Kays Translations

Chapter 405: Why Are You Here?

Lionel must have sent word ahead to the Marquis of Mulan. There were already several people gathered in front of the Marquis’s mansion. Among them were some familiar faces. I wanted to speak to them right away, but first, I had to greet the Marquis.

I headed straight towards Marquis Mulan, with everyone following behind me.

“I’ve been expecting you, Julius-sama. I apologize for summoning you so suddenly.”

“It has been a while, Marquis Mulan. I have come as House Heine’s representative to offer our assistance.”

After that, I introduced everyone I had brought with me. Lionel already knew them, but the others probably didn’t. Once the introductions were done, I approached two people who had caught my attention.

“Axel, Ijidol, what are the two of you doing here?”

“Yo! I heard you were coming, so I waited for you.”

“I was dragged here by Axel against my will…”

Axel shot him a look that clearly asked what he was talking about, while Ijidol gave a deep, wry smile. He really had been dragged here. But why? Axel should not have known I was coming.

As I pondered that, Caro, who had been standing near the Marquis of Mulan and his wife, approached us. Fabienne clung to my arm. I won’t say what it was exactly, but the pressure was intense!

“It has been a while, Julius-sama. When I told Axel about the monster outbreak, he immediately brought Ijidol to the Mulan Marquisate.”

“Oh? Is that so? Well done, Axel.”

I smirked and patted Axel on the shoulder. He gave a strained smile. I wanted to press him about why he had lied, but I figured he didn’t want me teasing him about his relationship with Caro.

I understood that feeling, but sooner or later, the truth would come out. There was no point in hiding it. Or maybe he felt bad for me? Not that he needed to.

So Ijidol had been dragged into this. He probably could not have refused anyway. Once Caro finished explaining, Fabienne loosened her grip on my arm, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Is that the girl Julius is engaged to? I can see why he’d be proud.”

“Yeah, she’s exactly Julius’s type.”

“Hey, you two!”

“Julius-sama, would you introduce me to them as well?”

“O-Of course.”

Even after returning to the Heine Margraviate, I occasionally exchanged letters with Axel and Ijidol. Once Fabienne officially became my fiancée, I might have included a few lovestruck stories. I hated to admit it, but such was the folly of youth.

“I’ve heard about you two from Julius-sama. He said you are important friends from the royal capital.”

“Important friends…”

“Hehe.”

Axel looked deeply moved, while Ijidol smiled in embarrassment. Before the mood became too sentimental, I introduced Giles and Christopher as well. Nero already knew them, and since we would spend plenty of time together, brief introductions were sufficient.

“Hmm, you already had a butler-like air about you back in the royal capital, but now you really look like one.”

“He’s a dependable butler. I can’t live without Nero anymore.”

“That just means you want to slack off, doesn’t it, Julius?”

Axel’s remark made everyone laugh. It seemed the monster outbreak had truly been contained, and people were feeling more at ease. That was a relief. If the aftermath had still been severe, I would have considered sending Fabienne back early.

“Alright, everyone, that’s enough greetings outside. Let’s go back inside.”

“Understood, Mother.”

Following Caro, I entered the mansion. House Heine’s estate was impressive, but the urban residence of a marquis stood on another level entirely. I finally understood why Father and Brother Alex were so eager to develop the Heine Margraviate. Compared with this, our territory still felt distinctly rural.

Even so, I thought the countryside had advantages of its own. Vast tracts of land made experiments easier, allowed unnecessarily large buildings and gave horses plenty of room to run.

Tea had already been prepared in the salon. Perhaps it reflected House Mulan’s tastes, as the room was decorated in emerald green and white, creating an almost sacred atmosphere.

“I didn’t expect Mira-chan to come too!”

“Kyuu!”

Caro looked delighted as she hugged the real Mira instead of a stuffed toy. Axel and Ijidol, seeing Mira for the first time, were fascinated. They repeatedly reached out as though to touch them, then hesitated and drew their hands back.

“I’m sorry for asking as soon as we arrived, but could you update us on the current situation? We gathered some information on the way here, but I don’t think that’s enough.”

“Of course. Our territory is facing serious trouble, but the lands we passed through on the way here have also suffered extensive damage.”

According to the Marquis of Mulan, a large number of Forest Wolves suddenly emerged from the depths of the forest all at once. As a result, some regions were slow to respond, leading to significant damage.

The only silver lining was that Forest Wolves were not particularly strong monsters. There were many injuries and a lot of destruction, but the number of casualties was minimal. However, that itself had become a problem.

“Aside from the damage to buildings and crops, the biggest issue is the sheer number of injured people. Our supply of magic potions ran out almost instantly.”

“So that’s why you needed magic potions. I understand now.”

In this world, using the incredibly foul-tasting magic potions was considered a last resort. That meant they weren’t something that sold in large quantities. As a result, they were not produced in bulk, and there were no surplus stocks available.

No wonder there was a shortage of magic potions. Even if they wanted to buy more from other territories, there simply weren’t any in stock. It seemed that people were already out gathering medicinal herbs, so somewhere, someone was probably in the process of making more potions.

Once those magic potions were distributed, would my job here be finished?

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