Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

172 – A Headache

“….”

“Why the face?

I assumed you’d already anticipated it?”

“No, how could I possibly…”

Seeing the thoroughly bewildered

expression on my face, once more

he chuckled with what seemed like genuine amusement.

With a smile like that of a

child coloring on a sheet of paper,

he slowly rose from his seat.

Clack, clack—

The sound of his unusually loud shoe heels echoed,

and for a moment, I was

distracted by the noise.

Before I knew it, in my right hand

rested a rolled-up scroll.

Bound and sealed with a thin band of red cloth,

in this nation there is

only one place that can use red

for letters or missives.

“..The Imperial Family?”

“Unseal it.”

Even if I had

received my title directly from the Emperor,

the Imperial Family is the Imperial Family,

and I am me.

And I am only a Baron.

I couldn’t dare

ignore a letter from the Imperial Family,

and whatever was written within,

I would have to obey.

With a reverent heart,

I slowly untied the woven cord.

Surely, they wouldn’t go that far, but…

Even this crimson cord,

I feared it would fray,

as though unfastening the sash

of a lover on our first night.

So very, very deliberate,

so carefully, I loosened the tie,

and by this cord, held so tightly,

a single sheet of paper.

As the cord vanished,

it unfurled itself again.

Like a person stretching, reaching.

Finally, the paper was fully

spread, and what met my eyes was white and black.

White, the paper itself,

black, the writing.

Quite a broad expanse

of paper, yet unlike it,

clustered in the very center,

characters crammed tight.

Perhaps due to the stark difference, they were almost more difficult to take in at a glance,

and I was left with no choice but to read,

one character at a time, slowly from the top.

“…What is this?”

“Hoh? The most interesting

expression you’ve worn all day.”

And then,

it took truly no time at all

for me to be seized by astonishment.

These small characters, no bigger

than the length of my finger,

were more disquieting to me now

than anything else could have been.

“Well? What do you think of His Majesty’s gift?”

“…I don’t understand why you’d entrust

something like this to a mere stripling like me…”

The characters written there

represented nothing less than a fortune beyond reckoning (累巨萬金).

A truly astronomical sum

that no one my age should ever lay eyes upon.

Far too much for a simple kindness.

It was excessively much, beyond deserving even,

and if this was to be called a gift,

it bordered on frightening.

Generally, a commoner tilling the fields

earned 3 gold in a month.

Enough to not starve

no matter where they went.

And someone who labored

to the bone like that

spent about 2 gold a month.

For necessities, ingredients, and such,

even investing everything into living expenses wouldn’t exceed 3 gold.

And the nobles,

living by extracting taxes from the territory’s people.

How much gold did *they* rake in each month?

Perhaps, *perhaps* it might be different

for nobles who were upright and filled with virtue.

They might understand

the circumstances of the territory’s people,

and collect a reasonable amount of taxes

tailored to their livelihoods.

And, far from embezzlement,

might save and scrape every penny,

bestowing what remained back upon the people.

Yes, but that was only “it *might* be.”

Sadly, this wasn’t

a place of dreams or illusions.

Humans, from the very beginning,

were born possessing

the five desires and seven emotions.

Between people,

the seven emotions sprouted,

and between people,

the five desires firmly took root.

The five desires:

sight, scent, sound, taste, and touch.

The desires attainable through all these things, combined, were the five desires.

Which is to say,

a normal human being could never

escape the mire of desire.

That was the limit of humanity, and

It is, after all, their nature, their essence.

And, the one who transcends

that limit, that nature,

that is the one who becomes a virtuous man.

And, tragically, all too tragically,

there are more villains than virtuous men

in this world, this very world.

Far more nobles who raise taxes absurdly,

filling only their own bellies,

sucking the blood of the people,

than nobles who collect taxes sparingly,

supplementing the shortfall

with their own private funds.

And so, the gold they

accumulate is almost

near 300 gold a month.

The salary of a common person

for a hundred months,

they earn that in a single month.

“Why, is it a lot?”

“..Yes, it is far too much.”

And this sum, scribbled on

a single piece of paper, is 500 gold.

The recipient…absurdly, was none other than I.

It was excessive.

Excessive to the point of being absurd.

It wasn’t an amount one would readily give to even a Baron.

With a sum like this,

one could do anything.

If it was given to those

children starving, shivering

in the faraway slums?

Perhaps they could buy enough bread to last a lifetime.

And if it was donated

to that poor village, devastated

by the onslaught of monsters?

Though I cannot know for certain,

they could live far more

abundantly, far more comfortably than before.

No matter how I considered it,

it wasn’t a sum to be bestowed upon one single person and

Especially so if that beneficiary

was a mere boy,

not yet a man grown.

Didn’t they say too much favor bred suspicion?

If it were back then, almost three days

spent gnawing hunger for duty’s sake,

I’d have scoffed, “What? If someone heaped

excessive kindness on me, would I doubt them…?”

“I’d take it first and think later,

what poppycock is that?”

“Easy for you to say, you’re just rubbing it in?”

I wouldn’t have blinked

an eye at such a notion,

but now, to me,

it seemed rather effective.

Staring at this sum, still

so unreal to the senses,

I remained quite thoroughly bewildered.

“Excessive? There’s still

much more you’ve yet to receive.”

But again,

the Duke smiled,

dropping another casual bombshell.

More than this?

And much more at that?

It was unnerving.

Disturbingly so.

Anything at all,

I just wanted to hear the reason why.

“Why… such a large sum…?”

“Because he believes you

are worth such a sum, wouldn’t you say?”

‘…You?’

In all this time, the Duke had never once

addressed me directly as “you,”

so for a fleeting moment, the address felt alien,

but I quickly, and again,

pulled my thoughts firmly in line.

After all, there was no time to waste

on the name alone.

I never truly burdened it with meaning,

and now, such things

held little sway over my mind.

“..Is that truly all there is?”

“..You seem to be quite unaware of

the magnitude of your actions.”

“…?”

Because you prevented

unidentified figures from attacking the Great Forest,

the treaty with the Great Forest,

though it may be adjusted, will not be

completely nullified, and

the lives of the knights sent to the Great Forest

were also spared.

Moreover, this being is

the very boy that the “Elven Queen”

herself is watching.

He was already expelled from the family,

so returning would be difficult,

and the rumors circulating among the people

suggest his personality is not abrasive.

Furthermore, the boy’s

personal martial prowess is said to be

beyond even that of the Order Commander.

“Do you think there exists

a fellow more suitable to be drawn into

the Imperial Family’s power than this?”

“….”

“Well… to be honest, I

harbored considerable suspicion toward you.”

“….”

“Based on what I’ve observed thus far,

I have judged that you are not someone

who would pose a threat to the Imperial Family.”

“….”

“That is primarily the reason

you have been summoned to the Imperial Palace this time.”

…Given that reason, there was certainly nothing I could not accept.

In any case, the current Emperor

wished to, by any means,

gazing upon.

It felt as though they desired

to weave me into the Imperial power.

A touch awkward to speak such things

of oneself, perhaps, but

my reputation amongst the commonalty

was, as it stood, quite agreeable.

For if I were to join forces

with another noble house, or even

fall under their banner,

the Imperial influence would, relatively, be diminished.

Too precious a grape

to simply surrender to another’s keeping.

Grapes that, to the eye, looked

so tantalizing as to make one’s mouth water.

Perhaps they did not consider

just how sour the fruit within might be.

Appearance being all that truly mattered, after all.

‘…though I’ve no intention

of becoming sour grapes in the first place…’

“What is it? Does something

still sit uneasily with you?”

“Even so, wouldn’t that

be an excessive sum…”

“It shall be fine.”

“…?”

“For soon the four wolves

will be reduced to three.”

“…Pardon?”

“Dismantle those wolves entirely,

sell them piece by piece, and you will likely

recoup a sum of that magnitude.”

“…?”

“Well, such talk is

not yet necessary for you to know… let us rise.”

Click-clack—

The sound of his heel

echoed once more,

and he slowly strode

toward the door, while

I, still seated upon the chair,

could only gaze upon his departing figure.

I continued to gaze.

To rise straightaway felt impossible,

too many thoughts tangled, demanding consideration.

“I shall send someone soon

to inform you of the date for your visit to the royal castle.”

“..Yes, I understand.”

“Be sure to tell your sister also

to consider her options well.”

“…?! Wait, Duke…what is this─”

*Whoosh-*

Before my words could fully form,

he opened the door with a screech,

and soon, in that very spot,

nothing remained.

Well, not exactly – a slight shadow lingered,

but it, too, soon vanished.

It would be more accurate to say

that there was nothing at all.

‘..What is it that Aria must consider so carefully?’

Thus ended the headache-inducing

conversation, but

still within my head,

there remained too many

worries that ached

and tormented.

*

“..What will you do?”

“….”

“Even if you don’t help me,

I won’t particularly do anything.”

“….”

“Well, I might not be able

to guarantee your life.”

“..I’ll do it, damn it!!

I’ll follow you, Duke..!”