Chapter 48
The territory of 『Klaus』 in the eastern part of the Empire.
This was one of the Empire’s major grain-producing territories in the east.
Like most cities in the Empire, it was rotting away under an enormous wealth gap and the nobles’ extravagance, but food was plentiful thanks to its being a granary.
So much so that there was even a saying: ‘In Klaus, even beggars never starve to death.’
Its lord was 『Lois Klaus』, a young lord in his twenties who had recently inherited the position from his aging father.
With a corpulent body that looked as though he had never exercised in his life, he had grown extremely irritable lately.
The reason was the neighboring territory of Dreihart.
To the Klaus territory, Dreihart was a sort of punching bag.
That slave city had even worse conditions than Klaus, and seeing it, Klaus’s people were content, thinking that the place they lived was far better.
But the situation changed.
Once a slave city that had nearly been destroyed by a rebellion, it began to grow rapidly after coming under the rule of House Kron in the south.
All the slaves became free citizens and began working for fair wages.
Their wages were even twice what people earned in Klaus.
On top of that, the warriors’ fighting tournaments, epitomized by UFC, provided entertaining spectacles and became a new object of admiration for hot-blooded young men.
The tournaments, where one could gain honor and glory by becoming strong, seemed both incredibly simple and attractive, and young warriors headed for Dreihart in droves.
And the spices cultivated by making use of Dreihart’s geographical characteristics began selling at insane premiums, bringing new flavors to the surrounding territories.
When Lois heard that, by weight, they sold for up to twenty times the price of wheat, he clutched the back of his neck.
He shouted that they should plow up the wheat fields immediately and grow spices instead, and only after his retainers spent a long time explaining the seeds and growing conditions did they barely manage to save the wheat fields.
And what he found most intolerable was ‘Calix,’ the lord of Kron who ruled Dreihart.
A young lord who had assumed his title around the same time as Lois,
in just two years as lord, he had developed his territory threefold, created a new territory called Dreihart, and brought down ‘Hadem, the Lion of Hell,’ infamous even in the east.
The young hero’s tale was popular among bards, and songs about him began to spread through the Klaus territory as well.
The song Lois had created by bribing bards and inviting the finest musician was never even heard.
His father, now retired, merely clicked his tongue at him and told him not to do anything even more bizarre.
What angered Lois most was that his father acted as though he had given up on him without even berating him.
He wanted nothing more than to hunt down the free citizens fleeing to Dreihart and send knights to attack Dreihart, but he could not.
That was because he had heard what had happened to Hadem after doing such a thing to Calix.
But Lois could not simply sit idle, so he summoned his chief steward and friend, 『Beric Cass』.
“Did you call for me, Lord Lois?”
“Yes, Beric. I called you because I need your cunning.”
“You need my cunning? It seems something has been troubling you, my lord.”
Beric spoke, his characteristic narrow eyes twitching.
He already knew why Lois had called him and what he needed.
But he did not say so himself.
A truly clever adviser pretended not to know and gauged his master’s feelings.
“That desert rat clinging to our side, Dreihart, has grown so large that it seems to be encroaching on our territory. I want to take action so they can never ignore us again. Is there no way to do that?”
At Lois’s words, Beric pretended to ponder deeply.
Then he spoke the words he had prepared in advance.
“I have a way not merely to keep them from ignoring us…but to take everything they have, my lord.”
“Oh!! What is it!?”
Lois cheered at Beric’s words.
Just imagining that he could take everything Dreihart had made Lois feel as though ten years’ worth of indigestion had vanished in an instant.
And when Lois heard Beric’s plan, he was aghast.
“G-Good heavens…there’s a way to do such a thing… Is it really possible?”
“This is information I obtained through ten years of observation. If we decide to act, it is certainly possible.”
However, even to Lois, Beric’s plan looked extremely dangerous.
If successful, it would certainly bring enormous gains, but if he failed—or made a mistake that brought the Platinum Council into it—his father would never forgive him.
As Lois agonized over it, Beric fanned the flames in his heart.
“My lord, the world is in troubled times. This is an age in which one either devours or is devoured.”
“Troubled times…”
Beric’s words brought his father’s words to Lois’s mind.
His father had repeated them continuously until the very moment he stepped down.
That the times were troubled, and that if he acted carelessly, the family could be destroyed.
“There is no such thing as justice in troubled times. Did Calix, the lord of Kron, become a hero because he was righteous? No! He became a hero because he won.”
“A hero…”
Beric knew very well what Lois’s inferiority complex was.
He brought up Calix’s name to provoke Lois.
“You, too, can become a victorious hero, my lord. This plan can be the beginning of that.”
“Hmm…”
At Beric’s words, Lois imagined himself becoming a hero.
Lois could not hide the smile bubbling up inside him.
Beric delivered the final blow.
“Imagine it. Picture that Silver Dragon of Kron kneeling before you and begging, my lord.”
If Beric’s plan proceeded smoothly, it was not impossible for Kron’s Silver Dragon, ‘Calix Kron,’ to beg Lois.
Lois made up his mind.
“All right! Let’s give it a try, Beric!”
“Yes, my lord. I will do my utmost to prepare according to your orders.”
Another conspiracy was about to begin in ‘Klaus,’ in the east.
* * *
Some time passed after the incident involving Lord Jeras’s invitation and my meeting with Imperial Princess Lily.
Azel and Rana had been injured, and a great deal had happened, but fortunately no one died, and we all returned safely.
After hearing what happened, Hart, Noah, and Sharen immediately tried to track down the Blood Kin and use ‘Ranix’s Flame,’ so I had a hard time stopping them.
…Now that I think about it, it wasn’t just a little; it was a great deal.
It may have made my heart pound even more than being attacked by the Blood Kin.
Anyway, everything ended safely, and it seemed that everything had returned to its proper place.
But several days later, something strange happened.
It began with ‘Rana.’
As usual, I got up, ate an apple, opened the door, and left the bedroom.
And, as usual, Rana was waiting in front of me.
“Good morning, my lord.”
“Yes, good morning. Ra…”
The morning was just like any other; the problem was Rana, who had been waiting for me.
Her face was dark brown, as though she had gotten a tan.
“Are you all right, my lord?”
“Uh… um… Rana? Your face is…”
“I hear this is a popular makeup style these days. What do you think, my lord? Do you like it?”
Rana stared intently at me as if asking me to compliment her skin.
For the moment, I avoided her gaze and fled to the bathroom.
I had an ominous feeling, and that feeling proved correct.
“Good morning, my lord!”
“No… Noah… your skin is…”
“Ah! How is it? It’s a popular makeup style these days. Do I look pretty to you, my lord?”
Noah, who had come to my office, also had dark brown skin, as if she had gotten a tan.
In an instant, two people in the office had darkened their skin, and I had a great deal I wanted to say.
But I held my tongue, because I felt that saying the wrong thing would make me sound racist.
And then I heard a sound from outside the door.
“My lord! Lady Sharen has arrived.”
“Yes, come in.”
I prepared myself mentally and let the two of them into the office.
The door opened, and Azel and Sharen entered the office…as expected, both of their complexions were dark brown as well.
“Um…did you two also use that popular makeup?”
“Yes! That’s right.”
“I heard people were into this lately, so I tried it. Does it suit me, my lord?”
In an instant, four dark-complexioned people had taken their places in the office.
Seeing them made me think of a match-three game from my previous life.
Four of the same color… If this were a game, it seemed like the kind of combination that would burst and create a bonus block.
Having roughly grasped the situation, I spoke.
“To put it plainly, I like dark brown skin’too,’ not dark brown skin’only’; I actually like everyone just as they are.”
At my words, all their gazes turned toward Rana.
Rana desperately avoided everyone’s eyes and looked elsewhere.
“Then let’s all return to our original appearances before we start work.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Snap-!
At my words, Sharen snapped her fingers.
Then their dark-brown skin disappeared, revealing their clear, original complexions.
Yes, this was more like it. As I felt my eyes being cleansed by the sight of their naturally beautiful skin, I brought up the matter at hand.
“All right, Noah, what’s the matter we’re discussing today?”
The meeting had been called so early that morning largely because Noah had requested it.
At my words, Noah grew serious and spoke.
“It seems House Klaus is trying to make trouble in our territory of Dreihart, my lord.”
“Make trouble?”
“Yes. They’re buying up food.”
No, what was this about now?
My head began to ache before I had even heard the whole story.