In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 93

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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 Episode 93

My daily routine these days was quite simple.

Coming to Pellet Trading Company about three times a week to receive Cleribane’s reports was all of my scheduled activities.

The rest of the time, I spend visiting Peres at the Imperial Palace or hanging out with my cousins.

Today, I had leisurely been looking around the plaza before stopping by Pellet Trading Company’s office.

Violet, who had been dispatched to help with busy work at Gallahan Clothing Store, was also waiting for me in the office after a long time.

“Did the wheat purchasing from the Southern Region go well?”

“Yes, fortunately the Sersheu Region and the Far Southern Region of the Empire had good harvests, so we were able to purchase at good prices.”

I nodded without saying much.

The fact that this year’s southern farming would be an unprecedented bumper crop was something that remained in my memory.

Seeing my unsurprised reaction, Cleribane asked me in a half-doubting tone.

“Don’t tell me, you knew about it?”

“What?”

“That the Southern Region would have a good harvest this year.”

How perceptive.

But I shrugged my shoulders and made an expression as if I had no idea what he was talking about.

“I’m not some prophet, how would I have known that?”

“But your reaction just now…”

“That’s because I believed from the beginning that Cleribane, Violet, and Pellet Trading Company’s capable employees would do well.”

“Ah…”

At my sudden praise bombing, Cleribane’s mouth corners unconsciously rise slightly as he makes a dazed expression.

He hurriedly tries to cover his mouth that had been twitching several times, but it’s no use since his usually sharp eyes have gone all soft and mushy.

Anyway, Cleribane is really weak to praise.

I let Cleribane calm down for a moment and asked Violet.

“Did you look into that ‘Red Guild’ I mentioned before, Violet?”

“Yes, but nothing much came up… I’m sorry.”

Violet handed over a thin report while speaking apologetically.

But I shook my head.

“It’s not Violet’s fault. This Red Guild isn’t a place that did that many things.”

It was an instruction I gave thinking there wouldn’t be much gain from the start.

“Just finding out this much is more than enough work, Violet.”

It seems Violet is also weak to praise.

Judging by how her neat white face turned slightly red.

So I decided to praise a little more while I was at it.

“You handle every task I ask for so perfectly that I have nothing to do and it’s getting a bit boring.”

“S-such words…”

“I will work even harder.”

Violet’s face turned even redder, and Cleribane answered meaningfully as if he had resolved something.

“And Cleribane.”

“Yes, Lady Pirenthia.”

“Loril bought a gift for Cleribane during her eastern trip. Send someone from the trading company to Lombardi Estate to get it.”

Over the past few months, Loril had been on a long trip to the east where her mother Mrs. Dillard’s family was from.

She bought gifts for me, Father, and Cleribane, but since there were watching eyes, she couldn’t give Cleribane his gift directly.

Though they were half-siblings, officially Cleribane and the Dillard family had no relationship.

“…Yes, I understand.”

Cleribane, who had hesitated for a moment, eventually nodded.

He says they’re ‘complete strangers with no relation,’ but well.

The Cleribane I’ve been watching was someone who cared for his younger sister Loril much more than he thought he did.

I greeted Cleribane and Violet and then returned to the estate.

After getting off the carriage, instead of going straight into the house, I came out to the garden and walked a bit.

After the storm of Bestian’s betrayal and Shannet’s divorce passed, the estate became peaceful again like before.

No, actually it became so peaceful that it’s getting a bit boring…

“Sob! Waaah!”

I heard a child crying at the entrance to Pine Garden.

This familiar voice is Creny.

When I approached through the trees where the crying was coming from, sure enough, Creny was hugging something and crying.

“Why are you crying again?”

At my voice, he lifts his head that had been buried in his knees, and Creny’s face is quite a sight.

He was covered in tears and snot, and his hair was all disheveled with sweat.

Moreover, he was so upset about something that his face was bright red with heat as he hiccupped.

“Sniff! T-Tia…”

Creny, who spotted me, came running over and hugged me with a thud.

Then he began crying in earnest at the top of his lungs.

“Waaaah! Sob! Huuung!”

What a variety of crying sounds.

I already knew from experience that Creny, true to being a crybaby, wasn’t the type to be comforted easily when he cried with such various sounds.

So I checked what Creny was holding with a half-resigned heart.

“A book? The book I lent you yesterday?”

But the condition of the book was a bit strange.

“Why is it all torn up like this?”

Looking closely, it wasn’t just neatly torn.

The book pages that were torn to shreds even had black footprints all over them as if someone had stepped on them.

“S-sorry… I’m sorryyy…”

When I examined the book’s condition, Creny’s crying got louder.

Actually, since it was a book I bought intending to give to Creny from the start, I don’t mind that the book is ruined.

But the footprints stamped all over the pages and the identical footprints on Creny’s shirt are very bothersome.

I wondered if he had fought with someone, but judging by the size, it definitely wasn’t someone Creny’s age.

They were clearly large footprints like those of a full-grown adult.

“Who did this?”

I asked while pointing at the large footprints.

“Th-this… this was Brother Belesack…”

“Belesack?”

I wondered why he’d been so quiet lately!

Taking a quick look, Creny even had bruises on his arms.

“Tell me properly what happened, Creny.”

“Sob! Well… I-I was reading a book by myself…”

“And then?”

“Sniff, Bele-sack came and… asked what book it was, sob! So… I-I said it was Tia’s!”

It was hard to understand with the crying mixed in, but the sequence of events Creny explained was this:

“So you were reading a book by yourself when Belesack came, and when he found out the book you were reading was mine, he tore it up?”

“Uuung…”

“And you got like this trying to stop him?”

“…Ung.”

“That ant turd Belesack!”

Old emotions surged up.

“He beats up his own young cousin because he has nothing else to bully?!”

No, he was the guy who beat me like that in my previous life, so of course little Creny wouldn’t be okay.

“What was your brother doing! What was Astaliou doing!”

“He-he just stood there…”

“That stupid idiot! His own little brother is getting beaten up!”

When I exploded in frustration at how infuriating it was, Creny started sniffling again beside me.

This young kid got trampled on while trying to protect the books, and his own older brother just stood there watching blankly.

He must have felt so wronged.

But I deliberately spoke sternly.

“Stop. You’ve cried enough. Stop crying now.”

“…Sniff.”

Creny hiccupped at my words and held back the tears that were bursting out by pressing his lower lip tightly.

To Creny, who seemed to be calming down a bit, I explained calmly.

“Creny, how much do you think this book costs?”

“Umm. I don’t really know…”

Since he’d never bought anything outside before, it made sense he wouldn’t have any sense of money.

“Look, I bought this book for 4 silver. How much allowance do you get each month?”

“1 gold.”

It seemed like the Lorels and Ronette couple were only giving him a portion of the money allocated for Creny.

“Right, then you can easily buy this book with your allowance, so you can buy me a new book. It would be even better if you added an apology.”

“B-but…”

“You don’t need to hurt your body over something that can be bought with just money. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah…”

“It’s important to protect things you think are precious, but ultimately the most important thing is yourself.”

His eyes, still not dried of tears, blinked at me a couple times as if wondering what I was thinking.

Since Creny had just turned eight recently, I gave him some slightly stronger advice.

“Listen carefully, Creny. You’re a Lombardi. And a pretty decent Lombardi at that. When Lombardis get angry about something, we don’t just sit there and cry. We get revenge.”

“Revenge…?”

“That’s right, revenge. And proper revenge at that.”

I had absolutely no intention of letting that Belesack bastard who made the kid like this get away with it.

As someone who specialized in cleaning up after Belesack and Astaliou, I was confident I knew more about those two than they knew about themselves.

Including their weaknesses, of course.

“But Creny, you’re still young, so just this once I’ll get revenge for you. But from next time, you can’t just cry helplessly like this. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah! I got it!”

I patted Creny’s head and turned to the person who had been listening to our conversation.

“Grandfather.”

At my call, Grandfather, who had been half-hiding behind a thick pine tree, walked out.

“Hehe, you knew I was there?”

Grandfather smacked his lips, seemingly embarrassed about hiding.

But I didn’t smile looking at Grandfather like that.

Grandfather, noticing that I was seriously angry, frowned as he carefully looked over Creny’s condition.

“I have a favor to ask, Grandfather.”

“…Let’s hear it.”

“Please allow me to take Creny outside for a little while.”

“Hmm? That’s all?”

Grandfather looked surprised, probably thinking I would say ‘Please punish Belesack.’

But I had no intention of making such an easy wish.

What Grandfather could do to Belesack was at most scolding him harshly or confining him to the house for about a week.

That wasn’t nearly enough punishment for making Creny like this and daring to tear my book.

As I promised Creny, I planned to deal with Belesack myself.

“Where are you planning to go?”

Grandfather asked curiously.

“I want to give him some sweets.”

I answered while pointing at Creny, who was wiping away tears with the back of his hand.

“W-well then, go ahead…”

I immediately took Creny’s hand and got back into the carriage I had just returned in.

The place I brought Creny to was, of course, 【Caramel Avenue】.

“Here, eat this. Eat lots and grow up quickly so you can look down on the likes of Belesack.”

I said while pushing milk and chocolate cake toward Creny.

I said this knowing that unlike Belesack, who was short for a man even as an adult, Creny would be the tallest among the cousins.

“Hehe. Yeah!”

Creny, with chocolate around his mouth, smiled happily with his still-red eyes.

I was throwing him a napkin to wipe his mouth when I heard a rather unusual conversation.

“You’re saying you won’t renew the monthly lease contract? What do you mean by that?”

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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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