Volume 2 Chapter 1 Special Recommender
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Vod Fortress war had its roots in the neighboring Kingdom of Kiridal’s penchant for raiding the Kingdom of Schuberitz to loot and kidnap.
Schuberitz ultimately claimed victory, bolstered by the personal intervention of King Philip IV, whose fury had been ignited when his fourth son was butchered at the very fortress both nations had spent years trading back and forth.
While the King of Kiridal eventually bowed to defeat, Count Straba attempted one last gambit-propping up the second prince of Kiridal as a puppet to invade Obernbach. He was swiftly repelled.
Schuberitz had originally asked only for the South Bohemia region at the peace talks, but after their counter-offensive, they were now squeezing for the Straba lands they’d seized.
While the high-ranking lords were playing their games of map-marking, Larry-the third son of a Village Head who’d survived the militia-had finally limped back to his home in Strock Village.
”Man… I just want to get laid,” he muttered.
He was slumped on a long bench in the village square, the words escaping before he could stop them.
”What are you talking about?” asked Tim. “I thought you and Teressa-san¹ were already a thing.”
Tim was the same age, but he’d spent the war safely at home. His family ran the local sugar business, from the beet fields to the refinery.
He’d just returned from selling this year’s batch in Obernbach and had spent the morning bragging about the ‘dirty fun’ he and his old man had enjoyed in the newly rebuilt riverside district.
”Must be nice for you,” Larry replied. “Your partners were professionals.”
”Come on,” said Tim. “You’ve got a gorgeous sister-in-law to play with, and Nico is practically begging you to marry her. You’ve got the run of the place, don’t you?”
”You really are a brainless prick, aren’t you?”
”What? You want to go?”
Larry almost did. There was a local tradition here, a sort of coming-of-age ritual called the Rite of Passage² where a man was expected to graduate from virginity upon reaching adulthood.
Tim’s father had paid for a professional to do the job. Larry’s own father had died of the plague years ago, and his eldest brother, Iffens, had just been cut down at Vod Fortress. There was no one left to look out for him.
Except Teressa-his widowed sister-in-law. She had stepped up to fulfill the role. She was the woman he’d idolized since he was a kid, the one who taught him to read and use magic. It should have been a dream come true, but the actual ‘act’ had been claimed by the Reincarnated Person³ living inside him like a parasite.
At the time, Larry had been in a dissociative blackout called Autism mode⁴, his body hijacked by the Parasite Host⁵.
(To be honest, the first time actually happened before the parasite took over, but I was so hammered on booze and meds that it’s all a blur. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say to her now.)
Between the confusion with Teressa and the two weeks of back-breaking labor since his return, Larry was at his wit’s end. It was Tax Month-the dreaded December. As the Village Head’s family, they had to squeeze blood from stones, and it was never easy.
People claimed poverty, begged for extensions, or offered up their wives as payment in a display of desperate, broken logic. On top of that, they were the only ones permitted to lend money, meaning Larry spent his days listening to the same tired excuses: “I have no money,” “Wait until next month,” “I’ll pay you with my wife.”
The household only survived because of a careful, if tense, balance. His brother Hans provided the muscle to keep people in line, Teressa-san handled the cold logic of the ledgers, and Grete-his uncle’s mistress-processed the paperwork with surgical precision while Nico and Larry did the legwork.
It was a brutal winter; they had to haul wood and seal the stables against the killing drafts. It was the hardest month of the year, made worse by the ghost of Iffens, who had handled everything until he was killed in the war.
”Sigh…”
”Great,” Tim muttered. “First you want to fight, now you’re sighing like a girl. You’re giving me the creeps.”
”Shut up. Things are just… tense between Teressa-san and Nico.”
It was an understatement. Nico, who used to follow Teressa like a shadow, had turned sharp and biting. The two of them were like a live wire, and Larry was terrified of getting shocked.
”Yeah, I’m out,” said Tim. “Listening to this is a buzzkill.”
As Tim left, a carriage rolled into the square. It was Uncle Klaus. Larry followed the carriage home, sensing the shift in the air. It was the second day of the Thirteenth month, and Klaus looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge backward.
”Sigh…”
Klaus sat at the head of the kitchen table, letting out a breath that sounded like a deflating balloon. He had bags under his eyes deep enough to carry groceries.
”Would you like a drink?” Herta asked.
”Ale,” barked Klaus.
The man was a walking bundle of nerves, and his presence turned the room into a pressure cooker. Larry and Teressa-san watched him warily. When Nico came down from the second floor, Klaus wordlessly pointed to the seats: Larry to his left, Teressa next to him, then Nico.
”You look exhausted,” Teressa-san noted.
Klaus downed the ale and finally snapped. Normally a man of few words, the dam had finally broken.
”Why the hell do they start wars during tax season?” Klaus shouted. “Do the bean-counters have any idea how hard this is? And because of Camilla’s little jealous tantrum, I don’t even have Grete to help with the filing! I’m working until the Magic lamps⁶ burn out every damn night, and I’m the one who gets blamed for the errors! Then Hans decides he wants to marry Ursula instead of going to the academy, which sets Camilla off again! And now Teressa is pregnant! Her father, Kneff, is breathing down my neck, and Larry-the little bastard who knocked her up-gets a formal audience and an Omeide⁷ reward from the Viscount! Do you know how much paperwork a reward generates? It costs money, which means more work for me! In the middle of this godforsaken month! You people are trying to kill me!”
He slammed the empty mug onto the table.
(Wait… is Uncle actually a genius? Or just a very high-functioning mess?)
Larry knew Uncle Klaus was the one who got Grete pregnant in the first place, leading to the drama with Aunt Camilla. And Hans was only with Ursula because Camilla had sent her as a spy. It was a self-inflicted wound.
”Sister-in-law… are you pregnant?” Larry asked, his voice small.
”Yes,” Teressa-san replied. “It’s Larry’s child. I only told my father by letter.”
She smiled, her blue eyes softening behind golden lashes. In that moment, Larry felt like he could handle anything. But then, a chair scraped harshly against the floor. Nico stood up, her face a mask of cold fury.
”I’ll have an ale too,” Nico demanded.
”If you’re expecting, alcohol is out of the question,” Teressa-san said.
The words were correct, but the tone was a challenge. Nico clearly hadn’t known about the baby. The girl who used to worship Teressa was gone, replaced by someone who looked ready to draw blood.
”I’ll get some herb tea for everyone,” Herta said, desperately trying to bridge the gap.
Klaus shot Larry a look of pure disgust. Larry wanted to point out the hypocrisy of a man with a mistress judging him, but he kept his mouth shut. Hans, Ursula, and Grete walked in just as the tension reached its peak.
”Nico, an ale for me and Ursula,” Hans ordered. Larry envied his brother’s sheer density; he didn’t even notice the room was on fire.
”I’ll get tea for Grete-san as well,” Herta added.
Monica arrived last, plopping down in Nico’s old spot. She was a widow at fifteen, missing a tooth from the strain of raising twins, and she didn’t care about the atmosphere. She was there to help Teressa-san, simple as that.
”Are we all here?” Klaus asked, reclaiming his ‘important man’ persona. “First, about Hans and Ursula. Camilla is flat-out refusing. She says she’ll call in her family’s favors to drag Ursula back if she has to.”
Hans bit his lip and slammed his fist onto the table. The man was a giant, and the impact made the heavy wood groan. Beside him, Ursula bowed her head and began to sob.
Camilla, my uncle’s Primary Wife, hailed from a powerful Earl’s house in the North. She’d been raised like a pampered princess, and it showed in her utterly selfish streak. To make matters worse, her older sister was the Primary Wife of our local lord, Viscount Bizan.
Between the two of them, they had enough political muscle to force through just about any demand, no matter how absurd.
”Normally, that would be the end of the story,” Uncle Klaus said, his voice dripping with forced gravity.
My brother’s face darkened immediately. “What now?”
”In this case, there’s a high probability we can keep Camilla in check,” Uncle Klaus replied.
”A ‘high probability’? What the hell does that mean?” Hans-niisan asked. The conversation was veering in a direction neither of us had anticipated.
”It means it isn’t a certainty,” Uncle Klaus said. Hans-niisan fell silent. I knew he hated this. My uncle and he were hardly on speaking terms, and not knowing what kind of hand the old man was playing made his skin crawl.
”For now, here’s the deal: you’re going to become the Village Head here,” Uncle Klaus declared. “Forget about the military academy. That’s over.”
”Like hell it is!” my brother roared.
”How should I know? The whole thing is too complicated to explain!” Uncle Klaus barked back.
It was a rare sight. My uncle, usually a man of cold logic who could lie to your face without blinking, was actually abandoning his composure. No one had ever heard him admit that something was “too complicated” to explain. Even Hans-niisan just stood there, jaw dropped, staring at him.
”Here’s the deal,” Uncle Klaus continued. “If things stay as they are, Ursula is going to be sent back to her family. If you take the job as Village Head, there’s a good chance she stays. Your choice.”
”Is there really no other way?” Hans-niisan asked.
”None,” Uncle Klaus replied instantly. My brother went quiet, pretending to weigh his options, though I knew his mind was already made up.
”What about Max?” Hans-niisan asked. “I thought Camilla was dead set on making him the Village Head.”
Max was our cousin, Uncle Klaus’s second son. He’d graduated from the military academy and was currently serving as a Soldier in the Royal Army, stationed in the frozen wasteland of Great Norden Island.
His mother, Camilla, was desperate to get her darling boy out of the cold and back to the comforts of the interior. When our eldest brother, Iffens, died in battle, she saw her opening. With the second brother being a total delinquent and the third still just a child, it was a golden opportunity. She’d started pulling strings to install Max immediately.
To ensure the plan worked, she’d even sent her sharpest maid, Ursula, to manipulate the villagers. But the scheme had been exposed, and then—for reasons I still didn’t quite grasp—Hans-niisan had taken a liking to Ursula.
Despite her being much older, he’d aggressively claimed her as his woman. I’d heard Camilla was absolutely livid, and I didn’t think for a second she’d given up on Max’s promotion.
”That plan fell through,” Uncle Klaus said. “Teressa is pregnant with Larry’s child.”
Before our eldest brother Iffens died, he and my Sister-in-law had two girls, Lyrica and Maria. Camilla’s grand plan had been to marry Max off to the eldest, Lyrica.
Since the girls were still so young, she’d decided to make Teressa a Concubine—essentially Max’s secondary wife—so she could handle the household chores and the “wife’s duties” while supporting Max.
It was a neat little package. It kept the Fee bloodline intact and allowed Uncle Klaus to save face with Teressa’s family, the Kneffs. Around here, if a man dies leaving only young daughters, it’s common for a widow to take on the “wife’s role” for a new groom until the daughters are old enough.
But then Teressa turned up pregnant with my kid. Even as a Concubine, you can’t exactly bring a woman carrying another man’s child into the household.
Uncle Klaus had apparently explored every loophole, but there was no way to keep the Kneffs happy and install Max as Lyrica’s husband anymore. He’d been forced to scrap the idea.
”Teressa… you actually did it,” Hans-niisan muttered. He sounded like he was enjoying this.
”I forgot she could manipulate Mana⁸,” Uncle Klaus grumbled. I was still trying to figure out what magic had to do with a pregnancy when my brother leaned in and whispered.
”Women who can handle Mana can control conception and contraception at will. Didn’t you know that?”
(No, I definitely didn’t.)
A sudden chill ran down my spine as I thought of Marie back in Kiridal Village.
”You can sense if a partner uses Mana, can’t you? Keep your guard up, kid. Women are terrifying,” my brother warned.
(It’s fine. Marie… she didn’t even know she had Mana. Right?)
”Is something wrong?” Sister-in-law asked, peering into my face.
”Oh, uh, no. Just… realizing I’m going to be a parent,” I stammered.
”Don’t worry about it,” Monica shouted from across the room. “Once the kids are here, you won’t have time to worry about whether you’re ready or not!”
Sensing the mood had shifted, Uncle Klaus pulled out a sheet of parchment. “Sign this. It’s your oath as Village Head. Normally, you’d have to travel to the Viscount’s estate to pledge your loyalty, but he’s swamped with post-war cleanup. I’ve arranged it so we can handle the paperwork here.”
Hans-niisan looked unusually solemn. He shared a look with Ursula, then finally took the pen.
”And here’s the marriage registration,” Uncle Klaus added. “Teressa, Monica, and I will sign as witnesses. It’s a duplicate set.”
It was the same form I’d seen when I helped Alberto-san. Back then, my brother’s name had been at the top of the witness list. I wondered if we should have found Alberto-san for this one, but Uncle Klaus-san had already signed it.
And just like that, it was over. The legendary troublemaker Hans-niisan had finally settled his accounts. With the paperwork finished, there was no way for Max to take the Village Head position without completely dissolving the Fee family.
”Next is Larry,” Uncle Klaus said. “You’ve been accepted into the Besanburg Magic School.”
”Wait, what?”
It was too sudden. I’d wanted to go, sure, but I thought the entrance exams were already over for the year.
”Here’s your admission permit,” Uncle Klaus said, handing me a document tube.
===
BESANBURG MAGIC SCHOOL ADMISSION PERMIT
Student: Larry Fee-dono
Origin: Strock Village, Viscounty of Bizan
You are hereby granted admission to the Besanburg Magic School as a Special Merit Student.
Date: Month 13, Day 1, Year 4000
Principal: Annerose von Bülow
Special Recommenders: Heinrich IV, Sonya Kittynoir
Addendum:
Entrance ceremonies begin January 4, 4001. Dormitories are available starting Month 13, Day 10, 4000. Students are encouraged to bring one personal attendant or servant. Tuition, housing, and uniforms are waived; students are responsible for their own meals. Students are exempt from the poll tax for the duration of your two-year enrollment. Special Merit Students have unrestricted library access and may apprentice under research faculty immediately.
Note: While placement is typically decided by a Mana Aptitude Test in January, Larry Fee-dono has been pre-assigned to the Basic Resonance Track⁹ per the request of the Special Recommenders.
===
As I read, Sister-in-law’s face went pale. I didn’t recognize the name Heinrich IV, but I certainly knew Sonya Kittynoir. She was that tiny Elf Major—the one who’d violated me by shoving her finger into my rear to pump me full of Mana until everything was swollen and raw.
(Is this an apology? She’s using her rank to shove me into school?)
I didn’t recall ever telling them I wanted to go to magic school. Then again, the Parasite Host that had taken over my body had been obsessed with the “Magic Academy.” Maybe the Major had read my mind while I was stuck in Autism Mode. It was exactly the kind of thing that Elf would do.
”Larry,” Uncle Klaus barked. “What the hell did you do?”
”Nothing, really,” I said. (Unless you count being violated.)
”You did ‘nothing,’ and yet the King himself is acting as your personal sponsor? The Principal was so shocked she rode out here personally to give me the news!”
So Heinrich IV was the King. Great. I’d spoken to the man, but I didn’t think we were “Recommendation Letter” close. Ursula and Grete-san were staring at me with their eyes wide as saucers.
”And the name below that?” Uncle Klaus pressed.
”The Commander of the Golem Battalion,” I said. “We… had some history.” (There was no way I was mentioning the finger-in-the-butt incident. Or the fact that I’d been the one actually controlling the Golems in Garao Village.)
”What kind of ‘history’?”
”We were in the same 303rd Unit. Since I can use Mana, we… talked.”
”People don’t write royal recommendations just for ‘talking,’” Uncle Klaus said suspiciously. “Were you sleeping with her?”
(The old man’s sharper than he looks.)
”It wasn’t like that. We just… exchanged Mana.”
I could feel Sister-in-law’s gaze, but I refused to look at her.
”I’ll ask one more thing,” Uncle Klaus said. “Why is it that you’re listed as having an Audience?”
”What does that even mean?”
”An Omemie¹⁰. It’s a title for someone who has spoken with His Majesty and left a lasting impression.”
”Okay… and?”
”And it means you’ve become a huge pain in the ass to deal with! You’ve reached a status where even the Viscount can’t treat you like some common brat anymore.”
I didn’t quite get the politics, but it sounded like a win for me. Grete-san took the permit to look it over. “It really is the King,” she whispered. “And that’s the famous Golem Commander?”
”Wait,” Hans-niisan interrupted. “Wasn’t Granny the original Commander of that Golem squad?”
”Oh, yeah,” Monica laughed. “Granny Ferris. I thought that Commander lady sounded important, but she’s just taking over Granny’s old job. Didn’t Granny get her Golems confiscated for some legal violation? She was pretty pissed off about that.”
Just like that, the terrifying legend of the Golem Battalion was reduced to family gossip.
”So, Larry,” my brother said. “What are you going to do?”
”Well… since you’re the Village Head now, I guess I’m going to school.”
”Wait, what?” Monica blurted out. “I thought Larry was marrying into our family!”
She had a point. I’d heard the rumors about me being the “groom” for her household. And then there was Sister-in-law.
Uncle Klaus’s face was turning beet red. “Larry! Do you honestly think ‘not going’ is an option when the King himself wrote your recommendation? You absolute moron!” he screamed right into my ear.
”I know, but—”
”No ‘buts’! You’re marrying into Monica’s house, and you’re taking Teressa with you. Lyrica and Maria will stay with Teressa’s family. As for Nico, I’ve already talked to her parents; she’s going back home.”
Nico suddenly stood up, her chair screeching against the floor. “No! I’m going with Monica-san too!”
At the send-off party, Nico had announced to everyone that she was going to be my wife. Since I returned from the war, her tsundere side had grown unbearable. She nitpicked every little thing I did, yet whenever we were alone, she’d lock eyes with me or press her body against mine. Of course, I hadn’t made a move.
”It’s no use. Teressa is no longer part of the Village Head household; she doesn’t have the status to keep a lady’s maid. Then there’s the matter of your Poll Tax¹¹. I can’t expect Monica to support a girl who can’t even handle farm work,” Uncle Klaus said.
Faced with the cold economic reality, Nico couldn’t find a way to argue back. Since she’d already had her coming-of-age ceremony, she was subject to a Poll Tax as a free citizen. She knew exactly how heavy that burden was.
”Tomorrow morning, we head for Besanburg. Pack your bags right now. You too, Teressa; you’re heading back to report to your parents. Take the girls and get ready,” Klaus said.
Tears began to spill from Nico’s eyes, splashing onto the floor. (Well, my uncle isn’t wrong about any of it.) My sister-in-law stood up and tried to pull Nico into a hug, but Nico brushed her hand away with a sharp slap.
She stood frozen for a moment, then suddenly bolted up the stairs without even trying to wipe the tears away.
”Being a popular man is rough, huh?” Hans-niisan teased.
Hans was just giving me a hard time, but in reality, his words were starting to feel like a weight around my neck.
”That kind of thing isn’t ‘kindness,’ Larry,” my sister-in-law had warned me once. But even so, I didn’t have the guts to look Nico in the eye and tell her she couldn’t be my wife.
(If the Parasite Host¹² were in charge, would he have shown her the ‘kindness’ of a clean rejection? Probably not. That guy doesn’t have much of a backbone either.)
”Larry, I’m sending Teressa back to Obernbach on the tenth. She’ll be carrying the official appointment for Hans to become the Village Head. Go and pick her up,” Klaus said.
They’d likely be taking a boat back, so meeting them wouldn’t be an issue.
”Now, I’m going to open the Elders’ Council¹³ and explain what we just discussed. Go gather the people,” Klaus said.
As I started to stand up, I remembered something. “Brother, can I take Niko and Yutia with me?”
I’d made a promise to Yutia. As for Niko, he was the former head servant for Egil; he was old, but he was full of knowledge and had always been kind to me.
”Are you sure? Niko is up there in years, and while Yutia has a crush on you, she’s disabled. What does Monica say about it?” Hans asked.
”If Larry isn’t there, our house is nothing but women anyway. I heard the groom is heading off to some magic school soon, so having a man around—even an old one—would be a relief. Besides, Yutia helps out at our place all the time. I know she’s a hard worker. No problems here,” Monica said.
She spoke boisterously, her toothless mouth stretched wide. She was the kind of woman a man could really admire. My brother agreed, saying he had no objections.
I headed out the back door to hop on Carpaccio and found my uncle’s carriage parked there. Tony-san was busy grooming the horses.
”Tony-san,” I called out.
He turned around with a friendly grin. “I heard the war was a nightmare. Hey, did you get taller?”
Had I really grown? “I don’t know, maybe.”
”You never notice that stuff yourself. Oh, by the way—I got married!” Tony said.
I assumed he meant the housemaid he’d mentioned before, but he told me he’d married a kitchen maid instead. Things had gone south with the first girl, and the woman he eventually married was older than him.
”So, what about you, Larry?” Tony asked.
I told him about my brother inheriting the house and the plan for me to marry into another family as a groom.
”Huh. Marrying a one-year-old and then going to magic school? I’ll never understand how the big shots think,” Tony said.
When I explained that I was marrying Monica’s daughter, Alisa, to enter their family and then heading to school, he just looked at me in disbelief.
”But you’ll eventually end up with both the mother and the daughter. That sounds like something straight out of a perverted noble’s picture book,” Tony said.
Now that he mentioned it, I remembered Tim—who was my age—having a book like that. It was about a malicious noble who used any excuse to have his way with a beautiful wife and her daughter. It was pretty graphic for a kids’ book, but I remember it being… strangely exciting.
(The Mother-Daughter Special (Oyakodon).)
A weird phrase popped out from the Parasite Host’s memory bank, but I tucked it away carefully.
That evening, the Elders’ Council convened. It was essentially decided: Hans-niisan would be the next Village Head and would marry Ursula. It was also announced that I would join Monica’s household as a groom, though I would depart for magic school immediately.
We decided to hold the inauguration for the new Village Head and the weddings for Hans and me on the same day. Since it was better to do it quickly after Teressa returned with the papers, we set the date for the 15th of this month. Uncle Klaus would be too busy to make it, so we asked Village Head Johann from Mauer Village to preside.
The next morning, the village was blanketed in a thick mist. Not just our family, but half the village had gathered to see them off. Nico’s eyes were red and swollen, but she refused to even glance my way.
Little Lyrica was thrilled about the carriage ride and was making a scene, full of energy. My sister-in-law gave us a polite bow and climbed in. Tony gave a shout, and the carriage lurched forward.
The carriage, heavy with luggage piled high on the roof, pulled away into the white fog until it vanished completely.
—
Summary:
Larry returns from war to find his village in the throes of Tax Month and his household on the brink of collapse. Teressa reveals she is pregnant with his child, an announcement that shatters the already fragile peace between her and her maid Nico. Uncle Klaus delivers the news that the family matriarch Camilla is moving to block Hans’s marriage to Ursula
Hans-niisan accepts the Village Head position to keep Ursula safe. The family tension peaks as Teressa’s pregnancy by Larry is used to dismantle Camilla’s political maneuvering. Larry receives a shocking Royal Admission Permit to magic school from the King and Major Kittynoir
Motion carries the village toward a unified celebration of marriage and new leadership. Larry navigates the social complexities of a looming marriage to an infant while his uncle forces the departure of his closest female relatives. The mist swallows the departing carriage, leaving the protagonist with an impending sense of isolation and a weird intrusive memory from his host
—
Trivia:
- Larry’s militia service at Vod Fortress
- The historical context of the Kiridal-Schuberitz conflict
- The specific ‘sugar’ wealth of Tim’s family
- The fact that the first intimate encounter was drug/alcohol induced
- Monica’s physical tooth loss due to nutrient depletion
- The Kneff family serves as Uncle Klaus’s professional circle
- The poll tax exemption is a significant financial relief for commoners
- The ‘Basic Resonance Track’ is a pre-determined course, bypassing the standard aptitude tests
- Granny Ferris was the pioneer of Golem warfare
- Monica’s missing tooth is a direct physical consequence of childbirth
- Nico and Teressa are cousins, explaining their similar facial structures
- The poll tax is a critical mechanic that forces commoners into labor or marriag
—
Character Insight:
Teressa shifts from a supportive widow to a visible mother-to-be, sparking a sharp behavioral pivot in Nico from devotion to hostility.
Larry transitions from a passive victim of circumstances to a person of significant political interest due to the King’s direct sponsorship.
Nico undergoes a total emotional collapse, shifting from a public declaration of love to a silent, tearful rejection of her surroundings.
—
Glossary:
Notes:
• Village Head – The elderly leader of Balsheni Village who previously sold furs in Obernbach. The elderly leader of the village and grandfather to Marie. The leader of the village who orchestrates Larry’s integration into the family.
• Larry – Fourteen-year-old third son of the Strock Village Head, with reddish-white skin, curly bronze hair, and bronze eyes, he is a slave-soldier in Militia Unit 303 and Mage Level 3, hosting the reincarnated consciousness of a 40-year-old Sage—granting him adult wisdom, fire magic (Fireball), heart/mana sensing by touch, and golem synchronization. A survivor of the Vod Fortress war, he battles PTSD, mana inflammation, and guilt over a killing, while navigating domestic tensions and admiration for his sister-in-law. Recently returned from enemy territory, he met the King in a high-stakes audience, trains to become Village Head, and is suspected to be the Fifth Sage, serving as the narrative’s central perspective.
• Teressa – Larry’s eldest sister-in-law, widow of former Village Head Iffens, now Village Head herself—blonde short hair, big-chested, golden eyelashes, piercing blue eyes, radiating a warm, happy aura. Mother of Lyrica and Maria, currently pregnant with Larry’s child, she wears a wool jacket over a blouse with a nearly split button, exuding a motherly yet alluring presence. Sharp, mischievous, and big-sisterly, she manages household and village affairs with quiet authority, hiding a terrifying edge beneath her air-headed charm; reacts with physical shock to Lyrica’s revelations, embodying a grounding, romantic maternal force in the household.
• Tim – Fourteen‑year‑old Jarek Dvorak, the village’s eldest son and recent ‘graduate’, has short dark hair, a lean build and thoughtful eyes. He traveled to Obernbach with his father, watches the Golem’s arrival with trepidation, and, like Larry, comes from a sugar‑beet‑cultivating family that refines sugar; his carefree, slightly reckless nature leads him to boast of pleasures in the district.
• Nico – Silver-haired and stern, once devoted to Teressa as head maid, she now radiates prickly volatility, deeply shaken by the revelation of Teressa’s pregnancy. Once a paragon of high-society grace and childhood acquaintance of Camilla—whom she once outplayed at gambling, earning the cruel nickname “the hole”—she now lives with Larry’s family as a sister-in-law figure, scolding him bluntly yet quietly aiding neighbors by cleaning gear instead of chores. She plays violin gallantly on stage, carries a subdued, haunted air since recent events, and as a Village Head Fee family member, recently completed her coming-of-age ceremony. Her once-polished demeanor is frayed, her protectiveness now laced with emotional turbulence, her past elegance haunting her present.
• Iffens – Eldest son of the Fee family, village head of Strock Village and older brother to Larry, he fell in battle. Remembered as a solemn, battle‑scarred figure, his death casts a heavy emotional shadow over the household and fuels Yutia’s fear.
• Grete – She is a small, stern‑looking woman with a prickly demeanor, serving as Uncle Klaus’s mistress and a highly capable clerk. Precise and efficient in her administrative work, she has taken refuge in the village to escape Aunt Camilla’s jealousy.
• Hans – Mad Dog, a 17‑year‑old, nearly 2 m tall and over 100 kg, is the rugged, wild‑eyed second son of Strock Village’s Head and heir to the Kessler estate. Once a delinquent youth‑brigade leader, he abandoned his duties, crashed a ceremony, and now enforces the Village Head’s will with brute strength, while his aggressive, decisive brother refuses the headship.
• Klaus – Thin, nervous uncle of the Thalbach family, head of its finance department and vassal to Viscount Bizan. He wears a light grey cloak and a black hat with gold ornaments. Deep dark circles mark his high‑strung face; his workload and his wife’s jealousy overwhelm him. Larry and Hans both dislike him.
• Herta – Head maid of the Village Head’s main house, a slightly plump, voluptuous woman with a large chest, respected by staff and close to the family. She mediates domestic disputes, offers tea or ale to calm tensions, secretly loves Egil, and treats Larry as kin while serving meals and providing emotional support.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Ursula – Ursula Ullman, 28, tall and dark‑haired, is the virgin wife of the local pastor and former maid of Aunt Camilla. Highly composed and politically astute, she now serves as Hans’s fiancée, a union threatened by family intrigue and opposition.
• Monica – Sun‑tanned, tomboyish fifteen‑year‑old widow, childhood friend of Larry, missing a front tooth. She raises her twin children while caring for infant niece Maria, serving as her wet nurse. Bitter over Larry’s neglect, she shows how war’s danger reaches even non‑combat villagers.
• Max – Uncle Klaus’s second son and Larry’s cousin.
• Lyrica – Larry’s niece, a toddler under three, appears innocent but harbors a demonic edge; she bluntly repeats scandalous gossip she overhears, exposing adult secrets with childlike honesty.
• Maria – The three-month-old second daughter of Ifens and Therese.
• Mar – A battle‑hardened veteran, clad in worn armor, uses door panels as shields and captures enemy crossbows; Larry’s comrade who teases him about his sister‑in‑law’s pampering, known as Martin to his companion Edmond.
• Fee – The Fee family name, carried by Larry, Hans, and Iffens. The family is central to the governance of Strock Village.
• Marie – She is a 15‑year‑old granddaughter of the village chief, also a military clerk whose looks and cynical, suspicious, interrogative demeanor mirror the girl Larry once knew as Iva. She pretends to harass him to hide their secret affair, placing village rules above personal desire.
• Alberto – A towering red‑haired former delinquent, over 210 cm tall and heavier than Hans, now an elder on the temporary Elders’ Council. He questions Larry’s future as Village Head, is engaged to Mary, and is a well‑known, key combatant in the village, known to Larry and Hans.
• Sonya – A petite, flat-chested Elf woman with a small frame and long lifespan, she serves as Ninth Commander of the 101st Golem Battalion, known as the Witch of the Black Forest, often wearing an oversized military cap; she wields telepathic empathy through touch, uses mana as a physical tool of dominance, and maintains a sadistic, triumphant dynamic in her intimate relationship with Louise.
• Commander – A man leading the mercenary press-gang at the south gate.
• Ferris – Granny, an ageless elf who looks like a 30‑year‑old but is centuries old, runs an inn and serves as the first Commander of the Golem Battalion, a former associate of the Second Sage. She speaks bluntly, claims to know Larry’s grandfather, and is the elderly woman Martin hopes to marry.
• Yutia – A hunched, muscularly abnormal servant girl with a severe speech impediment and lingering fever scars, once Teressa’s maid, now feels emotional distance as Larry’s status rises. Yet she remains dexterous, quietly serving Larry’s household with loyalty despite isolation. A village girl who gives Larry a braided hair charm for battle, she eats at the manor and is intimidated by Hans.
• Niko – Former slave head and expert in butchery. Encourages Larry’s masculine ‘Rite of Passage’.
• Egil – Tall, dark‑skinned head manservant with a shaved head, the household’s chief attendant. He commands respect, maintains close ties with the family and staff, and acknowledges Larry’s transition to Young Master.
• Tony – A friendly carriage driver in Uncle Klaus’s service, with a likable face and recently married a kitchen maid after a prior relationship ended. Quiet and hardworking, often seen resting after long journeys.
• Johann – Chief of Mauer Village, a massive-framed man and Larry’s father, bears the weight of leadership and tax season. Stern and pragmatic, he enforces harsh military realities while protecting his people as war looms.
• Mauer – A stout man from the Rosen family with thin, downy white hair. He wears a beige dalmatica.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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