Since It's My First Time Being a Lady, I'll Cause Some Trouble - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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This Is My First Time as a Lady 035
* * *
It was a late spring day.
Despite the clear and brilliant weather, the Baron’s face was as gloomy as that of a man burdened by household troubles.
“What is the matter?”
When the Baroness spoke to him, the Baron opened his mouth heavily.
“I’ve received word that bandits have appeared on Mount Feltier.”
At the mention of bandits, the Baroness’s expression soured.
Mount Feltier was a vast mountain that dominated most of the Netzer Barony. Because the land was mostly mountainous with little flat terrain, agriculture was difficult, but in its stead, mineral resources were abundant.
And yet bandits had appeared there.
“It seems they’ve been targeting the gold mines and raiding nearby villages.”
The primary minerals of Mount Feltier were gold and coal.
If the bandits had seized the gold mines, they had to be driven out as quickly as possible.
Setting aside questions of trade between territories, it was only a matter of time before bandits possessing gold would grow their forces.
“When did this happen?”
“There was no trouble until a week ago. I only learned of it this dawn.”
According to the Baron, security in the Netzer Barony was ordinarily handled by the Imperial Army’s Military Police, and a sergeant—the platoon commander of the garrison stationed in that area—would visit once a week to conduct inspections.
But this morning, what the Military Police Sergeant encountered was only houses burned to ash and collapsed in ruin.
A village that had been perfectly sound until last week had now become an abandoned settlement.
The experienced Military Police Sergeant realized it was the work of bandits and promptly informed his superior, the Military Police Lieutenant.
And only this morning did word reach the Baron’s estate.
“So it seems I’ll need to stay in Netzer until the bandit problem is resolved. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Mind? What is there to mind? Of course I don’t mind. The lord is simply fulfilling his duty. I’ll have the servants pack our things at once.”
“My dear…….”
The Baron’s eyes shone with gratitude as he looked at his wife.
“I never expected you to respond so readily. In times like these, it’s no simple matter for an entire family to leave here and undertake a long journey. Especially with bandits about…….”
“Pardon?”
“Huh?”
Misty and the Baroness looked at the Baron in confusion. What on earth was he talking about? Why did he mean all of us?
“……You’re not going alone?”
When the Baroness asked with a reluctant expression, the Baron’s face filled with a sense of betrayal.
“How could my own wife be so cold! You meant to send me off alone? Is that why you were about to tell the servants to pack? I don’t even know when I’ll return!”
“It’s your territory matter—why shouldn’t you go alone instead of dragging everyone?”
At the Baroness’s harsh words, the Baron’s indignation erupted.
“Are we not a family? I thought you were consenting so readily!”
“Just because we’re a family doesn’t mean we always move together! What if we all end up at the hands of assassins or bandits? Someone needs to stay in a safe place!”
“You’ll leave me here, won’t you? If not, just strike me from the family register! Please!”
Yet it was the Baron who emerged victorious from this marital quarrel.
At his order to pack quickly and prepare to depart, I wanted to scream outright.
I am a maid! Not an actual lady! Why do I have to suffer along with them?
I was already furious about becoming a witness to the Gordon Family murders, and this was absolutely infuriating.
‘I’ll have my revenge. When I meet that lady again, I’ll make her pay.’
I’ll repay her for all my suffering—double. No matter what.
* * *
Unlike the Batory Estate, where all the residents lived in one large village, the Netzer Barony was structured as a territory with several scattered small towns.
Because the immense mountain occupying the center of the territory made it impossible to build one large settlement, smaller clusters naturally arose along the mountain’s slopes.
Among them, the town that had been attacked was Ochelle, located right near the mines where gold was primarily extracted.
Currently, security in the Netzer territory was maintained by Military Police dispatched by the state.
A small squad managed by a sergeant was stationed in each town, and the platoon sergeant would visit once a week to conduct inspections.
Because the mountains were treacherous, travel between towns was difficult, and so the other villages had no knowledge whatsoever that Ochelle had been attacked by bandits.
“The fact that no one knew of this incident until the initial discoverer arrived at Ochelle suggests that most of the town’s residents were either killed in the attack or abducted by the bandits.”
“How many dead?”
“We’re still tallying the numbers, but judging by the bodies remaining in the town, it appears that roughly half the original population is dead.”
After hearing the Military Police Lieutenant’s report, the Baron let out a deep sigh.
He’d expected as much, but it seemed there were no survivors who had escaped from the bandits.
The area around Ochelle was nothing but trees and rocks. Even if someone had managed to escape by good fortune, they would likely have been attacked by wild animals or died from a fall.
“How many bandits are there?”
“By rough estimate, somewhere between twenty and thirty.”
“……So that’s why the squad stationed at Ochelle was completely annihilated.”
According to Imperial Army organization, a single squad consisted of at most around ten soldiers. Even the Military Police, who handled military security and law enforcement, would not be significantly different.
If bandits numbering two or three times the garrison’s strength had descended upon them, even professionally trained soldiers would have been overwhelmed.
“Are there no other testimonies? What was the condition of other villages when Ochelle was attacked?”
“According to reports, there have been no other unusual incidents thus far.”
“Very well. You’re dismissed. If you uncover anything new, inform me at once.”
He’d suspected the bandits were numerous given that an entire village had vanished, but their actual numbers far exceeded his estimates.
A request for reinforcements had been submitted some time ago.
Yet what returned was a pittance of soldiers and a flat refusal to send more.
The Imperial Palace was absorbed in fortifying Araph, leaving fewer troops available for deployment to outlying regions.
‘But I can’t divert the Military Police stationed in other villages to bandit suppression operations either.’
To do so would destabilize security in those towns, and in the worst case, other bandits or brigands might exploit the opening to strike.
He’d considered requesting private soldiers from Count Batory or hiring mercenaries, but circumstances had rendered both impossible.
‘Which is precisely why I can’t.’
Since the treason plot, the Imperial Palace had grown exquisitely sensitive to any private individual or civilian organization acquiring soldiers or employing mercenaries.
The Baron had managed to borrow Count Batory’s private soldiers as an emergency measure not long ago, and it had been overlooked with just an explanation—but the situation had shifted dramatically since then.
For the foreseeable future, any lord wishing to lend soldiers to another or anyone seeking to hire mercenaries would need to petition the court.
The Baron had submitted his petition days ago, yet it remained under review despite the urgency.
‘Must I request reinforcements again?’
The Baron took up his pen and began drafting another letter requesting additional troops.
‘No—if I ask again, they’ll certainly refuse this time.’
He crumpled the letter and started anew.
The Baron of Netzer was prepared to break the law if it meant saving his subjects.
* * *
The Netzer Barony lay directly beside the capital of Araph and Batory County, yet unlike those two, it reminded me of my homeland—a good place.
If Araph was magnificent and Batory was steeped in tradition, Netzer was modest, harmonizing naturally with the landscape.
‘But it’s so dull.’
Why did all the provincial lords’ estates stand so far from the bustling centers of their own territories?
They doubtless had their reasons, but I found it deeply frustrating.
I’d wanted to slip away to even the modest commercial streets of this small town, but I ran headlong into the Baroness’s fierce opposition—bandits could appear anywhere, at any time, she insisted.
The village of Ochelle, which had suffered the attack, lay quite near the Baron’s manor within the barony.
By “near,” I mean in terms of straight-line distance.
In reality, a formidable mountain range stood between them, so reaching here from Ochelle or the suspected bandit stronghold would take at least half a day.
And that assumed trekking without pause down those treacherous paths.
“You want to go in the opposite direction from where Ochelle is? And it’s the safer way!”
Even when I pointed out I’d be heading the safer way, the Baroness refused to bend.
As a result, all I could do was take Bessy and Misty for walks up the back hillside.
Though even that stayed within two hundred meters of the manor.
Fifth day since arriving at the Netzer Barony.
I was walking my usual route through the mountain path when it happened.
“Hm?”
A sudden wrongness made me step back.
I stomped the ground with my foot. It gave only a dull thud—nothing more.
I moved forward and pressed down again. The earth boomed beneath me.
Just two or three paces apart, and the vibrations from each spot felt distinctly different.
‘This wasn’t like this yesterday.’
How could something change so dramatically overnight?
I spun toward Bessy and Misty following behind. “Look here. The ground rings hollow, like there’s empty space underneath.”
Bessy and Misty stared at me with confused expressions.
It was the moment I was tapping the spot where the vibration was strongest, speaking as I did.
Suddenly the ground around me seemed to surge upward, and I felt my body lift.
Then everything went dark.

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