Volume 3 Chapter 13: Drintor’s Deputy Governor

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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Cain quickly gave up on writing responses to all the letters in his mansion in the royal capital, and transferred to his mansion in Drintor.

In order to report everything to his older brother, Alec.

“Eeh!? You’ve been promoted to a count!?”

Alec’s surprised voice resounded throughout the office. Darmeshia was standing behind Cain, seemingly in good spirits.

Cain’s promotion to viscount had been unexpected, but now he had been promoted to a higher-rank noble, a count.

After that, Cain told Alec how Drintor would have to pay taxes to the country as punishment for his failure.

However, Alec smiled at the apologetic Cain.

“That’s no problem at all. Thanks to the number of people having grown, not to mention the job offices, we’ve got enough finances to pay taxes no problem. On the contrary, it was strange for them not to tax such a healthy territory. Moreover, you said it was the basic tax amount? With Drintor, that’s no problem at all. We could even pay twice as much as that and still have some money to spare.”

Cain patted his chest in relief at Alec’s answer. Lula and Laura also expressed their congratulations, making Cain scratch his head in embarrassment.

And finally, there was one last thing he had to tell Alec.

“And then… Alec-nii-sama, next week, could you come to the royal capital with me?”

“Yeeeeah…? For the preparations for your announcement party you talked about earlier, right?”

Cain, took a deep breath, then opened his mouth.

“Well, actually… Alec-nii-sama, – – you will be made a baron.”

At Cain’s words, Alec’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging open.

He was so surprised he seemed to have lost his voice for a little while.

“W-why… is this happening all of a sudden!?”

Even though he was quite the excellent deputy governor, not even Alec could hide his surprise.

“Yeah, well, you see– –”

Let’s rewind time a little.

The audience was over, and Cain was discussing what would happen after that with the king and the others.

“Your Majesty, I have a request…”

“What? Being so formal… that’s not like you at all.”

“Well, I have now been promoted to a count, but I will have to stay here in the royal capital more and more, no…?”

“Yes, I need you to be here in the royal capital at least half of the year. I can’t even imagine what sorts of things you’d get up to if you were holed up in your territory.”

Cain took a deep breath, then opened his mouth.

“Drintor has been developed and now has grown to ten-thousand inhabitants. I will be developing the town further from now on. If I were to stay here in the royal capital for a long time, it would place a burden on my brother Alec, who is my deputy governor there. There’s a forest of monsters near Drintor, which contains dungeons too. If something were to happen, the deputy governor– –”

“Cain, say no more. I think I know what you want to say. You have now joined the ranks of the higher-rank nobles. It would be good if your deputy governor were also a noble. And from other people’s points of view too… I’ll make him a baron.”

The king glanced at Magna, who nodded without saying anything.

Garm was surprised at Cain’s sudden request, but his eldest son, Jin, was the one who would be following in his footsteps to become a margrave. Now, Cain had become a count, so only his second son, Alec, was still treated as a quasi-noble, so Garm smiled when he realized what was going on.

“Your Majesty, I would like to thank you as well. Thank you very much.”

Matching Garm, who had placed both his hands on the table and lowered his head, Cain bowed as well.

“It’s alright, so you two raise your heads. The one leading the development of Drintor is your brother anyway. Giving him a title is no problem. And he’s a grown-up too.”

As the king laughed, the two of them raised their heads.

After that, having left the room, Cain and Garm had a little discussion.

“Thanks, Cain. That you pay attention to Alec. It gives me peace of mind, as a father.”

“No, Alec-nii-sama truly is excellent at his job. He’s a necessary being for the development of the town.”

“Once he’s been given his title next week, we’ll celebrate.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

The two of them laughed.

“– – and that’s what was decided upon.”

Alec’s face had become bright red during Cain’s explanation. He hid his face with both his hands for a while, not saying anything.

“Cain… really, thank you. I’m happy to have such an excellent little brother.”

Cain shook his head at the tearfully happy Alec’s words.

“It’s because you’re an excellent person, Alec-nii-sama. Even His Majesty acknowledged it.”

Lula and Laura were moved to tears while listening to their conversation, while Darmeshia was smiling.

Cain and Alec put their hands together.

“I’ll make Drintor a better town than any others out there. Just leave it to me.”

Said Alec, smiling, to which Cain nodded.

“Thank you for that, Alec-nii-sama.”

“I will, of course, – – be making full use of your magical power though.”

Everyone laughed at Alec’s words.

A few days had passed.

“I hereby appoint Alec von Silford as a baron. Continue your duties as Drintor’s deputy governor from now onwards.”

“Yes, I gratefully accept. I will continue to contribute to the development of the Kingdom of Esfort with all my heart.”

Then, the audience was over, and Alec had become a baron.

Then, they had a party with just the family in Garm’s mansion in the royal capital.

When it had been decided that Alec would become a noble, fast horses were sent to Garm’s territory to summon Jin and his mother Maria to the royal capital. Cain had offered to use his transfer magic, but Garm had refused.

“His trip to the royal capital is also training for when he becomes the head of the territory. He has to spread his name, as well as check up on how the towns are doing. Those are the duties of nobles… also, he can’t just rely on you every time.”

Cain could only nod in response.

Because Garm had sent messengers on fast horses, Jin and Maria had made it to the royal capital the day before Alec had been made a baron.

Having received an explanation from Garm, Maria started crying tears of happiness, and when she found Cain, she hugged him as hard as she could.

“Cain, really, thank you. Thanks to you, Alec is now also the head of a noble family. Really, thank you.”

Maria had a beauty one wouldn’t expect of someone in her late thirties, and it was needless to say that Cain’s face became bright red at being sandwiched between her firm breasts when she hugged him.

The Silford family gathered at Garm’s residence and celebrated.

Everyone raised their glasses, and Garm, the head of the Silford family made a toast.

“My third son, Cain has been made a count, and his engagements have been announced publicly. And, Alec has just become a baron. With this, all boys in the family can now support themselves as heads of their own families. I’ve never been happier. Congratulations, you two! Cheers!”

“““““Cheers!!!!!”””””

As Reine and Cain were still underage, they drank juice. But other than those two, everyone else was smiling as they had gotten drunk from the wine they were drinking, and Garm seemed to be in an especially good mood.

They had a fun conversation which lasted until late, forgetting the passing of time.

Cain was sitting and looking at his desk in his mansion in the royal capital with a huge smile on his face. He was even humming a tune.

“Cain-sama, you seem to be in a really good mood. Did something good happen?”

Asked Koran, who had entered the office and stood in waiting.

“There’s already… right?”

Cain lightly glanced at a corner of the table. Koran realized what he wanted to say and nodded.

“A little more, and I’ll be going to Drintor.”

“Yes indeed… but, it seems like they’re still increasing?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking the same. I guess I’ll wait a little more.”

Cain and Koran looked at a corner of the room and grinned.

A few days later, Cain made time in his schedule to go to Drintor. He had a huge grin on his face.

“How are you, Sir Alec?”

Alec scratched his cheek, embarrassed at being called ‘Sir’ by Cain.

“I’m alright… nothing’s really changed… but still, Cain, what’s up today? That smile of yours is kinda scary, y’know?”

No matter what he said, Cain still smiled.

“Actually, I had some things to bring over to you, Alec-nii-sama…”

With a huge grin on his face, Cain took out the mountain of ‘things’ from his Item Box and put them on the table.

Alec made a surprised voice at seeing Cain take out so many documents all of a sudden.

“This is…”

Cain answered the surprised Alec with a grin.

“Yes, you see, these are… to be delivered to you, Alec-nii-sama, – – letters for arranged marriages.”

Cain himself had also desperately written refusals for all the letters he had received, saying that his engagements with the royal family and a ducal family had been announced.

And, after being given the names of the royal and ducal families, the nobles who had received those responses had no choice but to back off. However, with Cain’s older brother, Alec, having been made a noble, everyone’s attention had jumped to him.

The eldest son of the family, Jin, would eventually be taking over as a margrave, and the third son, Cain, had become a count even while he was so young, so it was clear to everyone that the second son, Alec, was also outstanding.

Cain had received all the letters to be delivered to Alec from the other nobles with a smile.

To have Alec get some of the same treatment…

And thus, Alec, his face scrunched up, was forced to deal with them all.

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TN: I made sure to spell count right this time

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