episode_0084

“That’s what you want… … . If you want it, you can give it to me, right?”

At my words, Viscount Tarr’s eyes rolled around. In addition to not knowing what he wanted, he seemed worried about what would happen if I asked for something he couldn’t give me.

“No, I guess I have no choice but to give it. If I don’t give it to you, I have nothing to say even if I die here and become a skeleton, right? Since they attacked first, I have justification.”

“Hi… … !”

When he said the word “skeleton,” Viscount Tarr’s face turned even darker. It made me wonder if the body of someone who had almost frozen would look like this.

“Besides, I heard you haven’t lifted your son’s curse yet?”

“Queu.”

Her eyes, which were full of fear, turned into a bit of anger as she talked about her son. No matter how greedy a noble belonged to the so-called aristocratic faction, children seemed to be important.

However, perhaps due to the appearance of skeletons nearby, it did not last less than one second. I could clearly see that the skeletons were worried that they might harm me. Seeing things like that, I thought that they would most likely give in to anything I wanted.

I don’t know how it will turn out later as time passes, but for now, I expected it to happen as I wanted. Honestly, even if I were in Viscount Tarr’s position, there is nothing more important than life, so I would give anything. I do whatever I have to do to survive.

So, I decided to shout loudly. If you make a big deal and refuse even though your life depends on it, just reduce it little by little. Even in this situation, refusing means you won’t get it even if you kill.

“Hmm, what should I get… … . Viscount? Oh, this won’t work because it’s not an immediate family member. Then what do you get?”

Looking at Viscount Tarr trembling with fear, I continued to worry about what I should receive from him. I thought it would be nice to receive the title of Viscount, which is one level higher than what I am now, but that was impossible in the first place. Although it is said that sales are limited to the baronies of major nobles, it is managed by the royal family and trading titles between individuals is illegal. Even if there is a transaction, it is not recognized.

I was pacing around in my spot, wondering what on earth I should get. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head, such as whether I should get paid or require drivers.

“Uh.”

However, as I was wandering around step by step, something caught my eye. Although it was located a little far away and seemed small, it caught my eye. That is, the new large-scale blacksmith shop I am creating.

Although it was not yet fully completed, the ground had been sufficiently compacted and the pillars that would form the framework of the building had been erected. Construction is not in progress right now because all the skeletons have been assembled, but the solidly erected pillars are clearly visible.

Even though there were only pillars, thoughts about the new blacksmith shop that would be built filled my mind. And, it was decided what I should receive.

“Give me the territory.”

What I deserved was territory. If he could obtain Viscount Tarr’s territory, there would be no need to go through the trouble of finding land to do something new. Furthermore, territory was a type of property that could be robbed through territory wars or purchased with money. It was possible to trade as much as you wanted.

“Don’t say nonsense!”

However, very unfortunately, Viscount Tar seemed to have no intention of giving up his territory. Even though he was on the verge of death, he seemed determined to defend the territory.

Of course, it was completely understandable. This is because fiefdom was equivalent to all property for most nobles. Unless they were running a special business without land like me, most of the income of nobles came from taxes paid by the people of the land. It is not for nothing that fiefdom is said to be property.

That’s why I was able to have the courage to refuse in this situation where I might die. It’s like telling someone to lose all their wealth and sit on the street with only the title of nobleman. Although it is not true that they lost all their wealth considering the wealth they had already accumulated or the business they operated independently, it was still true that they suffered a huge amount of damage.

“Ah, of course I’m not asking you to give up all your territory.”

I shrugged my shoulders at the sight of Viscount Tarr, who seemed to have no intention of giving up his territory even if I killed him. If the big purchase failed, you could just bargain little by little. Besides, they weren’t targeting the entire Viscounty of Tar anyway. I didn’t have any vassals, and I couldn’t use the Skeleton Mage to rule the territory.

“Hand over this village and the surrounding area. Then, I will send you back without even lifting a finger. Yes, there is a curse placed on your son, right? I’ll do that for you too. How about it?”

“Ugh… … .”

“You’d better think carefully. I’m not asking you to give up all your territory. Isn’t it more important to survive first?”

When life and heirs were mentioned, Viscount Tar closed his eyes tightly. The curse placed on his son was actually a curse that only made him anxious and did not pose a threat to his life, but Viscount Tarr, who did not know it, seemed to be at a crossroads with a very important choice.

And then, Viscount Tar, who closed his eyes and groaned for a while, lost all strength in his body. His shoulders, which had been tense as if they were upright, began to droop, and his fists, which had been clenched so tightly that the fingers around them turned white, suddenly loosened.

“Num… … . I’ll pass it on… … .”

“Good choice.”

I smiled heartily at the sight of Viscount Tar lowering his head as he made the choice to hand over part of his territory. There were more than one inconvenience caused by not having a territory, but I couldn’t help but laugh because I was able to solve all of those inconveniences at once.

In particular, I liked the fact that all the benefits that accrued from my village’s development in one way or another would come to me. Since the taxes that should have gone to Viscount Tar came to me, I could develop the village to my heart’s content.

“Then it would be better to write a contract first. The notaries were priests.”

Of course, all of that was possible only after I had fully taken over all rights while signing the contract.

Since I wanted to take over ownership of our village and the surrounding area as soon as possible, I immediately called Father Thomas. I felt a little sorry to be called again since it had been so long since I returned, but the joy of being able to obtain territory was greater than the regret, so I went ahead.

Perhaps he had gone far, but Father Thomas returned immediately when I called him. And that too, accompanied by Father Vidis.

“Andrew Warlock. Why did you call me back? In our denomination, the principle is not to intervene in human-to-human disputes.”

“Oh, it’s not like that. This dispute was successfully resolved through dialogue. There’s nothing good about seeing blood for no reason, right? I like the blood I get from the blood collection business, but I’m a bit reluctant to do this. Because the people who see blood are not the people involved, but their subordinates.”

“Oh! That’s a very good idea.”

Father Thomas seemed to be moved by my words, and nodded with a very happy face. Even Father Vidis, who was next to him, was looking at me with a look of surprise. Roughly, ‘A warlock thinks like this?’ It seemed to have some meaning.

I explained why I had called him, thinking that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I could make a friendly impression on the clergy. Since Viscount Tarr had agreed to pay the land as compensation, he asked me to act as a notary to draw up the contract.

I don’t know if it was because people didn’t have to die for no reason, but Father Thomas very readily agreed to become a notary. Father Vidis, who was nearby, also decided to step in and become another notary.

“Okay, then, shall we start by writing a contract?”

After finding a notary public with public trust, I immediately started drafting the contract. I had a skeleton bring me paper and writing utensils, and then I filled in all the details about this incident.

And, some consensus was needed in this process. Since I simply used the expression “this village and the surrounding area,” I needed to be precise about the surrounding area. In order for it to be properly effective, the contract had to specify exactly where and to what extent it would be transferred to me.

As a result, I was able to confirm a fairly large area as my territory, with my village at the center. No, it wasn’t a perfect center. This world was a place where accurate measurement technology and weights and measures for distances were somewhat lacking. Therefore, things that were easily visible were used as criteria, but thanks to this, the village did not become a perfect center.

Still, the area that would become my territory was very large. It was so wide that if you were to simply walk from one end to the other, you would have to walk for about three hours. There are some jagged parts here and there, so it’s not an exact calculation.

Anyway, after Viscount Tarr specified the scope of the territory to be transferred to me, I added a few more clauses and finalized the writing of the contract.

The conditions include that Viscount Tar will hand over all rights to his territory within a set range to me, that I will send him back without attacking him, that I will heal the curse placed on Viscount Tarr’s successor, and that I will not be accused of any more crimes for this incident. The attached contract has been completed.

The completed contract was immediately stamped with the signatures of me and Viscount Tarr and a seal proving my nobility. In addition, the signatures of two priests acting as notaries were also included. It was also written that it would be notarized by someone from a certain branch of the church.

“What are you going to do about my son’s curse?”

When the contract was completed and the contract was concluded, Viscount Tarr showed his arrogance again. Since the problem caused by the raid was resolved through this contract, it was because I confirmed that I could not attack him first. In particular, I don’t know if it was because the bride was here with me, but I felt very confident.

It was absurd to see him like this when he had been shaking only a few minutes ago, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Now that I had what I needed, I was happy to ignore it.

“It would be awkward to come in person… … . I’ll make you a scroll that can curse you. Oh, by the way, other curses won’t be effective, so it’s better not to think about saving them.”

Viscount Tar requested that the curse placed on his successor be lifted, and he decided to immediately create a scroll. Since it was a curse I had placed myself, not someone else, I was able to cure it with a scroll made with my own dark magic. Of course, it is possible because it is not a very strong curse.

“ugh… … !”

As I started pouring dark magic into what was left of the paper I had brought to write the contract, the two priests next to me were startled and took a step back. It seemed like it was because he was a priest sensitive to dark magic.

Still, since it was a scroll that only had a very simple function, it didn’t take much time to make it. In an instant, I created a scroll, and the two priests who had distanced themselves approached me again.

The two priests briefly checked the scroll I created, and handed the scroll over to Viscount Tar, saying that although there was dark magic, there was no curse.

“I am leaving like this this time, but don’t think that things will be easy for you in the future. Because of this, our noble faction will be wary of you. Unless you want to live a difficult life, think about switching to the noble faction.”

After receiving the scroll and putting it in his arms, Viscount Tar left a comment as if asking when he was afraid of me or as if he was warning me. As I was leaving, I heard voices saying they were punishing the soldiers who had run away.

I can still vividly recall the sight of the person shaking and shaking, and it was very comical. Of course, not all members of the noble faction are like Viscount Tarr, so you should be nervous. If all the nobles of the noble faction were of a similar level to Viscount Tarr, the noble faction could not have become a stronger force than the royalist faction.

Still, for now, I decided to be happy that I had acquired my hometown village as my territory. Being nervous won’t solve everything, so all you have to do is prepare hard in advance.

Now that we have a fiefdom, we just need to develop it into a fiefdom that won’t cause any problems even if all the noble factions attack us.