Chapter 161

The top section of the area started from one zone and gradually moved to the next, descending floor by floor, until all participants’ engravings were completed.

The last person.

As Karseine walked out of the engraving field, the nobles who were in chaos began to shift their gazes towards him, one by one.

The reactions of the nobles were originally split into two groups.

First was the group filled with vague fear and burden due to the significant changes in this symposium, causing confusion. The second group was confident, thinking there was no need to overreact even if things got bad.

But as soon as they saw Karseine, everyone’s thoughts aligned.

‘That’s right. No matter what, he can’t be worse than this guy.’

‘It’s reassuring to know there’s at least one worse off than me down there.’

‘Even if I can’t match his performance, as long as I show the gap, that should be enough, right?’

All the nobles felt relieved knowing someone was below them, even if it was just one person.

At least they wouldn’t be at the bottom.

After all, the name of the territory assigned to Karseine at the end was none other than Shatren.

It was nearly impossible to achieve any results in Shatren, which had little potential for development compared to Rusmaier in the past.

“Alright. With this, we conclude the start of the 21st Symposium’s first week.”

Arshien, noticing the murmurs in the silence, quickly concluded the meeting, even though it was a bit early.

Claire swallowed hard and activated her engraving stone as the symposium began. The engraving stone displayed the territories chosen by the participants and the temporary lords of adjacent territories.

She only cared about one territory and its lord:

[Shatren – Karseine]

“…So it came to this.”

Nothing had changed.

If she hadn’t taken Shatren, no one else would have dared touch it.

But there was still work left to do.

“Hey sis, can I go back to the Duke’s mansion first? I need to check on last year’s financial reports for the territory.”

“Already starting with the financial reports? You don’t need to rush so much.”

“But if I prepare ahead, it’ll be better. Besides, there are a lot of new regulations to comply with.”

“Fine, but…”

“I’m going then, sis.”

“Huh? Claire!”

Watching Claire abruptly leave, Arina let out a sigh.

Indeed, if she wanted to improve their grades together with Karseine, time would be tight. Considering the penalty for poor collaboration, Claire’s workload would increase even more.

Arina didn’t question her further despite having plenty of reasons to doubt.

However,

Claire wasn’t actually going back to the Duke’s mansion.

“What do you mean, Claire?”

Isabella asked with a worried look. She had been waiting for her children to return while chatting with other family heads, but Claire’s first words upon arrival caused great confusion.

“Exactly what I said. Shatren Territory… It’s all because of me.”

Claire confessed that she was the cause of the decline in Shatren Territory after the famine began and couldn’t recover due to Karseine.

Even though revealing this late was painful, she couldn’t keep it hidden any longer.

She was prepared for the consequences.

But there was one thing she needed to say.

“So, Mom, please use your privilege in this symposium for Karseine.”

***

On the first day of the symposium, despite choosing different options, the game continued as usual. There were minor changes like hidden episodes or altered past events, but nothing major.

Immediately after selecting Shatren Territory, Episode V was cleared.

▶Episode VI. Progressing with the Target of Hatred.◀

▶The player must enter Shatren Territory and declare themselves as the temporary lord.◀

The status window announced the start of the Shatren Territory episode.

The first step was informing the residents that the player had become the temporary lord.

This wasn’t just a status window update; it was also due to the unique nature of the symposium.

Regardless of whether they were regular nobles or not, everyone chose a territory during the symposium, and it was customary to personally visit the chosen territory to inform them and exchange greetings.

In short, it was a face-to-face meeting for both sides: a ceremonial introduction for the temporary lord and an opportunity for the lord to see the faces of the residents.

That was how the game’s setting was structured.

However, the player hadn’t yet declared themselves as the temporary lord.

“Master Karseine, a letter has arrived from Miss Arina.”

As expected. The time had come.

This was a mandatory event that always occurred when the time was right.

“Give it here.”

The content was as expected.

‘The warning remains unchanged. I understand your willingness to take responsibility, but it’s already decided. We’ll see how well you perform. Karseine, but don’t forget your promise to the family.’

-Krunch-

‘Typical warning, unchanged from before.’

And this was merely a system mechanism to add conditions to the player.

-Ding!

▶A new condition has been added.◀

▶Your symposium score must be above a certain rank.◀

▶This must be achieved regardless of the episode progress. Failure will lead to a bad ending.◀

Of course, Karseine couldn’t afford to stay in the lower ranks for the symposium score.

If he dismissed the score as just a number, the game would stab the character’s heart with a sword, leading to any ending.

“Excuse me… Master.”

“Why?”

“Well… Is it okay if I don’t move to Shatren Territory?”

Camila approached me, holding her sword, as I finished my training.

Her eyes showed concern, and she clenched her fists tightly, looking very anxious.

That was understandable.

If Arina was watching, she might have grabbed me by the collar and scolded me for being lazy.

I hadn’t set foot in Shatren Territory for two days.

Declaring oneself as the temporary lord wasn’t just a formality; it was crucial for checking the villagers’ conditions and surveying the territory.

Not doing so made it natural for her to be anxious.

But could I just sit idly?

▶If the declaration of the temporary lord is delayed, the recognition within the territory and the affinity with the residents will drastically decrease. If the report isn’t submitted by the end of the first week, the residents may revolt.◀

Given this message, there was no way to avoid entering Shatren Territory.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to stay idle. But I need some time.”

“Time…?”

“Just wait and see.”

Kamila looked puzzled, glancing around.

▶Choose a method to travel to Shatren.

[1. Take the carriage from the Duke’s mansion of Bargrand house.]

[2. Travel with Claire and get off at Shatren.]

[3. Hire an unknown carriage with money.]

…

…

Before my eyes, nine choices appeared, but I ignored them and continued training in the training hall.

Soon after,

A carriage suddenly appeared in the training hall, and a person got off.

“Master Karseine, we’ve come to escort you.”

Kamilam asked me, surprised, after seeing Tasha getting off the carriage.

“Master… Could it be this moment…?”

“Yes. I waited for your mother to appear.”

Entering Shatren Territory through normal means was not allowed.

Due to the high threat level caused by the intense hatred towards Karseine, and since this wasn’t combat-related danger, it couldn’t be mitigated.

Moreover, the recognition score within the territory was in a terrible state, making it easy to trigger a bad ending. Affinity was also low, increasing the chances of a dead flag option.

To ease the anger, Karseine needed a reason to be proud and a convincing weapon.

He had to prepare arguments to present to them, using the legal opportunity provided by the relationship between Rusmaier and Shatren.

-Ding!

New choices appeared simultaneously.

[10. Take the merchant carriage from Rusmaier.]

The relationship between Rusmaier and Shatren.

Though not revealed in the game, at this point, it seemed to be the safest way to enter Shatren from my perspective.

***

-Multiple, multiple.

“Here they come!”

Every time, the sound of hooves made the kids react.

Date, time, location.

Rusmaier’s carriage passed through this spot at this exact time today.

Knowing this, the kids had been hiding here since early.

“Kids, remember?”

“Yup!”

They nodded to Ferdie’s instruction.

Today, they planned to quickly grab items from the carriage once the adults’ attention was diverted.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the predicted location by Ferdie’s group.

The men driving the carriage were sweating profusely.

“…Why did it have to be today?”

“Damn it. We can’t just ignore it… But we can’t do anything about it either…!”

“Shouldn’t we explain to the young master? Maybe we should handle this ourselves instead of those kids…”

“Stop talking nonsense! If we do, not only us but the village chief’s life is at stake!”

What were they talking about? It seemed like there was nothing useful in their conversation.

Unintentionally overhearing their discussion, Ferdie signaled the others to act.

“Now!”

-Squeal!

“Ugh?!”

Today’s method involved blinding the adults with a flash of light. As the dazzling light covered the carriage area, the kids, wearing goggles, started rushing in one by one.

‘Damn! Why today?’

‘There’s the young master inside…!’

‘Great! We could catch them, but then…!’

However, the adults knew about this.

Their earlier conversation was about how to deal with the kids stealing from the carriage.

“…Catch them.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s no other choice. Let’s catch them and think about it later!”

Upon the leader’s decision, the men closed their eyes and started catching the kids one by one.

“Let go!”

“Aaah?!”

“Sorry! Sorry!!”

They could have caught them earlier but chose not to.

But this time, they had no choice.

Soon, the commotion caught the attention of Karseine inside the carriage.

“The kids were hiding and stealing food.”

“…How should we handle this?”

The merchants, clenching their teeth, asked, and Karseine untied the ropes binding the kids.

“What? Are we free?”

“Now’s our chance! Run!”

The kids took this opportunity to escape before the adults could catch them again, taking the stolen food with them.

“Master?”

“How did you deal with those kids?”

“They only took food. Even though there were more expensive decorations available, they didn’t take them. They didn’t touch the valuable crafts or jewelry. They wanted food, right?”

“That’s…”

“The losses recorded were minimal because of this. When such kids tried to steal food, the losses were concentrated in that area. It was easy to calculate.”

The merchants finally understood.

Karseine knew about all of this.

“Let me explain! This was purely…”

“Hush.”

Scared, he tried to make excuses, but Karseine raised his finger to his lips, silencing him.

“I’m not here to punish them.”

“…What?”

“This is something the Shatren side needs to address. So, just stay quiet.”