The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (14)

Now the only method left is to throw a tantrum.

But I can’t use that right now!

‘Why not? Weren’t you always planning to just beg for it?’

…That’s not how it is.

Throwing a tantrum is unexpectedly a sophisticated skill.

It requires technique.

First of all, basically, whining doesn’t work well on superiors.

There are several conditions needed to whine to a superior…

Ah, that’s not the important thing now.

Two weeks of effort are about to go down the drain!

‘Think of a way already, Lee Jungwoo, you idiot!’

“Father! I misspoke. But this business can’t end like this. If we don’t earn money somehow and deal with the Dungeon, Denabi will be destroyed…!”

“I know.”

Alejandro said as he turned away.

“Shane. I appreciate you reminding me of that. It was a mistake for me to return so complacently in the first place. The Dungeons… we will do something about them.”

He exchanged determined looks with his soldiers.

‘Damn it! That’s even worse! Don’t be so resolute!’

“We set out again first thing tomorrow, men. We cannot rest until we’ve driven every Dungeon out of Denabi.”

“Yes! My lord!”

Don’t even salute!

Thud-thump-

I tried to grab Alejandro’s sleeve but failed.

I flailed on the floor.

They looked down at me with pitying eyes.

One of the soldiers came forward to help me up.

“Young master…”

“Damn it! Hands off! I’ll get up on my own!”

I was stubborn, but my arms had no strength.

I tried and failed several times.

In the end I had to be satisfied with kneeling on the floor.

“Young master! If you keep pushing yourself like that, I’ll lose my head!”

The approaching medic wrapped me in his arms and whispered.

I refused even that.

“Who do you think is the one overexerting themselves right now!”

“…Shane, lie down quietly.“

I gestured angrily at Alejandro as he spoke.

“I am talking to my father! Listen properly…!“

I snarled roughly like a starving wolf.

At this point, I had to do something.

‘I have to pour out all the words bottled up inside me to stop Alejandro!’

That thought pushed me forward.

“Denabi soldiers fight for their families!? That sounds nice and flowery, but who doesn’t know that! Do you think you can stop us with such a reason?!”

“No matter how much you’re my son, I won’t forgive you for insulting the soldiers!”

“Insult? You said it well! Do you feel wronged because you’ve been insulted? Do you in the corps feel wronged too?! No! The people here who’ve suffered all this time are a thousand, ten thousand times more wronged and resentful! If you only listen to Father’s words, you’d think you’re the only ones fighting for their families!”

I beat my frustrated chest.

My head felt like it was boiling.

“You all must have heard about what I did. I’ve been making people work. The people who work in Denabi Castle. I took those people and put them to tasks outside their duties. Do you know why I could do that? Because I’m the lord’s youngest son? Because these people trust and follow me? Fuck…! That’s impossible!”

Right. That’s impossible.

They work because they trust and follow a leader?

What a laughable thing to say.

That kind of thing doesn’t happen in reality.

They worked for themselves.

For themselves and their families who might be sacrificed to the Mana Plague.

I believed that they were the ones truly sacrificing.

Even if they couldn’t go to the battlefield, they fulfilled their duties at work for their families.

Their efforts cannot be belittled…!

“Do you know what I learned while working? That there’s not a single employee who’s at ease after sending sons and daughters, parents and siblings to the battlefield! While you fought for your families in the middle of a hellish Dungeon, the people here were also fighting. Because they wanted you not to die! Pulling all-nighters, cutting their fingertips on paper, selling liquor just to bring you one more piece of bread — they would have thought it wasn’t a worthless hardship…!”

I thought of Izack.

I thought of Pietro.

I thought of the soldier in a wheelchair, the fathers with children, the ones who struggled and endured for their families.

I have no right to feel wronged at all.

Because it was something I did just to save my own life.

But these people are different.

Their efforts cannot come to nothing like this.

Exhausted and gasping, I continued speaking.

“But, but are you going to ignore all the hardships of these people and just go back into the Dungeon among yourselves to seek death again…? No. You can’t talk like that. If you force yourselves to the point of dying, if you never return… what happens to the people who wanted to protect you…?”

That was all I had to say.

No, it was all the words I couldn’t have said before.

’…I’m screwed.’

My head was hot.

I couldn’t contain myself and blurted out everything, the things I should and shouldn’t say.

Only silence lingered in the infirmary.

It was the silence I had created.

‘I’m burning while the air is cold.’

I just curled up where I sat.

It’s all over.

Now it’s really over.

But then, that guy who couldn’t read the room showed up.

Status Window.

It spoke.

Wishing for the emergence of a hero.

Hero-worshiping a figure from the past.

That’s not uncommon even in the modern era.

The more people feel sickened by the present world, the more precarious it becomes, the more they long for a hero.

The people of Denabi were no different.

Their suffering had a long history.

Everyone recognized that things couldn’t continue like this.

Part of why Shane Astrier’s spectacle was accepted was for that reason.

A bizarre young master who suddenly appeared.

There was reason in his words.

The plan looked rational.

But more than that, what captivated the people of Denabi was hope.

Hope that this madman might turn out to be a hero.

So they wagered their last coins on this man.

Thirty-one people had gathered in front of the infirmary.

They were all people who had entrusted their stakes to Shane.

They had gathered after hearing the news that Shane had woken up.

Then from inside the infirmary came Shane’s shouting voice.

“…No! The people who’ve worked here have a thousand, ten thousand times more grievance and anger!…“

They listened to Shane’s voice.

The size of the hope they placed in Shane must have differed for each of them.

Their reasons for coming to the infirmary to find Shane were also probably different.

“…If only you force yourselves and die like that, if you never return… what becomes of the people who wanted to protect you…?“

But hearing Shane’s voice, they confirmed just one thing.

They looked at each other’s faces standing in the hallway.

They were comrades who had been losing sleep and fighting together since the plan began.

The same conviction shone in their eyes.

Even if they lost this bet,

Even if they all fell as crystals of mana,

Even if Shane Astrier was not the hero they had been waiting for…

Their choice to trust this reckless young master.

The certainty that it was the best choice.

“…We weren’t wrong.“

That conviction pierced everyone’s hearts.

And exactly the same thing,

It happened inside Ronari as well.

When she first let Shane Astrier into her grandfather’s house, Ronari regretted it.

It was a hasty judgment.

‘He did look like someone trustworthy. But…’

To reveal such a secret to someone she’d only known for a few days.

It was something that shouldn’t happen by common sense.

Her father asked.

“Why did you do that, Ronari?”

“I don’t know, maybe I was crazy for a moment…”

“Don’t answer like that! Say it properly! Did that bastard Alejandro’s son threaten you or something?!”

“No! I just… wanted to believe. That’s all!”

“Does that even make sense? That guy is the lord’s son! The top of the Upper Quarter!”

Even when she first said she would become an administrator of Denabi Castle, her father opposed it.

“That’s absurd! Even if your grandfather allows it, I won’t.”

“You know it too, father. Our territory is in danger. It’s not the time to divide into Upper Quarter and Lower Quarter and fight!”

“If they really needed help, they should have come down to the Lower Quarter long ago and begged on their knees! Even if we offered to help, do you think they’d blink?”

“So you’re saying we should just sit by and do nothing?!”

“So should we crawl grovelingly under the enemy’s hem and do menial tasks!”

No.

‘They are not the enemy.’

She wanted to let him know that.

That there are good people in the Upper Quarter too, that not all our misfortunes are their fault. She wanted to prove it to her father.

Then Shane appeared.

The frail third son of the Lord’s family.

A mysterious young master.

‘He suddenly popped up, caught corruption… and then immediately forgave the culprit he caught.’

After that he dragged her around claiming he’d revive the territory’s finances.

’…Is he sincere?’

She wanted to know.

In other words, she doubted.

Because Shane’s appearance was so timely.

The sudden appearance of a young master who had been holed up in the castle his whole life.

Plus the unrealistic ambition to save the territory.

‘It makes no sense.’

But Shane gradually put flesh of reality onto that unreality.

“You’re thinking of… dominating the market.”

“Yes. It would effectively allow a monopoly.”

At that moment she made up her mind.

She wanted to trust this person.

The person she had long waited for,

The one who would prove Ronari’s faith,

It’s this very person.

She wanted to believe with all her heart.

So she asked him like this.

“…Can I really trust you?“

Is there any question more foolish than that?

Who would answer such a question by telling her not to trust them?

But Shane’s answer was neither yes nor no.

“…I would like you to trust me.“

He said it in an uncertain voice.

Hearing that answer, she made up her mind.

‘Alright. I’ll try to believe.’

She might regret it.

But she thought it was worth taking the step.

After that, she really had a hard time.

She was so busy she had no time to doubt Shane.

It didn’t matter.

Because circumstances had forced her into a position where she had to trust him.

‘Was deciding to trust this person really the right thing to do?’

She decided to postpone that worry for a while.

It seemed it wouldn’t be too late to answer after things succeeded.

After all, results would decide everything.

Because the result is everything.

She thought like that.

Without knowing it was such a huge mistake.

‘I shouldn’t have done that.’

In a corner of the infirmary, Ronari covered her mouth.

Rage welled up.

Anger toward oneself.

‘Results decide everything? It’s not too late to answer after success…? Don’t be ridiculous…!’

Before she knew it, she was thinking like her father.

She thought there must be some reason behind Shane’s efforts and kindness.

She thought she needed something more to trust him.

Ability, proof, results, or success.

But those things meant nothing.

There was only one reason Shane was helping them, and only one reason to trust him.

Because Shane was precisely the person she had been searching for.

Someone who worries about others,

Who strives to fulfill his responsibilities,

A good person who agonizes over whether he’ll fall short of expectations.

So why hadn’t she trusted such a person sooner?

“…I asked you to trust me, I said I wished you’d trust me… I said it from the start.“

And the woman trembling with regret and anger,

Finally lifted her head.