Chapter 62: Homecoming (3)

Chapter 62: Homecoming (3)

༺ Homecoming (3) ༻

“H-Has the Young Master returned?”

“The Young Master has returned?”

“Is that really true?!”

“...”

Herman barely suppressed a sigh that tried to burst out and gestured to the maids who were gathered around, indicating that they should stop their chatter and focus on working.

While watching the maids dispersing with a hand placed on his forehead, a slightly amused voice mixed with laughter came from beside him.

“It seems like that Young Master’s karma is quite deep. I wonder if he can handle it.”

“He has been clever since he was young, so I think he’ll manage on his own, Hana.”

“He has always been an outstanding person. However, I still didn’t expect him to bring such individuals with him.”

The Head Maid, Hana, spoke while gazing beyond the window where the carriage was visible.

“Margrave Kendride and Duke Tristan. How incredible. Have you already reported this to the Baron?”

“Right now, it’s a bit... you know? I heard that Viscount Goldic just arrived.”

Herman’s tired demeanor was completely understandable to Hana as well, as she gave out a bitter smile.

“...Count Chester has been showing an unusual amount of interest in our territory lately. The Baron must be having a hard time.”

If one were to ask who was the most powerful nobles within this area, Count Chester would be mentioned without a doubt.

Viscount Goldic was merely that man’s lackey.

“It is indeed a strange occurrence.”

“Excuse me?”

“Count Chester has been here a few times before. He was ambitious, but he at least held some amount of decorum. I doubt he would try to forcefully take someone else’s land like this.”

“...”

“I don’t know what’s come over him. Maybe there’s some problem within his territory.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like the time for us to worry about someone else’s territory.”

After saying that, Hana looked out the window once again.

“Especially when such prestigious households bring their carriages to our territory... Normally, this implies something, right?”

Herman accurately understood the hidden meaning behind her words and couldn’t suppress a sigh this time.

“...They won’t go as far as proposing a marriage.”

“You seem quite certain about this, hm?”

“Both families are in such a high position that just the hint of a marriage proposal would cause a political storm. If such rumors were circulating, the heads of the households themselves would have attended.”

“...”

Herman’s words made Hana’s bitter smile even more noticeable.

Meanwhile, Herman’s expression was one of inexplicable unease.

“Have you read this before? It just arrived via a magically engineered carrier pigeon.”

Hana handed Herman a letter.

“Perhaps these two households are more serious than we thought.”

What was imprinted on the envelope was a divine emblem. Even among them, an emblem with 3 wings indicated the highest authority; Excluding the Pope, only two others were qualified to use it.

The Archpriest, head of the Great Temple, as well as the Saintess, the representative of all devotees of such a religion.

And the contents written were...

“Could this be a forgery?”

“It doesn’t seem like a lie, Herman. Unless they were utterly insane, no one would ever pretend to be the Saintess. The authenticity of the divine emblem has also been confirmed.

“...”

A dizzying sensation momentarily enveloped his entire body, but it didn’t take too long for him to regain his composure.

In any case, both Hana and Herman were veterans in their line of work. They were used to unexpected situations erupting out of nowhere.

Still, it was the first time for them to experience an event of such a great magnitude.

“...Gather all available personnel. We need to be very well prepared.”

If what was written in this letter was true...

The Saintess herself would also be residing in this territory. This alone was already a big deal.

However, the other individuals would become an even bigger deal than that.

Unlike the Sainteess, who was highly regarded in a ‘symbolic’ way, these ‘two individuals’ held true power that was counted among the top in the entire continent.

“For now, make sure to alert everyone. At least for the next few days, no incidents can happen within the territo–”

Just as he was about to give such an order...

The sound of an explosion came from the office upstairs.

Following it was the sound of someone getting beaten.

Do you even know who I am, blah blah blah...If you mess with me, Count Chester won’t stay quiet, yada yada yada.

For a moment, such screams were accompanied by squeals akin to a pig getting its throat cut.

Then, it suddenly quieted down.

“...”

His previous words felt like a jinx since a terrifying incident had occurred. Moreover, it took place in the very place where an incident must never occur.

At this moment, Viscount Goldic was supposed to be having a conversation with Baron Campbell. Both of them were undoubtedly the most valuable people to their territory right now.

While thinking this, a pale Herman was about to rush upstairs, but his body stiffened once again.

“...I never knew a person could be this heavy with just an abundance of fat. It’s almost commendable that he was lazy to this extent.”

“Well, wasn’t it good since we could beat him up a little longer? He held up better than we expected, didn’t he?”

As such words were exchanged...

Two women were descending down the stairs while dragging a bloodied Viscount Goldic.

“...”

“...”

Seeing this, Herman and Hana fell silent at the same time. Meanwhile, Dowd approached them with a gloomy expression.

“Herman, please prepare a carriage.”

“...Excuse me?”

“If he rides the fastest one, it won’t take long to get to the Goldic Viscounty, right?”

“Young Master, I will gladly follow your orders, but I at least require an explanation. What in the world happened...?”

“It’s just... Ugh...”

Dowd held his head with both hands.

“There’s a possibility that his territory will be possessed by a new owner, something like that.”

“...”

“Well, that’s all you need to know.”

After hearing such an explanation, Herman couldn’t bring himself to ask anything else.

The interior of Viscount Goldic’s castle was so heavily guarded that it was almost unbelievable that his territory was a mere Viscounty.

Of course, since the territory’s primary industry was mining, there were always plenty of sturdy men compared to territories of similar size, making it easier to mobilize them as military resources. However, in cases such as today, where ‘special guests’ arrived, its defenses were even more pronounced.

“Since the Viscount himself has gone, everything should be finalized by the end of today. Please do not worry too much.”

The administrator of the Goldic Viscounty was sweating profusely as he spoke.

Sitting across him was the Head Chamberlain of Chester County, who sat with a discontent look on his face.

“...”

And this guy was supposed to be a Holy Knight...

As I pondered that thought, a window popped up in front of me.

System Message

[ You have made great contributions through the buff you applied to your ‘Party Members’! ]

[ AP received! ]

[ You can use AP to increase the proficiency of a desired Mastery! ]

At least I could calm myself down by looking at this.

Wasn’t this the reason I kept Image World activated even though it had zero practical effect?

‘Let’s see...’

I decided to invest all my points into a single Mastery.

System Message

[ Proficiency has increased significantly! ]

[ Mastery Grade has been upgraded from ‘Basic’ to ‘Common’! ]

[ Mastery Info ]

Mastery: Forbidden Sorcery – Basic

Grade: Common

Proficiency: 0%

Description: You can carve Tattoo onto your body by sacrificing mediums. Depending on the shape of the Tattoo, you can generate Arrays with different effects.

[ ■ You can only use living beings as mediums. ]

[ ■ You can currently carve a maximum of 6 Tattoos. ]

[ ■ The power of the Array increases with the number of Tattoos carved. ]

[ ■ Increasing proficiency will allow you to carve more Tattoos and generate more type of Arrays. ]

Not bad.

This should be enough to meet the basic requirements needed for me to drag out Valkasus later and learn Forbidden Sorcery from him.

No matter how great Forbidden Sorcery was, calling him over to teach me how to use it with only 3 Tattoos was like killing a chicken by dropping an atomic bomb: an utter waste of his prowess.

As I finished organizing my thoughts, something else was attached beside the window where I invested my points.

System Log

[ ! Unconfirmed Record ! ]

[ Target ‘Gideon’ has unlocked a skill under your influence. ]

[ ‘Tristan Style Swordsmanship: Zandatsu’ is added to the target’s skill set! ]

[ Ability is added to ‘Skill: Guidance’! ]

Seeing that it was labeled as a log and not a message, it seemed that this had happened a while ago. It must have automatically surfaced after not being checked for a while.

Checking the timestamp, it popped up around the time I was fighting Valkasus. I was probably too preoccupied to notice it.

‘He did it.’

I chucked while reading through the contents.

This meant that he had faithfully completed the ‘homework’ I gave when I lay met him; the next step of the Intangible Sword.

The problem was...

System Log

[ The favorability of the target ‘Gideon’ is skyrocketing! ]

[ A related event will be generated soon! ]

This was also attached to it.

“...”

Suddenly...

A terrifying thought crossed my mind.

Based on my past experiences, whenever this game mentioned something like ‘related event will be generated soon’ or whatever, it usually meant that the event would come literally days later.

But, the problem was that there was another guy that also popped up besides Gideon.

System Log

[ Target ‘Margrave Kendride’ has begun to take interest in you. ]

[ A related event will be generated soon! ]

Gideon and Margrave Kendride.

If I were to rank pairs of nobles within the Empire who were on bad terms with each other, these two would undoubtedly be number 1 of such a list; they were practically cats and dogs.

And I had events generated ‘simultaneously’ regarding both of them.

Furthermore, it was heavily implied that it would happen soon.

“...”

So...

If I were to make a wrong move...

Duke Tristan and his daughter.

Margrave Kendride and his foster daughter.

There was a possibility that I had to deal with both combinations at the same time.

With me right in the middle.

‘...Just the thought of it...’

Made it hard for me to breathe.

This wasn’t a joke. If it really came to that, it wouldn’t be surprising if the situation escalated to a point where they just declare war on each other.

Their relationship was just that bad.

“...”

‘Well, surely it won’t go that far!’

Even among all the nobles of the Empire, they were considered the most high-ranking nobles! What were the chances that they would personally come to this remote villa–

“Nice. We finally reached the castle. Let the real game begin from now on.”

“Hehe. Are you ready to give up?”

System Message

[ An event related to ‘Margrave Kendride’ has occurred! ]

【 Event: First Impression】

Description:

– Margrave Kendride has taken significant interest in you. Although it’s mostly unfavorable, the Margrave is a person who only believes what he sees!

– Try to leave him the best impression possible while in the Goldic Viscounty’s castle! Something good might happen if you do so!

“...”

Okay. For now, one thing was highly likely.

I was going to see at least one of them in this place.

Fuck me.

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