Idle Talk 3: Each Dancing with Joy and Sorrow
Holger Lutters, lord of the Board Forest.
“Why! A part of the Board Forest is the land we’ve inherited from our ancestors. You want me to give it to you!”
Count Holger Lutters, whose domain is adjacent to Board Forest, was visited by a messenger from the kingdom the day after the audience, and the first thing he did was to raise his voice.
“Are you disagreeing with the royal family’s decision?”
“N-No. I was just surprised by the sudden news. Perhaps you would allow me to review the details of your letter.”
Holger hurriedly retracted his previous statement, took the letter, confirmed that it was royal seal wax, and opened the seal.
‘It is obvious and vicious that the knight of Count Yuhan Stokeman, Ryoji, who had a letter addressed to the Royal Family, was not only rejected at the gate but was driven into the forest of the board to be eliminated. Normally, it would be considered a rebellion. But the letter arrived safely, and Ryoji pleaded with me to be lenient. Taking that into consideration, Count Lutters will transfer the Board Forest to the Royal Family, and the matter will be dropped.’
(Why? How did it come to light that I drove Ryoji to Board Forest? Was it the information from the civil servant who was dismissed?)
As Holger pondered, the messenger handed him another letter.
‘From the Duke of Harrold Coltezis? It says ‘I wrote a letter thinking that Count Lutters was feeling uncomfortable among the nobility. The decision regarding Ryoji was made by King Marcel himself, and I am also ordered to let go of Board Forest. But as I am a good friend of Ryoji, I will help him manage the forest as an advisor. If you are interested, we can discuss the matter of being the advisor at another time. I look forward to a good response.’ If it is an order from King Marcel, how can I refuse?”
Holger sighed as remembered his treatment in the salon. The aristocrats used his inability to utilize the Board Forest as an excuse for ridicule, and Holger could only feel annoyed.
“Advisor for Board Forest, huh ……”
The Board Forest that he had inherited looked like a normal forest, but if it was not entered into the square regularly, or if even a single tree was cut down, it would be flooded with monsters. This meant that it was necessary to constantly deploy troops, and the cost of maintaining it was ridiculous.
“I can give the Board Forest to Ryoji. If I become an advisor, not only will I get money, but I’ll also be able to make a connection with Duke Coltezis, the leader of the Papal faction. Why should I belong to the aristocracy while being ridiculed?”
Holger entrusted the messenger with his acceptance of the order from the kingdom and his reply to Harrold.
Reiner Vosch, the nobleman who dueled with Ryoji.
“Baron Rainer Vosch will be rewarded with ten gold coins for his duel in front of His Majesty.”
Hearing messenger words Reiner’s stepmother, the baroness, knelt reverently and received a bag of gold coins.
“Reiner was supposed to receive the gold coins himself, but he was not feeling well, so I am accepting it on his behalf.”
Reiner’s father had died two months earlier, and he had a younger brother born to his second wife. There was no family disturbance, and the vassals’ opinion that “Rainer-sama, the legitimate son, should take over” was accepted by the second wife without defiance.
However, Reiner declared that the second wife and his younger brother were ‘mere strangers and her son, with a lower status than his mother’, and told them to leave immediately.
” At the very least, allow us to make a living for the time being.”
Just as the wife was about to be driven out despite her pleas, the latest disturbance arose. He had drawn his sword in front of the King without permission, but the King mercifully treated it as a duel. He drew his sword first but was defeated without landing a single blow. The fact that he was helpless even though he was using the Vosch family heirloom Fire Whip.
And after the duel, Reiner became a shell of a man and spent his time recuperating in the mansion.
“Since Lord Reiner is not in good health, please tell him to take his time and recover.”
The Vosch family had gained fame as a military family, but Reiner’s actions brought them down to the ground.
Maximovich Gamidov, the gatekeeper’s brother
“Seems like everything is ready?”
“Yes. We’ll be departing in an hour.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
When Maximovich heard the report from the guard, he sent him back to his room with words of encouragement. The next day after the commotion, Maximovich began to work vigorously, and by the end of the day, he had completed the formalities to take his brother into the monastery. After the dinner and the audience, Ryoji Uchino’s name had become well known in the aristocratic circles, and the Gamidov family could have been destroyed if he had made a mistake.[TN: I am interchanging aristocrat and noble words according to convenience and also it fits context better]
“You really are a troublemaker to the end, little brother.”
Maximovich remembered his brother’s misdeeds as he muttered bitterly. He had a biased belief that the nobility was the chosen race, and his attitude toward the general public and his ridicule of the lower nobility were too numerous to mention. Even his father, who had been lenient with his younger brother, agreed to send him to a monastery where he would never be allowed to come out again, after hearing that if he tried to protect him this time, he might be crushed.
“Well then, we’re off.”
“Take care of him.”
After answering his subordinate’s words, he returned to his office without seeing him off. Maximovich’s first task was to send his brother to the monastery, and his second task was to write an invitation to Ryoji for a formal apology.
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May I ask the updated schedule of this series? Thanks.
Haven’t thought of a schedule for now?
If there’s any I will post here and at the discord server.