Volume 4 Chapter 1: Portents of a Template

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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Three years have now passed.

Cain was now thirteen years old, and he had also grown a little and was now one-hundred-and-sixty centimeters tall.

Drintor’s growth seemingly knowing no bounds, the town now had just shy of twenty-thousand inhabitants. By expanding the town’s limits on a massive scale, new houses had been built, while other districts had been laid out to attract blacksmiths, magic tool shops and the like, also leading to the town’s rapid growth. Not to mention the living tax being lower than that of other towns, as Cain had introduced a population census and was also making money from his company.

And then, with the new school and orphanage being opened, and the enthusiastic focus on education, even more citizens chose to move there.

“Cain, could you at least read my report.”

Cain and Alec were sitting at the table in Cain’s mansion in Drintor, with Darmeshia standing by the doorway.

Unlike the time when Cain had just become the lord, the scale of the town had changed drastically, and the documents he had to look through had also started piling up.

“Can’t I just leave it to you, Alec-nii-sama…”

Cain reluctantly picked up the documents and looked through them.

Apart from documents he just had to approve, there were also petitions from other nobles among them.

“The other nobles are complaining again…”

“What, again…”

They both sighed and started reading the letters.

Just as this town had grown so much, there were also towns whose populations had decreased. The amount of tax towns had to pay to the state depended on their size, which meant that as long as nothing unusual happened, it wouldn’t decrease.

To towns with declining populations, it was a matter of life and death. As such, letters of complaint from other nobles often arrived in Drintor.

“I’ve finished checking all the documents here, so I’ll be returning to my mansion in the royal capital. I’ve received a summons to the royal castle for tomorrow, see…”

“The king again… you have it hard too, don’t you.”

While still looking through the documents, Alec gave a forced chuckle in response to Cain, who was always summoned to the royal castle whenever something happened.

“Well then, I’ll be going. I’ll come again soon.”

Cain disappeared on the spot, using Transfer.

“Cain-sama is busy as ever. Shall I make some black tea?”

“Thank you Darmeshia, I’d quite like some, please.”

Alec said to Darmeshia with a smile, returning to his usual duties.

A reception room of the royal castle currently contained the king, Magna, Eric, Telestia, Silk, and finally Cain.

“How come Her Highness Princess Telestia and Lady Silk are also here?”

Cain tilted his head, confused at the fact that the two, who weren’t usually present at occasions like this, were there.

“Well actually… I received a letter from the emperor of the Baisas Empire. As for its contents––”

The king explained how, in order for the two nations to get to know each other better, the sixth imperial princess would be coming to Esfort to study abroad.

And while it was currently the summer holidays, she hoped to study in Esfort after summer break ended.

She would not be coming as an exchange student, but simply studying abroad, with only a few bodyguards and maidservants accompanying her. It was also stated in the letter that they doubted she would be taken hostage, because as the sixth imperial princess, she was far down the line of succession to the throne, making her have no value as a hostage.

“I have no idea what their intentions are with this, but… naturally, I can’t refuse, and as she’s the same age as Teles, I’m thinking of having her transferred into your class. That’s why I had you three come here this time.”

Cain, Telestia and Silk nodded.

“I am a little worried though…”

Telestia glanced at Cain with a worried face.

“What’re you worried about Teles?”

The king asked after hearing Telestia’s words, who then nodded and elaborated.

“That Cain’s fiancées will grow in number again…”

As if had just struck him that that might indeed be the case, the king also glanced at Cain.

“Y-yes that’s… I hadn’t really thought about it, but… We never know what sorts of things you’ll get yourself into, Cain…”

“It’s because he’s Cain-kun~ An international problem might actually occur like this, so be careful, all right?”

“Sir Cain… I beg you, don’t cause any trouble…”

The king, Eric and Magna issued warnings just in case, but Cain, who had absolutely no self-awareness, heard them as nothing but baseless allegations.

“Please don’t talk to me like that. She’s an imperial princess. How would anything even happen?”

Cain tried to emphasise his point, but it turned out there was no-one he could trust in the room.

“Cain-sama… you say that, but even the Saint-sama…”

With a worried face, Telestia gazed at Cain, who, unable to bear everyone’s stares any longer, bent down onto the table.

“Well, all we can do is hope you don’t cause any problems… Although even that might be too much to expect…”

And with those words from the king, the conversation ended.

Cain returned to his mansion by carriage, exhausted.

Silvia greeted him back at the mansion, and, seeing his exhausted expression, started worrying about him, but was convinced after hearing Cain’s explanation.

“If it’s Cain-sama… the Princess-sama, the Saint-sama, and… maybe even the Imperial Princess-sama…”

Standing next to Silvia, even Koran nodded along.

“You two are the same then…”

Cain heaved a huge sigh, defeated.

The official answer from the Kingdom of Esfort was handed over to the Baisasean messenger soon after.

Although the two nations had signed a truce, Baisas had only done so with Esfort alone, and still continued to attack other countries, becoming ever larger.

Given the reply letter, the Baisasean messenger expressed their gratitude and hastily made their way back to their home country.

And then, the summer holidays were over.

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TN: in case you missed it, Volume 4 is called ‘A Transfer Student from the Baisas Empire’, although that should be pretty clear after this chapter lol

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