102 – Please Send Me Back (Comptele)
＜The Empire’s Hero, Leaving the Capital!＞
“It’s truly regrettable. Won’t you reconsider? I wanted to build a thousand-year empire with you.”
“I have already made up my mind.”
“Can’t be helped. Ascal, whenever you miss it, return to the capital. There will always be a place for you… Don’t let your ship rot, and make sure to stay healthy…”
“I am humbled. Crown Prince, no, Your Majesty the Emperor.”
Now the next emperor, Cain Barbar, bid farewell to Ascal as if he were a grandmother sending off her grandchild.
‘I’ve barely escaped.’
Cain tried several times to persuade Ascal, but Ascal had already made up his mind.
– I need to recuperate for a while due to injuries sustained in the blood battle with the ancient dragon.
– …? But you haven’t fought.
– I’ve suffered injuries of the heart.
At those words, Cain looked at Ascal with a strange expression.
It was no lie.
The injuries were real. Due to the fatigue accumulated from traversing past and future, he couldn’t move a finger for a while.
‘Now it’s time to go to Erendale and live out my remaining days in peace.’
Retirement at last.
If it weren’t for Bernstein, who became the prime minister in his stead, and Sirius, who would take over as the next Minister of Evaluation, retirement would have been impossible.
The Crown Prince would have found a way to keep him by his side.
‘Thank you, Sirius, Bernstein. I won’t forget.’
Ascal looked up at the night sky.
The stars were particularly beautiful.
‘Now, only a smooth future lies ahead. Stars, don’t you think so too?’
Swoosh―――
‘Wait, why is that falling?’
At that moment.
Ascal’s body shook violently.
A meteorite had fallen nearby.
‘……’
It’s unsettling.
Quite seriously so.
*
“Mithril mines have been discovered in the mountains behind us! The dwarves wish to see you, my lord!”
“The elves, thought to be extinct, have appeared in the western Galadria forest! They wish to negotiate with you, my lord!”
“The dragon, the dragon has appeared and wishes to have an audience with you, my lord!”
Ascal shouted.
“Open the martial tournament!!!”
Watching Ascal, who had lost his mind, Lia firmly grabbed his ears.
Ascal came to his senses.
Sighing, Ascal sat down in the chair in his office. It was the familiar executive chair brought from the evaluation department’s office.
“I could give up everything else, but not this executive chair. Sirius.”
“Yes? Yes. Take it, please.”
He couldn’t forget those eyes that still looked at him as if he were mad.
“What work is there to do in a rural domain? hahahahaha.”
“Just leave everything to the underlings and you can take naps.”
That’s what the central nobles, with whom he had connections, said when he left the capital.
At first, Ascal agreed.
The Erindale domain he knew was indeed a quaint rural domain where, at night, the villagers would gather and pass around a cup of liquor brewed from grain, saying, “Have a drink, my lord.”
“Where did it all go wrong?”
Ascal sighed as he looked out the window.
Endlessly stretching before him were enormous trees.
It was the Divine Tree.
“Who would have thought the Divine Tree would suddenly uproot itself and move to the Erindale domain.”
At that time, he thought his eyeballs would pop out.
Thinking about it, it might all be because of the Divine Tree.
After the Divine Tree moved, the extinct elves suddenly appeared near the domain.
And then, people who came to see the elves overflowed as tourists, bringing vitality to the domain, and merchants came to sell goods to these tourists.
Beld, the converted head of the trading company who had settled in the Erindale domain, used his savvy to make the merchants stick to the Erindale domain.
＜Your commercial value has greatly increased.＞
Ascal felt as if he could hear such a message by his ear.
“By the way, it hasn’t rained lately.”
“Is that so? It seems it’s time for a rain ritual.”
“Aileen, when did you get here? Wait! There’s no need for a rain ritual……”
Before he could finish, Aileen had gathered the lion tribe and conducted the rain ritual.
Aileen is a saint.
Certainly, the sky was generous with its rain.
**＜Agricultural figures have greatly increased.＞**
Just like that.
The Erindale domain was developing day by day, ever advancing.
“Isn’t this getting a bit dangerous?”
If it kept developing at this rate, though unlikely, the remote countryside domain might end up like a song lyric with a population exceeding one hundred thousand and a private army of over three thousand.
Why is this a problem?
As the population in the domain increases, naturally, the frequency and scale of disputes grow.
Currently, the only issue to resolve is Thomas from next door getting into a fistfight with Henry from behind after a drink, but if problems become more complex than this, it would naturally be tiresome for Ascal himself.
Development had to be stopped.
“Chef Hanson has come to the Erindale domain! He wants to open a shop here!”
“Why on earth would he? He’s doing well in the capital, why come to such a rural domain?”
“The main store is fine since I have a disciple. I want to take on a new challenge in your lordship’s domain.”
**＜New Hanson’s has been established in the Erindale domain! Landmark construction completed!＞**
The domain, against my will, continues to develop.
“Gem frogs have arrived in bulk from your lordship’s main house!”
“Today, too, a large number of improved magic stones have arrived as gifts!”
“Enough, enough, tell them to stop sending them!”
Infinite money cheat.
“Don’t worry about security. Our Lion tribe does not sleep.”
Infinite security cheat.
“Neighbors from another domain have picked a quarrel…? Ascal. Could you please untangle my hair for a moment.”
Infinite diplomacy cheat.
“Talents who wish to work under your lordship have arrived! From Haven Academy!”
Infinite talent cheat.
There are too many cheats.
**＜Selected by the Imperial Newspaper, the Rising Domain of the Year＞**
**＜The County of Erindale＞**
**＜The famous ‘Hero of the Empire,’ Ascal Erindale, who governs the County of Erindale, has recently shown an unbelievable upward trend in all areas…＞**
“Stop… just stop!”
—
The tasks at hand grow more numerous by the day.
At this rate, the very reason for coming to the Erendale estate will vanish entirely.
A massive blunder is needed.
For instance, making a fatal mistake in the upcoming diplomacy with the elves.
“A diplomat from the capital has arrived to assist you.”
“Oh, I do hope it’s a diplomat to my liking.”
Utterly incompetent.
Knock, knock.
The diplomat has just arrived at the office.
“Welcome…”
Askel lost his words upon seeing the arrived figure.
“Didn’t you want to see me, my lord?”
In his absence, Susia, now a full-fledged lady, bowed and greeted him.
“Diplomat… Susia? Are you a parachute appointment?”
“I passed the exam fair and square! And now, please call me Duchess Senestia. Oh, and the husband’s position is still vacant!”
“Susia?”
“Eek!”
Askel felt a secret relief.
From Noble mtl dot com
‘With Susia, there should be no problem.’
Wait for me, elves.
Susia is on her way.
“Ara mae, lye.”
“Vanda sina téna, o mellon.”
“Aratoamin, imya landa en’ cala ento lye, mielalye?”
“Vanda sina, amin merna lúmesse auta a’ tyalië coiviéna.”
Askel was the most surprised he had been all year.
Susia was conversing with the elf with skill.
Using the challenging Elvish language, no less.
“It’s an honor to meet you, and I’ll be sure to visit often,” she said?
“What, any demands?”
—
“If possible, they said they’d ask for nothing more than fallen leaves or branches from the sacred tree.”
“But aren’t elves known for their pride? Why would they approach humans in such a humble manner?”
The elf representative locked eyes with Ascal.
An elf with long golden hair bowed deeply.
“lúmesse sina téna.”
Ascal turned to Sussia and asked,
“What does that mean?”
“It means ‘O noble owner of the sacred tree,’ apparently.”
In the end, what Ascal had hoped for did not come to pass.
…A fierce showdown with the proud elves, or any trouble stemming from intense diplomatic relations, did not stand before the title of the sacred tree’s owner.
Thus, the diplomacy with the elves ended anticlimactically.
Sussia decided to stay in the Erindale estate for a while.
Another mouth to feed was added to the estate.
The visitors to Ascal were not only elves.
“The Meowmeow tribe is migrating here!”
“Even the Doggo tribe, who are said to have bad relations with the Meowmeow tribe, wants to move to our estate!”
To Ascal, the owner of the sacred tree, all sorts of different tribes were flocking.
The Meowmeow and Doggo tribes.
“It’s good timing since we’re short on hands anyway.”
What could possibly be attracting them to this rural estate?
Now, it was too late to refuse the envoys of the different tribes.
After all, the Toad tribe had already settled in a corner of the estate, cultivating their herbs.
Even that night.
“I greet the owner of the sacred tree. I am the representative of the MystiAd Trade…”
“Leave.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re a peddler’s envoy.”
“I shall return another time.”
Even a horned demon had come seeking trade.
Ascal’s head was already at its limit.
—
I must somehow stop this flow.
It might be time to hold a ritual.
‘Ah, a ritual, that reminds me of Serena.’
Serena, finding a pastime, had opened a shop in the domain, offering fortunes.
True to her heritage as the daughter of the great witch Elenia, her predictions were quite accurate, making her popular among the people.
The next day.
Ascal opened the door to the shop.
“Welcome, darling!”
Serena rushed out and threw herself into Ascal’s arms.
“I was about to head to the mansion after a bit, did you come to meet me as I get off work?”
“I wanted to have my fortune told today.”
“Huh? What kind of fortune?”
“How do you think our domain will fare in the future?”
Serena cast the fortune.
The crystal ball shone.
“It says we’ll become a great empire?”
“?”
It seemed like an odd thing to hear.
“To surpass the Barbar Empire and become the greatest empire in history…”
“I think you need more practice, Serena. That can’t be right.”
“Huh? But my fortunes are accurate?”
Ascal desperately ignored her.
Then, the divine beasts that had taken up residence in Serena’s shop appeared before Ascal. They said this place was good because it was near the sacred tree, or something like that.
-Now decide, Ascal.
-Which one of us will be the official guardian of your domain?
-I’m also… interested…
-A guardian, huh? I’ve never tried it, but it sounds fun.
A snake, a puppy, a turtle, a lizard.
These creatures were constantly urging Ascal.
“…Aren’t you already the guardian dragon of the empire?”
—
“This is tampering.”
“If we defect, that’s it.”
“Me too.”
“I’m… unaffiliated…”
The lizard laughed with a ‘huff’.
“Indeed, only Lord Karnax, the dragon from the beginning, is worthy of being the guardian of this domain.”
Ascal, disoriented, tried to rush out of the shop.
Serena handed him a tonic with a beaming smile.
“Here’s a tonic, take it and go! Work hard today too, darling!”
It tasted like a love-filled herbal medicine.
And so, he arrived at the lord’s office.
Lia was waiting with a merciless amount of paperwork.
The lord is the decision-maker.
It was three times more than when he worked as the Minister of Evaluation.
“You’ve come at just the right time. About a hundred documents have piled up for your signature. And there’s something sent by Prime Minister Bernstein.”
Lia played the recording from the magic stone sound amplifier.
“How have you been, Ascal?”
“When I first became Prime Minister, I resented you enough to want to kill you, but surprisingly, the work is manageable.”
“As time passed, the workload decreased.”
“But lately, your domain is popular, isn’t it? I heard you’re too busy to even open your eyes.”
“I’m really envious. I’d like to live leisurely in a rural domain like you, but His Majesty the Emperor likes me too much.”
“When the weather gets warmer, I’ll come to visit, so keep spinning your wheels! Count Erendale! hahahaha!”
“To the capital…”
“Yes?”
“Send me back to the empire!”
Ascal screamed.