Kays Translations

Chapter 37: Lord Olivia

The next day, in the afternoon.

After finishing his lunch, Lucius called forth the Evil Dragon in the garden.

It still absorbed a large portion of his magical power.

"Lucius-san, so you really made a contract with an Evil Dragon."

Lauren stood behind Lucius, trembling with fear.

Her white ears and tail were folded down.

They had talked about it with Yu last night, but it seemed like they didn't take it seriously.

"Is it safe?"

Standing right next to Lauren, Yu asked while keeping his distance.

He maintained a distance as if he was ready to fight at any moment.

"Until now, I've never been disobeyed just by giving commands for movement, so I think it'll be fine. In battles, the Evil Dragon's fighting spirit tends to manifest more strongly."

"I see. If that's the case, you should actively use it. Manifesting it itself is a good thing."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. To promote assimilation with the ritual's magic power, it's better to perform the spell and manifestation frequently. That way, the mixture of magical powers will accelerate."

"I understand. I'll use it as much as possible. Well then, I'll go to the Lord's mansion."

"Yes, go ahead. I'll inform the townspeople that it's safe from me."

When Olivia visited last night, she told him to fly to the mansion on the Evil Dragon.

Lucius himself was delighted to reunite with the girl from his hometown.

Lucius mounted the Evil Dragon.

It was a distorted sight, with a child clinging to its massive back.

When the Evil Dragon flapped its wings once, its body lifted off the ground.

And with its second flap, it soared into the sky.

Continuing to ascend, the town of Shitamachi at the edge of the mountainous area gradually became smaller.

Beyond the wide tea fields that cut through the town, a large city could be seen. It would take about half a day by carriage.

But with the wings of the Evil Dragon, it wouldn't take much time at all.

Go.

Lucius thought so, and the dragon flapped its wings, heading straight for the city where the Lord resided.

Without much time, he captured the city, which could be seen in the distance, below.

As they gradually descended in altitude, Lucius noticed the townspeople in the city running around in panic.

It seemed that soldiers were coming out of the Lord's castle in the center of the city, looking terrified.

The soldiers had already manifested the ritual and transformed into various beastmen forms such as wolves, tigers, leopards, horses, and cows. Naturally, they were all armed, and they watched the Evil Dragon with bated breath.

As expected...

Although Olivia had told him to fly on the Evil Dragon, it seemed that it caused chaos throughout the city.

Lucius landed the Evil Dragon in the square in front of the castle.

As he dismounted from its back, the dragon was absorbed into his left hand as black particles.

"Who are you!?"

A soldier in the form of a bull beastman shouted in a loud voice.

He seemed to be the person in charge.

"I apologize for the commotion. I am Lucius Norris Dragon. Lady Olivia instructed me to come here today."

"...The Griffon's daughter?"

He blurted out in surprise.

The Griffon's daughter, huh.

A viscount and a baron couldn't possess a knight order.

Only counts and higher ranks were allowed to have knights in their service.

Since the Tact Territory was the territory of a viscount, all the soldiers were treated as private soldiers.

In other words, it sounded like the soldiers didn't consider their employer as their lord.

"Lucius!"

Someone called out from the top of the castle.

Looking up, Olivia waved her hand from a window on the second floor.

"Come up."

The soldiers who had been watching murmured their complaints and went back.

"Tch, causing a disturbance."

"What the hell? Seriously."

"Give me a break."

Passing through the gate next to the checkpoint, Lucius proceeded into the castle and arrived at Olivia's office without anyone talking to him along the way.

The room was bleak.

Although it was a large room, there was only one desk placed in it.

On that desk, a pile of documents was stacked high.

"I can't believe Olivia is handling all this work alone..."

"It can't be helped. We couldn't find any retainers who would take care of the actual duties, aside from household chores. The people who were already here have settled down as administrators in small villages and towns and won't come to the mansion."

It was impossible for one person, even the lord, to handle the diverse tasks such as taxes, registration, flood control, and urban development for the Marquisate, which encompassed several towns.

Olivia's visit to Yu's temporary office earlier was probably to visit the former retainers. Most likely, she visited each and every one of them, not just Yu.

"Because it's a Marquisate, it's spacious. Can you manage the governance?"

"Each town is being managed without any problems by the retainers who were already here, so we can somehow govern. But it's far from ideal. We can't undertake major public works, and in the event of disasters or emergencies, there is no coordination, making it difficult to deal with as a territory."

Indeed, it seemed that after the previous lord disappeared, a few people were dispatched from the central government for temporary governance, but it seemed that they all threw in the towel within a few years.

"If it's too hard, you can give up, you know?"

"I won't give up. I'm going to become a queen, so I won't give up in a place like this."

"Still the same as ever. Then I'll support you. Shall we clean up together?"

Lucius looked at the towering stack of documents.

Olivia's face brightened.

"Thank you, Lucius."

"No problem. I helped my father with similar things in the Silverheart territory."

Lucius and Olivia proceeded to check the documents, discuss countermeasures, approve or reject applications, and make policy decisions together.

It was far from what one would expect from the office of a lord, as no one came to visit.

A few maids and servants, who didn't make eye contact and were excessively polite, came to clean the room.

Ultimately, it became a day filled with document verification, without any childish conversations.

Finally taking a break, they started drinking tea together in the evening.

"So, Lucius. Are you going to stay in the Tact Territory for a while?"

I came here by royal order.

Saying that he had returned to his hometown because he couldn't immediately form a contract with the ritual wouldn't go over well. Besides, he had to search for a clue to further evolve the ritual at Mount Klune.

Furthermore, he was worried about Olivia  as well.

He wanted to support Olivia, who was struggling alone.

"I guess so. The ritual seems to have some specific requirements, and it seems like I can't form a contract with the Evil Dragon unless I use it in battle."

Olivia's face turned into a wide smile.

"Yes, if that's the case, instead of staying at the temporary office in the foothills town, why don't you live in my mansion together?"

"What should I do?"

Yu was the deputy magistrate and was knowledgeable about the ritual and Mount Klune, so he said he would take care of things. There was no need to deliberately refuse.

"That black-haired girl, she was cute, wasn't she?"

She was probably referring to Lauren.

Olivia's gaze sharpened.

"Indeed, her features are quite well-proportioned."

"What do you think, Lucius?"

No matter what was asked, a 10-year-old girl was, of course, not a romantic interest. That included Olivia as well.

"Well, I think she'll become cute in the future. In a different way than you, Olivia."

"What do you mean, different from me!?"

"I think Olivia will become more beautiful than cute. To the point where both men and women will turn their heads."

Blushing, Olivia glared at Lucius with a dissatisfied expression.

Then, she sighed heavily, took out a letter from the drawer without saying anything.

I guess I'm supposed to read it silently.

Lucius quickly read the letter.

The sender was Count O'Malley, the lord of the Honogura territory.

Honogura was the territory where Lucius first met Yu during their duel. Count O'Malley was the lord of that territory and was personally imposing heavy taxes on the people to build a mausoleum.

In short, it was a demand for the extradition of a person.

"He demands that we hand over Yu and in return, he will vote for Olivia in the Election."

"I received it this morning."

Lucius carefully looked at Olivia.

"What will you do?"

Olivia was originally assigned as the Tact Territory's lord in order to become queen. She would definitely want the votes.

"If he wants to go, it's the neighboring territory, so he can go on his own. Besides, without a legitimate reason, it's bound to be something shady."

Lucius had witnessed Yu being drawn from behind by an arrow during his duel in the Honogura territory. If that was orchestrated by Count O'Malley, the outcome after the handover was self-evident.

"Is Yu being targeted?"

The reason was completely unknown.

But Yu himself had mentioned something similar before.

"Probably. I've heard that the lord of the Honogura territory and his knights have a constant stream of dark rumors surrounding them."

"Not just the lord, but the knights too?"

"That's right. It seems like they actively hire people who have been driven out of the front lines."

"Why? Wouldn't they dislike that?"

"I don't know the reason. It might just be because they can hire them cheaply. It seems their financial situation is bad."

The nobles themselves were not behaving like true nobles.

"Thank you, Olivia."

"Of course. A noble should protect their subjects, right?"

Lucius couldn't help but smile.

"That's right. And I'll try to visit as often as possible."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it."

Olivia smiled with a carefree smile that matched her age.

After being seen off by Olivia, Lucius returned to Yu and the others' house.

Since he had used up most of his magic power on the way back, he had to walk, but his steps were light.

The wind blowing through the tea fields was already cold.

The autumn felt in the trees on the mountains was ending, and winter would soon arrive.

No one could set foot in the mountains during winter.

Lucius would spend the winter in the Tact Territory.

Looks like it's going to be a long one.

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