Chapter 214: Finding a Common Ground

For the time being, I understood what Donovan wanted. Basically, he was claiming that everything was done by his father. In other words, none of it was related to him, the current lord.

A father that left the son in mud, and a son that cast his father aside to save himself. It wasn’t something to call cruel or dirty – that’s simply how nobles acted.

He took part in the kidnapping of the king of another kingdom and the attempted usurpation, so normally, not just his son but his entire household would be put to blame.

So Donovan trying to depend on his sole connection, that is, me, to get out of that situation was a natural course of action. Naturally, our connection was not deep in any way, but he was grasping at the straws at this point.

But the truth was, there was nothing for me to gain by putting that blame on Donovan. Rather, by winning his favor here, it could prove to be extremely valuable in the future.

I was a unique existence in this world, while Michelle was a dependable war power. What the two of us needed was some kind of backing. If we lacked that, someone influential might try to make use of us.

Of course, we had an influential person like Lyell, but at the end of the day, he was just one person. We would be better off also having a backer in politics. If I were to ask Elliot to do that, I feared it would eventually lead us to be incorporated into the United Nations.

And there came Donovan in the picture. He was the current Lord of the Stolla domain. The peerage of Margrave was one influential enough to hold rights to the military formation.

He had presently lost the economic strength to maintain such an army, but everything would work out as long as we fixed that.

People that were too close to the Raum’s center like Letina or Maxwell would not be too convenient for us as backers. So a Margrave was a really convenient choice. Winning his favor here would prove very useful.

“I—” “I heard everything!”

Got it. I was about to say that, but the door behind me was busted open with those words that interrupted mine. The counseling door had no windows on it so nothing broke, but due to the powerful push, the door went out of its rails and collapsed inwards.

Fortunately, no one was standing there at the moment, but it was nonetheless dangerous.

“Cortina, that was dangerous.” “Sorry, sorry, I put a little too much strength in that.”

She went to fix the door while apologizing. It was quite a sad sight, too pathetic for someone like a Hero. Not that I was in any position to say that.

After grappling with the door for a while and finally returning it to normal, she dusted off her suit, and once again turned towards us and said.

“Leaving that aside, I heard your talk!” “Yeah, I know.”

I used to be the world’s best scout that was part of the Six Heroes. I could easily spot some amateur straining their ears at the door. But my answer made her turn dejected for some reason.

The reason I let her be was that by doing that she prevented the other students from doing the same.

“Anyway, as Nicole said, we can’t decide based on what you told us alone. We first have to confirm whether you are really not trying to shelter the previous Margrave.” “I… What should I do?” “For now, let us investigate your mansion, then the Stolla mansion and all related facilities.” “But that way the doubt regarding me would not go away…” “I am saying that if we manage to clear our suspicions, we will declare it in front of the public that the Lord of Stolla is innocent. If we do that, it would become common knowledge, right? You would be considered more innocent than any other Lord at that point.” “I would be grateful if you do that, but… The problem is the time. I am already viewed with suspicion so it is only a matter of time until my population leaves me, and there’s not much left of that time.” “I can only suggest that we hurry it up then. But I think we can find a common ground here.”

Donovan meekly lowered his head at Cortina’s words. He was probably weighing his losses and gains, as well as the time left until his people would lose trust in him. Cortina did not try to hurry him up and quietly awaited his answer.

About five minutes passed after that. Having finally collected his thoughts, he once again faced Cortina.

“Understood. Please do that. However, as for the tax collection…” “That cannot be resolved without the intervention of the present king. The current certificate has to be annulled and reissued to fix everything, but that would come at the cost of people questioning your administrative ability.” “As expected…” “Either way, it’s early summer now. It should not pose many problems until fall where the harvest of the crop happens. You should hope that your father gets arrested before then.” “I feel complicated about that, but that seems to be my only choice.”

Of course, there were some crops that they harvested during the summer, but the mainline was the fall harvest, in the end.

Even so, it was not something to be optimistic about. Taxation involved many things other than that. At present, he could not collect any earnings from blacksmithing, mining, businesses, peddlers, or even the toll.

While the peerage was forcibly pushed on him all while his father pillaged everything valuable from him, that excuse would not work in the noble society.

Instead, making that excuse would deepen the mud on his name. Secretly… Would be impossible, but he had to handle it as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he would be labeled a powerless Lord who couldn’t even solve the disgrace caused by his own relatives.

“Good grief, nobles are such a pain…” “I am… wholeheartedly of the same opinion.”

Donovan surprisingly agreed to my idle grumble. If Michelle and I got rolled up into the affairs of the noble, we would find ourselves surrounded by these kinds of troubles.