37-75

EP.75 Mayer and Baron Kimberly’s Painful Days (1) 

While Yuno was spending blissful days filled with obscene sex with his family in Ellerst, the situation was completely different for the two men left in charge of the territory. 

Rat-a-tat-tat!! 

As soon as morning broke at the Teshida Nikana County Lord’s manor, the hurried footsteps of a messenger echoed through the quiet hallway. 

Clatter!! 

“Mayer sir!! Urgent news!!” 

“Wha what is it?!” 

The night before, Mayer hadn’t even been able to return home, having fallen asleep in the corner of his office while handling both his duties as captain of the guard and the work Yuno had dumped on him. He jolted awake as the messenger ran in, handed over a document, and he read it. 

“Damn it!! Tell them to assemble all the guards and reserve forces in the territory!!” 

Mayer quickly straightened his clothes and shook the body of Baron Kimberly, who was sprawled on the sofa in the drawing room. 

“Hey!! Hey, Baron!!” 

“Ugh... huh? Wh-what is it?” 

Baron Kimberly, who had also been sleeping at the manor every day, cleaning up the mess left by the previous administrator while handling administrative duties in Yuno’s stead, woke up groggily at Mayer’s shaking. 

“Looks like that damned prince went off to save some World Tree or whatever and caused a huge incident! Monsters are swarming from the Monster Mountains!! This is no time to be spacing out, man!” 

“W-what?!” 

Baron Kimberly was instantly wide awake at Mayer’s words and got up. 

“I’ll assemble the guards, then get additional reports from the rangers before dispatching troops. I’ve already ordered the reserves to be called up, so once the troops are gathered, you open the armory, supply weapons, and have Sir Cordelia lead them to the entrance of the Monster Mountains.” 

“You! Again, with the ‘you’! Ugh... This isn’t the time for that... Fine, got it.” 

Baron Kimberly dashed to the administrator’s office, and Mayer hurried to the guard captain’s office. 

... “Are all the guards assembled?” 

“Yes, Captain!” 

This time, most of the new recruits were raw, and many guards hadn’t even finished training, but there was no time to worry about that. Mayer was satisfied just to have all 500 troops gathered. 

“Monsters are swarming into our land. It’s been quiet for ten years, so I guess it was bound to happen. Gear up well and leave behind anything for restraining people! All troops, arm yourselves with shields and spears only!” 

One of the new recruits raised a hand at Mayer’s order. 

“Um... Captain? We’re archers... We haven’t learned shield techniques...” 

“Bah! Do you think a few days of archery training will let you pierce monster hide? No time to explain just grab a shield and spear and move!” 

‘There’s no time for full gear, and they don’t have the stamina to carry it anyway. Best to keep it simple and link up with the rangers fast.’ 

Mayer, preparing for the worst, sent a few veteran soldiers to help evacuate citizens and a dozen new recruits to assist Baron Kimberly, then set out for the Monster Mountains with his 500 troops. 

‘Damn, this is why I didn’t want to stay in the army... If only my wife didn’t nag me to earn more money...’ 

Mayer regretted it deeply, but there was nothing he could do now. He rode hard, gathering more troops from villages along the way, and headed toward the ranger outpost at the mountain entrance. 

Meanwhile, Baron Kimberly was frantically dispatching messengers and processing documents in the administrator’s office, his hands moving so fast they were a blur. 

“Gather all the food in the castle! Check what food the residents have privately! Announce that rationing will start today!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

‘Ugh, damn it, I only came here to be Princess Marie’s tutor why am I doing this...!!’ 

Bang!! 

The door to the administrator’s office burst open and Cordelia appeared with three knights. 

“Administrator! What is going on? Monsters?!” 

“I don’t know the details, but... Prince Yuno went off to save that damn tree and seems to have caused something. The mountain rangers are buying us time, and Captain Mayer has already assembled the guards to hold them off.” 

“Then I’ll head out immediately.” 

As Cordelia turned to leave, Baron Kimberly shouted after her. 

“W-wait!!” 

“What is it?” 

“We’re recruiting citizens with prior guard or imperial army experience as reserves. Please take command of them.” 

“Understood. I’ll be waiting behind the manor just let me know when they’re assembled and I’ll lead them.” 

After Cordelia left, Baron Kimberly sent messengers to villages near the mountains to round up residents and muster more troops. 

“Will the residents cooperate? It’s harvest season if we’re not careful, we could lose the whole year’s crop...” 

“Tell them life is more important than crops!! Better to dig up roots than get eaten by monsters!!” 

Baron Kimberly’s outburst sent the messenger running off in fear. 

No sooner had the messenger left than a guard came in with more work for Kimberly. 

“Administrator! The castle reserve force is assembled! Please come open the armory!” 

“Just open it and take what you need! It’s an emergency!!” 

“But... there’s a magic seal that only opens with the count’s signet! You need to come, sir... ugh!!” 

Overwhelmed by the workload, Baron Kimberly snapped, grabbing the poor guard by the collar and shaking him violently. 

“Aaaaagh!!! Yuno, you bastard, what did I do to deserve this!! Aaagh!!” 

“Aaagh!! Administrator! Get a hold of yourself!! Gaaah!!” 

Unlike Mayer, who only needed more guards, Baron Kimberly needed bureaucrats, but in this remote rural backwater, there were none to be found. 

There were plenty of bureaucrats looking for work in the imperial capital, but no one wanted to come out to the countryside, no matter how much he offered. With the emergency, he had to do everything himself, and his anger exploded. 

After shaking the poor guard for a while, Kimberly finally let go when the man’s face turned pale. 

“Huff... Sorry! I lost my temper for a moment... Anyway, I’ll go to the armory. You take this document to the communications room and send a message to Count Graim’s territory.” 

“Cough cough... Huff... But what is this document? I can’t read...” 

A vein bulged on Kimberly’s forehead, but he managed to calm down and explained. 

“It’s a request for reinforcements. It has the count’s seal, so if you show it, they’ll believe you.” 

“I’ve never sent a message before...” 

“Just put your hand on the magic orb! The princess charged it with mana, so it’ll work! Now move!!” 

At Kimberly’s shout, the guard hurried out. 

“I need ten bodies for this job, damn it!! That damned prince...” 

Once, he’d always insisted on proper language and manners with Yuno, but now he was cursing nonstop and his temper was getting worse. 

“Sir Cordelia! I’m opening the armory now to distribute weapons to the reserves. Please take command of them.” 

“Understood, Administrator.” 

At least Cordelia, as Yuno’s personal knight, was always polite to him, even if she was a bit stiff, so he never lost his temper with her. 

“Whew~ At least the reserve weapons are in good shape. I hadn’t gotten around to checking them yet... Well, Boras must have known what would happen if he messed with these. Not that it saved his neck...” 

Imperial armory management was strict, requiring the count’s seal for the magic lock, but thanks to that, the reserves got weapons as good as the regulars. 

“Administrator, I’ll head out now.” 

“Good luck, Sir Cordelia.” 

After seeing Cordelia off, Kimberly headed back to the manor, only to be stopped by another guard with a report. 

“Administrator! All the food in Kiese Castle has been gathered in the storehouse. Please set the rations.” 

“Sigh~ Got it…” 

With a deep sigh, Kimberly rushed to the food storehouse to set rations per person, then returned to the manor, only to hear that reinforcements from Count Graim’s territory were on their way. He went to the communications room to thank Count Graim. 

When night fell, he had to report the situation to the imperial palace, so he had to write reports as both administrator and acting lord. 

Writing two sets of reports, the amount was endless. 

In the end, Kimberly didn’t get a minute’s sleep, working all night, and his mouth never stopped cursing Yuno. 

“Aaaagh, Yuno, you bastard!!!”