BXBX NOVEL Vol. 2 - Chapter 64 - Viscount Carnell
"Good morning."
"Oh, good morning."
This is Allen greeting the head manservant, Rickel. It's early April now.
About half a year has passed since Allen came to the mansion. Some things have changed since he first arrived. He took the serving plate to the seat in front of Rickel.
There is soup, bread, and another meat dish. The soup also contained the meat of another magical beast, making for a solid meal in the morning. The Head Chef didn't give this meal as an extra treat just for Allen.
At the end of December last year, Allen became the hunting guard and continued to bring home the magical beasts he caught two days a week. Thanks to his efforts, he was able to provide enough food for even the most junior servants. Allen's hunts improved the diet of the mansion, which had about 30 servants.
He has been doing quite well with the addition of his hunting guard salary of 50 silver coins a month. As for Allen, he's fine with that because he doesn't want to make money. It's probably because he was 35 years old in his previous life.
"You should be careful with today's supper."
Rickel warned Allen.
"Viscount Carnell is here today, is he not?"
"That's right. But why is he coming? And I have to do the bare minimum of serving, too."
You said that the Viscount of the neighboring territory came all the way here.
Viscount Carnell is going to visit the mansion. We received a call a few days ago. It was a rather sudden visit.
Allen has been working as a waiter for about six months, so he has served a lot of guests. There are a lot of guests at the mansion. Most of them are influential people from the city of Grandver. The Head of the Adventurer's Guild, the Heads of the guild branches of the Commercial Guild, and the managers of high-class inns come to the mansion to say hello. Occasionally, Nobles from the Royal Capital also come to visit.
It seems to be quite easy to move around this world, partly because of the presence of magic ships.
"Yeah, it's like they're using a magic ship all the time."
The magic ship that flies the route that connects the Royal Capital and the city of Granvel is not the only route. It also connects the capital city of Viscount Carnell's territory, which is located next to the Baron Granvelle's.
There is a route that connects the capitals of each territory. It is said that Viscount Carnell took the trouble to arrange the flight of the magic ship in order to return to the capital of his territory.
Then, Viscount Carnell arrived in the afternoon. The Baron had invited him to the dining room where he ate. I was handed a plate of food and I proceeded to serve him as I had been doing for the past six months.
Upstairs, in the dining room where the family usually eats, two men were sitting. They are Baron Granvelle and Viscount Carnell.
"Good of you to come, Lord Carnell."
Viscount Carnell was probably in his late thirties. He had a horizontal face with a very wide forehead. He had a butler-like person standing behind him. He was wearing sparkling clothes, perhaps because he has a taste for riches.
Baron Granvelle spoke words of welcome. He said the words of welcome with a smile, but his eyes were not smiling.
Normally, if there is a visitor, the Baroness, or sometimes Thomas and Cecil are also present. But this time, it was just the two of them, the Baron and the Viscount. Moreover, they were sitting at opposite ends of the long dining table, which was quite far away from each other.
"No, no. Our town is a bit of a dump, you know. So, sometimes I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere."
"Oh, I see. That's good to know, haha."
I also listen to Viscount Carnell's sarcasm.
(Have they been on bad terms for generations?)
Avoiding eye contact with Viscount Carnell, I continued to serve.
Baron Granvelle's territory and Viscount Carnell's territory are next to each other across the White Dragon Mountains. I've heard that this is one of the main reasons why they don't get along.
As I've heard from the Adventurer's guild, Mithril can be mined in the White Dragon Mountains. A vein of Mithril is located there. The area up to the top of the mountain range is divided into different territories.
Since there is a vein of Mithril located there, Mithril can be extracted from either territory. However, the Baron's territory is the only one that can't collect Mithril. This is because the White Dragons are in the mountains on the Baron's side.
Mithril can only be harvested in Viscount Carnell's territory, where there are no White Dragons.
One territory thrives on Mithril mining, while the other focuses on agriculture.
But this situation is not fixed.
White Dragons move from time to time. It is said that more than a hundred years ago, there was a White Dragon on the Viscount's side.
At that time, the story goes, Mithril was extracted on the Baron's side. Now, there are four former Mithril mines on the Baron's side that have been dormant for over a hundred years and can no longer be mined due to the presence of White Dragons.
This is how the Mithril and the White Dragon have been at odds with each other for generations. Rickel told me that the Viscount Carnell of this generation was particularly ill-mannered and only harassed the Baron.
The city of Grandver and the city of Viscount Carnell are connected via the north side of the White Dragon Mountains, as they do not extend that far north. I've heard that it's quite a distance to walk, as it goes around the mountain range.
Allen served Viscount Carnell a dish made of horned rabbit meat. We had better meat in the stock but it was not made for him.
"Hmm? Is this Boar meat?"
Baron Granvelle's face tightened at those words.
"That's true, isn't it? We can catch meat in our territory."
"Oh! So this is the Boar meat you've been hiding."
"What? What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything."
(The Baron was trying not to be furious. I've heard that Viscount Carnell is responsible for the increase in Boar meat demands.)
It was Viscount Carnell, who raised his voice in the audience with the King, saying that a certain territory was making a profit and had not reported it. The King responded, "Which territory?"
He said it was Baron Granvelle's. There is a large amount of Boar meat out there, but it hasn't been reported to the Royal family. This is an act of concealment against the Royal family. It was Viscount Carnell who made a fuss about it being an act of treason.
The Baron hadn't actually reported it, and it placed him in a very difficult situation in the audience room.
I heard a lot of these stories from Rickel before Viscount Carnell came. By the way, I remember that at the dinner in Kurena Village, the Baron was fuming with anger.
"So, what brings you here all of a sudden today?"
The Baron seemed to want to talk to him quickly and turn him away.
"Oh, yes. The Boar meat was so good I forgot about it! Hahaha."
"Okay, so what's the deal? What brings you here?"
He seems to want a quick answer.
"My youngest daughter was found to be talentless in the recent Appraisal ceremony. I've come to tell you that."
"Huh?"
(Appraisal? Come to think of it, there was an appraisal ceremony in April. Kurena Village had theirs in mid-April, but the nobles had theirs much earlier. I see, the Appraisal ceremony for Mash will be held in less than 10 days. I'd like to know the results. Should I send a letter? No, my parents can't read.)
Every year in April, a ceremony is held to appraise the children who turned five years old last year. It is done for everyone from Royalty to serfs. Listening to Viscount Carnell, I remembered this year Mash will have his Appraisal ceremony.
It seems that Viscount Carnell has come to report the results of his child's appraisal ceremony to Baron Granvelle.
(Oh, so she had no talent. Hmm? But why does he sound so happy?)
Without looking at the Viscount's face, Allen noticed his happiness.
"Is that so?"
All the Baron could say was, "I see. He was not interested at all and seemed to be saying, "So what?"
"I was worried if she turned out to be Talented but I am glad she didn't."
"Okay."
The Baron's expression became more and more stern. It was clear that he had a hawk-like gaze.
"It's a shame about Lord Granvelle, two of your children are Talented."
He was referring to Mihai and Cecil.
"Well, I'm just doing my duty as a Noble!"
The Baron took a strong tone and finally began to rage without hiding it.
(Hmm? What is it? The serfs and commoners are very happy with their Talents, but is it a hassle for the Nobles? Do they have duties or quotas? Is the Academy expensive? There's a difference between Nobles and serfs and commoners. Something's strange about that.)
I remember the father and son hugging and rejoicing when Dogora discovered his talent as an Axe Wielder. The same was true for the father and son of the Village Mayor and Peromus. Rodan, too, had hoped that Allen would have a talent.
However, Viscount Carnell went to the trouble of using his magic ship to boast about his child's lack of talent. I guess there's a difference in position between Nobles and commoners.
That was all Viscount Carnell said, and he returned to his territory in high spirits.