Fun Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord (Novel) - Chapter 89 - Mulsia's Future

Chapter 89 – Mulsia’s Future

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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My youngest brother had slain a dragon.

When I heard that report, I found, strangely enough, that I could accept it honestly.

Normally, it was the kind of story I would first dismiss as nonsense. But when it came to Van, for some reason I could believe it.

An eight-year-old boy, elite though he might be, traveling with three knights, an old butler, a maid, and a slave child. His destination was a poor frontier village that might disappear at any time.

Everyone must have imagined that he would come home in tears in less than a year.

After all, he was only eight years old.

And yet that Van had governed a poor frontier village and slain a dragon. The king himself had recognized it.

Could there be anything more wonderful than that?

Without thinking, tears overflowed from my eyes.

“…You are crying, young man. Are you frustrated that your younger brother achieved merit before you?”

Asked that by His Majesty with a smile, I shook my head.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, it is the opposite. Learning of my younger brother as he is now, having grown great by overcoming adversity, I find him dazzling, and at the same time I feel deeply proud. He was never ordinary, even when he was very young. However, that had never produced any visible results… but now it is different. No one will think of Van as an ordinary child anymore. He is…”

Breaking off there, I raised my face and looked His Majesty straight in the eye.

“A hero of dragon subjugation.”

Those words came from the bottom of my heart.

At that, Father frowned, but His Majesty blinked as though amused.

“So that is your true feeling. In a sense, you are a man as lacking in greed as Baron Van himself. I had heard that it was the second and third sons who inherited the Marquis’s blood most strongly, but it seems you did not inherit much of your father’s ambition.”

Saying that, His Majesty turned his gaze back to Father.

“Marquis. When there are three men competing over the inheritance, surely it causes you no small amount of anxiety?”

“Y-yes… well…”

Unable to grasp the true meaning of His Majesty’s words, Father gave an ambiguous answer. His Majesty then nodded deeply and smiled.

“Then how about this, Marquis Fertio? Since you are still very much active and likely will be for a long time, why not have your gifted second and third sons support the marquis house while it prospers?”

“…What do you mean by that… Surely you do not mean that Mulsia should be made independent?”

At Father’s words, an involuntary “Eh?” escaped me.

Until now, Father had flown into rages and hurled abuse at me. He had called me incompetent as well.

But never had I imagined that the king himself would tell me to leave the house.

Crushed by unease, I lowered my face and stared at the ground.

The cold sweat that ran from my forehead fell to the earth and made dark spots.

I was to become independent?

Impossible. I had no such knowledge, no such experience. No, Van had overcome that adversity. Perhaps it was wrong of me to complain.

But I simply had no confidence. The mere thought of it made my heart pound painfully.

Feeling as though the anxiety might crush me, I stole a glance at Father’s face.

Even if this came from the king, it concerned the next head of the marquis house. Unless there was some extraordinary reason, he ought to have been able to refuse.

That was what I had thought. But when I saw Father’s face, I lost my words.

Before me was Father, averting his gaze from His Majesty’s eyes and thinking it over.

Why was he hesitating?

The answer was obvious.

He wanted to avoid the three brothers turning the struggle over succession into a bloody fight among kin. One heard endless stories of brothers killing each other, and above all, Father himself had experienced it.

Having slain his elder brother and taken the position of family head, Father had even once been mocked with the epithet Bloody Marquis because of that tale.

After clawing his way up to the rank of marquis, Father had begun avoiding scandals of that sort. That was part of why he had exiled Van after judging him incompetent.

Then the answer Father would choose was…

“Understood. I cannot say whether he can truly stand on his own, but let us place him as lord of a single town and observe how he does. However, this is Your Majesty’s proposal. In that case, I ask that you grant Mulsia one of the towns in Count Ferdinand’s territory, Cubel.”

Saying that, Father gave a fearless smile.

Perhaps having guessed what His Majesty was thinking, Father let me go with startling ease.

No, perhaps he simply thought that even if I became independent, he would still be able to make convenient use of me.

Either way, he had agreed to send me out of the marquis house.

That fact made it feel as though darkness had fallen over my eyes.

Then His Majesty spoke.

“Hmm, Cubel? It is not a bad place, certainly, but it is a little far from your territory. Surely you would worry about your son then.”

“Wh-what? N-no, not at all…”

At His Majesty’s almost pensive way of saying that, Father tilted his head, unable to grasp his meaning.

Then His Majesty gave a large nod as if he had just thought of something excellent and smiled.

“I know. Baron Van, your son, has just now built a new village at the edge of your marquis territory, has he not? Why not send him there for the time being? If you become worried and wish to go see how he is doing, it will be easy. After all, the two of them will be in almost the same place.”

He said it as though it were a joke.

Even Father could not keep his smile from stiffening.

“Y-your Majesty jests. If the two of them are in the same place, then it cannot be called independence. If the goal is to promote self-reliance and help him grow, then surely an environment like Van’s, where one must make a poor frontier village strong through one’s own efforts, would be ideal.”

“Then the town of Cubel would be inappropriate, would it not? It lies at the edge of the count territory, yes, but it is an important supply town that supports a major defensive base. Why would there be any need to place him somewhere prosperous, however small the scale?”

“Th-that is… well, there is already a governor there, and by thinking for himself about how to improve the administration that is already in place and increase the tax revenue, he could grow…”

“Hmm. Strange. A moment ago you said a poor village would be better, and now you say the opposite. In that case, would not anywhere do?”

As Father fumbled, His Majesty smiled maliciously and asked that.

Father, who had long been highly valued by His Majesty, had probably misread the meaning of those words. He had read between the lines, attached his own reasoning, and thought he might seize land from the count territory, but that was not it.

If so, then where did His Majesty’s true intention lie?

Why was he thinking of separating me from the marquis house? Surely he had not suggested this because he hated me.

As I watched the exchange with a pain in my stomach, Father suddenly knit his brows and lowered his gaze to the ground.

Then he spoke quietly.

“…Your Majesty, surely not. Surely you do not mean to say that Van is more fit than I am to guard the border…?”

It was a voice heavy enough to sound like blood being coughed up.

I had never seen Father’s face twisted in anger like that before, nor heard that tone from him.

But His Majesty did not change his manner in the slightest and merely waved one hand with a laugh.

“Ha ha ha! No, that is not it, Marquis Fertio. I know of no one who matches you in skill at war and devotion to our kingdom. I simply find the boy Van interesting. Besides, this matter depends on what becomes of Scudetto. If Scudetto is taken and the kingdom’s lands are trampled further by those of Yerinetta, then we will no longer have the leisure to speak so calmly of such things.”

As His Majesty said that and let his smile vanish, Father could do nothing but lower his head deeply.

Once that had been brought out, there was nothing he could say.

Even though I understood that in my head, the fact that Father had never once spoken the words that he wanted to keep me within the marquis house kept swirling round and round in my thoughts.