Chapter 41: Two Thousand Years of History

I was now in my third year of elementary school.

Luckily, I was able to get permission for a short leave to visit the Seventh Weapons Factory.

I was visiting in order to check the state of my machine.

what are you doing?

There were a bunch of people who were hugging and rubbing themselves against the newly renovated Avid.

Nias was among them, clinging onto it like a panda.

They didnt seem to notice me when I called out to them.

Oh my cute Avid, it was hard, wasnt it? Mommy here is so proud of you.

Apparently, Avids renovation was quite difficult.

Nias had broken.

Looking up at Avid, it didnt look that different.

However, both the frame and the armour were completely made of rare metals.

Its performance greatly surpassed the current generation of machines.

I was satisfied looking at the specs displayed in the catalog.

However

I dont like it.

When I muttered that, Marie closed the distance between us in an instant and dropped to her knee.

D-does something not satisfy you?!

Was she a ninja or something?

Well, it was fine.

I shouldve sent over some gold as well. Black armour with silver lining looks nice too, but I prefer gold.

At that moment, Nias seemed to wake up,

Who?! Who dares to sully my child with the colours of their poor taste?!

She said my preferences were in poor tastes.

Marie stood up and drew one of the sword handles she had hanging off her waist.

Almost immediately after, a blade extended from said handle.

It was a storage type weapon built for convenience.

Nias, youre an excellent engineer, so Ill finish this with only one sword in deference of your achievements of renovating Avid.

Nias started yelling for me,

GYAAAAAA!!! LORD LIAAAAAM!!!!

Wasnt her response similar to that of seeing a ghost?

Nias, get away from Avid. Lord Liams personal machine will be stained with your blood otherwise.

Thats enough.

I stopped Marie, whose gaze had frozen over, because it looked like she was going to kill her.

Nias, as an apology Ill forget that you said those words just now, but the parts of Avid that are silver I want repainted gold.

Nias eyes were filled with tears.

I dont want to!

You bitch!

She immediately refused my request.

And as Marie began lifting up her sword in response, I stopped her so she could explain,

The silver parts are connected to the inner frame. Its all mythril. Its the silver shine of something far more valuable than gold!

But I still like gold better. Better yet, lets paint all the non-silver parts gold as well!

Thats why you have poor taste! Cant you understand how brilliant this adamantium shine is?!

The crests and patterns on Avid were all silver.

Nias refuted my desire to have them all repainted in gold.

If it wasnt her saying it, I wouldve had her head.

If you paint over the mythril, the performance will drop! If I were to quantify it in numbers, the output would drop between two to five percent!

I was okay with that.

Thats fine, just repaint it.

It wasnt even painted in the first place! This black shine is the natural colour of adamantium! Ahh my cute Avid is being tainted in anothers poor tastes.

Nias was crying as she clung to Avid.

Marie turned towards me,

Lord Liam, do you want me to torture her?

Shes a pitiful girl, but I quite like her. Ill forgive this much. However, as punishment shell have to paint Avid herself, no matter how much she hates doing so.

I ordered Nias, who was completely against me request, to paint Avid herself.

Uwaaa~n, Lord Liam you idiiiiiooooooooot~!

It was fun to watch Nias paint while crying, and after making a few more adjustments to Avid, I returned to elementary school a few days later.

The elementary school while Liam was away.

Rosetta was summoned by one of the officials appointed to keep her family under watch.

do you want to participate in the tournament?

The officials asked Rosetta, who looked completely worn down,

We generously allowed you to attend elementary school. Why dont you participate and make some memories?

As a daughter of the Claudia Ducal house, are you really going to avoid participating like a coward?

You can just borrow money to cover the rental fees. Ill even introduce you to an acquaintance of mine for the loan.

They knew that shed only end up embarrassing herself.

While the lender would no doubt only give her high-interest loans.

Any decent person would never try to get involved with the Claudia house.

I understand.

But she couldnt decline.

This was because Rosetta couldnt last any longer against the officials harassment.

Sometimes it would last for so long, that she wouldnt be able to get any sleep for days on end.

While they themselves would harass her in rotation, so the burden was small for them.

As expected of the next Duchess! In addition to yourself, the Berkley familys Lord Derrick, and Liam the boy who made a name for himself through pirate hunting, are participating this year as well! This will surely be an interesting event.

Derricks name was called with the prefix of Lord, while Liams name was left alone that was enough to understand their allegiance.

They were corrupt officials close to the Pirate Nobles.

(Are they going to laugh at me when I get injured during the match?)

The tournament was a dangerous event.

There were even times when fatalities had occurred.

In such an event, anybody would laugh at an idiot willing to participate with an outdated model.

Rosettas spirit was already broken.

(Or rather, I just want the match to end quickly.)

Then the official hammered the final nail in the coffin,

Oh yeah~ thats right. Its better if you dont get any strange ideas. Apparently Count Banfield is thinking about marrying you, but the moment he finds out about your houses debt, hell run away just like everyone else. Thats it. Why dont you try bearing Liams child? If a person whos widely known to hate him like yourself, prostrates before him, hell probably comply. If thats all youre aiming for, well gladly take care of negotiations in your stead.

It was a line said knowing of her hatred towards Liam.

Rosetta had already given up.

do whatever you want.

Liam wasnt the only one preparing for the tournament.

Approaching the planet the elementary school was located was a pirate fleet.

Hundreds of pirate ships were gathered together by Derrick.

However, with only this many they werent willing to attack Liam.

Is it just us?

The pirates were anxious about ruining Derricks mood.

Lord Derrick, are we r-really going to be fighting Pirate Hunter Liam?

No matter how big of a reward you offer, Im not fighting that guy.

Even well-known pirate fleets never stood a chance against him.

To those who were getting weak-kneed, Derrick snapped his fingers.

Illuminated in the hangar behind him was a new model of mobile knight.

The pirates exclaimed in awe.

This is the new model built at the First Weapons Factory. I forcefully commissioned it of them. Ill be using this to kill that bastard Liam.

Derricks strategy was

Its an elementary school tournament, and if youre entering you can only bring one mobile knight with you. On the day of the tournament, youll drop down from the atmosphere into the event venue while surrounding Liam. You dont need to worry about any nuisances interfering. The officials that watch over the Claudia house will be lending us a hand.

For the officials who enjoyed tormenting the Claudia house, an engagement with Liam couldnt be allowed.

So they decided to lend Derrick a hand.

Derrick was frustrated.

From his last attack on Liam, he still hasnt been able to get that back.

That was lost in the Banfield houses territory, so itd be impossible to retrieve as long as the Banfield fleet was in his way.

The one that will kill Liam will be me.

At the elementary school, he was so scared that he couldnt leave the dormitory anymore.

The rest of the students of the second school building were the same.

They couldnt oppress students of the other school buildings anymore.

Because on the off chance that they met Liam thatd be the end of them.

If it was how things used to be, then theyd be able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

But now they were living in fear of Liam.

make sure to kill Liam. As long as you surround him with the new model while youre attacking, then he wont be scary.

He was only a little stronger than the normal person.

As long as you surrounded him while attacking, there was nothing to fear.

Derrick told himself that again to convince himself, while biting his thumbnail.

(Yes, its going to be okay. They might look like mobile knights used by pirates, but theyre new, expensive models. Ill definitely kill that bastard Liam with this!)

The first school building of the elementary school.

Kurt and Wallace were talking in the mens washroom.

Me? No, I wont be participating.

The topic was the upcoming tournament.

Dont you have a swordsmanship license?

Kurt, the heir of the Baron Exner house, didnt intend to participate in the tournament.

There arent any aircrafts available for me to take from home, and even if I rented one out, I still wouldnt stand a chance against Liam.

I guess your home also has its own problems, huh?

Things are actually a bit better now that weve rented ships from Liam.

Thanks to their support, the territory was flourishing.

However, that was only to a certain extent.

Kurt couldnt afford to be luxurious.

Wallace had a worried expression on his face,

Hey, is there absolutely no way for me to stop Liam? If the Berkley familys Derrick enters as well, then hes definitely going to kill him and start a war.

But Kurt told Wallace that it was impossible,

Liam doesnt change his mind that easily. Plus, hes had his eye on Derrick for a while now. So he was probably going to do it later anyway.

But his opponent is the Pirate Noble! They have a lot of allies outside of their family!

They had a large number of comrades, especially within the nobility.

Even so, Liam will never show mercy towards pirates.

Wallace was worried,

I cant cut off my patron, but hes too virtuous damn it, why cant I ever catch a break?

His life was full of problems while he was a royal, and even after finding a patron, nothing had changed.

The Banfield estate.

Invited there was current Duchess of the Claudia house and her predecessor.

With no servants to assist them, they were the only ones invited to Liams mansion.

They were greeted by the butler Brian as well as the various knights and servants around him.

Ive been waiting for you, but who are the people that you brought along?

Brian smiled as he looked at the imperial officials standing in the back.

Just consider us the Claudia houses escorts. You dont need to worry about us.

Thats what they said, but they directed sharp gazes towards Brian.

They didnt seem very friendly.

Serena was silently watching them.

While they were moving to the reception room, they decided to split them up because those officials were undoubtedly the supervisors.

Brian, Ill lead the officials away.

When Serena told him so, Brian nodded,

I wanted the Duchess and her predecessor to meet with a person of the same-sex, but I understand. Just leave negotiations to me.

Brian was willing to do anything so this engagement would go through.

The reception room.

The current Duchess Rosettas mother, was supporting her predecessor, whose complexion had become haggard.

Brian rushed over to the predecessor,

A-are you okay? Ill call a doctor right away.

However, the predecessor shook her head.

Its already too late. All I want to do now is to use the rest of this life for my granddaughter.

The predecessors body had been weakened after enduring poor living conditions in a harsh environment for such a long time.

Sir Brian, Id like to decline the engagement proposal.

C-can you please tell me why? Lord Liam is serious about this.

And thats exactly why. The Claudia house is very happy to have such kindness directed towards us, but its not just the debt that wed be forcing upon the Banfield house. Did you notice those officials who called themselves our escorts? They are people who exist just to torture us, we cant push that onto you.

For countless generations, they were the people who used the late emperors command as justification to do whatever they wanted.

They were merciless, and committed atrocious acts since there was no one in their way.

Peoples suffering brought them joy thats the kind of men they were.

The current head the Duchess bowed deeply.

At the very least, well accept Sir Liams sentiments. For this kindness that youve shown us, the Claudia house thanks you.

Brian started to cry after hearing about the Claudia houses circumstances.

And thought,

(Lord Liam wanted to help these people. This Brian here is so proud of him, and how hes always been so kind.)

Brian wiped his tears with a handkerchief,

I refuse your refusal.

When the two looked at him in surprise, he hurriedly added on,

Its Lord Liams desire to welcome Lady Rosetta as his wife. This Brian here will never give up!

The predecessor shook her head,

Its useless. Theyd never allow such a thing. This order thats lasted for over two thousand years carries much weight to it.

Its the command of the late Emperor.

Theyve continued harassing them for two millennia using this as justification.

Nobody thought it would ever stop.

It just couldnt be helped.

Lord Liam wouldnt falter at such a thing, and we already have permission from the Empire. The Banfield house is more than willing to carry both the sins and the debts of the your house! As members of a Ducal house, are you still dissatisfied with this?!

Brians words didnt reach the two whose spirits had been broken.

Even so, he still desperately tried to persuade them for Liam.

A separate room.

Serena was talking to the supervisors.

We already have permission for this engagement. This is the end of your job.

The officials sitting on the sofa put their feet up on the table taking a vulgar attitude.

That doesnt matter. Were working under the orders of the late Emperor. Even if their titles change a little, well still continue our work. Well just have to monitor the Banfield house instead.

After two millennia, their organisation had grown deep and wide.

They were a troublesome group.

so youre saying youll become hostile towards the Banfield house?

One of the officials responded,

In the first place, marriage is impossible. That Liam brat went too far. The darkness of the Empire will swallow him.

Serenas eyes narrowed,

After messing with Lord Liam, do you really think youll be able to get out scot-free?

Hes just a single kid that a little stronger than the norm.

Seeing their attitude, Serena understood,

(Having to deal with people like this the prime minister has it hard.)

Serenas shadow wiggled slightly as she thought so.

Inside of it were two red eyes, which were carefully watching the officials.

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