Chapter 203: Bring Some Friends Over (2)
At the entrance of the Seiron Royal Academy, a large and extravagant luxury wagon, pulled by eight white horses, came to a halt.
Behind the wagon, carts piled high with food lined up in a row.
But that wasn’t all. Dozens of knights on horseback and hundreds of soldiers were closely escorting them.
With all this commotion, the academy’s gatekeepers were bound to be in a panic.
“W-Who is coming?”
“It looks like someone extraordinarily high-ranked has arrived!”
Creeeak.
As the gatekeepers were on edge, the door of the lavish wagon swung open, revealing Wendy.
Her attire was indistinguishable from that of any other noble lady.
She wore a dress far more extravagant and luxurious than that of ordinary ladies, adorned with beautiful accessories.
The gatekeepers were left spellbound, while Wendy closed her eyes and bit her lip.
“How embarrassing…”
Few people dislike beautiful things, but right now, it was over the top.
On top of that, due to her profession, she had gotten into the habit of avoiding attention, and now that she was receiving everyone’s gaze, it only added to her bad mood.
But she couldn’t escape thanks to Claude insisting that she had to look overwhelmingly wealthy in this attire.
With a flushed face, Wendy approached the gatekeepers.
“The Chief Officer from Penris Territory, Ruthania Kingdom, has come to see the headmaster.”
The gatekeepers gasped in surprise.
They might not know where Penris was, but they knew Ruthania Kingdom. It was a neighboring superpower!
“Uh, what should we do? They’re not from our kingdom.”
“Do we just let them in without knowing who they are?”
Ruthania was a military powerhouse that could easily overshadow Seiron. They couldn’t dare to verify someone of such high status.
While they exchanged nervous glances, a sultry voice floated out from the wagon.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and open the door!”
The gatekeepers, feeling the unknown pressure, quietly opened the door.
As the entourage entered the academy grounds, even passing students and professors froze in their tracks.
There was both fear of the large military presence and curiosity about the extravagant procession.
When the wagon came to a stop in front of the central building, the headmaster rushed out, panting.
Creeeak…
The door of the wagon slowly opened.
Everyone, on edge, waited to see who would step out.
Thud.
“Ugh, long-distance travel is such a drag. Why did the lord send me to this ridiculous place? Am I really the one to handle such trivial tasks?”
Stepping down in annoyance was Claude.
Having lived excessively lavishly on the way here, he was now completely under the influence of that role.
In other words, he had forgotten his true purpose.
People glanced at Claude sideways.
People sneaked glances at Claude from the side.
His clothes and hat definitely looked incredibly expensive… but somehow, they seemed a bit gaudy.
The hat was adorned with not just one but dozens of rare bird feathers, making him look like a barbarian shaman.
And that wasn’t all. Thick gold and gemstone rings glittered on each of his fingers. It was questionable whether he could even lift those fingers.
He wore three heavy gold necklaces hanging down to his belly button. It was so heavy that his neck hunched like a turtle.
On top of that, countless ornaments were hanging all over his clothes, making it look like he might struggle to walk.
Indeed, as soon as Claude took a step, he stumbled. Wendy rushed to support him, clicking her tongue.
“Ow, why do I feel so heavy?”
“See? You should’ve toned it down a bit with the dressing.”
Before Claude, who clearly was new to spending money, could make a scene, the dean approached and bowed. He seemed afraid to make eye contact, staring down at the ground instead.
It seemed he didn’t recognize who Claude was, but that only made him less inclined to look up. Most nobles with such peculiar tastes were a bit off in the head, so it made sense.
“Uh, how might I help you?”
With a trembling voice, the dean asked, and Claude waved his hand dismissively.
“I just came by wagon.”
“…Who are you here to see?”
“I came to see the dean. Is Dean Dennis around?”
“That would be me.”
“Oh? Dean, it’s me, Claude. Wow, you’ve aged quite a bit.”
Only then did Dennis lift his head and observe Claude’s face closely.
It was definitely the familiar face from his memories. Dennis couldn’t help but yell out in surprise.
“Claude? Is that really you? How on earth did you become so wealthy…?”
Not just Dennis, but the professors around them were equally shocked.
They had heard about Claude’s return through Anna and the news of his complete departure to another kingdom.
Now, seeing Claude return as a wealthy man, they were utterly flabbergasted.
Regardless, Claude dramatically waved his fingers a few times and said, “Ah, why are my fingers so heavy? Anyway, I came to ask the dean a few things. I have some requests as well.”
“Y-Yeah. Let’s go inside and talk.”
The procession was so extravagant that students were starting to gather around. There was no way to have a proper conversation here.
But Claude didn’t go right in and spoke up instead.
“I heard the Seiron Kingdom is facing severe drought. Is everyone managing to get enough to eat?”
“Ugh… you must know the situation. There are plenty of poor folks overflowing in the kingdom. We’re barely scraping by.”
The Royal Academy was established to nurture intelligent commoners, so it generally received generous sponsorship from the royal family and nobles.
If even a place like this could barely afford food, the situation must be extraordinarily dire.
Claude nodded a few times, then turned around and said, “Gillian, hand out a ton of food here. Make it generous. What are you doing? Hurry up!”
Gillian, who stood behind him, twitched his lips.
Although he complied since it was a necessary task, it was becoming increasingly difficult to behold the scene.
Still, if he succeeded this time, it would surely help Ghislaine, so he couldn’t afford to mess this up. Gillian gritted his teeth and ordered the soldiers to distribute the food.
Seeing this, Dennis cautiously inquired, “Are you really going to donate all that food here?”
“It’s charity, charity. You need to eat well to study well, right? Share generously with the surroundings too.”
“Could you please share generously with the people around?”
“You’ve become an incredible wealthy person.”
“Wooow!”
As the gathered people listened to Claude’s words, they expressed their admiration.
Before they knew it, the food left by the soldiers next to the wagon had piled up like a mountain. By current market standards, it was enough to buy the entire Academy.
To say he would donate all of that was no ordinary big decision.
Claude waved his hand while bragging, causing the cheers to grow louder.
Quickly scanning the surroundings, he wore a slightly disappointed expression.
‘Did Anna not come? Is she not here today?’
In the meantime, Dennis joyfully exclaimed.
“Thank you so much! But why bother coming down with it? You could just leave it in the wagon, and we would handle unloading it ourselves. We’re already grateful for the food; you really don’t have to go that far.”
Dennis figured that with that amount of food, they could have bought thousands of wagons. It was a trivial item that didn’t necessarily need to be taken back.
However, Claude replied with a slightly darkened expression.
“No… I plan to take the wagon back…”
In Penris, a wagon like that was more precious than food. Food was so abundant that even neighborhood stray dogs would eat what they found unappetizing and throw it away.
“It must have a special story behind it.”
“… Yes, it has many stories…”
“Let’s go inside. We’ll talk comfortably in there.”
Dennis took Claude’s hand and led him inside.
If Claude had appeared normally, he wouldn’t have received such a warm welcome.
He had been essentially chased out of the kingdom for being involved in his master’s death.
However, since he flaunted an overwhelming amount of money from the start and was giving away food, nobody dared to act carelessly towards him.
Though it might have been a bit too much, Claude’s strategy was, in fact, spot on.
After moving to the guest room, Dennis directly asked Claude.
“So, what do you want to know, and what can I help you with? Did you come to see Anna?”
“No, not really… I just thought I might take a look… but that’s not the reason I came…”
Taken aback by Dennis’s sharp question, Claude stammered, prompting Dennis to ask again.
“Then what is it? Speak comfortably.”
After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Claude said.
“I would like to receive a list of the students my master taught. Also, the list of my classmates.”
“Hmm… You want their list?”
“Yes, and could you gather the students who are about to graduate?”
“Students? Why?”
Claude replied with a strangely sinister smile.
“I… I’m looking to pick some people for my Territory.”
Seeing that, Dennis felt a strange sense of unease but didn’t outright refuse.
Having received an immense donation, he had no justification to say no. In fact, it would be a grateful thing if the successful Claude took students away.
In these tough times, graduates from the Academy had nowhere to go. With everyone’s circumstances being tough, there was no way they could afford to lose existing staff by recruiting new ones.
A few days later, under Dennis’s instructions, posters and announcements were hung all over the Academy.
[New Steward Recruitment for Penris Territory]
[Today, there will be an explanation regarding employment, so students about to graduate must participate.]
Seeing that, students gathered in groups, buzzing with excitement.
“If it’s the Ruthania Kingdom, they’re a strong nation, right?”
“I heard they’re looking for people from the Great Territory. The wealthy noble who came a few days ago is the Chief Officer there, apparently.”
“Let’s hurry and check it out!”
Malron, who was about to graduate, sighed as he looked at the other students.
Malron let out a sigh.
“Haah, do I really have to go? Finding a job these days is tough enough.”
With the famine, even the stewards were getting fired. It was common for even loyal retainers to withdraw their oaths of loyalty.
For nobles, maintaining their knights was important, but not many cared much for their administrators.
Even before the famine, most territories operated on a trial-and-error basis without administrators.
So, it was no wonder that students who only studied without any real experience were deeply concerned.
“If it continues like this, I’ll end up starving to death without a job.”
Nobles who used to sponsor the Academy and scout talents no longer came here.
In times where everyone needed to cut back, it was hard to sponsor and hire someone.
“Should I just inherit my father’s work?”
Malron, known for being smart since childhood, had parents who devoted themselves entirely to supporting him with great expectations.
But reality was harsh. Among the students gathered from across the kingdom, there were simply too many outstanding individuals.
No matter how much he studied, he couldn’t break out of the mid-lower tier in grades.
Thinking about his parents, who spent their lives struggling to support him, made Malron feel gloomy.
“Well, I might as well hear the explanation… just in case…”
He wasn’t particularly attracted to the idea of other kingdoms, but he couldn’t afford to be picky right now. In these times, getting a single recruit was something to celebrate.
Crushed by the weight of reality, Malron moved forward listlessly.
When he arrived at the academy’s largest hall, most of the graduating students were already gathered.
Given the dire circumstances, everyone seemed to be grasping at straws.
A moment later, when Malron saw Claude entering the hall, his expression soured.
“Just looking at him, he seems like a fraud. Coming all the way from another kingdom, it’s clear what he’s about.”
Other students shared Malron’s sentiments. They had come out of desperation, but hope instantly faded.
“That guy’s definitely a wannabe rich guy.”
“He looks so strange.”
“That guy is the chief officer of the Great Territory?”
Claude, feeling heavy, was barely able to enter with Wendy’s support.
It was only natural that the atmosphere would turn grim with his strangely extravagant attire.
Seeing the disappointed expressions of the students, Claude smirked.
“Oh dear, how cute.”
It seemed like he didn’t understand how precious the things he was wearing were, probably because he was still young.
Having lived a bit, he realized that the best strategy was to grab everything expensive when he could.
Clearing his throat, Claude ended his brief introduction and started talking about the Penris Territory.
“… Our Lord is the son of the Duke of the North, and as the heir there… has forcefully unified the territories of Count Digald and Count Cabaldy, reigning over the Great Territory… Furthermore, he has the Marquis Branford as his guardian, a powerhouse of the kingdom, and it seems that discussions about his daughter possibly being engaged are currently underway…”
The students’ faces grew increasingly incredulous as they listened.
The Lord of Penris was not only of high status, but his achievements and background were extraordinary. Just hearing about him painted him as a young, exceptional war hero, carrying the hopes of the kingdom.
Especially with the close ties to the Marquis Branford and the potential engagement discussions, that was a significant shock.
The Marquis Branford was so well-known that nobody in the nearby kingdoms was unfamiliar with his name.
But the next part of the story was even more shocking.
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