9: Capable, Yet Powerless
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t help but utter a sound as I looked over the ledgers that recorded all of the gold and assets managed by the manor.
Until now, all of this management had been entrusted to the servants, and ultimately to Zeel, the head servant.
Tanar, the second-in-command servant, was also supposed to check it, but he was probably only responsible for confirming the contents literally. After all, it was assumed that I was checking the contents myself.
Of course, the old wouldn’t have been able to understand it anyway.
Looking at the flow of money that had moved through this manor over the past five years, it was clear how exceptional a servant Zeel was. Despite being entrusted with the management of a considerable amount of money, there was no sign of any improper use.
It was all spent on the necessary expenses for the management and operation of the manor, or on purchases I had requested—though there had been hardly any of those until now—and everything else was saved, resulting in a substantial sum.
Let me restate that. The amount of money I, the utterly useless crown prince, receive annually, stated in terms of the most commonly destroyed coins, comes to a total of two thousand eight hundred gold coins. That’s four hundred coins per month.
This is roughly equivalent to the income of two viscounts and one baron. And it comes from the king and the Duke of Zarud.
The average monthly income of a citizen who works hard every day is fifteen gold coins, and their annual income is one hundred and fifty gold coins. If they heard this, they would definitely want to assassinate me.
Out of those two thousand eight hundred gold coins, I spend roughly one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty gold coins per month. The servants’ salaries are paid by the royal palace and the ducal family. So that’s about how much I spend on the upkeep of the manor, food, and other miscellaneous expenses.
Incidentally, the monthly income of a baronial family is at most about one hundred gold coins, so this gives you an idea of how large and spacious the manor where the crown prince lives is.
And from the looks of it, there is very little waste.
Since there are seven months in a year, this means that over the past five years, there should be a remaining balance of approximately five thousand two hundred and fifty to eight thousand seven hundred and fifty gold coins. I can’t say for sure because there are ongoing maintenance costs and lump-sum payments.
I have been spending a little more recently, but even including that, Zeel has been managing this amount of money with unwavering honesty. He is truly worthy of being the next head of the servant family that serves the royal family.
After finishing looking through the ledgers for the past five years, I tossed the last bundle of papers onto the desk.
“How was it?”
“I don’t understand it. Bring me some tea.”
“Yes, sir.”
I said it in a way that made it clear I was in a bad mood.
I had wanted to look at the ledgers to act like an adult, but I couldn’t understand them, so I pretended to be in a bad mood.
I had been curious about it ever since my conversation with Jarnar the other day. If there are always undercover agents among the higher-ups, then there must be some in the servants of this manor.
The crown prince is treated as a being of almost the highest level of magic. There is no reason why they wouldn’t send an undercover agent to serve as a guard and gather information.
Incidentally, half of the servants in this manor belong to the kingdom and half to the ducal family.
In terms of servants, Zeel is prima facie at the top, but Tanar, the second-in-command, comes from a family of servants who have served the ducal family for generations.
And the servants and maids below them are also roughly divided in half, so to speak, between the king’s faction and the duke’s faction.
The same is true of the knights and soldiers. The guards are directly under the command of the kingdom, but the other knights and soldiers come from the ducal family. In other words, this manor is a place where they guard me while also keeping an eye on the situation, making sure that neither faction does anything strange—like trying to instill me with their ideology or getting a woman from their faction close to me.
When you think about it that way, it would be strange if there were no undercover agents.
When I realized that, I felt a shiver run down my spine. Because I had already taken too many actions that were different from before.
I had started spending time in the library, watching the soldiers train, doing business with merchants myself, buying weapons, and even talking to merchants alone.
To say that I had become more confident and wanted to act like an adult was a bit of a stretch.
Until now, I had truly been an incompetent crown prince who had simply spent his days doing nothing and following the orders of the servants. It was only natural that I would be suspected.
Once I realized that, I became self-conscious of the gazes of all the servants, led by Zeel. It was even possible that they had heard everything I had said in my private conversations up until now.
But if I did nothing, I would only be waiting for danger to approach. So, in this case, I pretended to be incompetent while looking at the ledgers and taking actions that would benefit me.
“Your Highness, a messenger from the magistrate has arrived with a request to greet you soon.”
“Do as you see fit.”
“As you wish.”
The city I live in is under the direct control of the country, but there is still a magistrate who manages it. He is a so-called court noble, and he comes to greet us twice a year in the name of inquiring after our well -being.
This time is probably the same, but it’s about a month earlier than usual. This sense of discomfort at this time of year was very unwelcome.
Surely something must have reached my father’s ears. It makes more sense to say that he came to check on that. Of course, there is the possibility of speculation, but as someone who pretends to be concerned and observes the situation, he must be a much more suitable opponent than Zeel.
Feeling anxious, I returned to my room and threw my body on the bed.
It’s not a good sign. I don’t think I’m doing anything conspicuous even now, but I was literally incompetent until I became an adult. Just doing something a little different will make me stand out.
But I know that this is not good enough.
The most optimal solution is to learn magic (color). Magic makes everything possible. For example, it would be possible to leave the mansion to raise my soul rank (level) and go hunting for magical beasts.
I can’t learn that magic. There are many magic books in the mansion. It is easy to understand them with high intelligence. But there is no place to practice it.
From Noble mtl dot com
If magic is activated, its magic power will always be detected. Even if you are a commoner who has never done any magic or combat training, there are undercover people, guards, and knights in this mansion who have some of the best skills and combat abilities in the country, so you will definitely be found out if you practice.
I can’t get stronger unless I raise my soul rank. To raise my soul rank, I have to experience battles with magical beasts and the like.
To do that, I need to create a situation where I can go out of this mansion without anyone noticing.
To do that, I have to learn magic. But I can’t learn magic without being noticed.
That’s why I can’t raise my soul rank no matter how long it takes.
“It’s no good.”
I was at a dead end. As it is, I am just powerless with high abilities. It’s pointless to stop being incompetent if I don’t gain power. Useless power is as good as nothing.
I’m still incompetent, after all.