Chapter 81
“From time immemorial, We and Our forebears have made every effort to ensure the peace and prosperity of Our nobles, citizens, and all subjects. Furthermore, We have regarded it as Our duty to provide a stable foundation where Our people may live without fear.”
Chwak!
The decree unfurled with a crisp sound.
The royal envoy’s solemn voice echoed through the hall, each word drilling into the ears of those present.
And Lloyd, sitting politely on his knees before the envoy, had only one thought.
‘Ah, shit. This is bad.’
It was fortunate that he was bowing deeply.
At least this way, the envoy wouldn’t see the complex expression on his face.
‘A royal decree… This could be a double-edged sword.’
He stole a glance to his side.
The Baron was kneeling beside him in formal reverence.
His eyelids and eyelashes were trembling.
Overwhelming honor.
Boundless joy and happiness.
His expression was like that of a man holding a winning lottery ticket, sitting before the bank teller.
Well, it made sense.
This was a remote countryside.
An obscure barony tucked away in the eastern fringes of the queendom.
Unless a great war broke out requiring the queen’s direct intervention—or some historic catastrophe warranted a royal inspection—there was no reason for a monarch’s involvement here.
And yet, here stood the queen’s envoy.
A decree personally written by the queen had been delivered.
‘To the Baron, this must be the family’s greatest honor for generations to come.’
For a noble, what could be more glorious than this?
Lloyd’s expression grew even more complicated.
‘Well, it is an honor… but only if used wisely.’
The queen’s envoy had come bearing a royal decree.
That alone was enough to paint a clear picture of the situation.
‘It’s probably because of what happened in Cremo.’
He had secured a construction contract with the Count.
He had successfully built the maritime artificial land.
Then, he had taken down the Gigatitan that attacked the city.
That achievement must have reached the queen’s ears.
And now, he was about to be rewarded for it.
‘It is a good thing… but damn, this is a hassle. This is why I didn’t want to fight that Gigatitan.’
Lloyd’s brow furrowed.
It was the truth.
The ideal outcome would have been simply completing the construction project successfully and returning home.
With that, he would have secured his payment, and through his connections with Count Cremo, he could have obtained more contracts in major cities. Slowly building his reputation as a reliable contractor, making a steady profit.
That was the future he had envisioned.
And he had intended to keep it that way.
‘That should’ve been it. That was the perfect plan. A few years of steady construction work, and I’d have paid off my debts to those loan sharks.’
According to his calculations, that was all it would have taken.
He had already paid off half of his debt.
As a result, the interest payments had been drastically reduced.
On top of that, there was the monthly water tax from the neighboring Lacona Viscounty.
That alone covered the interest payments, leaving room to save money.
So, he hadn’t wanted more.
Expanding beyond that was unnecessary.
‘As long as I pay off my debt, that’s enough. If I take on too much, I might end up having to work even after paying off my debt. That would be a disaster.’
All of his current efforts were for one purpose—clearing his debt.
And after that?
He didn’t want to work anymore.
He had no desire to live a life of relentless toil.
He had done that plenty in South Korea.
There was no way he would spend his entire life working like that again here. He didn’t even care about extravagant wealth. He just wanted to live out his days as a laid-back country noble, doing the bare minimum.
‘Three good meals a day, reading books while lazing around, riding horses when I feel like it, marrying someone I get along with, raising kids in a peaceful, modestly comfortable life—that’s it. That’s all I want.’
But now?
An unexpected variable had crept into his carefully drawn picture.
The unwanted battle with the Gigatitan. A massive achievement he had accidentally created while struggling just to stay alive.
And now, he had firmly cemented himself in the queen’s sights.
‘Sigh. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?’
It was both gratifying and frustrating.
Memories of his military service started surfacing.
‘This is just like back in the army. The safest bet is to stay low and fly under the radar—but I didn’t know that back then.’
It was true.
Back when he was a private.
On the first day after finishing boot camp and being assigned to his unit.
The company quartermaster had approached him and asked,
‘Oh? You studied civil engineering? You any good with a shovel?’
And he had answered.
Sitting upright in a chair at the admin office.
With that overly disciplined, overly eager voice that only new recruits had.
‘Yes, sir! I am!’
‘That was the beginning of all my misery.’
Lloyd let out a deep sigh.
That thoughtless response had marked the start of his downfall.
From that day on, he became the quartermaster’s personal summonable worker.
He got pulled into every single construction project.
Drainage maintenance, perimeter wall repairs, outpost fortifications, refurbishing the company’s volleyball court, fixing up the physical training area, building a brand new waste disposal facility for the battalion—endless days of construction, repairs, and more repairs.
‘Eventually, they even had me handling weed trimmers and welding work!’
By the end of his service, he had practically mastered welding.
Despite being stationed in a mechanized infantry unit in Gyeonggi-do, he had spent far more time on construction work than actual military drills.
He rode a handcart more often than an armored vehicle.
He held a shovel more frequently than a rifle.
And so, his military life had become that of a part-time construction worker.
‘They even tried to convince me to re-enlist as a non-commissioned officer before I got discharged!’
It was true.
He had received subtle persuasion to stay on as a sergeant.
Of course, he had outright refused.
At the time, he had hated the idea of staying in the military.
Though later in life, when things got tough, he had wondered if he should have reconsidered.
‘Anyway, standing out too much is a bad idea. If word gets around that you’re too competent, the higher-ups will never leave you alone.’
It was happening again.
Listening to the royal envoy read the decree without a hint of fatigue only confirmed Lloyd’s suspicions.
“We, having learned of the recent events in Cremo, were deeply concerned… blah blah… and upon hearing of the astonishing courage and self-sacrifice displayed by a young noble and his knight, We were filled with great joy… yadda yadda… and thus, We wish to bestow special recognition upon these two for their distinguished accomplishments.”
‘Oh, come on…’
Marez’s reclamation project still needed his attention.
He was just about to start his coal business.
He was already drowning in work.
So please, please, don’t summon him to the capital.
Or if they had to summon him, at least wait until he had some free time.
Lloyd silently prayed to the queen.
But the envoy’s solemn voice had no mercy.
“We, by royal decree, summon Lloyd Frontera and Javier Asrahan to the capital to recognize their achievements. The two shall immediately travel to the capital alongside Our envoy.
In the year 617 of the Imperial Calendar, January—Proclaimed in the royal city of Magenta by Queen Alicia Termina Magentano.”
Chwak, tak!
The decree rolled up neatly.
The envoy’s motion was so precise that Lloyd wouldn’t have been surprised if he had spent an entire day practicing just that.
At the same time, the Baron, kneeling beside him, trembled violently. Overcome with emotion, he began openly weeping.
“Ugh… huuuuk! Sniff! Huuuhuhh!”
“Baron Arcos Frontera, raise your head.”
“Sniff… hick! Huuuh!”
“You must be proud of your son. He is truly exceptional.”
“Y-Your M-majesty’s g-grace… sniff! Hic, huuuuh!”
Ding-dong.
[Arcos Frontera’s favorability towards you has increased by +9.]
[Current relationship with Arcos Frontera: +56]
[Due to a significant improvement in relations with an important figure, you have gained 90 RP.]
[Current RP balance: 2,036]
‘Haaah.’
Lloyd exhaled deeply.
At this point, it wasn’t like he had a choice.
The situation had already spiraled beyond the point of no return.
‘If it’s come to this, I might as well go all in.’
Finding the best way to maximize the benefits of this situation.
Possibly even clearing his debts ahead of schedule.
That path didn’t seem too bad.
In fact, depending on how he handled it, it could be much better.
Having calculated his next steps in an instant, Lloyd lifted his head with a bright smile.
“Lloyd Frontera humbly accepts the decree of our great sovereign.”
And just like that, his last-minute bar exam top scorer-style trip to the capital was set in stone.
♣
A festival broke out in the Frontera Barony.
It was the middle of winter, meaning there was little farm work to do. The people, who had been lazing around on their warm ondol floors, flocked to the streets.
It felt like the whole village was celebrating as if they had just produced the nation’s top exam passer.
‘All that’s missing are some banners hanging off telephone poles at the village entrance.’
Lloyd thought as he observed the festivities.
The atmosphere was no joke.
And honestly, it made sense.
This was a rural backwater.
A dead-end territory with no hope or future.
And the young lord of that land?
A man who had once spent his days drinking and causing trouble.
But one day, he had completely changed.
He seemed to have come to his senses.
He started working hard.
He began taking on projects.
And every single one of them was a success.
As if creating something from nothing, he made money hand over fist.
He dispelled the shadow that had loomed over the estate due to past scams.
And now, now, he was receiving a royal decree.
He was being summoned to the capital for an audience with the queen and to receive a grand reward.
For the simple, honest folk of the barony, this was a matter of immense pride.
More than that, it was something that would directly benefit them.
“The people of the territory will feel a sense of newfound pride. But that’s not all. When they interact with people from other territories, they will receive better treatment. They will no longer be so easily looked down upon, and even in simple barter exchanges, they will gain slight advantages.”
“Hmm, so they’ll hear ‘you country bumpkins’ a lot less?”
“Something like that.”
Javier’s response made Lloyd nod.
Now that he thought about it, it made sense.
‘For these people, this territory is their whole world.’
To them, the Frontera Barony was their homeland and livelihood.
And now, its prestige had risen.
It had become a territory personally recognized by the queen through a royal decree and an official commendation.
It now held a title that made it harder for outsiders to dismiss.
‘No wonder they feel proud. I mean, even in my old world, people would go crazy when their favorite soccer or baseball team won a championship.’
He had seen that reaction time and again back in South Korea.
A football club winning the Champions League.
A popular player scoring a dramatic winning goal.
And then, every online forum exploding in celebration.
‘Even when it had no direct impact on their lives, people still went nuts.’
They could be thousands of kilometers away, with no personal connection to the player or team, and yet, they celebrated as if it were their own victory.
But this?
This was a festival for something that actually affected them.
Lloyd’s commendation had direct benefits for the people of the barony.
And, considering he was the future lord of this land, it would only grow more significant in the long run.
That was why they were truly celebrating from the heart.
That was why, every time they saw him on the street, they stared at him like starstruck fans meeting the world’s biggest idol.
‘Well, thanks to that, I earned some extra RP too.’
100 from the Baroness.
30 from Sir Bayern.
70 from the territory’s residents.
Of course, Lloyd didn’t spend it recklessly.
He considered upgrading his Mana Heart skill.
But he held off.
Because who knew when he might face another crisis?
‘Just blindly leveling up Mana Heart or getting stronger won’t solve everything.’
Skills needed to be upgraded according to the situation.
Only by pursuing tailored growth could he properly respond to whatever came his way.
That had been true in the ant nest.
That had been true in the battle against the Gigatitan.
Recalling those experiences, Lloyd hoarded his RP like a bear preparing for hibernation.
The only thing he allowed himself to splurge on was a minor investment into his fantasy beasts’ transformations.
[Purchased: 100 Sunflower Seed Sets.]
[Purchase Cost: 100 RP]
[Current RP Balance: 2,136]
And so, Lloyd steadily prepared for his journey to the capital.
Of course, he didn’t just quietly pack his bags.
He was preparing for something bigger.
‘Since the queen has set the stage for me, isn’t it only right that I squeeze every last drop of value out of it?’
With that thought, Lloyd made up his mind.
He spent several sleepless nights crafting his plan.
And at last, the day of departure for the capital arrived.
The day Lloyd’s grand scheme—a plan that would completely wipe out the remaining debts of the barony—was set into motion.
