In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 269

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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This Life, I Will Become the Clan Head

 

Side Story Episode 12

 

Damn it.

 

I stopped dead in my tracks.

 

Should I try to run away like this?

 

Even if I did, it was obvious I’d be caught right away.

 

Isn’t there another way?

 

Even in this moment of panic, thoughts raced quickly through my head.

 

“Hey, can’t you hear me?”

 

When I showed no reaction, Serseou’s soldier spoke in an even more fierce voice.

 

I have no choice.

 

I lifted my head toward the soldiers and asked.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“Take off your hood for a moment. There’s something we need to check.”

 

“…Alright.”

 

I nodded readily and pulled down the hood that had been covering me deeply.

 

“Is this enough?”

 

When facing inspections or interrogations, it’s better to act even more confidently.

 

“Ho.”

 

One of the two soldiers approached and scrutinized my face thoroughly.

 

However, for some reason, he didn’t compare my face with something in his hand like the other soldiers I’d seen before.

 

As if I hadn’t been their target from the beginning.

 

Just as I was about to feel disgusted by the increasingly blatant stare.

 

“Let’s go now.”

 

The other soldier urged him on.

 

However, the soldier who had been looking at me smiled as if amused and made a show of it.

 

“What’s the harm? Might as well enjoy the view while we’re at it, right?”

 

This bastard.

 

“Well, it’s definitely not her.”

 

Just as the soldier with that unpleasant smile was about to turn around.

 

“Um, may I ask you something?”

 

Where do you think you’re going?

 

If you made me feel disgusted, at least spit out some useful information before you leave.

 

When I called out to stop him, the soldier raised one eyebrow as if surprised.

 

“What?”

 

“Is something happening in Arcadia by any chance? I came here to travel, but the atmosphere seems quite ominous…”…”

 

I continued speaking while acting thoroughly frightened.

 

“If something bad has happened, I think it would be better to move on to the next city right away.”

 

“Ah, it’s nothing serious.”

 

The soldier answered, waving one hand dismissively.

 

“We’re just looking for a wanted person who’s reportedly traveling through Serseou Territory.”

 

“Wanted… person?”

 

Could they be looking for me?

 

Mobilizing soldiers just to find me alone seems a bit insane, but it’s entirely possible if it’s Chanton Sersheu.

 

I put on an anxious face to gather more information and asked.

 

“Don’t tell me it’s someone who committed heinous crimes…”

 

“It’s not like that. Well, if you call it heinous, maybe it is heinous? Actually…”

 

“Hey, let’s go already!”

 

The other soldier, who seemed to have his head screwed on straight, frowned and cut him off.

 

Tch, how unfortunate.

 

“You don’t need to worry too much, so have a good trip and go back. We’re leaving now.”

 

The two soldiers moved to another location, and left alone, I began to ponder while sitting on the bench.

 

“They couldn’t have noticed that Peres and I aren’t in Lombardy.”

 

No way.

 

But that cunning black bear is so quick-witted that I couldn’t be sure of anything.

 

If it’s not me, then who could they be looking for with such a mobilization of soldiers?

 

However, there was nothing I could do right now.

 

Going to find a manager from Pellet Trading Company or Lombardi Guild here could risk exposing my identity.

 

For now, I could only hope that the person they’re looking for isn’t me.

 

“This is going too far!”

 

I turned my head toward where a loud voice had suddenly erupted.

 

It was the checkpoint where people had been lining up.

 

“I clearly heard that His Majesty the Emperor ordered you to stop the indiscriminate inspections of our Pellet Trading Company! What’s the meaning of another detailed inspection!”

 

Now I could see that the person protesting loudly had the emblem of Pellet Trading Company embroidered on their clothes.

 

“We’re just conducting the same inspection everyone else receives, so why all the complaints?”

 

“Can you swear that other trading companies receive inspections two or three times like us and are made to wait for days each time?”

 

“Haha, really…”

 

The argument between the checkpoint soldier and what appeared to be a Pellet Trading Company official went on for a long time.

 

And watching that dispute, I gradually regained my composure.

 

This isn’t a trip.

 

The reason I secretly left Lombardy was to stop the construction project that Chanton Sersheu was conducting to narrow the river width in the Tamal region.

 

Yet I had forgotten that reason, even if briefly.

 

My head, which had been excited about Peres, gradually cooled down.

 

I pushed aside the childish jealousy that had made me blush.

 

“Shall I go back to work?”

 

I muttered as I got up from my seat.

 

And before turning around, I didn’t forget to take in the sight of the angry Pellet Trading Company people.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to Chesayu.”

 

A soldier dressed in slightly brighter clothes than those in Arcadia smiled as he returned our identification.

 

“The atmosphere is quite different from Serseou Territory.”

 

Peres spoke as if reading my thoughts.

 

“Right. It really is different.”

 

After days of travel, the carriage carrying us finally arrived in Chesayu.

 

“We don’t have time to explore every corner. Shall we just take in some scenery?”

 

Rather than heading straight to the pier, we stopped our carriage on top of a low hill.

 

“Come, come! Aivan coal that’s so popular we can’t keep it in stock!”

 

“Fresh seafood that just arrived by express ship from the eastern region!”

 

The lively voices of merchants calling for customers could be heard all the way up the hill.

 

“The quantities may have decreased due to the Sersheu family’s greed, but the market still seems active. That’s a relief.”

 

I said with inner relief.

 

The merchants of Chesayu didn’t look as idle as the people in Arcadia just moments ago.

 

That wasn’t all.

 

“See those big warehouses over there? That used to be all farmland.”

 

“Yeah, I think I remember. Chesayu has developed much more than when we came last time.”

 

“Right? You think so too?”

 

I couldn’t help but keep smiling without realizing it.

 

Since Father became the lord, and since the start of eastern trade, Chesayu had been growing by leaps and bounds each day.

 

Who could imagine that this large city, now filled with people in every alley, was once a poor territory where people went hungry during bad harvest years.

 

“Duke Gallahan is praised far and wide as a truly capable lord.”

 

Peres said this to me as I smiled proudly.

 

“But seeing Chesayu in person, I can feel Duke Gallahan’s love for his territory.”

 

I completely agreed with Peres’s words.

 

Father wanted Chesayu to grow like Lombardy.

 

To become a place where the people could live peacefully without being swept away by bad or good harvests.

 

So he opened the port, lowered taxes, and personally ran around on foot to learn about the people’s hardships and reflect them in his territorial management.

 

And in just a few years, he had achieved this much change.

 

“Shall we head to the pier now?”

 

Peres asked, extending his hand to me.

 

“Yes. We need to board before it’s too late.”

 

We held hands and slowly walked toward the carriage.

 

Just then, I voiced a thought that suddenly occurred to me.

 

“I hope Chesayu becomes an even better land by the time our child inherits it someday.”

 

Thud.

 

“Oh, Peres, are you okay?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Peres, who had been walking fine but suddenly almost tripped over his own feet, answered belatedly in a low voice.

 

Then he pressed his lips tightly together and looked at me with trembling eyes.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it natural?”

 

“It’s surprising when you say it so suddenly, Tia.”

 

Really, he gets embarrassed so easily!

 

“I only said something natural.”

 

I spoke even more confidently.

 

“I told you before. We need to have at least three.”

 

“Phew.”

 

Peres started rubbing his face with his hands.

 

Regardless of his reaction.

 

I continued speaking.

 

“The Lombardi Family, the Lambur Empire, and here in Chesayu. We have a lot to pass down.”

 

“That’s true, but.”

 

“So let’s work hard, Peres.”

 

“Work hard…”

 

Peres’s face, covering his mouth with one hand and barely nodding, looked quite tired.

 

I patted his back with a thump and laughed.

 

“Are you secretly weak in stamina? This won’t do. Just endure a little more, you’ll be able to rest well once we board.”

 

“…I think I’ll sleep even less once we’re on the cruise.”

 

“Hm? What did you say?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Peres shook his head and smiled faintly.

 

Then he gripped my hand tighter and said.

 

“Let’s really go on a trip next time, Tia.”

 

“A trip?”

 

“Then I’ll let you take a slow, proper trip. There are many places I want to show you.”

 

Peres saying this looked somewhat like a child.

 

“We’ll see more places, and you can confirm whether I’m as capable an owner of the Empire as Duke Gallahan.”

 

His tone was like a child wanting praise for homework done diligently.

 

I looked up at such a Peres for a moment, then slowly stroked his head.

 

“You’re already a good Emperor. I know that best, even without touring the Empire.”

 

“…”

 

Peres had no response.

 

He just quietly entrusted his head to my touch like a docile animal.

 

He’d probably get upset if I scratched his chin.

 

I firmly suppressed the impulse that momentarily arose and said.

 

“Come on, let’s go. To board the cruise.”

 

“We still have time. We don’t need to rush, Tia.”

 

The carriage carrying us again headed straight for the pier.

 

Peres said we could go slowly, but there was no telling how long the procedures for regular cabin passengers, not high-grade ones, would take.

 

So when we hurriedly arrived at the pier and showed our ‘regular cabin’ tickets to the cruise crew members.

 

“Congratulations on winning the event! You’ve received a special cabin accommodation voucher for our cruise!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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