Chapter 129 Volume 8 Chapter 4. Randy

Volume 8 Chapter 4. Randy

Inside his home, Marion woke up in his bed next to a sleeping woman. Shed called out to him the previous day.

Having woken up, Marion raised his hand. By doing so, the windows no longer blocked the sunlight from penetrating into the room.

The room came to life and began to move on its own, preparing for whatever was in store for the morning.

Marion climbed out of his bed and got ready for work.

As the woman showed no sign of waking up, he called out to her.

My lady, its time for you to wake up.

Hearing his sweet and gentle voice, the woman woke up from her slumber.

Then, she remebered what happened last night and covered her body in a hurry.

Youre cute.

Marion found the womans reaction to be rather lovely and reached out to touch her hair.

The woman turned bright red and rushed to the shower room with her clothes which were scattered around her.

She was so enthusiastic about it yesterday Now, I should really start heading to work.

He looked out the window that overlooked the gray scenery which was the Capital.

I dont like how dark and squalid the Capital is That said, I do like the fact that there are a lot of beautiful women here. [1]

That was his impression of the Capital.

Good morning, Liam-senpai.

Marion greets me with a friendly smile.

Ive been meeting him at the elevator almost on a daily basis.

As always, you reek of perfume.

Marion whisks out his terminal to brag about his achievement from last night.

I found this cute girl and managed to lay my hands on her. Oh, this is the one Im talking about.

It seems like the smell of perfume around him is from the woman.

The picture of the girl that hes showing me right now is different from the previous one.

He gives off the impression of someone who always hits on women at night.

Apparently, a lot of women are decieved by his cutesy appearance.

All I can say to that is Hes quite good.

Marion then proceeds to show me his recent achievements.

All his targets seem to be mature women. Is he into strong-looking beauties?

How bout it, Liam-senpai? Wanna do it as well? Its pretty much an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The eyes of ordinary women change the moment you tell them that youre an official working for the palace.

After all, officials are considered winners among winners within the Empire.

Hence, theyre extremely popular in the Capital.

Tell them that youll be returning to the countryside when your trainings over. I bet theyll scatter the moment they hear that.

Ill do just that when I break up with them. Even so, does Liam-senpai have no interest in women? Is it because you feel bad for your fiance?

Feel bad for Rosetta? Is he stupid?

Why should I care about what Rosetta thinks?

She belongs to me, not the other way around.

Its just that Amagi and Brian will start bugging me if I play around too much.

Amagi will be like; You laid your hands on them, so you should take responsibility. While Brian will be like; Lord Liams finally taking an interest in women! Oh but please be careful of honey traps. Everythings fine aside from that.

Wait a sec Do they want this to happen?

Theyll probably be noisy about it if I were to so much as touch a single woman, so I wont be doing that.

None of the women here would suit my standard.

Thats quite the bold statement. One night stands are quite fun, you know?

Seeing Marion being all smiles, I cant help but think that hell be stabbed by one of those women eventually.

Then again, hes an aristocrat.

If he really does end up getting stabbed by a commoner, he would be seen as a failure among the aristocrats.

We get off the elevator once it arrives at our floor.

As Im heading to my seat, I stumble upon Randy and his goons chatting near my desk early in the morning.

Congratulations, Lord Randy.

Thanks.

By joining the Cleo Faction, the Lengrand Family will rise to an even more prominent position.

Yeah, and things will only get busier from here on out, so Ill need you guys help.

Theyre hanging out near my desk and talking about the matter of the Lengrand Family joining the Cleo Faction.

Marion stares at me with a look of interest.

Theyre trying to provoke you.

Let them be.

Ignoring Randy and his lackeys, I sit down, only to have a file dumped on my desk.

Hey Liam.

Randy drops the honorifics and puts his hand on my shoulder.

I dont think were that close. Move you hand.

I give him a warning, but Randy simply smiles with a look of ridicule on his face.

His Highness Cleo has summoned me today. Im busy, so I want you to do my portion of the work as well. We belong to the same faction, so its fine right?

Cleo reported a few days ago that the Lengrand Family will be joining the faction.

That, in and of itself, isnt all that surprising.

As a matter of fact, I feel somewhat underwhelmed.

Sure. As someone that stands at the top of the Cleo Faction, its part of my responsibilities to take care of the newbies. Do your best to wag your tail before His Highness Cleo so that you can become well-liked.

Randys expression undergoes a minute change when I utter those words with a smile.

Hes still smiling, but his cheeks are twitching.

As an aristocrat, its baffling that he cant even maintain his poker face Such a thought flashes through my mind for a split second.

Since hes an aristocrat, the people in his territory and mansion must have always shown him respect.

Hes not used to being mocked, which is why hes having a hard time holding back.

He was probably treated like royalty inside his territory.

Then Ill leave you to it.

Frustrated, Randy and his goons leave the scene.

Marion, who has been watching the situation unfold, speaks to me while sounding exasperated.

Youve landed yourself in a tight spot. I didnt think His Highness Cleo would accept the Lengrand Family into his faction. From how big the faction already is, I dont think he should have rushed things.

The addition of one more inconsequential aristocratic family wont change the situation by much in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention that these opportunists jumped ships only after analyzing the current situation.

Theyre very likely to betray us depending on how the future unfolds.

It doesnt make sense to accept someone into your fold when you cant trust them Or maybe it does.

Lets sit back and watch how far the Lengrand Family can go.

I pick up the file that Randy has left.

The file contains quite the bit of content. Despite how small the file is, the amount of data inside it is large.

He probably piled up all his work, then threw it at me.

Marion speaks to me as Im closing the file.

With that much work, overtime is pretty much confirmed. Need some help?

Nope.

I dont intend to do overtime.

Ill finish things up before its time to leave.

Even though it was work hours, Randy and his goons came over to a resting area located inside the building.

It was a cafe-like place with waiters and waitresses, and other aristocrats like them had been gathered there since the morning.

Some of them even smelled of alcohol.

The young aristocrats who were originally meant to be training were lazing around.

Randy had stopped by to kill some time before his meeting with Cleo.

His goons were mocking Liam, thinking that he was just putting up a front.

In the end, he has to do our work. Thats all there is to him.

His military and personal combat skills are exceptional, but hes just too slow when it comes to politics. Just what wed expect of an aristocrat from the countryside.

Its our job to lead these stupid countryside aristocrats.

Looking at the Empire as a whole, the Lengrand Family, which Randy was a part of, was located relatively near the Capital.

As such, it was well-developed.

Due to this, they looked down on aristocrats like Liam who hailed from the countryside.

However, Randy was slightly different from his entourage.

But its precisely these countryside aristocrats and their armed forces that are backing His Higheness Cleo and his faction. Make sure you never compete with them in anything other than politics.

W-were already well aware of that, Lord Randy.

Randy did not belittle Liams personal skills and the Banfield Familys military might.

He knew that it was Liam who defeated the Berkeley Family, also known as the Pirate Nobles.

Randy pondered about his future plans.

(Liam will be expelled from the Capital in the near future. We just have to be patient until then.)

With Cleos help, Randy was getting ready to kick Liam out of the Capital.

(No matter how much military might you have, you wont be able to survive in the world of politics.)

Randy was picking a fight with Liam through political means, something which could not be swayed by military might alone.

In the back palace, there was a building dedicated to Cleos use, and Lysithea was fuming with anger inside it.

Cleo, why did you agree to Randys ideas!

Cleo was signing electronic documents in his office, documents which were petitions from poverty-stricken aristocrats asking for support.

Some of these petitions looked clearly suspicious, yet Cleo signed them and promised support as if he was trying to splurge money.

What are you talking about, Sister?

Lysithea noticed the petitions and criticized Cleo for promising help so carelessly.

Y-youre going to sign all of them? If you thoughtlessly give them support, more and more people are bound to come knocking on your doors!

Theyre in dire need of help after being attacked by the Kingdom of Dominion. It wouldnt be right to abandon them.

Given these reasons, Lysithea couldnt say anything back in return.

You should first consult Count Banfield about this.

Cleo let out a small laugh.

W-whats with that laugh? Count Banfields the one whos funding you. Dont you think it would be unreasonable of you to not consult him?

Cleo continued to sign the documents, but gave a small nod to acknowledge Lysitheas logic.

But of course, Ill talk to Count Banfield about it later on. Im thinking of giving him an important task while Im at it.

Lysithea was relieved to hear that.

After taking in the Lengrand Family, Cleo had been trying to set them up against Liam, and she had been feeling a sense of crisis from knowing that.

Thats good. It would be a bad idea to make light of Count Banfield.

I know, I know. As nothing more than a pretty decoration, I need the support of a powerful aristocrat if I wish to survive.

Oblivious to politics, Lysithea took Cleos words at face value.

So, what important task are you going to give to Count Banfield?

Cleos eyes were on the electronic documents, and he was signing them without paying too much attention to their contents.

One of the aristocratic households fell to ruin. Their territory is under the direct control of the Empire, but because its located at such a remote area, someone needs to be dispatched there. Im thinking of sending Count Banfield.

Huh?

Lysithea was so shocked by his words that her reaction was delayed.

An aristocratic household has fallen to ruin. Since the lord was gone, someone had to be dispatched to take control of his planet Everything made sense up to that point.

The problem laid in the fact that Liam was being dispatched there.

Youre planning on removing Count Banfield from the Capital!? Y-you cant! Its because hes here that nobodys making any moves! Cleo, you must rethink this!

Not only is Count Banfield very skilled militarily, hes also good at governance. He was able to successfully revive his territory after all.

Even if hes the right fit, it wouldnt do to dispatch such irreplaceable personnel!

Seeing that Lysithea was about to cry, Cleo described the situation of the planet which Liam was scheduled to be dispatched to.

Sister, that just goes to prove how important that planet is. Faced with the Kingdom of Dominions invasion, the Empires citizens are evacuating. Its crucial that we hold onto a base which can provide logistical support to the army confronting our enemies. Theyre begging for someone with both military experience and skill. I cant refuse them.

Lysithea became silent after being told that it was necessary for the Empire.

Cleo pushed on.

Ive also received the Prime Ministers permission. Although it wont be easy on Count Banfield since hes still young and in training, the Prime Minister believes that he will live up to our expectation. Besides, if he pulls this off, we can prevent Brother Calvin from claiming all the credit. We would be recognized as having played a part in the war.

Lysitheas shoulders dropped.

Im relieved to hear that Cleos thinking about things from various angles, but without Count Banfield, who will protect you and back you in his absence?

Cleo answered calmly.

Ill have the Lengrand Family do their best.

Brian (): Its painful. Enemies are appearing left and right. Its painful.

Wakagi-chan (): Get hyped! Volume 6 of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs will be released on July 30th, so get more hyped!

Wakagi-chan (; > <): Kuuu! I should work even harder to promote the products

Wakagi-chan (*): R-right. For the sake of promotion, Ill-Ill strip! Ill reveal my nudes! Surely, that will make the readers go wild! It will double the sales, no doubt! Its Naegi-chans nudes, you know! Kyaaaa~!

Brian (;`)?: Arent plants normally naked?

[1] Liam should take a page out of Marions book.