I, Gungrave, read the letter from Shuri and the others and slam it onto the floor. It’s nighttime in my office. With reports and approval documents piled up on my desk, I stand up and unleash my anger. This anger isn’t directed at anyone else. It’s directed at myself. To summarize the contents of the letter:
“Like Aeclys, we had forgotten to consider the surrounding villages.”
It’s not that I hadn’t considered this possibility. The current rebellion in these villages is happening precisely because they see it as though we’ve kicked out Aeclys and Gyngus. Well, objectively speaking, that’s the only way it could be seen. After all, they did hand over their position as lords to me. Even if the position of lord was legitimately transferred, there are countless ways to spread bad rumors about it. That’s exactly why the other villages harbor rebellious thoughts… or so I thought, but what are the actual facts? At Eere Village, we neglected to properly inform them about Aeclys’s well-being and happiness. The precedent regarding Shukaha Village’s traditional wedding attire. We neglected this too. All of these were things I should have investigated beforehand.
“Gungrave…?”
While I’m worked up, Arius enters the office. She’s carrying my child in her belly. Now heavily pregnant, Arius wears loose, comfortable clothes that don’t constrict her body. Wearing the nightgown we had prepared for her, Arius looks at me with concern. She’s holding a magic lamp in one hand, so she must have come to check on me after hearing my outburst. I take a deep breath to calm myself and sit down in my office chair.
“What’s wrong, Arius? Couldn’t sleep?” “I was going to the bathroom when I heard your voice…”
I grimace at those words. Just for a moment, but still. This isn’t good. Arius is pregnant now. I shouldn’t cause her any unnecessary worry. I should hide it; making her worry is out of the question. However, Arius picks up the report I had thrown to the ground and begins reading it. She uses the magic lamp she’s holding to read the contents.
“Ah, that’s—”
Before I can stop her, Arius’s face fills with anger.
“Gungrave. What is the meaning of this?”
Then, just like I did, she throws the report aside and confronts me. With movements that hardly seem fitting for an expectant mother, she stands beside me. Looking down at me… no, glaring down at me with such intensity that I hold my breath.
“Your goal was to obtain a country. I remember that your life’s objective was to create a country where no one would go hungry, no one would suffer, and everyone could live happily… isn’t that right?” “Y-yes, of course.”
Yes indeed, that was my original intention. It’s still my endless dream that I haven’t forgotten. At my response, Arius furrows her brow even more and says:
“Then why did you forget to consider the other people, the citizens? You couldn’t do it because no one taught you? The letter says Aeclys forgot too, but this isn’t something Aeclys should have had to suggest.
Usually, Arius is quiet, but now she’s different. I can feel a core strength in her. It seems becoming a mother has changed Arius. And it’s a good change too. But this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.
“So? What do you plan to do about it?” “Ah, yes. First, I’ll send express messages to the surrounding villages, explaining the situation. We’ll let them know that Aeclys and Gyngus are safe, and that Aeclys is making rounds to the surrounding villages. I’ll also mention that they have proper escorts.” “What else?” “I-I’ll interview the veteran castle staff to find out if there are any other precedents or customs I don’t know about. Based on that, I’ll issue an apology statement. At the same time, I’ll make it clear that we have no intention of neglecting them.” “And after that?” “A-after? Well, after that…”
This is bad. Arius is so intimidating that I can’t think straight. Can mothers-to-be really become this strong? She’s scary enough to make me wonder.
“Right now, there’s the matter of Shukaha Village’s wedding attire. I hear they prepared it for us. We can’t just leave this as is.” “But we’ve already had our wedding—” “Just because we’ve already had it doesn’t mean we can ignore this! We need to buy it at a fair price, including consideration for their dedication! Trust is built first through actions! You should have learned the hard way by now that trust doesn’t just naturally develop if you leave things alone! You should know this better than anyone! How those worthless lords who only carried the title mistreated their citizens and made them suffer by doing whatever they wanted without consideration! How can you do the same thing?!” “Y-yes, ma’am!”
Ah, this is bad. Arius has become too strong; I’m about to be completely whipped. Shrinking in my chair, I bow my head to Arius.
“Y-you’re right. It’s entirely my mistake… I’ll be more careful from now on.” “You better be careful, okay? Also, we should display the wedding attire we buy where not only castle residents but also visitors can see it. If it’s such fine wedding attire, it will help spread our reputation to the surrounding areas. We could even use it for our child’s wedding ceremony.” “Couldn’t they make new wedding attire when that time comes?” “Are you an idiot? If we show multiple wedding outfits during the ceremony’s costume changes, we can demonstrate our wealth and power. Using everything available to us – that’s the mercenary way. And as a lord, it’s only right to properly reward citizens who provide us with useful things.”
To think Arius could now express her opinions so logically and clearly…! Wait, hasn’t she grown too much? Is this really Arius? While I’m thinking this, Arius languidly sits down and leans against me in my chair.
“And there’s one thing that’s absolutely unacceptable.” “What is it?” “My husband, the father of my child, is pushing himself too hard.”
Resting her head on my lap, Arius looks up at me with endearing eyes.
“I don’t want you to suddenly collapse from overwork… Please rest when you can.” “…Yeah, sorry.”
I gently stroke Arius’s head, feeling soothed.
That’s right. I’m going to be a father. For the sake of my child, my wife, the companions who followed me, and those who trusted me with this position. I can’t afford any more mistakes.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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Chapter 63
“You bastard!”
I, Gungrave, read the letter from Shuri and the others and slam it onto the floor.
It’s nighttime in my office. With reports and approval documents piled up on my desk, I stand up and unleash my anger.
This anger isn’t directed at anyone else. It’s directed at myself.
To summarize the contents of the letter:
“Like Aeclys, we had forgotten to consider the surrounding villages.”
It’s not that I hadn’t considered this possibility. The current rebellion in these villages is happening precisely because they see it as though we’ve kicked out Aeclys and Gyngus.
Well, objectively speaking, that’s the only way it could be seen. After all, they did hand over their position as lords to me. Even if the position of lord was legitimately transferred, there are countless ways to spread bad rumors about it.
That’s exactly why the other villages harbor rebellious thoughts… or so I thought, but what are the actual facts?
At Eere Village, we neglected to properly inform them about Aeclys’s well-being and happiness.
The precedent regarding Shukaha Village’s traditional wedding attire. We neglected this too.
All of these were things I should have investigated beforehand.
“Gungrave…?”
While I’m worked up, Arius enters the office.
She’s carrying my child in her belly. Now heavily pregnant, Arius wears loose, comfortable clothes that don’t constrict her body.
Wearing the nightgown we had prepared for her, Arius looks at me with concern. She’s holding a magic lamp in one hand, so she must have come to check on me after hearing my outburst.
I take a deep breath to calm myself and sit down in my office chair.
“What’s wrong, Arius? Couldn’t sleep?”
“I was going to the bathroom when I heard your voice…”
I grimace at those words. Just for a moment, but still.
This isn’t good. Arius is pregnant now. I shouldn’t cause her any unnecessary worry. I should hide it; making her worry is out of the question.
However, Arius picks up the report I had thrown to the ground and begins reading it. She uses the magic lamp she’s holding to read the contents.
“Ah, that’s—”
Before I can stop her, Arius’s face fills with anger.
“Gungrave. What is the meaning of this?”
Then, just like I did, she throws the report aside and confronts me. With movements that hardly seem fitting for an expectant mother, she stands beside me.
Looking down at me… no, glaring down at me with such intensity that I hold my breath.
“Your goal was to obtain a country. I remember that your life’s objective was to create a country where no one would go hungry, no one would suffer, and everyone could live happily… isn’t that right?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
Yes indeed, that was my original intention. It’s still my endless dream that I haven’t forgotten.
At my response, Arius furrows her brow even more and says:
“Then why did you forget to consider the other people, the citizens? You couldn’t do it because no one taught you? The letter says Aeclys forgot too, but this isn’t something Aeclys should have had to suggest.
This. Is. Something. You. Should. Have. Realized. From. The. Moment. You. Took. This. Position.
Isn’t that right?”
“Y-you’re absolutely right.”
Usually, Arius is quiet, but now she’s different. I can feel a core strength in her.
It seems becoming a mother has changed Arius. And it’s a good change too.
But this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.
“So? What do you plan to do about it?”
“Ah, yes. First, I’ll send express messages to the surrounding villages, explaining the situation. We’ll let them know that Aeclys and Gyngus are safe, and that Aeclys is making rounds to the surrounding villages. I’ll also mention that they have proper escorts.”
“What else?”
“I-I’ll interview the veteran castle staff to find out if there are any other precedents or customs I don’t know about. Based on that, I’ll issue an apology statement. At the same time, I’ll make it clear that we have no intention of neglecting them.”
“And after that?”
“A-after? Well, after that…”
This is bad. Arius is so intimidating that I can’t think straight. Can mothers-to-be really become this strong? She’s scary enough to make me wonder.
“Right now, there’s the matter of Shukaha Village’s wedding attire. I hear they prepared it for us. We can’t just leave this as is.”
“But we’ve already had our wedding—”
“Just because we’ve already had it doesn’t mean we can ignore this! We need to buy it at a fair price, including consideration for their dedication! Trust is built first through actions! You should have learned the hard way by now that trust doesn’t just naturally develop if you leave things alone! You should know this better than anyone! How those worthless lords who only carried the title mistreated their citizens and made them suffer by doing whatever they wanted without consideration! How can you do the same thing?!”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
Ah, this is bad. Arius has become too strong; I’m about to be completely whipped.
Shrinking in my chair, I bow my head to Arius.
“Y-you’re right. It’s entirely my mistake… I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“You better be careful, okay? Also, we should display the wedding attire we buy where not only castle residents but also visitors can see it. If it’s such fine wedding attire, it will help spread our reputation to the surrounding areas. We could even use it for our child’s wedding ceremony.”
“Couldn’t they make new wedding attire when that time comes?”
“Are you an idiot? If we show multiple wedding outfits during the ceremony’s costume changes, we can demonstrate our wealth and power. Using everything available to us – that’s the mercenary way. And as a lord, it’s only right to properly reward citizens who provide us with useful things.”
To think Arius could now express her opinions so logically and clearly…!
Wait, hasn’t she grown too much? Is this really Arius?
While I’m thinking this, Arius languidly sits down and leans against me in my chair.
“And there’s one thing that’s absolutely unacceptable.”
“What is it?”
“My husband, the father of my child, is pushing himself too hard.”
Resting her head on my lap, Arius looks up at me with endearing eyes.
“I don’t want you to suddenly collapse from overwork… Please rest when you can.”
“…Yeah, sorry.”
I gently stroke Arius’s head, feeling soothed.
That’s right. I’m going to be a father.
For the sake of my child, my wife, the companions who followed me, and those who trusted me with this position.
I can’t afford any more mistakes.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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