CH 8

I opened my mouth again towards him as I was looking around at the Knights’ ground, where there was only a slight trace of use and apparently the management had abandoned it.

“Right, you’re the only remaining knight of the territory, aren’t you? It must have been hard to manage the Territory Knights’ duties alone.”

“Oh, no. As the last remaining knight here, I am merely fulfilling my duty.”

There is not even the slightest sense of guilt in the face that speaks with a smile.

Although the Territory Knights must have been managed not by him, but by the butler, Albert.

I saw Gran’s sword dangling because it didn’t fit properly at his waist, and then looked around the unmanaged armory.

And then I thought a little bit about his sincerity and was able to make a decision without worrying.

Aye, I was a little curious. Is the last remaining knight a possessor of a great skill that is often seen in novels and is hiding in a rural territory.

As a heavy reader of fantasy novels in the past, I had some expectations, but it didn’t seem to happen at all.

“Well, I appreciate your hard work so far. Then I will write you a letter of recommendation, so I hope you will look elsewhere.”

We thank you for the dedication and hard work you have given us so far, and wish you all the best in the future, even if you walk a different path.

At my dismissal remarks, Gran gave a shocked look with his mouth wide open. Then he fell on his feet, ready to grab my pants.

“Lord! How could you say such harsh words to me, who devoted my whole life to Ensis!”

At most he looks like he’s in his early to mid 30s, a whole life is bullsh**.

“I haven’t even shown you the entirety of my loyalty yet! How can you throw me away so easily!”

“No, did you think I’d accept someone who is sleeping at work?”

“…… That’s…… no, but still! It is an undeniable fact that I have worked hard as the only knight in the territory. Above all else, I am the only knight, so what are you going to do? Who do you plan to entrust to command the Territory Knights?”

Well, Sein seems to know things about tactics. Because he’s like a shallow, wide encyclopedia.

I thought deeply and looked at the man with earnest eyes.

“Then are you willing to swear allegiance to me?”

“Of course, my lord. I will offer my allegiance with all my heart!”

As I looked at Gran, who was pounding his chest as he said so, I remembered the image of one of the best knights in the capital.

Teddius Roelich.

That rigid man was one of the few characters in <I Picked Up My Husband> that I was able to get close to.

In fact, even when I first heard his name, he was a character of so little importance that I could not immediately recognize whether he was a character in a novel.

This is because Teddius was a supporting role in what is often called a decoy.

His brother was the sub male protagonist in the novel <I Picked Up My Husband>, and Teddius saw his normally well-behaved older brother fall in love and not knowing what to do, he just supported and stood by his side, wondering ‘I’ve never seen my brother like this before’.

In addition, the role of cheering while looking at his older brother, who possesses immense power, saying, ‘I don’t think I can ever surpass him.’

A role that appears as a cute little brother to highlight the responsibility of the sub male protagonist.

I think it was only when I looked at Tedious that I realized that this is a fictional world, but at the same time it is a real reality.

He was so flat that I thought he was a character who only spits out words that someone intended to say.

In fact, he had many thoughts, and he had very humane worries and an inferiority complex. Because he used to speak out his beliefs to me with straight eyes.

“… … I didn’t know that a knight’s loyalty could be taken so lightly. Mostly the only knight I understand is that they always tell me that loyalty is a lifelong pledge and that you find something of value for yourself and risk everything you have to protect it.”

At my words, the scarlet-haired man gave a moment of bewilderment, and then he immediately opened his mouth with a chuckle.

“Well, each person has a different view……”

“Yeah, it doesn’t really matter. Sir is right. Since there is a shortage of manpower, we can leave at least one on the territory.”

I glanced up and down at Gran. In the smiling eyes of the man who was sitting on his knees, my figure trembled unsteadily.

A character such as an extra who was not illuminated in the novel was also the main character in his life.

But if the man in front of you wants to leave behind all that glory and remain as a supporting role for someone, well.

“If you just want to be satisfied with that, then do whatever you want.”

The man opened his eyes wide. However, I just smiled lightly and turned my back because I didn’t think I would have anything more I wanted to say or time for him.

Albert has been out of his mind lately.

Ensis was the territory where he was born and raised. Moreover, Albert was even a servant to the last blood of the Wayne family, the original owner of the territory.

Even when the family line was cut off and the seat of the owner was vacant, he alone managed the territory with all his heart.

For this reason, Albert’s attachment to Ensis was bound to be great.

The one who knows this territory best is himself, and it is he who is more devoted than anyone else to this land. There was such pride, that is.

But one day, a letter came from the Duke stating that the young lady had inherited the Ensis.

It was an added bonus that even though she was originally a blood relative of the duke and had to fulfill her duties, she was stubbornly insistent on marrying the person she loved, and he even heard rumors that she was almost expelled from the family.

Albert thought that he could not entrust this estate he had been protecting all his life to such an immature princess. His fighting spirit was burning like that until Liddell came to Ensis.

In addition, Liddell Catlan, whom he met in person, seemed in some ways a woman worthy of the rumors.

Because if you strip off the title of being the daughter of a duke, one of the few in the kingdom, she was just a pretty, big girl.

He didn’t feel so upset when he saw her, but…….

She said she needs someone she can trust. Rather than borrowing someone else’s hand, the lord gradually began to take care of most of the affairs of the territory on her own.

It was also terrible that there were more and more things that he did not know about the Ensis he had devoted his whole life to, but there was something else that bothered him the most.

It was a debt that secured the territory as collateral.

It wasn’t a debt he owed specifically to satisfy his personal greed.

Ensis, whose finances were unstable, suffered the worst famine in the history of the territory a few years ago.

At that time, he borrowed money based on the goodwill of the neighboring territories, but at the time of borrowing, the nobles, who treated Albert like a lord, changed their attitude and began to brush him off like a debt-ridden man.

Thanks to this, Albert was sweating hard these days, secretly picking out letters urging him to pay off debts.

Of course, it was easy to find if you looked through the ledger. The lord, who had just arrived, and the vassals who were attached to her had not questioned him yet as they were busy with other things.

But at the same time, he was also resentful.

If the lord had trusted him and left everything to him, he would have been able to pay off all his debts as if nothing had happened.

As such, he was walking while grunting today, and a servant from somewhere rushed to him and bowed his head politely.

“Butler Albert. A stranger is knocking on the gate, what should I do?”

Albert, who was biting his lips, frowned.

“Who is it that you report to me? If it’s a beggar, you can just give him some food and kick him out.”

“No, that’s…”

The servant bowed his head as if in trouble.

As Albert said, if his way of life was poor or if he had shown a servile attitude, he would have done things in his own line, too.

But the man the servant saw was different.

He recalled the figure of the man waiting at the door of the mansion by now.

He was tall, with wide shoulders and a straight body. On top of that, as is common with travelers, he may have been covered with dust, but he was dressed in expensive clothings.

The low sunken red eyes of a man with brown hair, and the voice that quietly wants to see the lord.

It seemed to reveal the presence of an unusual man.

Most of all, the man had a surname. The servant bowed his head lower and opened his mouth.

“He is…… a knight equipped with a sword.”

Soon a message came from Sein, who had gone to carry out the order, even though he did not like it.

He said that they found a rocky cliff full of magic stones in one of the candidate sites that I had selected based on the information I gave him.

The quality is also said to be of the highest level.

Of course, it was something I already knew from reading the book, but I couldn’t contain my excitement at the news that I would soon become a billionaire.

I walked around the castle with a sullen face, and the servants seemed to think I was a little strange, but who cares.

Sein has expressed the opinion that it is better to send a specialist for accurate investigation, and has conveyed his opinion that he recommends the top of Firenze as a client to distribute magic stones.

I’m sure a lot of people have forgotten, but for your information, Miller Firenze is my ex-fiance.

“…….”

I’m in a very bad mood.