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113 Anneliese's
Mother
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Translator : PolterGlast
After finishing our
meeting in the royal capital, Anneliese and I came to Kerniff.
We immediately headed
to the Golteo Trading Company.
"Well, well, Your
Excellency Viscount Footscythel. Welcome."
The vice store
manager—now the store manager—greeted me.
"I hear you were
promoted to store manager. Congratulations."
"This is all
thanks to your kind attention, Your Excellency Viscount Footscythel."
I didn't pay any
attention to him; I think it's all because of his own abilities.
"What can I help
you with today?"
"I've come to buy
some slaves."
"Thank you very
much."
I was shown all the
slaves at the Golteo Trading Company.
It's your time to
shine, Detailed Appraisal. I'm counting on you.
"That's all of them."
There were 45
voluntary slaves and 11 controlled slaves.
This time, I bought
slaves who wished to become soldiers and slaves to manage the Kerniff mansion.
I also bought two slaves who could change to a production job.
I contracted with 35
voluntary slaves. Zero controlled slaves. The controlled slaves this time were
all useless. If I may be so blunt, they were all scum.
The breakdown is 27
soldier slaves, 6 slaves to manage the Kerniff mansion, and 2 production job
holders.
My Base Magnate job reached
Level 7 with this transaction.
The Golteo Trading
Company isn't the only place that deals in slaves, both in the royal capital
and in Kerniff. I could probably buy more slaves who wish to be soldiers if I
went to other shops. But I won't.
"Thank you for
today."
"I'll be back in
half a month to buy more soldiers."
"Huh?"
"Please prepare
as many soldier slaves as you can."
"Do you really
need that many?"
"The
twenty-something I have now are fine for the time being. This is what you'd
call a preemptive investment."
"A preemptive
investment...?"
The store manager's
dumbfounded face was a little amusing.
So, he'll be gathering
slaves for me for half a month.
By the way, I'll do
the same in the royal capital.
We're going to create
the strongest Knight Order with slaves. Just kidding.
Now, let's fulfill the
real purpose of coming to Kerniff.
Anneliese and I got
into a carriage, surrounded by Jojok and three soldiers, and arrived at a
village about half a day's journey from Kerniff.
"So this is the
village where you were born, Anneliese."
"Yes. I grew up
in this village until I became an explorer."
This is Anneliese's
hometown village.
I've come to greet Anneliese's
parents.
If we're getting
married, I think it's important to greet Anneliese's parents.
We proceeded through
the village, but there were only a few people. They stared at us curiously.
We stopped the
carriage in front of a small house on the outskirts of the village.
"Mother!"
Anneliese ran toward a
woman who was washing something in the yard.
"Anneliese, is
that you!?"
The woman who turned
around and saw Anneliese was an elf.
She was very similar
to Anneliese but had longer ears.
I had heard that Anneliese
had elf blood, but her mother was an elf.
"It's a pleasure
to meet you, Mother-in-law. My name is Toi Footscythel. I've come to ask for
your daughter's hand in marriage and thought I'd pay an impromptu visit to
greet you."
"Toi-sama is a
viscount."
"Huh? What?"
Hearing that I was a
viscount, my mother-in-law had a very bewildered expression.
She slowly looked back
and forth between Anneliese and me, her mouth gaping.
My mother-in-law, now
composed, guided us into the house.
"We don't have
much..."
She served us plain
hot water.
My mother-in-law was
very nervous, and her hands were trembling slightly.
"No, please,
don't worry about it. Ah, I brought this as a token of my greeting."
I received a package
from Jojok and handed it to my mother-in-law.
I didn't know what to
get, and when I asked Anneliese, she said nothing was needed. That wouldn't
feel right to me, so I brought a fruit assortment.
I had Rose grow some
fruits that aren't available around here.
"Thank you. But I
can't eat all of this alone..."
Huh? Alone?
"What about
Father and my brothers?"
That's right, I heard Anneliese
had a father and two older brothers.
"They passed away
a year ago from an epidemic... "
"No way..."
Anneliese looked
shocked and was about to collapse, but I caught her in my arms.
"Mother-in-law. I
don't know what to say... I offer my condolences."
"Thank you, Lord
Footscythel."
"Please call me
Toi."
"But..."
"I have no
parents or siblings. The only family I can call my own in this world is Anneliese."
I have parents in my
previous life, but I probably won't see them again. So I want to cherish Anneliese's
mother.
"If you're Anneliese's
mother, you're my mother, too."
"Those are too
kind words."
"What do you say?
Would you come with us? Anneliese would be worried about you being alone, so
please come."
"Huh? Me?"
"If it's alright
with you, Mother-in-law, let's live together."
"Toi-sama! Thank
you!"
Anneliese hugged me
before her mother could answer.
"But... someone
like me..."
"You just need to
come as you are. We'll take care of everything else. I think Anneliese would
feel at ease if you came. Please, just indulge me in this one selfish
wish."
My mother-in-law
thought about it for a bit, but in the end, she said yes.
We took my
mother-in-law with us and summoned the village chief to inform him.
Jojok said that since
I'm a noble, it's better to summon the village chief.
"I am Toi
Footscythel, Viscount. I've decided to take Marhaleta-san with me. Do you have
any problems with that?"
My mother-in-law's
name is Marhaleta.
She has the same
blonde hair as Anneliese and looks so young that no one would doubt they were
sisters.
The village chief
apparently had lent money to Marhaleta's husband—Anneliese's father—and was
reluctant, saying he needed to be paid back.
"I'll pay that
debt. How much is it?"
"Oh, thank you
very much. The total is 150,000 Grill."
"You have the
promissory note, don't you?"
"Of course."
I offered him double,
300,000 Grill.
The village chief
froze, saying, "Huh?"
"If any debt
collectors come for Lady Marhaleta in the future, tell them to go to me. Got
it?"
"Yes!
Understood!"
This settles things
with Marhaleta.
We took Marhaleta back
to Kerniff.
***
When we went through
the Teleportation Gate to the royal capital mansion, she was completely
shocked, her eyes wide.
"This is one of
my skills. Please keep it a secret."
"Of course! I
won't say anything!"
You don't need to
shake your head so desperately.
I also brought the
slaves I bought in Kerniff to the royal capital.
I bought slaves in the
royal capital as well.
I'm having them aim to
level up and acquire good jobs.
Half a month later, I
bought more slaves in the royal capital and Kerniff.
That means a total of
160 slave soldiers were bought in the past half a month in Kerniff and the
royal capital.
I really thought I had
bought too many, but maybe it's a good thing in the sense that I'm creating a
future for them.
They'll be leveled up
to 40 at my place, and then they'll be free. Whether they work for me or not is
up to them.
"If all 160 of
them are leveled up to 40 and decide to work under you, they'll probably become
the strongest army..."
Gandarvan was
exasperated. But come on, strongest army aside, I don't want any of my
subordinates to die.
"Colon and Caron,
please focus on leveling up the slaves and helping them acquire good jobs in
the royal capital."
"
"Yes!" "
I feel bad for
entrusting 160 slaves to them, but I hope they do their best.
"By the way, what
did the Level 40-certified first-generation slave soldiers say?"
I started calling the
slaves I first bought in the royal capital "first-generation" to
avoid confusion.
The slaves I bought
half a month ago in Kerniff and the royal capital are the second-generation,
and the ones I bought this time are the third-generation.
"Out of the 38 in
the first generation, 22 have reached Level 40. They all said they want to work
under you, my lord."
All of them want to
work for me?
"You didn't force
them, did you?"
"Of course
not."
Am I surprisingly
popular?
"They'll be able
to become knights or soldiers of a viscount's family. Most people wouldn't say
no to that."
Right.
They get to work for a
noble family, and if they're a knight, their status is higher than a commoner.
It has nothing to do with my popularity.
"Most of all,
many people want to work under you, a hero who has reached the 10th floor of
the Royal Capital Dungeon, which is considered a high-difficulty dungeon."
Oh! I am popular after
all!
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