Category: Isekai Nonbiri Sanpo Tabi

“I suppose it would be unreasonable to leave everything entirely to Shun, so I’ll at least listen to your requests.”

Emilia-sama added a bit of reassurance, but I was still feeling completely deflated.

Then, for some reason, Shiro raised her hand energetically.

“I want takoyaki!”

“““Takoyaki?”””

Ah… right. Along the way, at the coastal barony, I did say I’d make takoyaki.

But with just Shiro’s explanation, no one here would understand it.

So I somehow forced myself to recover and started explaining properly.

“Takoyaki is more like the name of the dish. You cook a batter-based food on a special iron griddle. The griddle has small round indentations—about the size of two or three fingers. You pour the batter in, then use a pick or something similar to rotate it continuously, shaping it into a sphere as it cooks. Inside, you can put meat, seafood… or even cheese if you like.”

“Hmm… so the key is the iron plate with round indentations, I see.”

As I explained, the former Margrave and the craftsmen gathered around, nodding with interest.

“Hmmm…”

“Alright. Can you guys make a griddle like that?”

“This much is easy. We can process just about anything, after all.”

The craftsmen responded immediately to the former Margrave’s prompt.

Sigh. This is definitely turning into I’m going to have to make takoyaki for real, isn’t it?

Just as I was thinking that, Shiro added something unnecessary again.

“It’s served on little wooden boats!”

“A wooden boat? Shun, what does she mean?”

“Well… you take thin wood shavings, cut and interlock them at the edges to form a simple container. Takoyaki is often sold in those.”

“Hmm… I see. Hey, bring me some slightly thicker planed wood.”

At the former Margrave’s order, they quickly brought over appropriately shaved wood materials. Using them, they began forming simple containers. And then—the atmosphere around us changed.

“That’s actually quite good. We’d need purification with basic cleansing magic, but there’s no need to carve out proper wooden bowls.”

“As long as you have people who can use basic life magic, the quantity won’t be an issue. And since it isn’t for soups, it can be reused for other things as well. If it gets dirty, just discard it—easy disposal too.”

The craftsmen and attendants nodded, clearly impressed.

Somehow, something that started as “Shiro wants takoyaki” is now turning into a full-scale production plan for festival food stalls. It seemed that Emilia-sama and the former Margrave were giving surprisingly high praise, but in truth, the point they were most impressed with was probably the idea of disposable containers.

“Shun-sama, that’ amazing! To think you could come up with something like that!”

“Wow!”

And for some reason, Toria-chan’s evaluation of me had skyrocketed. She clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling with admiration.

…But really, it was just me applying knowledge from my previous life.

Kent-chan, on the other hand, didn’t seem to understand what was going on at all. He was just copying everyone else’s reactions, thinking it must be impressive because the adults said so.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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We set off from the mansion and made our way toward the plaza on foot, everyone walking together.

“Yaaay, I’m with Oneechan!”

“Yes, I’m very happy to be with Kent-sama as well.”

Kent-chan was walking hand in hand with Toria-chan, both of them smiling brightly. As for Toria-chan, even though she carried the blood of the Margrave household, she never stepped outside her position as an attendant.

That was likely heavily influenced by her mother, Maria-san.

“She’s smiling more now. I suppose Maria-san recovering has something to do with it.”

“Indeed. Maria was on long-term medical leave due to a chest illness. Toria must have been relieved.”

From what I heard, Maria-san had been suffering from a chest-related illness and had been in treatment for about a year. The former Margrave had been deeply worried as well, occasionally visiting her to check on her condition.

“Oh, isn’t that the former Margrave? With your daughter and grandchild today?”

“She really does look like her mother—what a beautiful girl. Completely different from that rowdy son of yours.”

“Hah, well, that’s because Emilia-sama keeps him on a tight leash.”

“Can’t argue with that. As long as Emilia-sama is around, the Margrave household is safe.”

It seemed the townspeople were well aware of Maria-san and Toria-chan’s circumstances.

The things they casually said to them were honestly quite outrageous—but since neither of them seemed to mind, neither Sue nor I said anything either.

And just like that, we arrived at the plaza without incident.

“Wow, it’s as big as a martial arts tournament venue!”

“There’s even a stage.”

“Are they going to do something here?”

The plaza was already bustling with workers constructing something, and just like during the martial arts tournament, large spectator stands were being built all around. Amidst the activity, the person in charge of the site approached the former Margrave and Emilia-sama.

“Oh, good work. How’s the progress?”

“It is proceeding without issue Sir. We are about to begin setting up the temporary altar.”

“This year’s harvest has been excellent, so we must offer even more gratitude to the gods than usual.”

So the harvest festival really was just a week away, and preparations were going smoothly.

A “temporary altar”?  So maybe it’s used to report the harvest to the gods?

“You probably don’t know this, but weddings are held during the harvest festival. It’s said that love comes to fruition alongside the harvest—it’s a kind of good-luck tradition.”

“Oh, that sounds really lovely.”

A harvest festival wedding—honestly, it was quite an interesting tradition. Sue and the others, being girls around that age, had their eyes sparkling with excitement. Apparently, many ordinary townspeople would attend as well, all gathering to celebrate the bride and groom together.

It was easy to see how much everyone in the city looked forward to it.

“Sue and the Shiro-chan group, I’d like you to help with the behind-the-scenes work for the weddings during the harvest festival. It’ll be good practice for your own weddings in the future.”

“““Yes, please let us do it!”””

“““We’ll do our best!”””

Right. I remember even in my past life, weddings were often something handled by women. Sue and the others, as well as Shiro’s group, were completely fired up by Emilia-sama’s request.

I guess marriage really is something many women dream about.

Wait. What exactly am I supposed to be doing?

“Shun, you’ll be helping with the Margrave household’s food stalls. Toria will be assisting you. You’ve run stalls in many regions, and above all, you’re known as the ‘Lightning Chef’ you see.”

“Eh?”

“Shun-sama, I will do my very best to assist you.”

“Hahaha. I’m counting on you, Shun.”

“Huh?”

Emilia-sama…. I was hoping to do something other than cooking…

But judging from her smiling face, Toria-chan’s eager expression, and the former Margrave looking on from the sidelines with arms crossed—there was no way I could break through that fortress.

“Ugh.”

Once again, I crumpled to the ground.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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The next morning, a woman and a young girl arrived at the Margrave’s mansion—both dressed in attendant uniforms. The woman was a stunning member of the angel tribe.

“Pleased to meet those I haven’t yet had the opportunity to greet. I am Maria, the chief attendant. I would like to sincerely thank you all for treating me.”

The angel woman who introduced herself to us was Maria.

Yes… as expected of the former Margrave’s so-called “mistress,” she’s breathtakingly beautiful. She’s tall, with short, neatly cut blonde hair, and a gentle, refined smile. And on top of that—her figure was nothing short of remarkable. It was hard to believe she was a mother of one.

“I am her daughter, Toria. I am grateful for your treatment of my mother.”

The girl introduced herself politely.

She’s apparently ten years old, a half-blood of the angel tribe and beastman. She had long blonde hair, with little dog ears that bounced slightly as she moved, angelic wings on her back, and even a tail. With all those traits combined, it would be immediately obvious who her parents were the moment anyone saw her. A rather… unmistakable lineage.

“Maria-san’s position is officially recognized by the Margrave household. Well, that’s regarding the former Margrave, not the current one, so there are no issues.”

Ah… Emilia-sama was smiling as she said that, but there was absolutely no way the current Margrave could ever get away with cheating.

“Now then, you will be continuing document work. We are heading to the festival site, so please take care of things here. Maria-san, I apologize, but I leave it to you.”

“Yes, leave it to me. If anything happens, may I handle it without restraint?”

“Yes. Please act without restraint.”

“Understood.”

“Eeeek…”

Maria-san casually produced a whip from somewhere and began to twirl it with a sharp whoosh sound. The Margrave’s reaction was so extreme that it was obvious—he must have been disciplined with that in the past when he caused trouble.

Emilia-sama and Maria-san were exchanging faintly dark smiles, but somehow, the Margrave household didn’t feel unstable. In fact, it was surprisingly… functional.

“Alright, let’s go. We’re heading to the plaza today, so we’ll walk together.”

““““Yaaay!””””

After finishing morning training and breakfast, the former Margrave stood up with a brisk motion. Apparently, he had gotten bored of riding in a carriage—because Shiro and the others, along with Kent-chan, raised both hands in excitement.

“Your Excellency, uhm… is it really alright not to assign any guards?”

“Ah, right. Then we’ll just have Shun and the others act as our escort.”

“Shun and his group are skilled adventurers. They’re stronger than most soldiers anyway.”

“Ooh! Then I’ll protect everyone!”

“Fran will do so too!”

“Horn will do her best.”

And just like that, for some reason, we ended up being assigned as escorts for the former Margrave, Emilia-sama, and Kent-chan.

Not just me—Sue and the others were also smiling wryly at the situation. Honestly, the two people in front of us were definitely stronger than us in the first place.

Still, that’s how it went.After that, we prepared and set out from the mansion.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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The tasting itself had finished in the morning, so in the afternoon I returned to helping sort the Margrave’s paperwork.

“Haaahhh…”

“Your Excellency, if you don’t push through here, Emilia-sama will ban you from dinner as well.”

“Right. I’ll do it.”

Sue and the others were gradually learning how to handle the Margrave.

The moment they brought up the existence of Emilia-sama—an absolute authority for him—and Kent-chan, he would instantly switch into a serious mode. And when he did, his abilities were genuinely impressive. Once in “serious mode,” he sorted through the documents at a frightening speed.

The real question was how long that mode would last.

Still, somehow, he managed to scrape through on both stamina and willpower, and before long, the massive pile of documents had been completely cleared away.

“Come to think of it… this is the first time I’ve ever seen this office clean.”

“It was usually buried under paperwork.”

“Haaahhh…”

At that point, the exhausted Margrave aside, Sue and I were looking around the now-clean office. With some free time between shifts watching over the Margrave, we had joined the butler and attendants in cleaning the room.

Thanks to that, the office had turned into a very pleasant, refreshing space.

Creak.

“Waaah—it’s so clean!”

“Hm. Not bad at all. Quite well done.”

As evening approached, Kent-chan and the former margrave came into the office after being out. Both of them seemed pleased by the neatly cleaned room—but they completely ignored the Margrave, who was now slumped over in a state of total exhaustion.

Rattle-rattle-rattle.

“Yes, yes, a clean room really does make things go smoother.”

And then—just like the day before—Emilia-sama entered the room, pushing a cart piled high with documents. That must be the results from today’s field work. It was almost the same amount as yesterday, but since we had also cleared the backlog from the previous day, tomorrow’s workload should finally be lighter.

At least, in theory.

“At any rate, the urgent documents are finished for now. So from tomorrow, instead of watching over the Margrave, Shun and the others will be going out with me on field inspections. A special attendant will handle the Margrave.”

“A special attendant? There’s someone like that?”

“Yes. He used to serve the former Margrave—she was, in a sense, like his mistress. She fell ill and was on medical leave for a while, but Horn-chan healed her. The townspeople are fully aware of the ‘mistress’ situation, so there’s no problem at all.”

So… a publicly accepted former Margrave’s mistress and attendant in service to the household huh.

If such a person exists, then they might actually be able to stop the Margrave when he goes off the rails.

“Oh! I know! She’s a really beautiful lady!”

“She’s said to be from the celestial tribe, just like Horn!”

“And she also had a child with the former Margrave!”

Hey, Horn just casually dropped a bombshell there. 

So it wasn’t just a mistress situation—they even had a child?

“Hahaha. When my wife passed away, she helped support me through my grief. The child has no claim to succession of the Marquis household, but I have properly paid child support.”

“Oneechan is really beautiful!”

Laughing heartily, the former Margrave explained the circumstances, while Kent-chan proudly praised the attendant’s child. It was certainly a complicated family situation, but since all parties involved accepted it, it didn’t seem to be a problem at all.

“.…Haaah.”

In any case, someone please hurry up and bring the Margrave back already.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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Alongside the fries, we had also finished preparing deep-fried vegetables. All that was left was to grill the meat that had been soaking in the marinade. At this point, it was just a matter of cooking it in a frying pan and slicing it up—something the kitchen staff could easily handle on their own.

Honestly, slicing the cooked meat and sandwiching it between bread to make hamburgers wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

However, just then, I noticed a gaze fixed on us from somewhere nearby.

“Margrave-sama… what are you doing here?”

“The smell drew me in. It’s my break time, so I came to the kitchen.”

Drawn in by the savory aroma, the Margrave—who was supposed to be in his office—was now peeking into the kitchen from the entrance. Behind him, I could also see Sue and the others, wearing expressions that seemed to say, “Well, what can you do…”

Even if it’s break time, it feels like only about an hour has passed since work started…

But the curry was already finished.

Alright then—let’s get to grilling the meat right away.

Sizzle… sizzle…

“Ooh, that’s a nice smell. I’m really looking forward to eating this.”

“Your Excellency, the tasting is meant to be done together so we can gather opinions.”

“Haha, I know, I know.”

“…”

“…”

The Margrave had already come right up beside where the meat was being grilled. If he’s talking about eating it, then he’s clearly planning to sample it the moment it’s done. Sue and the others were watching him with exasperated expressions.

Then, the first piece of meat finished cooking—and the moment it was placed on a plate—

Snatch. (Nom. Munch, munch, munch…)

“Ooh, this is good. It’s just meat marinated in sauce and grilled, but there’s a slight kick to it that really stimulates the appetite.”

The Margrave picked up the large chunk of meat placed on the plate and ate it in a single bite. Not only that, he went on to eat the salted fries and the deep-fried vegetables as well.

Snatch, munch—snatch, munch.

After that, every piece of meat marinated in sauce was eaten the moment it came off the pan, and even the hamburger portion disappeared before it could be assembled. Even the potatoes… all of them were gone—cleaned up entirely by the Margrave.

“Whew… I’m full. If meat this good is served at the festival, I’m sure everyone who comes will be more than satisfied.”

“R-right….”

“Y-yes, that’s good then…”

While the Margrave stood there completely satisfied, I couldn’t help but make a complicated expression. Meanwhile, Sue and the others were practically radiating fury—like flames burning behind their eyes. We were supposed to do the tasting together but everything had been eaten by the Margrave alone.

Messing with food especially when it comes to women is dangerous.

“With that much in your stomach, I’m sure you’ll be able to work hard until evening.”

“Yes, let’s return to processing documents immediately.”

“Fufu… break time is over.”

“W-wait, hey—hold on, aahh!”

Sue and the others grabbed the Margrave by the legs and dragged him back toward the office. It was almost as if they were disciplining a hopeless child. Even though, technically speaking, the Margrave was a married man with children.

“Now then…. shall we prepare another tasting portion for Emilia-sama?”

“Yes. She is scheduled to return for lunch.”

With a collective sigh, the kitchen staff and I resumed preparing the tasting dishes once more.

By the way, the matter of the Margrave monopolizing all the tasting food didn’t stay hidden for long. When Emilia-sama returned at lunchtime and heard what had happened—

the Margrave was strictly forbidden from eating anything at all until dinner.

No meals.

No snacks.

Nothing at all.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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“There’s no point in complaining about everything, so first—let’s think about the menu.”

Or rather… there’s an unbelievable amount of ingredients laid out here. Fresh vegetables, of course—but there were also several different kinds of meat.

“I see there’s yogurt and cheese as well.”

“We are beastman, after all. We are quite skilled in livestock management. In other regions as well, many beastman raise livestock.”

Ah, I see. That’s interesting. Because there are more beastman in this territory compared to others, dairy farming must be quite well developed.

“There’s quite a lot of oil here too. I even see soybean oil.”

“That is a specialty of the western frontier territory. We export a large quantity of it to the royal capital as well.”

With oil available, we can even make fried dishes.

Ideas were already starting to form.

“Then how about something like meat marinated in sauce, then grilled or deep-fried in a bold, hearty style?”

“Hoho… that does sound like something beastfolk would enjoy.”

“And we could also deep-fry vegetables and season them with salt, or use them as ingredients in curry.”

“Spices are greatly loved among beastman. Very well—let us begin at once.”

The head chef and the other cooks all showed interest in the dishes I suggested.

Alright—let’s get started with the cooking.

“First, let’s prepare a few types of marinade for the meat. It’s wonderful that we have both garlic and ginger available. We’ll start by mixing yogurt and curry spices with garlic and ginger, then marinate the chicken and orc meat for about an hour.”

“I will take it to the refrigeration magic device to rest.”

First up—an imitation tandoori chicken. With this, all you have to do is marinate it and bake it. It’s simple, yet effective.

“Next, let’s make French fries. Cut the potatoes, coat them lightly in flour, and fry them until crispy. Then finish with a sprinkle of salt.”

“They’re fluffy and delicious. And very simple to prepare as well.”

French fries really are incredibly simple yet unbelievably tasty. If we had paper containers, they’d be perfect for takeout, but I can’t exactly be greedy here.

“Now then, shall we make a vegetable-and-meat-packed curry?”

“We will handle that. Margrave-sama is especially fond of curry.”

So the Margrave is a real foodie, huh.And just like that, I left the curry to the chefs of the Margrave’s household.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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After breakfast, we started today’s paperwork… or rather, it turned out there wasn’t actually much sorting left to do.

“Margrave-sama, please go through all of these documents and sign them.”

“Huh?”

The Margrave stared at the stack as if he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

But Emilia-sama was completely serious.

“Darling, most of the documents I brought yesterday are related to the harvest festival. They require immediate processing. This is what happens when you settle things with verbal promises instead of written agreements.”

“I… I understand…”

In other words, the towering pile on the desk didn’t even require sorting anymore. Every single one of them simply needed urgent signatures. With a calm “this is only natural,” Emilia-sama left the margrave slumped in despair.

Our role shifted to monitoring him and assisting the butler and staff.

Just as I prepared to do my part, Emilia-sama spoke again.

“Since there’s no detailed sorting needed today, Sue and the others can handle things just fine. I’ll be borrowing Shun.”

“…Huh?”

“““Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”””

And just like that, I was gently sent off by Sue and the others, completely unaware of what was going on, as I followed Emilia-sama out.

“Emilia-sama, where are we headed?”

“To the kitchen.”

A bad feeling crept up on me.

No way. There’s no way Emilia-sama knows I used to run food stalls in the eastern and northern margravate… right?

“Head chef, I’ve brought Shun.”

“Madam, thank you very much. So this is the famed “Lightning Chef Adventurer” huh. Mm, good, good.”

The moment I stepped into the kitchen, I was greeted by a dog beastman chef speaking with Emilia-sama.

Yeah. Confirmed. This is absolutely happening.

“Shun, I want you to help develop dishes for the harvest festival. Since there are many beastkin, I’d like something hearty and bold.”

“Emilia-sama, I am an adventurer though…”

“Talk details with the head chef. I’ll be leaving now.”

Click.

Yeah. I was smoothly abandoned.

Honestly, she’s probably capable of this level of ruthless delegation precisely because she used to be royalty and is now the Margrave’s wife.

“Ahh, we heard that a talented chef who created dishes in other margravate has arrived. We were hoping you would guide us.”

“I… I’m an adventurer though…”

“We are very much looking forward to what kinds of dishes you will create.”

Even the head chef and other cooks completely ignored my protest. The people of the Western Margravate really don’t seem to care about minor details like this at all.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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“Let’s see… I suppose I’ll join in training after all. It’s been a while.”

“Grandpa!”

In addition to us, Emilia-sama, and Kent-chan, the former margrave—who was now somehow full of motivation—joined the morning training session.

Yeah… I already knew this, but he really is ridiculously muscular.

“Emilia-sama, how is the Margrave doing?”

“He seems mentally exhausted from unfamiliar paperwork. I doubt he’ll be waking up for a while.”

“How pathetic. To be worn out by just that much paperwork.”

“Yes, indeed. His processing speed is also quite slow, so it takes quite a while.”

…Oh boy. Emilia-sama and the former margrave are openly trash-talking him now. Well, to be fair, anyone would think yesterday’s workload was insane.

“Now then, once we finish warming up, I’ll point out everyone’s areas for improvement. I’ll start with Shun.”

Oh.

It seemed Emilia-sama was about to give us feedback based on yesterday’s sparring. If I want to get stronger, I’ll need to take every bit of it seriously.

“Shun, after you finish your warm-up, lie face down on the grass.”

“Ah? Y-yes.”

Huh?

I had assumed she was going to give me some verbal feedback, but apparently my case was different. I did as I was told and lay face down on the grass.

“Alright, breathe in… breathe out…”

I wasn’t really sure what this was about, but I followed Emilia-sama’s instructions anyway.

Inhale, exhale.

“Hmph!”

CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!

“Gah—khaaa!”

The moment I exhaled, Emilia-sama placed her hands on my spine and began adjusting my joints in one swift motion. The sound was disturbingly satisfying but the suddenness of it made it genuinely rough.

“Next, the lower back. Haa!”

BANG—CRACK!

“Ghk.. ggh…”

“““E-eek…”””

Once I realized what was happening, I managed to brace myself for the next shock—but honestly, it still hurt quite a bit. My groans seemed to spook Shiro and the others a little.

“Alright, now turn onto your back. I’ll realign your shoulders.”

“Y-yes…”

After that, Emilia-sama continued correcting my body relentlessly.

Yeah… At this point, today’s training was completely over for me. I couldn’t even move anymore.

“Alright, that should do it. Shun, your body is far too stiff. You need to improve your flexibility. From now on, we’ll add daily stretching training.”

“Ugh…”

So apparently my biggest issue was simply how stiff my body was. Still… being adjusted like that every single day was honestly something I’d like to avoid. I swore in my heart, even as I lay there completely exhausted, that I would at least try my best with stretching from now on.

“Now then, the rest of you don’t have flexibility issues, so I’ll point out your individual problems.”

“““Phew…”””

Everyone else visibly relaxed, relieved they wouldn’t be subjected to joint corrections.

Haha… I would’ve liked it if someone had just told me verbally too.

“Alright then. Once you finish your basic training, you’ll spar with me.”

“Ehh!?”

And just like that, I found myself targeted by the former margrave, who was now full of motivation.

It would be nice if I could refuse right here and now……but unfortunately, that didn’t seem like an option.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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At dinner, everyone was finally gathered, so I decided to ask Shiro and the others what they had been doing today. Meanwhile, the Margrave—under Emilia-sama’s instructions—was still signing important documents. It seemed his dinner would be delayed for the foreseeable future.

“Hmm… we rode in a carriage and went to lots of places!”

“We said hello to everyone!”

“We played with Kent-chan!”

…Right. That explained absolutely nothing.

Still, even if I asked Emilia-sama, there was no way she would tell me anything more.

“Madam, the former Margrave has returned.”

“Oh? That was quicker than expected.”

At the butler’s announcement, we learned that the former margrave had come back. Now that I thought about it… I hadn’t seen him at all this whole time.

Clack.

“I’m home!”

“Grandpa!”

“Haha, Ken-chan, were you behaving yourself?”

“I was!”

The room immediately softened at the cheerful exchange as the former margrave stepped inside.

The figure who appeared in the dining hall was, essentially, the marquis as an older man. Same face, same presence—just aged into a calm, seasoned middle-aged version of him. And like in any world, it seemed that doting on grandchildren was universal. The former margrave had Kent-chan lifted into his arms, rubbing his cheek against the child’s with clear affection.

“Emilia, these are the people you mentioned?”

“Yes, they are Shun and the others.”

“I see. My son has been in your care. His mother passed away when he was young, so I raised him alone. He ended up a bit… spirited, as you can see.”

Unlike his son, the former margrave was composed and very proper in his demeanor. He even bowed his head slightly toward us. So this was someone who had ruled as a margrave while also raising a child alone.

He carefully lowered himself into his seat with a quiet “oof”.

“During festival season, I travel around to meet the influential figures across the territory. Everyone gathers in the capital around this time, so I take the opportunity to hear petitions, requests, and also explain plans for the next fiscal year.”

As soon as dinner was served, he dug into his meal and began talking as he ate.

Even after handing over the title of Margrave to his son, he still seemed incredibly busy.

…So the chaotic energy we were dealing with now was, in a way, inherited.

“Then, how is my son doing?”

“He is currently signing documents. There is quite a backlog, so he will likely be confined to his desk for a few days.”

“Sigh… well, can’t be helped. I suppose I’ll accompany Emilia tomorrow for greetings instead.”

“Grandpa, I’ll go with you!”

“Haha, looks like I’ll be with you, Ken-chan as well.”

So the former margrave wasn’t going to help with the paperwork after all. In a way, I felt a quiet sense of despair wash over me.

When I glanced sideways, Sue and the others were wearing exactly the same expression. As expected, Shiro and the others were probably out walking around town, meeting influential figures.

Just as the conversation between the former margrave and Emilia-sama seemed to wrap up, I stepped forward.

“Excuse me, Sir. I apologize for the late greeting. I am Shun, an adventurer.”

“Mm. I’ve heard about you from Emilia. A very capable adventurer, it seems. I will be relying on you to keep my son in check for a few days.”

“Shun is even able to properly retort to the marquis himself, so there is no issue at all.”

“Hahaha, that is reassuring. Given his position, few people speak frankly to him. Though, he has always had a rather commoner-like temperament, so I doubt he minds much.”

And just like that, dinner continued in a calm, peaceful atmosphere. By the way—the Margrave never showed up in the dining hall that night.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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By evening, the document sorting finally began to wind down.

“…It’s… over…”

The Margrave slumped over, half-burnt out, but at least the mountain of paperwork had been mostly cleared.

“At this rate, we should be able to finish everything by tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“I honestly thought we wouldn’t make it for a moment there.”

Sue is chatting cheerfully with Casey-san and Telma-san, a bright smile on her face. Even the manor’s butler and staff looked visibly relieved, their expressions lightened now that the massive workload had been reduced.

Ah—right.

Something had been bothering me, so I decided to ask.

“Excuse me, but are we actually allowed to see these documents?”

“Not a problem at all. All important documents are under the madam’s direct management.”

I see. That makes sense.

Come to think of it, everything we had handled today hadn’t been anything particularly sensitive. If security is managed that well, then there’s nothing to worry about.

Click.

“Oh, right. These documents here aren’t related to the budget settlement. They’re just permit applications and the like—perfectly fine even if seen by others.”

Emilia-sama casually appeared, adding her explanation as she flipped through a few of the remaining papers. At that moment, Emilia-sama walked into the office pushing a cart piled high with documents.

Wait. Don’t tell me—we’re supposed to handle all of those too?

Still smiling, she turned an overwhelming pressure directly toward the Margrave.

“Darling~”

“Yes!”

“There were many verbal agreements you made without properly turning them into official documents. After visiting various locations today, this is how much paperwork ended up coming back.”

“I, well, that is… uhm…”

“You do always say that trust is the most important thing for a lord, don’t you?”

“Uhh… that…”

Nope. He’s done for.

It was clear by now—this Margrave is the type who’s cheerful and easygoing but completely fell apart when it came to the important details. He probably went around casually saying “sure, we’ll do that”without ever putting anything down in writing.

“Tomorrow, you will finish both the existing paperwork and all of this new paperwork. Of course, since we will be visiting other areas we couldn’t reach today, I expect even more will be added.”

“Th-that’s impossible!”

Honestly… I felt like yelling the same thing.

Sue, Casey-san, Telma-san, the manor staff—everyone had the same expression. Dead fish eyes. Because at this point, “the marquis has paperwork” basically meant—we all have paperwork. And that was the true despair of it all.

“Shun…. I honestly didn’t expect the Margrave to have piled up this much paperwork. I’ll reduce his allowance and increase the commission fees accordingly.”

Emilia-sama said this a little apologetically toward me, but apparently the Margrave actually has an allowance system. Though, given his personality, he also seemed like the type who would casually burn through money without much thought.

Pat pat pat.

“Ah! Daddy, he’s all white!”

Kent-chan trotted into the office next, pointing at the Margrave—who was now completely drained, as if all color had been sucked out of him. It seemed the final blow had been the reduction of his allowance.

Yeah…

Kid. You really shouldn’t grow up to become an adult like your father.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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