Chapter 85
The eldest daughter of the Trade King of Eight-Lake, Bill Baltraze.
Cecilia Baltraze.
On the day she turned 7-years-old, during a time when she should’ve been running around having fun without a care in the world, a terrible reality approached her.
A burden too heavy to bear by herself.
The death of her father.
The girl who smiled brighter than anyone else lost her smile, and she had to become strong in the seat of her absent father.
Then, she cursed the ‘disaster’ of South Mountain that stole away her father’s life.
Quest has been completed.
The respect from House Baltraze has been given as reward.
“……”
And now, that disaster was no more.
This wasn’t enough to completely erase the young girl’s pains, but slowly and surely, as the wound closed with time,
Her smile, befitting of a 10-year-old, would return.
* * *
“What’s the plan now?”
“We can only keep waiting.”
“Ehm. It’s already been three days since they asked us for more time. Maybe they forgot about you?”
Irene asked me, unsure of the situation, but I replied confidently,
“No. They could never forget me.”
Three days.
It had already been three days since I met the 8 representatives in the Halls of Gold and returned to my inn
Unexpectedly, in the Halls of Gold,
I ended up completing the quest and receiving the respect of House Baltraze, but that was it.
I couldn’t receive confirmation on my original objective of going to that place.
And so, it had already been three days since I waited without a reply.
‘It’s about time they sent me a message……’
Just like Irene, I was beginning to get a little nervous.
But then, some people came into the inn we were staying at.
“Sir Ruin Ardell.”
“……Ah.”
They were the people of House Baltraze, the No.1 of Eight-Lake.
“We apologize for making you wait for so long.”
“It’s fine. More importantly, is Miss Cecilia alright?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, she’s gotten much better. The reason our Lady’s response was slow was because she took some time to honor the memories of the previous Lord.”
“Is that so? I understand. Then…”
As I slowed my talking, the man understood my intentions and nodded.
“Indeed. The Lady has made a decision regarding your offer.”
“Really? That’s welcoming to hear. Then, I’ll grab my coat and go with you.”
As I moved to go up the stairs, the man stopped me.
“There’s no need for that.”
“What?”
“The Lady has come herself.”
“……”
A young girl slowly revealed herself from behind the knights of the Baltraze family.
Cecilia Baltraze.
“I apologize for making a client wait so long. I hope you can forgive this rudeness.”
Cecilia came forward to give her sincere apology, but hearing such a perfectly formal apology come out of the mouth of a 10-year-old girl felt too unnatural.
However, it was only as uncomfortable as wearing something that didn’t fit your age, and there was none of the hostility or danger that I felt when I first met Cecilia.
Her expression felt more relaxed too.
I smiled brightly for Cecilia.
“Didn’t you have to wait 3 years to rest the father you loved? This would never be rude.”
“……”
“I also went through something similar before.”
My mother.
Now, it was a face that I couldn’t remember if not for portraits.
But I could still clearly remember the tragedy that occurred 10 years ago, when I had just turned 6.
Cecilia’s eyes widened with curiosity, but I saved my words.
Instead, I asked,
“Would you like to take a seat?”
However, she wanted to move to another place where there were less prying eyes on her, and so, we got on the golden carriage of House Baltraze.
I thought we would naturally move to one of her company houses, but the destination was quite unexpected.
“……It’s the mountain range.”
“……”
South Mountain.
Cecilia was determined to face her trauma head on in this land, and sought out South Mountain, a land she forbade herself enter.
The land that took away her father’s life.
She hesitated for a moment while getting off the carriage.
“Fuu……”
However, she steeled her heart and set her foot on the soil of South Mountain.
And then, she asked me,
“Didn’t you say you came over this range?”
“Yes. I’m technically an illegal immigrant because of this, but I hope you can keep that secret.”
“……”
It was a light-hearted joke, but Cecilia couldn’t laugh.
Maybe it was because she didn’t have the comfort to laugh at such jokes yet.
After staring into South Mountain for a while, she opened her mouth.
“If we can make a path through South Mountain, we could make a trade route through the southern side of the Radian Kingdom via Ardell, and even toward the sand kingdom of Oyota to the West. It would be much more efficient than wasting time going around the center of the Empire like we are now.”
“Yes. My thoughts exactly.”
“Making the path through here… We, House Baltraze, will help you.”
“……Yes?”
This was something I couldn’t even dream of before.
I naturally always thought that the endeavor of making the path would fall on me to accomplish.
However, I was planning on leaving that till later, since we didn’t have enough money right now.
But if House Baltraze was to help, this would be completely different.
“……With that, could I take it as you accepting my offer?”
“All products produced in Ardell will be fine. We will import it into Eight-Lake at higher prices than the market average.”
Higher than the market price.
This was a shocking answer, and in that moment when I struggled to give an answer, Cecilia talked again.
“There’s something my father, once known as the Trade King, told me before. That it was fine if others pointed fingers at us and mocked us for being cold hearted, that trade was always like this, and that rather than taking a loss, it would be better to not sell at all.”
“……”
“However, I’m different from my father. I want to repay the grace that was given to House Baltraze, I want to promise trust, and I want to look forward to its future. I came to this place to tell my father that.”
10 years old.
This girl that became an adult faster than any other.
No, that had to become an adult.
Cecilia Baltraze.
She shook hands with me.
“I look forward to working with you.”
* * *
Translator – Jreaming
Proofreader – Artethrax
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* * *
Everyone goes through suffering.
Just like how Cecilia Baltraze confronted her ‘disaster’ today, I, too, had a time where I had to do that.
The despicable nightmare that struck House Ardell on my 6th birthday.
The mudmen that dominated the Red Plains attacked in waves, and even entered the town.
Many people died.
And one of them was my mother.
Against these lowly mudmen…
Was there a more shameful death?
However, there wasn’t enough time for me to mourn.
On the day I lost my mother, there were so many other children who had lost their parents, and as the young master of Ardell, I had to put on a brave face as the representative of these children.
That was the day I first promised myself…
I would become stronger.
I would become a magician.
I would never let the nightmare of that day hurt Ardell again.
“It’s great that it worked out.”
“……Yeah.”
Now, I took my first steps.
Wasn’t the first step the most important for anything?
After fitting in the first piece of the puzzle, we left Eight-Lake and returned straight to Ardell.
Since we had traversed it before, even though we walked slowly, it only took us half a day.
Yeah.
Other opportunities were also within my reach now.
“So, can I expect a more lively Ardell in a few years?”
“Yes. I want to build a port later on too, and also have a market that doesn’t need to rely on Eight-Lake or other places. Although, it would be a little difficult right now.”
“Fufu. I’m getting excited along with you.”
As I talked excitedly about the territory’s future, Irene smiled warmly while looking at me.
“When I look at you, I can really see that you love this land.”
“Isn’t everyone like that? Everyone loves their hometown.”
“No, not everyone.”
She spoke nonchalantly, as if it was nothing important.
“I hate my hometown.”
“……”
But what was this?
In that nonchalant tone, the pain behind that voice?
I wanted to ask, but Irene spoke no further about it.
“I said something unnecessary.”
“Could you tell me? I don’t really know much about your story.”
“Sure. But not now. Isn’t today a joyous day? Let’s return quickly and spread the news.”
“……”
Yeah.
Maybe next time.
“When the opportunity comes, I want to visit your hometown as well, Irene.”
“……”
Irene didn’t confirm nor deny it, but I could somewhat guess.
A day would definitely come where I would go seek out ‘Prius’.
* * *
For the first time in a while, House Ardell’s dinner table was bustling.
Since the occasion was quite momentous, all the people that led the territory of Ardell were gathered here, including Chief Baggins.
“Ahem. If everyone has finished their meals, should we listen to the young master’s story?”
Everyone’s attention was on me, and I started to talk.
The first part of my story naturally started in South Mountain.
Everyone was shocked to hear about me encountering and defeating a werewolf before arriving in Eight-Lake, but the story proceeded smoothly.
The problems happened afterward.
“What? You two stayed in the same inn?”
“I said we used different rooms.”
“Really? Bro, you… Did you……”
“……”
Ruina interrupted when the ‘inn’ came up.
Of course, everyone else chuckled at Ruina’s unexpected outburst, but Ruina was staring at me with a serious gaze.
What was this little kid even thinking about?
After that, I had to stop my story multiple times.
“Did that cold-hearted representative from Baltraze really say that? That she would repay the grace shown by Ardell?”
Chief Baggins interrupted when I talked about how I finished making the deal with Eight-Lake.
“Is it really true that work to create a path through South Mountain will start this month?”
“Yes. It’s true.”
“Just what magic did you do?”
“It wasn’t magic. I just built some trust with them.”
The elders exclaimed with surprise at the creation of a trade route through this deserted mountain range.
“If the trade route is created, the Oyotas from the west will also use it. Then Ardell will also become prosperous.”
“That’s true. It’s just as you say, Young Master. Ardell growing is now only a matter of time.”
Now, there was no reason to rely on Monzo, who held a monopoly on commerce on the southern side of the Radian Kingdom.
Of course, a large sum of 30 thousand gold disappeared in an instant to purchase the weapons……
But it was fine if you thought of it as investing it in something more important.
“Then, what is the next step, Young Master?”
Asked Chief Baggins.
“We’ll prepare for subjugation.”
Subjugation.
The conclusion of all plans was war.
“Of course, we need the permission of my father.”
“……”
Just as these words left my mouth, all eyes turned toward my father.
Having been silent for so long, he finally spoke up.
“……You’re all grown up.”
A lot of meaning was held in these words, mainly……
“Thank you. For growing up brilliantly like this.”
Gratitude.
And then……
“They say a parent can’t win against their child…… Now I can’t hold you back.”
A sense of not being able to stop me.
And finally, one more.
“I was afraid. Afraid of war. Just like that day 10 years ago…… That I might lose everything all over again.”
“……”
My father’s true feelings.
Feelings that he had hidden away for the longest time.
And the name my father spoke out…
“……I miss Meria today of all days.”
Meria.
Her face was fading from my memory, but I could still clearly feel my mother’s warmth.
My father lifted his glass of wine with that name, and then swore,
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“To avenge our loved ones.”
Vengeance.
And, the glory of Ardell.
——
