Chapter 243

–Aegir POV–

「To celebrate the victory in the war with Vandolea!」

「To celebrate returning alive after the unprecedented great catastrophe!」

「To celebrate our honorable poverty!」

Count Monashi, Viscount Binbo, Baron Gokhin, and I raise our glasses and lightly tap them together .

Right now, we’re enjoying ourselves in a modest victory party, though it’s a delayed one and for a victory that can’t even really be considered a victory after that half-baked conclusion……

「Well, a win is a win . You did not suffer many losses, did you?」

That’s what Leopolt said, which is why this event is being hosted .

The venue is Count Monashi’s mansion even though it’s normal practice for the victory celebration to officially be held in my residence because this occasion is a simple dinner party .

Besides, furniture is still being moved into my new mansion and the dwarves haven’t completed the chandelier I requested .

I would look so uncool if I let anyone in that bare building .

Accompanying me are, excluding the escorts and attendants, my wives Nonna, Carla, Mel, and of course Celia .

Since the event is celebrating a military victory, Leopolt also came along .

If that was all, it would be the usual lineup, however we have a special guest this time .

It’s Claudia .

「Riding in a separate carriage away from my beloved was so lonely . 」

At first, she was going to ride in the same carriage as the other girls, but all of them complained how it was too cramped, too hot and too stinky, so there was no other choice but to have her ride in another carriage along with Clara .

Steam seemed to rise from the top of the carriage despite no furnace being installed inside, though the reason remains unknown .

「Anyways Claudia…… you look incredible . 」

「S-stop, you’re making me blush! I’m a little larger so I wanted to hide my figure a little by wearing a looser dress . 」

If one word can be used to describe her, it would be ‘sphere’ .

Nothing could really be hidden as it looked like a cloth was draped over a ball .

All the others around her were also at a loss for words .

A large jewel hung from her neck .

She wanted to sell all the jewels she brought with her, but I stopped her from selling just this heirloom jewel of the Malordol house so it could be turned into a necklace for her .

According to Claudia, her husband fought to his last breath to protect her .

It wouldn’t hurt to save at least one keepsake that connects her with him and all the others .

After all, the son she gave birth to is most likely from my seed…… .

I’ll look after Claudia and her kid properly so he better not become some vengeful ghost, it’ll scare Casie .

I shift my gaze away from the round madam and take a look around me .

The hall is decorated fairly luxuriously but not overly adorned with jewels or gold and silver, just the way I like it .

What I’m concerned about are the guards .

The guards standing within the hall alongside the wall are wearing gorgeous equipment .

However, the ones who will actually be preventing any intruders are the guards standing outside the hall with their unmatching crude armors and spears .

It feels like they’re just trying to keep up appearances on the surface .

「Our expedition this time was successful in securing long term stability, though it was a failure if you look at the war expenditures . Losing that much equipment is a significant blow even for us . Those who were expecting to profit from plundering or looting must be disappointed . 」

Leopolt doesn’t particularly sugarcoat things as he stands by me .

「I guess, and now we have more money to work with thanks to Claudia buying the furniture . 」

When I look back at her, she’s bouncing up and down happily .

I’m indebted to her .

I’ll have to repay her in other ways besides in bed .

「To them who were weak financially to begin with, it might have been fatal . 」

「It leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth knowing they rounded up troops and equipment to fight for me only to fall into ruin . 」

「Didn’t they choose to follow us on their own accord? We didn’t request for their help . 」

Celia speaks up to let me know she’s here too .

She’s participating as a soldier so she’s in military gear rather than a dress .

But that wouldn’t be appealing so I had her apply lots of makeup, making her already pretty face even prettier .

All that time she was standing guard earlier, the knights of other households shouted out to her and made her feel uneasy .

「Uuu, I’ll stay beside Aegir-sama . 」

I didn’t think this comical appearance of makeup and military uniform would turn out so wonderful .

…… maybe I’ll have her service me looking like this later .

「You’re cute . 」

When I pat her head, Celia’s expression relaxes, but then she shakes her head and becomes serious again .

She’s really super cute, I want to gobble her up right now .

「Nevertheless, why are there so many participants?」

I intended for this to be a dinner party with Count Monashi and a few other nobles and their families .

But there is a whole row of people and food lined up like it’s some sort of banquet .

I guess all the nearby nobles and their wives came to attend .

「I can understand the relatives of the three houses that served in the war attending…… but I’ve never even seen that guy before . 」

I’ll probably forget some old man’s face immediately after seeing him though .

「That is Viscount so and so1 . He is a feudal lord of a territory located further to the north east than Count Monashi and has an elder brother who deals with financial affairs in the capital . 」

Without a moment’s delay, Sebastian the butler answers .

It was a right move to bring him along for situations like these .

He naturally knows the ranks of all the noble households in Goldonia, but also has a good grasp of their status, bloodline relations, and even their standings in the recent dispute between factions .

「So he’s a civil official type . Why is he in an event meant for celebrating a military victory?」

「He provided the supplies and funds for Viscount Binbo, and also fought alongside him . 」

In other words, he lent Viscount Binbo various things .

Coming all the way to a victory celebration to collect debt, I feel a little sympathy for him .

「Strengthening the ties with those you fought alongside on the battlefield is a practice as old as ancient times . Especially so when master’s circle of friends is not that large, would it not be a good idea to take this opportunity with more people than you thought?」

Fumu, the reason I stepped into this social gathering is because Nonna made a fuss insisting for me to be present today .

The only people I know here are Count Monashi, Viscount Binbo and Baron Gekihin2, while the rest are people who I can’t put a name to .

Sebastian whispers to me in a way that other guests in the vicinity can’t hear .

「Baron Douken over there is the reason why Count Monashi could transport his goods using a maintained road . 」

Logistics is important, but the guy who made the path is unrelated to the battle, no?

I’m sure he would have created the road on the King’s orders even if there was no war .

「Viscount such and such3 is the reason Baron Gokhin could lend his army second-hand weapons . 」

If that much makes someone related to the fight, then all merchants should receive awards for distinguished services .

「Baron so and so was the one who introduced Viscount Binbo to a merchant who he could borrow a large sum of money from . 」

「……so he’s just some guy who made a referral to a lender . 」

If you roam around Rafen at night, you’ll be introduced to some loansharks .

You won’t be able to repay the debts from most of them and will probably end up being taken to the mine in Lintbloom or dragged off to hunt black beasts though .

「They’re the ones who invited them, besides I have nothing to say to them . 」

I’m not the host, so there’s no need for me to meddle in their affairs .

They probably couldn’t refuse them in the first place because of the debt .

「Anyways, you’re pretty knowledgeable . I’m impressed you know all that . 」

Relationships between nobles are a very fickle thing .

It takes skill to have a grasp on that .

Sebastian bows deeply .

「It is my job after all . The relationships have been changing quite vigorously in recent years however and this old brain of mine is doing all it can to keep up . 」

With that said, Sebastian bows and eliminates his presence once again as he retreats to the back .

Incidentally, Nonna is stronger when it comes to unofficial information .

「That person’s wife is cheating with one of the subordinate knights . 」

「The son of that household is fond of the daughter of that house . 」

「The second son of that house is a shut-in . 」

Gossip make up most of her information but there are rare instances where they become clues to important information .

She apparently picks up conversations from far away with her sharp hearing instead of talking to them directly .

By the way, what is my reputation like among the wives?

「……」

Why is she looking away?

She became sad so I guess I’ll talk to Count Monashi and the others about war stories or something .

「I’m surprised we all survived . It really seemed like the world was ending . 」

「I’m amazed at Lord Hardlett as I heard that he rushed to the very back to save one of his subordinates . 」

「He truly is the reincarnation of the God of war!」

That last flattering comment was unnecessary, but it certainly was a close call .

I really thought that was the end .

The atmosphere becomes dark all of a sudden .

「It was because Lord Hardlett ordered such a swift retreat that our armies didn’t suffer many casualties though……」

「It ended with us not gaining any spoils of war and losing a bunch of equipment . 」

「The money to pay the soldiers’ wages…… the money for food costs……」

「Lord Hardlett may have carved out land for himself but it isn’t very rich land . 」

「He lost way more equipment than we did . 」

「Not to mention he has to look after over 9000 prisoners of war……」

Aren’t you guys approaching me for the same reason?

Stop it, you want to make me poor and drag me into the poverty alliance too?

It definitely hurts to lose a ton of weapons .

But unlike them, I can produce steel on my own so I can get armor and weapons rather inexpensively .

The arrangement for the re-equipment of the army is just waiting for the increase in production from the completion of the new dragon scale blast furnaces .

Furthermore, the prisoners I’m supporting are working for my by doing cultivation and construction .

It’s necessary to provide them with food but my territory is fortunate enough to have a bountiful harvest, and the harvest will only increase in the coming years because of all the newly cultivated fields .

The issue is with finding marriage partners for them, but even that will take care of itself because of the influx of people from the land taken from Vandolea .

The difference in wealth between the southern part of my territory developed by Adolph and the northern part of Vandolea which seems abandoned is large .

People would obviously want to move to a richer environment .

I feel bad for the three poor nobles but I’m on my way out from the large and temporary hole I was put in by the losses I suffered .

「That reminds me, a large caravan from Stura was headed to Lord Hardlett’s territory . Did you buy something?」

That was probably the Federation-made furniture .

I was told that higher class products were handled only by Flitch headquarters and not Claire .

According to Claire, the furniture I ordered would be prioritizing passing through their territory .

That’s because it would be hard to use high handed tactics to apply tariffs against me or take time to investigate the goods .

The transporter would exaggerate stories about me to scare the guards into thinking that I would attack them if they damage their cargo…… it’s because of these things that strange rumors start going around .

「That is probably my furniture . My new mansion was just completed so I wanted a new set of furniture before moving in . 」

It’s not something I really need to hide so I answered normally, but it altered the mood drastically .

「W-what was that……」

「I-in such dire times……」

「Moving houses!?」

The trio all express their shock loudly, causing all those around us to talk amongst themselves as well .

We’re just moving to a mansion next door .

Tell them everything without interruption by yourselves later .

I feel Nonna tugging my sleeve .

「Aegir-sama, you were supposed to make it widespread that you have money to spare in that situation . It takes a considerable sum for nobles to move houses after all . 」

It’s true that it would have cost me a pretty penny if Claudia didn’t take care of it…… .

But isn’t that because you chose overly extravagant furniture?

The mansion and the furniture cost me 50 000 gold .

「My intuition is acting strange because of that pig woman, but I think average nobles struggle to even scrounge up 1000 gold . Oww!」

「You’re one to talk . Boob woman!」

Carla appears directly behind Nonna and sneakily pinches her ass cheek .

Nonna’s face turns red and after checking that those around her didn’t make a fuss, she pinches Carla’s thigh in return .

Hey, take it easy on each other or it’ll leave a mark .

Not good, the destitute trio are looking at me in disbelief .

「As expected of a Margrave…… a useless person like me wouldn’t have been able to hold this event today if I didn’t sell the family’s tableware . 」

「I had to fire my chef and ask my wife to go into the kitchen……」

「I had to pick weeds from the garden and boil them to make soup……」

The conversation is becoming more pitiful .

Don’t nobles live with pride?

Also, Baron Gokhin, even normal citizens don’t do that .

「「「If only there was someone would could save us from this predicament, we would never forget this debt for the rest of our lives . 」」」

Why did they just talk in unison?

「I guess the only choice we have left is to bear the shame and find a loanshark to-……」

「I might have found myself in a tight bind where I can only sell off my daughter-……」

「I wonder how much has everyone saved up…… for this month’s fundraising to save the feudal lord . 」

Eeei, don’t keep glancing over at me .

Also, the last guy, don’t act like some beggar .

「「「If only-…… if only we had some money, none of this would have to happen!!」」」

Their voices overlap again .

I have money at my disposal so I’m not incapable of helping .

However, this amount was left because Claudia exchanged her jewels to buy the furniture for the new mansion .

Wouldn’t lending out this money be like lending out Claudia’s money?

「Why not lend them something?」

I feel pressure behind me and turn around to see Claudia there .

She apparently emptied a plate of food on the table and came over while she was waiting for it to be replenished .

「But giving them money that is essentially yours . 」

「My money belongs to you . Please use this chance to make more allies . If you decide here, then more rumors will started by all the witnesses present in this place . They will also be unable to betray you . 」

Claudia grins .

「For their beloved to be lifted to higher heights . That is a woman’s utmost happiness . Tens of thousands of gold is trivial in comparison . 」

That’s right, I have to aim higher .

Then I’ll take you up on your offer and use this gold of yours .

「I understand . I will lend you ……as much as you need later . 」

I can’t just give money to them as nobles .

I have to lend it to them even if they have no hope of paying me back or else it would hurt their pride .

…… I don’t know if they still have any at this point if they’re eating weeds and fundraising .

「Oooooh…… I will not forget this debt for the rest of my life!」

You don’t have to make it such a big deal, but you better be my ally .

「I will definitely get my grandchild or great grandchild to pay you back!」

If you’re going to pay be back, do it yourself…… it’s not funny to shoulder someone with debt as soon as they come out of the womb .

「N-now I can call back my wife and children who have hidden their status to work in bars!」

What are you doing?

Hurry and call them back .

Now that I look carefully, the other people who have lent them money or supplies are also relieved .

I’m guessing they all had a fair amount of bad debt .

I should probably lend them a little more so they don’t deplete their funds just by paying off their debts .

Thus the dinner party finishes and I end up staying in Count Monashi’s house for one night .

Nonna and the others gathered with madam such and such and her company to continue their conversation so I, accompanied by Celia, return to the room prepared for me .

「10 000 gold for Count Monashi, 4500 gold for Viscount Binbo and for Baron Gokhin……hey, 482 gold plus 3 silver is too fussy . Just make it an even 500 gold . 」

On another note, the total amount lent to Baron Gokhin was even lower than the price of the new table I bought .

As I think about what he could do with such a little amount, I can’t help but wonder whether Nonna and Claudia are making my sense of what is normal warp .

「Put these bonds on Adolph’s desk when you get back . Try to make it as sneaky and inconspicuous as possible . 」

I hand the three bonds taken from the trio to Celia .

「It pains me a little…… I was happy that the cost of moving in was lifted, you know . 」

Well, the money was loaned out so it technically isn’t lost .

It might come back…… in my grandchildren’s generation .

「I have to do something to pay Adolph