TN: Please read my translations only on my website nyx-translation.com since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!
Sponsored chapter by Patreon. Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 52 – Journey to the Royal Capital (Makyo)
Carriages make me sick.
That’s what I thought after riding in a carriage for a day.
The next day, I didn’t ride in a carriage; I ran. I was surprised that I could run at the same speed as the carriage, but the cavalry that accompanied me was even more surprised.
“It seems that the Margrave has a lot of stamina.”
The old coachman called me.
“It’s natural to be like this when you’re in the demonic land. More importantly, it’s been a while since I’ve stayed in a town inn. I never thought I could sleep so soundly.”
There are no beds in the demonic land, but the inn where I stayed last night had soft beds with white sheets. Dinner was rich beef stew, and the maids were all beautiful. It was completely different from the demonic land.
“You seemed to like the innkeeper’s daughter very much, didn’t you?”
“Yes. The women in the demonic land are scary. They’re so desperate to live that they lack sex appeal. I’m the same way, but I can’t afford it.”
“Is that so? Will you go to a brothel in the next town?”
“Is that okay? I don’t have that much money!”
“Then how about we go to the capital city first? There’s the best brothel in the country.”
“That sounds great!”
It feels like I’ve had a conversation between men for the first time in a long time.
“Margrave, please refrain from being so careless.”
“I’m sorry.”
There are female soldiers among the guards, so it’s hard to talk dirty out loud.
Monsters and bandits also appeared, but they were no match for the guards and were defeated and captured. Naturally, the merchants followed. The merchants spread the word about the birth of a new margrave on their own, so the guards didn’t bother to chase them away.
The problem is that none of the merchants think that I’m the new margrave riding next to their carriage. They think I’m just a strong-looking servant or something because I’m wearing normal clothes.
“Are you going to recruit guards and servants for your territory in the royal capital?”
One of the guards asked me while I was doing the laundry at the inn.
“Huh? No, I intend to recruit people to live there, but I have no intention of recruiting guards or servants. I don’t think I can afford to pay them that much anyway.”
“Is that so…?”
He seems very surprised, but I wonder if I need to hire guards or something.
“You think I need guards to protect my territory?”
“Yes, I think the army also hires guards to go to new territories…”
“I see. I guess it’s better to have them around. But if too many of them come and die too quickly, then… hmm…”
For now, I’ll think about it while I hang out the laundry.
“You don’t even have slaves, so you do the laundry yourself.”
“Is it wrong to do the laundry? I think it’s better to keep the clothes I just got clean.”
“I think that kind of thing is something that nobles should do, though.”
“Oh, I see. Is that so? It seems like it’s going to be a lot of trouble.”
To be honest, I don’t know anything about the manners of nobles, so I’ll just do what I can. After all, those manners won’t work in the demonic land.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to cross a mountain pass. If it rains, we may have to camp in the forest, so please get a good night’s sleep.”
“Thank you.”
The soldiers escorting me are always so worried about me, which is very kind of them, but it’s so rare that someone worries about me that I’m a little confused. I was more worried about whether I’d be able to hang out the laundry in the evening and have it dry by morning.
“It’s unavoidable when you travel. Maybe I’ll put it on the carriage tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, the next day was rainy. The soldiers in the escort wore leather robes.
“Margrave, will you ride in the carriage today?”
The old coachman asked.
“No, getting sick in a carriage is worse than getting wet in the rain, so I think I’ll run.”
There was a merchant selling cheap raincoats, so I bought one.
“Is there a checkpoint at the pass?”
“Yes, there is. We’re going through there today.”
The soldier escorting me showed me a map. It looked like there was only one road, so I wouldn’t get lost.
“Well, I’ll go ahead and you can come later. Don’t catch a cold.”
I put on my cheap raincoat and started running as soon as I left the inn.
The road was muddy, and there were many puddles. If I had been in a carriage, I think I would have been even more sick.
After running for half an hour, I came to a hill, overtook peddlers and bandits, and ran all the way to the checkpoint. The forest was getting deeper.
“Who are you?”
The gatekeeper at the checkpoint asked.
“I think the margrave’s carriage will be coming later, and I’m related to it. Is it okay if I take shelter from the rain under the eaves of the gate? Shall I be checked?”
“I see. So you’ve come early to make sure there’s no danger. We’ve received a report that the margrave’s carriage is coming. You don’t have any weapons, so it’s okay.”
I decided to wait until the carriage arrived, but even at noon, I couldn’t see a shadow of it.
“They could have been attacked on the way.”
The gatekeeper called to me worriedly.
“That’s right. Then I’ll go take a look!”
“Hey, take a knife for self-defense!”
“Thank you!”
The gatekeeper gave me a knife, and I went back the way I had come in the morning, only to find that the wheels of the carriage were stuck in the mud and that bandits were attacking it.
The soldiers guarding it were doing their best, but there were so many of them that it looked like it would be difficult.
“Oraaa!”
For now, I’ll attract the bandits with a loud shout and take them on one by one. Since I was sparring with Cher, I should be able to handle it a little better.
I thought so, but the bandits who had momentarily opened a gap because of my voice were all knocked down by the soldiers at once.
“Oh, you didn’t need me after all.”
“Thanks for your help!”
The escort soldiers thanked me.
“No, I didn’t do anything. Let’s go quickly.”
I said, lifting the carriage out of the mud.
“Are the wheels bent?”
“No, they seem fine. I’m sorry.”
The old coachman apologized.
“No. More importantly, everyone’s bodies are getting cold. Let’s go quickly.”
I also ran behind the carriage and headed for the mountain pass checkpoint. The mountain road was full of stones, and the carriage shook greatly. The road was also curved, so the carriage couldn’t go fast.
If it was just me, it would be fine, but it would definitely take a long time with the carriage.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I can’t be a lord if I don’t think about the people around me.”
“What? No, it’s because we were late. Please don’t apologize.”
When I apologized, the soldier escorting me waved his hand to stop me.
From the first day, he had told me that if I used polite language with the guards, they would feel uncomfortable. I try to speak as openly as I can. It’s not easy.
“It’s my fault the carriage got stuck! I’m sorry!”
The old coachman apologized again.
We all continued up the mountain road without stopping for lunch. The merchants who had been following us were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they had fled from the bandits.
In the evening, we somehow managed to reach the pass before the checkpoint closed. The rain had stopped, and I could see the sky turning red through the gaps in the clouds.
“We are the Margrave of the Eastern Demonic Land’s escort! We are here for the investiture ceremony, so please let us pass!”
The guard announced to the gatekeeper.
“Yes, we are checking the identity of the person before you. May we check inside the carriage?”
“Sure, it’s just some laundry hanging out to dry.”
It hadn’t dried overnight.
“Laundry?”
“This is the new Margrave Makyo-sama. Be careful not to be rude.”
“Thanks for the knife. The guards defeated the bandits before I even had to use it.”
I returned the knife to the gatekeeper, who just stared at me with his eyes like plates and nodded without saying a word.
After confirming our identities at the back of the checkpoint, we moved on. There also seemed to be a rest area, but we wanted to make some progress. After all, the accommodations were full, and we couldn’t stay there.
“Looks like we’ll have to sleep in the open tonight.”
As I said this, the old coachman stopped the carriage at the roadside and began looking for a place in the woods where we could pitch a tent.
His attitude had clearly changed from the first day. The escort soldiers didn’t complain either, so they let the horses rest and went into the forest.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No, just the opposite. It has been made clear to us that we are a burden to the Margrave. We are truly sorry for our rudeness so far.”
The soldiers in the escort and the old coachman bowed their heads.
“No one was disrespectful, so there’s no need to apologize. Oh, I don’t think people would believe I was the Margrave if you weren’t all here. After all, I’m dressed like this. It’s mutual, you know.”
“Everyone knew that you were not just a nobleman who boasted of his physical strength by the way you lifted that heavy carriage. Did you rule the demonic land by sheer force?”
“I wouldn’t say I ruled it, I just lived there. I did, however, manage to repel the new army of East Kenya.”
I replied as I helped set up the tent.
“Was there a civil war going on in the east without us knowing about it?”
The soldier guarding me asked.
“Well, it wasn’t really a civil war, but the Lord of East Kenya changed and attacked the demonic land. About 150 of them came in, so we set a trap and drove them back.”
“”””Oh!””””
It seemed to be an exciting story for the soldiers.
“How many people are in the demonic land’s army?”
“Five people. Well, it wasn’t really an army to begin with, so everyone who lived there was involved.”
“So you took on 150 people with five people?”
“No, we knew they were coming, so we set up a lot of traps. We also made a maze. And then we used the power of the monsters and the plants.”
When I said that, the soldiers asked me to show them my power, even if it was just a little, so I raised the ground a little.
“See? If you use magic to interfere with the power of the rising ground, it will be like this. If you put more magic into it, you can make it into a small hill, you know?”
“No, you can’t. What kind of magic is that?”
A female soldier asked.
“I don’t really know what magic is, because I have no talent for it…”
“Sasha, didn’t the Margrave just use earth magic?”
The female soldier’s name seems to be Sasha.
“Yes, I’ve never seen that before. Normal earth magic is…”
Sasha chanted, creating a wall of earth from the ground.
“It’s just enough to make a wall like this. Its hardness changes depending on the magic, let alone a hill.”
Sasha pushed the wall of earth, and it crumbled.
“Who taught the Margrave magic?”
“One of my tenants is good at magic, and I learn from her in exchange for rent.”
“Where did she learn magic?”
“I don’t know.”
I couldn’t tell them that it was the country of the demon race.
After we finished setting up the tents and eating the dried meat we’d grilled, a Green Tiger appeared from the forest.
“Hyiee!”
“Everyone, get ready!”
The old coachman was startled, and the soldiers raised their swords.
“Oh, a fellow camper has come.”
I stopped them and approached the Green Tiger.
The Green Tiger jumped at me, so I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and turned it over. It was much weaker than the Green Tiger from the demonic land, about the strength of a kitten. I stroked its chin and belly, and when I gave it some dried meat, it ate it happily.
“I wonder if the monsters get weaker when you go west?”
“From our perspective, I think the monsters get stronger the further east you go.”
“That’s probably true.”
I’ve only been living in the demonic land for a month and a half, but it seems like I’ve been influenced by it quite a bit.
If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!