Chapter 9: Count Dakuus
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9: Count Dakuus
Hus, the Lord’s Castle of Dakuren City.
The morning sunlight streamed through the windows, filling the drawing room.
Seated at a desk in that room was a middle-aged man, fiddling with his finely groomed mustache as he read an official notice.
Wearing a relaxed smile, he was Count Dakuus, the Acting Lord of Hus.
“Hut-hut-hut-hut-hut…!”
However, as he began to laugh with satisfaction at the contents of the notice, his eyes sharpened, giving him the quintessential look of a villain.
“Is what is written here the truth?”
Even his tone of voice sounded villainous, but the Branch Manager of the Dakuren Adventurer Guild knew well that he was asking out of pure joy.
Commander Michela Dakuus, a National Merit Recipient who survived the Final War, was that kind of man.
On the outside, he bore the appearance of a villain, but on the inside, he was a man more sincere than anyone about the development and peace of Hus.
That was why the Dakuren Branch Manager didn’t hide her own swelling excitement and answered with a bright smile.
“Yes! It is reported that Lord Alto Bertrand, a National Merit Recipient, is currently in transit to immigrate here to Hus.”
“The notice says he left yesterday at dawn. Does that mean he set out less than a day after his withdrawal?”
“The Dakuren Adventurer Guild and the Carriage Station have already completed a separate verification with the Lukart side.”
“That quickly?”
“We used communication magic.”
“That must have cost quite a bit…”
“I wanted to confirm as quickly as possible if Lord Alto Bertrand’s move to Hus was true!”
“Hut-hut-hut-hut-hut…! Good. I appreciate your swift handling of this. Make sure to speak to the butler on your way out to receive compensation for the communication magic costs and for your work on this matter.”
“I didn’t do it for a reward!”
The Dakuren Branch Manager hurriedly waved her hands in refusal, but Count Dakuus wagged his index finger and insisted once more.
“When work is done well, a corresponding reward must follow. That is how one finds the motivation to work hard next time as well.”
“I—I really wasn’t looking for a reward…”
“Take it. Do you know who said those words just now?”
Since it was a common enough saying, the Dakuren Branch Manager looked troubled.
Count Dakuus accepted even that expression with ease.
“It was none other than what Alto Bertrand once said to me.”
“Ah…! O-Of course!”
“Though he was just grumbling for me to at least give the troops some snacks if I was going to make them work during unit maintenance. Huh-hah-hah-hah-hah!”
“Ha, haha…”
That laugh just now sounded hearty, yet also like a mastermind’s.
The Dakuren Branch Manager’s expression became even more subtle.
“By the way, the notice states that he withdrew because he judged himself to be someone who didn’t fit in with his existing party. What is your take on this?”
“The Branch Manager of Lukart is someone who bribed her way into that position. She enjoys far more than her skills warrant, but she is quite clever in a petty way.”
“Clever in a petty way, you say?”
From this point on, it was a confidential matter that very few people in Hus should know.
Normally, she shouldn’t speak of it, but since they were united under the great cause of Hus’s development, the Dakuren Branch Manager stepped closer and lowered her voice.
“There was clearly discord within the party. According to informants, it wasn’t just Mirei’s Party; all of Lukart looked down on Lord Alto.”
“Looked down on him…?”
Count Dakuus’s face hardened.
They looked down on the No. 1 National Merit Recipient, the man who personally took down one of the Four Heavenly Kings and cleared the path for the Heroes to reach the Demon King?
Furthermore, one of those Heroes was Vanguardier Dakuren, the original master of this land, Hus.
Had he still been alive, Hus could have developed far more than its current state.
“I heard he hid his identity until he checked the National Merit Recipient box on his withdrawal form, but even so, it makes no sense. To dare ignore a man.”
“The Adventurer Guild headquarters will be moving soon, then.”
“I don’t know how much they know, but Headquarters isn’t stupid. It was Headquarters that recommended Lukart as the host for this year’s Final War Victory Commemoration Ceremony. I heard an audit is scheduled to be dispatched by next week at the latest.”
“Branch Manager.”
“Yes.”
Count Dakuus wiped his monocle and spoke nonchalantly.
“Find out the cause deeper and more thoroughly than Headquarters, and do it faster. I don’t care how much it costs.”
“Understood! I will do my utmost to obtain the information as quickly as possible!”
“He is the greatest warrior and merit recipient currently existing in this kingdom—no, in this world. Just having him in Hus is deeply meaningful. We must figure out what he lacked, fill that void, and ensure he can live as a man of Hus until the day he dies.”
“Your words are absolutely right. I will get to work immediately.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, sir!”
Stepping back, the Dakuren Branch Manager gave a disciplined salute.
“I give thanks for the peace achieved through the blood of Your Excellency and your comrades!”
“May this peace never be stained with blood again.”
The salute was light, but the slogan was heavy.
And even heavier was the news of Alto Bertrand’s departure from Lukart.
“Alto, are you planning to bring a great storm with you this time as well?”
He placed the monocle back on his nose, but perhaps it wasn’t wiped well enough, as there was a very faint, blurry spot.
“Why are you trying so hard to set the mood all by yourself?”
“My lady. This is my favorite pose.”
“You still look like a villain.”
“Have I still not escaped the look of a villain…?”
Count Dakuus smacked his lips and took off the monocle.
Sure enough, there was a fingerprint on one corner.
He must have touched it wrong when putting it back on.
“I’ve already discarded all my past greed, but escaping my past appearance is not easy.”
Michela Dakuus.
The commander who led the central headquarters of the human forces during the Final War and a National Merit Recipient.
The Final War had changed too many people and too many things.
It had turned an ambitious man, who once wanted to swallow Hus and even take the Kingdom, into a man who sought peace, satisfied with being a mere deputy of a provincial lord.
And it had turned the Bloodhound, who had run wild, crazed by endless bloody battles and revenge, into a man as gentle and kind as Alto.
“I heard from behind the study. Is Alto Bertrand coming to Hus?”
“I’m told he’s coming to Dakuren by carriage.”
“What on earth was Lukart thinking, mistreating him like that?”
“I’d like to know that myself.”
Sincerely.
Unlike most men after the war, Count Dakuus, who looked only at his one wife, pulled her into his arms.
The Countess, who leaned into him as if it were natural, enjoyed the moment for a bit before her eyes snapped open.
“Come to think of it, you never told me about Lord Alto’s appearance. You only said he was upright but was a mad hunting dog on the battlefield.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“His face, I mean. His face.”
“His face?”
“No matter how much he hid his status as a National Merit Recipient, if he’s a young man with such a good personality and women still neglected him, the only thing left is his appearance, isn’t it? It’s not like he’d be short on money.”
“Surely not. He’s ordinary. He had an ordinary face. Except for his eyes getting sharp when he puts strength into them, he’s ordinary.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you doubting my words, my lady?”
When he showed a hint of being offended, the Countess raised an eyebrow.
“Well, your sense of aesthetics is stuck in the time before the Final War, isn’t it? Men and women these days—especially men—are full of handsome fellows.”
“Even so, to treat a person that way just because their face is lacking…”
“People sometimes commit great follies for very simple reasons. You know that best, don’t you?”
“Hmm… but surely it wasn’t really because of his looks. I believe there must be some other major reason.”
“I wonder. Somehow, I feel like his looks being subpar might be everything. Lukart even has those famous handsome men of the Kingdom, after all.”
The topic the Countess brought up was like a sore spot for Count Dakuus.
Those useless bastards who were nothing but handsome.
“Handsome men? You mean those fellows who were sneaked into the rear one by one by nobles, merchants, and even commoners just to carry on their bloodlines. By chance, their faces were all pretty, but compared to the real men who fought and died for the country and humanity, they are nothing but cancers of society.”
“And those cancers of society are the ones who need to quickly have many children with women to restore the national power, right?”
The Countess also knew exactly why her husband harbored such great resentment toward those men.
That was also the reason why the Count insisted on remaining only as the Acting Lord of Hus.
“I can guess why you are so interested in Lord Alto’s move to Hus.”
“Because he will be a great help to Hus.”
“Hus… which Hus are you talking about?”
At his wife’s sharp point, Count Dakuus pretended to wipe his monocle again.
Since they had no children of their own, the Countess cherished those girls like her own daughters just as much as Dakuus did.
“Lady Airune and Lady Narupa are both at marriageable age now. Shall we start looking for a handsome noble son or two? Or since men are scarce, perhaps marry them both off to the handsomest one…”
“Who said you could marry them off to those gigolo-looking bastards!”
Finally, Count Dakuus exploded.
But the Countess remained indifferent.
Because she was hurting inside just as much as her husband was.
“You want to marry off the woman who will be the future master of Hus and the daughter of the Archmage to such low-class brats?! To those things worse than pigs, who are naturally enjoying the fruits of those who died while they stayed comfortably in the rear, while the heroes who saved the country and humanity—the two bloodlines of the Hero’s Party—are right here?!”
The Countess snatched the monocle and began to wipe it for him.
“You are right. The Hero’s Party, made up of Four Heroes. Two of the only daughters they left behind are here in Hus.”
She was wiping the lens very meticulously with a cloth.
“Their fathers and countless others died on the battlefield. We cannot give our precious daughters—the daughters of heroes—to those who spent their time in debauchery instead of contributing.”
The Countess carefully brought the monocle, now wiped clean without a speck of dust, back to Dakuus.
“Then to whom? If possible, I would like a man who, even if not as great as the heroes who saved the country and humanity, at least knows the horrors of war.”
She held the lens up to the sunlight to show its cleanliness.
“Furthermore, the fact that he participated in the war means he is a man who knows how to protect what is his.”
She slowly placed the glasses back on his nose.
“And if I were to add more greed to that, I think it would be nice if he were someone with convictions and achievements that allow him to hold his head high even before those heroes.”
The world seen through the monocle his wife had wiped was flawlessly clear and distinct.
“Now, for which Hus are you trying to bring in Alto Bertrand?”
However, Count Dakuus was seeing memories of the past through that lens.
‘That fellow is alright.’
The grin his old master used to wear while holding his shield.
‘A guy like that might be rough, but he’s the type to protect his people and his family to the very end.’
At the end of that smile was a boy, the Bloodhound, who was being dragged away while shouting violently at him.
“Honor dwells in action.”
“Action stems from conviction.”
Dakuus and the Countess smiled at each other as they exchanged the phrases.
“Where is Lady Airune? What has she been up to lately?”
“Ah…”
But at Dakuus’s following question, the Countess looked flustered for the first time.
“I heard she recently achieved the Silver rank as an adventurer.”
“What?!”
And Count Dakuus, too, ended up having a dazed reaction quite unlike a villain.