Chapter 382 – 382. Succession of Titles (1)
Aisha looked at Alex with a worried expression as she was fulfilling her paperwork, teasing her quill incessantly to keep the ink from drying out.
“Senior, how about taking a little break?”
“…”
“It’s already been 9 hours. Take a little break…”
“Just finish this.”
Having heard the story for the third time, Aisha let out a small sigh and did not speak any further.
Alex, who has been working as a lord in the Armitas Territory due to his rapidly increasing workload recently, was spending his days busy.
“Whoa…”
In the end, Aisha’s persuasion seemed to have worked, and when Alex finished signing the papers he was finishing, he put down the quill and leaned back in his chair.
Alex, who didn’t hide his tiredness and showed it, forced his eyebrows between his frowns and caught his breath.
“Shall we prepare a meal?”
“Okay. Please.”
It was very late for dinner, but lately there have been many days when I couldn’t have a proper meal because of work.
Aisha couldn’t stop Alex’s zeal, who was engrossed in running her estate while delaying her bedtime.
She really was managing her break time while listening to Aisha, so she was still maintaining her well-balanced life.
“Yes.”
Alex nodded her head at Aisha’s question, which came right up to her.
As soon as her consent was given, Aisha left her office and rang her bell, which was in her possession, calling for her servant.
She orders Alex to prepare her meal and she immediately returns to her office.
“You can come down in about 30 minutes.”
“Okay.”
Alex, who was leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes to relieve fatigue even a little bit, opened his eyes slowly and asked Aisha.
“How is the influx of villagers this month?”
“This month also increased by 5% compared to last month.”
“… Right.”
Alex nodded his head with a heavy expression on his face.
The number of villagers who migrated to the Armitas Territory at a similar rate every month was by no means small.
The territory is limited, and the number of people that can be accommodated inside is also fixed.
The reason why Alex is making a heavy expression is because of the mass flow of the colonists.
During the flooding of demons, it was the beginning of a contract to scout various adventurers by grade and stay in the territory under the support of funds provided by Eunhyun.
Beginning with a large number of adventurers staying in the Armitas Territory, various welfare facilities and facilities are provided to train new adventurers, newbies.
And even merchants to sell various types of equipment to such adventurers began to flock.
In addition, as the number of skilled adventurers increased, the relationship between the adventurers and the lord, the owner of Armitas, wasn’t too bad.
In general, if the power of the adventurer guild and the adventurers are strong, there are many cases where conflicts arise, such as forming a power with only them to pursue interests.
This is because there are people everywhere who have a different mind and harm others casually for their own interests.
In fact, once there was an incident in which the guild, which formed a huge force called Cheolhodan, cheated newbies and exploited unfair profits in a bad way.
The Cheolhodan, who were firmly united with arrogance and confidence that the lord of Armitas would not easily touch them, was thoroughly punished and established a tight grip on the internal security of the Armitas territory.
Here, the contribution of the Hersha siblings, who moved alone and shook the inside of the Cheolhodan by taking advantage of the poor boundaries, was also very significant.
“Wisdom… It has really improved tremendously.”
“… Yes.”
At the same time as the number of villagers increased due to various factors, the current Armitas territory was experiencing the greatest boom in history.
Although they had never directly compared the boom, Alex and Aisha had a common opinion that it surely surpassed that of Pernine, the capital of the Kingdom of Pernias.
The achievement of developing such a territory in a short period of less than two years was not something that could be achieved simply by Alex and the Duke of Armitas.
The growth of the Armitas Spirit that overcame the crisis achieved blindingly rapid growth.
“Thanks to that guy.”
Alex gently closed his eyes and remembered Eunhyun’s face.
A man who married his sister, Eleanor, and became the son-in-law of the Duke of Armitas.
But the reality is completely different.
He is over 400 years old, walking on the path of immortality, and is a man who takes action after receiving a mission from the goddess.
The duke’s family itself is a word that refrains from excessive exposure of information about Eun-hyeon and performs its duties as a shield for him in external fields including politics.
He himself, his father, and even his younger sister willingly accepted the role and volunteered to be Eun-hyeon’s shield.
As a result, various benefits were obtained, such as the development of the territory and the political position within the kingdom.
In addition, externally, the marriage between Eunhyeon and Eleanor is not a marriage made for aristocratic duty, such as an arranged marriage based on political advantages that are helpful to the family.
The sister’s marriage, which was concluded through pure affection, seemed very happy.
“I… To be honest, I am a little scared of him.”
Aisha put on a slightly shaken expression and hugged the papers in her arms tightly.
“That person… You must have known that the Armitas kingdom would grow like this and proposed a deal with the royal family, right?”
“… I guess so.”
The deal Aisha mentioned was the deal that Eunhyeon and Queen Diane had through Princess Yuria’s mediation.
Instead of bearing more than half of the support supplies sent to the Mograf Territory, which suffered various damages including serious human life in the aftermath of blocking a large number of monster beasts on the front line due to the massive flood of demonic beasts, in the Armitas Territory, the Armitas Territory sent them to the royal family. It is the content of a transaction that reduces the rate of tax.
As a result, now that the territory has developed, he was sending a huge amount of tax to the royal family, but considering that he was planning to send an absurd amount to the royal family at a larger rate, he could not help but admire Eunhyeon’s foresight.
“I’m glad he ended up with the real Eleanor. If he was an enemy, he’s something I really don’t want to even imagine.”
Even for Aisha, who does not know the vast scale of the story about Eun-hyeon and the goddess, the existence of Eun-hyeon is threatening enough.
Because Aisha already knew.
It was none other than Eun-hyeon who created the situation in which all the corrupt aristocrats who were exploiting unfair profits while committing corruption deep inside the kingdom were cleaned up.
She was, and was greatly relieved, that none of her own acquaintances or her own family were included among the corrupt nobles she had been scavenged for.
Anyway, Aisha was born into an aristocratic family to the extent that she had joined the Krasir Guard Knights in the past.
It was a moment when Aisha and Aisha’s parents were greatly relieved and proud that they had lived an innocent life until now when all the corrupt aristocrats were cleaned up.
“That’s me too.”
Alex smiled and agreed with Aisha.
The current development of Armitas is an achievement that could only be achieved because of Eunhyun’s opinion and provision of funds.
It is not just purely providing funds and the end, but the funds circulate inside Youngji, and later make a proper profit and create a structure so that Youngji and Eunhyeon themselves get greater profits.
The profit that was returned to her pocket was used by Eun-hyeon as an internal nursery school or as operating funds for Heilangdan, which was collecting information as a subordinate of Eun-hyeon.
In many ways, I had no choice but to explain that it was a talent that had no choice but to stick out the tongue at a very good ability in business.
“Go down slowly.”
“Yes.”
Estimating the preparation time for the meal, Alex got up from his desk and left the office after nine hours.
Tea, which has been a simple meal like sandwiches or bread, is finally meal time.
With Aisha behind her, they arrived at the restaurant where her family was gathering to eat.
“It’s late, but you’re still there.”
With a small head bow, Alex greeted his parents, Avros and Runes.
“Hmm…”
“Lee was drinking a little wine on rare occasions. I’ve been waiting because I heard from a servant that you asked for a late dinner.”
Runes greeted his son with a smile.
“Is that so.”
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
Alex gave a small smile and sat down at the table, nodding his head at Avros’s words as he glanced at his seat.
While slowly waiting for all the dishes to be served in front of him, he told his father about the current situation of the estate.
“So… Currently, the number of young people is also continuously increasing.”
“Hmm.”
Although Avros listened to Alex, he didn’t react much.
He quietly closed his eyes and said nothing.
Unsure whether he was savoring his wine or pensive, Alex waited quietly for his father’s response.
“It’s okay not to report each one now.”
“… Yes?”
“Sooner or later, I’m thinking of formally handing down the family to you.”
“… !”
It’s a story that Alex never thought of.
Alex hardened his expression and shook his head, denying Abros’ story.
“Father, that is not possible. I am… It’s still not enough. Someday, my father will take over this position again. I will learn more as a lord…”
“You are already managing the estate well. He’s already leading you in that direction.”
“That…”
Alex was speechless for a moment and couldn’t follow him.
“Even if you received his help, the current Armitas territory is a territory that you have the right to decide, judge by yourself, and developed by yourself. Are you going to hand it over to me again?”
“…”
“This is no longer my territory. Alex.”
“… Yes.”
“I know very well that you run the estate by not skipping swordsmanship practice and reducing the amount of time you sleep.”
Unlike his previous life, where he acted as just a knight and the second son of a ducal family, his life as a lord was a series of exhausting and exhausting days.
Unlike the duties of a knight who trained an individual, raised the status of a family, and protected the royal family, managing a territory so that thousands or tens of thousands of people could spend a good day was a position that required a great responsibility.
Obviously, the density of time spent day by day is different from before.
“I am… It failed.”
“Father…”
There was a lot of remorse in Avros’ eyes as he stared at the wine in the glass.
The guilt of raising a child in the wrong way and the mistake of making the wrong choice to cover up the crime of the child and almost endangering the family, the country, and the family never goes away.
“That’s what politics is.”
The choices and mistakes made once will follow him for the rest of his life until he dies.
As one of the leading figures in leading the country on the right path, he closed his eyes to cover up the sins committed by the man who was his son.
The result of putting more emphasis on the individual’s feelings of protecting his children than the public interest of the country was miserable and disastrous.
Abros acknowledged his mistake and resigned from the position of Minister of Military Affairs of the court nobility.
Avros, who had vowed not to engage in politics twice, made up his mind after hearing about the remarkable growth of his son’s estate.
“You take over the next Duke Armitas family.”
Avros has lost his confidence.
He couldn’t let go of his personal son’s affection, so he, who made a foolish choice, himself, how can he do politics that takes care of others.
“…”
Alex gave no answer and clenched his fists.
My father, who said that he would be able to return someday, gave a relieved expression as he put everything down.
Seeing the expression on Avros’ face that said, ‘I’m fine now, since you’re here,’ Alex couldn’t answer that he couldn’t do that anymore.
“Egg… I will.”
