Chapter 70

"Then, that's how it is."

"I have no objections either. Let's hope that the von Baumeister family contributes to the development of this territory."

One week after the purification of the Demon Forest, we were once again negotiating with my father at the von Baumeister family's main residence.

However, my father basically did not oppose anything.

This was because he had already been informed of the conditions by Mr. Brandtak, who had come as the envoy of the Margrave of Brechreiter.

Moreover, from the perspective of my father, who was still the lord, these were all good plans that would lead to the development of the territory and gain the support of the people.

Even if Kurt's feelings were ignored, it was common sense for a lord to agree with such plans.

As a result, various matters were resolved.

Kurt, who was standing next to us, was left out of the negotiations and was trembling like a small dog, his face turning red.

He probably wanted to say something, but it seemed that my father had stopped him, as any further insults would affect the reputation of the von Baumeister family.

During the negotiations, he glared at me without saying a word.

"Still not snapping, huh? Should I provoke him more?"

First, the selection of the heirlooms entrusted to the Margrave of Brechreiter, the appraisal of the unclaimed items we had obtained, and the materials from the monsters we had defeated in battle had been completed.

According to the pre-negotiations, the von Baumeister family's share was set at thirty percent.

Kurt seemed to have been expecting a lot.

When I handed him the detailed statement with the breakdown, he snatched it from me and searched for the numbers.

Since he could only do simple calculations, he could only judge by looking at the total amount to see how much he would receive.

However, it was quite surprising that he could be fooled so easily.

If he couldn't verify it himself, there would be no point in trying to fool him.

"It's not much..."

And he was disappointed when he saw the number.

Considering that it was over 200,000 cents, which was a considerable amount compared to before, he seemed to have some complaints.

"Klaus, is there any mistake in this calculation?"

"There is none."

It was almost impossible for the Margrave of Brechreiter, who was responsible for the southern region, to cheat the poor knight family next door.

The loss of reputation would be far greater than the small profit gained from cheating.

Mistakes were also unlikely.

The Margrave of Brechreiter had several financial experts at the level of Klaus or higher.

"But the debt the von Baumeister family owed to the Margrave of Brechreiter has been settled."

"Debt?"

The debt was the aid money borrowed from the main family in the capital when the von Baumeister family became independent in this territory.

It also included the wedding gifts that were not given when my brothers Ehrich, Paul, and Helmut got married.

The Margrave of Brechreiter had settled all the debts as a guardian, which was only natural.

"Looking at the details, it seems it was right to pay it back..."

Even Klaus, who was usually meticulous, seemed to have no other way to put it.

However, when Kurt heard this, he was furious.

"When to pay it back is our decision!"

He was probably not planning to pay it back at all.

That was why he was not trusted by the Margrave of Brechreiter at all.

He was truly a foolish man.

"It's common for nobles to have debts, but it's better to pay them back quickly, given the nature of the debt."

Since talking to Kurt would only waste time, I asked my father.

"That's right. This means our debt is gone."

With these words from my father, the discussion about the work in the Demon Forest was concluded.

The matter of the von Baumeister family's debt was also settled.

"Next, it's about the activities of the von Baumeister barons as adventurers..."

We would set up a base in this territory and use my teleportation magic to hunt in the Demon Forest.

There were also discussions about holding regular bazaars and taking on other tasks since there were no guilds in the territory.

And from the rewards earned from these jobs, how much would be paid as taxes to the von Baumeister family?

This tax rate had already been decided with the involvement of the Margrave of Brechreiter.

"It's difficult to exchange money in my territory. After exchanging the materials obtained in the Demon Forest at the adventurer guild in Brechburg, we will pay twenty percent of the amount."

We were still affiliated with the Brechburg branch, so we needed to exchange money there.

In reality, we would also have to pay twenty percent of the exchange amount as a contribution to the Brechburg branch.

However, if we were to pay a total of forty percent, the adventurers would surely complain.

We didn't want to be exploited to that extent.

So, the Margrave of Brechreiter had negotiated well with the guild.

As a result, the contribution to the Brechburg branch was eliminated.

This might seem like a one-sided loss for the guild, but since the guild made sufficient profits from reselling the materials they bought from adventurers, it was not a problem.

Moreover, there were political intentions involved in this matter.

Due to the recent failure of the adventurer guild headquarters, they did not insist on unreasonable contributions from me or the Margrave of Brechreiter.

I heard this from Mr. Brandtak later.

"In any case, we will pay twenty percent of the profits and submit a detailed statement once a month."

"Understood."

Klaus was responsible for verifying the statement, but he was not the type to cut corners in his work, nor would he try to take profits by making unreasonable demands on my father or Kurt.

In this regard, he was trustworthy.

After all, he harbored resentment towards my father in his heart.

"Mr. Wendelin will start his activities as an adventurer in this territory. It is truly a wonderful thing."

Klaus, who was asked by my father to check the statement, was undoubtedly doing it on purpose.

He was overacting and pretending to be extremely happy.

Formally, the purpose was to use the guise of adventurer activities to eventually eliminate the troublesome Kurt.

Klaus must have noticed this.

For him, my decision was a wonderful development.

Kurt glared at Klaus with a sharp look, but Klaus acted as if he didn't notice.

"I look forward to the statement, as it will be a worthwhile calculation for the first time in a while."

Usually, the only calculations he had to do were the amount of wheat harvested by each family and the corresponding taxes.

It seemed he was happy to have a task worthy of an accountant for a change.

However, it appeared that he was actually mocking the abilities of my father and Kurt as lords.

Noticing this, Kurt's face turned even redder as he glared at Klaus, but my father's expression remained unchanged.

Klaus continued to pretend not to notice that he was being glared at by Kurt.

"Klaus is indeed unpredictable..."

He noticed that I was trying to provoke Kurt into an outburst and was silently helping me.

"The rest of the details will be discussed and decided later."

"That's right."

Thus, the negotiations with my father ended successfully.

However, Kurt was left out of the negotiations, standing there with a red face.

"Quite a selection, my lord."

"Roderich has experience as a store manager, I hear?"

"He was a proxy. He managed all the operations of a certain general store at the request of a friend."

"I see."

For now, until we could provoke and eliminate Kurt, we decided to use the von Baumeister territory as our base.

In the past week, I had brought in various people and items.

First, the house. Since the number of people had increased, we decided to move to a different house as the current rented house was too small.

However, the largest house in this territory was the lord's mansion.

So, I decided to relocate the mansion I had inherited from my master in Brechburg.

One might wonder how to cross the mountain range, but that was solved by magic.

"Always! I'm the relocation expert, Rembrandt!"

Three days ago, I met this man, who spoke in a fake Kansai accent and had a barcode for a head, in front of my mansion in Brechburg.

Actually, this man was a user of a special magic that belonged to the earth element.

This magic, called 'relocation,' allowed the relocation of quite large structures to other places.

He could also use teleportation, so when he received a job from a client, he would first move the target object into a magic bag.

Then, he would move to the target location and take the building out of the magic bag to relocate it.

Of course, buildings also have foundations buried in the ground, so after relocation, they needed to function the same as before.

Rembrandt, who could calculate and relocate such things, was always booked for several months in advance.

His clients were mainly wealthy nobles.

For example, if someone wanted to build a villa in a scenic location but found it difficult to bring construction workers there, they would complete the building on a suitable vacant lot and have Rembrandt relocate it.

He also performed the relocation of historical buildings by order of the kingdom's government.

Thanks to this skill, he also held the title of Magic Baron, just like me.

Originally, he could not immediately accept my request, but it seemed that the Minister of Finance, Ruckner, had pulled some strings.

He appeared in front of my mansion at the agreed time.

"Then, let's go."

Rembrandt, who spoke in a subtle Kansai accent, was quick in his work.

He quickly circled the mansion, and the mansion that had been there a moment ago disappeared.

"Then, please guide me to the target location."

Even Rembrandt, who could move almost anywhere in the kingdom, had never been to the von Baumeister territory.

So, I used my teleportation magic to bring him to the von Baumeister territory.

"Such a peaceful place."

When we arrived at the destination, Rembrandt looked around the rural von Baumeister territory and narrowed his eyes.

My brother Paul and the other guards welcomed us.

"Here is the target location."

Before the negotiations with my father, we had borrowed a flat, solid piece of land at the border between the von Baumeister family's actual control area and the undeveloped land.

The rent was free, and we could do anything on the undeveloped side.

In return, we had to pay twenty percent of the profits.

I think my father was thinking that if we hunted in the undeveloped land and the game turned into money, it would be a good deal.

"Here should be fine."

"Such a strange Kansai accent..."

Apparently, Rembrandt was also a part-time architect.

Using his knowledge, the mansion that was originally my master's was taken out of the magic bag and built on the flat land in the same condition as before.

As always, it was done in an instant.

"Next..."

Then, he started to relocate the dozen or so houses I had asked him to bring.

These were for the people who would be living in the von Baumeister territory for a while with me.

First, the mansion was for our party members, Vilma, Roderich, and the maid Dominique.

The houses on both sides were for the skilled guards Roderich had selected and the newly hired servants.

Other houses were also relocated for my brothers Paul and the others to live in temporarily.

"What? Resignation?"

"Senior, it's the same for us..."

Paul and the others, who had finished their inspection duties and were now on leave as my guards, were speechless when they received a letter from the Minister of Military Affairs, Edgar, via Brechburg.

Because the letter stated that Paul