novelraw Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
It had already been thirty minutes since Irene and I arrived at the Lord of Haken’s office.
But this man had just summoned us here only to stare without saying a word.
If he gave me this much of a hint, even I would start to feel awkward.
Actually, it must have been more awkward for him than for me.
He never would have expected Irene and me to end up together.
Since the Lord of Haken probably needed time to sort out his thoughts, I decided to empty my mind and just wait.
“...You are truly consistent. It amazes me how you manage to cause trouble every time you visit Haken.”
“I sincerely apologize for that.”
“And you’re still strong. Have you become a Master?”
“Yes, somehow it turned out that way.”
“Well, Johnson isn’t exactly a lenient land. I didn’t recognize it at first since your Aura was too faint.”
The Lord of Haken muttered the word ‘Master’ a few times to himself, then nodded and continued.
“So, you’re saying that Iron, you’re dating Irene?”
“That is how it happened.”
“Quite surprising. She’s my daughter, so of course she’s dear to me, but I never thought she’d make a good wife.”
“Is that so?”
“She has no interest in household affairs. She’s always running around, picking fights.”
“A woman doesn’t necessarily have to handle household chores. Irene is a trustworthy partner I can entrust my back to.”
“And she isn’t exactly affectionate toward her family.”
“Instead, she cares for her subordinates as if they were her own family. That’s why so many follow her.”
“To think of making such a wild horse into the Lady of a Lord…”
Honestly, this elder seemed rather old-fashioned in his way of thinking.
Considering that Haken was the most advanced in magical goods on the Ribella Peninsula, it felt contradictory.
That must have been the same reason why he treated female knights poorly.
Indeed, Irene would probably be happier living in Johnson than in Haken.
“But didn’t you already have a wife? Then Irene would be…”
“Well…”
The Lord of Haken unintentionally struck a painful point, putting me on the defensive.
To bring up my former wife here of all places—honestly, it made me flinch.
I was about to explain, since it felt like some clarification was needed, but Irene stepped in first.
“The former wife has long been out of contact. And so what if he has a wife? I’ll just be the second.”
She had kept quiet about her own matters, yet this time she was clearly determined to back me up.
“Why are you butting in?”
“Because I’m the one directly involved. I’ve already received a wonderful birthday gift, too.”
“Birthday gift? What did you receive?”
“A hammer. It fit perfectly in my hand—it was a real masterpiece.”
“You received a weapon? Both the giver and receiver are unbelievable. You might be the only woman in the world who’s happy to get a weapon as a birthday gift.”
“As long as I’m happy, isn’t that enough?”
“Ha, really.”
So it connected like this?
Truthfully, it was a bit unfair.
If it had been for a lover or a wife, I wouldn’t have prepared a weapon as a birthday gift.
I wasn’t that thoughtless of a person.
“To tell the truth, when you sparred with Irene before, I was extremely angry.”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes. I was so furious that I was about to shout, but then I locked eyes with Rockstone. That fellow was even more shocked than I was, his mouth hanging open, not knowing what to do.”
“I see.”
“I had never seen him so flustered. Isn’t he usually the most upright of men? That look of his was so absurd I ended up laughing instead. Once I laughed, it felt ridiculous to scold you.”
That had happened?
It seemed that behind the composure I remembered from the Lord of Haken lay my father’s quiet intervention.
Thinking about it, the Lord of Haken’s reaction back then had indeed seemed odd.
He had never been able to judge coldly when it came to family, so how could he have managed it then?
I had thought age had made him lose his composure, but if that composure had been a misunderstanding on my part from the start, then it made sense.
‘Father must have been terribly flustered.’
But really, the past didn’t matter anymore.
Even if my goodwill toward the Lord of Haken had started from a misunderstanding, it was true that when Father passed, he had sent people with supplies.
Looking at our territory’s situation, it was hard to find a better trading partner than Haken, so strengthening our alliance was necessary.
“In fact, there had even been brief talk of marriage between you and Irene back then. But because of the great trouble you caused, it all fizzled out.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, now that things have come to this, I’ll have something to say to Rockstone as well.”
—Oh-ho, so she had been in a fiancée position. No wonder she wasn’t just any ordinary woman.
That explained it.
I had wondered why I was suddenly dragged to Haken—so that was the reason.
It was a little disappointing to hear about it now.
If back then I had been bound to Irene in engagement, raising the territory would have been easier.
And incidents like the marriage scam with my former wife might never have happened.
Thinking about it made me feel a little stifled, but it was already in the past, so I decided to erase it from my mind.
‘The mood doesn’t feel bad.’
Anyway, judging by the atmosphere, it seemed this would pass without trouble.
Irene even appeared more proactive than I did, and as a Master and a Lord, I wasn’t exactly unworthy of her match.
Of course, if it came down to appearances, I fell short, but Johnson was no longer a poor backwater, so even from a pragmatic perspective, it wasn’t a bad match.
No matter how much he cherished his child, a Lord still had to calculate.
Marriage involved calculations, too.
A suitable match, and his daughter herself wanted it?
If he wasn’t planning to keep her by his side forever, there was no reason to refuse.
And since he had even once discussed such a possibility with Father, there was no reason for him to feel strong rejection.
The relatively good atmosphere must have owed something to that backstory as well.
Of course, the existence of a former wife was a concern, but since Irene herself didn’t mind, it wasn’t something he could easily protest.
After all, as Rudick’s case showed, this world was rather free with love and marriage—he had built a bridal chamber only a few months after meeting his partner.
Besides, it wasn’t like we were declaring marriage right away. We were just dating. There was no reason to nitpick further.
Naturally, from the Lord of Haken’s perspective, dating meant inevitable marriage, but that was something to see as time unfolded.
Strictly speaking, this was a kind of scam.
—Everyone starts marriage with a scam anyway.
‘That’s debatable.’
Either way, with things having developed like this, there would be no room left for interference between Irene and me.
That was the ideal conclusion I wanted.
“Fine then. If you decide on a date later, let me know.”
“When the date is set, the ceremony will be held here in Haken.”
“Ha, is that so? That pleases me.”
Since it was a marriage ceremony that would never actually happen, I didn’t mind tossing out empty promises.
What mattered most right now was putting the Lord of Haken’s uneasy mind at ease.
And it would be best if we could exchange what we each needed—so when would he bring that up?
“Since you might become family, it feels wrong to let you leave just like this. Is there anything lacking in Johnson?”
As expected, he brought it up.
The Lord of Johnson as a mere trading partner and the Lord of Johnson as a potential son-in-law were two completely different people.
Naturally, he couldn’t ignore it.
Of course, this too was close to being a scam, but at least covering the labor costs made it easier on my conscience.
“In the future, if we keep trading steadily with Haken, we’ll make up for what we lack.”
“If there’s something you want, make a request. I’ll sell you most things. I tried the meat that arrived this time—it was better than expected. If we increase our purchases, we’ll be able to send more goods to Johnson in return.”
“I’m glad it suited your taste. However…”
“Yes, what is it?”
“First of all, I’d like to receive more horn bows.”
“Horn bows? Didn’t Irene take a whole load of them already?”
“They’ve proven more useful than I expected. Especially when intercepting monsters at the gate, there’s nothing better.”
“Well, they do perform well.”
The first thing to target was the horns of the Minota, which were the material for horn bows.
Last winter.
We had deployed Horn Assault and Rabbit Tribe Rangers in the defense battle.
And they turned out to be more useful than expected.
For monsters like Ogres, where arrows couldn’t even pierce, there was no helping it. But for all the smaller ones, most were killed before they could even reach the gate.
This allowed knights to preserve more of their strength, making the defense battle much safer.
That was why I planned to train archers more seriously, but for that we lacked enough horn bows.
They were practically consumables, and even for training, we needed a large number of them.
Since we didn’t yet have the means to craft bows as efficient as horn bows, we had no choice but to acquire them from Haken. And as they were treated as strategic supplies, we couldn’t get them without the Lord of Haken’s approval.
According to Irene, the horns of the Minota, the material for horn bows, were common in Haken.
In this situation, there was no reason for them not to sell as long as we paid a fair price.
“I’ll sell you as many horn bows as you need.”
“And also some magical goods, if possible…”
“Hmm, that will require some thought.”
“Is that so?”
While permission for horn bows came easily, magical goods seemed to require more consideration.
It was clear that since these were Haken’s greatest strength, he wasn’t willing to part with them lightly.
If Haken continued producing such wonders, this would be an important trade for us. What decision would the Lord of Haken make?
Judging by that decision, I could guess how he viewed Johnson Territory.
“If you provide additional mana crystals, I’ll consider it favorably.”
“Mana crystals?”
“Yes. Doesn’t Johnson have trade with the north? And I heard you’ve even opened trade with the Lion Tribe.”
“That’s true, but still…”
Haken, where magical goods were abundant, was the region that consumed the most mana crystals in the Ribella Peninsula.
Hunting monsters alone apparently wasn’t enough to meet the consumption.
No wonder, in our first trade, they had thrown silver at us instead of easily portable mana crystals.
I’d heard there were mana stone mines near New Level, but perhaps trade with them was difficult.
Or maybe this was a safeguard in case someone tried to manipulate prices with mana crystals.
“I’ll try to procure them.”
“Good. If you pay with mana crystals, I’ll accept. Even if you become my son-in-law, trade must remain fair.”
“I am also a Lord of a territory. Between Lords, there can be no false promises in trade.”
‘If it’s like this, then he really does consider our territory important.’
Even conditionally, agreeing to release magical goods was significant.
Since he mentioned trade with the north, the Lord of Haken must also want us to expand our trade with the beastmen.
In many ways, it seemed Haken now considered Johnson an important partner.
‘That should cover everything I wanted from Haken.’
The Irene matter was settled, and we’d opened trade for horn bows and magical goods—it was a thoroughly satisfying outcome.
Of course, mana crystals remained an issue, but I could figure something out.
If I negotiated well with the Lion Tribe, something was bound to come of it.
They seemed to have far more mana crystals than we did anyway.
“Phew, it’s done.”
“Are you satisfied?”
“More or less.”
“Thanks to you, I’ve become a woman who can’t marry within Haken anymore.”
“Hmm, is that so? Then you’ll just have to live in Johnson until you die.”
“Lord Iron, you’re shameless, aren’t you?”
“That’s just how I am.”
As Irene and I left the Lord of Haken’s office, joking with one another, something suddenly crossed my mind.
The memory of the boos I had received earlier in the arena.
Even I admitted I was the villain this time, but honestly, that was too much.
Protecting my woman (?) wasn’t exactly a crime worth crucifixion.
So I asked her about it, and her answer was ridiculous.
“You mean the people of Haken still remember the spar we had years ago?”
“I told you before—I was pretty popular in Haken.”
“No, but even so… it’s been over ten years, and still…”
“That’s just the kind of absurd thing that happens here in Haken.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. ‘That bastard from back then’ definitely refers to Lord Iron. They refuse to even mention your name, so that’s what they call you.”
“Ugh. I really can’t live this down.”
“But wouldn’t it be hilarious if ‘that bastard from back then’ ended up dumping me this time?”
“If either you or I marry someone else, then let’s just say it was you who dumped me, not the other way around.”
“Well… maybe so.”
Today, I learned that ever since I beat Irene up as a child and sent her to the temple, the people of Haken had kept calling me ‘that bastard from back then.’
No matter how I looked at it, the people of Haken were unbelievably petty.
If I ever had another issue with Irene, I wouldn’t even be able to think of setting foot in Haken again.
Not that I had any intention of returning here anytime soon.