In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 276

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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 19

 

“Now the Eastern Region can also produce wheat…”

 

Peres muttered as if reminding himself.

 

The Eastern Region, with its vastly different terrain and climate from other parts of the Empire, could not produce wheat, the main food source.

 

This had been common knowledge about the Eastern Region from long ago, and also its greatest weakness.

 

Because of this, they always had to watch the faces of the central government and other regions.

 

But now things have changed.

 

The Eastern Region has acquired the technology to produce wheat on their own.

 

“Larane has worked so hard all this time. Researching wheat production methods suitable for the Eastern Region in this place so far from Ruman, hiding from others’ eyes.”

 

At my praise, Larane’s face turned slightly red.

 

“I didn’t do it alone. Without the Lombardy scholars that Tia sent, I couldn’t have even dreamed of it.”

 

But I shook my head.

 

What I said wasn’t empty words.

 

Even after having Rick along the way, Larane didn’t stop researching wheat production methods.

 

Her labor pains even started in the carriage coming from Ruman to this place, so that says it all.

 

“Scholars are literally just people who possess knowledge and conduct research. The one who gathered such people in one place and led them here was Larane. You don’t need to be so modest.”

 

“…Thank you, Tia.”

 

Larane, who answered like that, smiled more brightly than I had ever seen her before.

 

For a moment, words that my maternal grandmother, Soura, once said came to mind.

 

“There are flowers that grow better when they go to other places rather than where they were originally born and took root.”

 

Larane, who left Lombardy where she was born and came to this Eastern Region, had bloomed fully.

 

As if she had finally found the place to put down her roots.

 

I patted Larane’s shoulder once and turned toward Peres.

 

The guy, still with a half-dazed expression, was still touching the wheat with his fingertips.

 

Even so, his gaze couldn’t leave the vast field of ripened wheat.

 

“The Lord of Ruman has worked hard all this time.”

 

“Lord of Ruman?”

 

“To secretly research various things here, we needed a cover. So he had to pretend to be completely on Chanton Sersheu’s side.”

 

How pitiful those eyes were that secretly looked at me whenever we met at council meetings.

 

The Lord of Ruman, who looked similar to Avinox but was much more taciturn, looked at me like that more than once or twice, almost making me burst into laughter.

 

“Tia.”

 

“Yes, Peres.”

 

“This, the Eastern Region’s wheat production will cause a huge stir.”

 

“It will.”

 

It’s not something I didn’t expect.

 

Just the immediate changes alone were like that.

 

“First, Sersheu’s influence over the Eastern Region will greatly diminish. Ruman won’t need to depend on the Southern Region for food anymore.”

 

Now the Ruman clan is ready to seriously jump into the central political arena as one of the Empire’s main pillars.

 

It’s something they had longed for so much for a long time.

 

“And their dependence on Eastern Region trade will also decrease. There’s no longer a need to procure food from outside.”

 

“But if that happens, not only Sersheu but Lombardy will also find it difficult to handle Ruman.”

 

Until now, the Eastern Region had been under Sersheu’s influence on the surface, and actually in my grasp.

 

Without the trading ships and cruises of Pellet Trading House that connect the Eastern Region to the central government, they would be isolated again.

 

But now that they can produce food, the Eastern Region will soon be able to be self-sufficient.

 

Just like Aivan in the Northern Region, which maintains independent political power with abundant minerals.

 

To put it differently, it also meant escaping from my grasp.

 

“You’re right, Peres.”

 

At my calm answer, Peres furrowed his brow even more as if he couldn’t understand the reason.

 

“Are you curious about the reason?”

 

“I can’t understand it. Getting involved by even mobilizing Lombardy’s scholars in something that won’t benefit you.”

 

“Hmm, because.”

 

How should I explain this well?

 

After thinking for a moment, I chose the concise and honest path.

 

“I am the head of Lombardy, but I will soon become the Empire’s Empress.”

 

“…Tia.”

 

“If the Eastern Region gains independent power, your work will become much easier in the future. Isn’t that right, Peres?”

 

The Emperor’s authority comes from military force and wealth.

 

But how to maintain that authority depends on how much you make the nobles under you check each other and maintain a precarious balance of power.

 

“Think of it as a kind of wedding gift, Peres. Come to think of it, you gave me the Empress Succession Law amendment and a ring when you proposed, but I haven’t given you anything.”

 

Though I said it like a joke, Peres still just stared at me intently.

 

“There’s still more to show you, so you shouldn’t make that face already.”

 

“…Now you’re even scary, Tia.”

 

“Drama queen.”

 

After glaring at Peres once, I asked Larane.

 

“I just need to go north along this road, right?”

 

“Yes. Once you cross that hill over there, you’ll see it right away.”

 

“Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

 

After waving slightly at Larane, I started walking along the straight road.

 

But something felt empty behind me.

 

There was no sound of following footsteps.

 

I only turned my head to look back.

 

And I urged Peres, who was still standing in place as if nailed down.

 

“What are you doing? I said there’s still more to show you.”

 

* * *

 

Following behind Pirenthia up the hill, Peres rubbed his still dazed face with his palm.

 

The Eastern Region’s independent wheat production.

 

Though Tia had explained everything, he couldn’t understand it.

 

‘How can she do that?’

 

Her action was like voluntarily putting down a weapon she held in her hands.

 

If she could control the Eastern Region, as the head of Lombardy and as the Empire’s future Empress, she could have had absolute power.

 

But she voluntarily released the Eastern Region’s leash and called it a wedding gift.

 

Peres almost felt like laughing bitterly at the tremendous gift that had suddenly fallen into his arms.

 

“Ah, that must be it!”

 

Tia’s voice, which sounded particularly clear and refreshing in the wooded area, woke him from his thoughts.

 

“Hmm, so this is how it looks. Seeing it in person, it’s definitely a bit different.”

 

Following the green eyes that were muttering incomprehensibly to themselves, there was a vast plain like the one from before.

 

“That is…”

 

Peres’s eyes sharpened.

 

A scene that resembled the wheat field they had encountered earlier but was completely different unfolded before his eyes.

 

“Why is all the wheat on one side dead?”

 

The structure of the wheat fields arranged with a road in between was similar.

 

But the wheat on the left side, based on the direction they were looking down, was all blackened and withered, which was completely different.

 

The wheat that hadn’t fully ripened was all fallen to the ground.

 

It looked like farmland left behind after rough horse hooves had swept through once.

 

“Do you happen to know why the nobles have been particularly watching Chanton Sersheu’s every move lately, Peres?”

 

It wasn’t unusual for lords of regions needing food supplies to grovel before Sersheu, who owned the granary lands.

 

But recently, the situation had become much worse.

 

Even though harvest season was approaching, something seemed off, so Peres had ordered a secret investigation.

 

And the report that came in just a few days before departing on this journey was.

 

“A plague.”

 

An unknown disease that started in the southeast was killing all the wheat.

 

The disease spread like wildfire, and none of the known methods could stop it.

 

Even experienced farmers were putting down their farming tools, saying this was punishment from heaven.

 

Moreover, this disease caused particularly severe damage to wheat crops compared to other grains.

 

Naturally, the southern wheat production would decrease compared to last time, and the pro-Sersheu faction nobles who noticed this faster than anyone else had no choice but to fiercely compete for Chanton Sersheu’s favor to make up for the reduced wheat.

 

However, unlike the nobles who were fighting desperately thinking only of this immediate harvest, for Peres who governed the entire Empire, the wheat plague loomed much larger.

 

“You know too, right? At this rate, the entire Empire will be in danger.”

 

“It’s spreading that rapidly. By now, the central south is probably already affected too.”

 

Peres’s complexion darkened.

 

The place where Sersheu’s granary lands were concentrated was precisely the Central Plains of the south.

 

Even if they were lucky enough to get through this harvest season, no one knew what would happen next.

 

After receiving the report, he hastily made plans to dispatch Academy scholars to the south, but the results couldn’t be guaranteed.

 

The plague’s momentum was that terrifying.

 

“At this rate, there will be famine throughout the entire Empire.”

 

Pirenthia, with her hands clasped behind her back, spoke in a voice mixed with sighs.

 

“And many people will die, Peres.”

 

It was a simple prediction, but Peres felt chills.

 

He sensed a strange power in her murmuring words.

 

Instinctively looking at Pirenthia, she was still gazing at the withered wheat field.

 

But Peres thought that might not be it.

 

Her gaze seemed to be looking not at the wheat field in front of them, but at some distant future.

 

It was when Peres opened his mouth, wanting to ease Tia’s anxiety.

 

“Tia, don’t worry too much…”

 

“So I found a cure.”

 

“…What?”

 

“For the wheat plague. I found a cure.”

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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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