The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 12

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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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Chapter 12

As I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair, one of the maids spoke anxiously.

“Um, Miss. The situation seems serious, doesn’t it? Will food really become scarce?”

She was only realizing this now.

“Yeah, somewhat.”

When I nodded, another maid’s eyes sparkled as she chimed in.

“But we have horses too! The horses the Knight Order brought!”

Indeed, Alpheus’s Knight Order had brought quite a few horses.

“I thought they were completely useless, but we should sell them quickly too. If we buy dairy cows like Miss Dahlia said, we can get milk…”

“Absolutely not.”

I cut off those words sharply.

If Dahlia’s boasting was true, Hawin would obviously be ruined because of dairy cows…

“But certainly, we do need more food.”

I finished thinking and opened my eyes. Then I spoke resolutely.

“We need to prepare to reclaim Jezel Street. Let’s go out.”

“What? Are you going to the potato field again?”

“No.”

Unexpectedly, Philip was skilled at potato farming. So that field could probably be left to the Potato Team now.

“I’m going to Erenta.”

That beautiful village by the river that Uncle had coveted so much.

“So you’ll survive a month eating just small fish?”

Small fish weren’t the only edible things in the river.

To go beyond simple hunting and gathering, there were many things I needed to prepare in advance.

“I need to take a few knights with quick hands. Let’s stop by the training grounds first.”

* * *

And so I spent the entire afternoon at the riverside in Erenta.

After giving the knights several instructions, I was on my way back to the Marquis Manor.

“Ahem, ahem.”

An old man in shabby clothes was sitting with a fishing rod cast into the river water.

“Why aren’t the fish biting? It’s been several hours already…”

It was obviously muttering meant for others to hear.

“Sigh, how is it possible to not catch even one…”

The empty bucket was even dirty.

The maids grimaced and stepped back.

I stopped walking and responded to him.

“It is a bit strange that not even one fish is being caught.”

“That’s what I think too. Oh my, you must be a young lady from a noble house.”

The old man replied with delight.

I tilted my head and asked.

“By any chance, is there pozion grass mixed in the bait?”

“Pozion grass? What’s that? I know zion grass though.”

“Ah, it’s the same thing as zion grass. Fish really hate that grass. All except Marang Fish.”

The maids following behind me frowned. They were displeased that I was conversing with such a dirty commoner old man.

But I smiled inwardly.

‘This person is Baron Forman.’

First, if he were a local, he wouldn’t fish this way during this season.

Second, I had a cold expression and haughty gait, the typical appearance of an arrogant noble young lady. I didn’t look approachable enough for a commoner old man to easily strike up a conversation.

Third, after figuring out something was strange, I immediately threw out bait.

“You need to draw out the ‘po’ pronunciation a bit longer. Proper nouns from the Western Region are pronounced more similarly to ancient language.”

There was no such thing as pozion grass. As the old man said, ‘zion grass’ was the correct name.

I simply wanted to hear the ‘po’ pronunciation coming from the old man’s mouth.

‘He tried to hide it, but it’s clearly a Western Region accent.’

An old man from the west who approached me while skillfully concealing his identity.

It was definitely Baron Forman, skilled in intelligence work.

“Ah… I didn’t know that much. Thank you for telling me.”

The corners of the old man’s eyes curved slightly.

I suddenly thought his eyes resembled Leopold’s.

Baron Forman continued to ask.

“But who are you, young lady?”

Before I could answer, the maids stepped forward.

“Stand up immediately and pay your respects! This is Lady Brisa of House of Sears!”

“Hurry and apologize for your rudeness! Be grateful for the young lady’s mercy!”

“How can you not know manners, even if you’re lowborn?”

It was criticism as sharp as frost.

Baron Forman widened his eyes and hastily stood up, bowing his head.

“I, I pay my respects!”

“Bow lower!”

At the maid’s shout, Baron Forman bowed even deeper.

“I’m Oliver Hansen, here to impose on my nephew’s relative far away on Jezel Street!”

Rolling his eyes while bowing and scraping, he was the very picture of a country old man.

Watching him, I thought.

‘Yes… everyone’s just trying to make a living.’

She was earnestly acting like a commoner to hide her identity. Though she probably already knew who I was.

I was impressed by that nobility.

‘To make a living, bowing her head even to someone half a century younger…’

I looked at him with pitying eyes. I was sincere.

* * *

‘The maids from Riente really do seem crazy.’

Baron Forman sighed inwardly.

He was an informant for Grand Duke Nogen. Though he had retired a few years ago.

‘It’s been too long since I’ve done this. At least I haven’t been caught…’

When was the last time he had used Commoner Disguise?

But still, deceiving one young lady he was meeting for the first time was nothing.

Of course, that wasn’t the problem. From how things were going, he seemed to be stranded in the Central Region. He had only planned to stay for about three days before returning!

‘No, what kind of hardship is this at my age!’

Baron Forman was in despair. He really hadn’t expected to fall into this kind of trouble.

“Aren’t you bored? How about taking a trip and looking around?”

Not long ago, Hilberry, who was both Grand Duke Nogen and his in-law, had called him.

Baron Forman answered in the Western Region noble style.

“Hehe, serving as Your Grace’s eyes is always my small pleasure, but I’m too old…”

Making every concession, going to observe something was fine, but he absolutely wouldn’t get involved in things like monster waves.

Hilberry chuckled and said.

“It’s about observing a candidate for Grand Duchess. Leopold secretly sent that girl a bouquet recently without anyone knowing.”

Thus Leopold’s secret became known to his maternal grandfather as well.

Anyway, Leopold’s match.

Leopold was not only the heir of the Nogen Family, but also his beloved grandson who could do no wrong.

That boy had done something behind his paternal grandfather’s back? Of course, he had been caught…

His interest was immediately piqued.

“Then I’ll go observe her first with my humble perspective. Who exactly is she?”

Hilberry raised his eyebrows briefly, then answered in a low voice.

“Brisa Sears. The… young lady of House of Sears.”

An ordinary marquis’s daughter, no longer the heir of Sears.

Baron Forman was silent for a moment, then immediately answered.

“I’ll depart now.”

And so Baron Forman excitedly boarded the Warp.

Since the Central Region was an area where monsters rarely appeared, he didn’t bring any attendants with him.

True to his former intelligence agent background, Baron Forman grasped the entire situation as soon as he arrived in the Central Region.

Just as he was about to board the Warp heading back to the Western Region to report that there seemed to be nothing noteworthy yet.

“Uweeeeeeek! Uweeeeeeeeeeek!”

Everyone who boarded the Warp got off while vomiting.

When he asked the administrator, they said the Warp was currently too unstable for the elderly and weak to ride. They even said the Magic Tower was currently discussing suspending Warp operations.

Word quickly spread that monster wave phenomena had appeared not only in the Western Region, but throughout the Empire.

The Central Region bordered mountains with surrounding territories, and monsters began appearing along these boundaries.

The first problem with food procurement had arisen.

‘The Central Region has developed distribution markets due to the absence of monsters, but grain production itself isn’t high. In other words, it’s a place where self-sufficiency isn’t smooth!’

And so Baron Forman found himself stranded in the Central Region.

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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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