Chapter 114: Leca’s Harvest (V)

Translator: Adel

Editor: Evelet

QC: AdCaelum

The third town supervisor and tax collector, Elitz, came later that evening. He reported with a pale face that all of the Leca flower liqueur had been disposed of.

“Um, what’s going on with Carlsen?”

“He looked very upset… His face had a fierce look that appeared as if it was carved out of stone, more so than usual. I told him to go home. He’s probably curled up like a pillbug under his blanket right now.”

“…Yes, I see. That’s quite a statement, my friend.”

Elitz, who had the air of a simple country youth, had calmly spat out his venomous words. Vio was at a loss for a reaction.

At that moment, Vio heard the sound of a bell ringing from the temple deep within Leca and asked Elitz, “It’s already evening; are you okay being here? The gate will be closed soon.”

“It’s okay. I’m a government official, so I can go in and out through the service entrance. If I hadn’t reported before leaving, Master Violant’s small dove-like heart would have burst, and I just couldn’t deal with that. So here, this is the audit report for the two of you.”

Elitz quickly handed out the report.

What’s that about a small dove heart? What does that even mean?

The expression was effortlessly poetic, but left Vio guessing whether it was a compliment or an insult.1

Elitz smiled.

“Well, I’m praising you, of course.”

“…Really?”

From diagonally behind Vio, who was feeling battered because Elitz had read his mind, Legion coughed as if to signal him. Somewhat amused, Elitz looked at Legion and then turned his attention back to the report.

“I chose it knowing that…the three of you still don’t seem to get along that well, as usual.”

“Well, if I were to compare Carlsen and Rourke, Rourke would be preferable. Except for how nervous and tense Rourke gets,” Elitz said.

“You say the same thing about Carlsen. Actually, aren’t you on good terms?” asked Vio.

“Please don’t say that. As expected, Lord Violant is trying to see the good in people. Did I tell you about the harvest festival two years ago, when we fought over a woman and it turned into a bloody mess?”

Elitz started talking coldly about his fight with Carlsen, and Vio hurriedly interrupted him. It had taken an hour for him to get through this story last time.

“So you won in the end, right?” Vio replied.

“Yes, of course,” Elitz responded, his mood seeming to calm.

He returned to talking about his work in a matter-of-fact manner.

In the matter of their original dispute, according to Carlsen, Carlsen had won, but according to Rourke, it was a draw because the woman ran away.

The bad blood between the supervisors was troubling, but it was the result of having chosen two people who disliked each other and at the same time were reasonably knowledgeable and open-minded about town affairs. The disharmony prevented corruption that could occur if supervisors colluded. The previous mayor had asked Vio if he was aware of this bad blood or not. Vio was.

Rourke said that he didn’t dislike Carlsen and Elitz; he just had a hard time working with them. Carlsen and Elitz seemed to dislike Rourke’s timid side, so the two of them had been chosen. It was true that people who had a timid side would find these two’s blunt manner of speaking difficult to deal with. 

After he had given a full report, Elitz said he would leave the mansion before he ran into Gary.

For the time being, it seemed that the matter of the flower liqueur could be put aside, so Vio was somewhat relieved.

“I’m relieved for the time being, but there are various schedule changes to review…”

“Whatever can go wrong, will. It can’t be helped,” Legion said in a deliberately cheerful tone. Vio’s sinking mood started to swim to the surface for air.

“That’s right. We’ve avoided causing a fuss right away, so let’s think about our next move.”

All the people involved had been kept quiet.

After all, cheap magic recovery potions in the form of medicinal liqueur should not have been in the hands of nobles, even if they were great lords. Even if the royal family had it, it was a power that could cause a war to break out.

We should have avoided a war because of my brother’s affairs. It was just a spark, but it could have been a firestorm…… I just want to make things better in this poor land of ours, thought Vio

Apparently, the god of Edelbaran does not intend to give Violant Lesserhain rest. Are the gods telling me to fulfill my position as a villainous son?

That’s not going to happen. Even if that’s what they are pushing for, I’m choosing to live this life as my own.

Vio stood up from his seat as he shook his head from side to side.

“I’m looking forward to this year’s harvest festival, Legi! With me here, you will be able to see it the way it’s meant to be seen.”

“Sir Elitz’s report stated that he will be asking you to perform a speech at the festival, Lord Violant.”

“A speech? I see. It would make sense since I’m the mayor of this town. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Then… When should we meet my family?”

“Let’s plan for three days from now. I know it’s right before the festival, but once the festival gets started, it would interfere with business.”

“You don’t have to be worried about such a thing, but thank you.”

When he opened the door of the reception room while talking, Gary was right in front of the door.

Vio was startled, his heart faltered.

“What are you doing there?” Vio asked with the sharpness of a knife. He didn’t trust the seneschal not to eavesdrop.

“I’ve just returned, so I thought I’d say hello.”

At Gary’s reply, Vio let out a small sigh.

“If it’s just a greeting, you don’t have to go out of your way to say hello.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Peterson.”

Legion bowed and followed Vio. As soon as he entered the office and closed the door, Vio whispered to Legion.

“…Do you think he heard anything that was said?”

“He showed up around the time you said ‘three days from now’. He came right around that then.”

Vio stared at Legion, who answered confidently.

“No way, you can really tell where people are like that?”

“Yes, when you train your martial arts to a certain level, you become sensitive to your surroundings. Jill, Rille, Ed, and Howzel usually all place themselves in the same positions, so if someone is standing anywhere else, it has to be Mr. Peterson.”

There wasn’t any hesitation in his matter-of-fact reply as Legion quickly cleaned up the paperwork.

“Well, it’s already getting dark, so please have dinner. I have a slight cold, so I must go to bed early.”

“…Yeah. That’s right, I should just let it go.”

Vio wondered to himself how many times Legion has left him amazed with his repertoire. Vio gave up thinking that a time would ever come when Legion wouldn’t constantly surprise him.

Translator’s Note: There is some author’s note here about how they are pushing themselves hard to keep writing. Ganbatte author!

1Translator’s Note: The word they use for dove is the same name for an anime where a cute little girl must go around healing people’s hearts, “Kobato.” I think this might be a joke that references that.