The Damn Family Is Back Again

216 – 216. Turning Point (3)

“Don’t you think rumors are somewhat irrelevant?”

“Indeed. Unlike taking a rest week for the fourth-week evaluation, when you’re as talented as you are, you don’t receive any criticism.”

“It’s not just about talent, lately something else has been more noticeable… Ahem.”

“Mmm~ That’s true. Perhaps it’s the appearance that has particularly changed?”

The young ladies’ laughter echoed.

It was irritating.

And somehow, it made me feel worse.

No, this isn’t the place.

There’s no need to stir up trouble in the conference room.

Let it go. It’s better not to get caught up in the affairs of the Theresia Ducal Family.

Harnie tried to regain her poker face.

But then, a young lady’s voice grated on her nerves once again.

“Since there’s no fiancée, the first to claim him wins, right?”

What? No fiancée? Why wouldn’t there be!

Harnie was about to turn her head and shout.

But then. Just at that moment, she was suddenly pulled in. By none other than Karsein.

“A person like you won’t be chosen.”

What…

What, what, what, what is this man saying!!!

To make such an abrupt statement in front of everyone…!

Startled, her heart pounded wildly.

And thanks to that racing heart, Harnie managed to come to her senses.

“Uh… Huh?”

She opens her eyes slightly, rubbing them gently.

This place is not a conference room, but inside a carriage.

That’s right. The 5th-week report meeting had ended a while ago.

Both I and Karsein had finished without any issues.

That means…

It was a dream.

“Ugh… really.”

To have such a strange dream.

A wave of heat and embarrassment swept over her entire body.

“Karsein is…”

He’s asleep. I worried for a moment that he might stir and disturb my sleep.

Fortunately, he was still asleep, leaning against my body.

Watching Karsein sleep, I vaguely recall what happened as soon as we entered the carriage.

“I must have fallen asleep too.”

Harnie sighs.

I was already tired from the 5th-week report. It’s not so strange that I suddenly fell asleep at this late hour, especially after going to the Onoph Bridge with Karsein.

“But it’s unusual. It wasn’t me who fell asleep first, but Karsein.”

Karsein usually holds something in his hand, even in the carriage.

He always had documents with him, calculating the estate’s revenue, production costs of crops, food expenses, and subsidies. If not that, he would be calculating something in his notebook.

That means he’s always busy with work, even splitting his time in the carriage.

Every time I saw Karsein like that, I couldn’t help but sigh. I thought he should take a break sometimes.

But surprisingly, today, Karsein’s hands were empty.

He had closed his eyes quietly, not long after getting on the carriage.

The reason… perhaps he was tired too.

Maybe he fell asleep because he was physically or mentally exhausted from meeting his family.

“…Family.”

It’s not just someone else’s story.

Harnie is also trying to cut ties with the Count of Teresia.

The opportunity is slowly approaching.

The second phase of the plan to break free from the grasp of the Teresia family is underway.

If we can properly utilize the cracks caused by the blows we’ve dealt them, by autumn, we should be able to completely sever ties with the Theresia dukedom.

But if that happens…

-Swish.

That’s as far as the contract goes.

Leaving the dukedom would naturally distance me from Karsein.

The day I part from Karsein. The day the contract is terminated, and the oath’s gem loses its power. Realizing that day is approaching, my heart feels inexplicably tight.

…I didn’t want to be apart. Not from Karsein.

Biting my lip slightly, Harunie pondered.

“If we continue the contract… wouldn’t that be possible?”

Karsein said. The reason he hesitates to join the Plescia Trading Company is because of the risk of returning to the dukedom.

The Plescia Trading Company has a decent reputation, but the power of a mere trading company can’t withstand the duke’s restraint.

But what if it’s not just one trading company, but a family standing against him?

“…Yeah. It might be possible on this side. No, it is possible.”

Not leaving the dukedom means the contract naturally extends.

This also leads in the direction of achieving Harunie’s goal. It might take a bit more time, though.

“Right. Instead of escaping the dukedom’s clutches, we should swallow it whole. Then everything can be resolved.”

Just wait a little longer, Karsein.

I will help you.

“First, we should start with you getting a good night’s sleep.”

Harunie laid Karsein on her thigh and smiled sweetly.

***

As the night deepens.

Arina, having put aside her paperwork, heads to bed.

Into her head,

Suddenly, Karsein’s voice resonates.

“…”

Just as she was about to slap her cheek. Karsein caught her wrist.

In the past, she would have been struck and fallen, or her mouth would have burst and bled. But this time, he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

-If you thought I’d always stand in the same place, you’re sorely mistaken. Arina Bagrand.

And then, he pronounced his verdict proudly before her.

I had changed from before.

“Watch me until the end. And if I fail spectacularly, just as you say, then do whatever you want. Lock me in a cell, make me do only what you want in the mansion, or strip me of the duchy’s name—I won’t care.”

Grit.

My fingernails dug into my palm, turning white.

“How dare you…!”

Watch until the end?

Can’t you see the future where you fail spectacularly, pointed at by the nobles, and the family’s prestige hits rock bottom again?

“Ha. What lengths will I have to go to fix things this time?”

My head is already throbbing.

What to offer, what to provide to stabilize the public sentiment.

Thinking of the losses in this process makes my blood boil.

Maybe I should have forced you to give up with power, I regret not doing so.

Just when I was overwhelmed with regret, the sensation of my wrist caught by Karsein came creeping back.

…It was definitely a hand filled with mana.

Because I swung it with emotion, I didn’t control the strength, and it was filled with mana.

Does that mean… he really grew?

“Hmph. That’s impossible.”

If he had grown, then the fundamental problems of the Chatren territory should have been solved, and the lives of the residents should have changed—a conclusion I should have reached already.

Despite using all means for five weeks, I concluded that the development of the territory itself was impossible.

To think that you couldn’t break that stubbornness and instead doubled the mistakes until the final announcement day.

“It’s better this way. Mother has been lenient, and there was no chance to discipline you strictly.”

This incident will be an opportunity to completely fix Karsein’s unruliness with my own hands. As for the cleanup, I can handle it somehow.

Arina clicked her tongue and laid her head on the pillow.

-Ah. Do you prefer to discard things secretly, after all?

“…Tch!”

That’s just buying time or an excuse.

Because that’s the kind of person you are.

***

The next day arrived.

When I opened my eyes, I was resting on Harunie’s thigh, which made me sigh again… but that’s another story.

“Please… allow us to assist you, my lord!”

That was the first plea I heard upon my return to Chatren from its residents.

Such a scene would have been unthinkable before.

I would have been met with cries of “What lies will you tell this time?”

Accusations of wreaking havoc on their lands with some outrageous behavior.

The extremists would point fingers, claiming all my assertions were wrong, or they’d set traps, hoping I’d fall and hurt myself, or throw objects at me—that was the norm.

But their attitude had undergone a complete reversal.

Kneeling, prostrating themselves on the bare ground, their demeanor was now one of earnest supplication, devoid of any defiance.

-Ding!

▶You can now issue commands to the residents of Chatren.◀

I had successfully seized control of Chatren, enabling me to issue orders that were once impossible.

However, as I had seen several times before, the options related to estate management and several key UI elements did not appear.

It meant that I couldn’t just press buttons or keys; I had to govern this territory directly.

But that wasn’t too difficult.

“Following your instructions to erect fences and adjust the spacing between seeds has made the work much easier to manage visually. How could such a thing…”

“Not only on your land, my lord, but the average quality on our lands has greatly improved as well. The number of dying crops has significantly decreased.”

“We’ve gathered all the fertilizer you advised against using in one warehouse! We can’t do anything about the money already spent, but… we’ve all promised to follow your will and not use it!”

All I needed to do was to gradually make changes based on the information I had discovered and the reality on the ground.

Starting with farming methods, I planned to tweak soil management, and then use the information gleaned from these to optimize further.

Unlike reality, this world was infused with fantastical elements, so I had to find answers through research and experimentation, but there was plenty of time.

And so, a day. Two days.

As time flowed, Chatren steadily improved.

Crops of grade C or higher, which I could barely harvest from the lands I managed directly, were now beginning to appear throughout Chatren.

However.

Not all problems had been resolved.

“Ah, ahhh!”

“Mandrenia is…!”

The fields were, as usual, filled with Chatren strawberries and Chatren grapes growing… but something entirely different had emerged.

An abnormally enlarged central stem.

Like arms, two massive long branches had sprouted from the trunk.

With a loud snap, the large teeth and tongue became visible between the parted petals.

It was… no longer something that could be called a crop.

-Ding!

▶A hostile entity has appeared!◀

▶Lv. 30◀

▶Red Mandrenia◀

▶Lv. 32◀

▶Purple Mandrenia◀

“Monsters appearing in the heart of the Chatren estate?!”

Dealing with monsters was a common occurrence in this game.

Typically, to increase Karsein’s stats, one would level up by hunting monsters.

But in the middle of the estate.

And in a field where crops were being cultivated, such an event was unheard of.

“…Damn, now’s not the time to be thinking about that.”

▶The more the residents suffer, the more the estate’s development decreases.◀

▶Eliminate the monsters as quickly as possible.◀

Since it mentioned a decrease in development, I had to eliminate that first.

“Talphone!”

“Right!”

Fortunately, the stats of the monsters that appeared as hostile entities weren’t too high. I had raised my stats enough to be able to eliminate them alone, and even if there were many, the Westerners, who could be called specialists in monster combat, had entered my land as agents.

Even if Karsein’s main body was in danger, it would be troublesome, but with the swordsmanship skills of the Wederos Kingdom, I could eliminate them without any trouble, even if they were strong entities.

The mana-infused sword neatly arranged the stems, and after a couple of simple patterns, the Mandrenias disappeared easily.

-Thud.

Where the Mandrenia vanished, something quite familiar dropped.

“What’s this…?”

It was the stump of the tree I had seen in the field.

“So this is what the Mandrenia monster drops when it dies?”

“Huff, huff. That’s known to be the corpse dropped by a mutant of the crop we cultivate.”

Just then, Breim hurried over and said to me,

“But the truth is, that’s not all there is to it. May I change places with you?”