Fun Territory Defense of the Easy-Going Lord

After staying for several days, His Majesty and the others returned to their respective territories. During their stay, I was questioned by the King and conveyed various requests.

The first request was to have Prince Freightliner, who would also serve as a hostage, as a subordinate, because having the Kingdom of Yelenetta as a neighbor, even as a vassal state, was unnerving. The true intention, of course, was that if Freightliner managed the Adventurer Guild, I could get Esparda back. The second was the request to have Talga, who was guarding Centena, as a subordinate. That upright knight was absolutely trustworthy. A reliable subordinate is a precious commodity. I was even thinking of appointing Talga as a supervisor for a vital point in Yelenetta. The third request was to see if Viscountess Panamera could be granted territory. Since she was the only noble who formed an alliance with me, it would be great if it could be near my domain.

When I conveyed these three things, His Majesty laughed with amusement and nodded.

“Moving forward, Baron Van will surely achieve merits that overshadow your past accomplishments. I look forward to it!” Leaving those words behind, His Majesty departed Seatoh Village. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was under some strange misunderstanding.

For now, however, I decided to be happy that I could finally relax.

“Till… sweets…”

“Coming right up! We managed to get some fruit from the Shelvia Confederation today, so it’s a fruit pie!”

“Wow, that looks delicious.” I replied to Till, who appeared pushing the serving cart, and glanced at the contents while lying on the sofa. There was a freshly baked pie on the plate. The sweet, savory aroma whetted my appetite.

“Could you cut me a slice?”

“Of course.” Till replied with a smile when I asked lazily.

I sat up on the sofa, speared a piece of the pie with a fork, and brought it to my mouth.

The crispy crust was savory and sweet when chewed. The filling had a gooey texture, and the rich, sweet-sour taste of the fruit spread through my mouth. It blended with the crust, resulting in a perfectly harmonious flavor.

Due to the victory in this war, both the Shelvia Confederation and the Kingdom of Yelenetta were required to pay substantial taxes. Furthermore, a considerable amount of the personal assets of the royalty and nobility from both countries was confiscated. In addition, weapons such as black metal, cannons, and the number of knights were restricted to prevent rebellion.

As a result, there were concerns about the financial decline of both the Shelvia Confederation and the Kingdom of Yelenetta, leading them to pay a portion of the taxes in kind. His Majesty reportedly showed reluctance to this but judged that receiving goods that were originally imported from other countries would be more beneficial than receiving currency, and so he agreed to accept a portion. One of these goods was the fruit from the Shelvia Confederation.

“It’s delicious,” I commented, sipping my tea.

Till was smiling, but suddenly, she tilted her head while looking at me.

“What is it?” I asked.

Till replied with a wry smile.

“Lord Van, you’ve gained a bit of weight.”

“…Wha—!? M-me…? W-weight…” I instinctively checked my own stomach. Squishy.

I mustn’t panic. I can still turn this around. Thinking that, I took another sip of tea.

“…Phew. Till? I’m in my growth period right now. So, I’m intentionally gaining weight. I need to increase my cells to promote growth. Ah, the growth will be vertical, not horizontal, okay? According to my calculations, I should easily exceed two meters in height.”

“I-I see. As expected of Lord Van.”

I offered a very strained excuse, but Till’s eyes sparkled, and she complimented me. The guilt is immense.

“…I apologize. This is the result of living a self-indulgent life. I’ll exercise.” I apologized honestly and stood up from the sofa.

“I skipped Dee’s special training using an excuse, but I’ll join them now! Ah, one last thing.” Making that fresh resolution, I ate one last piece of the fruit pie before leaving the Lord’s manor. This stoic Van-kun is fully intent on training himself into a lean, muscular physique right away. I know it’s reckless. Please don’t stop me.

Feeling somewhat like a boxer cutting weight, I went with full motivation to the training grounds that had been hastily set up within the castle walls. Since the number of residents had increased considerably, the training ground wasn’t very large, but it was still an intense obstacle course with hills and valleys.

“I wonder if they’re still doing laps?” I thought, looking around, when a figure appeared just over the hill. It was Lowe.

However, he looked strange. His back was bent, and his face was lowered. He looked exactly like a stooped elderly man.

I wonder if he was injured. I watched him worriedly, and then Khamsin and the others followed. There must have been about thirty people in total. Everyone looked just like Lowe, like old men. They barely managed to climb the hill, panting heavily, and immediately started descending. They looked nothing but like zombies.

“Don’t stop moving your feet! Come on, the enemy is just ahead! Once you go down, we turn around!”

At the very end, the extremely energetic Dee appeared. At Dee’s command, everyone’s faces turned into expressions of despair. That’s right. Dee is still maintaining his battle tension, and he’s become an extremely troublesome presence.

“M-maybe I should stop after all… It’s bad to overdo it right away. The plan is to prioritize my life, let’s go with that.” I murmured to myself, then softly turned on my heel.

But it was too late.

“Oh! If it isn’t Lord Van! Hello, and welcome to the fun training ground! The first half of the running drill is just about done, so maybe you could join the second half… Oh, wait, I shouldn’t have mentioned the end. It’s better for mental discipline to keep running without knowing the target goal.” Dee said cheerfully.

No, no, you’re in the middle of mental discipline right now. Just look at the faces of Lowe and the others. They look like it’s the end of the world.

“Now, Lord Van, let’s get you into your training clothes! Look, everyone! Immediately turn around and return to the barracks! Lord Van is going to change!”

At that command, the zombies turned, dragging their feet, and began retracing their path.

“Come, Lord Van! To the very front of the line!” The ogre told me to join the line of zombies. There was no escape now.

“…Please, take it easy on me…”

“Wahahahaha! That’s a funny joke, my Lord!”

“Where? Where was the funny part of that joke?”

I headed toward the barracks, making that exchange and taking a detour. I wanted to run away if possible, but I was afraid of the punishment. I might be told to train all day every day starting tomorrow.

It can’t be helped. I have to accept my fate. Thinking that, I walked with a feeling that I was about to cry.