Vol 6 Chapter 83 (1/2)
The Underside of a Promotion
… Within the palace
Having been called there, Clark and Norma stood still as they accepted their paperwork
Norma shouted out a protest to the minister before her
“What is theof this!? A demotion to award success!?”
The minister spoke
“De apassed that granting land to a knight who performs well is a valid reward Just think about it… your current annuity, or an incoreater than that of your current position”
Such words careasy face, but Norma still wasn’t satisfied
She had kept at it as a knight of the imperial court
She couldn’t accept suddenly being made into a provincial noble
Even if they were calling it land, it wason a governor for
Its population didn’t even cross two hundred
Clark asked the minister
“B-but sir S-should I not be made a decurio…”
“Your loyalty has been factored into evaluation You’ve done your part finely for over ten years as a knight With this, you have your own peerage as well”
He was granted his own court rank, and accepted as a feudal lord
What’s hbor
“… Are you certain this isn’t a demotion!?”
When it cah, fall behind a feudal lord noble
But living in the capital and the sticks couldn’t be compared
Managing a territory was quite hectic work
Living in the capital was the optionto Norma
“I’ you to shut your mouth You’ve received such favorable treathts who rose in rank Those that have becohts frooing to co”
Clark thought
(But you just threw out soe yourselves!)
His situation was practically identical
A settlement of around a hundred and twenty heads
“Don’t think too hard on it The peerage within the capital strives to maintain the status quo Even if you’re the lowest rank, you’re a splendid noble, you know?”
Provincial nobles didn’t have to pay taxes to the palace, but at the same time, their income didn’t come from it
Knowing that, Clark had worried over the possibility ever since he had returned alive
Nor a pale expression
“It’s an award fro it, are you?”
As if he knew everything, thequite a splendid smile
And his face turned earnest
“An i a visit to Centralle We can’t be spending all our time on these paltry maters Now return and finish your paperith all due haste”
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–
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… The Circry House
Ralph made a fist, and slammed it down hard on his desk
The Hippogryph he had bought under Lyle’s deception was in pieces once the ice melted
… This is the Hippogryph your dear daughter slew…
… Thank you for the purchase! Parental love FTW…
Was written on the paper stuck to the back
The ruryphs and one Gryphon
When the expeditionary force had returned, he had confirryphs
Just when he had been feeling relieved, a rumor came to ear of how a merchant purchased the Gryphon
“That brat…”
Letting out a strained voice, Ralph stared at the document on the desk
He had hoped for the annihilation, or heavy loss of the expeditionary force
That didn’t go so well When the squadron returned with ather the appropriate funds
But a nuot promoted
Bitter as it may seem, if they didn’t issue out promotions, the palace’s reputation would plummet
The plans within the palace were torn up, as they searched for means to deal with it
And the Circry house went through a large change due to the issue
Due to his ryph, he had some responsibility shoved onto himself
His peerage was lowered a rank
His position and status followed along
The Circry House was now demoted to a Baron House
Those around likely recognized them as on the road to ruin, and their relations would likely start to gradually decline
“Just how hard do you think our faled to maintain this position…”
He was overcoed to reset his expression with some deep breaths
He changed his train of thought
“I’ll have to cut down on a nuuess I can finally be free of Breid…”
Deciding his first course of action would be to fire Breid, Ralph thought over Marcus, who had mover up a rank in the imperial court from his achievements
“… I guess he’s h to maintain the Circry House Whether they marry or not, it looks like I’ll have to place randchildren I’m to have”
He stood, and turned his hters
The second daughter Doris, and third daughter Lucy All spoiled because Miranda was already there
Soet those two off to an outside…
He decided to send them off to some provincial noble for the purpose of education
“It has to be as strict a place as possible That’ll give them all the more opportunities to learn of reality We really should keep a distance fros work themselves out”
Since the Walt House was visiting Centralle, Ralph had raised his vigilance
“… It e parties a while”
Having s of the state of the capital as of late, Ralph was to use this opportunity to gain a little distance from it
And…
“… ‘Tis a pity for Miranda But with a man that coh as well”
Making the momentary expression of a father, he quickly returned to his earnest face
“I’ll admit e… There’s no way that boy’s going to become a decent adult”
While thinking over hoasn’t one to talk, Ralph walked down the halls of his mansion…
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“… How strange”
I dropped by a certain casino in Centralle, but after entering the establish with one gold and one silver
Card, coin, I tried s, but it never seemed to click with me
“What should I do… this isn’t fun at all”
When I said that, the Sixth spoke
『Lyle, do you hate to gamble? You know, that adrenaline rush that comes when you risk it all?』
I rolled the Jeith nal my denial, and the Fifth called out
『Just what fun is there supposed to be in ga? Sixty spent, forty earned, was it? You’d surely earnbut a complete waste of time』
An opinion fitting of one devoted to efficiency
But there…
『No, but this sort of thing’s important too The real proble less legal by the e them』
Hearing that, those besides the Third, Fourth up…
『Wait… the hells with that!?』
『Oy, could it be that big boss of the underground was…』
『… No wonder I could never srateful bastards!!』
『With that loyalto thes against them? Just how much pain do you think I…』
(Ah, co like that on our territory…)
When I recalled the underground organization keeping the brigands of the Weiss territory in order, the ancestors began quarrelling over the measures they had raised to put a stop to them in the past
The Third spoke in a cheerful tone
『Ah, I forgot to tell you Sorry, sorry, my bad I mean, I totally died in battle, you see?』
(There’s really no objection you can raise to that defense)
The Fourth spoke
『That anization for your own agenda, and put us through tribulations for years to come… AAAaaaAAaaAH!!』
The Virden house
I remembered the next head of the Virden House, my senior disciple
When I went to learn swordsside him
(Alfred, huh)
He’s already sworn allegiance to ood-for-nothing of the Walt House
Up to a point, I’ure, but at present, I don’t have any decent memories left of him
Passing through the exit of the casino, I listened in on the voices froed into a crowded street
Using Skills, I kept my distance hatever pickpockets were interested inin
『And when I tried hter, they rejected! Did they think we’d find them out? God dammit…』
The Fifth reer for the Virden House
The Sixth as well
『They never had the intentions of hostility They just wanted to parasitize off of us… no wonder my Skill never reacted!』
Vexed Quite vexed he was
The Seventh
『da up all the honey we offered, and sneering at us all the same!』
There, I thought
(Can the current me beat Alfred?)
At least in sparring, I was never able to win to the end There was our difference in age, but that last ti back
I re that could be called bloodlust, and cra up
And…
“Ah, it’s the hero”
Al at the sudden voice, I looked around to find- wearing co on the top, and short pants that looked as if they were stuck fast to her body below- Eva waving her hand at me
She was htly tired expression
“Eva? … -san?”
“Oh, you really are quite different fro, so I wanted to talk to that you at least once more before it wore off”
As she directed a smile like that of a mischievous child, I scratched my face, and felt it redden
“So what business do you have with me, Eva-san?”
“Just Eva’s fine I thought I ive thanks for last time I did earn quite a bit from it”