episode_0149

“Are you here?”

“Chief, please try this. It’s meat seasoned with pepper.”

I went to find the smoked meat I had just made.

The village chief’s young grandson was sucking his finger in his mouth as if he wanted to eat meat right away, and was just staring blankly at the meat.

But the village chief didn’t seem to be particularly interested in meat, so he just placed it on the table without much thought and got to the main point.

“Did the coronation ceremony end safely?”

“Please eat this first. Your grandson is watching you closely.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll eat it when you go. So what’s the sentence?”

“This is it?”

When I showed him a sentence showing a tiger and a human staring at each other, the village chief showed an agitated expression, unlike his usual calm demeanor.

“You have truly become a noble.”

“If you’re a noble, you’re a noble, but what makes you a true noble?”

“I don’t know the details either, your father just told me that a true noble can show his crest like you.”

“My father knows a lot.”

“Well, he himself claims to be one of the true nobles.”

“Are you really a noble? Because you say you are from a family of warriors.”

There were six nobles, including me, who could currently display the sentence.

There was only the Sa-gong-jak family, who were the founding fathers of the empire, and the Saizer family, which had produced warriors for generations.

“There was a reason he acted so smart.”

“First of all, you are a warrior.”

“By the way, your wife said that you were made a duke, not a count?”

“Oh, that’s what happened.”

“Is it that easy to do a job?”

“…There were many things.”

“Is that so? You must be having a hard time too.”

“Thank you.”

I felt truly relieved by the village chief’s consolation.

Since there were only women in the house, I didn’t have the opportunity to receive this kind of warm encouragement.

“Have you brought your documents as the lord of this place?”

“Yes, here it is.”

When he showed the land deed he had received from Camilla, the village chief read it slowly.

‘I also had many difficult sentences, but I read those.’

Sometimes I think about it, but the village chief wasn’t the type of person to be in a village like this.

“Now you are officially the lord of this place.”

“I am weak. Please help me.”

It was not modesty, it was sincerity.

Although I have lived in this area my entire life, I have only officially lived in the village of Lugeron for a year.

There were many things I didn’t know, and I needed help from adults.

“If that is your command as a lord, then follow it.”

“This is not an order, but a request as the son of a friend who is lacking.

“If you say it like that, wouldn’t it be hard for me to refuse?”

“It’s lighter than the order the Duke gave.”

“Usually, yes. But do you think there’s anyone in this town who feels like a duke? At best, Tom and Carlson.”

The village chief seemed slightly excited as he gave me advice, perhaps pleased with my request.

“The people of this town are frogs in a well. They don’t know what nobility is, and they are ignorant of the power that nobility has. They just bow down to those who are more powerful than them.”

“Hmm… I guess so.”

Power is an invisible force.

It is a power that can rule many people when possessed, but it is also a power that has no effect on those who know nothing about power.

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“Huh? Do you have any idea?”

If I were a traditional noble, I would have to first show my power by beating him, but that’s not me.

“There’s no way to do it, and anyway, there’s no one stronger than me here.”

If you don’t want to be hit by overwhelming force, you must follow me.

“Kekeke, that’s definitely true.”

The village chief laughed pleasantly, perhaps because my joke was funny, and then spoke quietly.

“So, let the villagers know who is the master and who is the servant.”

I listened to the village chief’s advice. The words that came from the experience of the old man who led the village were sure to become flesh and bone for me. Now, I was no longer just a village youth, but the lord of this village.

“I may not be as good as your father, but I have led people as a village chief. There is one thing I have learned from that. Humans are animals that can speak.”

“Are you a beast?”

It seemed like something he would say to a fellow villager, but the village chief was sincere.

“Don’t be too kind to the villagers. They are servants who value what they give more than what they receive.”

The village chief’s words were cold, but they were advice that reflected the experience of someone who had led the village for many years.

. . .

After the village chief’s house, we stopped by the blacksmith shop.

“Oh! Xi’an, you’re here!”

Unlike the blunt village chief, Tom welcomed me cheerfully.

“Tom, try some of this smoked meat. It’s seasoned with pepper.”

“Pepper?! Are you giving me that precious thing?”

Tom took a bite of smoked meat and then suddenly started drinking alcohol.

Tom? The sun is still high in the sky.

“Petra! Xi’an is here! Come and eat meat!”

“What?”

Tom shouted towards the blacksmith shop and called his daughter Petra.

And Petra, who was inside the forge, was surprised to hear me come, and heard the sound of something falling from the forge.

“Just a moment, I’ll go wash up and come back.”

“What are you washing? You’re just going to end up in the blacksmith shop anyway.”

Petra, who was very concerned about her appearance, was embarrassed by her charcoal-black face, but Tom, not understanding his daughter’s feelings, forcibly dragged her in front of me.

“Ahh! Inspiration!”

“Okay, eat some meat!”

I thought the two would fight again, so I mediated.

“Petra, you don’t have to wash your face for me. There’s no need to be polite to guests between us.”

“Ugh, you, it’s not because of you!”

“And I think a woman who works hard at her job is cool.”

“Ah, ugh! Okay, take this!”

Petra, blushing and getting angry, threw something at me.

“What is this?”

“I asked you to do it before! You have to keep your promise.”

“Of course.”

The item I asked Petra to do has finally been completed.

It’s too simple a gear part to be called a prime mover, but if Petra really made it as I intended, it’ll be a thing to conquer the fields.

“You said you became a noble? What should I call you now?”

Leaving Petra behind to wash up, Tom handed me a glass and asked me what had happened.

“Yes, now it’s Cian Ti Atlas.”

“T? This is the first time I’ve heard of that middle name.”

Tom, who didn’t know that it was Titan’s tea, looked at it curiously.

“Can I call you Your Highness the Duke now? Or your lord?”

“Do you need formality between us? Just call me Si-an like before.”

“Poohaha, now you’ve become a blacksmith with nobles as friends.”

“Already so. My father is also from a family of writers.”

And they are truly noble, from a family of warriors.

“Ian, that guy was a great guy too.”

Tom gulped down a glass of wine, perhaps upset that his friend had kept a secret.

“Tom, aren’t you craving alcohol too much lately?”

“What can I do? At this age, the only way to overcome loneliness is with alcohol.”

“Then you should at least get married. I see that Petra has become a proper blacksmith.”

“I’m not bad, but I’m still lacking. I haven’t even been learning for a year yet. I need to do it for a few more years to get rid of the apprentice tag.”

“Really? Your skills seem to be improving by leaps and bounds.”

“Well, you’re growing up fast, just like you said. But I still have no intention of getting married.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to betray my love.”

“Hehehe.”

Although his wife had passed away quite some time ago, Tom still maintained his fidelity to her.

‘Well, you decided to live in a town like this just for love.’

If this continues, I, who has been touching many women, will become trash.

“Then, from tomorrow, stop drinking and work with me.”

“What else are you going to make?”

“Of course. I’ve become a permanent resident, so I should start slowly.”

“What are you starting?”

“What are you doing? There’s something we do every day, right?”

A renovation that will greatly advance the village civilization, which is almost at the medieval level.

Now it was time to get started in earnest.

“Kekeke, I’ve been bored lately because Petra has been stealing my work, but thanks to you, I won’t be bored until I die.”

“I have spoken to the village chief, so I will give you more details at the village meeting tomorrow.”

So I had a short conversation with Tom over a drink.

. . .

When I arrived at Carlson’s house, he immediately knelt down in front of me when he saw me.

“Your Majesty the Duke.”

“Mr. Carlson, you don’t have to do this between us. I’m a noble in name only anyway.”

“No. It is only natural to be polite to His Majesty the Duke, who is a nobleman.”

“This puts me in a difficult position.”

Of all the townspeople, Carlson was the only one who treated me with respect.

The older chief and Tom held the line and treated Carlson as usual, but they could not do so.

Because he’s young and has a big family to take care of.

“Mr. Jae-su, please take this first. It’s meat seasoned with pepper.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Carlson’s wife also followed her husband’s lead and looked at me, so she turned her gaze to the meat.

Now that we were alone, I got straight to the point with Carlson.

“Mr. Carlson, I came to see you today because I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What do you mean by please?”

“Become the captain of the guard of my territory.”

I’ve been eyeing Carlson as the captain of the guard for a long time.

Although his skills were inferior to those of Gregor or the hired Colin, he had abilities that the other two lacked.

That was character.

Gregor, an outsider, would not be accepted by the townspeople, and the free-spirited Colin was not fit to be the captain of the guard.

On the other hand, Carlson, who has been calling himself the leader of the vigilantes since long ago, would not only have the approval of the townspeople, but as a local, he would do better than the two.

“You can just protect the village as you are now. Of course, I will pay your salary.”

“…I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty the Duke can protect the village even without me, so I wonder why you need someone like me.”

“Hmm, that’s definitely true.”

Carlson’s point was valid.

With my current strength, I can more than protect the village even without guards.

But that’s only while I’m still in the village.

“Life is not as easy as you might think, even if you are a noble.”

“Yes?”

“I am away from my post a lot. And Mr. Carlson is the perfect person to guard the town when I am away.”

“Okay, I understand. Although I am lacking, I will protect the village for Your Majesty the Duke.”

Carlson knelt respectfully before me once more, and I presented him with a sword I had purchased from the Holy Kingdom.

Because the weapons he carried around during his adventurer days have now fallen apart over time.

‘New wine must be put into new wineskins.’

Now he is neither the adventurer Carlson nor an ordinary young man from the village of Lugeron.

Now I have to live as Captain Carlson.