CH 14.1

Big cities were symbols of congestion and diversity.

But now, on the road along which I was riding, there was only still silence.

Many soldiers and knights lined up at intervals with their swords on both sides of the path while citizens were watching.

I could see numerous emotions in the passing faces, but it was mostly tension and fear.

The solemn and heavy atmosphere made me feel like a great tyrant.

Is it because the Lord’s seat had been empty for quite a while?

It was the first time in several years that a new ruler had been welcomed, so they were probably all anxious.

Because a Lord was an absolute being with omnipotent power, and if a madman sat on such a throne, it could become a literal living hell for them.

A typical example was the Sixth Lord—the Tyrant, or the Eight Lord—the Black Sea Empress.

But all their worries were for nothing.

I was already too busy taking care of my own life, so would there be time to sit down and play emperor?

I had no intention of directly intervening and ruling this land.

As long as I solve that one problem.

Alkimas Workshop was located here in Buckhorn City.

The owner of the place, the alchemist, Scarlett.

It’s a matter that needed to be resolved before I left in search of another mystery.

She was the talent I was planning to pull to my side, just like Asher.

The top priority was to improve the specs, but I should also take care of the talented people I could take care along the way.

If it’s this time, maybe they are currently being hit by the Varia Merchant Corps.

While thinking about this and that, the carriage soon arrived at a huge castle in the center of the city.

The procession of soldiers was filthy long, stretching all the way from the entrance of the city to the main gate of the castle. What kind of useless waste of manpower was this?

After passing through the front gate, I got off the carriage.

The two people who greeted me at the front were an elf wearing luxurious clothes and an old man with gray hair who looked like a butler at first glance.

The elf greeted me politely.

“Greetings to Enrock’s new master. I am Baslan, who was the regent of the territory.”

Regent? Was there anything like that?

There was no way that they would leave the seat of the Lord empty, so something like a regent was only natural when I thought about it.

I thought the other would explain this and that while guiding me to the castle, but the words that followed were unexpected.

“I was waiting to see and greet the Seventh Lord before I returned to the Overlord Castle.”

“…Return?”

“Yes, I am originally an administrator belonging to the Overlord’s Castle. I was dispatched here under the command of the Overlord and acted as the regent.”

Oh, was it like that?

He was an official with a high enough ranking to take the place of a Lord.

The old man next to him also came forward and introduced himself.

“I’m Floto, the butler of the castle.

The real guide was this one.

The elf immediately left the castle, and I entered the central hall of the castle, following Floto’s guidance.

The interior was exactly what I had imagined.

A typical landscape that came to mind when talking about a castle in a fantasy world. Spacious, splendid, majestic.

“The banquet is ready, my lord.”

I nodded.

Originally, I would have rejected it. But…

A day or so would be fine.

It’s not like I would leave the castle right away anyway, and it seemed like the other had already prepared everything. If I rejected it, I would ignore the effort made by the servants.

And since I had to look at the faces of the servants of the castle at least once, the banquet was, to some extent, was something that I just had to do.

…Honestly, it’s all excuses. I’m human too. So, I also wanted to take a break for a while. Because I had a hard time getting here.

With the mindset to work hard again from tomorrow, I enjoyed a comfortable rest today.

***

A huge mansion on the outskirts of Buckhorn City.

It was the building of the Varia Merchant Corps, which completely dominated and monopolized the upper road from the northern border of Enrock to Buckhorn.

Two men were sitting opposite each other in the upper living room, talking.

“So, what about the information about the new Seventh Lord, Brother?”

At the words of the man wearing an eyepatch, the dignified man shook his head.

He was Varia, the owner of the merchant company.

“There’s no particular gain. From what I’ve heard, he’s a complete outsider. And he’s human. Have you seen his face at the parade?”

“I’ve seen a glimpse from a distance. He’s quite pale.”

“Bark, even if there are no ears around to hear, I always told you to watch your mouth.”

“It’s only the two of us anyway, so it’s okay to talk comfortably.”

Bark grumbled lightly.

“This is a good situation for us. Those tenacious alchemists are now without a windshield.”

Alkimas Workshop.

An old group of alchemists in Buckhorn City.

Many efforts had been made for a long time now to get them out. But with the vacancy of the Seventh Lord’s seat, it came to nothing for a while.

For the past few years, the newly dispatched regent managed the city strictly.

Of course, bribes didn’t work.

However, with crowning of the new Lord, the situation had changed.

There were the ones who reigned at the highest level.

The competition for power and interests of those lower was nothing more than a fight between worms to them, so they cared little. Just like the previous Seventh Lord did.

As long as the new Seventh Lord was not a lunatic like the Tyrant or the Black Sea Empress, the situation would turn in favor of the upper ranks again.

“I’ll have to visit the workshop tomorrow.”

“Are you going to pressure them right away?”

“It’s true that the situation is in our favor, but we still don’t know what kind of character the Seventh Lord has. It’s best to make those people from Alkimas to raise the white flag on their own as quickly as possible.”

“That’s right. The workshop owner and the elders must have their pants twisted by now.”

Varia and Bark smiled evilly at each other.