episode_0131

A few days have already passed since I spent time at the training center.

Since he was in a position where he could not go outside the Duke’s house, he had no choice but to sweat here with other knights and clash swords to strengthen his strength.

Thanks to you, the stats are.

Lv. 41

▶The SP you have is automatically ??? Used for stats!◀

▶Strength 5.58

▶Agility 6.92

▶Endurance 7.03

▶Stamina 5.02

▶Immunity 1.45

▶??? 41%

With the four basic stats exceeding 5, you can now do most things.

At this level, he is already quite strong among ordinary people. In fact, since it did not take much effort to directly eliminate the small demonic beasts, the scope of Carlton’s activities within the division was much expanded compared to before.

Of course, it is still mediocre or slightly lacking among articles.

The three guys blocking Ruthmire’s path were a bunch of shabby guys, so they were easy to deal with, but compared to the real warriors belonging to the Marquis of Aiferus, they were far behind.

To be honest, it is still impossible. I’d have to be at least as good as them to be able to protect myself completely even after I leave the Duke’s family, but…

Anyway, it wasn’t bad. I should be satisfied with the increased movement radius and increased action and stamina. At least there won’t be anything like falling down in the next episode.

And while the stats were rising, a letter arrived.

It was from Chief Barak.

“Oh?”

It is said that things happened exactly as I had expected in Ruthmeyer.

『First, the nobles complained about the right to occupy Mount Waglu.』

This tunnel goes straight through Mount Waglu and extends all over Mount Waglu.

That is why these complaints were brought to our attention. Some areas of Mount Waglu are within the territory of nobles, and the hiking trails on Mount Waglu that previously existed were inexorably within the territory of nearby nobles.

It wasn’t particularly wrong.

『But it went too far. Shouldn’t they hand over 50% of the passage to themselves? That’s what I claimed. In addition, a security problem arose due to a fight between thugs and mercenaries that suddenly appeared.』

It is said that the nobles then pointed out the fault of the incompetent lord, saying that he could not even manage the security of the passage.

However, since the lord said he was not here, he must have gone on a rampage.

『They even questioned why there were Yarik people here. They just came to do business with us…』

In short, they created an incident by forcibly blocking this road, blamed it on me for not managing it properly, and tried to somehow take over that passage.

They even tried to drag it into a bigger problem by blaming Yarikin for being here.

However, looking at the bottom of the letter, there doesn’t seem to be any major problems.

『Just then, two knights arrived. Two people from the 1st Knights of the Bagland Dukedom—』

Territory issues? no problem. 95% of Waglu Mountain belongs to Rusmire, and when the old treaty was mentioned at the point where the mountain was owned, they closed their mouths.

Those who intentionally cause trouble and try to block the tunnel?

Regardless, he ordered Radiel and Mark to draw their swords. As a knight of the Duke of Bagland, he was ordered to mercilessly point his sword at anyone who dared to touch his master’s territory. The fact that they asked me to make a no-entry list was a bonus.

The Marquis of Aiferus used the excuse that he had come to trade aggregates, and since he could not carry that much aggregate at once, he had to be allowed to stay for a certain amount of time.

In addition, Pollux was able to get through without any problems because he had placed a flue in advance and ordered the Jarikites not to react harshly.

Lastly, there was a question about whether the lord’s name was correct…

『Lord Radiel raised his cuff buttons and responded, “How dare you ignore my lord’s orders?” The nobles were sweating! When I threatened to increase the tolls for those people, I felt completely empty. Hahaha.』

“I’m excited.”

Barak seemed quite excited after hearing and executing the instructions.

The noisy residents of the territory were relieved and said that they had slept with both feet stretched out that day.

It is said that the Yarik people secretly fired their middle fingers at the returning nobles from behind.

I still can’t forget the looks on the faces of the nobles who deliberately caused trouble.

“It was resolved well.”

It wasn’t much different from the developments I experienced while playing the game.

There will be no one who would treat Ruthmeier carelessly because of this.

Although there are occasional encounters with demonic beasts, that can be resolved, and under the protection of Duke Vagrand, Ruthmayer will continue to be my source of support from now on.

But, it won’t be enough.

No matter how long you wait, you cannot repay the money you spent on the Duke’s house with the money coming from Ruthmeyer alone.

If you were to add up all the money you had to pay for food, clothing, and shelter at the mansion called the Duke of Bagland’s residence, the money you borrowed for the losses you had incurred, and the money you received under the name of pocket money, the amount would be astronomical.

Especially in times like these, the amount will increase like crazy.

In the end, Ruthmeier alone has its limits.

Just as it was impossible for me to repay that money because I only worked part-time at a convenience store.

▶Sub episode. Return date is in progress◀

▶Select a date to return to the factory.◀

[ 1. Today. ]

[ 2. Tomorrow. ]

[ 3. Two days later. ]

This sub-episode is an episode that announces when to return through a conversation with Claire.

If possible, it would be better to postpone his return home later in order to avoid friction with his family at the Duke’s house, but at the same time, as the problem of Ruthmeyer comes to the fore, he naturally ends up returning home on the last day.

And then the late return event came up again.

But I’m not particularly scared.

Since meeting Claire, only one letter has arrived from the Duke’s residence, and there has been no other communication.

Even that letter was from Isabella, who said she hoped he would return someday.

“I guess I should go back soon. To the Duke’s residence.”

It’s time for the next episode.

***

-Tiring!

As soon as you step into the Duke’s house, you hear an alarm sound like always.

This alarm sound definitely means a return event.

I stepped in without paying much attention.

Let’s go through the main gate and arrive at the entrance to the mansion.

-Tuk.

A book fell onto the floor.

“…!”

The owner of the book was a blonde girl.

‘Is this homecoming event starting with Flora?’

Since it is not just a late return home event, but also going out and staying out, many penalties will be applied.

If you mess up the conversation with Flora, which is the starting point, it could lead to a big mess, so even if it’s annoying, you should at least grant one request that you want to get through without any major problems.

First of all, I think it would be a good idea to pick up that book and hand it over.

“I can pick it up…!”

When she lowered her head to pick up the book, Flora quickly picked it up and hugged it with her eyes wide open.

what. Are you telling me not to touch my books?

Then suddenly, Flora looked at me with sparkling eyes, as if she remembered something.

“Well… could you teach me how to study?”

“Study?”

“…Yes. Shayden said math is essential to be good at quantitative analysis, but I don’t know much about it…”

“Huh?”

Immediately, I thought there was a penalty due to the returning home event, and then suddenly asked me to teach me how to study.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t help but scream.

“No… No?”

Then Flora asks in a sullen voice.

It’s ridiculous, but… First, Flora brings a request to me as part of the homecoming event.

In that respect, I’m not sure if I should call this a penalty, but it would be better to listen first.

“It is possible if you want to solve a few problems quickly.”

“Really?!”

Considering that he has a similar personality to the third, there is a high possibility that he will only pretend to hear.

However, it didn’t matter to me because just pretending to listen meant that I had resolved the problem.

Flo opened the book and pointed to a problem, and it was a middle school level problem that was infinitely easy for college entrance exam students.

It wasn’t difficult to teach.

I don’t know if I understood it correctly, but the wrong interpretation didn’t come out of my mouth.

With this, the first penalty will be lifted.

“Hmm. After all, you are good at math.”

Then, before we knew it, someone behind us suddenly joined in on the conversation.

She walks alone with her red ponytail flowing.

The eldest child of this house was Arina.

He taught me everything that needed to be taught, so I tried to quickly move on.

“Why don’t you teach me more? It’s nice to see you teaching your younger brother to study.”

“You didn’t ask me to come back to teach Florana.”

“Tsk. What’s so urgent? okay. Let’s go up.”

Arina clicked her tongue and went up first.

When I tried to follow Arina up the stairs, my sleeve was grabbed by a weak force.

When I turned around, Flora was gently holding my sleeve.

“Are you… angry?”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing!”

This time, I asked again out of the blue what he was talking about, but then he let go of his sleeve and ran away at a brisk pace.

‘I don’t understand. ‘Why is it like that?’

what. It won’t matter.

Anyway, the first penalty was resolved.

***

I followed Arina to Isabella’s office and sat down on the sofa as instructed.

Isabella put back the picture frame she was fiddling with and sat down next to Arina and asked.

“Why didn’t you say that the expenditure was used to purchase the Ruthmire estate?”

-Tiring!

▶Sub episode. The return date has been cleared.◀

▶The main episode branch is decided based on this selection.◀

▶Isabella asks about Ruthmeier. How would you react?

[ 1. (Calmly) I didn’t think there was any need to tell you. ]

[ 2. (indifferently) Well, I didn’t think you would listen to me like that. ]

[ 3. (bowing his head) I thought maybe he could put his hand on it. I couldn’t let you know because I had an issue I had to resolve myself. sorry. ]

Is it finally?

After this choice, the main episode is decided.

If you answer too negatively, it will be like admitting that you caused a lot of problems, which will shorten the period of progress for the quarter. If you answer too positively, on the contrary, it will make them feel safe, and the date will be longer.

Since I have to adjust my schedule myself, it would be better to draw an appropriate line here.

In that respect, the best option would be this option.

[ 1. (Calmly) I didn’t think there was any need to tell you. ]☑

“I didn’t think there was any need to announce it.”

“…Why? I could not have scolded you. It wasn’t written with bad intentions.”

“Anyway, spending is spending. It doesn’t change the fact that it went out privately.”

Then Arina sighed deeply.

“Stickly rolled. I would have been able to understand at that level.”

“As written in the imperial certificate, Rusmire is not the Duchy of Bagland. Karssein Vagrand’s territory.”

“So?”

“As a member of the Bagland Duke family, I did not make public moves, but rather made private moves. That fact doesn’t change. So it deserves to be scolded.”

okay. You just have to stick to this line.

Private money, not used for public purposes.

For now, it was best to stick to this line.

Arina noticed that Isabella’s expression had hardened and gave me a disapproving look.

And then I changed the topic.

“Mother. Let’s stop talking about this now. Anyway, I didn’t really mean to say anything.”

“Yes. So then.”

Isabella smiled slightly and moved on to the next story.

“I heard about it from Her Majesty Princess Arcien. They say I will be able to participate in the Eastern Noble Meeting very smoothly this time.”

“Of course. Ruthmeyer’s prosperity alone deserves reevaluation, and its qualities cannot be doubted as it suppressed the arrogance of the aristocratic faction by supplying insufficient aggregates and at the same time increasing its efficiency with new construction methods.”

“That’s great. Carcein.”

Even hearing things like that doesn’t make me particularly happy.

I decided to keep my mouth shut since I could clearly see the response that the option was to remain silent.

“Then, should we spend this symposium break celebrating Carcein?”

As Pollux mentioned to me the other day, the explanation for the break in the Eastern Noble Council went back and forth between the two men.

This time, the cherry blossoms were blooming beautifully, so the family decided to go there for a spring outing, and coincidentally, they called a painter to replace the old family painting.

“How do you feel, Karssein? Is this okay?”

-Tiring!

[ 1. Yes. I don’t mind. ]

[ 2. No. I think my condition would be better if I went out and had some fun alone. ]

[ 3. I couldn’t play properly during the snow festival. I definitely want to play this time. ]

Number 3 is to play openly.

Increases Carcein’s maximum action power and maintains intimacy with his family.

For example, a hot spring, the sea, or a dance party. You can experience this and that and experience whatever you want.

If you go to step 2, your intimacy with your family will slightly decrease, but you will gain free action time.

Since you can literally act freely, you can prepare for the Eastern Noble Meeting, but it does not have that much merit.

Methods such as stocking up on necessary items like when dealing with Emma.

A method of running a specific sub-episode in advance and preparing for the choices that will be made in the main episode.

A way to stop by the Chatrene territory and manage their intimacy in advance.

All three did not produce very good results.

In the extreme case, there was a way to refuse to take a break and return to the training ground, but even that was not very pleasant.

That is, number 1 here.

Respond to the spring outing by giving the appropriate amount of positivity without either liking or disliking it too much.

There will be talk of a second penalty anyway.

“It’s decided. Karsein also said it would be okay, so let’s go on a family outing.”

“What should I do with the date?”

“Carsein. When do you like it? This meeting is to control your condition as much as possible, so you should choose.”

“…”

“Carcein?”

Why can’t the words come out?

After that line, there will definitely be a second penalty line.

“Wasn’t it decided in advance by Claire?”

“Oh, that?”

Arina chuckled.

“Claire said she hurt your feelings and that it would be best for you to decide. Even if I asked what was going on, they didn’t tell me?”

“I heard that too.”

…what?

I quickly checked the status window and was able to confirm that what was floating there was a message other than a return home penalty.

▶With the help of assistant Claire, we were able to designate a date for our spring outing.◀