Chapter 355: [Another Perspective] Sesto's Sentiments

[Sesto]

Failure in the war. In a matter of mere days, my evaluation, along with Jard’s, plummeted. In the worst-case scenario, Father might petition His Majesty to have Murcia return to the Fertio Marquis family and become the next head of the house. It was a blunder severe enough to harbor such a sense of crisis.

Father declared this was our last chance, and now, Jard and I spend our days handling menial tasks. Looking back, the time I spent ruling a large city as a deputy, doing as I pleased, was heaven. The failure began the moment I listened to Jard’s stupid smooth talk and used the city’s budget to hire mercenaries.

……It’s Brother Jard’s fault. Being swayed by the words of such an idiot…… damn it!

Ever since I realized I had lost Father’s trust, I haven’t been able to feel better. Jard is dim-witted, so he spouts nonsense about how he has grown significantly from this experience, but it is obvious that following that fool will only lead to another failure.

I don’t have much to say to Jard anymore, but I must somehow achieve a feat greater than everyone else.

“Lord Sesto! Seatoh Village is coming into view!”

“……Finally.”

Called out from outside the carriage, I muttered with a sigh. Looking ahead of the carriage, a massive castle wall came into view.

“……Making it unnecessarily huge just to show off.”

Feeling as if the wall was mocking my fallen state, my mood instantly worsened. We had traveled here at twice the normal speed, keeping breaks and camping to a minimum, so perhaps fatigue was accumulating.

……It irritates me that this is Van’s territory, but right now, I just want to sleep in a decent environment.

Muttering such things, we arrived at Seatoh Village.

When I stepped out of the carriage, Van was there, looking up at me with round eyes.

“……It’s been a while, Van.”

Even if he is my younger brother, he is a titled noble. I offered a greeting from my side at least. In response, Van smiled with a slightly twitching cheek.

“L-Long time no see……”

What is with that greeting? Does he not know to respect his older brother?

Irritated by Van’s reply, I handed him the letter I had been entrusted with. At that moment, Van asked a rude question, so I scolded him. That seemed to provoke Van’s retainers.

Esparda spoke up to complain on his behalf, and the others glared at me with hostility in their eyes. What an unpleasant village. The lord of a village of only a thousand or two thousand people, and his subordinates, acting so rudely toward a candidate for the next head of the Fertio Marquis family.

Normally, even Esparda should receive punishment for this. However, the current me is a failure who has lost His Majesty’s trust. No matter how poorly I am treated, I must endure it. The time to prove them wrong will surely come.

……Is there no way to lower Van’s evaluation? The more Van is valued by His Majesty, the more we, his brothers, might lose out.

I shut myself in the bedroom of the assigned inn and thought about future policies. But no good ideas came to mind. In my current state, I have no subordinates I can move freely, nor the financial power to hire a mercenary group. I can only desperately respond to whatever His Majesty orders.

Before I knew it, my time at the inn was over, preparations for departure were complete, and it was time to leave Seatoh Village.

Perhaps because I had been thinking in circles, my head didn’t feel clear even as I boarded the carriage to depart. Watching the march while being shaken by the carriage made me sleepy, so I decided to rest until the next break.

“Lord Sesto, it seems we will be taking a break soon.”

Suddenly, a voice from outside the carriage woke me up. I forgot who it was, but it seemed I was woken by the knight who had been given the role of Soldier Captain.

“……As expected, sleeping in a carriage makes my body ache.”

Feeling pain in my lower back and spine, I stretched and checked outside the window.

Looking ahead, Van and his group were quite far in the distance and seemed to be already preparing for a break. Seeing that they were already starting fires, there appeared to be a significant difference in our marching speeds.

As soon as I got off, I confirmed this with the Soldier Captain, and he made excuses blaming the performance of the carriages. Because his awareness as a knight was low, I scolded him strictly as a member of the Marquis family. In response, the surrounding knights looked at me with cold eyes.

What is this? Are there only idiots here? Or am I simply overthinking things?

Unable to sort out my irritated feelings, I returned to my carriage. They would bring me food, so I could just rest inside the carriage as it was.

That was what I thought, but the break was taking an awfully long time. I ate my meal and rested leisurely, yet there was no sign of departure. Wondering if some problem had occurred, I stepped out of the carriage to see what was going on. It would be amusing if Van’s carriage had broken down, but things rarely go that conveniently.

Thinking that, I headed toward where people were gathered. There, I found Van making a ruckus with a dwarf while building a carriage.

And it was a carriage adorned with remarkably magnificent decorations.

“……Is this about right? Ah, Brother Sesto! The new carriage is ready! Please, use it!”

Van, who had been looking up at the carriage with his arms crossed alongside the dwarf, noticed me and said that with a smile.

Eh?

Van built a carriage? For me?

I couldn’t understand the meaning behind Van’s actions; all I could do was stand there, frozen.