
before training with the sword they had a reasonable number of close friends as kids but since I became of matter and mind I haven"t played together with anyone at
all and between being busy with training and development of rubber products and the fact that my mental age is already adult I wasn"t very progressive in playing
around. After all, how am I supposed to play around with little kids when my mental age is between late 40s and mid 50s? Time is finite, there"s almost no leeway to
be playing around and wasting time.
That"s why, when it comes to my common sense the only other place I have to obtain it outside of my family is Myun. My conversations with adults or teens are all
work-related so there"s no reason to even think of bringing up a topic like divorce. Recently I"ve had some leeway so it isn"t limited to just that but in any case
there"s an order to stories. Isn"t the system of marriage a low priority?
Father is cheerfully talking with mother, older brother, and Shani about something while drinking alcohol and in the first place they just returned from the campaign
so I"m sure they need some rest for today.
It should be fine if I clear everyone else out at an appropriate time and discuss it tomorrow. Tomorrow the older brother couple (it should be fine to already start
calling them like this), will be focused on training with Mill so I should have plenty of time to discuss things with my parents.
That night after the banquet-like dinner I talked with Mill.
Mill had wanted to become an adventurer. I wonder what"s going on in that regard?
There should have been something to think about there but, it seems that the first knight group of the kingdom was more appealing and saying things like "Eh?
Adventurer? There"s no comparing something like that to the first knight group right? I"m going to give it my best from here on out. I"ll need to train even more and
pa.s.s the test." with no regrets at all. Well, if she has no regrets than I thought that would be fine but of all things she started suggesting I become an
adventurer. It"s already fine if I leave the house to older brother and if he"s marrying the granddaughter of the territory lord then it"s safe, and there"s no other
option for a second son like you to give it your best as an adventurer, was supposedly the reason.
Although, even I know there"s not many other options, I"ll eventually leave the house, leave the country, and I need to create my own country. It might be good to go
as an adventurer for a while, is what I started to think from her how good her persuasion was. In the first place, while I"m summarizing it all at once as creating
my own country but the methods I wasn"t thinking of a method like getting promoted as a soldier, leading an army, going independent and starting a rebellion or
revolution or that sort of thing. I was either going to enter the service of a different country and rise up from there or put together a group of subordinates like
a thief group and start an army, just those sorts of methods that vaguely would somehow or other match up with this era.
It"s not as if I can"t take the method of seeking out other reincarnated people and make them into allies as well. Putting aside if they"re suited for fighting or
not, the growth that reincarnated people have on level up is huge so it"s easy for them to become suited towards fighting, and depending on the knowledge they
learned in j.a.pan then they could be a good talent in terms of politics as well. And they should all have some sort of Unique Ability as well. Depending on the
content of that they could be an effective hand as well.
Depending on the situation there might be someone out there that surpa.s.ses me as well. We"ll get to that when we get to it though. In any case, for now I can"t miss
out on putting effort into strengthening my body and raising my abilities. I have no choice but to level up as well, training with the sword and spear are necessary
as well. There are lots of things to do and things I have no choice but to do.
Authors Note: In the world Orth there are almost never ma.s.sacres during wars. They just do the usual Knight stuff making vocal messages and letting out a few
casualties per fight. The victory or loss of the battle is usually decided when provisions run out, or one decides to send an envoy expressing defeat. In the case of
Farne, he managed to defeat six people so it was a pretty big amount, though they are just low level squires or mercenaries. Furthermore, the reason the war was won
was because the enemy leader was killed, which is unusual, so it"s worth that much praise. Normally commanders are often taken as hostages and ransoms are paid after
the battles to the winner. It"s only the underlings job to die. There"s also almost never night attacks.
Obviously, it"s not as if there aren"t wars for the sake of invasion and siege attacks on castles as well, but those types of large wars only happen every few
decades or several hundred years. Those types of large scale wars between countries require a lot of funds and resources so they don"t happen very often.