And so afterwards, Yuzuriha-san launched into an impassioned oration about how I came to be appointed as the new Margrave of Lohengrin.
—It was a tale so greatly embellished that even a traveling bard would hesitate, exalting my supposed invincible might,
my status as a national savior, and how I was chosen for this position.
The content was so rife with falsehoods, exaggerations, and obfuscations that even I, the person being spoken about, wanted to shout “Lies! Hyperbole! Misleading!” while listening.
…But of course, no matter how convincing it may sound, there’s no way anyone hearing this tale without context would actually believe it.
Naturally, as Yuzuriha-san’s story progressed, the disdainful looks from the mine managers only grew more pronounced.
Until finally:
“—Oh? If you’re really as strong as you say, mind giving us some training, Lord Margrave?”
“We gotta keep in shape, y’see, to handle any monster or bandit attacks. A daily regimen of tough training, y’get me? Gahaha.”
“But you won’t just run away, will you? You’re the heroic margrave who saved the nation and all.”
“But the mine chief is strong, you see. If I’m not careful, I might accidentally kill him…Accidents happen during training though, right? Gahaha.”
“…Ah, I understand. If that’s how it is.”
When I gave my acknowledgment, the mine chiefs looked momentarily surprised for some reason, and then burst into even louder laughter.
…Even so, I’ve trained enough that I shouldn’t lose to ordinary civilians who aren’t combat professionals, you know?
Or do I really look that weak?
I was about to seek their agreement that no, that couldn’t be the case…when
“Oioioioi”
“They’re dead…those two.”
Yuzuriha and Suzuha muttered ominously.
6 (Yuzuriha’s Perspective)
Before the imposing miners, a gruesome public humiliation show is taking place.
Though admittedly, it’s entirely their own doing.
“…No, wait. Hey Suzuha, do we still call it ‘humiliation’ when it’s between two men?”
“How should I know?”
At the mine chiefs’ command, dozens of brawny miners had stopped working and gathered in the plaza in front of the mining tunnel.
Ostensibly it was to welcome the new frontier lord, but the mine chiefs’ intentions to show everyone how they were beating up Suzuha’s brother were obvious.
Realizing this, Yuzuriha was about to knock out the mine chiefs, but Suzuha’s words brought her back to her senses.
“It’s fine. Let my brother thoroughly re-educate them so they never thinks of rebelling again.”
“Still, I had a feeling this would happen.”
For the mine chiefs, it was supposed to be a stage to show the miners their own strength and the new frontier lord’s pathetic state, reaffirming how mighty and strong they were and that defiance was futile.
But reality took the opposite turn.
The burly mine chief and his deputy chief, clad in full barbarian battle gear of heavy leather armor and great axes, were completely outmatched against Suzuha’s unequipped brother.
No matter how fiercely they attacked at full force, nothing worked on Suzuha’s brother.
Their attacks were evaded by mere centimeters, or casually caught with just a finger.
And when they were struck by Suzuha’s brother’s lightning-fast counterattacks too quick for the eye to follow, they were sent crashing into the rocky mining tunnels with a single blow.
The gathered miners all watched with jaws agape in utter amazement.
But to Yuzuriha and Suzuha, such an outcome was only to be expected.
“Well, he did defeat even the two Amazoness commanders with ease…The mine chiefs were biting off far more than they could chew.”
“Absolutely. But I can’t believe those two mine chiefs still resist. Don’t they realize they can never defeat my brother no matter what, now and forever? I’d have been on the ground begging for my life in tears long ago.”
“Ah, that’s simple. Before the fight, I whispered into their ears – ‘If you embarrass yourselves by failing to land even a single hit on Suzuha’s brother after running your mouths so big, then as the next head of the Sakuragi Dukedom, I will have no choice but to suggest that the mine director be replaced.”
“That’s too cruel. It was impossible from the start anyway!”
Suzuha continued in an incredulous tone,
“Brother has only been using one finger this whole time. His attacks have all been extremely restrained love taps. Receiving this much of a beating despite that handicap, yet not a shred of sympathy from the miners is just laughable.”
“Those mine chiefs have probably ruled through violence and intimidation of their subordinates all this time. In their deluded scenario, they probably intended to beat Suzuha’s brother into submission by brute force, then make demands.”
“…I’m getting angry now. Can I at least slap those two jerks silly?”
“Don’t bother. If Suzuha got serious with a slap, those pathetic-looking mine chiefs would get their heads blown off, or at least have their necks snapped. But something feels off…”
For some reason, Yuzuriha felt this was different from usual.
Normally when showing off his superior strength, Suzuha’s brother would calmly knock down his opponents like a training exercise.
He’d also show some consideration for them, successful or not.
But this time, he seemed unusually emotional, intent on thoroughly trouncing them…?
As Yuzuriha tilted her head in puzzlement, Suzuha muttered beside her.
“Brother goes easy on people he cares.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
When Yuzuriha asked,
Suzuha looked away with an ‘oops’ expression.
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“It can’t be nothing, tell me.”
Yuzuriha’s knightly instincts told her she needed to know what was going on.
After prodding him a few times with her elbow, Suzuha reluctantly explained.
“…Brother is angry that Yuzuriha was disrespected.”
“R-Really…!?”
Yuzuriha’s face slackened in surprise.
So Suzuha’s brother wasn’t just protecting her from those lecherous stares, he was quietly furious on her behalf for being disrespected.
The fact that even he would get so openly emotional…
just because his partner was insulted!
“…Ah. I didn’t want to say because I knew Yuzuriha would get carried away.”
“I’m not getting carried away at all!”
“More importantly, look around at the miners watching.”
“What about them?”
“Aren’t they getting a bit…too enthusiastic?”
As Suzuha pointed it out, Yuzuriha realized he was right.
The miners did seem unusually spirited in their cheering for Suzuha’s brother…?
“I can understand their excitement at him trouncing the abusive mine chiefs, but…”
“Speaking of which, Yuzuriha, have you heard that in male-only groups barred to women, same-sex relations tend to become prevalent? I mean the practice of men engaging with other men in a – “
“…That has absolutely nothing to do with the current topic, but we should probably leave soon. We can come back another day for a more thorough investigation. Without your brother.”
“…Yeah, I agree.”
Yuzuriha replied with a dejected look.
For some reason, the way the miners were looking at Suzuha’s brother had hearts in their eyes.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
7
After my training session with the mine chiefs, the two of them became much more compliant.
It seems they realized Yuzuriha’s tales of my exploits weren’t complete lies after all.
They then gave us a tour of the mithril mines, at least on the surface.
But…
“Still, something’s off.”
Once the mine tour was complete, we were led to the VIP room in the management building.
Apparently this was the room used when past frontier lords visited.
The VIP room had a meeting table, as well as adjoining bedrooms for attendants nearby. Quite lavish accommodations.
“Brother, what seems off to you?”
“It’s the mithril output.”
I answered Suzuha, who plopped down on one of the beds.
Yuzuriha had gone out, saying she wanted to check something.
” For a mining operation this huge with a full workforce, the output just seems way too low, you know?”
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah. Though to be fair, Ayano and I did plenty of research before this inspection visit, so I knew what to expect.”
“So diversion or smuggling then…?”
“It’s possible. But it’s getting late today, so we’ll have to carefully investigate tomorrow.”
“Those despicable mine chiefs definitely look shady enough to be embezzling. So can’t you just go beat a confession out of them for a quick resolution?”
“We can’t do that.”
As I chided Suzuha, Yuzuriha returned.
“Welcome back, Yuzuriha.”
“Yeah…The mithril output seemed oddly low for the scale of the mines, so I asked the mine chiefs about it. Being in charge of my own territory’s mithril mines let me notice the discrepancy…”
“No, brother noticed long before you did.”
“Suzuha, hush. So Yuzuriha, what did they say?”
“My knightly instincts tell me they’re guilty. They just had such shady, untrustworthy faces.”
Yuzuriha’s thinking was on the same level as Suzuha’s.
“So how about I torture a confession out of those mine chiefs?”
“You can’t just torture people without proof!”
“My experienced knightly and noble intuition is proof enough. They’re clearly guilty, no way are they innocent.”
“That’s still not allowed!”
“Then brother, what if I lay a honeytrap?”
“A what now!?”
“Those buffoons understand your and Yuzuriha’s strength, but they’ll underestimate me as just a helpless girl. So if I spread a rumor that I sleepwalk, and let them catch me alone at night…”
“Obviously that’s not happening either!”
“Fear not, those mineheads wouldn’t be a match for Suzuha. She could swat them like insects.”
“That’s not the issue here!”
*
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
