「Understood. Which way should we proceed in?」
「This way」
「Here!」
Harold’s room.
「……….Eh?」
「Now now, go on」
「Eh? Ah, hey……..」
「Sorry! Please wait here for some time!」
Closing the closet, Zen tried to run out of the room.
「Eeh………..?」
Once again, a voice which couldn’t be though of as her’s leaked out from Erika. She was a guest of the owner, and that too when she was a person who had the position of the fiancee, locking her up in this kind of place had already surpassed the level of being disrespectful. If it were some other person, they would even go as far as killing him.
Fortunately, Erika wouldn’t choose to express her anger in such a severe manner, but still normally thinking, she couldn’t not offer some complaints about this kind of treatment. But this wasn’t the time for that. Before anything else, she must give the highest priority to getting out of this room.
「Owaa!」
「Don’t give out an annoying voice. Or rather, what are you doing in my room?」
「Uh, umm ～……….. Actually, I needed to inform you about something, Harold-sama, but even though I knocked on the door, since there was no reply I peeked inside the room」
「If there’s no answer, leave obediently. How much of an idiot are you」
(What should I do……..?)
While Erika was trying to make a decision, the situation was rapidly growing worse.
「So, about the thing I wanted to tell!」
「What is it? Keep it short」
「Ee, it’s extremely difficult to say this, but that rumor has spread quite far…….」
Zen was being ambiguous with his words by calling it that rumor, but to the people present, it was obvious as to what it was.
「Just now, when I had gone to buy goods from the town, in the shop where I stopped by, the shopkeeper and the customers altogether were persistently questioning me」
「………..」
「Although it hasn’t been revealed, and precisely because of that, Harold-sama’s reputation will fall to the ground, and I feel that it’ll be bad is we don’t take any measures……….」
「And here I was thinking of what you might say, worthless. Hasn’t such a thing already fallen down and completely smeared with mud」
「But………..」
「But, What? Do you want to announce that “Clara and Colette have run away to the Brosch village and are still living”?」
「No way! Even if I die, I won’t speak of that truth」
(–Eh?)
The shock she received exceeded last night’s acknowledgement of the murder. Erika, whose thoughts and body were frozen over, could do nothing but listen to the 2 of them talking.
「Then don’t think of meaningless things. If by chance my parents find out that they are still alive, I’ll be under suspicion. To thoroughly eliminate that possibility, it’s already a determined matter」
「Although I know that, at least how about telling Erika-sama the truth? Due to believing in that rumor, it seems as though she’s very depressed」
「Absolutely not」
「……….Why?」
Moreover, he had a faint hope that if the scenario was cleared like the original work, he might be able to return to his original world. Or rather, he couldn’t think of anything other than that with regards to returning back to the original world.
That was why, other than not walking the evil path for avoiding death flags, Harold judged that the the risks would be lower if he got hated by Erika thoroughly in everything other than that part. It would even be fine to declare- Let her affection points eat shit.
「………She was crying」
「Eh?」
「I don’t know if it was because of the truth that I killed a person, or if it was for the mother and daughter who were killed. But no matter for what, her heart was pained for some stranger and she shed tears. She’s nothing but an idiot」
「And simultaneously, she is too kind. That too, a kindness which only sympathizes with the other person, a weak person’s kindness. If such a person tries to walk with me, she’ll bear an innumerable amount of wounds」
「That’s why, you’re purposely distancing yourself from her? Thinking for Erika-sama’s sake………」
「Don’t spout nonsense. Why would I need to think for her sake. I’m just saying that cancelling the marriage to a troublesome girl, who cries for each and every little thing, is what even I wish for」
Harold’s words pierced Erika’s heart very deeply. It was very sharp, but it was a completely different pain compared to last night’s.
「Such……….Eh, Harold-sama has no intention of marrying Erika-sama?」
「There’s no way I’ll have any」
「Then why did talks of engagement……..」
「To put it simply so that even your brain can understand, this is an engagement bought by money」
After coming to know the motives and circumstances of both the families, Zen noticed a certain thing.
「Then, for the Sumeragi, won’t cancelling the engagement be fatal?」
「I’ve already made a move. The medicine and LP farming are for the sake of that」
「You have even thought about such things…….」
Harold had sensed the danger towards the Sumeragi in advance. That too, before the talks of engagement had come out, immediately after the outbreak of miasma. If thought of it like that, then she could understand how he was able to gather the information about the ingredients required to make the medicine even without a few days passing by after the engagement was decided.
By offering the medicine, industrial cooling down could be delayed, LP farming could bolster the economy and if the protagonist took care of the miasma accumulation event, even forestry could be restored. If that happened, even without the financial aid of the Stokes, the problem of managing their territory would disappear, and if Erika’s engagement was cancelled, they wouldn’t receive a serious blow. Moreover, regarding the cancellation, Harold himself had informed in that letter that it would be fine to do it.
(Exactly like a “debt” parade on the scale of Kazoe Yakuman*. Although that salesmanship feeling of pressure isn’t half-assed, as long as I don’t have any unreasonable requests, Tasuku should cooperate in most of the things)
(TL – *A term in Rīchi(Japanese) Mahjong about which I have no idea of. I think it means the person who has that gets a high amount of points, maybe. You can look it up . If anybody has a thorough understanding of it, please explain in the comments)
「Right, after that think about your future also」
「What do you mean by that?」
Harold who had adjusted his voice so that it couldn’t be heard from outside, reduced it even more. It was to the level that Erika, hidden in the closet, was barely able to catch it.
「I’ve told it before, but in the near future, there is a danger that the Stokes family will fall. If you don’t want to become jobless, it’ll be prudent for you to be prepared just in case」
「But aren’t you spreading LP farming to prevent that?」
「If nothing is done about the current taxation and wasting of money, it’ll just be to the degree of an extension. Even I’ll think of something, but it might not succeed. I have no intention of helping you bastards, so do something by yourself」
「If that happens, what will happen to the people of the Stokes territory?」
「Who knows. But if it is Tasuku Sumeragi, he won’t do anything bad to them」
He spoke in a slovenly manner. But a name which Erika couldn’t let slide rose up.
(Why is father’s name being used here……….?)
「Err………What do you mean?」
「In the letter, I have appealed to the Sumeragi side to not deal with the populace unjustly when the Stokes family falls. Really, I can’t help but laugh at their weakness since they wouldn’t survive if something like this isn’t done」
(Most probably, it’ll become the territory of another noble, and I pray that a person more decent than the one now comes)
Although, by that time, he wouldn’t be there in this land. He was completely ready to throw away everything to the successor.
「Anyways, that’s how it is. If you break the ban by telling it to others, you won’t simply get away with it」
「I, I understand. I haven’t told it to anybody, alright…….?」
Pierced by the sharp glint in Harold’s, Zen’s voice quavered. That there was another reason for his voice quavering, and Zen’s roundabout way of telling- 「I haven’t told anyone」, Kazuki didn’t notice it at this time. Well, even if he noticed the existence of his nemesis (Erika) hidden in the closet, it was already too late.
Author –
Kazuki, Harold, Kazuki (Harold) – since many complaints have come out that 3 representations is confusing, I have chosen to use only Harold.
