Chapter 54

Right, right. I remember now. Back at the magic school, I had been granted the title of Baron and a plot of land by Doruk, the fifth son of a certain noble family.

The title of Baron is the lowest rank of nobility, and it doesn’t carry hereditary rights. On the other hand, since it can be transferred to others, wealthy merchants often buy the status just for the prestige.

And I had become that Baron.

Up until now, I hadn’t received a single document related to the barony, and I hadn’t even checked where the land was located, so I had completely forgotten about it.

“For now, why don’t you just open it? There’s a high chance it contains fairly important documents,” Mary suggested.

True enough, the envelope was heavy. It didn’t look like a trivial notification.
Inside were numerous documents requiring my signature as Baron. Some were necessary for the transfer of rights from Doruk to me, while others were mixed in requesting my permission for various local matters. Though they were called “permissions,” they were mostly just formalities—if I signed them, things would simply continue as they always had.

“Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t leave this sitting around.”

The task itself was simple: sign them and send them back to the relevant offices. Incidentally, the documents were sent from the district office where the land, “Fantland,” was located.

“Since you’re at it, why don’t you go to Fantland and see how it is? You could treat it like a weekend trip. You’re a Baron, after all; surely there’s at least a villa from the previous owner, right?”

Mary’s idea wasn’t bad.

“Alright, let’s look into it. But I’ve never heard this name before.”

There are about five hundred districts in the country, so unless it’s a major landmark, it’s often hard to pinpoint a location immediately. I brought out an atlas and checked the district’s location.

It was an incredibly rural district northwest of the Capital. Moreover, looking at the magnified map, Fantland was a plot of land on a slope pressed right up against the mountains. I could easily imagine that the land value was dirt cheap.

“This is… honestly, not a very exciting piece of land…”

No wonder Doruk was willing to give up the barony rights.

Two weeks later.

I was headed for Fantland, riding atop Tensho-go, the Dragon Skeleton.

“Yep, good, steady driving. Just like that, keep it up.”

Sitting beside me with her arms crossed was Senior Tototo, the owner of Tensho-go.

“I’m sorry for the trouble. Especially since it’s your day off.”

“If I didn’t want to come, I would’ve found an excuse to say no. For me, visiting a place I’ve never seen is more meaningful than sleeping off a hangover at home.”

True to form, Tototo-senpai the Dark Elf always looks active. Though that might just be because her clothes are so revealing… Senior barely wears anything, and she has the habit of going naked when she’s at home.

I had asked her if I could borrow Tensho-go for this trip. Since her current residence is quite far away, I had contacted her via magic communication. The deal was: “Please lend me the Dragon Skeleton for the Saturday-Sunday weekend; I’ll pay for all the meals, and for lodging, we’ll use the building that’s part of the Baron’s assets.”

She successfully gave the okay.

Narrow mountain passes were impassable for a Dragon Skeleton, so we had to take a long detour, but we arrived at Fantland in about five hours.

This is the land I rule as a Baron!

It was rural. Triple-rural.

The district (which had the weak-sounding name “Banabana District”) was a basin shaped like the bottom of a mortar in a mountainous area, and within it were several smaller basins and hills. Fantland was a particularly desolate area with almost no population.

Since the Baron’s building stood on a slope, I could see the entire panorama of Fantland. There were almost no buildings.

“According to the records, there are six households with a total population of twenty-one. Of those, the only person under fifteen is a ten-year-old boy,” Cerulia read aloud from the documents.

“It’s a super-marginal settlement!”

“Actually, isn’t it more of a ‘dying’ settlement than a marginal one?” Mary was exasperated as she looked at the peaceful scenery where almost no human life was visible.

“The Baron’s building is pretty beat-up too… I mean, this is basically a ruined old community center… The structure looks sturdy enough, so it should be usable if we clean it, but it’s so dusty we won’t be able to sleep unless we scrub the place down…”

Senior Tototo looked discouraged. Having brought her here, I felt responsible…
But then, Senior broke into a bright, energetic smile.

“But you know what? Fine! A weekend like this is good too! Since we’re here, let’s turn this into a magnificent villa! I’m used to cleaning thanks to Tensho-go!”

“Thank you, Senior!”

“If I let my energy drop here, everyone else will feel awkward. I’m a working professional, I understand that much. I’m going to enjoy this situation!”

She smiled with a purposefully smug face. She really is a wonderful senior. My company is full of people with great character!

Then, Senior Tototo pulled some cleaning supplies out from the old community center and said, “Alright, let’s clean!”—then she promptly peeled off her clothes and stood there stark naked.

“Hey! Why are you naked?!”

“Eh? Because this is basically your villa, right, Franz-kun? Since I’m invited here, there’s no problem if I act as if I’m in my own home, right?”

“Ah, so you’re saying because you spend your time naked at home, it’s fine here too—AS IF! You just said you’re a working professional, so please behave!”

What happened to that smug “professional” talk from a second ago?!

“Who cares! My clothes would just get dirty anyway! This is my policy! If you don’t accept it, I won’t let you borrow Tensho-go for the ride back!”

“That’s cheating! That is so cheating!”

If I had to walk home from a place like this, it would count as several days of unexcused absence…

In the end, I yielded to Senior Tototo’s policy and let her clean while naked. Except for Mary brooding with a mysterious sense of defeat—muttering, “Grrr… she has such a good body, it’s annoying…”—there were no major problems.

I will not have impure thoughts, I will not, I will not…

If the villagers see this, there will definitely be a misunderstanding, so I really want her to finish quickly and put her clothes back on.