42

For a while, only silence remained in the mansion, scattered and deserted.

And time passed, one month later.

─Creak

“Has no one come?”

The first to return was Daniel, who had been to the Rengbaster estate.

He glanced around and trudged into the mansion.

With no upkeep, dust lay on the floors and the air was stale.

“We should at least clean up.”

Daniel muttered, frowning.

“Then let’s do it together.”

Someone spoke from behind.

A man walked in through the open door.

At the familiar face, Daniel involuntarily raised his voice.

“Hamel!”

“You’ve worked hard, Sir Daniel.”

Hamel nodded calmly.

Seeing that, Daniel smiled broadly and asked.

“It seems things went well.”

“I was lucky. How about you, Sir Daniel?”

“Me? Well, it wasn’t that difficult.”

Daniel took out a contract and handed it to Hamel.

Stamped with the seal of the Rengbaster estate, it contained the terms needed for the deal.

It listed the price and quantity of timber, supply and delivery of timber, payment terms, and delivery schedule.

“This should be enough firewood for the year. Construction timber, too, this much…”

Hamel, slightly surprised, examined the contract carefully.

With a bit of exaggeration, it was enough timber to build a small village.

It would be more than enough to repair the estate’s villages.

At Hamel’s reaction, Daniel smiled awkwardly and added.

“It’s not because I did well. It’s thanks to you saving the Rengbaster estate before.”

“That wasn’t just me. Sir Daniel helped too.”

“…Thanks for saying that.”

Daniel was briefly moved, then his expression hardened as something occurred to him.

“Ah. But there’s news you should know.”

“News?”

Hamel tilted his head at the suddenly heavy atmosphere.

Daniel continued with a disquieted look.

“The Rengbaster family… has almost been annihilated.”

“…!”

Hamel’s eyes widened at the unexpected news.

It was the first he had heard of it.

Seeing Hamel’s shock, Daniel nodded as if he’d expected it.

“So you didn’t know. The only survivor is Irene Rengbaster, the young lady. It seems the family, and even the retainers, were all killed in a single night.”

Hamel couldn’t find his voice.

The people he had risked his life to protect were all dead.

It was hard to believe.

“Who on earth would do such a thing…”

“It hasn’t been revealed. Since the estate is vulnerable, they’re investigating it secretly without making it public. The young lady isn’t in her right mind either, but she’s barely holding on.”

“…”

In a single day he lost his entire family and the retainers who helped manage the estate.

The psychological shock aside, the estate couldn’t possibly function properly.

The estate must have fallen into even greater chaos than before.

And yet she’s enduring it alone.

Hamel nodded and then spoke to Daniel.

“Separate from the contract, we must help.”

“…Hamel. Sorry, but isn’t Haidern in no better a state than Rengbaster?”

Daniel asked hesitantly.

He thought Haidern estate was actually in worse shape.

But Hamel seemed to think otherwise and slowly shook his head.

“That’s not entirely so.”

After answering, Hamel pricked up his ears, smiled faintly, and walked outside.

Daniel, puzzled, followed him.

There, …

─Rattle-rattle

Dozens of wagons loaded with provisions rolled into the estate with flags fluttering.

Banners symbolizing the Lawrence Caravan fluttered on the poles.

With hundreds of the Blue Mane clan following behind, the procession seemed endless.

“…What on earth is that?”

Daniel muttered in astonishment, and Hamel nodded calmly.

“It’s enough to provide at least some help.”

The arrival of the caravan immediately caused a commotion in the village.

“W-what is that?”

“It’s… the Lawrence Company!”

Surprise and relief.

Cheering mixed with joy carried on the wind up to the mansion on the hill.

“They must have been short on money. What trick did they pull this time?”

“Wasn’t it luck?”

Hamel answered calmly again.

“My lord!”

At that moment, a group of people approached the mansion.

They were Den and Dain, who had gone around the estate recruiting workers and soldiers.

“Wow! My lord, I’ve never seen such a caravan procession.”

“As expected of our master.”

Behind them were about twenty burly men and a woman in a maid’s uniform.

The newly recruited all seemed slightly awkward, but there was a strange hope in their faces.

Seeing the caravan, they might have felt the estate changing.

“You’ve all worked hard. I ask for your cooperation going forward.”

Hamel looked at them and nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s noisily chaotic.”

A man, who seemed to have been there unnoticed, suddenly appeared behind Den and Dain.

It was Ono, who had left for the harbor.

He scowled, looking much more disheveled than when he left.

“…I still feel like I smell fish on me.”

“Welcome back, Ono.”

Ono glared at Hamel and replied curtly.

“Don’t expect me to ever go to the harbor again.”

“Was it a demon?”

“Yeah, some amphibian or fish-like creature. Its stench still wrecks my nose.”

“You’ve had a hard time.”

“That’s enough to know.”

Ono turned and headed straight into the mansion.

He paused for a moment, hesitated, and then spoke.

“…My expectations were wrong.”

“…?”

“I thought this estate was ruined. It looks like people actually live here now. You’ve worked hard too.”

Hamel’s eyes widened slightly at Ono’s unexpected praise.

He then nodded slightly.

It was as Ono said.

A wind of change, unexpected by anyone, was blowing through the estate.

A warm spring breeze melted the accumulated snow.

The cold winter passed, and the damp, earthy-scented wind sprouted green shoots everywhere.

“It’s nice.”

Hamel murmured without meaning to.

Warm sunlight warmed his body and the breeze tickled his cheek.

Four months had already passed since the new year.

Spring.

A season when new life stirs and a new beginning is heralded.

Hamel felt his heart lift for the first time in a while.

He’d been stuck in the office handling estate affairs.

But now that was finally coming to an end.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all. I haven’t done much.”

Hamel shrugged at Daniel’s consolation.

It was half sincere.

In less than half a year, Hamel had struggled to learn all the lord’s duties.

Yet the reason the estate was running now was simple.

Road maintenance, harbor management, and village repairs and upkeep were handled by Arandel, chief of the Blue Mane clan.

Financial management and company operations were overseen by Benjamin, former head of the Lawrence Trading Company.

Village security and the military were managed by Dain, former salt-mine foreman and knight.

Relations with the order and demon eradication were handled by Ono, the Exorcist priest on leave.

Hamel’s role was simply to set the direction for what they should do and approve concrete plans they brought.

Of course, with limited funds and manpower he prioritized tasks, and that had put out most urgent fires.

During the winter there were no starving or freezing deaths in the estate.

It had been a very peaceful winter.

The people of the estate unanimously praised the new lord.

This was partly because Benjamin spread word as he distributed the relief rice and firewood Hamel had procured.

‘Now the time has come.’

With the estate stabilizing, it was time to move again.

Having rested, his body was at its peak.

How long had it been since he’d put the sword down for so long?

His hand itched, and he toyed with the sword at his waist.

“You little…! If I catch you I’ll tear that ear off!”

“Bing!”

Zahhak, trapped in a rabbit’s body, darted across the garden with Ono chasing behind.

Zahhak ran with ample leisure, artfully evading Ono.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems the creature ate the seeds Ono sowed.”

Daniel answered Hamel’s question with a somewhat deflated expression.

At first Daniel had been wary of Zahhak, a super-class demon sealed inside a rabbit, but seeing this he seemed to have lost much of his caution.

By the way.

“…Is Ono farming these days?”

“Since the order didn’t summon him, perhaps he’s looking for new work?”

Feeling a bit sorry, Hamel thought he should contact the order soon.

At the same time he gently blocked Zahhak’s path.

“Bink?”

Zahhak flinched and raised its head as it ran.

Hamel looked at it with an impassive gaze and spoke.

“Stop.”

“…!”

─Frozen in place

The running Zahhak stopped as if frozen.

It listened to Hamel as if he were a ghost, even if it ignored others.

Hamel approached it and said.

“Do not touch the seeds Ono sowed. If food is scarce, I’ll give you more.”

“Beya… beak!”

Zahhak nodded its stiff head up and down vigorously.

“Got you, you!”

Ono snatched Zahhak’s ear and lifted it up.

Then he grinned and said.

“How dare you, a mere rabbit, interfere with my farming? Last time you crapped in my room. I’ll teach you a lesson today…”

“Byaaak~.”

Zahhak yawned openly, ignoring Ono’s words.

“You… bastardd!”

Ono’s face flushed as he raged and shouted.

Watching this, Daniel, looking appalled, approached Hamel and whispered.

“Do we not have to tell Ono the truth?”

“It’s fine.”

Zahhak’s seal is strong.

Above all, he had used an artifact left in the mansion to bind it with a subjugation spell.

Now it couldn’t harm anyone without Hamel’s command.

Since the immortal, undying creature couldn’t be killed, Hamel thought to use it as the mansion’s guard dog.

For some reason it also obeyed him absolutely.

However, he kept Zahhak’s true nature secret from Ono.

Ono’s hatred of demons was stronger than Hamel’s.

He would surely, without question or hesitation, decapitate the sealed rabbit.

‘That would be nothing less or more than releasing the Zahhak into the world.’

Hamel’s hatred of demons was also fierce, but after a series of events his thinking had become somewhat more flexible.

Shifting his gaze from the two and looking down at the village, Hamel’s eyes widened slightly.

“That is…”

Along the forest path entering the village, wagons and escorts could be seen.

It was the road connecting to Rengbaster.

‘Did Rengbaster send people?’

The question didn’t last long.

Because the banner on the wagon caught his eye.

“The order?”

Hamel tilted his head.

From that direction it was clear where they had come from.

They were clearly people from the Lettria diocese.

“Someone’s come.”

“It seems so. For what purpose…”

Hamel, answering Daniel, suddenly stopped speaking.

A figure sitting beside the coachman began to become visible.

A priest’s robe.

His build was much smaller than the coachman’s, slight and boyish.

Above all.

He wore a white “eye patch” over his eyes.

Hamel began to run without realizing it.

Daniel followed him without understanding why.

How long did they run?

It was just as Hamel reached the wagon that had just entered the village.

The eyepatched boy in the wagon suddenly sat up, grinned broadly, and waved.

“The gait that maintains prayer silence. And the sound of this armor. It’s been a while for both of you!”

The coachman, startled, tried to stop the eyepatched boy, but he paid no heed and continued.

“I returned as promised! Hamel! Daniel!”

“…”

After choosing his words for a moment, Hamel nodded and replied calmly.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Antonio.”