Chapter 30 (2/2)

If there isn’t, I can call upon Artur-san’s help, too

In that person’s case, it could be expected that the appropriate goods for congratulatory gifts could be gathered right away

“Wend, I am sorry…” (Erich)

“We are too, all because of the Baumeister household As a household’s head, doesn’t nii-san think it’s strange to not congratulate?” (Paul)

Erich-nii-san is the brother I have the closest relationshi+p with, but this doesn’t just finish as Erich-nii-san’s problem

It will turn into a huge blow to the honor and reputation of close relatives to thetwo elder brothers will be severely influenced by this, too

In this time’s matrimony Erich-nii-san will beco nobles working at the governmental office involved in financial affairs, their superiors, the close relatives and the nobles of intermediate rank in the same faction within the upper echelons, all of them will have a connection to him

Since it seems like it will become impossible for my other brothers, unlike Erich-nii-san, to be adopted into noble households as well, it ht be possible that they can only be adopted into the households of branch families or of retainers

“Or more precisely, there is a chance to tie connections to the central government, no?” (Erwin)

Up until now, having kept quiet about the overwhelhts absent-mindedly

“Ah, the knight peerage household of Erwin-bou is low-grade, too, huh?” (Burkhart)

Burkhart-san agreed to Erwin’s assess expression

“U here If so, wouldn’t you, as a noble, be able to request the central government as intermediary?” (Erwin)

On rare occasions the central government appealed to the small countryside feudal lords to solve troubles, too

However, because the requests for such assistance froovern time before their own turn would come up

Even when, at last, one’s turn came around for their petition to be processed, it often happened that they were rejected with simple words such as 『It’s impossible』

Therefore, the central government made the relatives of low-ranked state-ee connections, socialize with each other

In the case that such a relative requested soovernment, they entrust it to the other close relatives of the lower-ranked state-employed nobles and the intermediate-ranked nobles of the same faction

Indeed, you can’t stress enough how important personal connections are

Naturally, to maintain these relationshi+ps, it takes a small ay, I think these costs are a problem

“That only applies, if you consider norh, however, the Baumeister household is somewhat of an exception” (Burkhart)

“What do you mean by that?” (Erwin)

“They have a staggering preposition to be hikikomoris over there” (Burkhart)

Even though Burkhart-san answers Erwin’s question, it also seems to succinctly points out the reason why the Baumeister household doesn’t flourish either

The founder was a poor second son of a knight peerage household who never once able to hold a govern these circumstances, he apparently headed to the south

He reclai a village there He then received the kingdo him that area as his own territory

The hardshi+ps were not ordinary in the least However, for a second son and doard, this method was their best chance to attain the status of a feudal lord

Crossing thethe basin where he founded the village, the founder discovered just the right plot of land

The area was separated froes in the northern and western part, while to the east and south there was a vast track of undeveloped land spreading all the way to the sea Just speaking of the extent, the size of the area equaled a middle-sized nation

There were no neighbors either, so it was also convenient that he hadn’t to worry about pointless conflicts over territory and concessions

The founder, who identified this place as his stronghold, used his fa in the capital to i new land until they were covered in mud

And that’s what happenedfather, who is the current feudal lord

By the way, I only knew this because had checked on the family tree in the past

“However, they spent 100 years and the population is currently around 800 people There are three villages, right? Is that a lot? Or is it few?”

“Considering it is a knight peerage, you could call that a lot Additionally, they seerants”

In that case the financial affairs should have a much better state, if the bitter expedition to the Demon Forest didn’t happen

“This problelecting to keep close relationshi+ps, I suppose Maa, at least he hasn’t had to frequently h” (Burkhart)

Because close relations are required, it couldn’t be helped that he had to rely on the one closest to his territory, the rave of Breithilde But, since the territory is physically separated by the e, too many connections aren’t possible either

Even though the founder was able to live self-sufficiently by being a hikikomori, he became an excessive hikikomori in the end

“Forcing the previous lord to join the expedition wasn’t agreeable either” (Burkhart)

Desiring the ingredients for the unusually effective medicine to cure his beloved son and heir froe strain on the Baumeister household

“That became the final push onto the road of excessive isolation in the end Up to that point is all I’ve heard fro the current circumstances…” (Burkhart)

“And that’s why they didn’t borrow any rave of Breithilde?” (Erwin)

Since he remains a hikikomori, there is no particular need for hiovernment

They have no rave of Breithilde

And even if the reputation of the Baumeister household will plummet because of this case, they don’t really care as there is no punishment for it

Since there is no violation of the law, the nobles living in the royal capital will iet about the breach of noble manners of the Bauion at the border

Given that theperson, Bauetfulness” to their lord

Most likely that’s what they are thinking

“They could care less about us…” (Paul)

Me, Erwin’s group, Burkhart-san, and my elder brothers

There were no words left to be said about the attitude of the Baumeister household

“That’s quite the cruel story!” (Erwin)

“Burkhart-sarave of Breithilde dispatch a punitive force to the Baumeister household?” (Helmut)

“That’s no reason to dispatch soldiers” (Burkhart)

However, there is one thing bothering me that I can’t understand

nobles treasure their honor and pride above their own life

Dispatching troops to pass over the e is quite difficult and it is obvious that it will end in failure

Crossing ain the De, they would have to face a defensive force of 800 villagers and the battle would turn into a tragic event

assu oods on-site would still be impossible Thus they would have to rule over occupied territory across theto revive it

If you were to enact such an Endeavour, the finances of the Breithilde raviate would hit rock bottom

“It’s only natural to see such things through” ( – )

“Well, even an ordinary mind would realize these problems Also, even se obsession of the eldest inheriting son, if they had seen his response” (Burkhart)

Given that insular territory, such considerations were conservative

The eldest inheriting son was only concentrating on keeping up the structure of the feudal lord being at the top of the pyramid That system was quite cold towards the children and abandons any potential they had

Even though there was no persecution and abuse, it also was far fro them the maximum of affection as it considered any further kindness towards the young children as being unnecessary

Now that it has come to this, the old man within me was troubled, too

Surely I had distancedseen with pity

“In the case of Erich inheriting, that village would have certainly developed far more for the better Or, boy, in your case as well” (Burkhart)

In the case I had becoic to further the development

Actually, the village chief Klaus had asked me to just do that

“Also, if Erich-nii-san had become the head of the household, I would have assisted him” (Wendelin)

“Rather, the potential of that feels frightening… You see ith others after all” (Erich)

I have confidence in overn a territory were s if you don’t give theh

Therefore, if Erich-nii-san were to become the feudal lord, I would have been happy to become his vassal

“Huh? But, icians mostly appear fro them?” (Luise)

“That matter is quite easy That’s because it’s impossible to do so” (Burkhart)

Burkhart-san downright denied Luise’s opinion

“No matter how many children the boy produces, what do you think it would take to eicians at the level of the boy?” (Burkhart)

(ED: Life enslavee? No thanks!)

“But that’s the price of a family” (Luise)

“It’s always impossible to ic instructor for cheap money, what do you think would happen? Your parents and siblings would say 『Such salary is no problem for our family』” (Burkhart)

“Certainly, that is…” (Luise)

Protected by that strong parental love, it would turn into a relationshi+p of exploitation Such a thing wouldn’t be able to last for long

“Isn’t it? Further, I think the boy would escape in the end” (Burkhart)

To detain th would be necessary, too To lose such a ht to cause voices of dissatisfaction to appear

“Anyway, it’s not possible to pay the estiician to begin with” (Burkhart)

Then the topic returned to Erich-nii-san becoain Soreat efforts to pay an appropriate salary and thus I can understand that e strain on him

In any case, I can easily raise money by h such a small contract, it would still be fine with me

That said, please don’t ask me to offer such free beneficial services to such a father and Kurt-nii-san!

That is my heartfelt opinion

“In a summary, for those accuards to the congratulatory gifts Boy, the only choice is for you to help out here Afterwards my lord will refund the total amount to you” (Burkhart)

“I understand” (Wendelin)

Not returning the h, but I couldn’t say that because it would irave-sama of Breithilde and I decided to accept a only a portion of the refunds with the exception of the share of the new Baumeister household head

“I am sorry, Burkhart-sama” (Erich)

“We have no money …” (Paul)

“No, in this case it’s the fault of your fa the sons ere already paid out their independence reserve funds to then pay the ifts in advance, that’s so you will hardly, if ever, hear about” (Burkhart)

Althoughto Burkhart-san, it would certainly be unfair to blame them for this whole situation

Furtherreat extent to buy their own congratulatory gifts for Erich-nii-san’s e

“Eto, how ifts?” (Wendelin)

“In the case of a knight peerage household, it would be one gold plate But it’s cooods for adding theift tables as well” (Burkhart)

During the party, the invitees would be able to look into open roo to say as much

Also, because both faood idea to blend in local products froifts as well

Isn’t this like placing ko stand as it happens during the exchange of engageifts?8

“Our own home’s local special product, huh?” (Wendelin)

“There’s really no need to think so hard about it though Typical goods froical bag, get Artur to prepare some for you, okay?” (Burkhart)

“Artur-san is a merchant after all, but he didn’t receive an invitation” (Wendelin)

“Well, that’s only natural He was able to make some connection to the Brandt household since you are related to the each other’s faces yet Furthermore…” (Burkhart)

In reality, there were quite a few nobles andto participate in Erich-nii-san’s e at the last minute It went so far that it was necessary to deal with it carefully as to not trigger incidents

Apparently the main reason for this was me

“A lot of people are rushi+ng in to have a chance of fore party nonetheless, so I also asked Rüdiger-dono to handle these issues to avoid such i” (Burkhart)

“That’s quite some work…” (Wendelin)

“Of course Or perhaps it would be a good idea to have them treat me to sake as fee for their impoliteness” (Burkhart)

“Sake? I actually do have some” (Wendelin)

Because I hesitated to place soratulatory gifts, I had put the bottles of sake into an to take it out

Those were the fruits of my reproduction experiic I used such ingredients as strawberries, ar, rice, wheat, and so forth

For the ti I piled up wine, fruit liqueur, rum, shochu9 and ale on the table

“Hee You are able to use quite the variety of different types of ic Let’s see…” (Burkhart)

Burkhart-san started to saht away There was no reason to use odd failed creative works as congratulatory gifts even if they were just fine

Since I still was a minor, I couldn’t drink sake either

“Very good flavor Even if it falls behind the h to drink at ho meal” (Burkhart)

Although Burkhart-san ended up putting all the bottles I had taken out at the beginning into his , I still had quite a lot left as there was no space to actually place them all in the open

“Did you use ic for the sake bottle as well?” (Burkhart)

“Yes” (Wendelin)

“You, just howI am quite jealous” (Burkhart)

Because a glass bottle had been impossible, I made all the bottles with earthenware

Rather than calling it a bottle, it was more like an earthenware container to be precise

To seal the containers I used cork hich is growing in the Savage Lands10 I also put in a lot of work to shape the containers into practical forms as far as it was possible The sake didn’t really leaked out uarantee that there was no artistic quality

Next I took out about 10 earthenware pots filled with salt which I hadto raise the available amounts for sale in the inland areas around the royal capital, I alad about this

I continued with taking out the saain but this tiar This was mainly produced in the south and thus the h in the capital

Furthers filled heat and rice, and some tanned hides I had processed fro

And also, there were the bow and arrows, I had ordered at the shop in Breitburg for Erich-nii-san, placed inside the

For the bride I had previously purchased silken clothes in Breitburg as I didn’t really knoas a good gift to present a woe Lands

“I think that’s all of it?” (Wendelin)

“As you becah amount for two households” (Burkhart)

The space designated for the congratulatory gifts appeared to be entirely buried all together at last

If I didn’t place it on the side of the congratulatory gifts froroom, the space would have been left empty which would have caused Erich-nii-san to be publicly embarrassed

“Whatever father and elder brother are doing, doesn’t really matter to us at all…” (Paul)

“If they live as hikikomoris in their territory, they won’t hear about the bad reputation from outside anyway after all…” (Helmut)

Although I haven’t spoken with Paul-nii-san and Helmut-nii-san about thisit as pitiful in the end

“Sorry, Wendelin” (Paul)

“No, I hadn’t revealed e any For the ti, I will entrust you with the letter to father de him to return the loan” (Wendelin)

“It ht be futile” (Paul)

“Regard it as formality, just in case it won’t be returned in the end” (Wendelin)

“That’s a good idea…” (Paul)

With a father causing such unprecedented trouble to the degree of requesting his sons to loan the ifts themselves, you could be 100 certain that the money lent in advance won’t be returned anyway

Still, in order to send a letter pressing my demands, I asked my elder brothers to handle it

“Wend, I am very sorry” (Erich)

“Erich-nii-san hasn’t done anything wrong” (Wendelin)

In the end I took out the aifts covering the portions of two households

Still, with the inheritance from master I had received in the past, the coe Lands since my childhood, and the 1350 platinuo froree of expenses wasn’t even worthto me

“No, that’s not it…” (Erich)

“What do you mean?” (Wendelin)

I noticed that soy wasn’t about the issue with the congratulatory gifts As the cereather

T/N: Got you duped ith the title, huh? Fuhahaha! … well … it wasn’t h … as usual xD

Translation Notes

1 Gishi+titles to the end of the name I didn’t want a word like Miriam-sister-in-law-san … ;)

2 Sounds like a French based name

3 Can mean husband or son-in-law Well both mean the same but sound stupid with the -dono suffix

4 Suffix indicating “Miss”

5 Fe there

6 Yep, the author really wrote that Not sure what’s the idea here but, well, you can basically ignore it

7 Check enwikipediaorg/wiki/Koh

8 Soement parties? I have no clue, ain’t my culture xD

9 japanese alcoholic beverage distilled from sweet potatoes, rice, etc

10 The trees needed for the wood of course …