Soudouki Vol 1 Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3 – A New Journey

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Part 1

The mansion was in uproar because Baldr was brought in with serious wounds that looked atrocious even just from the appearance.

All the available healers were called while Selina’s Savaran Company were also procuring high class medicines for him.

Ignis could only stand speechlessly with shaking fist seeing his son’s completely changed appearance.

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Fortunately a kid’s healing capability was high. Baldr was recovering in a rapid pace.

However as expected, the right arm that was violently snapped until  the bone was jutting out and the left hand’s fingers that were almost  torn off needed around one month until they recovered even with the best  treatment available.

Seyruun was nursing Baldr that she even forgot to sleep.

Originally the head maid should order her to rest, but she took  Seyruun’s feeling into consideration and allowed her to continue.

In fact Seyruun couldn’t stop crying for more than half a day. She  might lose the balance of her mind if she wasn’t allowed to look after  Baldr.

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『──You won’t lay your hand on them, even if it cost me my life.』

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The image of Baldr’s back when he said that while covering for  Seyruun and Selina behind him was burnt into the back of her eyelids and  wouldn’t vanish even now.

She thought that he was reliable.

She also felt happy as a woman.

──That was until Baldr was sent flying like a tattered rag that was completely worn out.

The jutting out white bone, the trickling blood, the trembling  body……she felt a freezing chill in her back when she saw Baldr in such  state.

Even Baldr would be injured if he was slashed. He might die if he got into a fight.

When Seyruun noticed such obvious thing, she immediately became scared that Baldr was fighting.

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Don’t die.

Don’t die.

Next time I’d be the one to protect you.

It would be better that I died instead rather than having you getting injured in my stead.

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This feeling didn’t come solely because she was starting to get conscious of Baldr as a male that caught her eyes lately.

When she saw Baldr losing consciousness, for the first time she  realized that before she realized it everything of her life had been  revolving around him.

That was why, she couldn’t forgive herself who became a heavy burden for Baldr.

Anything was fine.

She wanted to become useful for Baldr even if it was in only one thing.

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「Sey-nee, are you crying?」

Baldr finally opened his eyes at the third morning after the treatment.

Baldr’s kind gaze didn’t look any different from usual. Seyruun who  was peering into those pretty marine blue eyes broke into a broad smile  and leaped at Baldr’s neck.

「Young master! Young master Baldr!!」

「Ouch ouch……Sey-nee, it’s already. Everything is alright already.」

Baldr caressed the hair of Seyruun who was crying ‘waah-waah’ while realizing that he had survived from that hopeless battle.

Using his head that was still hazy after waking up, Baldr recalled  the memory of Sanai’s personality coming out and defeating Torus.

If he had to make a comparison, what happened only felt like a memory  that wasn’t accompanied by a sense of reality, like watching a  broadcast from television.

By feeling Seyruun’s soft limbs and body warmth, he finally caught on that he had returned alive from that deadly battle.

Seyruun must have reached the height of her fatigue. She immediately stopped crying and fell asleep while still hugging him.

「Sleep well, Sey-nee.」

Baldr felt somewhat reluctant to separate from the feeling of  Seyruun’s breasts that lately had been growing considerably while  putting his hands around her waist gently to lay down her slender body  on the bed.

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Part 2

In the meanwhile, at the suburban residence of Cornelius House, Zirco  and others veteran mercenaries were huddling together with their big  bodies while shaking like puppies.

「It has been a long time eh, Zirco. No, should I call you Zirco the Gale now?」

「Do……don’t be so formal like that big sis. Just call me Zirco like usual……」

Zirco couldn’t stop cold sweat from drenching her whole body even while saying that.

Even that arrogant Jamqa was keeping silent with a pale face.

The killing intent that Maggot was giving off was too strong for anyone here to interrupt her carelessly.

Not one of them could say a single joke.

Even Zirco and the others veteran warriors here were like green  rookie soldiers before the aura that was covering Maggot. It gave off an  intense and thick smell of death.

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The Silver Light Maggot was a famous woman who was talked like a legend even while she was still alive.

Normally rumor tended to be the exaggeration of the truth, but in her  case, the truth was in fact even more exaggerated than the rumor.

Many men including low class nobles tried to woo Maggot who was also  an incomparable beauty, but she declared that she wouldn’t go out with  man who was weaker than her.

As the result, during the several years of the war, Maggot received duel challenge from more than a hundred men.

The end result was obviously her staying undefeated.

There were also nobles who challenged her with ten people at the same  time, but they were defeated handily without Maggot even breaking a  sweat.

That monster among monsters who were even said to rival a battalion  by her lonesome could still scatter a thick bloodlust that made one felt  like they would be devoured even now. It would be too much to tell  Zirco and others to not be scared in this situation.

Zirco could feel it more than anyone. Even if all of them stand  against Maggot together, they would be slaughtered in just several  seconds.

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「And? Who is this man who made my son went through something like that?」

「T-the chief said, they were the subordinates of Marquis Selvi.」

「Fufufufu……looks like I’m being underestimated. Are they seriously trying to pick a fight with mee?」

Maggot chuckled with a very amused expression.

But Zirco and others who were showed that fiendish smile couldn’t bear it at all.

They were assaulted with a misapprehension that if they spoke  carelessly here, Maggot might go off to attack Marquis Selvi right away.  Their backs unconsciously shivered.

The most terrifying thing was that they could completely believe that if it was Maggot then she might really do exactly that.

There was a saying that “Smile is originally an aggressive  expression”. Zirco never realized just how true that saying was until  this day.

「Even an idiot son like that is someone who I have trained. For him  to be beaten up that badly, the guy that was sent here must be really  something.」

「Yeah, the guy that chief faced was really dangerous. If only he had  ten more years to train, then perhaps he would be able to give even you  big sis a good fight.」

「Hee……Zirco. You left Baldr to face that kind of man by himself. You were really taking it easy weren’t you」

(Geeh! I stepped on a landmine!)

(Zirco you bitch! Don’t say anything unnecessary!)

(W-we didn’t do anything wrongg–!)

(You idiots! It’s time like this where we’re sharing our lot with one another!)

Zirco and co were shaking in their boot waiting when Maggot was going  to mention about their responsibility of letting Baldr almost died. It  felt like they were going to go crazy with fear.

She didn’t want to imagine it at all, but in case Maggot blamed Zirco’s ineptitude, she would have no way to oppose her.

Before this she thought that she might have closed the gap between  her and Maggot a little after she retired from the mercenary business  for ten years, but it seemed the gap had widened even further instead.

It wasn’t like they had tried fighting for real, but Zirco wasn’t an  amateur who couldn’t ascertain that much difference of strength.

「And, what’s your excuse?」

「Thaat’s……b-because, chief ordered us to hold back the other guys……」

「The best that all of you could do was only holding back the small  fries? Perhaps it’ll be better if I retrain you guys from the start  again.」

「Please spare us. We’ll die!」

Maggot hadn’t been good at holding back since the past. There was an  anecdote that when she was entrusted with training the new recruits,  more than half of them were physically broken.

To say nothing of the day when Maggot needed someone to vent her  anger on, even someone skilled like Zirco seriously almost died.

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「You’re really fortunate eh, Zirco……」

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In that instant, Maggot’s voice turned so low it was almost freezing. Her voice changed like that of a fierce beast’s growl.

Maggot’s deathly presence swelled up drastically in an instant as  though the air had thickened. Even now after ten years had passed, her  aura that was once extolled like the death god of the battlefield was  still going strong.

「Survival is the mercenary’s number one priority. I don’t have  anything to say about that. But, if Baldr actually died there, I would  twist off your head even if I have to chase you till the end of earth.」

「Haha……big sis, that joke isn’t funny you know……」

She was found out!

Maggot found out that she was going to abandon Baldr and ran away!

Zirco’s face muscles were convulsing. She felt sweat trickling out  like waterfall not only from her back, but also from her forehead and  cheeks.

That just now wasn’t a joke. Maggot was someone who would really do  it when she said she would do it. She also had more than enough strength  to carry out her words.

However she would only worsen her situation further if she honestly acknowledge it.

(T-thank god! Thank god I didn’t run away!!)

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At that time when Baldr stood up, 99% of Zirco’s mind had been fixed toward running away.

That was because she could only imagine their annihilation if Torus was heading their way.

There was no mercenary who would fight until they perished even though their employer had died.

Zirco’s decision wasn’t mistaken as a mercenary, and Maggot herself also recognized that.

But the responsibility if the result was Baldr losing his life was a completely different matter than that.

It was a terrifying prospect to even just imagine having her head  being targeted by Maggot who was transformed into a demon of revenge.

「That stupid son certainly need to be punished but──you guys need  punishment too as his underlings. Your contracts with him are still not  rescinded isn’t it?」

When they heard Maggot’s words, the mercenaries who were all mature adult turned pale and raised their protests.

「Wait a second! Our job is over already!」

「Rather what do you mean punishment!?」

「Please let me go-! I have a wife waiting for me back home……」

There was also a man who made a dangerous confession (raising a death  flag) amidst the panic, but Maggot only grinned fiercely and handed  down her ultimatum arrogantly.

「Be thankful that you guys can still keep your life.」

Maggot was quietly but furiously raging because her beloved son was almost killed.

If she didn’t vent out her stress somewhat, she would seriously go off alone to attack Selvi territory.

From Maggot’s observation, with Zirco and the others’ capabilities,  they would serve quiet well for her stress relieve to some degree. They  should be able to go through it without losing their life at least.

Zirco and others who were pitifully assigned the role to be  sacrificial lamb cursed their own misfortune and prayed to god so they  would be able to see the sunlight tomorrow.

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Part 3

What was waiting for Baldr when he was finally released from his bed was a call from his father Ignis.

Actually he still hadn’t fully recovered, but in front of Seyruun who  kept watching over him worriedly, he had to act strong and showed her  that he was right as rain here.

「Young master Baldr, are you really alright? I wonder why the master is telling me that I can’t come along……」

「Because we need to talk with only us parent and child sometimes perhaps?」

Although there was no way that this call was for that kind of indulgent reason.

Baldr became seized with a gloomy feeling when he imagined his  father’s anger, but everything was him reaping what he sowed. He  couldn’t run away from this, nor he had such intention.

「I’ll change your bandage as soon as you return young master. Also I’ll prepare a snack that I’ve been saving!」

It felt like Seyruun had become even more overprotective than before since Baldr got injured.

He didn’t know whether she was joking or serious, but when she  appeared last night with only a towel covering her body and asked him  「Should I wash your back?」, his lower body almost reacted.

Perhaps it was because of the maid moe that Masaharu’s memory imprinted into him…….

How should he interact with Seyruun from here on……Baldr felt anxious thinking it.

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「Excuse me.」

「Baldr huh. Enter.」

Ignis’s office was a boorish place that used a lot of oak wood to  give it a solemn atmosphere. There was almost no decoration here.

The mountain of paperwork that was arranged neatly on the desk was  most likely the result of sweat and tear and blood of his excellent  retainers instead of Ignis himself.

Ignis’s expression was too stiff and stern for a father who was  welcoming his son who returned alive from the border of life and death.

Baldr realized that his own prediction was correct.

It was depressing but, he would be even more troubled instead if  Ignis was so happy-go-lucky that he didn’t get angry at him here.

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*Doga-!*

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Baldr’s body was sent flying along with a dull hitting sound.

He knew it was coming, but expected he couldn’t follow the fist’s speed with his eyes.

Baldr was punched while he was completely unguarded. He rolled on the  office’s floor without stopping and crashed on the oak door that he had  just entered from before his body finally stopped.

Blood spurted out from his nose and several of his still remaining  baby teeth were broken. The inside of his mouth was wet with blood.

「Do you understand why I hit you?」

「──Yes.」

He had no intention of making excuse.

Everything was caused by his conceit.

If this was a battlefield, he wouldn’t be able to protest if he was beheaded for acting on his own.

「Since when you have been suspecting an intervention from Selvi?」

「I believed that it didn’t take two months since the farm started  operating in full-scale before the information reached Marquis Selvi.  After that he started collecting information until he ran out of  patience……at that point I believed that he would soon take action  without a doubt.」

「Why didn’t you report that to me?」

「For giving the appearance that the farm is in the end the project of  a private business that is Savaran Company instead of the project of  Cornelius House. I thought that carelessly making this information known  would only bring trouble. And then……I also thought my own strength  would be enough to take care of it.」

Yes, he arrogantly thought that there was no way he would lose to mere subordinates of Marquis Selvi.

He was so embarrassed he wanted to die just from remembering his self  from yesterday that fell into the feeling of omnipotence that  chuunibyou often brought.

Perhaps black history was referring to this kind of thing.

「That’s quite a confidence. And, were Selvi’s dogs that weak just as you thought?」

「No. One of them was a magnificent knight who made me thought for the  first time that I couldn’t win against anyone other than mother.」

If Seyruun and Selina weren’t there at that time, if he wasn’t  resolved to protect them, it was extremely doubtful whether Baldr  (Sanai) would be able to stand up once more or not.

The wall that Baldr felt from the difference of skill between him and  Torus was so high that it made him thought like that with conviction.

The likes of Maggot and Ramillies were far too strong than him that they couldn’t become any object of comparison.

In that light, perhaps Torus could be said as Baldr’s rival that gave him his first taste of defeat.

「What would happen if you were unable to defeat him?」

「Seyruun and Selina would be kidnapped, while the mercenaries would be annihilated.」

If Baldr stayed defeated at that time, Seyruun and Selina would undoubtedly get kidnapped to other country.

And then after they had given all the information that they could, the possibility that they would be liberated was nonexistent.

The other side would have to hide the background and objective of the  kidnappers. The two of them would be killed without any doubt.

Baldr had exposed the lives of his important people to danger because of his arrogance.

「I heard that it was a coincidence the two of them were there.  Originally the target of the kidnapping should be the children of our  territory. If you died, the innocent children would be the one who died  next.」

「It’s as you said.」

He intentionally exposed his people to danger even though he should be protecting them at all cost.

That was the essence of the problem here.

Baldr knew very well just how much Ignis treasured his people. It made him gnashed his teeth even harder at his own foolishness.

He had properly trained the children how to evacuate.

The children didn’t hold any valuable information anyway.

With Zirco and the other mercenaries there, it wouldn’t be that hard to suppress the enemies.

Because Baldr had such optimistic thinking, he didn’t seriously  consider of how he was exposing children’s lives to danger for real in  the truest meaning.

「We nobles exist in order to protect the nation and the people. We  must never expose the people to danger for our own convenience. You were  lacking such pride and resolve.」

Baldr nodded wordlessly.

It might be easy to get the wrong idea because there was the memory  of Sanai and Masaharu inside Baldr, but the essential part of Baldr’s  mind was still that of a twelve years old boy.

Even though he worked out a political scheme that was unbelievable  coming from a child and boasted a martial skill that would make adult  lose face, it was nothing more than a surface appearance that wasn’t  accompanied by the resolve to bear the responsibility and the experience  of entering a battle of life and death.

That fact became exposed under the light from the attack this time.

「Perhaps you’re thinking that I’m an unreliable father……even so  you’re still a child. At the very least I won’t mistake the gravity of  what I should protect unlike you.」

Ignis too was aware that he was third rate as a politician and as a territory ruler.

He also understood that the reason why Baldr hesitated to report to him was because he was taking that into consideration.

After all he didn’t even know that it seemed his territory was  producing sugar until his few noble friends who he were interacting with  asked him.

He had the self-confidence that he would protect the people even if  it cost him his life, but Baldr was more capable than him in regard of  enriching the people’s life.

However the act of using the people’s lives as betting chip in exchange for those riches was violating Ignis’s taboo as a noble.

Because they were honorable nobles of Mauricia Kingdom, there was a  line that they mustn’t cross no matter what. There was a pride that they  had to protect no matter what. That was what Ignis believed.

Actually the number of nobles who didn’t have such belief might be the majority, but Ignis didn’t give a damn about such thing.

At the very least the members of Cornelius House that rose to their  position as a military family had to be like that. The head of the house  mustn’t forget that.

Because of the case this time, Ignis recalled where he learned his pride and cultivated his conviction as a noble.

「Someone who lack resolve can’t serve as a lord even if they have the  talent. Baldr, originally this should be for when you’re fourteen, but  go enroll into the royal knight academy next month.」

The royal knight academy was just like its name suggested. It was a government school for training knight.

Ignis himself was also spending his emotional juvenile age from fourteen years old until eighteen years old in there.

He knew woman for the first time and learned how to play in red-light  district were also around that time. Though of course this was a secret  from Maggot.

Originally someone should be fourteen to enter this academy. The  exception of enrolling there as twelve years old was accepted by that  General Ramillies.

Ramillies was finally freed from his duty after ten years passed  since the end of the war. Starting from last year he was appointed as  the headmaster of the royal knight academy while still keeping his rank  as a general.

Ramillies welcomed Baldr’s slightly early enrollment wholeheartedly.

「I have two matters that I wish to request.」

「Let’s hear them.」

「It was my blunder that exposed the children in the farm to danger,  but that place is a precious workplace for them to earn wages. Please  continue the farm and safeguard it so they can still have a place to  work.」

No matter the era, kid labor was always cheap and wasn’t really worth it.

Baldr’s farm where there was light work that even children could do  and could earn decent pay was also a precious income source for the  children’s parents too.

In addition the farm was also a part of Savaran Company’s income  source. A part of the profit there would also be circulated inside  Cornelius territory as tax.

The negative effect if this farm was abolished here would be too great.

「We still have enough spare soldiers. I promise that I won’t let Selvi’s men try anything with it.」

「Thank you very much. Second, there will be nobles who try  interfering with Savaran Company in the future. However that company is  indispensable for the development of Cornelius territory. Please don’t  let any other house to interfere no matter what.」

Savaran Company right now was a tree that was growing money.

There might be invitation like 「I’ll give you preferential treatment,  so how about moving to my territory?」 or threat like 「If you don’t tell  me the way to create sugar, I’ll use my authority as noble to charge  you with crime」  to the company from people with ulterior motive from  here on.

It was unthinkable that Selina would betray Baldr no matter how good  the offer that she was given, but there was a high possibility that  noble who envied Cornelius territory’s prosperity would try something  malicious.

「The company of that Selina girl huh. I’m also in her debt for  procuring valuable medicine for your treatment. I swear I’ll help her as  long as it’s within my capability.」

It was these straightforward decision and genuine sincerity which was the virtue of Ignis that he ought to be proud about.

At the same time they were also his flaws, but it wouldn’t matter if Baldr compensated for that.

If it was another feudal lord who was in Ignis’s position, there was a  possibility they would get out the secret from Savaran Company and  monopolized it for their own profit.

Did Ignis understand just how great of a source of wealth this could become?

Most likely he didn’t understand it, but even if he actually  understood, Ignis’s answer would still be the same. Baldr didn’t doubt  that.

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「Then one last thing──」

Ignis’s face changed completely from the stern face of a lord into a  smiling face. He crouched down and caressed Baldr’s silver hair roughly  before hugging him with all his strength.

The hug of his father after so long was rugged and hard unlike  Maggot, but it was filled with reliable sense of security that couldn’t  be compared with anything.

「Thank god you survived. You made me worried!」

「Tou-san!」

It was like a dam broke and tears flooded out one after another.  Baldr cried while a part of his mind felt like what was going on was  happening to somebody else.

His father’s forgiveness.

How he was actually feeling absurdly terrified from almost dying.

How he couldn’t sleep at night when thinking what if Selina and Seyruun died from what happened.

Those thoughts became jumbled with each other and he couldn’t stop his emotion from overflowing out from his heart.

Baldr cried loudly like there was something broken inside him. This  time for sure he accepted from his heart the fact that he was nothing  more than a twelve years old brat.

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Part 4

With his enrollment into the knight academy decided, Baldr who was sorting out his room folded his arms and groaned.

It could be said that he was in agony.

In the end was it alright for him to entrust himself to this impulse that was rising from inside him.

He worked his brain for long, thinking hard of what he would obtain  and what he would lose by doing this. Even so the answer wouldn’t form  at all.

Gold coins were piled up like a mountain in front of Baldr’s eyes.

The profit from the gold plated works and sugar’s shipping had been  paid to him in proportion to the amount of money he invested excluding  the twenty percent for the intermediation fee.

In addition the recipe fee of mayonnaise, the sales fee of Othello,  and fees of some other things were also growing smoothly. Before he  realized it there was already a great amount of gold coins piling up in  Baldr’s possession.

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Yes, gold coins! Gold coins!

The dazzling radiance of gold that was throwing the rational mind into chaos was now in front of his eyes!

This moment had finally come. No wait, wait, please wait I’m begging you!

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The three personalities that were fused inside Baldr were bringing thoughts that were running counter to each other.

Baldr who was receiving upbringing as a noble, Masaharu who possessed  the good sense of a modern person, the two of them harbored a feeling  of avoidance toward this kind of temptation that was hard to be erased.

However the enormous desire of Sanai who had become an equal existence with them greatly surpassed such feeling of avoidance.

Baldr was swallowed by an impulse that was difficult to resist. He was unconsciously forming words in order to convince himself.

「T-this is the form of my gratitude toward Sanai-dono……! The proof of  my gratitude toward Sanai-dono who is my life savior-! Its my  overwhelming gratitude!」

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Baldr finally resolved himself and started lining up the gold coins on the floor.

Because the gold coins weren’t flattened like koban (small oval gold  coin used in the Edo period), the surface area a single coin could cover  was small, but it didn’t matter whether it was koban or gold coin, the  profoundly mysterious aura that could only be emitted by gold didn’t  change at all.

Baldr’s eyes were quickly became enchanted by that dazzling radiance. His expression turned ecstatic.

「This radiance……this pure radiance is driving me mad!」

Baldr was lining up the coins one by one. A grin of pleasure was forming on his mouth. Soon he might even start drooling.

The number of gold coins that he saved up was actually more than a thousand.

It was an extraordinary amount when taking into consideration how it  had only been half a year since Baldr started earning money.

However the amount was still insufficient to completely cover the whole floor surface.

He had to earn even more and more money in order to completely cover the room with gold coins too……that was Baldr’s thought.

It would surely be a magnificent view if a room that was the size of his father’s office was filled with gold coins all over.

But he couldn’t ask for something that didn’t exist, so Baldr spread  out the gold coins with some distance between them. With that he was  somehow able to cover the size of around three tatami worth.

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(──Should I?)

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As expected, Baldr’s rational mind was hesitating with the gold coins  spread out in front of him. However his emotion was surging with  excitement. He was even feeling an impatience that made him wanted to  yell even now.

His throat felt parched. Baldr was instinctually aware that in order to cure this thirstiness, he could only carry it out.

Baldr suddenly took off his clothes and threw them away.

His healthily tanned skin and his limbs that still had scars that  looked like welts on them although they had been healed were laid bare.

Only half a year was left till he became thirteen. The muscles that  were starting to fill his body little by little and the skin that was  still leaving behind childish softness had the beauty that might make  someone with taste for little boy to get nosebleed.

Of course, Baldr himself didn’t have any hobby of narcissism at all.

What he had was only an abnormal obsession and affection toward money.

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「I   CAN   FLYYYYY!!」

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Baldr exposed his bare figure like when he was born and leaped toward  the sea of gold coins that he spread out himself with a smile.

Baldr spread out his hands as though to embrace the gold coins that  were approaching before his eyes and his whole body touched the floor──.

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Part 5

*Roll roll roll roll……bam!*

*Roll roll roll roll……bam!*

*Roll roll roll roll……bam!*

「Gee-hya-hya-hya-hyaaaa!!」

At the villa of Oka Clan, the retainer of Gamou Clan. It was a custom  for a secret event to be carried out there every month. Right now that  event was underway with great enthusiasm.

「If only our lord doesn’t have this kind of habit……」

「Indeed……well, the lord won’t be the lord anymore if he isn’t interested with money though.」

「It’s not like it’s a bad thing to love money. But this is……overdoing it right?」

The two samurais smiled wryly while nodding at each other.

Their lord, Oka Sanai would blanket the floor of his room with koban  once a month. Then he would roll around on them naked. Before he knew it  the rumor of such strange habit had spread, forcing the retainers of  Oka Clan to feel extremely ashamed.

「Uhihihi……unbearable-! This is unbearableeeeeeee!」

Sanai’s figure that was rolling from corner to corner inside the room  and bumped on the wall before reversing direction stark naked could  only be said as perverse even in the era of Warring States that was  filled with many eccentrics.

Shockingly, this strange habit would continue without fail until  Sanai was more than seventy years old and became completely bedridden.

Oka Sanai Sadatoshi──he was a man who had never wavered to the bitter end (this was a true historical fact).

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「Uhoooh! It came! It came! IT CAMEEEEE!!」

In battle he was a general with peerless courage and overflowing with  ingenuity. Even at the time of peace he governed the people well. He  wouldn’t be negligent in making preparation for the critical moment. He  was a lord that his retainers were proud of and respected from the  bottom of their heart.

Except for this habit.

「Can’t he……retrain himself more?」

「This habit would have been cured a long time ago if the lord could do that.」

The pitiful retainers looked at each other’s face and let out a long  sigh while deciding to treat this like nothing was going on.

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Part 6

Baldr was feeling the texture of gold coins on his back, chest,  cheeks, fingers, everywhere. An eerie laugh that was unbefitting for a  kid leaked out from his mouth.

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「Fuhehehehehehehehehehehehe」

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How fun! How can there be something this wonderfully moving in this  world! The seductive sensation of gold on the bare skin felt sensual  even.

Kuh……if only there is more of them, I’d be able to taste the gold even more.

*Roll roll roll roll roll-*

Baldr was rolling around to every direction inside the room. There  was a feeling of nostalgia even though this was his first time doing  this since he was born. He was getting absorbed into the act.

It didn’t feel like he would get tired of this no matter how long he was doing it.

The fragrant scent of gold, the warmth of gold that could only be felt with his bare skin.

The cover that this was his show of gratitude toward Sanai had gone flying to somewhere.

Baldr swore deep inside his heart that he had to save up more and  more money so that he could taste this supreme bliss once more.

.

Coincidentally around that time, Seyruun had been told about Baldr’s  enrollment to the royal knight academy from Ignis personally. Now she  was staring at empty air with an expression that was lacking in vigor as  though she had forgotten to put on her smiling face with its charming  dimple.

(Young master Baldr will be gone from my side……)

Who should she devote herself to take care of if that happened?

Even though Seyruun’s everything was dedicated for Baldr from the  time she woke up at the morning until she went to sleep at the night.

It was fine even if she was unable to do anything, she wanted to go  to the royal capital to accompany Baldr. She tried making a direct  appeal for that, and yet the royal knight academy was a semi-military  establishment. Living together with other students in the dormitory was  also a part of the training there.

Naturally there were also noble children among the students, but as  expected it seemed they weren’t allowed to be accompanied by servant.

「Uu……hics……」

The sadness of being torn away from Baldr’s side caused large drop of tears to spill from Seyruun’s eyes.

Since that tragic day, Seyruun felt like she had returned to the days when she was still a little crybaby.

To think that she was this dependent on Baldr.

「Uuh, young master……young master Baldr!!」

Since it had come to this, there was no other choice than asking Baldr himself to take her along.

Even if Baldr had to live in dormitory over there, there was no way he would be satisfied with just studying in the academy.

His business dealing with Selina would still continue. It would be  more convenient for Baldr if he had someone to take the role as his  messenger in the capital.

If push came to shove she wouldn’t mind even if she had to work in the dormitory as maid and did the menial chores there.

That’s right! That’s a good idea!

Seyruun thought that it was a really good idea and broke into a small  run toward Baldr’s room. She couldn’t push down her eager feeling and  put her hand on the door without even knocking.

And then the door of destiny was opened wide to show something that  should be absolutely impossible if it was at the normal time.

「Young master! Please listen to……my request…………for?」

.

*Click*

Behind the opened door, there was Baldr exposing his unbecoming  appearance from frolicking with gold coins stark naked without anything  to cover his body with.

「Young……master……」

「Sey……nee……」

The saying of “It felt like time had stopped” must be existing for this kind of situation.

Some more time was needed until their brains were able to comprehend  just how significant the situation that they had encountered right now.

「………………」

「………………」

What burst the extremely awkward silence that felt like it would  continue for eternity was the yells that broke out five seconds later.

.

「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!」

「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

.

Seyruun screamed as though she had been released from a binding  curse. Baldr hurriedly hid his crotch and pulled the clothes that he had  thrown around haphazardly toward himself.

「Hawawawa……young master Baldr’s p○n○s is, his p○n○s is……growing big and going buwoooh……」

「Don’t say it Sey-nee! I’;m begging you don’t say anything further than thatttttt!」

Even the sorrowful scream of Baldr’s soul couldn’t reach Seyruun.

Seyruun’s head was rocking back and forth like a broken doll. She continued muttering with eyes that were lacking focus.

「Buwoooh……Young master buwoooh……」

For Seyruun who had just entered puberty, Baldr’s lethal weapon that  had grown further than she imagined when she still thought of him as a  kid was too strong of a stimulation.

「I-it’s over……time……if only I can turn back the timeeeee!」

A girl who he was just starting to feel conscious toward had  witnessed his shameful appearance that shouldn’t be exposed to anyone.  The mental damage from it wasn’t something ordinary.

Baldr was writhing violently like a former chuuni patient who got his  black history exposed and wanting to die rather than living in shame.

It was only thirty minutes later when the head maid finally  discovered Baldr who was tearing off his head with an expression of  despair and Seyruun who was still continuing to mutter 「Buwoooh,  buwoooh」 .

Even when she tried to ask what happened, the two of them stayed silent and didn’t say anything.

And then for some reason Baldr wouldn’t take a single step out of his  room until the day before his departure to the knight academy.

This incident left behind a deep wound in Baldr’s heart that he buried into darkness.

『It’s not mine fault』

Perhaps Sanai had whispered that or perhaps not, nobody knew for certain.

.

Part 7

Ignis and maggot of Cornelius House were widely acknowledged as a loving couple.

The two of them were joined in marriage together with a dramatic  process that was called as “Cornelius Couple’s Hunting” by the world at  large, but it was heavily rumored that in their everyday life the  husband Ignis was completely whipped by his wife Maggot.

Even so there was no doubting their love to each other. The retainers  of Cornelius House were also relieved that Ignis who had a bit of bad  habit in womanizing had finally settled down.

But Ignis was raised as the eldest son of a count and received  education as knight at the royal capital, while Maggot was a former  mercenary. It was only natural that a lot of time they would have  different opinion from each other.

In most case, Maggot would carefully consider Ignis’s dignity as a  noble and held back (though the stress reduction because of that was  mostly directed toward Baldr), but there were also some problems where  she wouldn’t yield.

Especially in regard to the case that happened the other day. The  opinion of the two were in direct opposition against each other and it  engraved a deep mark into the relationship between the married couple of  Cornelius House.

.

「──I heard that you punched Baldr before this?」

Maggot’s gaze was cold like a sharp blade.

Ignis noticed that she was taking a great offense to this matter,  even so there was no way he could draw back here as the head of the  house. He replied back resolutely.

「The blunder that Baldr committed this time cannot be forgiven without any punishment. Baldr himself also understood that.」

「Hah」

Maggos scoffed at Ignis’s reply.

「Just what had he done that constituted as this blunder? He protected  the women, defended the farm, and turned the table on all the enemies  without leaving any alive. That’s a great military result that should be  rewarded instead!」

「……That’s if you consider only the result.」

「It’s result that is more important than anything else. An ideal that  isn’t accompanied by result is nothing but dog food. Acting arbitrarily  will result to beheading if it result in failure, but it’ll be a  distinguished service instead if it succeed. I won’t let you say that  you never acted arbitrarily in the battlefield, Ignis.」

Maggot who was originally a mercenary was a complete realist.

Of course she would make sure anyone to take responsibility of the  result that they brought about themselves, but the result that Baldr  produced this time was the best result instead.

Maggot was greatly enraged that the son she extremely cherished  almost lost his life, but in regard to the action that Baldr took, she  believed there wasn’t really nothing that could be criticized about it.

He staked his life to protect Seyruun and magnificently took down a  formidable enemy who was stronger than himself. Rather her true feeling  was she wished to heap a lot of praises on Baldr while saying ‘as  expected of my son’.

「That boy is still not in the position or the age to shoulder the  responsibility of what he had done. What happened has gone outside what  Baldr can shoulder.」

Despite predicting that there was a definite possibility of  infiltrators coming from a hostile country, Baldr planned to repel them  by himself and because of that he permitted ordinary people to be  exposed into danger──Ignis had no intention of granting such authority  to his son whether now in the present or at the future.

It was something that Ignis wouldn’t yield as a feudal lord too.

But Maggot also wouldn’t yield.

「We couldn’t possibly dispatch this territory’s soldiers to that farm  at that point of time. In order to maintain the secrecy of the precious  sugar, dealing with the infiltrators secretly was the best way. We  would be suspected to be involved with the sugar production if we  carelessly took action. You too had been questioned many times about the  sugar at the high society events hadn’t you?」

「Yeah, but it’s not like it matters who produced the sugar. It’s just sugar──」

*Gasun-!*

A thick vein was pulsing on Maggot’s forehead. She had just thrown a knife that grazed Ignis’s right cheek.

The knife was buried into the wall until its hilt with a heavy sound. Ignis could only stare at it with a pale face.

「Has your brain turned into muscle too? Sugar can only be produced at  the south where sugarcane can grow. In the first place it’s impossible  for sugar to be produced in this area where sugarcane cannot grow.」

「Th-then how does the sugar produced from here?」

「That’s why, the whole country is desperately investigating in order  to learn that right now! Selvi’s guys also came here to ascertain that!」

「Then, it’s even more pressing for us to send soldiers to guard the place……」

「You brain dead! You still don’t get it! The secrecy is more to hold  back the nobles within Mauricia itself rather than against the like of  Selvi!」

If Cornelius House dispatched soldiers to guard the producing area of  the sugar, they wouldn’t be able to claim that they didn’t know  anything anymore.

Until now they could insist 「It’s a company in my territory that does  it but I myself don’t really get it (in fact they really didn’t know  about it)」 toward the other nobles, but when that claim didn’t work  anymore, even Maggot had to admit that it would be nearly impossible for  Ignis to protect the secret.

Or rather, this man had the tendency to quickly lower his guard when he was interacting with allied army.

He was a reliable man when fighting together in the battlefield, but  he didn’t understand that at the peace time the most troublesome enemy  was one’s own ally instead.

Even the economics advantage that they fortunately obtained would be quickly lost if it got spread to the whole country.

In regard to this problem, even friendly nobles were still their  rival. Sophisticated political and economic sense would be necessary if  one wanted to maintain a cooperative relationship in this kind of  matter.

Ignis still didn’t look fully convinced, so Maggot sighed and argued vehemently.

「Imagine that there’s a blacksmith who can forge a sword at the level  of national treasure. Naturally that blacksmith won’t just teach his  technique to anyone who ask without care. After all who knows if it’ll  get misused for a malicious deed somewhere. The family of that  blacksmith will mostly teach the technique to just their descendant  without allowing it to leak out to outsider. This sugar production  technique is the same. If you considered the immense effort and  investment that they must have spent to discover the technique, it’s out  of question to ask them to teach the way for free. It’s even rude to  ask them to do so, don’t you think so?」

「I see, I understand if it’s like that.」

「Because of that you should leave that farm to me. Luckily I also  have connection, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to it.」

This connection was naturally referring to Zirco and the others.

It wouldn’t be desirable for Cornelius House to manage the farm  openly. Using mercenary to guard the farm should be the better solution.

Of course it would be necessary to increase their number. Selina had already offered to aid in that endeavor with her fund.

.

「──That’s why」

Actually everything so far had been nothing more than the preface. The important topic for Maggot started here.

Usually she wouldn’t oppose Ignis’s decision openly, but sometimes  there would also be things that she absolutely couldn’t tolerate.

「Baldr hasn’t done anything wrong. Because of that, we should cancel his enrollment into the royal knight academy.」

.

「Haa??」

Ignis blinked with a gaze that was asking, What is this woman saying?

He was taken aback by the suggestion that came out of nowhere.

「Because it’s true isn’t it? You’re sending Baldr to the knight  academy in order to reeducate him right? But if Baldr actually hasn’t  done anything wrong, that means there isn’t any need for that.」

In short this Maggot was reluctant, really really reluctant to part from her treasured toy……or rather her treasured son.

「There’s no way I can do something like that.」

「Why!?」

This time their position was reversed. Ignis was the one who started pointing out Maggot’s thoughtlessness.

In the end, although they had areas where they were good at and not  good at, they were husband and wife who were similar with each other at  the principle.

「This matter has been approved by the headmaster of the royal knight  academy, General Ramillies, and also by his majesty the king. This isn’t  a decision that we can change as we please by our own convenience.  Besides Baldr won’t just learn about being a knight at the knight  academy. He will form connections and make friends too there. It won’t  be useless at all for his future.」

.

Ignis recalled the days that he spent at the royal capital in his juvenile years.

The daily life of diligent studying and training with close friends  of the same age and different social status. The fun time when they  headed out together to the downtown at holiday and made merry. All those  memories were important treasures for Ignis.

And then, his experience with his first woman──.

.

「Just now, you were thinking of other woman weren’t you?」

「Ueh?」

It was bad that he subconsciously recalled the woman who he first went out with.

Maggot who sniffed the scent of a past woman from Ignis swiftly  transformed into the cruel goddess who ruled over the battlefield, the  “Silver Light”.

「I see……I can’t believe it, you’re trying to send my adorable Baldr  to your memorable place where you discarded your virginity aren’t you?」

「N-n-n-n-n-n, no-, there’s no way I’m trying something like that isn’t it? I-I’m begging you, calm down first, Maggot……」

「Fufufufufufufufufufu……it has been so long since I was made to feel  this displeased. How about it? Let’s enjoy ourselves together with a  battle dance together after so long.」

「Wait! It’s just a mistake of the past, it should be invalid at this point!」

Maggot once had forgiven Ignis for his various woman experiences that were too many, but the problem this time was different.

「A punishment is needed for the idiot who is trying to dirty my Baldr!」

.

Some time later, although Ignis was left battered on the floor, he  didn’t shame his nickname of Ignis the Iron Wall and just barely managed  to protect his life.

In addition he also didn’t back down against Maggot’s fervent  persuasion (threat) with her body language and succeeded in forcing  Baldr’s enrollment to continue.

Although the compensation that he paid for that was nothing short of  immense. For a while after that, Ignis’s pitiful figure wrapped in  blanket could be seen at his office after getting kicked out of the  master bedroom.

.

Also when the next day came, Maggot whose sense of danger had been  greatly fanned up called for Seyruun who had been serving on Baldr’s  side since she was little and gave her a new duty in order to protect  Baldr.

「I’ll go! I’ll absolutely go together with the young master no matter what!」

「I’m counting on you Seyruun. I’ll talk to Ramillies-jiisamagrandfather to accept it. No matter what you mustn’t let any harmful insect to get near Baldr!」

「Please leave it to me madam!」

The two of them exchanged a firm handshake. Ignis imagined the hardship that Baldr would go through in the future.

After all from Ignis’s eyes, this scene only looked like a mother-in-law and a wife worrying about their son (husband).

Well, he didn’t mind about Seyruun becoming Baldr’s wife in itself, or rather it was within his assumption.

「Call for me right away if there is something that’s beyond your  capacities. Never be reserved or hesitating even by mistake! Male around  this age will easily get their virginity devoured after all, just like  my stupid husbandlady killer!」

「Of course. I will never let any other woman approach young master’s ‘buwoooh’!」

「Buwoooh?」

「N-no no. This Seyruun swear to protect young master’s virtue even if it cost me my life!」

(My pitiful son. In this case, it might be better if you quickly  seduce Seyruun to turn her into your ally so you can live a fun academy  life. Relationship with woman is something very precious for a man’s  springtime of youth.)

Maggot sent a sharp gaze toward Ignis who was having such thought.

「──Do you want to dance with me again?」

「Seyruun, watch over my son carefully over there.」

(I’m sorry my son. Father too don’t want to die!)

Ignis who was reputed as a philanderer in the past was driven with  the temptation of teaching his son of how to play with fire, but he  wasn’t that driven that he would expose his life to danger just to  succumb to the temptation.

.

Part 8

The time of the departure finally arrived.

Baldr boarded the horse carriage and bowed deeply toward Ignis and Maggot.

「Then I’ll be going, Tou-san, Kaa-san.」

Seyruun secured the seat beside Baldr like it was only natural. She  was making a bright smile from achieving her objective to accompany  Baldr.

Either way, she was able to take a lead against her rival Selina with this.

Selina had been absent from Cornelius since the other day because of a  business negotiation. She didn’t know about Baldr’s departure today.

Although this was that Selina they were talking about. When she  learned about this, she would surely chase Baldr until the capital right  away.

.

「Study well over there.」

「I wish to rediscover myself once more……」

Recently Baldr tended to abase himself with an empty gaze.

Ignis was worried that he had scolded him too hard the other day.

After all Baldr even said something like 「I’m sorry for being born」 and the like the other day.

However Baldr was still young. Surely he would get back on his feet and reached even greater success in the future.

「Kaa-san, thank you for everything until now. I’ll go and see how far  the martial skill that Kaa-san has taught me until now will fare in the  greater world.」

「Hmph……I’ll work you hard again if you get tired of the training at the capital (You can come home anytime you like you know?)」

「I’ll be diligent so that won’t happen.」

「Ku-ku-ku……well, be careful so that you don’t slack too much at the  capital, or else I’ll visit to beat you up personally back into shape  (Mama will be the one who go there if you leave mama alone for too  long!)」

.

The coach turned toward Ignis and bowed his head before raising the  rein, then the simple carriage that was pulled by two horses finally  departed to the capital.

Baldr leaned out from his seat and waved his hand toward his family,  the servants, and the children including Tyros who came to see him off.

.

「Everyone! Thank you for everything until now! I’m going!」

「Please take care of yourself, Baldr-sama!」

「Baldr-sama! Thank you for all the delicious foods!」

「We’ll also do our best here!」

.

Both Ignis and Maggot continued to wave until the horse carriage was gone from view.

And then at the same time when the horse carriage had vanished,  Maggot hugged Ignis’s chest and let out a sob like a girl with her face  buried on his chest.

「Uuu……Baldr……Baldrrr……」

Ignis gently hugged Maggot who continued crying like a child. He whispered gently into her ear.

「You endured well. You’re a great mother.」

「Fueee……mama is lonelyyyy……」

He wondered why she was unable to say those words directly to Baldr.

Maggot Cornelius──even though she was easy to get lonely, she was an  awkward woman who couldn’t become honest in front of her son no matter  what.

The servants of Cornelius House and Zirco who also personally came to  see off Baldr froze like stone at Maggot’s pathetic appearance that  they couldn’t imagine at all.

It went without saying that the shock cleanly erased this memory from  their brain as though it never happened in order to protect themselves.

.

Part 9

At Selvi territory that was at the other side of the national border from Cornelius territory.

Inside the territory that paid the most sacrifice due to its role as  the invasion base against Mauricia, the gloomy atmosphere still couldn’t  be wiped away even now after ten years had passed.

The shortage of population to work in the farm and industry and the  expansion of military that reduced the number even more forced a heavy  burden to the people. Their situation was so horrible that even traveler  could see it just from a glance.

Just the other day, a certain group of merchants visited the castle town of Selvi territory that was in such state.

The merchants had stopped by at Cornelius territory for the sake of  peddling their wares. During that time Ignis requested them to deliver  something to Marquis Selvi for him.

「……The count said that he is returning 『the remains of the nameless heroes』.」

Ignis had processed the corpses of the knights so they wouldn’t rot and sent them back home.

Something like this wasn’t that unusual to be done in the battlefield.

Confirmation of soldiers’ live or death was nearly the biggest  priority when dealing with the aftermath of battle. Sometimes the two  armies that were fighting would even work together for that.

Ignis followed his experience in the past and thought that he had to return the corpses of the enemy soldiers.

However Andrei’s aide Dorun who learned of Ignis’s doing showed a  completely unapproachable reaction. It greatly troubled the merchants.

「How dare he sent these corpses that are completely unrelated to our  house. This is a great insult. That mountain monkey of Mauricia has even  forgotten the etiquette as noble!」

Far from giving thanks, Dorun showed an intense anger instead. The  merchants who never expected this reaction desperately bowed their head  without understanding what was actually going on.

And then it looked like they who were only asked to transport the  bodies here were going to get executed too, so the scrambled to leave  Marquis Selvi’s house in panic.

The merchants could finally calm down after they returned to their  inn at the castle town. They couldn’t help but resent Ignis who caused  them to meet such dangerous experience.

Even so, they were people with high professionalism that couldn’t  leave a job undone when they were already paid, so they didn’t just stop  there.

They brought the corpses that Dorun refused to receive and buried  them into a cemetery for those who left no relatives behind in the Selvi  territory. They paid the funeral cost and held a simple funeral service  for the corpses.

They only did the minimum requirement, but it could be said as  fortunate for the corpses, because they could have a priest from the  church to hold a service for them unlike those unidentified people who  died by the roadside.

.

Dorun received report from his subordinates about everything that  happened from start to finish. He let out a deep sigh that was  accompanied with rage and hatred that was seething like magma. He  couldn’t suppress back this feeling.

Since the contact from Torus and his men ceased coming, he had  resolved himself that their prospect of still being alive was  nonexistent.

However, he couldn’t hide his shock as expected when the reality was shown right before him.

Somewhere in his heart Dorun was unable to accept that someone as strong as Torus could fail in his mission.

(Torus, who in the world your opponent was? Who defeated you?)

According to the report, the wound that killed Torus came from a single sword thrust into the throat.

Even if he tried to search within Selvi territory, he wouldn’t be  able to find any swordsman who could kill that Torus not with a spear,  but by a single attack of a sword.

If there was someone with such skill other than Ignis and Maggot at the enemy’s side, they would be a grave threat.

The unknown swordsman, the development of Cornelius territory that  was still wrapped in mystery──Torus who had grasped a part of that  mystery wouldn’t be able to open his mouth anymore.

When he thought of the mortification that Torus must had felt, Dorun couldn’t bring himself to criticize Torus’s failure.

No, there was no way he could possibly do something like that.

He had already made a fake report which said that Torus and his men  who were in the infiltration squad had fallen into Midas River in the  middle of training for crossing river strategy. The fierce river flow  and the increase of water volume from the rain were thought to have  drown them to their death.

Therefore Dorun wasn’t permitted to bury or even mourn his  subordinates who lost their life in foreign land for the sake of this  house. He couldn’t even ascertain their faces in death and burned them  into his memory──.

「He really get on my nerves! That cursed hypocrite who is only good in battle!」

Ignis must have only followed the custom in the battlefield and sent the corpses back without any ulterior motive.

He didn’t even consider the political problem that his action would cause.

If Selvi House accepted the corpses of Torus and his men, it would be  the same like admitting that they had violated the peace treaty by  sending soldiers to Cornelius territory hostilely.

That was why Dorun couldn’t recognize the corpses as Torus and his  men no matter what. He couldn’t even think to mourn for them at the  future.

Not only capable and loyal youths had lost their lives, he had to  stand still watching their bodies buried as complete strangers even  though their location was just a stone throw away. This humiliation and  mortification had surpassed the limit that could be expressed with  words.

And then, while he could only watch and grit his teeth like this,  Ignis would believe that he had done something good without  understanding anything. It made Dorun wanted to vomit.

Someone who had lost their comrades, family, or lover in an extreme  situation like war and still could pay respect and moderation toward  their enemies had the qualities of hero.

He didn’t want to admit it but, Ignis was a man with such heroic qualification.

However, such pure earnestness was nothing but a nuisance in the peace time.

At the very least Dorun believed that any responsible noble would  surely have done something shady for the sake of their house and their  people.

In actuality, Ignis’s act that was adhering to etiquette with such naïve honesty had brought a serious impact for Selvi House.

.

「──What are they doing?」

Dorun questioned his subordinate.

「They’re suspecting us as expected. Lately they keep a close watch to the grave.」

「As I thought……」

The faction that supported the continuation of war wasn’t in the majority at Haurelia Kingdom.

Although the royal family was supporting to go into war once more one  day, there were a lot of nobles who wanted to wash their hand off from  war that only brought great harm to them.

The one with the biggest influence at the opposing faction was the cousin of the king, the duke Jean Montfort(ジャン-モンフォール).

Jean had a great skill as a feudal lord. He independently developed  his territory with that business acumen. War that would turn that profit  into nothing was simply a nightmare for him.

The nobles who were his subordinates shared in the leftover of that  economical benefit. They formed a faction that proactively insisted they  should tie a friendly relationship with Mauricia Kingdom right now.

That Jean got suspicious why the Silver Light Maggot was frequently  patrolling the border. He was sending a lot of spies into Selvi  territory to investigate it.

The arrival of the corpses was at the worst timing when the investigation of those spies became active.

If this matter was discovered, Selvi House itself could be crushed if they were unlucky.

Right now they couldn’t even be seen making the slightest movement toward Cornelius.

That was why Dorun could only coldly reject the corpses of Torus and his men.

The irritating thing here was how this wasn’t something that Ignis calculated to happen.

That man was simply wishing to pay his respect toward Torus’s valor.

There was no way that he had spared any thought of what Torus himself  wished for or how Dorun would feel when the corpses were shown to him.

And yet look at the result.

It was them, Selvi House that got cornered, while Ignis himself was  undoubtedly immersed in relieve and self-satisfaction right now.

It felt like they had had been reduced into something dirty. Dorun shook his head in anger.

They weren’t mistaken.

None of what they did was a mistake.

For the sake of the house, for the sake of the country, for the sake  of the family, for the sake of the retainers, scheming to drag down the  opponent was a necessary evil. Those without power in the end would fall  into a malicious trap.

That should be the true reality of the noble society and the strife between countries.

This is why I hate you who continue to impudently believe in your naïve ideal!

Ignis Cornelius.

No matter how much time passed, even if I had to crawl on the  ground and sipping muddy water while living in shame, I swear I’ll at  least send you to hell.

I won’t accept you bastard being the only one who act like a good person in this wicked world and die satisfied!

.

With frustration that made them wished to vomit blood, both Dorun and  also Andrei pulled back from Cornelius and abandoned Torus’s corpse.

The spies of Duke Montfort couldn’t obtain any significant result and reported like this to their lord.

.

『Although Selvi House is eager to fight, there is no sign of them  running wild for the moment. It seems the Silver Light’s patrol is a  measure toward some bandits that infested the border. The bandits seemed  to be a mercenary group that targeted Cornelius territory due to their  booming business conditions lately. A part of that bandit group was  buried at the cemetery for those with no relatives. At the current time  we can’t find any proof that there’s relationship between the  mercenaries and Selvi House.』

.

Even if Selvi House was a prominent family, they couldn’t change the policy of the whole country.

A decisive change between the two countries would be necessary in order to start the hostilities once more.

Dorun chose to remain in obscurity quietly until that chance arrived.

However he had no intention of just waiting uselessly.

After all if a change was necessary, then all he needed to do was created one.