Baron Midas (Part 1)
Damn boar. Stupid boar. The idiot tried to get clever and ended up eating a pathetic counter. From the moment he decided to take a swing at the Academy, there wasn’t much difference between him, the previous Southern Army, or Prince Lucas. Yet the endings turned out completely different… In short, it all came down to method.
The Southern Army commander, that Kalyos Schmidt fellow, had never even extended his hand, yet one word from the Crown Prince forced him to buy up Lyla’s coin. Thanks to that, he scored an inexplicable jackpot. Sure, he still picked a fight with the Academy, but his approach had been pure meathead: “Hey! You lot think you’re so great? Looks pretty mediocre to me—let’s throw down!” Of course he’d done the calculations behind the scenes before provoking them, but on the surface it was the very picture of a hot-blooded man’s method.
Prince Lucas, on the other hand? The Academy had achieved real merit, yet he tried to paint it all as lies and fraud, muddying the waters with every cheap trick he could find. Even if the Southern Army’s plan had succeeded and the imperial regulars clashed with the students, resulting in the Academy’s defeat, the institution’s survival itself would never have been threatened. Some face would have been lost, sure, but there would have been plenty of room for excuses.
But if Prince Lucas’s scheme had worked and the terrorist incident was ruled a self-staged act, the damage to the Academy’s reputation would have been catastrophic. In an empire where imperial authority was abnormally strong, crushing the matter with a single decree might have been possible, but doing so would have been the same as publicly advertising that the suppression itself was the real problem.
If only Lucas had laughed like a madman and declared, “Hahaha! You lowly worms, no matter how hard you try, how great could you possibly be? I’ll show you true strength!” and challenged the Academy to a hundred consecutive one-on-one duels, things wouldn’t have come to this. At the current point in time, his martial prowess was monstrous. He would have been cursed for having an overinflated ego, but the Crown Prince would never have uttered the words, “This bastard!”
A caterpillar must eat pine needles. The important lesson here is that if it sees something else and thinks, “Oh, that looks trendy,” then tries to eat strange things, its stomach will burst and it’ll die. I suspect the reason the Second Prince ran so wildly out of control has something to do with the Third Prince, Julius, but that’s literally just a gut feeling. Without any other evidence, if I tried to accuse him I’d have to explain exactly why I find that guy suspicious, and… well.
“Actually, I have memories from my previous life. This world is similar to a game I used to play, and Julius was the mastermind behind the scenes, so I need to crush him!”
“Doctor. Why is Chrome acting like this?”
“It appears his excessively active tongue has finally gained independent intelligence and is now devouring his brain. We’ll need to split his skull with an axe before operating.”
Yeah, no matter how I think about it, that conversation isn’t going to end well. Is it just my imagination, or can I already see Ligret coming toward me with an axe in hand, saying it’s her last act of affection?
If I touched that bastard who’s glued so tightly to the Crown Prince’s shadow without clear evidence, the backlash would hit me instead. Even Lyla wouldn’t be able to cover for me. If Julius reaches out first, I might be able to use it against him, but the world rarely moves so conveniently. For now, the best option is to leave him alone.
More importantly, Julius isn’t the issue right now. I need to get to the dungeon and start farming items. I haven’t done much of anything, yet summer break is already reaching its end. I can’t waste this rare chance for my original knowledge—accurate to about the same degree as that fake map from fifty years ago—to actually shine.
They told me to wait in the palace because there were many things to handle regarding the rewards, but just how much longer was I supposed to—
“Congratulations on becoming a lord, Chrome.”
…Pardon?
The two territories Lyla had obtained as rewards for the friendly competition were as follows. One was the Franken domain in the southern part of the empire. It was one of the cities serving as a trade route between Spero and the empire, and according to the agreement with Alphons, the lordship would be passed to one of the old knights from Spero.
The imperial nobles who had been hoping Lyla would only take their hands whined that they couldn’t believe she would hand an imperial territory over to a foreigner. But after listening to her long explanation—which could be summarized as, “So when I asked for your help, what exactly did you all do? Watch from the sidelines? And His Majesty the Crown Prince is trying to unite every force in the empire and its vassal states, yet you want to discriminate based on regional prejudice? I’m sure he would be delighted”—they all shut their mouths.
In truth, beyond simple emotion, the decision also carried a clear political message: she would reward those who had given genuine help regardless of status or origin, rather than those who only watched and waited during critical moments.
“That’s why it has to be you, Chrome. When we measure purely by merit, is there anyone who contributed more than you?”
“I’m a commoner, though?”
“Everyone in the world was a commoner in the distant past. Once you become a lord, a noble title will naturally be granted, so there’s no need to worry.”
Excuse me, is it really okay for a member of the imperial family to say something like that so casually? If those stubborn old nobles who believe the blood flowing through commoners and highborn is fundamentally different heard this, wouldn’t they faint on the spot?
“I’m from Spero, though.”
“The old knight recommended by Alphons Betuart won’t be taking the territory while remaining a Spero noble either. He will be incorporated as an imperial noble receiving a new title. It’s the same situation.”
“My age might be insufficient, don’t you think?”
“You’ll be a second-year soon enough, which makes you seventeen, correct? Even during the kingdom era, it wouldn’t have been strange for you to have already held your coming-of-age ceremony.”
“I’m rather busy, so even if I receive a territory I might mismanage it.”
“This isn’t a pioneering land that needs to be built from scratch. Since it was originally managed by the imperial family, most of the professional personnel will remain. Simply placing your name on it will be enough. If you wish to rule it directly, that is also possible.”
“There’s the possibility of various scandals arising…”
“If anyone dares wag their tongue carelessly, I will burn them myself, so rest easy.”
Scary. Her eyes were completely serious.
Every escape route I tried to take had been thoroughly blocked. I attempted to come up with some brilliant idea, but if such perfect schemes came to mind so easily every time, I wouldn’t have struggled in the first place.
Finally, Lyla asked with a puzzled expression.
“Could it be that you don’t want to become a noble, Chrome?”
“It’s not that I dislike it.”
I wasn’t some warrior of justice who had reincarnated into this world to spread democracy, and there was no reason to refuse rising in status within a class-based society. No reason at all, and yet…
Tsk. It seemed I had no choice.
Lyla’s will appeared firm, and I could understand her desire to hand the territory to someone she could trust as much as possible since she couldn’t govern it directly. Continuing to refuse here would be the same as betraying that trust.
“I understand. Though I am lacking, I will do my utmost.”
At my firm answer, the princess’s expression finally brightened considerably. Seeing her look so happy, I couldn’t possibly say, “The name of the territory feels off-putting, so I don’t want it.”
“Wise choice, Chrome. It is a bit remote, which is a drawback, but the Andvari domain is quite large in scale and rich in various resources. The ratio of forest to farmland is high, so the population is somewhat low, but if you look at it from a different perspective…”
Still, since it was land managed by the imperial family, surely there wouldn’t be a treasure-obsessed dragon living somewhere in the territory or a suspicious golden ring lying around, right?
“Then should I start calling you Baron Chrome now?”
“It gives me goosebumps so bad I feel like I might die. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
I waved my hand at Ligret’s teasing remark. After all, I myself had been using the Academy as a shield and flapping my tongue at nobles at every opportunity. If I suddenly demanded they treat me with proper etiquette now that I had become a noble, I doubted the people around me would nod along so easily.
Moreover, even though Lyla had appointed me as lord, that alone didn’t mean my status would skyrocket immediately. Simply changing the owner of a single house deed required countless procedures and verifications. The process of handing over an entire territory would be incomparably more complicated.
Since the Crown Prince himself had granted Lyla the authority to appoint lords, it wouldn’t just fizzle out, but it would still take at least several months for everything to be properly processed. I would become a noble before long, but for now I was still just commoner student A attending the Academy.
Therefore, worrying about things like territories or noble titles was a matter for much later. Right now, it was time to become an adventurer and head to the dungeon to—well, not rob it, but explore it…
“Um, older brother? Theo older brother says he wants to meet and talk once.”
“Young Master Chrome. The head of the Bern family has summoned you. He says he has important matters to discuss. How should I respond?”
“Are you Sir Chrome Midas? The Marquis Magnus of the Spero Kingdom has sent a congratulatory gift. He also wishes to arrange a meeting regarding our previous business dealings. If you could provide a convenient date—”
…Damn it.
I guess I should just give up on going to the dungeon. Just give up!