Chapter 132 – The Hardworking Malcolm

“Sir Malcolm, please raise your head. I don’t believe you bear any responsibility for this.”

Malcolm kept his head bowed for a while before hesitantly lifting his face.

“We feel the same. We won’t hold you accountable either.”

“Y-yes…”

The scene showed Malcolm looking thoroughly apologetic while King Melvin wore a wry smile.

…From Malcolm’s perspective, he probably only learned about what the Marquis did to me after being told… He had no direct connection with me. Given the false information being circulated, he likely had few opportunities to hear about what kind of person I am.

I don’t particularly intend to use my position to do anything about this… but that’s just from my perspective.

If you heard that a family member had been disrespectful to a superior you don’t know well, you’d naturally worry about how the consequences might affect you. Especially when that person is a Demon Slayer and the king’s direct vassal – this reaction is understandable.

“If anything, I’d say… I somewhat understand how you feel,” I said jokingly, extending my right hand.

Malcolm gave a small, wry smile and, while lowering his eyes and bowing his head, grasped my right hand with both of his hands.

Still. It doesn’t seem like King Melvin’s purpose in introducing me to Malcolm was to make him apologize.

“Shall we discuss the matter of the Marquis’s household?”

As King Melvin spoke, a servant brought tea for me.

I decided to sit in a chair and listen.

“Theodore. How much do you know about Malcolm and his family?”

“Not much in detail. Only about the relationship between the brothers and the Marquis, I suppose?”

“Hmm. You see, Malcolm here had a disagreement with the Marquis some time ago over territory management policies.”

“No… it wasn’t just about territory management. It was also about Father’s wasteful spending habits. We argued many times.”

Malcolm spoke with a deeply apologetic tone.

“Indeed. As a result, Malcolm remained in the capital, while the second son Norman followed the Marquis’s policies and took direct command of territory management.”

“I suppose it’s to give him practical experience…?”

“That’s how We see it.”

The actual reason was probably… to avoid being held responsible for the decline by a successor he didn’t get along with after retirement. If he were to pass the succession to the second son Norman while bypassing Malcolm, who had done nothing wrong, he would need a plausible reason for society.

For example… that the eldest son lacked practical experience in territory management.

“Some time ago, We told the Marquis through Our own mouth to gradually change his policies regarding the future of his territory management… but by that time, had Malcolm already been kept in the capital?”

“…Yes.”

It would be natural for Malcolm, who knew the internal circumstances, to have done so before King Melvin. He had anticipated the deadlock in territory management and advised the Marquis in advance.

“We gave him ample time since then… but what is the actual situation? Malcolm.”

“…I haven’t been allowed to be involved. The last I heard, they had started farmland development but weren’t getting good harvests… and to maintain their lifestyle in the capital, they were relying on mine revenues while continuing to waste money.”

The situation probably hasn’t improved much since he last saw it. The fact that they came to me for a loan is proof enough.

If they had stopped wasting money in the capital and channeled funds to the territory for farmland development, the current situation might have been quite different. Or if the Marquis himself had returned to his territory to take command instead of amusing himself in the capital.

Or, the Marquis could have asked Father for cooperation regarding farmland development… But ultimately, the Marquis didn’t consider it proper to bow his head to a lower-ranking noble.

On the contrary, he even attempted to interfere in internal affairs through Kathryn, thinking it would be convenient to have influence over the Count’s territory after the generational change.

“Now. The reason We introduced you to Malcolm…”

“Yes.”

King Melvin turned to face me and said:

“We think it would be sufficient if you simply convey what you felt today to Count Henry. But to do that… We had to introduce Malcolm to you and have you be convinced, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.”

“…Understood. I’ll contact Father.”

When I answered, Malcolm bowed his head deeply again. …I could see he looked quite exhausted, and there were aspects I couldn’t simply dismiss as someone else’s problem.

I understood why I was called. Having me tell Father about today’s events was probably with an eye to the future.

From King Melvin’s perspective, if the Marquis were to say he wants Norman to inherit the household, he probably intends to support Malcolm as the successor, citing the failures of the Marquis and Norman up to now.

If Malcolm inherits and his relationship with Father improves, he could get technical guidance and cooperation regarding farmland management. That would make it easier to get the Marquis’s territory management back on track.

“Speaking of which, I heard the Marquis’s dragon palanquin travels between here and the territory.”

“Indeed. We received reports that Norman entered Termwills by dragon palanquin.”

Entry and exit to Termwills by dragon palanquin is checked and recorded.

Well now. I wonder what he was called for.

It could be to have Norman report the current situation in detail… I can think of various possibilities, but I feel like my way of thinking fundamentally doesn’t align with the Marquis’s.

“…It might be for fundraising.”

Malcolm said.

“But how? If he had that kind of money, he wouldn’t have approached me for a loan in the first place, but would have had it transported from the territory, right?”

To procure money that shouldn’t have existed from somewhere. And for Norman to go through the trouble of bringing it himself…

“…Temporary requisitions from the territory’s people on the Marquis’s orders. Or that Norman has been falsifying tax revenue reports until now – that’s also a possibility.”

King Melvin made an expression as if enduring a headache, resting his elbows on the table and pressing his temples. Malcolm’s eyes widened at the king’s words.

Temporary requisitions. Certainly, a territory lord can do that when necessary.

But requisitions do nothing but starve the people. Even setting aside emotional arguments and ethics, they reduce productivity, worsen public order – from a practical benefits perspective, they lead to no good outcome. They’re nothing more than a stopgap measure.

“I-if it’s requisitions, isn’t that a serious matter? Shouldn’t we check the territory’s situation immediately?”

Ah, Malcolm doesn’t know about the communication device, so he thinks we should act quickly. Quite sensible thinking – that’s reassuring.

“We shall make arrangements as quickly as possible.”

“Please, I beg you…”

King Melvin glanced at me for a moment, so I nodded back with just my eyes. Using the communication device to contact Father would be the fastest countermeasure.

Father has been making requests through the Adventurer Guild branches to get reports on the Marquis’s territory. That means he should have a good grasp of even the remote corners of the Marquis’s territory. Temporary requisitions were something Father had anticipated, and the Count’s territory has food reserves.

But if they did resort to requisitions, they would be questioned about the reasons later. That they did it on the Marquis’s orders – that’s questionable.

Since they wanted to handle it discreetly without making it a big issue, they approached me privately about a loan. Personally, I think the possibility of Norman falsifying taxes is higher.

“If the Marquis’s household manages to tide over the immediate crisis and the territory’s situation remains normal…”

When I asked, King Melvin nodded quietly and said:

“In that case, We would need to send officials for an audit.”

The fact that Norman brought money later, even though they were desperate enough to approach me for a loan, means that Norman was reluctant to give money to the Marquis until the last moment.

In other words, it’s possible that the Marquis didn’t know Norman had reserves. In that case, we could assume Norman had been manipulating the accounts to create money for his own use.

In this situation, Norman would have been reluctant to part with money he might be questioned about by the Marquis.

“If the Marquis’s household solves their immediate problems, we’ll know immediately.”

Malcolm said while clutching his stomach area with a pained expression.

“Oh?”

“Once the danger passes… no, once they escape the crisis, those people will let their guard down and start holding dinner parties or balls.”

Malcolm’s assessment – was probably correct. He knew the Marquis and Norman’s characters much better than I did.

But King Melvin and I couldn’t help exchanging glances. We simply couldn’t avoid feeling sympathy for Malcolm.