Episode 29
“…What?”
Everyone was once again surprised by Logan’s words.
Although Logan’s image had changed drastically due to this war, most people present remembered what he looked like during the past engagement breakup incident.
The image that Logan likes money has not changed.
“I’m not saying I won’t accept the reward. It just means I won’t accept it in money.”
As expected, everyone nodded at those words, but they couldn’t help but be surprised again by what he said next.
“I would like to receive land instead of money.”
“…Are you saying that you are going to create a private land within the territory now?”
Padrick’s expression, which had been infinitely friendly, also hardened slightly.
But Logan’s attitude still remained the same.
“yes.”
“Huh…”
Padric let out a deep sigh and the officials protested strongly.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s private land in our territory!”
“No matter how great the grand duke’s achievements, it makes no sense to give him land. In this small estate…” ”
A story that could only have happened in the days of the old count…”
To the point where some people were frowned upon for using taboo words. .
However, even though the story would have been ignored in the past without even being considered, Padrick was the first to calm the audience down.
“Let’s ask first. Why are you suddenly asking for land?”
Logan smiled and continued as he realized once again that his reputation had changed.
“I know that the territory still needs a lot of money. Use that money for the territory, and I would like to receive a mountain in the western wasteland and develop it instead.”
“Wasteland? Mountain?”
“Yes. That hill next to the river near the border with Tethron territory is enough.”
No matter which direction you looked, it was a desolate McLane territory, but next to the south, where there were many monsters, the wasteland of the west was the most useless.
Although it was said to be a hill, it was actually a barren, barren land with not even a few trees to be found.
“…Why that place?”
“What’s there?”
“There is something.”
“But why…?”
It was natural for the officials to be confused, and so was Padric.
“You want to develop that land?”
“Who knows if there is even gold buried in the ground?”
Everyone looked at Logan with absurd expressions.
“The gold mines in this land have already been developed by the royal family… No, that’s done. How can I explain this? I guess you just want to have that land, right?”
Logan nodded without hesitation at the words of the matriarch, who held her head as if in pain.
“yes.”
In response, the retainers also shook their heads.
Once again, the Archduke’s mysterious behavior was accepted as having gone wrong.
Everyone gathered here soon had similar thoughts.
It’s useless land anyway, but the Grand Duke is satisfied and the budget is saved. Isn’t there nothing bad about it?
“Good. Logan’s reward is that mountain… Dwayne, get me a map. Where exactly… um, okay, I’m lowering this mountain to private property.”
Thanks to this, the backlash disappeared and permission was granted very easily.
‘done!’
Logan secretly clenched his fists under the conference room table.
‘This land is much more important than 300,000 gold.’
I felt like my heart was pounding hard and my soul was uplifted by the proud feeling just by overcoming the hurdle of the Battle of Territory, but I couldn’t stop because I was intoxicated by that feeling.
‘Nine years from now.’
A disaster that will make you feel heartbroken just thinking about it will strike you.
As a noble family on the outskirts of the kingdom, and as just one of its children, he had to become a decisive variable in preventing the empire’s attack.
And the disaster inside the kingdom that would occur before that was not easy.
‘There’s still a long way to go.’
There were many mountains left for him and his family to overcome.
This choice was also made to take the lead in overcoming those disasters.
‘It is easier to respond efficiently in the future if I have it than my family.’
The meeting soon ended and Logan got everything he had hoped for.
* * * Immediately after leaving the conference room, Logan faced another burden that had been on his mind for a long time.
And that burden, as always, sharpened the edge on Logan.
“What on earth are you thinking?”
“mother!”
“What are you planning? Do you think I’ll be fooled even if no one else knows?!”
The bloodshot eyes and pale complexion of the stepmother, who was screaming despite Ronian’s attempts to dissuade her, now looked pitiful.
“Mother! Please!! I’m sorry, brother. My mother was heartbroken about something with my mother’s family and right now…”
“It’s okay, Ronnie. It’s okay.”
After smiling softly at my embarrassed younger brother, I looked at my stepmother again.
Even if there was a long-standing grudge, she was now just a matriarch who had lost her real power.
There could no longer be any threat or hindrance to him.
And that’s why it was the right time to fix this twisted relationship.
‘In a situation like this, wouldn’t it be accepted sincerely as an apology, not an excuse?’
It wasn’t that I didn’t have any hesitation, but my determination wasn’t difficult.
Logan took a breath, organized the words in his head, and calmly opened his mouth.
“Mother, I know that the way I have shown myself over the past few years is not trustworthy. I also extremely regret the things I did out of jealousy and inferiority complex.”
“Look, Ronian! Even that guy admitted it! Everyone is that guy…”
“Mother! Please stop!”
Ronian grabbed Marian’s waist and looked at him with sad eyes.
“Brother, your mother is not normal right now. She’s saying something like that now…”
“Just listen, Ronian McLane. Actually, it’s you who I really owe an apology to.”
“yes…?”
“I said I was sorry right after I came back, but I still couldn’t say what I was sorry for. It seems that even the decades of regret couldn’t easily overcome my cowardly nature.”
“…older brother?”
Ronian looked bewildered at the incomprehensible words.
“But you knew it, Ronnie. You’re not stupid.”
And at the next word, Ronian’s expression became as hard as stone.
“For the past few years I have hated you.”
Even Marian was speechless at the straightforward confession without any embellishment, and Ronian’s complexion turned pale.
Logan smiled bitterly at that sight.
“I tried to avoid my ugly feelings by hating you. And now I truly regret those pathetic days, Ronian.”
Logan struggled to look straight into his brother’s eyes.
“Ronian, my younger brother. I will formally apologize to you now. I am truly sorry.”
My stepmother’s eyes widened in shock, and it was difficult to look at my younger brother’s awkward expression.
As I spoke, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with tears.
I regretted it for decades for not being able to say these easy words.
It was only after returning to the past and overcoming one family crisis that I had the courage to make a sincere apology.
‘You can’t cover up a bad thing with something good. You’re still young, Logan McLane.’
Aside from feeling relieved, I couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
“It’s okay, brother.”
My younger brother, who seemed frozen for a moment, soon smiled brightly.
“I was okay back then.”
“…what?”
It was an unexpected statement that I had never thought of even in my past life.
“I believed that if I did well, one day he would return to being the older brother I knew. In fact, he is like this… haha.”
I could only laugh at the sight of my younger brother smiling.
Why did I hesitate for so long on something so easy?
Logan looked at his stepmother, who was still looking at him with distrust, and said as if he were swearing.
“Mother. If I wanted to harm Ronian, I would have had many opportunities during this war alone.”
“That…”
“In fact, you saved me, brother.”
“…My heart for Ronian is sincere. If possible, my wish for Ronian to become his successor is also sincere.”
“Yes? Brother. That’s…”
“I know it’s too much to ask you to trust me right away. So please watch and see how I act.”
The stepmother didn’t answer, but that was enough for Logan.
* * * Even though the military campaign was over, the McLane family’s command staff was busy dealing with the post-war situation.
The most important issue was the conversion of captured knights and soldiers.
The soldiers didn’t need any persuasion, but the knights needed some time.
Among the knightly duties implicitly spread in society, the most important one was loyalty.
To abandon the monarch he served and serve another was tantamount to branding the knight as a traitor.
It becomes a shackle that blocks the path to upward mobility that prevents one from entering anywhere in aristocratic society.
However, there was at least some room for persuasion in that he was a lord of the same country and serving the same king.
It was a blind-sighted logic that said the most fundamental object of loyalty was the same and only the people under it changed, but this cause was really important to each knight.
If you don’t even have such a justification, you will have to choose between death or being stigmatized.
‘Because there is a cause, everyone will choose to change jobs even if the monthly salary is a little less.’
He was a chivalrous man, and Haman Thethron was a man who could not be considered a good lord, even with empty words.
Of course, there will be some people who play tug-of-war out of concern for face, so it will take time.
From Logan’s point of view, I couldn’t understand why he did that, but that’s important to some people.
In addition, there are issues related to administrative processing of the Tethron and McLane fiefs, troop issues for maintaining public order, taxes and tax rates, and issues of fief income.
All remaining problems were difficult to solve in a short period of time.
However, Logan, who did not yet have a public position, was quietly finding his own path even in that situation.
‘That’s why it’s not good to be the successor. ‘You almost got caught.’
At best, I had just passed a critical juncture in my life, but I almost got caught up in paperwork without even having time to enjoy the afterglow.
‘More than anything, it’s difficult to do that at this point.’
A flame blazed in Logan’s seemingly relaxed eyes.
We barely made it through a small wave, but the big wave that would hit our family and this country was just beginning.
If the invasion of the empire that led to the destruction of the country itself is the final obstacle, then what happens next winter, a year from now, will be the starting point of the decline of the entire country.
The death of the current king, Samuel von Grandia.
No matter how weakened the power of the royal family was, the king was the rightful ruler of this country.
The sudden death of such a king without any warning sent a huge shock to the entire kingdom.
To be honest, the psychological shock to the people was not that big of a deal.
However, due to the king’s sudden death, the war began in the kingdom’s capital, Gran. The civil war, which broke out between factions for each heir to the throne, continued for the next three years and greatly reduced the kingdom’s power.
And before its power could be restored, the imperial invasion began.
In fact, it was the first cause of the country’s ruin.
If things continued like this, McLane territory, which had no particular faction to follow, might be able to avoid the typhoon just by remaining neutral and crouching down.
I could have enjoyed it like an audience member by simply taking a step back and bowing my head to the stories of the countless heroes and villains created by the civil war.
‘But I can’t just let that opportunity slip away.’
Logan planned to take advantage of the chaos and actively expand his family’s power.
Recover the territory of the former county as quickly as possible and regain the position of Lord in the southwestern region.
And, if possible, I hoped that it could go one step further and become a card that would end the tense civil war.
Or even more than that…
mate.
‘Let’s come to our senses. Now we’ve barely passed a critical juncture. ‘I’m glad I was able to think about this.’
Logan patted his cheek to shake off his endless imagination and thought again about what he had to do right away.
‘If I tell you now whether it’s about expanding the military or starting a territorial war, I’ll be called crazy again.’
From Logan’s perspective, it was time to increase his strength, but there was no way to persuade him of this.
‘So first of all…’
It was necessary to obtain ‘it’ and consolidate the family’s financial power.
Whether it is increasing military expenditures or hiring talent for battle, there is nothing to say about managing one’s own personal funds.
Now was the time to prepare for it.
‘If the family refuses to fight for territory, I…’
“Where on earth are you going?”
As my thoughts continued to spread, I suddenly heard Logan’s voice breaking me out of my thoughts.
When Logan looked back, he saw a dwarf with a sullen expression slowly following behind him.
Logan burst into laughter at that sight.
“You’ve had enough rest. It’s time to get back to work.”
“It’s because I’m anxious. It’s because I’m anxious. When the owner laughs, I think of squeezing those items again…”
“Don’t worry. This time, it’s definitely something you’ll like.”
“Do you know what I would like?”
Despite the blunt response, Logan’s smile did not disappear.
Unlike humans, which vary greatly from person to person, those forgotten races had common tastes.
And Logan was confident that what he wanted to do now would suit the dwarf’s taste.
“Stop talking nonsense and follow me. You won’t be disappointed.”
“Then why are you going to jail? You can’t believe they’re going to throw you in jail just for having fun…”
“Don’t imagine anything useless, Hamar. I’m going to pick up those who will have to work with you in the future.”
“To jail?”
“okay.”
Hamar was taken aback, but his words immediately became reality.
A prison where prisoners are held underground in McLane Castle.
Among them, in one corner of the sturdy and heavy iron gate that confined only knights, a group of middle-aged, hairy men who did not appear to have much power at a glance were gathered in a huddle.
“Oh! You’re really here! That brat!”
“Oh! It’s real!”
“But what’s next to it? It’s not a human…”
“It’s a dwarf!”
“What? Dwarf?!”
Their eyes lit up when they saw Hamar appear with Logan.
“What? What about those humans?”
It was a gaze I had never felt before, even when I was at the slave market.
At the very least, they were all hairy middle-aged men, so much so that Hamar’s beard stood on end.
“They call themselves geologists or mining experts, but to me, they’re just crazy about digging.”
“…What do you mean, a miner? Why a miner all of a sudden?”
“Because I need it.”
“yes?”
“I’m thinking of developing a mine.”
“Yeh!?”
Logan grinned as he looked at the dwarf’s surprised appearance.
