Chapter 487: The First Family’s Circumstances 2<ol><li><strong> The First Family’s Circumstances 2</strong></li></ol>


    * * *


    Fortunately, he had a n to ‘do something’.


    The development of the Great Grasnd of Beginnings—which he had repeatedly suggested to his father.


    In other words, to start a Kodorokizo ore mining business.


    Kmaruyu used his connections from his days as a researcher to immediately get in touch with a miningpany.


    Things progressed smoothly.


    The final survey to confirm the existence of the ore deposit could begin any day now.


    But.


    But!


    …That woman—Shimegamamo—became an obstacle!


    It started at his father’s funeral.


    Shimegamamo, who came to pay her respects, was dressed like a barbarian and stood out, but she behaved normally.


    Kmaruyu originally knew her from childhood.


    The daughter of a n that has lived in the grasnd for generations, living by some unique rules.


    Unlike his brother, who used to y with her, he only had that much superficial knowledge about her, and he only thought of her as ‘a neighbor’.


    So in the middle of a conversation, he let it slip.


    Kmaruyu told Shimegamamo about his ns to develop the Great Grasnd of Beginnings.


    That’s when it happened.


    Shimegamamo’s atmosphere suddenly turned incredibly dangerous.


    The funeral hall instantly fell silent, because of her 【Intimidation】, and all the timid people copsed.


    Kmaruyu, dumbfounded, could only blink his eyes, his mouth pping open and closed.


    Shimegamamo, immediately retracting her 【Intimidation】 and putting on a gentle smile, said those words, the same ones she said earlier today—


    ‘Stop ‘ravaging’ the Great Grasnd of Beginnings’, she said.


    And then, she said something even more unexpected, ‘I’m your brother, Wakiteryu’s wife, and your family. You listen to what your family tells you’.


    Kmaruyu had never heard of that!


    It wasn’t written in his father’s letter, and there shouldn’t have been any official notice to the country!


    Looking at the other mourners, it seems that ‘the fact that his brother and this woman were close’ was true, but legally, his brother and Shimegamamo aren’t married.


    Even when he told her that, Shimegamamo insisted that ‘ording to her n’s rules, Wakiteryu is already her husband’.


    ‘n rules’, she’s brandishing that iprehensible reason, trying to restrict Kmaruyu’s actions!


    Kmaruyu couldn’t stand it.


    Suddenly acting like she’s his family!


    Imposing that iprehensible reason!


    She knows nothing about the First Viscounty’s financial crisis!


    The development of the Great Grasnd of Beginnings is practically the only way to save this region!


    So Kmaruyu shouted at Shimegamamo.


    That she’s not his family.


    That he’ll definitely develop the Great Grasnd of Beginnings.


    Shimegamamo, with a troubled look on her face, said quietly—


    That she can’t allow that.


    Even after the funeral ended, their arguments continued, getting nowhere.


    Shimegamamo would casually appear wherever Kmaruyu went, and persistently tell him not to touch the Great Grasnd of Beginnings.


    Kmaruyu ignored everything she said.


    He didn’t even have the time to listen to a barbarian’s ramblings.


    And then.


    Shimegamamo finally resorted to force against Kmaruyu, who wouldn’t listen to her.


    And that’s the incident that happened earlier today, the murder of his adventurer guards.


    “…Kuh!”


    Kmaruyu, remembering the scene, shuddered and downed his alcohol.


    The supernatural power Shimegamamo used is terrifying.


    And more than that, her mentality, killing two people without changing her expression, is terrifying.


    In other words, that barbarian must have been likely secretly eliminating people who didn’t follow the ‘n’s rules’.


    She was too ustomed to killing.


    And his father, his brother, and all the previous heads of the First family probably tolerated her n’s actions.


    …The residents of First Town too.


    You can tell by the reactions of the town guards.


    Despite witnessing a clear vition of thew right before their eyes, they only trembled and begged Shimegamamo for their lives.


    They didn’t even try to arrest her.


    In other words, to the residents, her n’s rules take precedence over the territorialw, and even the nationalw, and they’re essentially following her n, not the First family.


    Kmaruyu, who had been away from thisnd since he was a child, finally realized that.


    “Haa… Haaaa…”


    Kmaruyu,pletely dejected, sighed twice—his breath reeking of alcohol—and leaned back in his office chair.


    He can’t give in to Shimegamamo’s demands.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    If he continues to rule in the same way as before, following precedent, what awaits them is probably destruction.


    The king has also changed, and the current young king is said to be a man of integrity.


    Kmaruyu doesn’t want to offer a woman as a sacrifice, like they’ve been doing, and anyway, it probably won’t work anymore.


    But if he forces the development, he’llpletely make an enemy of Shimegamamo.


    The two adventurers who were killed today were both third-rank adventurers.


    What can he do to fight against a woman who can easily kill two such people?


    Should he hire more guards?


    No, that won’t work either.


    He doesn’t have the money.


    And there’s no guarantee that the Adventurer’s Guild would even side with him…


    “Damn… Damn…”


    Kmaruyu pulled himself out of the office chair and reached for the bottle to pour some alcohol into his empty ss.


    But the bottle was strangely light.


    Even when he shook it, it didn’t make a sound.


    It’s empty.


    “Ahh! Damn it!!”


    Kmaruyu, irritated, threw the empty bottle.


    The bottle hit the stone wall and shattered, making a high-pitched sound.


    And then… it was at that moment.


    <em>Knock, knock, knock.</em>


    Someone knocked on his office door.


    And the one who opened the door unceremoniously, without waiting for Kmaruyu’s reply, was the old steward serving the First family.


    “Young master, there’s a… visitor.”


    The old steward said that timidly, hesitantly.


    “Haa!? What time do you think it is!? …Tell them to go home!”


    Kmaruyu snapped, his face red.


    But the old steward—


    “But, well… I’ve already shown them to the reception room…”


    He said that, scratching his head troubledly.


    “Haaa…”


    Kmaruyu sighed, scratching his head, and reluctantly stood up.


    It’s pointless to try to reason with the people in this rural town.


    Thinking that, he stood up with a resigned look on his face.


    “So? Who is this visitor?”


    “Well… I don’t know her… but she’s a woman…”


    “Why did you show aplete stranger, who came at thiste hour, to the reception room!?”


    “B-But I asked for her name!”


    “Of course you did!! So, who is she!? What’s her name!?”


    And then, as Kmaruyu irritably ran ab through his hair and adjusted his clothes, the old steward, looking apologetic, said the visitor’s name.


    “…She called herself Saint Ad Bahns.”