Volume 4 Chapter 8 Handsome Guy Fails
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Three weeks had passed since Kondrad and his son were transferred.
Kondrad was recommended as the commander-in-chief of the kingdom’s army.
Technically, I’m the top of the military hierarchy, but I decided to let Kondrad handle all the practical work.
This appointment came about because both Akebus and Fristoph suggested making Kondrad the commander while they studied under him as vice-commanders.
Both Fristoph and Akebus were excellent leaders, but Kondrad won the soldiers’ loyalty in just two weeks, which led to his recommendation.
Despite his strict training regimen, he was well-liked. Honestly, it was surprising that he hadn’t been promoted to general before.
Moreover, his daughter Ane took command of a cavalry unit, recruiting women soldiers from the southern expeditionary force.
She successfully formed a thirty-horse cavalry unit, which now operates independently and is focused on training.
With Kondrad and his daughter, the army was starting to take shape.
As for town development, about 80% of the city walls were complete, and the exterior construction of the castle was finished. Since interior work was underway, I assigned idle personnel to widen the roads.
We began working on the northern road connecting the royal capital to Estfort and the western road leading from Estfort to Abyss Vena.
The start of the road expansion allowed Lila and the civil officers to negotiate lease contracts for roadside plots with traders from the royal capital and Abyss Vena.
Hinting at the zero-entry tax trick, they promoted land leases at a rate of five large silver coins per month.
Most of the contracts were signed with major traders handling bulky goods like food and general merchandise, which required large carts and numerous escorts but yielded modest profits.
For them, if the market entry tax becomes 0, their profit margins will increase, so paying 5 large silver coins a month to set up stores and warehouses in Estfort would still be quite profitable.
As a result, the rental contracts along the north town and the west town street are almost filled, and about 60 shops and warehouses are set to open.
This means that the Blackdagger family will secure a rental income of 3 hundred large silver coins a month, which totals 3 thousand 6 hundred large silver coins a year.
In terms of gold coins, that’s 36 coins, which means an annual income of 3 hundred 60 million gold coins from rent.
However, since the contract fees are not fixed for 3 years, they will negotiate each renewal with a maximum rent of one gold coin and a minimum rent of 5 large silver coins.
Therefore, popular locations will naturally see their rental fees increase.
Lila was excited, smiling brightly, saying, “There’s no other family that can bring in this much income as a landholding viscount!”
When I asked Lila, she said the average annual income for a landholding viscount family is around ten large gold coins, if that.
Thanks to this rental income, Estfort decided not to impose taxes on its citizens.
Our citizens will keep everything they earn.
This is expected to boost sales and activity in the market.
If people gather and goods sell, traders will come, and as traders gather, the rental fees along the town street will rise, which is the goal of this policy.
My town is steadily developing.
Thanks to the capable officials, my task today, now that I have some free time, is to finally turn Noemi, who has just received Aida’s permission, into a Carrier. I headed to the officer’s quarters where Noemi’s room is located.
When I arrived at Noemi’s room, I knocked on the door.
* * *
”It’s Kent, can I come in?”
”Y-yes, please come in.”
”E-Excuse me.”
I opened the door and entered the room, where Noemi was looking at me with a nervous expression.
Although Aida had informed her of my visit beforehand, it seemed she hadn’t been told the purpose of my visit.
”What is the reason for your visit today? Is there something wrong?”
”Oh, no. There’s no need to apologize. We’re really grateful for Noemi and her team’s ‘Black Bullet.’”
In fact, when it comes to monsters that the rookie-heavy ‘Red Valkyrie’ can’t handle, it’s become standard to send either my ‘Crimson Bride’ or ‘Black Bullet’ to take care of it.
”So, what brings you here? Ms. Aida mentioned it was something important. Is it about new equipment?”
”No, that’s not it. I’ve given Aida a budget, but she’s been having a tough time with it.”
”…Then, I’m not sure why you’re here…”
I took off my Illusion Glasses and switched to my natural vision, preparing to quickly turn Noemi into a Carrier after a long negotiation with Aida.
Noemi’s face was right in front of me──short blue hair, sharp black eyes, and a neutral, androgynous look.
Her body, while clearly feminine, was toned and firm from training.
”Sir Kent? What’s wrong? You never take off your glasses unless your eyes are bothering you.”
”Ah, well, today I just wanted to get a good look at your face.”
”Is that so? What’s so special about my face?”
Huh?
Something’s off… She’s acting differently than usual…
”Actually, I think I’ve fallen for you, Noemi.”
Feeling uneasy about Noemi’s reaction, I still delivered my killer line with my Handsome Guy combo.
Noemi seemed deep in thought after hearing my confession.
”…I’m not sure I understand, Sir Kent. What do you mean by saying you’ve fallen for me?”
Huh?
That’s not the response I expected, Ms. Noemi.
Her completely different reaction compared to other girls left me flustered.
”Um… Ms. Noemi? Don’t you think I’m charming or cool or something?”
”Sir Kent… Yes, I think you’re amazing. I really respect you. After all, you’re the one who defeated beast monsters and stood against hordes of monsters.”
Noemi looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
But I felt something was off, different from the other girls.
”So, what I’m saying is, I want Noemi to be my concubine. Do you understand?”
”W-what? Me, a concubine? Why? Sir Kent, don’t you already have many concubines? And there’s Ms. Aida too…”
Something was definitely strange…
I opened the log messages to figure out what was going on.
Huh?
There was no log of the Handsome Guy Skill activating on Noemi.
No way!
Was Noemi actually a man?!
If that’s the case, then Aida was with a man… This is insane!
I realized the Handsome Guy Skill didn’t work on Noemi, and I thought Aida stubbornly refused to make Noemi a concubine because she didn’t want it to be revealed that he was a man.
”N-no, Noemi is a girl, right?”
To deny Aida’s infidelity, I grabbed Noemi’s chest to check for any… well, you know.
Noemi’s chest felt like a rubber ball, bouncing with elasticity in my hand.
I confirmed Noemi was indeed a girl and sighed in relief.
”Kyaaaaaa! What are you doing?! Even if you’re Sir Kent, there are things you can and can’t do!”
*Thud*
Noemi’s full-powered punch landed right in my stomach.
With that one hit, I doubled over, clutching my stomach, and collapsed, losing consciousness.
* * *
When I came to, I was lying on Noemi’s bed.
Apparently, I got knocked out by Noemi’s deadly blow.
”Ah, Sir Kent. You’re awake?”
Noemi peered at me with a worried look.
Her face was filled with guilt.
”Oww…”
”A-are you okay? Should I call Lady Lana?”
”No, it’s okay…”
”Excuse me, but Sir Kent suddenly grabbed my chest, so I reflexively punched you. I’m so sorry for resorting to violence against my employer, Sir Kent.”
I couldn’t believe that Noemi, despite being a woman, wasn’t affected by the Handsome Guy virus.
Since coming to Grimoire, I’d never met a girl like her before.
Since there was no log of Handsome Guy activating, it seemed that Handsome Guy didn’t work on her.
A woman who’s immune to Handsome Guy…
”Ah, no, it’s fine. I was the one who acted rudely earlier. Sorry…”
”No, I’m the one who should apologize. By the way, Sir Kent asked me to become his concubine, but… I’m too busy with ‘Black Bullet,’ so I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”
Noemi flatly refused to become my concubine.
Since Handsome Guy didn’t work on her, I realized my looks wouldn’t win her over, so I decided to rethink my strategy and try again later.
”I see… I’ll give up for today, then.”
”Just for today? I do respect you, Sir Kent.”
”Ah, yeah. Thanks. I’ll come again.”
I got off Noemi’s bed, rubbed my aching stomach, and headed back to my room.
* * *
Back in my room, I opened the combat evaluation report of the ‘Black Bullet’ members that Helga and the others had prepared and decided to check Noemi’s current jobs and skills.
As I looked through it, most of the skills and jobs were familiar, but there was one skill I’d never seen or heard of before.
It was a skill called [Simple-mindedness].
I couldn’t check its effect because Noemi wasn’t a s*x slave or a member of my ‘Crimson Bride,’ so I couldn’t access her status screen.
Even if you try to check the effect of the skill, you cannot. Because Noemi is neither a s*x slave nor a member of my Crimson Bride, I cannot check her status.
I had no choice but to call Lina, who is becoming a major researcher in skills and jobs, and ask her.
* * *
”So, what’s up today? You only call me when you want to have s*x or when you want to say something outrageous, right?”
Lina was in a bad mood as soon as she came to my room.
She seems to be practicing magic with Carlamia recently, but it’s not going very well.
”Lina seems to be in a bad mood, so I think I’ll stop… I feel like you might get angry.”
”Don’t call me and then act like you don’t care!”
Lina jumped in as if she was going to bite.
I fell onto the bed with the force of holding her.
Lina immediately takes the mount position.
”I’m not busy either, so in this situation, I’m not going to let this go.”
”Okay, I’ll tell you. Please don’t hit me.”
”Well then, say it quickly.”
”I called Lina because I wanted your to tell me about the skill [Simple-mindedness]. The girl who had this skill didn’t become a Handsome Guy Carrier…”
Lina looked surprised when she heard what I said.
”Huh? [Simple-mindedness] has such a skill effect? From what I remember, it’s a skill that doesn’t work on charm-type skills at all, but it’s a pretty powerful skill that can even block [Handsome Guy]. Who has it?”
”Noemi from ‘Black Bullet’”
”Noemi…Ah! Aida’s lover. Who the hell had that girl [Simple-mindedness]?”
Lina seems to know Noemi as well.
I’m concerned about the phrase “Aida’s lover,” but it can’t be helped since they are actually in a physical relationship.
”Yeah, thanks to that I got hit right in the stomach with a Blow.”
”Well, you probably tried to make her your concubine and turn her into a Carrier, right? And then, you didn’t get the Handsome Guy message and you were treated like a molester, right?”
Everything Lina said was spot on and there was no room for rebuttal.
”You’re right”
”You already have so many beautiful concubines, so why are you still going to increase them?”
”I definitely want to increase the number. You can’t really tell how cute and beautiful Lina is without comparing you to other beauties.”
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply