141 – name-4

“This… did you prepare it in advance?”

I was speechless at the mountain of paperwork piled up in front of me.

“Since my older brother… appeared, I’ve always been the lord’s representative. The lord’s representative who hasn’t received permission yet.”

It wouldn’t have been such a generous situation, but I could tell without saying how uncomfortable such a bad thing would be.

Contracts with merchants, trade, appointment as a knight, and even hiring guards.

If you need my help even for such a trivial and detailed thing, you can see how close this estate is.

It was quite tedious to look at similar documents for hours. Maybe it was because it had been a long time since I had done this.

In the imperial palace, going into the library and reading books was the only pleasure, and when entering this world, it was fortunate that they received a kind of protective protection that allowed them to communicate with each other.

“I’m sorry, brother. Looking at it like this, it seems a bit much… But, being here is really urgent…”

“It’s okay. It’s worth holding on.”

It wasn’t a lie. Although it was a bit tiring, I didn’t want to neglect this job either.

“My older brother… was a bit unexpected.

“Well, everyone has their own circumstances.”

She wasn’t working alone, leaving me alone. Quite the opposite.

Unlike me, who simply had to read and sign the documents, she ran out, holding each document with my signature on her like a jar of prayers, realizing the policy and the contract.

There wasn’t much she could do right away. All he had to do was give orders to his subordinates and make appointments with merchants and other nobles. Even that didn’t look easy.

I didn’t like that she, who was younger than me, was working so hard, and running away just because it was so difficult.

“Don’t you like this estate?”

“That’s not it. It’s not like I’ve been there long enough to know anything… Ah, this building materials contract, is it okay to proceed as it is? It must be quite expensive.”

“This… is a bit overkill, but it’s something we need right away. The money is a material recently supported by His Majesty the Emperor, so we can handle it somehow.”

“Is it material?”

“I thought you already knew… As an apology to Baron Enerel, His Majesty the Emperor awarded our family a prize.”

That was the first time I’d heard of it.

“It seems that I am a warrior… it is publicly known.”

I didn’t think the emperor would admit it easily, but he seemed to have accepted my existence surprisingly meekly.

It was a little disappointing that the reward for my case had been given to a family I didn’t know, but there was nothing he could do for me in the first place.

“So, how did you feel when you defeated the demon lord?”

I was silent for a while. It was a sensitive topic for me, but it had nothing to do with her.

“You’d better ask someone else about it. Eleanor or Farseer. I don’t think I can give you a nice answer.”

Perhaps, her thoughts were similar to mine. From the time I saw the castle, it seemed like my head was being pickled in magi, and it wouldn’t have been different from being out of breath.

I forced my gaze back and looked at the papers again. An ordinary but practical plan to build a watermill and reinforce security to prevent damage from wild dogs.

It was really necessary for people, and it was practically important. I can’t believe it can be solved with just my signature.”

“Tta, don’t you have a separate stamp?”

“I wasn’t in a position to make something like that.”

“Oops…”

The piles of paperwork piled up like a mountain disappeared before I knew it. I let out a sigh of relief only then, got up and straightened my back.

“You’ve unintentionally caused trouble. If you’re going to be the new lord, I thought you should do this, but if you’re not related at all…”

It was hard, but it didn’t feel bad. The effect was greater than the stress felt while working.

There was no need to kill a vicious and gigantic monster, and there was no need to steal someone’s stuff and share it with someone else while in a dilemma where it was hard to think whose fault it was.

It was a comfortable feeling that I hadn’t felt in a long time that I could do something good just by memorizing a few letters.

/////

When I woke up after a good night’s sleep in a proper room, I felt like my body was relieved of fatigue. The maids are friendly, the rooms are not luxurious but clean and well maintained.

When I opened the door and came out, women with familiar faces were waiting for me.

“Were you waiting?”

“It hasn’t been that long. Don’t worry, Enerel.”

Eleanor’s voice lacked strength.

“I came because I wanted to ask when you plan to depart. Fortunately, the conversation with Lady Leodrin seems to have ended well, but there was no news…”

“I have work to do, so I guess I’ll have to stay here for a while. It’s not my fault after all.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t we go back to the capital together?”

“You don’t have to be with me anymore. Because of me…”

I suffered too much from them to say that I worked hard. However, it was not comfortable to treat them coldly as they lost a lot.

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Just looking at it made me uncomfortable.

“It’s been held up for a long time. Now go on your way.”

I thought they would be happy, but their expressions were dark. It was unexpected.

Maybe, if they’re happy, I might be offended, so I’m hiding my expression.

“already?”

“I’m not giving up. But, there’s no need to stare at each other’s tired faces in a situation where there’s no way there’s going to be a fight.”

“The easiest way for us to find information is to search the Imperial Palace Library. There won’t be any progress if we try to find it in a place like this.”

“It could be, but… the emperor is already taking care of it. New information won’t come out.”

Of course, if you hire more adventurers, gather scholars from all over the world, and work hard with the determination to find even the smallest traces of a sentence or a word, something new might come out.

But, for now, I could wait.

“I don’t intend to stay there forever. But they say they need my help for the time being.”

“Is it because of the family name Leodrin? But, you are not taking any responsibility. From what I hear, the name was given to you by His Majesty the Emperor.”

“therefore?”

“…What?”

“It’s not entirely possible that I’m being duped, but I still think Laurel’s a decent person.”

It’s easy to trick people with words. It’s easy to put off a polite attitude or show the appearance of working hard.

However, the numerous papers and agendas there were not something that could be easily created.

Laurel doesn’t even know what kind of person I am. As soon as he enters the manor, he may be a maniac who will covet a woman, or he may demand that soldiers be drafted immediately out of a vengeful spirit.

It was an unrealistic assumption to prepare so many documents for approval and even create a solution for the baseless assumption that I would be attracted to ‘she who works diligently for the local people’.

“I’ll help you, just like I did in William’s presence.”

Eleanor’s voice grew quieter.

“If you want glory or power… I could promise you more. But that’s not what you want.”

“…”

“Nevertheless, I want to ask. Even if it’s not a big territory, even if your burden is less, it’s a responsibility, it’s a job. It’s not your responsibility.”

“I don’t know why you think that’s important. I did a lot of things while I was held captive for several hours today. It’s complicated to explain, but first of all, there are people who recognize me as the legitimate successor to this family…”

Eleanor may not be aware of the seriousness of the situation, but Laurel certainly seemed desperate. Judging by the atmosphere, he might not have slept well last night.

It was not simply a job to satisfy individual greed, but it was trying to work for people who are poorer and more desperate.

“It’s not that important. With a few words from His Majesty the Emperor, such trivial problems can be resolved in an instant.”

Eleanor let out a deep sigh. Upon reflection, she was right.

No matter how declining the family is, a word from the emperor can turn a member of the disappeared family into something that exists.

That daughter, Eleanor, would have been able to settle any ‘little’ matter, no matter how controversial it was.

“But… I know. What kind of person you are. Thanks to you, I was able to make up my mind. I will accept it.”

“Is falling down such a grandiose thing that you have to make up your mind?”

“I’m not talking about that… but okay. We’ll go back to the capital first.”

Eleanor reluctantly nodded. I don’t know why, but the other warrior party members were also looking at me with serious expressions.

I turned my back on them without a word.