Chapter 178 Please Forgive Me!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
That morning had been swallowed by the usual round of inspections—the kind of thing that sounded dignified in letters but mostly meant standing around near the soup line, watching steam curl off pots while people shuffled through.
The free meals had been greeted with thanks at first. These days, though… not so much. The word “thank you” had faded from the air a long time ago.
People only thank you the first time. After that, they just expect it. It’s the same anywhere.
…Which was fine. He wasn’t doing it to be thanked anyway.
People were just… like that.
And honestly, it wasn’t like the menu screamed luxury: oatmeal with scraps of meat and vegetables, a thin soup, and steamed Birene Potatoes—humble, lumpy things.
He was thinking exactly that when a voice rose from the line, soft and oddly careful. “Please… accept my gratitude for this meal…”
He blinked. Most people just took the bowls and slunk off without a word, so the polite tone jolted him. He turned, and there she was—a girl, probably the age of a middle schooler back in his old world.
Her clothes were plain, worn but scrubbed clean, and her small face was still soft with childhood. From her look, he understood at once: she was a shepherd. One of those despised for their “lowly trade” and treated like they carried the stain of it on their skin. That must’ve been why—
”Be gone the moment you’ve taken your charity,” Yuvus snapped beside him, his voice sharp as iron. “You stand before Lord Sanai, Special Honorary Count, Your Excellency! Can you not see how your filthy presence shocks His Excellency? Know your place, wretched shepherd girl—”
”Chottoooo—o—o?!! Yuvusuuu?! I never said that!! I never even thought that!! Could you *not* just invent my thoughts like that?!”
Ayumu spun toward him in horror, flailing both hands in protest. Yuvus only watched him with bloodshot intensity, like a knight defending honor, not realizing he was demolishing Ayumu’s instead.
The poor girl shrank back, brown eyes wide and wet. “I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me… please, I beg you…”
”Gyaaaaahhh!!! My image!! My ruler image is dying right here!!!”
Ayumu clawed at his hair, half-screaming, as Yuvus looked on with a smug little nod, the kind that said, *’There, I protected you, Lord.’*
”No no no no no!! Thanks to you, I look like some evil Lord who bullies weak kids for fun!!”
Yuvus was great as a bodyguard, sure. But as an attendant? Absolutely useless.
Ayumu smoothed his face, forcing a calm smile. “Wonderful,” he said aloud, watching Yuvus puff up proudly—then cut him off. “No, not you, Knight Yuvus.”
”…Eh?” Yuvus blinked.
”I was never shocked by her ‘filthy’ appearance,” Ayumu declared, turning to the trembling girl. “I was moved—moved by her dignity. To be born to a despised, lowly trade, and still speak thanks without cursing her fate… that is noble. Truly noble. This girl deserves to be rewarded, not scorned.”
He praised her like she was royalty.
The crowd had fallen quiet, and then, one by one, others began murmuring thanks as they took their bowls. Too late, though. He wasn’t about to reward *them.* Only the first girl got the extra stew ladle.
Fuming, he wrapped up the inspection and stalked off on foot toward his manor, Yuvus trailing behind.
They hadn’t gone far when they stumbled upon a commotion—one of the city guard squads gathered around something, voices sharp.
”…But it was just lying there, pyon…”
The sound drew his eyes—and then he saw him. A beastman. A tall, lanky male with drooping rabbit ears and a long, downcast rabbit face, clutching at nothing as the guards barked at him.
”Oh? What’s going on here?”
He knew beastmen existed, but actually seeing one this close was rare. Curiosity won, and he stepped in, asking one of the guards.
The guard spun, eyes widening. “Y-Your Excellency! What are you… here?!”
”Just coming back from the soup line,” Ayumu explained, and the guard snapped to stiff attention.
The story unraveled fast—the shopkeeper claimed the beastman had stolen food from his stall. The rabbit claimed it had just been lying there.
The rabbit’s words tumbled out in nervous bursts: how his people had once lived on land stolen by the old Yugan Empire, how they’d wandered like gypsies in Ayumu’s old world, how they had no concept of things just being “left out” to sell. He’d seen strange food lying on the street, tasted it, found it good, and wanted to bring some to his family.
As they spoke, Oregano, his guard captain, arrived—ears flicking with surprise to see him there.
Oregano had rabbit ears too, though she insisted she was Nelrearian, not beastman. Which was why, the last time a rabbit beastman had called her “comrade,” she had snarled, “I am Nelrearian, you filthy beastman! Don’t you dare get familiar with me!” and nearly bit his head off.
The poor rabbit man had looked like she’d stabbed him.
Honestly, he still looked like that now.
Ayumu sighed. Technically, theft meant bodily punishment here. But this was a first offense, and as Lord, the Emperor had given him full judicial power. So—
”I won’t prosecute this time,” he said.
The rabbit man’s ears twitched up. The shopkeeper scowled.
”But if you do it again,” Ayumu added cheerfully, “I’ll have both your hands cut off.”
The ears flattened again instantly.
To calm the angry shopkeeper, Ayumu bought the entire cart of Birene Potatoes the rabbit had almost taken. Then he waved a hand at the trembling man.
”Go on. Take the whole cart. Feed your family. Feed your friends, too.”
The rabbit beastman’s eyes went shiny with awe. He bowed again and again, then scampered off pushing the cart, ears bouncing with each hop.
* * *
Later, back at the manor, he had been buried in paperwork when the head of the livestock division came in, looking sour.
”Your Excellency… this offender failed to protect one of your lambs from wolves. Of course it wasn’t *my* fault! Usually they’re dismissed for this. What are your orders?”
Ayumu lifted his head—and blinked.
It was the same shepherd girl from the soup line.
She was pale, eyes huge, voice shaking. “I-I tried to chase them off with my sling… Please don’t fire me… If I lose this job, how will I eat? Please… I beg you…” She sank to her knees, head bowed, eyes squeezed shut.
”…How bad was it?”
”One lamb, Your Excellency.”
…One? Just one? All this drama for that?
”…Forgive her.”
”…Hah?” the man blurted, like a pigeon hit by a bean.
Ayumu leaned back. Thanks to the soil upgrades—those polymers and other tech he’d smuggled in—the southern fields now grew not just human food but oat and Birene Potato feed for livestock too. The herds would bounce back.
He explained that, and the man finally nodded.
”If there’s nothing else,” Ayumu said, waving him off, “you may go.”
The livestock supervisor bowed stiffly, muttering a clipped “As you command, Your Excellency,” before turning on his heel. The girl stayed frozen a second longer, as if her legs had forgotten how to work. Then she let out the tiniest gasp, like air rushing back into her lungs, and scrambled upright so fast her braid swung out behind her.
”Th-thank you…!” she blurted, clutching the front of her rough wool tunic with both hands as though she could keep her heart from bursting through it. Her brown eyes shimmered, wide and wet and dazed, and for a second she looked more like a startled fawn than a shepherd.
He pretended not to notice.
”Go on,” Ayumu said, voice gentler now. “Get back to work.”
She bobbed her head again and again, then nearly tripped over her own boots as she backed away. The heavy door thudded shut behind her, leaving only the smell of paper and the faint scratching of his pen waiting where he’d dropped it.
Ayumu exhaled, slumped back in his chair, and dragged the pen toward him. The ink had dried at the tip. He tapped it twice on the rim of the inkwell until it bled black again.
Then, as if nothing at all had happened, he bent over the next sheet and let himself drown in work once more.
Notes:
• Yuvus – Human from Domain Army, handsome and disciplined; first in Ch.163; skilled knight swordsman; no family mentioned; rose quickly and was made Ayumu’s young knight; clashes with Half-Elves, especially Myucel, but loyal to Ayumu; cold pride hides strict loyalty.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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