#12: The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (12) — The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord

But I didn’t rush.

Instead, I stood between those trying to stop Izack.

My hand grabbed Pietro’s shoulder.

“Young master, I—”

I just shook my head.

“It will be fine.”

Then Ronari spoke to me from behind.

“You say it’ll be fine, but you know my father’s temperament!”

“I said it’s fine because I know him.”

“You know?”

Right.

Now I truly understood.

The family history Pietro had told me, and the feelings Izack himself revealed.

That was only a small part of Izack.

But that alone was enough.

‘At least I could see that Izack cares for his family and comrades.’

So Izack would handle the situation smoothly.

At the very least, he wouldn’t say things like this.

‘If you don’t want to work then get out. Drag your useless, trashy body out. Ah, you’ll have to crawl so you won’t go fast. Someone get this useless thing outta here!’

…Right.

He wouldn’t actually say that, would he?

The simulation felt so real it made me uneasy.

Then a good idea flashed through my mind.

I stepped closer to Izack and whispered.

“…?“

“…I have an idea.“

Izack snorted a laugh at me.

“Yeah. That’s how you handle people.”

He tapped my shoulder and turned his gaze back to the fallen soldier.

Izack—do I really believe this…!?

“…What are you doing? Get him up.“

The staff, frozen with tension, hesitantly moved at Izack’s words.

But the fallen soldier refused their hands.

“Goddamn it! Let go of me!”

Watching him, Izack said softly.

“If you don’t want to crawl home, then sit down quietly.”

“Who the hell are you, you—! A Lower Quarter bastard with no roots…!”

‘Hey, hey—! Izack’s holding back; you can’t cross the line…!’

Just as I thought of lunging to clap a hand over his mouth, Izack beat me to it.

“Is it shitty?”

“What…?”

“Is it shitty because you sit on that shitty chair taking orders from a Lower Quarter bastard?”

‘Oh fuck… God…’

“Yeah, it’s shitty! It’s fucking shitty! You worthless piece of—!”

The fallen soldier spat back.

A sense of crisis washed over me.

Wow, I really don’t think I could stand for that.

But then a sound of air leaking out was heard.

“Heh…”

It was Izack laughing.

“Me too.”

“Huh?”

Everyone stared at Izack dumbfounded.

Could this be the sign of some impending storm?

We just held our breath and watched.

But what came from his mouth was far calmer than expected.

“I must’ve shown it a little… though I don’t know if you noticed. I really don’t like the work I’m doing right now. I’ve got to come up here and rub shoulders with those upper quarter bastards. You only have to deal with one lower quarter bastard like me, but I’m surrounded by nothing but upper quarter scum. It’s twice as shitty as what you’re dealing with. Got it?”

‘Calmly delivered insults might be scarier than outright shouting.’

Embarrassment flickered across the fallen soldier’s face.

Was this a sermon or a gradient of anger?

I couldn’t tell, so I didn’t act rashly.

But the mystery was solved by his next words.

“But I have a daughter.”

Those who knew about the father-daughter relationship glanced at Ronari.

Izack didn’t bother.

He crouched down and faced the fallen employee.

He continued in a low resonant voice.

“I thought my daughter was just naive and slow. But she wasn’t. When I was stuck at the bottom of the Lower Quarter, she was the one struggling first. Fighting to live. Saying she’d save us. Once I realized that… I felt ashamed.”

A self-mocking smile crossed Izack’s mouth.

“So even if I’m shitty, I work. A bastard like me can die, but my daughter should live, right?”

He straightened his knees and stood up.

“Isn’t that right?”

“…“

“So you, too, get to work.”

With that, Izack turned and left in the direction he’d come.

Able-bodied staff helped the fallen soldier into a wheelchair.

The collapsed soldier wheeled himself back to his post.

Soon the scene returned to normal.

As if nothing had ever happened.

I clenched my fist.

And swung at empty air.

‘I believed in him!’

(I didn’t.)

Ronari grabbed me and asked.

“What did you say to Dad!?”

“I didn’t say much.”

“Young master…!”

Her cheeks puffed up.

“Why, why? I really didn’t say much.”

“That can’t be! What sort of magic did you use to make Dad behave so calmly?!”

Well then.

She’s really surprised, this young lady.

Indeed, what had just happened was an attitude unimaginable to those who had known Izack so far.

He swore a bit, but compared to his previous behavior he was like an English gentleman.

The reason he could do that was simple.

“Because Izack is a father too. How could he be cruel?”

“Yes…?”

“I saw it in the personnel record Mr. Pietro gave me. The employee who collapsed in his chair—he has a son.”

I said this to Ronari.

“That’s all I told Izack.”

Izack didn’t turn his back on employees in pitiable circumstances.

And Izack is a father.

As a fellow father, he wouldn’t be harsh to an employee who came to work.

That was all I thought.

“A sympathy-inducing tactic? So that was it?”

It’s not wrong to put it that way.

But what else was there to pity?

‘After all, everyone in Denabi is in the same situation.’

Izack, Pietro, the soldier in the wheelchair—everyone.

They all work for their family’s survival.

In a broader sense, all workers in the world are the same.

“So consider it a sense of solidarity as workers, I think.”

“Oh, nice. So we’re going to go feel that too?”

“Correct. Are you ready?”

“Is it overtime again tonight?”

I looked at her with the strangest face I could make.

“Why… why?”

“Do you know what this expression is?”

“What is it?”

“It’s the look you make when someone asks the most obvious question. Of course it’s overtime! Tomorrow and the day after are overtime too! Let’s push through for our families! Ronari!”

“Ahaha… Overtime! How exciting. Excitiing…”

Good. Very lively.

Even so, I’m from the finance team.

I’m confident with numbers.

But I don’t remember how many nights I pulled after that.

At most about ten days—are you saying I’m whining?

After ten straight all-nighters and falling asleep in the office, you’ll think differently.

The situation we just resolved was only a small part of the problems I had to deal with.

“Young master! An empty cart arrived from the client!”

“We didn’t expect much from there anyway. We ordered accordingly, so don’t worry!”

“Young Master! Administrator Ronari has declared a strike!”

“She’s just dramatic—ignore it!”

“Young Master! Administrator Tandel—!”

“If he’s dozing, wake him and make him work.”

All sorts of troubles came to me.

It was natural since I told them to report everything to me.

“Young Master… your nose is bleeding.”

“A nosebleed?”

There was blood on the hand that wiped beneath my nose.

“…“

It’s real.

“I’ll clean it myself, so don’t worry.”

“You need to rest now. It’s been days…”

Avenger said with worried eyes.

He hesitated to put the report he brought on my desk.

“Give it here. I’m really fine.”

“But, young master…”

“If I rest, who will receive reports and who will sign approvals? Steward, if you want me to rest, go do the work yourself.”

I tried to snatch the report from Avenger’s hands.

But perhaps because my arm had no strength

I ended up dropping the report.

The papers scattered across the office floor.

“Ah. Sorry. Why am I like this…”

“Please sit. I’ll pick them up.”

“No, I’m fine…”

I stood up.

Then my head spun.

Drip—

The last thing I saw were two drops of blood on the floor.

“Why am I really like this…”

“Young master!”

Many voices rushed at my wavering self.

I collapsed like a sandcastle hit by a wave.

My consciousness went out.

“Now you show a bit of humanity.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Lying here like this, you look like the old young master. Frail young master, timid young master.”

One of the Administrators looked down at Shane and spoke.

They had stopped by the infirmary on their way past where Shane was.

“He used to be so meek, but he suddenly changed. I didn’t think he’d be the type to step forward and cause things.”

“He has definitely been strange lately. Because of him, we’ve pulled several all-nighters…”

The Administrator said, rubbing his brow.

“At first I worked thinking of my son, but now all I can think of is a bed. I want to sleep.”

“So, are you jealous of the young master who’s collapsed now?”

“How about you?”

“Jealous? I’ve never seen the youngest young master asleep before today.”

“First time?”

“Since this business started, it’s the first time I’ve seen it.”

The administrator’s face twisted at those words.

No way. That can’t be.

He looked down at Shane with a disbelieving expression.

“You said all you can think of while working is a bed? I can only think of approval documents stained with blood.”

“Documents stained with blood?”

“The young master’s documents were always a bit damp. From the nosebleeds. Put together, it’d fill a bucket.”

“Why to that extent…?”

“There’s no one who has the whole operation in their head except the young master. He alone receives reports and approvals. He personally steps in to solve problems.”

The Administrator smoothed over his shocked face.

“Then who handles it now?”

“…“

They read the situation on each other’s faces.

“Hey. Damn it, this is not the time for this. Wake everyone up.”

“What, and then what?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? When the young master wakes up, are we going to present him with a mountain of backlog as a gift? We’ll sort this out ourselves!”

“…It’s overwhelming. It’ll take six people to handle the young master’s work.“

“So are we not going to do it?”

“We have to. Yes, we must…”

The administrator muttered.

And then he let out a brief chuckle.

“Now when I work, the young master’s face will be all I can think of. No more rest for me, huh.”

“Stop talking crap and go. Get some good sleep, young master.”

The two headed toward the infirmary door.

Then suddenly Shane’s arm moved.

He grabbed the bedrail and struggled to sit up.

“…Everyone.“

“Young master?!”

“When did you— lie back down. Don’t overdo it!”

But Shane was stubborn.

He threw off the blanket, stood up, and put his feet on the floor.

“Young master…!”

“I’m fine. A bit of sleep made me better.”

“But you were bleeding so much.”

“It was just a nosebleed. I was just a little dizzy. Now it’s time to work.”

Shane got up and headed out of the infirmary.

He said as he held them back,

“Both of you have children, right?”

“What are you suddenly saying that for? Go rest!”

“If I don’t work harder, I might become the person Denabi’s children hate most. I don’t like that idea.”

Shane gave a tired smile.

He walked ahead of them and joked.

“If I work hard, maybe your children will get to see their fathers’ faces again for once.”

Shane staggered away, leaving the two behind.

“Young master…”

The two of them watched his retreating figure.

They felt their noses sting.

Eventually I returned to the office.

The first thing that greeted me was Ronari’s tirade.

“…Young master, you’re truly a monster.“

“You used to say I’m crazy, and now I’m a monster?”

“You collapsed, then came back like some zombie and won’t rest, trying to do everything. If not a monster, what are you? A genius?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

What’s an S-rank doing saying that to an E-rank?

“If I were a genius, I wouldn’t have gone through this.”

“Ugh…”

“Raw materials are handled by Administrator Ronari. Administrative tasks are done by Tandel and Avenger, and the field is taken care of by Izack and Mr. Pietro. I’m really just overseeing work. I’m staying up nights because I can’t even do that properly. If there’s a genius here, it’s you all—not me.”

“Your stubbornness, really…”

She smiled faintly at me.

“What are you laughing at? Get to work.”

“Phew. This young master must really be a monster.”

She grumbled but dutifully returned to her tasks.

I watched her back and thought.

‘Right. You’re still standing firm, so how could I fall?’

I caused all of this.

I’ve rested enough.

I began processing the report Avenger left behind.

Ronari started handling the first invoice.

Work will end someday.