Volume 3 Chapter 31 Yoghess
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
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I woke to the warmth filling the room thanks to the pechka1 and sat up without any trouble. When I looked around, I found several brats sleeping under blankets on the carpet, but something immediately felt off. There should have been seven of them. Instead, only five were sprawled across the floor.
(Did two of them run off?)
I turned toward the bed beside mine. Katri was nowhere to be seen, though two girls were sleeping there instead. They were sisters from Rente, one of the towns that had vanished during the fighting.
A moment later, the door creaked open. A gust of cold air slipped inside, followed by Katri in her maid uniform, her arms wrapped around a bundle of firewood.
”You could have made the kids carry that.”
I got up and took the load from her before she could protest.
”Oh, last night Inga and Laima—the sisters—climbed into my bed,” Katri said, her voice softening. “They kept calling me ‘Mama.’”
I blinked.
(Katri-san, did your character settings suddenly change?)
The maid who usually carried herself with perfect composure was nowhere to be seen. The woman standing before me now looked every bit like a mother worrying over her children.
”So, what shall we do today?” she asked, instantly returning to her usual professional self.
”Nothing in particular. I was thinking about finding foster families for the kids.”
”Are you planning to send them away?”
There was a lonely note in her voice that suggested she had already grown attached.
”Until we find someone,” she continued, “would it be alright if I taught them things like baking bread and doing laundry?”
”That is fine, but—”
”And if any of them turn out to be responsible children, may I have them help with my work?”
Looking at her face, I had a feeling she was already preparing to adopt every last one of them.
”Did you have a lot of siblings, Katri?”
”Yes, sir.” She gave a respectful nod. “I was the third youngest of eight children. By the time I left home for the maid academy, the youngest had already passed away.”
I understood.
The original Larry had lost three younger brothers to plague and an older brother in battle. Memories of that noisy, overcrowded household still lingered somewhere in the back of my mind.
”Do whatever you want.”
”Thank you very much, sir. In return, I shall provide you with some… service… tonight.”
(Heh.)
”Service,” she repeated.
She absolutely knew how that sounded.
After breakfast, she immediately rounded up the girls and marched them outside with armfuls of mud-stained clothes so she could teach them how to do laundry.
”Hey, Old Man. Are we not doing anything?”
I had stretched out beside the warm pechka in hopes of enjoying a lazy nap when the oldest brat—the same one who had been groping Katri in the bath during all that chaos—called out to me.
”Hah? Who are you calling ‘Old Man’?”
”Who else?” the boy shot back. “You’re sitting around while the lady does all the work.”
So that was what qualified someone as an old man in his mind.
Three boys remained behind. The oldest little pervert looked about ten, the middle one was around elementary-school age, and the youngest was three years old and incapable of being left unattended.
”Fine,” I grunted. “Let me sleep a little longer, then we will go to the sea.”
”The sea? Are we going to catch fish?”
”Fishing, Old Man?”
”Old Man! Fish!”
Noisy little monsters.
Still, the more time I spent around them, the easier this language became to understand.
”Hey, you’re the oldest, right? Keep an eye on the little one.”
”It is not ‘you.’ My name is Janis,” the boy snapped. “The little one is Maris, and the middle one is Andris.”
”Fine, Janis. Then act like the big brother and watch them properly.”
”Huh? You’re the one with the most years on your back, Old Man.”
”Dummy. An old man is in a category of his own. Keep complaining and I will not take you anywhere.”
Grumbling the whole time, Janis accepted the role. Since I had already promised, I helped the brats get dressed and gathered buckets and tubs before heading out.
”Are we putting the fish in these?” Janis asked.
As if.
Once we reached the beach outside the gate, I had them wash the dust out of the tubs.
”Leave them in front of the bathhouse.”
The words slipped out in Schweilitz before I noticed, yet the boys somehow understood and carried the tubs inside.
”Alright. We are gathering shellfish.”
”Ugh. Shellfish?” Janis groaned. “What happened to fishing?”
(Listen, brat. Do you see a fishing rod anywhere?)
When I first arrived in Yoghess, shellfish had covered the beach. Two days later, almost all of them had vanished. According to Iri, the fisherman’s daughter, they had returned to deeper waters and would slowly come back around March. Since the month was already halfway over and the tide was pulling out, I figured it was time to start gathering again.
We walked to the water’s edge and dug into the gravel. Clams immediately began appearing one after another.
”We are going to eat these, so leave the small ones alone,” I instructed. “Only collect the large ones.”
The boys had complained at first, but the moment they started uncovering shells, they became completely absorbed in the hunt.
”Old Man, look!”
I glanced over and saw Andris proudly holding up a massive geoduck.
”Whoa,” Janis laughed. “That thing looks like a total d**k.”
Given the shape, I could not exactly argue. The thick siphon protruding from the shell refused to retract and looked embarrassingly close to a boy’s uncircumcised member—only several times larger.
”Can you eat it, Old Man?” Andris asked.
”Yeah. You can eat it. Where did you find that thing?”
He explained that water had been squirting from the sand like someone peeing, so he dug there and pulled it out.
Within an hour, we had gathered two buckets of shellfish and nearly a dozen geoducks.
There were so many that I filled another tub with seawater so they could purge the sand. The boys sulked when I told them they would have to wait until tomorrow before eating any of it, and they still had more energy than sense. Before long they were tearing around the house, making it impossible to relax, so I took them down to the harbor instead.
”Old Man, what is happening over there?” Janis asked.
I had no idea.
The harbor was in an uproar. Flat-bottomed boats were already pushing off from shore, while the lead vessel had become little more than a distant speck. Each boat carried around ten men armed with spears and rowing hard toward the sea.
”A whale has come in, sir.”
At some point Antony’s old man had wandered over beside us.
”Hey, old man, what happened to your face?”
Long scratches ran across his cheeks as though some wild beast had clawed him.
His widow had discovered that he visited a brothel in Bryachislavichi.
”Wait. She did that just because you slept with a working girl?”
”Well, I should have apologized the moment I came home,” he admitted. “Instead, somebody else told her first. The rest is what you see.”
Looking at his face was painful.
”It may not matter for a lord like you, sir,” he said solemnly, “but the secret to a happy marriage is simple. Never tell a lie that can be exposed. And if you do lie, keep lying until the day you die.”
”Right.”
(I am not lying, though.)
(At worst, I am getting swept along by events and forgetting to report them properly.)
Panu, acting as my bodyguard, was aboard the last boat to leave.
”Old Man! Look!”
Janis pointed toward the sea.
Far in the distance, a whale burst through the surface and sprayed water into the air while the boats continued their pursuit.
”Can they actually catch it?”
”Just watch,” the old man replied with a grin that looked painful on his scratched face.
He headed toward the southern beach to watch the hunt, and we followed.
”Janis, keep an eye on Maris.”
”Yeah, yeah.”
The conversation was a messy blend of Schweilitz and Finn-Samy, but somehow we understood each other. It seemed my language skills improved whenever children were involved.
The whale’s end came quickly. A harpoon from the lead boat struck first, and once the others caught up, more harpoons followed in rapid succession. The beast thrashed violently for a while before finally going still, after which the victorious boats began towing it back toward shore.
The whale was roughly the same length as one of the boats, perhaps ten meters at most. It was a baleen whale with small pectoral fins and a surprisingly sleek body. Once dead, however, its pale-ribbed belly sagged limply beneath its weight.
A rope was secured to the tail, and the carcass was hauled onto the beach.
The butchering started immediately.
A blade shaped like a naginata split open the belly, and steaming innards poured across the sand in an avalanche of flesh. While some men worked on the organs, others stripped away the skin and blubber, severed the head and fins, and carved the body into enormous cuts of meat.
Soon the fishermen’s widows arrived carrying buckets and began washing the organs in seawater.
”Lord Fee, take this.”
The old man handed me a warm cut from near the tail.
”Thanks.”
”You should soak it in seawater right away to draw out the blood. It tastes excellent.”
According to him, the whale’s tongue and the upper tail meat were considered the finest cuts. Most of those went to the lord’s household and to the man who landed the first harpoon.
The children stared at the butchering with complete fascination.
Since I had no choice but to keep an eye on them, I carried the meat home. Katri and the girls had already finished washing the clothes and were hanging them from ropes stretched across the yard.
When I told them we had been given whale meat, we immediately soaked it in a bucket of seawater. The flesh was even redder than beef, and dark crimson blood slowly seeped into the water.
”Let us go back to the beach after we finish hanging everything,” Katri suggested.
Following her lead, we returned.
By then the beach had turned into a massive cookout.
Later, I learned that the skin, blubber, bones, baleen, and fins were all separated for processing, while the lean meat was distributed among the fishermen according to their labor. The remaining organs, however, were roasted on the spot and handed out to anyone who wanted them.
Farmers, guards, fishermen, wives, and children all crowded around the fires. Since everything was first-come, first-served, a swirling mass of hungry people had formed around the cooking pits.
Janis emerged from the crowd dragging Maris by the hand, happily chewing on something.
The moment the girls saw him, they charged straight into the mob themselves.
That evening, while I grilled the whale meat we had received, Thomas arrived with Pamela, the well-endowed Pia, and the priest’s daughter from Trabius.
”Smells good in here, hey.”
Without waiting for permission, Thomas snatched a piece of meat from the grill and swallowed it whole.
”Hey, Big Guy!” Janis shouted. “That is our meat!”
The boy tried kicking Thomas, but the attack did not even register.
”What is this kid?” Thomas asked.
”An orphan from a village burned down by the Proton Order. I brought them here.”
”Hah. Doing the same thing the Old Master used to do, are you?”
He reached for another piece.
I smacked his hand with the cooking chopsticks.
”Is that not a bit stingy?” Thomas complained. “This stuff is good.”
”We have a lot of mouths to feed.”
”You are a real miser.”
”So what happened to Manuela and Iri?”
Iri, it turned out, would be staying in Trabius for a while as a Golems User.
Manuela was another matter entirely.
The moment her name came up, a different thread connected itself in my mind. She was the wife of Marc von Haritz, the man who had once tried to restore the Haritz family in these lands, and she was also a friend of Marie, who was waiting for me in the capital of Schweilitz with my daughter.
”Since she’s the wife of the criminal Marque, we’ve been ordered to hand her over to Georg Major of the Schweilitz Trading Company,” the messenger said. “They’re sending her back to the mainland in April.”
”I see.”
There was little chance of mercy waiting for her there. After endless interrogations, slavery or execution would likely follow. Yet she carried herself with the quiet resignation of someone who had already accepted that outcome.
The Schweilitz Trading Company, acting as a front for the Kingdom’s Intelligence Bureau, had clearly already reached its decision. I had hoped that keeping her under my protection might leave room to maneuver, but that option was gone.
”Forget about that,” Thomas said. “Marque escaped.”
”What?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
I had not heard a single rumor about it. Perhaps the news had not reached Yoghess yet. While I was still processing the revelation, Thomas casually reached for another piece of meat. I smacked his hand away with my chopsticks.
”How did he manage that? Before his followers could even leave Cain, I made sure…”
I had personally confirmed that every one of their leaders was dead.
”Looks like one slipped through.”
”Who?”
Only one answer came to mind, and I did not like it.
”You remember that Golem User from Cresar Village?”
A chill ran down my spine.
”The one who claimed to be an assistant professor from the old Haritz Duchy’s Magic School?”
”The very same. Max Werner. We heard he was a Level 4 Mana user, so we kept him locked beneath Pusta Village while we were training. We figured Cain wasn’t equipped to handle a mage. Somehow he broke out, rescued Marque, and disappeared.”
I frowned.
”Breaking out of a dungeon is one thing. Reaching Cain and extracting a prisoner is another.”
”Exactly. Someone probably helped him, but we don’t know who. Judging by the carriage tracks, they headed toward Rus.”
”So what happens now?”
”Nothing. We have no reliable way to contact the mainland. Besides, even if Marque is still the banner for a Haritz restoration, I doubt many people are eager to carry him on a2 mikoshi after everything that’s happened. If he’s running anywhere, it’ll be to the Proton Order. We can demand his extradition later as part of the war settlement.”
He was right.
Rus might be acting as mediator, but Duke Igor clearly distrusted Schweilitz interference, and Georg Major was undoubtedly making moves of his own. No one could afford to ignore us completely.
Even so, the unease remained.
”Which is why there’s no more meat for you,” I said, swatting Thomas away from the stove before handing the remaining portions to the hungry children.
”So what are you planning to do now?” I asked.
Thomas had already moved on to sampling the local lager.
”Spring work is about to start, so nobody’s going to war anytime soon. But tell me, how large were those villages that got destroyed?”
”The smaller one had around a dozen houses. The one near Polotsk had about thirty. Why?”
”I was thinking about establishing a3 tondenhei settlement. The scale fits. Any owners left?”
”Probably these kids. If anyone else survived, it can’t be many.”
Thomas folded his arms and looked down at the children. Hearing the names of their villages, they glanced back at us.
”You’re not planning to hand the land over to them right away, are you?” I asked.
”No. They’re too young. Before anyone can live there, we’d have to clear timber, build shelters, and prepare fields, and if trouble comes, the settlers would also serve as militia. I don’t have the spare time to babysit a bunch of runts.”
He had a point.
”Do you want to go home?” I asked the children.
They exchanged uncertain looks before Janis answered.
”We do. But there’s nothing left there anymore. So… please let us stay here.”
I blinked.
Wait. I had never told them I was looking for foster families.
Across the room, Katri watched the exchange with a suspiciously satisfied smile.
Beside her, Pamela gave me a look filled with pure exasperation.
I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Another burden.
Just when I was trying to build a nation, I was collecting baggage instead.
Yeah, I knew.
But you could not leave children to fend for themselves after everything that had happened.
That night, after everyone settled in, I finally had a chance to rest.
Katri leaned close and whispered into my ear.
”You said I would receive some service tonight, did you not?”
Right.
I remembered.
A little later, the room had gone dark except for the faint glow from the hearth. The others were already asleep, and for the first time all day, things seemed peaceful.
Then the blanket shifted.
”Papa, I have to pee.”
I froze.
Maris stood there with half-closed eyes, still fighting sleep. Unfortunately, she was not alone. Janis and two of the older girls were peering over her shoulder with undisguised curiosity.
”What do you think you’re doing?”
”Nothing. We just heard weird noises.”
”Janis, take Maris to the latrine.”
”Ugh. Fine.”
”Don’t ‘fine’ me. Go.”
The moment he realized I was serious, Janis grabbed Maris by the hand and hurried out. The girls vanished just as quickly.
The room finally fell quiet again.
I stared at the ceiling.
Tomorrow, I was putting those brats into Thomas’s plans first.
—
Summary:
Earnest manages the household of orphans while observing Katri’s shift toward a maternal role. After a successful day of gathering shellfish and witnessing a local whaling event at the beach, he returns home to grill meat. The evening is interrupted by Thomas, who arrives with a group of women and questions Earnest about the missing Manuela and Iri.
The protagonist discusses political developments with Thomas, including the prison escape of the criminal Marque and the potential for a colonial militia at destroyed village sites. He faces domestic tension as he cares for a group of orphans while navigating his own romantic entanglements with Katri, Pamela, and Pia. The situation ends in a comedic intrusion by the children, leaving his romantic plans frustrated.
—
Trivia:
The orphans refer to Earnest as ‘Old Man’ as a term for someone who avoids manual labor while others work.
Katri’s background as one of eight siblings in a family where the youngest died highlights her protective nature.
The beach shellfish population in Yoghess follows a seasonal cycle, returning in March.
Whale consumption is highly regulated, with distribution based on labor and status, though internal organs are shared communally.
The protagonist previously killed all of Marque’s supporters except for the Golem User Max Werner.
The Schweilitz Trading Company acts as a front for the Kingdom’s Intelligence Bureau.
The protagonist intends to develop the destroyed villages over the course of a year.
The orphan children hold the land rights to the destroyed villages.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Katri – A composed, multilingual Moscow Maid School graduate, she serves at the Viscount’s Palace, attending to the protagonist as a forward romantic partner, local informant, and disciplinarian. Bound to Sanna and Larry, this skilled, professional maid hides a nurturing core beneath a sadistic penchant for shibari and verbal discipline, co-caring for war orphans and holding a mysterious link with Earnest.
• Laima – A six-year-old sister from Janis’s village. A young orphan girl and sister to Inga who has recently joined Earnest’s care.
• Inga – A young orphan girl and sister to Laima who has recently joined Earnest’s care. An eight-year-old sister from Janis’s village.
• Larry – Reincarnated into a new world, this 14-year-old dark-haired youth/man masquerades as a merchant’s son while ruling as the Grand Duke of the Fee Grand Principality. A cynical, overworked Magic Academy Associate Professor facing a pending death penalty, he uses modern engineering knowledge for political and technological reforms. He pragmatically manages military forces, diplomatic plots, and his four wives (including Marie).
• Andris – A middle child among the orphans who possesses a keen eye for survival and discovery. A young boy from a village who works in peat harvesting.
• Janis – The former Lord of Mustope who betrayed his position, he is now a young peat-harvesting village boy and the eldest of the children under the protagonist’s care. As the street-smart, self-appointed leader and spokesperson for his war orphan group, he maintains a fierce, guardian-like protectiveness over his charges, despite hiding behind a stubborn, defensive, and confrontational demeanor.
• Maris – The youngest child in the group who disrupts the protagonist’s evening.
• 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.
• Schweilitz – A kingdom possessing an advanced magic academy and military arsenal. A person or entity whose current situation is deemed unfavorable by the protagonist, leading to fears of execution.
• 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.
• Yoghess – A frontier town of about one thousand residents, named after its ruling lineage. Its current lord, who shares the family name with his third son Darius, is a local ruler in the region. He maintains a strained relationship and is currently on bad terms with both Cresare and Mustobe.
• Marc – Marc von Harritz, the curly-haired, medium-built second son of a noble family and grandson of a former Marquis, retains his lineage despite being reduced to a slave. Infamous for a masked dogeza apology at the Magic School, he now leads a village and protects orphaned children after a recent conflict. Currently held as a prisoner awaiting transport, he is pragmatic, slightly weary, and protective.
• Iri – A thirteen-year-old Yoghess girl with soft features, she is a capable young woman stationed in Trabius. Abducted and sold to Larry—who envisions a seaside future with her—she stays by his side, managing awakening desires and Level 4 mana. An associate of the protagonist, she serves as a fisherman, steward’s daughter, and golem pilot for defense, while also protesting the mapping expedition.
• Antony – A nineteen-year-old coachman, guide, and Larry’s blunt, observant assistant. The intelligent son of a fur merchant, he acts as an interpreter, advisor, and local fisherman. Besides providing vital tactical info on local gates and frozen river navigation, he serves as a father figure who offers seasoned advice on domestic life and is mentioned in connection with the spread of rumors.
• Bryachislavichi – The family name associated with Prince Igor.
• Panu – A slight, dark-haired youth who serves as an escort and wagon coachman under the protagonist, and previously served under Earnest. With razor-sharp reflexes, he manages horses and steering during intense combat, participates in local whaling operations, and acts as a bodyguard. He is an archer highly skilled with bows and arrows, an asset he occasionally uses for fishing.
• Fee – Larry Fee Getys, a fifteen-year-old reincarnated youth and titular Duke, heads the Getys household governing Strock Village alongside Hans and Iffens. This pragmatic, telepathic protagonist navigates feudal intrigue and founds a new nation. Supported by family, including Teressa and maid Nico, his high status earns prime whale meat. Connected to Adolf and underworld structures, his lineage name aligns with the protagonist.
• Pamela – An arrogant, petite Elf mage, logistics head, and Larry’s possessive Primary Wife who recently returned from Cain. Hiding her ears and slave crest under white Gothic Lolita fashion, she is an associate of Thomas and Earnest. Pragmatic yet weary of Larry’s impulses, she acts as an amber-charging specialist, vocal leader for group relationship dynamics, and grumbling protector of their children.
• Thomas – Thomas Bauer is a hulking, middle-aged Schweilitz Major and General with a wrestler build, red face, and scalp burns. Brash yet reliable, he serves as a security guard, logistical advisor, and confidant to the protagonist, Fee, and Earnest. He leads the Remar Islands occupation, captures Trabius, and manages agricultural reforms, while secretly plotting to build his own lordship.
• Pam – An escort to the protagonist who is observant and loyal.
• Pia – A naive, curvaceous Nurnhügel mage with a heavy, buxom figure, she serves as an assistant to the mapping expedition and is treated as personal property. Now part of the protagonist’s intimate circle, Larry’s submissiveness, and Thomas’s companion, she recently traveled to Cain. Wearing a long-skirted ensemble, silk blouse, and hooded robe, her telepathic power and perverted imagination contrast her lack of confidence.
• Manuela – An associate of the protagonist, this long-black-haired mage at Bizan Magic School failed Nurnhügel’s exams. Formerly married to a man restoring the Haritz house, she became a Marquis’s wife but was recently caught up in a wartime distribution of women. Now staying in the household after arriving with the maids, she wears a practical linen and silk one-piece with a wool-lined coat.
• Haritz – A town associated with a specific type of guard Golem used during a rebellion led by a now-deceased figure, whose remnants recently attempted to hijack the Cain estate.
• Marie – Larry’s sharp-tongued Strock Village partner is a Magic Academy student, lab employee, and postpartum manager raising her child in the Royal Capital. A peer to Darina and friend to Ange’s mother and Manuela, she keeps hair as a talisman. She is a feared potential threat who requested Kenze kill her husband, the protagonist, with whom she actually shares a close, affectionate bond.
• von – The noble particle ‘von’ indicates high social standing and ancestral roots connected to territorial estates within the Sabaski lineage. It marks the noble bloodline and full names of Annerose von Bülow, Walter von Riedel, and Marc von Harritz, establishing their shared aristocratic identity and familial relationship within the Kingdom.
• Marque – A figurehead leader and pawn carried like a portable shrine, Manuela’s ex-husband previously committed atrocities and was imprisoned in Cain. Fearful and easily intimidated by his former supporters, this criminal has now escaped from prison to stir up further trouble.
• Georg – A Major in the Kingdom of Schweilitz General Staff Foreign Affairs Division and Intelligence Bureau, serving as Chairman of the Schweilitz Trading Company (merchant guild). Known for his cold, monotone demeanor, Georg is a companion of Fee who was recently guided to the inn by a maid.
• Major – A commanding military officer with a sadistic inclination toward interrogation. She orchestrates the sessions and utilizes Telepathy to coordinate with her subordinates.
• Cain – A remote town serving as the enemy’s home base and the former site of Marque’s supporters. It is now centered around a man who established a house here, acting as a key figure for mapping operations and political negotiations.
• Ho – Ho, a comrade of the protagonist. A member of the military unit that defended Garao Village and was slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Cresar – A defensive frontline village, scarred by a recent battle against a Golem User, now uneasily houses the enemy Golem itself, straining relationships between the wary locals and their captive weapon.
• Werner – The bald, obese, dark-haired financier with sideburns was the Marquis’s cousin and the financial officer of the Haritz faction. Having served under the local administration to manage financial matters for the previous political order, he was ultimately executed for his role and allegiance.
• Pusta – A village containing an underground dungeon where high-level mages were once held.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Max – The second son of Uncle Klaus and cousin to both Larry and the Grand Duke, this former magic school assistant professor is a skilled Golem User who orchestrated a prison break and was later recruited to act as a body double.
• Rus – A neighboring power deeply involved in regional politics and mediation, best known for annexing the Kingdom of Larland.
• Igor – Duke of the Bryachislavichi line, second son of Count Pugachev, and ruler of the Polotsk Principality. Formerly an imperial hostage, he is a composed, refined diplomat devoted to the throne yet calmly manipulative. Wary of Schweilitz, he leverages local terrain and his daughter Ellie during a banquet at a chartered inn to entangle Lord Fee, using his multilingualism to navigate negotiations.
• Earnest – A cynical 40-year-old professor reincarnated as a youthful militia soldier and magic-tech expert navigates military intrigue in a broken world. Though possessing a pragmatic, ruthless exterior while commanding slaves and war orphans, a weary, compassionate core hides beneath his tough guise, shaping complex relationships and distorted morals as he fights for survival.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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