Chapter 22: Crazy Guy, Why Do That! (2)
At his father’s question, Ghislaine finally regained his senses and straightened up to respond.
“There was nothing much. I just had a little something to discuss with Amelia.”
“Is that so?”
Zvalter’s eyes flickered with interest.
Ghislaine had always been busy avoiding him and running away. Rather than coming to greet him, Ghislaine would always come up with excuses to hide, even when Zvalter went to find him.
The only time the father and son met face-to-face was when Ghislaine caused some trouble and was brought back home.
Yet here was Ghislaine, coming to find him first.
Not only that, but there was a certain confidence in his words and actions. It felt so unfamiliar that Zvalter wondered if this was really the same Ghislaine he knew.
When someone does something out of character, suspicion tends to arise.
‘What’s up with that guy? Is he sick or something?’
Zvalter narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Ghislaine as if he were examining a specimen.
‘Hmm, definitely suspicious.’
As Zvalter kept his mouth shut, the atmosphere began to cool.
Ghislaine decided to start with a greeting.
“You’ve worked hard. I heard you managed to handle things well this time too.”
“No, I should have pushed hard, but I couldn’t because of the territory issues. Still, I dealt a decent amount of damage, so for now, those guys won’t be moving recklessly. I plan to rest a bit and will head out again once I’ve regrouped.”
Ghislaine silently stared at his father’s face.
It wasn’t intentional, but he had already heard how tough things had been for the territory outside.
Yet Zvalter didn’t show any signs of the difficult situation in front of his son, only talking about what needed to be done next.
‘You haven’t changed a bit.’
Even after a long time apart, Zvalter’s stoic expression remained unaltered.
If others were to see him, they would think him an unemotional, humorless man.
As a child, Ghislaine had thought so too. How he hated a father who was just strict and rigid.
But now he understood what lay hidden behind that expression.
It was fatigue, exhaustion, and a sense of responsibility that refused to give up.
‘Everyone is relying on that sense of responsibility.’
The peace that everyone takes for granted was actually built on Zvalter’s sacrifices.
In his childhood, he had simply thought his father was an unreasonable person who cared little about family and only loved fighting. He often envied the other noble youths who lived comfortably and luxuriously in the territory. He couldn’t understand why they alone had to live in such poverty and hardship.
Watching other noble offspring live comfortably, he couldn’t help but feel envious. It was hard to understand why only they were living in such poverty and struggle.
But now that he understood the weight of responsibility, he felt like he could grasp his father’s feelings. He realized how tough it was to live like that.
Ghislaine fell into deep thought. Seeing her son looking like he had nothing more to say, Zvalter asked what he was curious about.
“I heard you personally dealt with Jamal and Philip. Is that true?”
‘Um, how should I phrase this?’
The rumors swirling around the incident had already become quite bothersome.
As Ghislaine hesitated, Knight Commander Randolf leaned in and spoke up.
“That’s right; there’s been a lot of talk. Please be honest with us. Did you really kill them yourself?”
“I didn’t kill them all myself.”
At that, Perdium’s retainers nodded knowingly, as if saying, “Of course.”
They didn’t believe for a second that Ghislaine had personally killed those two knights.
Randolf nodded again and asked, “So, they fought each other then?”
“Yes, they did fight among themselves.”
Since Frank was the one who killed Jamal and Philip, it wasn’t entirely a lie.
“So the Grand Duke just finished them off?”
“Well, in a way, yes.”
Including Frank, the rest had been killed by him, so one could say he did finish it.
Satisfied with the honest response, Randolf smiled.
In fact, while he was surprised there had been a traitor in the territory, he found it utterly ridiculous that the knight he had was taken out by this troublemaker.
“You were lucky. Facing a knight isn’t easy, though. Well done.”
Zvalter flashed a somewhat pleased smile at Ghislaine.
For a worthless guy who was of no help to the territory, achieving even that much was quite impressive.
He thought Ghislaine was the kind of person who would have run away even if it meant abandoning his younger sister.
Yet, seeing him stay to protect his sister, it seemed he hadn’t fallen to the worst level yet.
“I heard you also won in your sparring match against Cain. Keep training hard like that.”
“Understood.”
Randolf didn’t push further about whether it was true that he beat Cain; he had already heard from the knights who witnessed it, and figured it was just a fight among mediocre peers.
The rumor of Ghislaine’s achievements in battling orcs had quieted down to “Ghislaine actively helped Skoban” after the duel with Cain.
All controversies had settled, but Randolf still looked at Ghislaine with disapproval.
“Ugh, if he weren’t the Grand Duke’s son, I would have folded him in half right now.”
This time, Baron Homern stepped forward.
“Grand Duke, you must always conduct yourself properly. Always remember you are the heir of Perdium. Never lose your honor… always for the sake of the territory… Your grandfather, Count Dante Perdium…”
Homern’s nagging began to drag on endlessly.
In his eyes, Ghislaine was a nuisance to the territory and unworthy of being an heir, despite being a Grand Duke.
What a pathetic human.
So, every time he saw him, he couldn’t help but feel displeased and nag.
In truth, Ghislaine’s rebellious spirit in his past life was partly due to that nagging. Baron Homern wouldn’t have known that, though.
“I understand. Please don’t worry.”
Ghislaine cut off the nagging at an appropriate point.
‘Ugh, look at him stopping me because he hates listening. No matter how many times I talk, it’s useless. Totally useless.’
Baron Homern closed his mouth with a dissatisfied expression.
In the past, he nagged to raise him properly, but now it involuntarily came out of fear that Ghislaine might cause some trouble.
As soon as Homern finished his nagging, Albert piped up as if he had been waiting.
“We plan to cut down on the expenses for maintaining dignity.”
‘Not even a crumb of bread is worth it.’
Naturally, since there was no money in the territory, he thought of reducing the expenses of the absolutely useless food sucker first.
However, unexpectedly, a cheerful reply came back.
“Of course.”
‘Huh? Why is that guy accepting this so easily?’
Albert shot a suspicious glance at Ghislaine.
Normally, he would have complained and wouldn’t hesitate to threaten for money.
‘Hmm, something’s fishy.’
He usually barely acknowledged Ghislaine, just treating him like a pesky animal. He only spoke when it came to money matters.
‘For now, let’s just watch.’
Albert kept his mouth shut, thinking he might cut the budget assigned to Ghislaine even more if needed.
The three of them didn’t always regard Ghislaine with disdain from the start. When he was young, they truly cherished him like their own child.
However, once Ghislaine’s accidents surpassed the level of “He’s just a kid,” they all gave up.
Now, just seeing his face felt like looking at an enemy.
Other retainers also took turns greeting Ghislaine, the Grand Duke, with sullen expressions since they had all suffered because of him at least once.
Zvalter stifled a smirk inside.
Seeing the retainers all on high alert due to Ghislaine, fatigue suddenly hit him hard. In a way, he was quite the presence.
‘My son really is a peculiar existence.’
Zvalter clicked his tongue and spoke in a somewhat tired voice.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like you came just to say hello. What is it you want to say?”
Ghislaine nodded solemnly.
This part was really important.
“I have something I’d like to do, and I hope you’ll grant your permission.”
“You… want to do something?”
“Yes, there’s something I must do.”
“I don’t know what it is, but can’t you just do nothing?”
Ghislaine pouted.
“It’s absolutely necessary.”
“…Okay, what is it?”
Zvalter asked, trying to hide his anxiousness.
Even he, trained by the ongoing combat in the North, found his heart racing whenever he saw his son.
They say children are the enemies of their past lives; maybe he had a lot of sins from his previous life.
Seeing the tension on Zvalter’s face, Ghislaine clicked his tongue inside.
‘How funny, a father who gets this tense just seeing his son.’
Not just the father; even the retainers were all as tense as if they were facing a barbarian.
He was doing it.
Ghislaine, instead of feeling offended by the cold reception, actually found it a bit amusing.
After all, these were people he hadn’t seen in decades; it was only natural to feel delighted, but their strange looks at him, as if he were a ghost, cracked him up.
To them, Ghislaine was someone who had been causing chaos not long ago, so their caution was understandable.
“Well, I suppose this is better than nothing.”
Maybe because he had received so much criticism for wiping out the kingdom in his past life, he didn’t really care about the retainers’ reactions.
With the territory in such dire straits, it made sense that they had struggled with a Grand Duke like him running around causing trouble.
But things were different now. Ghislaine had the knowledge and ability to turn the terrible situation around.
“Besides, it’ll be a good thing for the territory.”
Ghislaine steeled himself and declared firmly, “I will develop the Forest of Monsters.”
Zvalter raised an eyebrow. The retainers beside him had looks of utter disbelief.
In an instant, the atmosphere around them became heavy. It got so quiet that one could almost hear a pin drop.
Baron Homern, who had been dumbfounded for a while, finally looked at Ghislaine and said, “Your Grace, are you saying you want to develop the Forest of Monsters right now?”
“That’s correct. Just let me build a fortress next to the forest and gather some troops; I’ll handle the rest.”
The Forest of Monsters is known by many ominous names, like the Dark Forest and the Silent Forest.
This vast area to the north of Perdium was filled with powerful monsters. No one had ever successfully explored it.
Even Perdium refrained from disturbing it, merely handling the occasional monster that ventured out.
Baron Homern chuckled as if he were about to teach Ghislaine a lesson. “Your Grace, do you even know what the Forest of Monsters is like?”
Ghislaine nodded slightly and smiled. “Of course, I know it well. It’s a forest full of monsters and danger.”
The murmurs of the retainers began to grow louder.
In this world, there are things one can do and things one cannot. What Ghislaine was claiming seemed impossible to them.
They couldn’t understand why he suddenly showed up saying such things, and to them, it felt like another one of his absurd demands. They couldn’t help but think that the Grand Duke was just causing trouble again.
Baron Homern, with a stern face, spoke again. “Not only is it impossible to develop that area, but as a Grand Duke, you can’t recruit troops and build a fortress within the territory.”
“Yes, and that’s why I came to seek my father’s permission.”
Ghislaine’s casually indifferent response only made Baron Homern feel his blood boiling further.
Now that Ghislaine was older, it seemed like he was about to cause a truly massive incident.
‘This is in front of the Lord.’
Baron Homern tried to hold himself together.
But as the horrifying accidents Ghislaine had caused flashed through his mind, seeing that unrepentant expression was too much for him to handle.
Before Zvalter could even say something, Baron Homern exploded, spewing saliva as he shouted, “You crazy fool, why would you do that!”
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