The Damn Family Is Back Again

165 – 165. Legal Rights (5)

Flora quietly left the place, not saying a word.

At the same time, the status window sent me a message.

-Ding!

▶You have completed the meeting with Flora as a reward.◀

“What the… This is crazy.”

I should’ve felt a significant sense of meaning when Flora came, but I didn’t expect it to be this different from my expectations.

What? Meeting Flora is a reward?

“This is ridiculous. That’s not a reward, it’s a trap. What?”

Originally, if you made the wrong choice, your intimacy and recognition would drop, and the player would receive a warning message. But in high-risk fields, the choices would affect the outcome.

The influence was so strong that some methods would be completely blocked.

That’s why Flora’s visit was like a disaster.

“The worst bad ending I’ve seen was when you came to find me.”

In cases where there was no risk or minimal threat, you could deliberately reduce intimacy and overcome the crisis. I had done that before, receiving a penalty for the late return event and continuing with a more future-oriented playstyle.

But that method was blocked.

It was only later that I realized that in high-risk fields, the intimacy of characters within the field would be affected, regardless of their connection to the episode.

Even now, I still shudder at the thought of that bad ending.

“…I guess I won’t die like that at least for now.”

▶The player has chosen not to use the power of the Bagrande ducal family.◀

▶The influence of the Bagrande ducal family is neutralized.◀

▶The positive and negative effects of the family’s intervention on the Shatren territory are all cancelled out.◀

The status window is saying that, after all.

I breathed a sigh of relief and checked the information window that appeared on the field.

Terrible rank. Terrible stats.

I can somewhat imagine how the people of Shatren territory view Carsein.

“…If it’s like this, not only will our intimacy be affected, but we’ll also automatically fail to write sub-episodes.”

The first method was to use intimacy, and the second was to perform a large number of sub-episodes.

When I skipped the late-night event at the Bagrande ducal family, I mostly used intimacy to buy time, but in reality, that was a shortcut. The proper way was to perform sub-episodes to handle miscellaneous tasks, appease the dissatisfaction of subordinates, or receive requests from penalty targets.

It was a loss to consume Carsein’s action points or HP, and even time, but the most convenient way was to clearly resolve the penalty.

However, if the recognition is too low, the sub-episode itself that provides help doesn’t exist.

The Shatren territory was exactly like that.

For Carsein, it’s a situation where the worst public sentiment is held, and it’s not surprising if a dead flag occurs anywhere, anytime, with suspicious and distrustful eyes.

“There’s no choice. We can only wait for an opportunity to come.”

▶You need to check the state of the strawberry field.◀

▶You can collect information about the soil quality by holding a farming tool and tilling the field.◀

▶The amount of information increases in proportion to the time and amount of tilling.◀

There’s no time, but rushing would be even more dangerous.

An opportunity will definitely come someday.

For now, since the main episode hasn’t started, it’s a time to follow the guidance of the branching points and be patient for a while.

***

“Was the item I brought helpful at all?”

“Helpful?… It’s rather something to be grateful for that you gave it to us for free!”

“The clothes were the most necessary item for us. We wore them until they were tattered and couldn’t even throw them away, so we kept adding layers…”

“I’m so sorry that it’s almost like I’m causing harm instead of helping.”

“There’s no harm done, so don’t worry. If you’re lacking anything, please tell me.”

“Oh my… a lord like you…”

“Thank you. Thank you very much, Lord Harne.”

Three days have passed since the 21st Eastern Noble Conference began.

As someone who has also taken the imperial examination, Harne is smoothly proceeding with the schedule.

“What good luck.”

I knew that the symposium was a full-scale ranking system, but last year, I had to deliberately lower my score to deceive the eyes of the Marquis family.

Thanks to that, Harne was able to stay in a lower tier at this Eastern Noble Conference, and even in the same tier, the district was pushed back.

Even so, the condition of the territory is quite good.

There are signs of change among the residents, and what Harne can give them is the commoners’ clothing that he’s been keeping an eye on.

Staying in a lower tier is still a great stroke of luck.

“Miss Harne.”

“Yes, Mina?”

While receiving various pieces of information from the residents of the territory.

Mina came to find her.

“A letter has arrived.”

“…A letter?”

Haruni’s head tilted in doubt at the mention of a letter.

At a time when the imperial examination was being held and the territory was being governed, there shouldn’t be any pressure from the noble families, right?

Moreover, the same applies to the upper echelons of the Pleasia faction.

Now is the time to make a profit by selling goods, and it’s not a time for unusual reports.

‘But… Mina came directly to find me, which means…’

It could be inferred that an important letter had arrived.

“I’ll stop here for today. I’ll explain everything properly next time, so everyone can go about their business.”

After kindly sending off the residents of the territory, she immediately asked Mina.

“What kind of letter is it that you came directly to find me?”

“…It’s not a letter, miss.”

“Huh?”

She said it was a letter just now, but now it’s not?

Haruni’s head tilted again in doubt.

“Ah! It’s not something to be explained here. It would be better to go and see for yourself.”

“Huh? Where are we going?”

“There! To your place, miss!”

Haruni was almost dragged away by Mina, who was urging her on without hesitation.

Due to her bewilderment, she couldn’t even ask what was going on or what the relationship was. She was simply being pulled somewhere.

But…

The place Mina had dragged her to was where she was staying during the symposium period.

“Mina? This is where we’re staying, isn’t it?”

Why did you bring me to this place?

Just as she was about to ask…

Someone opened the door and walked out with a rustling sound.

‘A person?’

Haruni immediately turned her head at the sound of the small footsteps.

And then, she finally understood.

Yes. The one who had come to find Haruni was a guest.

Not a letter.

But…

That person shouldn’t be here.

“Why are you in my territory…?”

-Kwak.

Before she could even ask why they were there, the girl with the slender legs ran towards Haruni and buried her face in her chest, grasping her sleeve tightly.

And then, she started making an unintelligible sound.

“Please, help me…”

“What’s…what’s going on?”

“It’s because of me that Carsein is struggling. So, please help him out…”

Hidden behind the golden hair was an unimaginable blue iris, and behind that blue iris was an unimaginable tear stain.

-Tingling!

[Please, don’t ■■■, ■■■■.]

[Humility: 87%]

***

-Drip.

“What, what? What’s going on, sis?”

Sis, who had finished her exploration, came to find me.

Today, just like last year, we would chat about this and that, and I thought we would have a deep conversation over tea.

But.

Thanks to Arina’s single phrase, I had to put down my teacup without even taking a sip.

“Flora went to Carsein’s territory?!”

It was no wonder, considering the news was shocking enough to make me spit out my tea.

Arina replied, clicking her tongue.

“Tsk. At first, I thought Flora was just tired from studying and went back, but later, I received a letter. The letter said Flora was in the Shatren territory.”

“…”

If it were in the past, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.

Shatren strawberries and Shatren grapes were Flora’s favorite fruits.

For Flora, who had a terrible eating habit of eating anything, including fruits, vegetables, and meat, Shatren was the territory she visited most frequently after becoming the Lord of Bagurand.

However, now it felt different.

“There must be a reason to hide this fact and meet Carsein.”

I didn’t say a word to Arina, my big sis.

That was the important thing.

“So, Claire, did you hear anything?”

“Uh…?”

From noble mtl dot com

“What I felt was that Flora suddenly returned by carriage, and it felt like they were about to fight or something.”

“Suddenly returned by carriage?”

“Yes. Seeing that made me think they were about to fight or something.”

No. That couldn’t be.

There was no longer any reason for the two to fight.

Flora acknowledged her mistake and was punished. Even though she cried her heart out, the words that came out of her mouth weren’t the same lies as before.

It was an apology, and a question of how to be forgiven.

Claire, too, was deeply guilty, so she couldn’t answer that question…

Thanks to that, I thought I knew why she went to see Carsein.

“It’s not like they fought or anything.”

“Hmm?”

“You know, Unnie. Karsein has become quite capable lately. It’s different from before.”

“Yeah, I know… But why did Flora go to find Karsein? There’s no reason to step into that territory, which is no longer producing Shatren strawberries and Shatren grapes.”

Clare swallowed her saliva and lied again.

“I had something to learn. That’s why I went. I didn’t study before, but after learning from Karsein, I changed.”

“Hmm… That’s true. But if it’s really for studying math, you should bring her back quickly.”

“That’s right. I’ll take care of that. Unnie, it’s already far for you to come this far.”

Yeah. It’s better for me to go instead of Unnie meeting her directly.

I’ll go and check the situation at the territory.

I can ask Flora why she did that.