Chapter 213 What About My Worries？
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Even with Yoluminette and Ninim back, and Keldan’s trade and economy slowly healing, new problems kept pouring in one after another.
The first blow was this—someone had been assigned to watch over me.
”I’ve come from the Security Division… Vasily Isotov. Pleased to meet you.”
He was an old man, frail in body yet sharp as a hawk, his cold eyes cutting like a blade.
The kind of man whose very presence reeked of suspicion.
Sent as a political officer from the Security Division, his every word dripped with mockery as he needled me over the smallest details.
”Honorary Count, might I see the military ledgers? Oh? Don’t tell me… you don’t even know the budget for your own units?”
The smirk on his wrinkled face was enough to make me want to throttle him. Ayumu could only pray to the goddess that this half-dead relic would step with both feet into his coffin sooner rather than later.
* * *
The second trouble came in waves: starving serfs and even Bandit Knights invading from across Yugan.
By rights, peasants and serfs had no freedom to leave their lords’ estates. Yet, driven by hunger, they fled their lands and poured into Keldan—dreaming of a life where no one starved.
Why Keldan?
Because this city, once a slum, kept taxes low. Because hidden farms and untaxed plots were quietly tolerated. Because the public kitchens he had opened served meals cheaply—or even free. Word had spread, and the desperate came running.
Most were Elandric and Yugan folk from the northeast, under the iron rule of the Pro-War Faction. Crushed by reckless farming plans, they faced winter with no food. Freeze to death, or starve—that was all the choice they had.
Gaunt and skeletal, they fled in whole villages, running half-naked through snow and monsters, clinging to life until they reached Keldan.
By law, serfs could abandon a lord only if his cruelty or the labor was unbearable. In exchange, they lost land rights and became free market folk. Feudal law gave their lord one week to reclaim them—no more. It was their rightful escape.
Yes, taking them in cost money. But more workers meant more production, more buyers. In the long run, it would strengthen the domain. On principle and on mercy, I wanted to accept them.
But… politically? In noble society, it was the worst look imaginable: stealing subjects from other lords.
Sure enough, a letter arrived from Lord Doll, Yoluminette’s former superior and a great lord of the northeast:
”Shame on you, you vile thief of peasants! I demand the return of all fugitives at once!”
Naturally, he refused. “Denied. In the name of law and humanity, I shall protect His Majesty’s people.”
* * *
Still, using the merchants’ network to screen out the truly starving while sending back opportunistic refugees only sparked riots. “Heartless monster!” they screamed, overturning carts in fury.
But the matter of the Bandit Knights was even worse.
Unlike serfs, these were actual knights—hungry men of rank who had banded together. They demanded tolls from merchants, harassed villages, claiming their “honor had been insulted,” and launched private feuds to extort heavy payments as “compensation.”
Savages, the lot of them.
And yet, when they finally captured some of the culprits—what he found left him speechless…
Dragged before him, the knight’s face struck a strange chord of memory.
He has seen him somewhere before…
”An honor to meet you again, Honorary Count. Do you remember me? It was back at the hunting party His Highness the Duke hosted…”
The Bandit Knight spoke with shameless ease, and then it hit me like a hammer.
This bastard—he was a knight of Duke Merizaev!
Panic welled up in hus chest. This was bad. Very, very bad. He had just arrested someone he should never have touched.
No matter how he twisted it, there was no way to win against Duke Merizaev’s massive military. His own power amounted to little more than a count’s office, while he bore the rank and weight of His Highness Duke—a noble officially equal to the emperor’s own daughters and sons. By right, he could claim sovereignty independent of Yugan’s laws.
Worse still, Keldan’s lifeline ran through his territory. Their trade relied not only on the sea but on the land routes that passed through the Duke’s domain. Only there could goods reach the Lukurusa Theocracy, mint of the Lukurusa Silver Coins and Great Silver Coins—the currency that served as the backbone of the demi-human continent’s economy, sanctioned by the holy authority of the Aria Religion.
If he punished this knight and drew the Duke’s ire, the consequences were clear: their access to the “world bank” would collapse. The Penny would crash, their credit shattered, and Keldan would default—economic ruin.
He forced a cough, masking the tension in his throat.
”Ahem… young man. Causing trouble in my lands is a problem, you know. Guards, remove his shackles.” he said.
”What? But, Your Excellency—” the guard protested.
”Just do it!”
Confused, the guard obeyed. He pulled the Bandit Knight close, a hand on the man’s shoulder.
”Listen carefully. I’ll give you money, a great deal of it. But you are never to set foot in my domain again. My position demands it. The next time I see your face here, you’ll die without question. Understood?”
The knight’s eyes widened, but he nodded. The duke shoved a heavy purse into his hand and sent him on his way.
Then he moved swiftly. To Duke Merizaev he proposed something bolder: food aid for the Pro-War Faction’s starving fiefs, under supervision to prevent embezzlement, tied to revised agricultural plans.
Through this, he reframed the matter—arguing that other lords were at fault for losing their peasants, while Keldan was only protecting those who had fled.
Just as he had hoped, relations with the Pro-War Faction remained intact. They secured monitored food relief, revised farming practices, and even managed to absorb some refugees into their fold.
The results spoke for themselves. Thanks to political maneuvering, not only Keldan but other economic-faction lands saw a sharp drop in bandit raids. (After all, the Bandit Knights had been busy preying on them too.)
Even Duke Ralka and Duke Merizaev smiled at the outcome, their regard for him climbing higher.
And in a rare moment of unity, both declared, “Interference in Keldan’s domestic policy, its tax cuts, or Sanai’s reforms must not be tolerated!”
With their voices aligned, the lesser lords fell silent.
Lord Doll, fuming, demanded a duel to restore his “honor.” But when he flatly refused—”I have no intention of dueling”—all Doll could do was shriek in frustration.
”You cur! Do you have no pride as a nobleman?!”
Pride? Please. He hadn’t even worn the mantle of nobility for long.
Still, Yoluminette and the others scolded him bitterly. “Why didn’t you accept, my lord? Why not fight him like a man?!”
Notes:
• Yoluminette – Elandric warrior from Keldan, tall and sharp-eyed; first in Ch.146; master swordswoman using Ten-Man Slash; no family known; fought and slew bandits before Ayumu arrived, then joined his forces; stoic yet prideful, often escalates fights over petty things like cream puffs. takes “senpai” pride very seriously
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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