37-98

EP.98 Yuno’s Return to His Territory (2) 

“Yuno~” 

“Lord Yuno~” 

Diane and Hiriya, who had been waiting anxiously at the gates of Kiese Castle for Yuno’s arrival, spotted him and rushed over in their dresses. 

“Sis Sister-in-law” 

Yuno also dismounted to greet them, and after nearly half a year away from the capital, Diane and Hiriya were finally able to see him again. 

Beside Yuno, Eliza was happily holding Rachel’s hand, and Yuno led them all to the welcoming venue Diane had prepared. 

At the welcome event Diane had arranged in Kiese Castle’s plaza, village elders and residents gathered to greet Yuno but when they saw the huge troll behind him, they trembled in fear. 

“A t-troll? My god, look at the size of that thing.” 

“Uh… Sir Mayer? What’s with that troll?” 

“That troll is a master troll who swore loyalty to His Lordship. Tell the guards not to mess with him he’d crush us in an instant.” 

“Oh, is that the monster who supposedly took down five basilisks and two ogres with just an axe? But if His Lordship subdued such a beast, then…” 

“Anyway, let’s not think about the troll or His Lordship they’re both monsters we can’t touch. Let’s just enjoy the food Princess Diane prepared. The new recruits must be tired from training tell them to come eat, too.” 

“Yes, Captain!” 

At first, the residents were frightened by Ajin, but as Yuno gave a speech commending everyone’s hard work and Ajin stood by quietly, they relaxed. Especially when curious children climbed onto Ajin’s arms and legs and he played gently with them, everyone’s fears melted away. 

Ajin blended into the community, amazed everyone with his huge appetite, and enjoyed the festival. Even Yuno, who had been a bit worried about Ajin, smiled in relief as he watched. 

After taking care of the main events, Yuno took a walk around Kiese Castle, distributed some consolation money to the village elders, and listened to their requests and concerns. 

After catching up with Diane and Hiriya, and as the time approached when he would lose control of his reason, Yuno excused himself, saying he needed “treatment,” and headed to his bedroom with Catherine, Miri, Kurimu, and Miruku. 

Diane and Hiriya were disappointed, but when Yuria, Isabella, and Marie said they wanted to hear all about what had happened, they realized they could see Yuno anytime and spent the night chatting with the others. 

The next morning, Yuno was about to review the backlog of administrative reports from Mayer and Baron Kimberly. 

“Ah! Your Lordship… Before you review the reports… here is my letter of resignation. Now that Lady Marie is grown, I’d like to retire as her tutor.” 

Yuno silently accepted Baron Kimberly’s resignation. Mayer looked at Yuno in surprise, as if to protest, but Yuno waved him off. 

“All right, Baron Kimberly. You’ve worked hard. You came all the way out here as Marie’s tutor and even served as administrator how tough that must have been. Here, take this as severance and a token of appreciation.” 

When Yuno handed over a hefty pouch of gold, Baron Kimberly’s mouth curled up to his ears. 

“Oh my~ This is so much… Haha, I didn’t do it for the money… Hahaha.” 

Waving his hands, Baron Kimberly nonetheless took the pouch and bowed deeply as he tried to leave the office. 

“But Baron Kimberly, do you have anywhere to go? I hear Adria is unsettled these days, and the magic circle connecting our territory to the capital is blocked.” 

“Well… I was thinking of starting a trading company here…” 

“I have a better job for you. I’m appointing you as the official administrator of my territory. How about it? By the way, you don’t have a choice.” 

“Eh? But I just handed in my resignation and Your Lordship accepted it…” 

“Hm? That was for resigning as Marie’s tutor, wasn’t it? Now you’re the official administrator of Teshidanikana. Hahaha, and your salary will be double what it was as a tutor, so don’t worry. Diane will be very pleased.” 

Baron Kimberly’s mouth dropped open so far he fainted on the spot. 

“My, to faint from happiness… Mayer, please lay Baron Kimberly on the sofa.” 

Mayer looked at the unconscious Baron Kimberly with pity, clicked his tongue, moved him to the sofa, and returned to Yuno. 

“By the way, Mayer, you said you recruited 500 new soldiers? Isn’t that too many?” 

“Well, it’s a count’s domain, so we should have at least 2,000 soldiers, right? The 500 mountain rangers and 500 guards we had weren’t enough! Plus, we had to replace those who died in the last defense!” 

“Yeah, but is this really a count’s domain? The population isn’t even 50,000.” 

“But these are troubled times! After the recent battle near the capital, the First Prince lost to the Second Prince, who became emperor. The First Prince fled to Duke Windrage’s domain.” 

“Yeah, I heard that on the way here. And…” 

“Yes, and the current emperor, Heinrich, isn’t on good terms with you. I heard he was the one who attacked you with magic during your body change.” 

“Hmph… I suspected as much… And there’s a rumor he killed Father, too?” 

“Yes. Princess Diane confirmed it… Apparently, it was a parasite native to Count Dietrich’s land, administered by Secretary Marquis Garcia.” 

Yuno didn’t have much affection for his father, Karl III, but the fact that his half-brother assassinated his father left a bitter taste. 

“Wow… Heinrich really caused a mess… So Prince Prinz is slowly building up his power in your grandfather’s territory?” 

At Yuno’s question, Mayer took out a map of the empire and began to explain. 

“Yes, Your Lordship. After the emperor’s assassination, lords in the east who had remained neutral joined forces, conquered the undermanned lands of Count Dietrich and Marquis Deerwood, and brought nearby loyalist lords under Prince Prinz’s control.” 

“Looking at the power balance, it seems close… but still not enough to resist Heinrich. The imperial army will stay loyal to the current emperor.” 

“Yes. And since all the masters are part of the military, it’s hard to balance power. But according to a magical message we received two days ago, Teseito invaded the Zenon Plains and recaptured Streve.” 

“So that’s why Heinrich can’t move. If he loses the Zenon Plains, he can’t maintain the empire.” 

“Exactly. And with Duke Kent rebelling in the west, he must be in complete chaos.” 

“Haha, I get the picture. If Streve fell so quickly, Teseito must have sent a master. It must be that guy…” 

“Huh? That guy?” 

Yuno recalled the swordsman from Teseito who struck a memorable blow at Streve’s gate and smiled. 

“There’s a guy like that. He was much stronger than me in the past. Maybe even stronger than my master… But now, who knows… I’d love to face him someday.” 

Having absorbed the power of the World Tree and Miri’s yin energy, Yuno now had two mana holes, and as his fighting spirit rose, he felt his body heat up and drew in mana. 

“Whoa, calm down. Save that for sparring with Lady Eliza or Catherine later… Let’s get the troop report first.” 

“Ah, sorry. Please continue…” 

“Of the 500 new recruits, Sir Cordelia took 100 those with riding experience or archery talent for training. You’ll have to see the results for yourself later.” 

“Hm… and the rest?” 

“The remaining 300 are being trained as shield-bearers. We lacked people who could handle shields properly during the last monster rampage, so at least I want them to master shields…” 

“No! Except for Cordelia’s cavalry, train all soldiers by the imperial army manual! That means forget weapons for now and start with physical conditioning!” 

“Huh? But aren’t these mountain-born men already tough enough?” 

“No! The foundation of all training is physical strength! I’ll show you myself! Take me to the training ground!” 

The fact that Heinrich had become emperor gave Yuno a sense of crisis and made him realize he needed to build up his own military strength. 

Guided by Mayer, Yuno called all troops except those on guard duty to the training ground and began retraining everyone, starting with physical conditioning in his own style.