Chapter 375 (2/2)

Brynhildr told that woman to follow me until she said otherwise .

Furthermore, she said that my actions were too half-hearted and told me to hurt the woman more .

「Good grief, they’re worrying unnecessarily . 」

As I complain out loud, I have a chance to rethink the value of my life .

It might be pretentious of me to think so, but this place will certainly collapse if I die .

I don’t do military affairs or domestic affairs and even high society interactions are taken care of by Nonna .

Be that as it may, the one Leopolt obeys is me and the one Nonna loves is me .

The one Adolph views as a superior, the one Celia has sworn her allegiance to and the one Sekrit listens to is also me .

If I disappeared, Leopolt won’t listen to Nonna and Adolph won’t consider Leopolt as his superior .

Celia also won’t find someone else to be loyal to after I die .

That I can a.s.sert with confidence .

Everything will fall apart here .

If I die, all my precious women’s happiness will be blown away too .

I can’t simply throw that away and have a decent life .

「Besides……」

I look over the city from a window of the mansion .

Rafen, which has developed favorably, and the land beyond the city walls is currently my territory .

「I have come this far already . I want to meet her alive . 」

I’m not particularly obsessed with status or territory .

If I have lots of gold, I’ll be happy since that would allow me to surround myself with more women and also let me entertain high-cla.s.s prost.i.tutes .

Attaining status is also all for the sake of claiming Lucy .

While she hasn’t completely disappeared from my heart, lately I feel like my sense of urgency and desire has waned .

Spending time daily with my beloved women might have gotten me satisfied with the current situation .

f.u.c.king the vampire woman caused those feelings of the past to resurface .

I remember that absolute beauty, that supreme body, that mischievous laughter, and that gentle smiling face .

「She would softly brush my hair when I took a nap on a stump . 」

After that, she would goad me to f.u.c.k her .

「I want it…… I want her so badly . 」

I clench my fist tightly .

The words of Nonna as she proudly declares on the bed echo in my mind .

“Aegir-sama has now climbed up to the apex as a n.o.ble!”

“You may not have the authority of Military Commissioner, but Aegir-sama, as a feudal lord, has more wealth than that person who works in the palace……”

“That lord made up another reason to visit again . Just the other day, he was mocking how you were an upstart . ”

I feel sorry for Nonna who seemed so happy in my arms, but my heart had gone surprisingly cold at that time .

Sure, I might have reached the highest position for a n.o.ble of Goldonia .

「But that’s it . 」

I think I climbed the stairs to success pretty quickly from when I was a knight baron .

However those stairs end here .

I could reach Erich’s status and become leader of the royal army or I could reach Kenneth’s status and be in charge of the civil officials . And then what? As the n.o.ble of highest rank, I would get fortune and fame rivalling that of the king . That’s all .

To obtain Lucy…… to become king, climbing the stairs is not enough .

To lay hands on her, I need to take an all-or-nothing leap .

And that act is one where I need to wager my own life and the lives of all my precious women .

Celia’s sulking face, the arguing Nonna and Carla, the laughing Mel as she’s surrounded by children, the embarra.s.sed Catherine as she climbs on my chest, the happy Claudia as she rolls around…… each of my important women’s faces runs through my mind and at the end, Lucy’s face remains the most vivid .

「I don’t have to make a decision yet, do I?」

I have to make a decision when the time comes . But I want to keep things ambiguous as they are now .

Which is why I appreciate dearly the approaching footsteps that interrupt my thoughts .

Those steps are quick, though not fast enough to be a run .

Did Celia get worried and come looking for me?

Or perhaps Carla wants me to take her to town to play?

I can’t let them worry and let them see me with such a serious face .

I turn around, making sure to smile .

「Lord Hardlett, urgent report . 」

「Oowoah . 」

The one in front of me when I turned around was Leopolt .

He was closer than usual so I let out a strange sound .

If I took one more step, our lips would have touched .

「Return my friendliness . 」

「That can wait . First, take a look at this report . 」

「Fine . And nevermind about what I said . 」

Now that I think about it, the report must be a pretty big deal if Leopolt is walking so quickly .

「It’s an urgent report from the unit sent to observe South Yuguria’s training exercise . It reads: “South Yuguria has crossed the border . More and more of the partic.i.p.ating squads are starting to transgress the border . Full-scale attack is highly likely . ” They have not made contact since then . I believe they have been eliminated by the enemy vanguard . 」

「So they’ve come . 」

I knew this would happen, it’s just shocking to hear it .

At the same time, I feel uplifted .

「Multiple scouts have been deployed to try to ascertain the enemy strength and invasion route . For now, please wait briefly . 」

「Was the kingdom notified?」

「It has been done . However, there should be no need . We shouldn’t be the only one South Yuguria attacks . Without a doubt, they will start to invade from the entire west region . 」

Well, that makes sense .

「Celia!」

I shout in a booming voice which echoes throughout the mansion .

A few moments later, accompanied by cautious footsteps, Celia runs over to me .

I must have been slightly disturbed to confuse these adorable sounding footsteps with Leopolt’s footsteps .

「Did you call me!?」

Celia appears, sliding to a stop on the polished hallway .

「Get Myla right away…… as well as anybody else who might be needed . It’s time for war . 」

「Eh!? ……u-understood!」

Celia salutes rigidly and runs off with those same cautious footsteps .

Ooh, she jumped through an open window . She spins once…… and lands safely . As expected of her expertise in acrobatic maneuvers .

「First is South Yuguria . If it ends here, there won’t be any stairs or leaping for me . 」

「……」

Leopolt doesn’t say anything and listens silently to my monologue .

With that said, he shouldn’t understand anything from just listening to that much .

「……」

Leopolt nods slightly after looking at my eyes .

He doesn’t really understand, does he?

「The only corps of the royal army near the border is the third corps around the city of Kascal south of Trisnia . They likely won’t be able to fend off the enemy . 」

I listen to Leopolt’s explanation as I head to the office .

Probably because Celia is broadcasting the news, places within the mansion are gradually getting messier .

I see my personal army who had the day off scrambling to the garrison .

The one riding a horse back to the mansion must be Myla who was in the middle of training .

Irijina is with her…… I can hear her yelling all the way over here .

Bored of watching me and the woman have s.e.x, Sekrit disappeared somewhere and before I knew it, went out to the courtyard to tan in the sun . She’s tidying up and coming over with a real look of joy on her face .

Next to her, Claudia is doing sit-ups .

Clara is using stones to keep count .

I guess the place at the very right represents the ‘ones’ column . Let’s see, 2……9……8……4, wait is she stupid?

（Big trouble, big trouble, what are we going to do? Am I going to sortie too? Where’s the armor~）

Getting infected by the atmosphere, even Casie is flying around in a state of panic .

She’s wearing a headband that says “Now come, honorable defeat” .

「You can’t be defeated honorably . 」

To be precise, Casie has already pa.s.sed on .

Besides, she has nothing to do with the war, so I want her to be good and eat pumpkin in the mansion .

I’ll do my best not to get burned .

Everyone has already gathered in the office .

Well, I don’t intend to spout a long speech .

Our goal is simple: to fight with our all and win .

「It’s finally time for war . 」

Myla and Celia have determined looks on their faces .

Nonna and Mel look worried .

Irijina and Sekrit are excited .

「Destroy the enemy . That’s all . 」

I must win without losing a single person .

Of course that includes myself .

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