Fred and Logan looked at Ian.
‘Surely, he’s just talking without thinking, right?’
‘He can’t seriously be thinking of entrusting this to the Lady?’
Ian, not noticing their gazes, stood up.
“That’s enough. I’ll think it over a bit more before deciding.”
“Yes.”
“Is there still no word from the Magic Tower?”
Logan nodded.
“Hm. We need to find and plant it soon.”
What Ian was trying to obtain with the help of the Magic Tower was the seed of a cold-resistant plant called ‘Guguma.’
In the North, the ground only starts to thaw in late spring, so crops were usually planted then and harvested by early autumn.
However, due to the region’s harsh cold, the variety of crops that could grow was extremely limited.
Moreover, once the harvest was over, the cold would set in immediately, preventing any further planting, but Guguma was different.
In the latter part of the novel, after Rose was dealt with and the female protagonist was granted a duchy, she felt pity for the starving people of the North. She requested the head of the Magic Tower to create a crop that could save them all.
The head of the Magic Tower, who had feelings for the female protagonist, quickly accepted her request and immersed himself in magic related to life.
However, the creation of a crop that could ‘save everyone’ proved to be elusive. Although he wanted to present the female protagonist with the perfect crop, creating a flawless life was impossible for any being.
One day, as the head of the Magic Tower was fretting over his failure to fulfill the female protagonist’s request, a mage visited him.
The mage introduced themself as someone with no exceptional talent, who had been wandering here and there. They handed over Guguma, a plant they had developed but had abandoned because of its unsightly appearance.
Guguma, covered in long, tentacle-like thorns, was hideous to look at.
The head of the Magic Tower, who wanted to present the female protagonist with a beautiful, delicious, nutritious, and bountiful crop, was initially unimpressed with Guguma.
However, despite its appearance, once peeled, Guguma was not only nutritious but also tasty.
Additionally, it had the trait of being highly resistant to the cold.
After tasting Guguma, the female protagonist introduced it as a crop sent by the gods to save the North teritory, using her status as a saint.
Believing her words, the people of the North planted Guguma during the winter, and as the mage had promised, it grew abundantly, becoming the winter food supply for the Northerners.
As a result, the female protagonist was revered even more.
Creating a perfect crop wasn’t as difficult as it seemed.
It didn’t need to be beautiful; it just needed to have the strength to endure hardships. That was the answer.
Through this event, the head of the Magic Tower also gained a great realization.
‘In any case, I need to get my hands on this crop before the female protagonist does.’
After pondering for a moment, Ian spoke.
“Tell the head of the Magic Tower that if they send a mage quickly, I’ll make sure they can purchase an even larger magic stone than before.”
“What?! Do you still have more magic stones, my lord?”
Logan was surprised by Ian’s mischievous grin instead of an answer.
“Fred, prepare the recruitment announcement for the seeders and knight candidates.”
“Are you planning to recruit more knights?”
“Yes, and…”
After a brief pause, Ian shook his head.
“No, let’s just recruit the seeders and knight candidates for now.”
“?… Understood.”
“Revise the locations I mentioned and bring them back to me. Logan, what about the servants and maids?”
“They’re still in training. They should be ready by next week.”
After purging the spies from the branch families, there were hardly any servants left in the castle.
Although we could manage for a while, it was impossible to go on indefinitely with such a small staff, so we’re conducting a large-scale recruitment this time.
Unlike before, we thoroughly checked not only the resumes but also the family backgrounds of all applicants.
Furthermore, during the training period, the existing servants were monitored to ensure that no spies could slip in again.
“What about May?”
“The contract with Berry G has been completed, and the interior work is in progress. Everything you requested has been prepared, and she will stay in the capital until the shop is fully established.”
“That’s how it should be.”
Ian pondered for a moment before speaking again.
“You should attend the shop’s opening.”
“Me?”
Logan pointed to himself.
“Yes. It’s not good to keep too many things hidden. It’s fine if they know that the Loenbaum family is involved in business.”
“But won’t that reveal our dealings with the bank?”
Ian shook his head.
“The bank will operate separately from the merchant guild. I didn’t entrust the bank to May for that reason.”
Fred, who had been listening to the conversation, asked,
“Who do you plan to entrust with the bank?”
Ian pointed to himself.
“I’ll handle it. More precisely, ‘Mr. G’ will.”
“Pardon?”
“What?”
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Ian burst into laughter.
***
Kale Count’s Study
The study, decorated with rare items that couldn’t be bought even with money, was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.
“It seems it will be difficult to plant another spy,”
Baron Hanova hesitantly said, as Count Kale slammed his fist on the desk with a loud thud.
“Damn that bastard.”
After repaying the debt he owed to Count Kale, the Duke immediately ousted the spies.
It would have been fortunate if he had only ousted them.
He went as far as to punish the collateral branches connected to them.
The reason for the punishment was their disrespect toward the main branch.
Count Kale clenched his fist.
Everything had been going smoothly.
First, he had hurt the pride of the former Duke, making him incur debts.
Then, he whispered to the former Duke that the young Duke had no promising future, leading the former Duke to abuse him. Using the servants, he crushed the young Duke’s self-esteem.
It was out of fear that he might resist.
However, the young duke grew up as expected, and the lady, who they thought would be a hindrance and planned to get rid of, foolishly eloped for love.
Now, all that remains is the couple from the former duke’s family, with nothing left but their pride.
Count Kale had lured them out under the pretext of an outing and had them fall off a cliff to their deaths.
Although the young Duke had become the Duke, he couldn’t accept reality.
Pretending to comfort the frightened Duke, he reminded him of the debt, using it to take control of the Loenbaum family’s main money-lending business.
As the Duke couldn’t make money, his debt only increased.
When the debt exceeded a certain amount, according to his plan, Kale was supposed to take over the Dukedom. But he didn’t rush.
He thought he could take it whenever he wanted, so he planned to act when he would shine the most.
But then everything went wrong in an instant.
A grinding sound filled the study.
The reason the collateral branches had dared to act against the main branch was because of the debt.
Now that the Duke had repaid all the debt, the collateral branches could no longer reach out to the main branch.
“Count, if things continue like this, that person…”
Viscount Vylotte, wiping his cold sweat with a handkerchief, trailed off.
Count Kale closed his eyes tightly.
‘What am I supposed to say to that person?’
The collateral branch members, seeing Count Kale’s reaction, couldn’t hide their anxiety.
At that moment, Viscount Des, who was sitting at the very end, raised his hand.
“How about asking for that person’s help?”
Viscount Des hesitated as all eyes turned to him, then stammered.
“Didn’t that person say they would help with anything they could?”
Viscount Rika, who was sitting next to him, said,
“But we’ve already asked for so much help. Asking again might be…”
“Even so, if it’s not that person, we won’t be able to overcome this situation. Does anyone have a better idea?”
Those sitting on the sofa lowered their heads.
They had been meeting for days, discussing the same issues over and over, but no good ideas had come up.
“I think that’s the only way. After all, it was that person who made all the plans. That person should be able to find a way out of this situation.”
Count Kale pondered.
It was true that all the plans had been made by that person.
But it was Count Kale who had delayed executing them.
If he had any sense of shame, he should resolve this himself, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t come up with a good solution.
“Yes, let’s ask that person for help,”
Count Kale said, and everyone smiled broadly and nodded.
***
The training ground of the Duke’s residence, where a large number of seeders and knight candidates had arrived, was filled with loud, resonant sounds.
The Black Wolf Knights trained energetically with the new recruits, and the seeders and knight candidates gave their all in training, eager to join the Black Wolf Knights.
However, they couldn’t help but sneak glances around.
“Your left side is open.”
No sooner had the words been spoken than the wooden sword struck William’s exposed left side.
“Ugh.”
William staggered from the pain but quickly regained his stance.
“Please, again.”
Ian nodded.
Though Ian was merely standing there with his sword lowered, there wasn’t the slightest opening in his stance.
William focused all his senses on Ian’s sword, trying to sense the mana.
How much time had passed while William guarded against Ian’s sword? Just as William was about to draw in the surrounding mana into his body…
“Leg.”
This time, the wooden sword lightly tapped his leg.
William, drenched in sweat, collapsed to the ground.
“Huff, huff.”
Ian approached the panting William and threw him a towel.
“Are you meditating in the mornings?”
“Yes,”
William replied after catching his breath.
“When you meditate, clear your mind. If you keep thinking that you must feel the mana, it’s better not to meditate at all.”
“Understood, Duke.”
“Hmm?”
“…How is Claude doing?”
“Hmm, his mana is starting to condense.”
At Ian’s words, William’s expression hardened.
Ian patted William’s shoulder.
“Just because his mana has started to condense doesn’t mean he’ll break through the wall first.”
Many knights had stopped progressing after reaching the stage where they could condense mana.
Breaking through the wall required not just condensing mana, but storing it in the body to create a core, and then using that core to condense mana into the sword.
“…Thank you for your guidance,”
William said, bowing his head, though he couldn’t hide his tense expression.
‘Should I say more? No, this might push him to try harder.’
It was at the moment when Ian threw the wooden sword he was holding to his squire and turned his body.
‘Something’s coming!’
