CH 283

Friedrich was enjoying the spring of his world. His parents went to the royal capital together and never came back. Carruthers Territory was already his. He could do whatever he wanted. Everything moves according to his orders.

His father and mother are eyesores. They don’t know anything. They may have certainly built an era, but their achievements are glories of the past. They live in a bygone age, trapped by old-fashioned ways of thinking.

With his brilliant talent, advanced knowledge, and strong connections with the royal capital and surrounding social circles, Friedrich is the one who is most suitable to become the next Lord of Carruthers.

Neither his father nor mother could understand it. They will not give Friedrich full powers, saying it is too early, nor will his father hand down his title.

How deplorable. They do not understand the value of Friedrich von Carruthers, the genius of the world. After all, they are nothing more than pitiful old people trapped in the conventions of the past.

They’ll see it in action. Since he started working as the Lord’s Second, the economy of Carruthers Territory, especially in Carruzan, has been very good. Exports are increasing, demand for labor is increasing, and there is a constant need for both manpower and supplies. They are all screaming with joy.

It’s probably because his governance and policies are unparalleled. No further explanation is needed. The simple fact is that tax revenues are rising and the economy is booming.

Yet neither his father nor his mother could understand it. After all, they were warriors who could only be trusted to swing their spears around on the battlefield.

But he doesn’t get angry yet. His father and mother are still useful. Just mentioning the Hero of the Frontier, Albert, or Bloody Maria makes those around him cower and lose the will to fight. You should make use of people even if they are incompetents who can only wield their spears. You should make good use of them.

Thinking that, Friedrich stopped his sighing and grinned as he once again indulged himself in his delusions.

Friedrich was in a bad mood. A considerable number of his entourage had also been sent to an expedition.

It seems that his idiotic parents sent out an expeditionary force somewhere as instructed by the incompetent Kingdom of Ploiss and its royal family. Very deplorable. Even though it’s meaningless to do something like that for the Kingdom of Ploiss… it just wastes the lives of soldiers and wastes war expenses and supplies.

Since a large-scale expeditionary force of more than 1,000 people left, even those who were comparatively better among Friedrich’s entourage were called back to their parents’ Houses and made to participate in the expedition.

From the point of view of the Carruthers Vassals, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was the perfect chance for the second sons onward without inheritance rights to gain lands of their own, and those who didn’t have the talent to become bureaucrats or court nobles, instead.

Of course, the Heir to the House must be left behind. Among them, House Heads are sending their eldest sons on the expedition to experience live battle, but the bulk of those sent are the ones who have no chance of inheriting the title in the first place.

If the eldest son is still unmarried or has no legitimate child, the second son is treated as a spare so that the family line will not be cut off by tragedy. However, if the heir apparent’s family line was favorable, the other brothers would get in the way.

If it is a House with rich assets or a House with a large territory, it may be possible for the second son and onward to live in a room of the manor and have their lives covered. But most Houses don’t have this privilege.

So what do you do? The quickest way is to send someone to service. To any other House’s service or any other place of employment is fine. Anyway, it would be for the House’s benefit if they could send off their own to forge a connection with another aristocrat. Furthermore, it is even better if the other party is a larger, more influential noble.

If you can get along with the House Head of another family through the second sons and onward becoming their subordinates, it will be all for the better. Until the heir has a legitimate child, second sons will be raised as a spare and will be kicked out when the House lineage stabilizes. From the beginning, the third sons and those after them are relatively free to choose their lives because they don’t have many chances of succeding, to begin with, but the second son may have the hardest time of all as the backup to the heir apparent.

You can understand that this expedition is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sons who cannot join the ranks of the Carruthers Vassals and who cannot inherit their parents’ titles. Here they try to achieve feats of arms to boast about, but there is no better luxury and reward than to be awarded a new territory and peerage of their own.

Therefore, in the Carruthers Vassals, those who cannot afford to die in battle such as the heirs apparent are left in the country to manage their territories, and those who cannot succeed from the second sons and onward are sent to the expeditionary force to open up a path through service, no matter how small. There was the parent’s desire to help their children.

As a result, even among Friedrich’s entourage only those who were comparatively excellent were sent to the expedition, and the only ones left were those who were helpless and abandoned. Other than them, only the heirs apparent and those who are already entrusted with territory management are left.

Naturally, those who are left behind in territory management do not want to get involved with Friedrich. He was the eldest son of the Lord’s House, so they couldn’t completely ignore him, but the truth was that they didn’t want to associate with Friedrich much as possible.

Friedrich was annoyed that his followers had also gone on expeditions. To make up for it, he started hanging out with the ruffians and ne’er-do-wells abandoned by their parents.

Friedrich received bad news. It says that his mother is coming back with his younger sister after a long absence. Come to think of it, it’s about time for the Academy’s long vacation. They left for the royal capital with his sister, so it made sense they were coming back with her.

He wished they could stay on the battlefield all the time. His father is still in battle and cannot return. If that’s the case, why would his mother come back with his sister when she should be out to war with him? Even though Friedrich was enjoying the spring of his world, if his mother came back, it would be troublesome again.

“Big Brother, if Mother is going to return, then you should not associate with those people anymore…” Georg said.

“Silence, you! You don’t have the right to order me around!”

Friedrich strikes his younger brother’s cheek for talking too much. As expected, it was an open-palmed slap instead of a closed fist. But it’s not because it was his younger brother or because he was going easy. If he hit him with his fist, it will leave a scar for a while. If the scars don’t go away by the time Mother arrived, they could question what happened. So, Friedrich settled for a slap.

“Fuck! They could have just stayed away forever… there are still a few days left. In the meantime…” Friedrich muttered.

According to the news, his mother and sister are still a few days away from coming home. He’ll have to think of something else before then. With that in mind, Friedrich went out into town with his entourage as usual.

“Ha… hahaha! After all, I am heaven’s chosen one!”

Friedrich couldn’t stop laughing at the news that arrived a few days later. At his father’s request, his mother went back to war and was no longer due to return. The heavens were on Friedrich’s side.

In the end, Friedrich was just playing around and didn’t think about any countermeasures against his mother’s return. But Friedrich got what he wanted without doing anything. Friedrich accepted that this was the fate of heaven’s chosen one.

“It looks like Flora will be back in a few days, won’t she?” George said. “I’m saddened that Mother won’t be back, but we should get ready to welcome Flora home, at least.”

“Hah!?!” Friedrich snapped. “Flora? She doesn’t matter. I’m heading out.”

""

“Ah! Hold! Big Brother!”

There is no need to listen to what nonsense Georg was saying. Friedrich left Manor Carruthers and went out into town as usual.

Friedrich heard strange stories from his entourage. It seems that the pioneering village in the northern forest is very prosperous.

Of course, he knew for several years now that a pioneering village has been built in the northern forest. His father himself ordered that the Carruthers Vassals who have no business with the place should not unnecessarily go north. Inevitably, Friedrich also knew the instructions, so he never entered the pioneering village.

It’s not like he’s afraid to disobey his father’s orders. A person as sophisticated as Friedrich would look better in the big city. He didn’t want to go to a small pioneer village in the woods all the way out on the edges of the frontier land, so he didn’t go.

But according to some of the rogues who recently became Friedrich’s henchmen, that northern pioneer village was prospering. He thinks it’s eyebrow-raising. To rogues with no education, even a slightly large village would seem to be prosperous. For someone like Friedrich who considers even the royal capital of Berne to be a countryside city, he sees no value in seeing such a pioneering village in the forest.

He thinks so… but his posse was so noisy and annoying about it that he had no choice but to head north to see the village for a little while.

Until now, there have been people who have stopped them. There was always someone who advised them not to go against the orders of Margrave Albert since they had been personally tasked by him. But now that those who were a little more competent had all left for the expedition, there was no one here to stop Friedrich. Rather, there are only people who keep egging him on.

“What is this?” Friedrich said.

“It’s a prosperous town, isn’t it?” one of his posse members said.

After he entered the northern forest and ran on the highway for a while, Friedrich can’t hide his surprise at the town he saw at the end. Buildings are lined up so neatly, it was hard to believe that it was just a wild forest until just a few years ago. The highway is beautifully paved, and wells and hand pumps are installed here and there. There are many peddlers coming and going, and wagons are running around actively.

He can’t believe it. It’s certainly a small town. The population is still small compared to big cities. In fact, there are very few buildings. But what about the liveliness of this town? What about the number of peddlers that overflow the streets? Although the population is inferior, the liveliness of the town surpasses that of Carruzan.

Is it possible to do something like this in just a few years? Maybe it was actually built a much longer time ago? Why was his father hiding it?

While thinking about such a thing, he went further north up the highway and saw…

“(Impossible…)” Friedrich whispered.

A large mansion rises in front of him, or should he say a grand palace, instead? Without even telling him blatantly, he’d know it was a palace for royalty. Even the aristocratic district mansions built around the palace surpassed that of Manor Carruthers.

What is this place? Could it be that some royal family secretly lives here? Is that why his father kept it a secret and ordered the vassals not to get near?

However… it doesn’t matter. This is Carruthers Territory. Even if his father is secretly letting the royal family live there, Friedrich will be the Lord of this Territory in the future. Then isn’t this his? Then there is no need to hold back. This place belongs to Friedrich von Carruthers. As he thought so, this great palace is suitable for him.

“Now then… let’s see who lives in my palace,” Friedrich said.

“Huh?” one of his posse members said. “Is this place your house, Lord Friedrich?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Friedrich said. “Everything in Carruthers Territory belongs to me as the future Lord of Carruthers. Is that incorrect?”

If he said that with full of confidence, it would only convince Friedrich’s entourage as they are now. If so, they don’t have to worry about anything. They are the apprentices of Friedrich, Lord of Carruthers. Friedrich is right no matter what. Understanding that, they rushed into the large palace before them.

“What in the hell is this?” an old man said as they entered.

“You are… I’m pretty sure you’re a tutor at our House,” Friedrich said. “Doesn’t that mean this place belongs to House Carruthers?”

Erich stood before Friedrich as he came up with rogues in tow. However, after seeing Flora’s former swordsmanship tutor, Erich, Friedrich became even more convinced that this place belonged to House Carruthers.

“I am the next Lord,” Friedrich said. “This place will be mine in the future, so it’s up to me what I do with its people. How long are you going to stay as a private tutor? Get the hell out of here,” Friedrich said.

“What are you saying…?” Erich said, perplexed.

Friedrich and his entourage push aside Erich, and they proceed to make themselves at home in the grand palace.

“Uhya~! Amazing! Look at that!” one of the posse members said. “There’s a jewel floating in the air!”

“Will we take it with us later?” another said.

“Hey, you bastards, I can hear you, you know,” Friedrich said. “This is my palace. Don’t steal things without permission.”

Friedrich nails down the rogue’s ideas. Certainly, there was a huge jewel floating above the entrance hall. No matter where you look inside this palace, it’s full of brilliance that makes you think it’s the ultimate in luxury.

“This is what my palace deserves,” Friedrich said, pleased.

He walked inside like he owned the place and sat down on the sofa. It’s incredibly comfortable to sit on. He’s never sat on a sofa like this before.

“It’s the return of the Master!” Friedrich yelled. “Haven’t the House Servants here been taught that much, at least? What will they do first when the Master returns?”

The butlers and maids looked at each other with uneasy faces. All of them are too easygoing. They should be educated properly later.

“We have not received any orders to entertain you,” Erich said as he comes before Friedrich. “When was that order given and from whom?”

“Aah?!” Friedrich snapped angrily. “I told you to get lost earlier.”

He cannot allow any dissent to him, the Master of this Palace.

“Leave this place at once, bastard!” Friedrich yelled.

Dokah! Friedrich strikes Erich with the sheathed sword on his waist. Because it would hurt Friedrich’s hand if he struck Erich without a weapon. Even though it was in the scabbard, Erich fell down from the blow. Friedrich kicked him away and raised his voice,

“I am Friedrich von Carruthers, the next Lord! I am your Master! Bring me food and drink!”

“Ye-Yes! Welcome home!” the maids cried as they began to move.

The drinks and food that are lined up are all high quality and so delicious, he had never eaten or seen them before.

“Kukuku! I like this town. Let’s stay for a while. Fuhahahaha!” Friedrich laughed.

After this, for several days until Flora returned, Friedrich and his entourage went around the town trumpeting that “I am the Lord of this land.”, eating and drinking without paying and forcing their will on women. They made them serve him drinks, touched them, and other such unacceptable behavior.