Chapter 23

"Clumsy! Clumsy!"

I had planned to leave home in a few years, but suddenly, the headman of the domain asked me to take over the land.

He said he would not hesitate to cooperate for that purpose.

This is no time to be joking around.

If I mishandle this, it could lead to the worst outcome, where I might end up fighting to the death with my brother.

However, I have no idea what to do.

My experience from my previous life is completely useless.

Born into an ordinary salaryman's family, where I only had one younger brother, there was no way a family dispute would arise.

In fact, the idea of someone giving me advice on family disputes is even a bit scary.

Anyway, I tried to avoid contact with Claus as much as possible.

No, I used detection magic to the fullest to avoid any contact with anyone outside my family.

Surely, Claus wouldn't shout in front of the house, "Please come out! I want to discuss handing over the position of the next head to Vendelin-sama!"

I started waking up earlier than anyone in the morning and returning home very late at night, only to sleep.

I even stopped eating at home, cooking for myself or eating at stores in Breichburg.

I feel like I'm already half out of the house, but legally, I'm still a minor under the protection of the Baumeyer family, and I'm one of the children with the fifth position in the line of succession.

Because of this, things have become even more complicated.

The only saving grace might be that my family doesn't say anything to me, even though they don't come to eat with me.

"Vendelin, you have a letter from Ehrich."

"Sorry, Sister-in-law."

When I returned home late at night, Amalie, Kurt's wife, was waiting in front of my room to hand me a letter.

Thinking about it, she is the person I talk to the most in the Baumeyer family right now.

"Your handwriting is so neat. You even used kanji."

Amalie, impressed by the address on the letter written by Ehrich, is capable of reading and writing kanji, despite coming from a rural knight's family.

As the second daughter, her parents had her study in case she was to marry into a merchant family.

"Ehrich is a government official, after all."

Previously, I explained that hiragana and katakana alone were for commoners, while kanji mixed with Roman letters and English words were for nobles and official documents.

Additionally, mixing kanji in personal letters made one appear more intellectual to others.

It's a kind of impression management, a way to show off.

On the envelope, only "express" and "south" are written in kanji.

Moreover, if the letter were to be opened, the advantage is that no one in this house except me could read it.

However, in recent years, there has been one exception: Amalie.

"Letters like this only come to Vendelin and me in this house."

Amalie occasionally receives letters from her parents, but she rarely writes back.

In this world, a postal system exists.

There are dedicated counters at commercial guilds in towns of a certain size, and the fee is prepaid based on the distance.

At the very least, it costs five copper plates, which is about 5,000 yen.

If the recipient is in the neighboring country, the Holy Empire of Arkart, it would cost five silver plates, or over 50,000 yen.

It usually takes several months for a letter to arrive.

It's possible to expedite delivery, but that costs extra.

Incidentally, there is no postal service in our domain.

Letters are delivered by the caravans that come to Breichburg three times a year.

When sending a letter, I simply give it to the caravan that comes to the Baumeyer domain along with the fee.

Naturally, the cost of the caravan delivering the letter adds to the expense.

Since only Amalie and I send and receive letters, it's not much of an inconvenience.

Incidentally, it costs two silver plates for Amalie to send a letter to her parents, including the caravan fee.

As a wife, she can only afford to send one letter per year.

In my case, I don't receive an allowance, so I don't have any cash.

I ask my father to front the money and pay him back with the game I catch using magic.

I also suggested to my father, "Since caravans only come three times a year, I think it's fine for Amalie to send three letters a year."

My father didn't say anything, but from then on, Amalie entrusted her letters to the caravans each time they came.

From then on, Amalie started talking to me more often.

"Ehrich's letters have a lot of kanji."

"Is it a professional habit?"

She claims it's a professional habit, but in reality, she intentionally increases the ratio of kanji to over half.

Since my father and brothers can't read kanji, if they were to read the letter, they wouldn't understand the content, making it a kind of code.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it has never been opened and read.

"The capital must be so glamorous."

Amalie's hometown is also rural, though not as much as ours.

So, the capital is a city of her dreams.

"I definitely want to go when I grow up."

"I want to go at least once before I die."

After chatting for a while, I returned to my room.

It used to be a small room shared by four brothers, but now it feels spacious and barren because I only use it to sleep.

I sat on the bed and opened the letter immediately.

Actually, I had consulted Ehrich about the Claus issue.

"You seem to have had a tough time. In fact, I went through the same thing in the past..."

(That guy...)

According to Ehrich's letter, he was also asked to take over the domain before leaving home.

Apparently, he was persuaded with, "You can enrich the domain more systematically than Kurt, who can't even write kanji."

"But that's his usual tactic. Don't be fooled by his humble appearance and words."

Ehrich warned me that Claus is a dangerous person.

"He has military experience and performs his duties as a headman perfectly. He's capable..."

But he is also greedy.

"There are other headmen in the Baumeyer domain, but he stands out among them. He offered his daughter to my father as a concubine to gain favor."

As a result, he was allowed to enter the manor and was entrusted with all the tax calculations and bookkeeping in the domain.

Naturally, he is not well-liked by the other headmen.

"Here's my guess, but what does Claus gain by making me or Vendelin the next head of the Baumeyer family? The letter mentioned that Claus brought his half-siblings with him."

If I were to become the next head, bypassing my brothers, my relationship with my full siblings would inevitably deteriorate, making it difficult to get their cooperation in governance.

Herman, the second son, has probably resigned himself to being part of another family.

"Of course, you would rely on your half-siblings for marriage alliances. Claus would benefit greatly."

Ehrich said this was just a guess, but if Claus had made the same offer to him, it must be true.

"His words are not entirely wrong."

Given the vast undeveloped land, it would be better to develop it under an excellent lord rather than adhering to primogeniture.

In this plan, his grandchildren, who carry the Baumeyer blood, would receive appropriate treatment.

Indeed, the development of the domain and the Claus family are intertwined.

"The best strategy is to avoid meeting Claus at all costs."

Honestly, there is no other strategy.

"If you try to be smart and tell your father, and he doesn't realize anything, it would be a disaster."

To my father, Claus would be a traitor and would face appropriate punishment.

However, without Claus, our domain can't even calculate taxes accurately.

The idea of this family advancing to a higher noble rank in the future sounds like a joke to me.

"If the truth comes out, your father and brothers would have no choice but to cut ties with Claus. However, that would cause chaos in the domain, and some of the resentment would likely be directed at you."

It's not your fault, but people might say, "If it weren't for you!"

It's an unjust possibility for the future.

"Are you thinking of preventing this by improving communication with your family and the people of the domain? That won't work either."

The fact that I can use magic is already known.

If I suddenly started interacting with the people, they would expect even more from the new lord, Vendelin.

If that happens, I would be shunned by my family.

Then, Claus would approach me, saying, "Your half-siblings will help you."

Just thinking about it makes me feel sick.

"I think it's best for you to leave home as the oddball eighth son who doesn't help with the domain's work."

Absolutely avoid meeting Claus, and continue your current life while making plans to leave home as soon as possible.

I decided to follow Ehrich's advice.

He is a truly good brother who listens to my concerns and is undoubtedly the only family I recognize instinctively in this life.

I wrote a thank-you letter and included a raw gemstone from the undeveloped land as payment for the express fee.

The key to leaving home quickly was surprisingly close.

It was a simple solution that I should have realized earlier, but I finally succeeded in leaving home just before turning twelve.