Chapter 11

"Finally, I’ve got it… I’ve finally found out who the culprit is, the one who has been ravaging the Bonclay territory…!"

In the devastated study, Lord Jaikov muttered with a trembling voice.

He had noticed something at one point. While numerous renowned shops were seeing a decline in sales and were unable to pay taxes, the slave traders were inexplicably doing well. Jaikov, who was already on edge, suspected something was amiss. He mercilessly beat the slave trader to a pulp and stole the secret customer list.

And then he found out… someone had been purchasing a large number of slaves recently.

The name was—

"It’s you… It’s you who has been siphoning money from my territory! Rize Beibaron!!!"

With a roar of anger, Jaikov launched countless stone projectiles, causing the lord’s mansion to collapse. He didn’t care if the servants were caught in the crossfire. Amidst the screams and sobs, Jaikov rampaged in a fit of passion.

"Damn it! How dare you, how dare you, how dare you, how dare you!!! Of course, it must be you! There’s no way a trashy place like the Beibaron territory could have the money to buy so many slaves!!!"

His reasoning was baseless, but in his rage, Jaikov believed his judgment was infallible. He took out a piece of parchment from a broken desk and began to write a letter filled with insults to Rize Beibaron.

"Damn, damn…! How much more must you torment me, you scum from the Beibaron territory…!"

If the suspect had been another noble, he might have been a bit more calm and conducted a proper investigation. However, the suspect was the lord of the Beibaron territory. The Bonclay territory had long suffered from a decline in tourism due to the neighboring Beibaron territory, which was plagued by disease and criminals. The accumulated resentment was immeasurable.

After finishing the letter, Jaikov dragged a servant who was buried under the rubble, kicked him in the face, and forced him to regain consciousness.

"Ugh!? M-My Lord Jaikov, what are you…!"

"Don’t you dare sleep, you scum from a commoner’s background! …Send this letter to the Beibaron territory immediately! If you can’t, then die!"

With that, Jaikov kicked the injured servant into the hallway. He watched as the servant stumbled away, snorting in disgust.

"To think you almost died from something so trivial… Indeed, commoners are inferior! You’re a defective creature who can’t even protect yourself with a wall of rock! Ah, it’s clear that nobles are chosen by the gods…!"

Jaikov, who spoke with such arbitrary certainty, believed that nobles and royalty were absolute. All others were not even human.

"Heh, heh, heh…! But even among nobles, there are differences in magical talent.

I remember a rumor… ‘The heir of the Beibaron territory is a complete failure who can’t use any offensive magic’…!"

Thinking of the unseen Rize, Jaikov twisted his lips in a mocking smile.

In the Beibaron territory, where roughnecks ruled, being unable to use offensive magic was fatal. Rize must be tormented by the people every day. The thought made Jaikov feel incredibly pleased.

"Kukukuku…! You inferior noble, born in a wretched land. I will put an end to your trashy life—!"

In the half-destroyed lord’s mansion, Jaikov laughed maniacally, ignoring the groaning servants.

He waited with hatred in his heart for the moment when his ‘challenge’ would reach Rize Beibaron.

◆◇◆

"…What’s this?"

One day, a letter from the Lord of Bonclay arrived at my place. A man who was on the verge of death brought it, so I healed his wounds first, and he was incredibly grateful, even crying. I gave him some meat to eat and told him to do his best.

Anyway, the problem was the content of the letter.

"What the hell is this… What the hell is this!?"

It was filled with insults directed at me! Moreover, it accused me of weakening the Bonclay territory, which I had no part in!

Haaaaa!? When did I weaken it!? On the contrary, I sold high-quality copies to the people at low prices, making everyone happy!

It’s probably because you’re incompetent that your territory is weak! To blame it on me, your benefactor, is the worst! To call a super pacifist like Rize a criminal is seriously messed up, isn’t it!?

And at the end of the letter, it said—

"O criminal Rize! In the name of the goddess Sophia, I challenge you to a duel! When you die, I will destroy the evil Beibaron territory!"—

The moment I read this, I snapped like never before!!!

"Are you kidding me! You want to destroy the land I’ve worked so hard to cultivate!?"

This Jaikov, the sender of the letter, has no idea of my efforts!

I protected and recruited roughnecks, heretics, and beastmen, dismembered and mass-produced cows and pigs to solve the food problem, and distributed copies to make your people happy too!!!

I’ve always strived for peace, and this guy calls me a criminal! He calls my peaceful territory evil!!! What a moron!!!

I crumpled the letter and threw it at my feet, then called for the maid, Bell. She appeared immediately, her face pale, probably because of the anger in my voice.

"Y-You called, my lord!"

"…Yes, Bell. I have an urgent matter."

—I, Rize Beibaron, am a pacifist.

Despite being born in a land of greedy people, I am a humble and honest man. The royal family should have made me their adopted son long ago.

But even I couldn’t tolerate this! How can I, who will one day bring peace to this country, be killed by some crazy old man!?

I looked at Bell sharply and issued my command in a stern voice.

"The Lord of Bonclay has declared war on our territory! Inform the people that ‘war’ has begun!"

"H-Hai! I will inform everyone immediately!"

Yes, that’s right!

I watched Bell rush out and took a deep breath to calm myself.

—Wait, what? The letter said, ‘I challenge you to a duel. If you die, I will destroy your territory.’ That’s not exactly a declaration of war… Oh well! I just exaggerated a bit, but war and a duel are pretty similar! The goal is to kill the opponent, right?

Alright, tomorrow we’ll all storm Jaikov’s house! Hahaha! Peace!

【Sad News】The pacifist Rize accidentally turns a ‘duel’ into a ‘war’.

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