Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Earldom (1)
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Demian, having left the capital, returned straight to the Haksen territory.
As he approached the mansion, he spotted Victor sweeping the entrance with a broom.
“Yawn.”
For whatever reason he’d been up to all night, Victor was letting out a massive yawn.
“What’s with the yawning, kid?”
“Eek! Wh-who goes there!”
“You react the same way every time.”
At Demian’s words, Victor jumped in surprise and pointed the broom at him like a spear.
Once he recognized Demian’s face, his expression lit up.
“Young master!”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“You’re safe! We’ve all been worried sick!”
Victor fussed noisily as he inspected Demian’s body from all angles.
“But this isn’t the time for that. Come on in! Everyone’s been waiting on pins and needles!”
Following Victor’s urging, Demian entered the mansion.
When he stepped into the drawing room, all eyes turned to him. At first, they stared in stunned silence, then cried out in shock.
“Demian!”
His father was the first to rush over. Viscount Haksen grabbed at Demian’s body, checking him this way and that.
“I heard you got caught up in that treason plot! Are you all right? No injuries anywhere?”
After taking down Alexander Apple, Demian had stayed in the capital for several days.
He’d had to cooperate with the Church’s investigation, and the king had kept finding excuses not to let him go.
In that time, word of the full treason incident had apparently spread across the kingdom.
“No injuries, I see. Thank goodness.”
“Dear, what did I tell you? No need to worry, right?”
“The lady of the house is correct. I worried needlessly.”
Lady Haksen spoke with a triumphant expression. Viscount Haksen let out a wry chuckle.
“You’ve been out all the time lately, so rest up at home for a while. If you try to leave again, I’ll give you a scolding.”
His older sister Luise spoke with a stern face. The problem was that her gentle features made her seem utterly devoid of authority.
“Brother, we were really worried.”
“Uncle, seeing you safe puts my mind at ease.”
His younger brother and sister-in-law chimed in, clearly concerned as well. Then, suddenly, Abel asked,
“But brother, there were some weird rumors mixed in.”
“Weird rumors?”
“Things like you beating a high-class opponent or whatever.”
“Oh, that’s just distorted gossip.”
Abel burst into loud laughter at that.
“As expected? No matter how amazing you are, beating a high-class…”
“It wasn’t a victory—I just held out until the high-class killed himself.”
“?!?!?!”
Abel wasn’t the only one; the whole family stared at Demian in shock.
“B-brother… what do you mean by that?”
“The traitor was none other than Prince Alexander Apple. The bastard used black magic to isolate the space, trapping me inside with him.”
Demian was explaining in such detail precisely to spread the rumors.
The more specifically the story circulated, the less suspicious people would find him.
“Uh… brother?”
“Yeah?”
“Doesn’t that mean you still beat a high-class?”
Demian clicked his tongue pityingly at the question.
“I didn’t face him head-on; I just endured until the enemy self-destructed. How’s that a win?”
Demian had a point. Still, Abel and the rest of the family looked unconvinced.
After all, Demian had survived, and the high-class was dead—wasn’t that a win?
“Anyway, Father. A gift for you.”
While the family gaped in disbelief, Demian opened his sub-space and pulled out a parchment.
His father peered at it in confusion.
“What’s this?”
“A royal decree from His Majesty elevating House Haksen from viscountcy to county.”
At those words, his father’s eyes widened. The rest of the family could only gape in astonishment.
“D-Demian! Is that real?”
“That’s really from His Majesty?”
The family clamored as they stared at the parchment. Meanwhile, Viscount Haksen simply gazed at it in silence.
Seeing his father’s reaction, Demian asked, puzzled,
“You’re not happy?”
“I am happy. Of course I am. Our ancestors’ dream, unfulfilled in their generations, has come true in mine. How could I not be?”
All nobles aspired to become counts.
Unlike barons or viscounts, a county required real qualifications and influence—it wasn’t a title just anyone could claim.
That was why there were mountains of barons and viscounts, but counts were exceedingly rare.
Some even said that counts were the true nobles.
“But didn’t you have to go through danger again just to get this?”
His father looked at Demian with sad eyes.
“I may know nothing of the sword, but I know well how terrifying high-class foes are. Aren’t they the superhumans who determine a nation’s power by their numbers?”
His father gripped Demian’s shoulder tightly instead of the decree.
“I nearly lost you for something as trivial as this. How could I… possibly be happy?”
At his father’s words, Demian felt a surge of emotion.
He wanted to tell his father everything.
That high-class foes were nothing to him, that this was no threat at all.
“…Father, you wound me saying that.”
But he couldn’t, so Demian brushed it off.
“Do you know how hard I worked to get this? If you don’t celebrate, I’ll be the one hurt.”
Demian forced a smile and shook the parchment. Still, his father’s expression didn’t brighten.
“Dear, Demian’s right. If you don’t celebrate his achievement, who will?”
Lady Haksen stepped in to persuade her husband. Only then did Viscount Haksen accept the parchment.
“Hear ye, Viscount Haksen. We, who reign above all…”
Viscount Haksen unrolled the parchment and read the decree aloud.
“…Thus do we proclaim the elevation of House Haksen to county.”
The moment his father finished reading, the family burst into applause.
“Oh, and His Majesty is granting us new territory.”
“Which territory?”
Olivia Copperhead reacted first. She’d always taken a keen interest in expanding the family’s power.
“You might know it well, my daughter-in-law.”
Count Haksen showed Olivia the decree. After poring over it for a while, she cried out in surprise.
“The Gargari Plains and the surrounding forests—all of it?”
“Good land, I take it?”
“Good? It’s famous for bumper crops no matter what you plant! To just hand over land this fertile…”
Seeing Olivia’s shock drove home just how generous the king’s gift was.
The king wasn’t merely expressing thanks in words—he was showing it through actions.
“His Majesty has bestowed a great favor indeed.”
Count Haksen smiled in satisfaction.
Then, with an awkward expression, he asked the family,
“Becoming a count is great and all… but what do we do now?”
They couldn’t live as before now that they were counts. Much would have to change.
The problem was that Count Haksen—and indeed no one else—had any experience with it.
Except for one person.
“First, we should visit the newly granted territory, take possession, and establish future policies.”
As the daughter of the Copperhead count family, Olivia had observed firsthand how her father managed his house.
“As expected, our daughter-in-law knows these things.”
Count Haksen looked relieved.
“But there’s something even more urgent.”
“What’s that?”
To Count Haksen’s question, Olivia replied immediately.
“We must proclaim far and wide to all the nobles of the west that House Haksen has become a count family.”
“Is that really necessary? It’ll spread on its own anyway.”
Count Haksen, who disliked commotion, reacted negatively.
But his wife, Lady Haksen, was different.
“Wonderful idea! Dear, let’s hold a banquet. A grand one—invite every noble in the west!”
Lady Haksen spread her arms wide as she spoke. Count Haksen replied with a reluctant face.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Of course! Have you forgotten? How those other families looked down on us—our tiny territory, our poverty…”
His mother clenched her fists, her body trembling. She clearly had quite the grudge built up.
“We’ll invite them all and show them what for! No more looking down on our house!”
“Mother’s right. We should use this chance to reestablish the family’s authority.”
Olivia agreed with Lady Haksen.
“Uh, um…”
Count Haksen still seemed reluctant.
“Dear! Why hesitate? It’s the perfect chance for revenge!”
Lady Haksen pressed her husband. Count Haksen could only flounder.
“Mother’s at it again.”
Abel gave a wry smile as he watched the scene.
“Brother, maybe we should go help Father… Brother?”
Abel glanced sideways on impulse—and couldn’t help but startle. Demian was grinning with a terrifying expression.
“Oh ho… So Mother’s gnashing her teeth that much because so many have looked down on our house?”
Only then did Abel realize his grave mistake.
Demian wasn’t an ally to help his father. He was the one pouring oil on the fire.
“Inviting all those people will cost a fortune, won’t it? We don’t have that kind of money.”
“If it’s money, I have it.”
With that, Demian opened his sub-space and dumped out coins. Glistening gold poured forth in a cascade.
Truth be told, Demian’s finances weren’t as flush as they once were.
He’d spent a lot participating in the black market auction.
But he could more than cover a banquet’s expenses.
“Mother, don’t worry about the money—let’s make it extravagantly grand.”
“As expected of my son!”
His mother beamed and shouted.
With even Demian chiming in like this, Count Haksen had no grounds left to object.
“…Very well. As you wish, my lady.”
In the end, he had no choice but to approve the banquet.
“I love you so much!”
His mother laughed brightly and hugged Count Haksen.
Clasped in her arms, his father wore a wry smile.
Seeing his wife so happy didn’t feel so bad, it seemed.
‘A banquet, huh.’
Watching the two, Demian sank into thought.
‘From a mere viscount house to counts—they won’t take it lying down.’
It wouldn’t be a smooth affair.
No doubt it’d be crawling with those jealous and envious of the family.
‘Father’s not used to that sort of thing.’
Nor were the other family members, for that matter.
They were all just simple rural nobles who’d lived straightforward lives.
Olivia was reliable enough, but she was only one person, and lacked authority.
‘I’m no different—hardly experienced in such matters.’
Swordplay was one thing. Noble intrigue? Demian was a total amateur.
‘No good. I need another way.’
Ultimately, this stemmed from House Haksen lacking authority.
If they’d had it, everyone would be falling over themselves to flatter them.
‘Then I’ll just borrow some from outside.’
Fortunately, Demian had some pretty solid connections.
‘A duke should be enough, right?’
Demian pondered inwardly how to word the invitation to the duke.