Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Reunion and Revelations
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Upon returning to Rainpole, I visited the family estate first, accompanied by Ymir for my debriefing report.
“Our baby brother’s back!”
Yulia threw her arms around me in a tight hug. Behind her, Mother let out a sigh of relief. The twins, Elsie and Chelsea, who had just started running around energetically, stared at me quietly while sucking on their fingers.
“Sis, I get it, but could you let go now?”
“Yeah. Come here, Ymir!”
My sister hugged Ymir as well. Ymir accepted the embrace with a wry smile.
“Mother, is Max around?”
“He is. It seems Max has been waiting for your return too. But why were you so late? I heard from Banningss that the cadets were allowed to return first…”
“Just because. Since I was already there, I took a quick look around the area. Here, a gift for you.”
I handed Mother the brooch I’d bought in Arandal. As a bonus, there were toys for the twins.
When I shook the toys, the kids burst into giggles and went wild.
Just then, Max appeared, having sensed the commotion.
“Als! You’re back.”
What was that look on Max’s face? He seemed happy, but also like he was afraid of something.
“There’s a lot I want to talk about, but you should rest first, right? Come to my room after you’ve recovered. I have something important to discuss.”
“If it’s that, let’s do it now. I got plenty of rest on the carriage ride back.”
“Really? Then… come to the study.”
The study was a mess of scattered documents. Max gave an awkward smile as he roughly tidied them up.
I glanced around and asked,
“Where’s Father?”
“Father’s in Libel with Miller and Purji. He’s overseeing the reconstruction work.”
Libel was still our territory. Reconstruction had been going smoothly lately, and some of the locals who missed their homeland had returned.
Libel was slated for our second brother, Miller, to branch off and manage in the future. In other words, it would become the Ilrain Barony under the branch family’s rule.
“Do you think we can recruit residents?”
“Probably. The west hasn’t fully recovered from the war with Madon yet. There are quite a few vagrants and poor folk around. Once reconstruction is underway, they plan to encourage them to settle.”
“I see. If it gets rebuilt, I’d like to visit sometime.”
It was our hometown, after all.
“But more importantly, Als.”
Max chose his words carefully, as if broaching the main topic.
“How much merit did you rack up in this war, exactly?”
“Pardon?”
“I know about your exploits as Wade. But…”
Max scratched his head and showed me something.
It looked like letters from somewhere. A quick glance at one revealed it was about a marriage proposal.
Over ten such letters had arrived.
“I can’t imagine what you did for marriage proposals to pour in for Als, not Wade.”
“Ah…”
I had my suspicions.
Since this war was also a test and evaluation for the cadets, the after-action reports would be handled prominently.
Rumor had it the king himself would review them and give a public address.
And those reports were compiled by senior officers.
General Ironheart knew my identity, but that aside, it seemed Delbadova’s surviving retainers had given me high marks.
“A bit. I had to step up in certain situations.”
“As I thought.”
Max clutched his forehead.
“You’re not planning to accept any of these, right?”
“No, I have no intention of entering a political marriage. Sorry.”
Why apologize? Because while I was the one rejecting, it was the family doing the refusing.
“Whew! Every family sending proposals outranks us, so I can’t even imagine their reaction if we turn them down.”
“I’ll handle that part to some extent.”
If I put pressure on Duke Helian, at least the nobles in his faction wouldn’t propose to me.
The problem was the Salleon faction.
‘I do have a way to resolve that, though…’
Proceed with the marriage talks with Erina.
Once word got out that I was engaging with Duke Salleon’s house, the Salleon faction nobles would withdraw their proposals on their own.
‘But that would make things a huge hassle.’
There was Mother’s talk of my fiancée, and I had a feeling Estelle would throw a fit.
That’s when Max brought up branching off as a workaround.
“How about you branch off while we’re at it, Als?”
If I branched off, it would ease the burden on the family. I’d be the one rejecting, after all.
But branching off required land to manage.
“So how about you branch off and live in Libel?”
“No. That would be too unfair to Miller.”
“Miller would happily agree.”
“I bet he would, but it’s fine. If we’re talking branching off, there are other options.”
Conveniently, the board was already set for that.
*
*
*
After finishing my consultation with Max, I set out to make my official return reports.
First stop: Master’s estate.
“Als!”
Master pulled me into an emotional embrace.
This was getting embarrassing. Everyone I met was hugging me.
“Haha… I’m back.”
“Good, you made it back safe. And your achievements… seem more than sufficient.”
Master smiled brightly, noting that the energy flowing from me had become more refined.
I wanted to ask about Master’s hometown while I was at it, but seeing her swollen belly made me hold off.
I didn’t want to bring up anything unnecessary right before childbirth. I’d wait until she was in a stable period after. It wasn’t urgent.
After exchanging greetings, I left them to their private time with Anton and headed to see Gaspar.
Gaspar, who handled the city’s security, was training new guards at the moment.
Nothing unusual there.
“…Huh?”
But one of the new recruits looked familiar.
“Uracha!”
In the midst of sparring, a boy knocked down another guard. It was Aegert.
“Heh! You old geezers are weaklings! All down in one hit!”
Circus, mercenary, and now guards? Still doing anything that paid, as always. Aegert spotted my face and his eyes widened.
“Whoa! Pretty captain! What brings you here?”
Gaspar noticed me too.
I signaled Gaspar to play along, then dealt with Aegert.
When Aegert learned I was the lord of Rainpole’s younger brother, he made an O with his mouth.
“Now that you mention it, I think Dilas said something like that.”
“But what are you doing here?”
“Huh? Earning money, obviously! I still owe a million silane to escape slavery. They deduct 10,000 silane a day here, and they provide food and lodging. No better gig.”
“I see… Be careful. I hear the boss here has a nasty temper.”
“You mean Master Gaspar?”
“W-what? Master?”
Gaspar slid in with a sly grin.
“This brat started calling me that on his own. He was cocky, so I roughed him up a bit, and now he’s all obedient. He’s got potential, so I’ve been teaching him swordsmanship on the side.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Aegert grinned like an idiot.
“But how do you know Master Gaspar, pretty captain?”
“Just because. We live in the same city, so we bump into each other.”
“Makes sense! Hey, pretty captain! Spar with me! I wanna try against that Chester style or whatever!”
“Sorry, no time right now. Next time. Gaspar, mind keeping him company for a bit?”
I led Gaspar away, walking aimlessly.
He chattered lightly at first, but silence fell naturally at some point.
Realizing this meaningful quiet meant I hadn’t called him for small talk, Gaspar shut his mouth.
I asked softly,
“…Did you know Master Iliya was from the West?”
Gaspar narrowed his eyes, then shook his head.
“No, not that far. I only knew Guderian Chester had a female disciple among his students.”
“That Guderian Chester is from the West?”
“That, I knew.”
“…That he’s one of the Three Great Generals?”
At the words “Three Great Generals,” Gaspar frowned.
“Three Great Generals? That bastard Guderian?”
“You didn’t know.”
“Yeah. At least not when I last saw him.”
“When was that, exactly?”
“About three years ago. Even if he was one back then, he wouldn’t have bothered telling me.”
Meaning he’d likely been one long before that.
“But still… Guderian…”
Gaspar sounded bitter, as if piecing it together.
Before I could ask why, I pressed further.
“Gaspar. You’re not from the West too, are you?”
“The fact you’re asking means you’ve figured it out. About the beastkin village in the West. Dielrum’s existence.”
“As I thought, you…”
“Not a coincidence.”
“It’s not?”
“I’ve been to Dielrum, but I wasn’t born or raised there. Only visited a few times. If you think I’m a Western spy, sorry to disappoint, but no.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“A pureblood beastkin like you—it wouldn’t be strange if you were tied to Dielrum.”
“I get the prejudice… but it’s not wrong either. Most purebloods are in Dielrum now. I got offers from them too. But I had no interest in following.”
“…?”
“Because they tried to bind me and force their ideology. Remember? My motto is living free.”
“Yeah, a motto that crumbled pretty quick.”
“Krahaha! Can’t argue with that. If Ymir had been in Dielrum, I might be there now too. But without that? I’d die before following them.”
Gaspar spoke with contempt.
“It’s rotten there. Started as a refuge for persecuted beastkin. Everyone desperate to survive. But as they grew powerful, they turned to discriminating against and shunning humans. Even their Western human allies get half-killed on whims. If continental humans wander in, they torture and kill without a second thought. No need for reasons—they’ve got their justification.”
“Justification that the continentals persecuted them.”
“Natural, right? Als, beastkin can’t live proudly on this continent. They have to bow their heads. Dielrum exists as the counterbalance. The rage from their continental suffering is immense.”
“So it’s all blowback from the Pensilon Empire…”
Discrimination against beastkin ramped up under the Pensilon Empire, so it tracked.
“Well, even if you’re Pensilon blood, you don’t need to atone for it. Things will sort themselves out eventually. Dielrum falls, or we do. I’d prefer they fall.”
“Is Guderian Chester a hardliner?”
“No, from what I know, he was a moderate—such an oddball in Dielrum they called him that. Just look at taking a human like Iliya as disciple.”
“…”
“But becoming one of the Three Great Generals, vanguard for the continental conquest? Means he’s sided with Dielrum’s will. If you meet him again, never go alone. At least bring Anton. Only he could handle Guderian.”
That was all the info from Gaspar. The rest I could ask Master.
After dinner with Gaspar, I headed alone to Lutger’s estate.