Chapter 19: Fellow Evil Lords
I found a weakness in the One-Flash.
Certainly, its an amazing sword-style, but its almost impossible to hold back while using it.
Its a sword style specifically designed to kill your opponents.
It is possible to hold back, but if youre facing an opponent even slightly stronger than yourself- then youd have no choice other than to kill them.
The One-Flash was a very specialized school.
Up until now, I never had to worry about such things because Ive only been fighting with pirates.
What a weakness.
Its a style I cant really use while Im studying abroad.
I was aiming to be an evil lord, but that was only in my own territory.
While I was still in anothers domain, I tried to keep my attitude in check.
Or rather, I couldnt.
Even if I went on a rampage in the Viscounts territory, Id still be overpowered in the end.
The strength of an individual didnt really matter here.
Well- I still hated to lose.
With that said-
Liam, were the ones in charge of taking care of the garden this afternoon.
-Kurt, who had just been ridiculing me, was acting strangely familiar all of a sudden.
He had changed into work clothes and had the necessary tools prepared.
-well, I guess this is fine.
What is?
It was a problem that I wasnt really communicating with my own roommate.
This was fine, but recently, I couldnt help but feel like the girls were looking at me with scary eyes.
It wasnt just boys who came to train at the Viscount house.
Girls also came here to train as apprentices- they were entrusted to other families to complete their bridal training before they got married.
With the Razel house being a popular place to study, there were many such girls.
But the eyes they turned towards me and Kurt have been scary as of late.
I often heard them muttering, Its Kurt and Liam or No, its Liam and Kurt etc.
What the hell was that?
Sometimes, depending on which name was called out first, theyd start fighting amongst themselves. What this just a custom of this universe, or something unique to the Razel house? -The intergalactic empire was just too broad to understand everything.
When thinking about common sense in general, there are many instances of common sense only made sense to the local populace.
In order to correct such misunderstandings, is that not one of the reasons why youd send someone to another house to train in the first place?
The possibilities were endless.
Liam, if we dont hurry up, then the instructor knight will be angry with us again.
That old man is too hot-headed.
He was quite the short-tempered leader.
I didnt dislike it though.
Half a year has already passed since weve begun training.
You know~ I dont really have a need to seriously train~
Peter, who was holding a wooden sword while sitting in a chair, didnt move even though it was currently time to exercise.
In fact, I already have my swordsmanship license for the Arend-school, so theres no real point in training any further.
A woman in sportswear chided Peter, who put out excuses as to why he couldnt move,
Peter, you have to move your body properly.
The woman was [Katerina Sera Razel].
She was Randolphs daughter and the person who he wanted to become Peters bride.
Peter also favoured Katerina- a beautiful girl that had blue eyes and her blonde hair tied into a ponytail.
Rina, Id still be strong even if I didnt train. I mean, in my territory I was unbeatable.
Katerina -Rina turned doubtful eyes towards Peter, who didnt look very strong.
If thats true, then show me how you fight.
A man of true strength never fights except for truly important battles.
Rina was fed up with Peter, who kept making constant excuses.
Outside of the training hall, the sons and daughters of nobility that had come here to study were maintaining the garden.
Peter cast a condescending gaze towards them,
I dont like them, poverty stricken nobles should just quietly do their work instead of coming to school.
Rina frowned as she gave an explanation,
Certainly, they not be the children of powerful houses, but theyre better than you, Peter, a man who doesnt even bother to move.
Theyre nothing. If I fought them seriously, they wouldnt even last a moment.
From the surroundings, the girls who had come for training brought over prepared towels and drinks for the men they fancied.
For them, the training hall doubled as a meeting place.
However, none of them spared a glance towards the children maintaining the garden outside.
While Liam was troubled by how easy training was.
To the people they had practically bled dry, they couldnt help but apologise.
It costs money to build-up forces. Its impossible for us to do any more than this. Maintenance costs are another problem.
Having heard that, Liam started to frown as he laid down on his bed.
Reduce the number. Whats important is the quality and skill of your forces. Rather than keeping dozens of old, obsolete vessels, you should try to buy several of the newer generation models.
Numbers are important, and it costs money to do that too. We cant take any more from the people.
So you really squeezed them dry
Liam had an impressed expression on his face as he said that.
Then borrow the money. As long as you pay the lenders back, theyll happily give you it. Oh, but make sure you keep the repayment deadlines, my house struggled with that before.
Kurt was speechless at Liam who suddenly started talking about such things.
Without credit, theres a limit to what we can borrow. Were still upstarts, so we dont have anything to give as collateral.
Liam started muttering,
If thats how it is then Ill talk to my Echigoya.
Whats an Echigoya?
Kurt was honestly happy to have come to the viscount house for training.
After all, a strange but reliable friend was found here.
(Even though Liam has a bad mouth, saying that hes squeezing out his people and such, hes actually doing his best for them.)
Though, that was just a misunderstanding.
The Henfrey company was suddenly contacted by Liam.
Hmm this is troubling.
Whats wrong?
After being asked by his subordinate, Thomas responded that he had just received a loan application.
Did the Banfield house ask for it?
No, it was a baron house. The upstart Exner house is applying for it, but I cant refuse them because they were referred here by Lord Liam.
If it was just the Exner house asking, then theres no way hed lend this much of a fortune.
But when Liams name was involved, things were different.
If the Count is backing them, shouldnt it be okay to lend them a hand?
Its not that, Im more worried about another issue.
He had made a vast amount of capital in Liams territory, so its not like he couldnt.
Besides, he was indebted to Liam, so when asked, hed make sure to put in the utmost effort.
These kinds of stories spread quickly. Many nobles will start applying for loans after this with no intention to pay us back.
Ahh, so thats the problem.
Since you lent money to Baron Exner, you can lend some to us too, right?
People with that kind of attitude would start harassing them, with absolutely no intention to pay anything back.
The Henfrey company has recently risen in power.
Along with Liams backing, they were quite despised among the aristocracy.
I cant refuse if Lord Liam is asking though. Make preparations to contact Baron Exner as soon as possible.
My evil Echigoya merc- no, Henfrey Chamber of Commerce was currently introducing themselves to Kurts parents.
I was happy to know that my circle of villainous contacts was spreading.
If we build a good relationship here, well be able to help each other out in times of need.
I was currently on my way to throw away the trash that came from the garden maintenance.
A voice could be heard from behind the building.
Whats this?
It was Katerina- the daughter of the viscount house was there.
Hiding in the buildings shadow, she was flirting with a man.
N-no, what if somebody finds us?
Itll be fine as long as were quiet.
Certainly, there were rumours that Katerina was going to marry the rich and influential Peter.
However, the man there wasnt Peter.
My heart went cold at the sight.
She was cheating- just like my wife from my previous life.
I couldnt help but feel sorry for Peter, who was going to be marrying such a woman.
Well, I havent talked to Peter though. I tried to avoid him because I didnt really want to build a connection with his house.
I heard that Peter came from a righteous house that governed their people with virtue.
Theres no way I could get along with such a guy.
As someone who strove for something in a completely opposite direction than myself, I had to avoid him.
Still poor Peter.
At the same time, I couldnt help but lament how much of a b*tch1 Katerina was.
I still had work to do, so I left that place and pretended that I didnt see anything.
In my thoughts,
(I knew it, theres no point in living virtuously. Even a serious person like Peter had his girl taken from him.)