Published at 20th of February 2020 3:27 pm

Volume 8, Chapter 89 – Laukaan Kingdom

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Translated by: Reiji

We passed several checkpoints and arrived in Laukaan Kingdom.

As expected from a place that was called a small country, it only had one city.

Fortresses and villages were dotting its surroundings.

As for its atmosphere as a country──

「It’s similar to Bahnseim’s eastern region. Rather, it’s exactly the same.」

The building’s style and atmosphere was similar to the place where we were staying at before crossing the border.

Clara who was standing beside me was holding a book with one arm while answering me. She was flipping the pages skillfully using her finger.

「There was a time when this area was a territory of Bahnseim. After that, the feudal lords declared independence to form small countries that stood together in disorderly faship. After the war continued, the alliance of the countries was formed.」

It was the same as the Fifth’s explanation.

「Alliance of countries huh.」

「Because it’s a gathering of small countries, the scale isn’t big. The scale is smaller than even Bahnseim’s eastern region.」

Small countries gathered into an alliance where it and Bahnseim’s eastern region were glaring at each other.

Clara closed her book and put it inside her bag.

When I helped her because it took much effort doing it with one arm, she nodded at me in thanks.

「Thank you very much. Even so──」

Clara then turned her gaze to the surroundings.

We had been passing through several countries but, there was a big difference between Laukaan and those countries of the alliance that we stopped by at.

「This place is really bustling.」

「You’re right.」

There were many people here.

It felt like I would collide with other people if I let my mind wander.

A new wall was being constructed outside the wall that was surrounding the city.

The inside of the city also had various constructions being added. I could see buildings being destroyed. At the same time, there were also new buildings being constructed everywhere.

「It’s like the city is being born again.」

Eva’s eyes sparkled when I muttered my impression.

「There’re so many people. I want to sing at this kind of place. Hey, if we’re going to rest anyway, let me sing here for a day at least. Please, Lyle.」

Eva put her hands together and begged. Clara averted her face from her.

「Say it if there is something you want to say, you stubborn glasses.」

「I don’t have anything I want to say to a liar elf.」

「You said that again! Just what is bad about making a story a bit more exciting!? It can’t be helped!」

「I wish that you wouldn’t falsify a story for such a reason. This is why I hate elves.」

These two also had bad relation.

The girls who got along in my party were──Miranda and Shannon? I thought that Aria and Sophia also got along, I also sometimes caught sight of Novem and Eva talking.

「The party’s state is like the alliance of these countries.」

When I sighed, a chuckle came from the Jewel.

『I understand what you want to say. Several groups are forming within a single party. Well, it’s a problem but, for now let’s observe the situation.』

The Fourth’s words made me uneasy.

Would we be alright from here on?

Then, the Fifth advised me.

『If it’s a quarrel that can obstruct the objective then it’ll be fine if you arbitrate it. But other than that──pretend to not see anything. You will only get tired if you mind about it too much.』

The Fourth spoke in sarcasm toward such advice.

『As expected from someone who had five wives, there is weight in your words.』

『──Shut up.』

The Fifth didn’t say anything again after that.

Even though he was known as a playboy by the later generations, the Fifth would say to me to take distance in regards to handling woman. Did he really keep a lot of woman in the past?

If he liked woman, in my image he would be more burning with desire.

Like the Sixth.

When he ran away from home, he made a child at the place he stayed. That was the Sixth.

Furthermore, the person himself didn’t know that fact, so he was beyond help.

Perhaps because he would be criticized when the topic of relationships with women came up, today the Sixth was also quiet.

「It’s just like I heard at the checkpoint. There are a lot of merchants but, there are also a lot of adventurers here.」

The adventurers who seemed to gather from various places.

Merchants and adventurers would also gather at places that were doing well.

The local people would also profit from doing business that was targeted to those kinds of people.

The Fourth seeing the local situation was,

『They did something without a doubt. The highest possibility is a dungeon perhaps?』

Dungeon.

It was something that suddenly appears.

Inside a forest with abundant nature.

Or perhaps in a place like an abandoned castle. I heard dungeons also appeared in that kind of place.

It was unknown where it would appear.

The inside would become a labyrinth. Not just traps, but there would be monsters roaming around.

Adventurers were people who leaped into such dangerous places.

Dungeons attracted people.

After all, there would be extravagant treasures sleeping inside the deeper you advanced into it, in order to invite people into such a dangerous place.

There was also exceptions but, dungeons were places that were dangerous but where you could profit just as much.

And then, dungeons were alive.

If it was subjugated, it would wither──it would die and vanish.

If the treasure sleeping at the deepest location was taken away, the dungeon would wither and vanish.

And such dungeon, rather than destroying it right away, wouldn’t it be best if people lived in symbiosis with it by continuing to gather magic stones and treasures from it?

There were many countries that thought so and attempted to manage a dungeon.

In fact, there were also several dungeons that were being managed in the Bahnseim Kingdom.

The dungeon wasn’t destroyed and they obtained the treasures that the dungeon created continuously. ──So to speak, it was like a mine.

『It’s difficult to show results with the honest method, if it can develop this much in such short time──as expected it must be a dungeon.』

The Third spoke with a displeased tone.

When the management failed, a dungeon would run wild.

If a dungeon ran wild, it would release monsters that attacked the surrounding countries.

There were even countries that vanished just because a single dungeon ran wild.

It would become a disaster if it was handled wrong.

For the monsters, something like national border didn’t exist.

Just because a single country failed, the surrounding countries also got harmed was──something that had happened many times.

The Fourth made a forced cough.

『Now then──if there is such a bothersome dungeon, then we should destroy it no matter what. That will be for the sake of this country too. The surrounding countries will also feel relieved. Working for the sake of the weak people living in this land is also our duty as a knight, and also as a noble!』

Let’s do our best for everyone’s sake!

It sounded like he was saying something good but, I too had been together with these people for a year.

I completely understood what they wanted to say. I pressed my forehead with one hand.

The Third was also motivated.

『We will also obtain the treasure while we’re at it for our future war funds!』

The Sixth also raised his voice.

『From here, no matter how much money we have it won’t be enough. Lyle, let’s warm your wallet before heading to Beim. This is procurement of war funds!』

The Seventh was also sounding delighted.

『It’s a great nuisance that they’re managing a dungeon even though they don’t have the knowhow! Lyle, let’s do our best here, for the sake of the world and also for the sake of our objective.』

The Fourth’s voice joined in without any disharmony.

『The treasure of this country is ours!』

The chance to obtain treasure had arrived──the Fourth said that in great joy.

This.

This was the true intention of the ancestors.

They said that they were concerned but──as expected their true target was the treasure at the deepest part of the dungeon.

But, the Fifth was the only one who was strangely quiet.

.

──Night.

That cave was in the forest of the Laukaan Kingdom.

The entrance was camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding trees. There were knights and soldiers stationed here to constantly act as lookout.

Right now a figure showed up at the hidden cave.

The cave’s entrance was scorched black.

Small flame was burning the surrounding grass. The watch-keeping knights and soldiers were lying on the ground.

Everyone was breathing but they didn’t show any signs of standing up.

One soldier lifted his face.

「Wha, what in the world?」

Before he fainted, he was suddenly assaulted by an intense light. After that he heard sounds of explosion.

His ears hurt even now.

He was blown away and lost consciousness. How much time had passed since then?

When the soldier moved his face to look around, he saw his superior and coworkers were also lying on the ground.

「I, I’ve to notify someone quickly.」

The cave was a dungeon that the Laukaan Kingdom kept secret from the surrounding countries and even from their own people.

Knights and soldiers were dispatched here for training and also for obtaining magic stones and treasures at the same time.

This was the secret of the Laukaan Kingdom that suddenly grew stronger rapidly in recent times.

Several dungeons like this existed in this country.

The soldiers tried to stand, but strength wouldn’t enter his body and he couldn’t move.

He was also concerned that fire was gradually spreading around.

「Shit, what the hell.」

Then──he heard the sound of a horse’s hooves.

Furthermore the sound came from inside the cave.

The footsteps were unhurried and firm.

The soldier suddenly felt a chill on his back.

Cold sweat was trickling down.

There wasn’t any horse that was brought into the dungeon.

If something was coming out, it was surely a monster.

He was trembling imagining that he would be eaten by a monster in his state that couldn’t even stand.

While he was thinking of pretending to be dead to get through this situation, the footsteps stopped near him.

It seemed to be a really big monster. The vibration from each step was big.

Even though he mustn’t tremble, his trembling wouldn’t stop.

The several seconds felt like several minutes or even several hours.

A voice addressed such soldier.

──A human voice.

「Tell this to your boss. Don’t do something unnecessary.」

When the soldier raised his face toward that young voice, the moon showed with a good timing from behind a cloud. It illuminated the form of the beautiful creature.

It looked like a horse but, it was different.

A horn that looked like a curved single-edged blade was growing from its forehead.

Its blue eyes were emitting light like jewels.

Its body was covered with scales like a dragon.

The beautiful white scales reflected the golden color of its horn and mane, making it look sparkling.

The soldier gulped seeing that figure.

When that creature ran off, it was gradually parting from the ground and dashed up as though there was an unseen road in the air.

Light scattered like breaking glass when it kicked on the air. The lights were flowing like a tailing trail.

The beautiful creature left behind the trail of its flight in the night sky and vanished.

「Di, divine beast? I, it’s the first time I saw one.」

The soldier could finally move his mouth and muttered the name of the divine beast that vanished to the night sky.

「So that’s a qilin.」

It wasn’t a normal beast or a monster, that creature that was called a divine beast was a qilin──

.

──The next day after Lyle’s group came to Laukaan.

Aria and Sophia showed themselves in the adventurer guild and checked the wanted posters there.

If Lyle was wanted here as a rebel, he would have to be careful in his action from here on.

However, there wasn’t any wanted poster for Lyle from what they could see.

「Looks like the wanted posters weren’t sent until this far.」

Aria was also able to confirm that there wasn’t any missing person posters for her and felt relieved.

「This is another country after all. Perhaps he is unable to pursue until this far?」

Sophia moved her gaze from the bulletin board that was covered with wanted posters to the inside of the guild.

There were a lot of adventurers. And yet, because the guild building itself was small, it felt terribly cramped.

The number of people suddenly increased, so it felt like the guild couldn’t deal with it.

There were also a lot of adventurers lining up in front of the reception.

「Somehow there is crowd everywhere we’re going.」

It wasn’t just the inn.

The bar, market, every place was overflowing with people.

There were even adventurers putting up tents and living there.

People doing business targeted to such adventurers also gathered and the city was expanding until outside the wall.

Aria also had the same opinion as Sophia’s view.

「It felt like the outside of the wall is overflowing with people. There’re so many monsters in this area so the adventurers also aren’t troubled with work it seems.」

Sophia looked at the rate that was written on the blackboard.

The price of the magic stone’s purchase was written but, it was the highest price in this area.

In addition the tax was also low.

「There is work and the tax is also low. The purchase price also cannot be complained about. Like this it’s natural that adventurers are gathering here.」

The two of them got fed up with the crowd and got out.

Aria folded her hands behind her head.

「The people here are fewer than Centralle but, it’s like they’re jam packed inside a cramped place. It looks like the business conditions suddenly get better. So something like this can actually happen.」

While the two of them were walking on the street in front of the guild, they heard the voices of adventurers in dispute.

Adventurers were glaring at each other in the middle of the street.

Both sides had multiple people.

The group with fewer number was wearing good quality equipment and looked stronger.

On the other hand although the opposing group won in number, they were wearing similar equipment with bad quality.

「Aria, it seems to be a quarrel.」

「Looks like it.」

The strong looking adventurers yelled angrily towards the bigger group.

「Don’t say whatever you like! We’ve received permission from the guild!」

The bigger group’s leader retorted back.

「In this land there is this land’s rule. Don’t think that you can do whatever just because of the guild’s permission!」

It seemed the adventurers who came here due to the good business conditions were arguing with the adventurers who were born and raised here.

The residents of the city were passing through beside the rowdy groups while sending them irritated gazes.

This kind of commotion was becoming a daily occurrence due to the rapid increase of people.

「Annoying. The adventurers are fighting again.」

「Hopefully they won’t get violent and destroy things.」

「The merchants were also quarreling before this. Recently there’re a lot of quarrels everywhere it’s unpleasant.」

The housewives were saying that while passing beside Aria and Sophia.

The two of them left from that place so they wouldn’t get dragged into the quarrel.

「There’re also a lot of problems even though the business is good.」

Sophia sighed. Aria also agreed with her.

「Even if it’s profitable I won’t want to make this place my home base. Even though it’ll be better if we go to Beim right away, I wonder what Lyle is thinking.」

The two of them headed to the inn──

.

『Unpleasant thing is really standing out isn’t it?』

「We, well, is that so?」

The room of the round table inside the Jewel.

By sending my consciousness inside the Jewel, I was able to have an audience with the ancestors.

This was a mysterious place.

I was able to face the ancestors who didn’t exist in reality and talked with them.

And then──it was also a place where I could watch their memories.

『In this world, if there is something then it’s only natural for its good side and bad side to come out. Well, it’s also a problem of subjectivity though.』

When the Third said that, the Fourth nodded deeply in agreement.

It seemed he had various things in mind.

『I understand. I really understand! They will be dissatisfied if everything stays the same like before, and yet when the method is changed and improved they will complain. In the first place there is no way a perfect score of one hundred can be reached, and yet even if result with the score of eighty is reached, they will criticize that the remaining twenty points isn’t reached! It makes you want to say, ‘Then you try doing it yourself!’.』

The Fourth was agitated. His glasses was shining eerily more than usual.

Did something happen in the past?

The Third was slightly creeped out.

『E, err──yep, anyway the bad side is standing out.』

In the first place, if I had to say what we were talking about, it was the story of the guild that Aria and Sophia told us.

Even though Laukaan’s business conditions were booming, there were various problems that this land seemed to be in trouble. That was what they said.

When the ancestors talked about it, it became like this.

The Third acted vigilant towards the agitated Fourth while continuing,

『It’s far better than the business conditions being bad though.』

「Then, Third thinks that we should ignore this situation and leave Laukaan?」

『This and that are different. We will take the treasures.』

──Even though Laukaan Kingdom’s situation would worsen if the dungeon was destroyed, he didn’t sound guilty at all.

「Third, you have a really bad personality.」

『Why is that? In the first place, this is only if there is a dungeon here. The possibility of that is high so we should find it quickly and destroy it. Isn’t it better rather than this whole region getting devastated? Lyle, aren’t you underestimating a dungeon’s rampage?』

A lot of my knowledge came from books.

I also recognized that a dungeon running wild was dangerous.

But, I didn’t have a real experience about that.

『Once a dungeon runs wild, the people living in this area will all die without exception. Even if few of them luckily survive, they won’t be able to live in a land that has nothing. It’s still better for them to be poor. Eh? Was Laukaan originally poor?』

「I also don’t know much about that.」

『Then, let’s investigate about it too from tomorrow.』

「I don’t mind that but──err, why was I called here?」

There were only the Third and the Fourth in the room of the round table.

The other three were apparently resting.

『No, actually there is something in our mind. You know, that thing behind Lyle’s seat.』

When I turned around, there was the memory room that appeared a little while ago──the door of the room that seemed to be connected to my memory.

From the perspective of the ancestors, they seemed to be feeling something unusual from it.

Even when we tried to investigate it, it was locked and couldn’t be opened.

「There won’t be anything interesting even if you watch my memory you know?」

『From our point of view it might be interesting. The lock──we think that it appear like this because it will open if something is done to it. Does Lyle have some idea? It’s fine even if it’s just your feeling, isn’t there anything, like a vague idea that it might open if you do this?』

「There isn’t anything like that.」

Both the Third and the Fourth were disappointed because there was no clue.

『That’s unfortunate. Even though I’m thinking to watch Lyle’s memory and laugh.』

『I was looking forward to it though.』

These guys were horrible.

It couldn’t be helped that I thought the ancestors were like different people from that time they told me that I was splendid.

And then, the two of them asked another thing that was on their minds.

『More importantly, how is the Jewel recently?』

I placed my hand on my forehead at the Third’s vague question.

「It’s not good. It often suddenly gets unstable.」

The Fourth was also looking worried.

『The usual mana consumption is also not stable. You will need to be careful when using the silver weapons. Even so, why did it become this unstable──』

『I have an idea about it though.』

The two’s gaze turned towards my memory door.

If there was a clue, then surely it was my memory room.

Looking at the two who were deep in thought, I remembered one thing here. I was curious with the Fifth who was usually reliable. He was strangely quiet when talking about dungeons since coming to the eastern region.

「Say, what kind of person is the Fifth?」

『What kind? Isn’t he exactly like you see?』

Because the Third died in battle, he didn’t know much about his grandson the Fifth.

The Fourth muttered with a complicated look.

『In the past──he was a honest and adorable child though.』

The Third got interested hearing that.

『In the past huh. Now I’m also curious. The Fifth surely won’t show his memory even if I ask him, so can we ascertain it using the Fourth’s memory here?』

Even though the Third should have noticed that the Fourth was looking reluctant, he still said that he wanted to see the memory.

Usually he would be considerate and change the topic here.

The Third who didn’t do so was strange.

I too was curious about the Fifth.

Even though he was honest and adorable in the past, he changed completely as an adult.

According to the Sixth, he treasured cute animals more than his own children. It was problematic as a father.

『Come on, just a little bit is fine so show me.』

『──It can’t be helped.』

The Fourth was overwhelmed by the Third and stood up to head towards his memory room.

The Third and I followed behind.

.

It was the Fourth who was supporting the transition phase of the Walt House.

At that time, the Walt House that was a semi-Baron house got promoted in rank due to the Third’s achievement and became a Baron house.

Nobles only got treated as real nobles when their rank reached Baron.

Until then, the Walt House was in the position of a dependent where they received help from nobles of higher status.

When they became a Baron house, the Walt House became a caregiver that had to look after the semi-Baron houses and Knight houses.

Anyway, just think of it as the scale drastically got bigger.

The Fourth was the one supporting the Walt House in such an era.

The Fourth had no great deeds of arms, but he was the person who skillfully weathered through the transition phase and created the foundation of the Walt House in the future with his skill in domestic affairs.

The Fourth had the hobby of saving money. It was his dream to fill his safe full with gold coins.

──The Walt House’s mansion.

After the promotion to Baron rank, the mansion until now became too small so it was being rebuilt to be a large mansion.

The inside of the mansion was flurried with the servants moving around.

「It’s noisy for some reason.」

I followed behind the Fourth while watching the corridor.

There were few decorations. It was a plain mansion compared to the Walt House of the Seventh who was promoted to the rank of Count.

Even if we touched the bodies of the passing people, they would pass through our body because they had no real body.

They were illusions.

『Could it be, there is a childbirth?』

The Fourth responded to the Third’s mutter.

『Yes, that’s right. This is the day the Fifth was born.』

Why was he showing us this day?

While I was thinking that, the Third was looking happy.

「What’s the matter?」

『Max is being considerate to me. You know, I didn’t see my grandson’s birth after all.』

I see, I understood. Then the Fourth denied it bashfully.

『I, it’s not like I’m doing this for the Third’s sake. It’s in order to educate you two about Fredericks──about the Fifth.』

『Don’t be shy. Even so, the Walt House too had changed a lot.』

It seemed that the Third had various things in his mind, but when we arrived in one room──

『Eh?』

Similar to the surprised Third, I also doubted my eyes.

「Thi, this is──」

It seemed the Fourth also understood what we wanted to say. He hid his face with his right hand while explaining.

『At that time I had no connections. It was difficult to search for a marriage partner. Above all else, there were those “precepts” so it was really difficult.』

Over there was the Fourth who was in the latter half of his thirties and──a completely exhausted girl lying on a bed.

Her red hair was sticking on her sweaty forehead. She was tired but showing a smile.

It seemed that this strong-willed looking girl had just given birth.

I was watching while wishing that there was a mistake. But then the Fourth inside the memory──Max was crying.

『Brigit, thank you. With this, the Walt House will be secured.』

The red haired girl’s response towards Max whose age was like her father was,

『Don’t cry. But, my mood is good today so I’ll give you seventy points. In deference to the cute “Fredericks”, I’ll refrain from reducing your points.』

It seemed that it wasn’t a mistake.

The red haired girl was Max’s wife.

The Third shook his head.

『──This is appalling.』

I also agreed.

「Fourth, I think this is a bit creepy. How far apart was your age with her?」

Then the Third tilted his head.

『Eh, that? In this case, shouldn’t you be worried about whether the girl is able to endure the birth with her age?』

「Eh!?」

It seemed what the Third and I considered problematic was different.

I saw the difference in age as a problem but, the Third was worried whether the girl was in the age that was able to bear a child.

The Fourth sighed.

『There is no problem. Brigit was of age when she came to marry with me. She had a small build since the beginning and with her physical appearance too she looked really young.』

The Third accepted it reluctantly.

『It’s fine if that’s the case.』

「Eh, it’s fine? Even though their age is like father and child!?」

『That’s not a problem. It’s a marriage of nobles, so even the reversed pattern can happen. Having a heir or not is an important matter, so age is also a concern to a certain degree though.』

The Fourth was also nodding, so it seemed I was the one mistaken here.

I couldn’t comprehend it.

『In the first place, it was really busy in my age. I had only just become a Baron, so we were lacking manpower in many areas, and when it came to marriage the convenience is also different from before since I became a Baron. In addition because of those precepts, I became 35 years old without being able to marry.』

The Walt House had precepts that were created by a drunk First.

Because the person himself who created the precepts forgot, the First incurred the displeasure of the other six.

Right now it was one of the good memories but, the content of the precepts were──

.

One, having excellent physical appearance.

Two, being healthy.

Three, having a strong body.

Four, being smart.

Five, having beautiful skin.

.

──These five were added with a sixth 「excelling in magic」 in the era of the Fifth. Those were the Walt House’s precepts for taking a wife.

「Now that you mention it, it was the Fifth who added the sixth precept.」

The Fourth was turning his gaze to the baby Fredericks who had just been born and was crying. His eyes looked sad somewhere.

『I didn’t want the precepts to be increased though. In the first place, I was thinking to get rid of the precepts themselves.』

And yet, Fredericks──the Fifth kept them and also increased them while he was at it.

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