Ch.775What Have You Made?

“You said you’d rest at the mansion, right? Let’s go. I’ll show you around.”

After the long, drawn-out chatter finally ran out of topics, Frider got up, put on her fur-lined coat, and nodded toward the broken door.

A guided tour…

She could have easily ordered a servant to do this, yet she insisted on doing it herself. Judging by that smirk on her face… she must have filled the entire mansion with decorations to her own taste.

She had the expression of a child desperate to show off her creations.

“Alright. Just a moment, let me wake Lena up.”

I gently shook the shoulder of Lena, who was sleeping with her face buried against my thigh.

“Hehe… sister… my… hair… same… pink…”

Lena mumbled incomprehensible sleep talk while shifting her body. Was she dreaming about me dyeing my hair pink like hers?

Well, it makes sense. Lena yearns for a sisterly relationship, so she might dream of something like that. If our hair colors matched, we would certainly look closer than we do now.

…Not that I have any intention of dyeing my hair pink.

Just imagine it. Haschal with pink hair—could there be anything more absurd in this world? I’d rather dye Lena’s hair black instead.

“Lena? Time to wake up. If you want to sleep, you should do it at home.”

“Mmm… sister… now… huh?”

I shook her shoulder once more, and Lena finally seemed to wake up, slowly lifting her eyelids and looking up at me with unfocused eyes.

“Ah… it was just a dream.”

Her voice was still gentle and drowsy, not yet fully awake.

As she groggily sat up, her face clearly showed disappointment.

“What kind of dream were you having?”

“Um…”

Lena tilted her head slightly, pondering for a moment, then smiled brightly and answered.

“…I was dreaming about playing with you, sister.”

…I thought I played with her plenty when I wasn’t busy, but apparently that wasn’t enough.

To dream about playing with me and then be disappointed upon waking up.

It reminded me of a neglected child imagining holding their loving parent’s hand at an amusement park, even if only in dreams. I felt somewhat guilty.

After bringing her in as my adoptive sister, I’d left her alone because I was too busy working instead of properly taking care of her. And I’d have to leave her alone for a few more days.

Hmm… I should ask Frider to look after Lena while I’m gone, and maybe tone down her hobbies a bit.

We’ve been fairly close since our academy days, so just staying with Frider while I’m away should give Lena some sense of stability.

—-

After handing over the Dragonborn and fairy to Faelrun’s knights from the cargo wagon we’d arrived in, we loaded various supplies provided by Faelrun Castle into the now-empty wagon—sleeping bags, portable tents, household items, and torches for camping.

“Mmmmph! Mmph! Mmmmmmmmph!”

“Mmmph!!”

The fairy and Dragonborn, tightly bound in metal chains and being dragged like luggage by the inquisitors, struggled with bloodshot eyes, but their resistance was futile with their barely functioning limbs.

“You’ll have to manage well without me, understand? Stay strong in that underground prison.”

I waved goodbye to them with a bright smile.

Judging by the expressions of the inquisitors who seemed to have many questions for them, I wasn’t worried about the effectiveness of the interrogation.

“You’re so cruel. That level of nastiness must be a disease.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Frider snickered and tried to slander me without basis, but having just seen the state of her room, I found her accusation completely hypocritical.

—-

My mansion was located in the outskirts, about two hours by carriage from Faelrun Castle. Apparently, she had chosen a rather secluded location because I didn’t particularly like busy places.

It wasn’t exactly close to Faelrun Castle, but it wasn’t too far either—an ambiguous distance.

Since it was obvious I wouldn’t care about managing a proper territory anyway, they had simply allocated a portion of Faelrun’s direct territory as my nominal domain, with the Faelrun family handling all the actual administration.

In any case, it was certainly a secluded place, as Frider had mentioned.

On the dimly lit snowy plain with few lights, all that could be seen were five or six wooden houses with palisades, a small forest dense with spruce trees, a frozen lake, and the mansion standing tall in the center of the territory.

It felt more like a vacation spot than a lord’s domain.

“I’m surprised this place generates any revenue.”

Though it was mere pocket change compared to the tax revenue from Median territory, it seemed to bring in a steady income at least at pocket money level.

“It’s small, but there’s a forest,” Frider explained, pointing to the small woodland.

Since crops couldn’t properly grow in this land, the locals’ livelihoods depended on logging, livestock, and hunting.

They cut well-grown trees to supply Faelrun Castle, or sold livestock and game to occasional visiting merchants, then used the money left after paying taxes to purchase grain for sustenance.

“They’re actually better off than commoners in other territories because I’ve granted them full access to the forest.”

Normally, a territory’s forest is the lord’s personal property, and commoners who log or hunt without permission face punishment.

In severe cases, they could lose a hand or be fined so heavily they’d become slaves.

And to get permission, they typically had to pay substantial usage fees to the lord.

Like serfs who, without their own land, had to give about 80% of their crops to the lord.

But in this land, those usage fees were waived. It wasn’t my directive, but Frider’s instruction on my behalf.

They still had to pay basic income tax, but that was only about 10% of their total income, with the rest being entirely theirs.

“You’re not interested in territory management anyway, right? And it’s not like you’re desperate for money. Isn’t it better to show some generosity and earn praise?”

Frider said with a smirk.

Thanks to her waiving the forest usage fees in my name, the locals apparently praised their never-seen lord as if I were a saint.

Well, I suppose “saint” is somewhat accurate. After all, both male and female saints are titles given to those who receive stigmata.

—-

“We’ve arrived. What do you think? Isn’t it magnificent?”

In front of the wooden mansion we finally reached, Frider spread her arms wide and turned to me with a proud smile, showing off her masterpiece.

“……”

“……”

“……”

And we fell silent.

Well, I had some expectations of what it might be like, but… I never imagined it would be quite like this.

I had been somewhat reassured by its normal appearance from a distance, but up close, it was the epitome of Frider’s taste taken to the extreme.

[Hmm… well, it certainly looks like a warrior’s dwelling, I suppose.]

Even Hersella struggled to find appropriate words to evaluate it.

Fortunately, the exterior itself was relatively normal.

A three-story wooden mansion. The structure narrowed toward the upper floors, and the roof was pointed like a hook, presumably to prevent snow accumulation. The windows were so small they were barely noticeable. A typical Northern-style mansion.

The problem was the decorations scattered throughout the mansion, which were far too assertive.

Wooden ornaments resembling severed werebeast heads protruded from the walls and corners of the building, and taxidermied bear and wolf werebeasts stood like guardian statues on either side of the main entrance.

And the most striking decoration of all—

“What on earth is that…?”

I sighed, pointing at the statue standing tall next to the mansion’s main entrance—a massive sculpture made by joining and carving wood, then painted.

“What do you mean? It’s obviously you.”

Frider answered with a smirk.

Of course I knew that. It was clearly a statue depicting me—a long-haired female warrior stepping on a white wolf werebeast’s chest and thrusting a longsword into its heart. It obviously portrayed my battle with Rurik.

Except that the female warrior looked like a demon incarnate.

“Hard to tell which one is the monster,” Demian remarked with tactless honesty. I felt the same, so I didn’t bother glaring at him.

Upturned eyes like flames, a wickedly smiling mouth, monstrous protruding fangs, and eight tentacles sprouting from the back. It looked less like a person and more like some humanoid monster.

“This is supposed to be me…?”

“It’s identical! This is practically like looking in a mirror.”

As I let out a hollow laugh and pointed at the statue, Frider burst into laughter with an infuriatingly smug expression.

To show my gratitude for creating such a “wonderful” mansion right from the entrance, I picked her up and buried her in the snow at my feet.