Chapter 128 – Next Arrangement (1)

A week had passed since he left the capital.

After arriving at the warp gate in the northeast region, Roman and his men took a rest and headed for Dmitry.
It was an arduous journey that began at the Southern Front.

Although they managed to recover a little in the capital, that didn’t mean they had to go back to Dmitry as quickly as possible.

After one week, Roman entered the territory of Viscount Conrad.
After passing this area, Dmitry was next, so the soldiers were all longing to head back to their homes.

How far did they move?

As they approached the border between the two places, they caught a strange sight.

“Oh my!”

“All the crops for the year are ruined!”

“These bastards! If this happens, how are we supposed to live?!”

A bunch of people who looked like farmers were sitting on the ground and weeping.
Just by looking at them, it was easy to understand the situation.

The vast land, which seemed to be for cultivating crops, looked devastated, and the farmers were weeping as if the sky had fallen on them.

Roman looked away.
He wasn’t sure what horrible things had happened to them, but there was no reason for Roman to solve everyone’s difficulties.

Right next to him, Chris explained,

“…Looks like they are Dmitry’s farmers.
I heard that some people who aren’t in the mines had rented the land on Conrad’s side to farm.
As Conrad is a far place, it must have been difficult to manage, but it looks like something had gone wrong for them.”

Halt.

Roman stopped walking.
If they were the people of Dmitry, then it was a different story.

Just like the case with the Castro family, Roman took Dmitry into his boundary, and it meant their work had to be resolved.

Roman said,

“Chris.
Bring them before me.
I need to hear what happened to them.”

“I understand.”

Chris bowed his head and commanded the farmers to come to Roman.

It was, as Chris said.
They were the farmers of Dmitry, and they complained of injustice to Roman.

“As you know, not much land in Dmitry is available to farm.
So there are many who rent the land on the border of Dmitry and Conrad, and we signed a contract with the Conrad family, and we promised to rent this land for 10 years.
Now, in a month’s time, the crop is supposed to be harvested, but a few days ago, the Conrad family sent us the most nonsensical notice.”

A notice.

The farmer pounded on his chest, feeling frustrated.
It felt like the thought of it was upsetting to him.

“The Conrad family apparently has work to do on this land, so we were asked to clear land within a week.
Does this make sense? No matter how poor we are, we did make a contract to rent this land for 10 years at a reasonable cost.
With 5 years more left on the contract, they are kicking us out of our rented land without a discussion.
Young Master, it is quite sad.
Look at this, we didn’t move out so the Conrad family sent their men to ravage the land.”

“Huh.
We have no way to live now.
We have been working so hard for this crop to be harvested, now, what do we do when the crop will not even come?”

The farmers cried at the frustrating situation for them.

The Conrads completely ignored their contracts, but the world had more complicated things than just contracts.

It was the difference in class.
Against the Conrad family, which held power of its own in the northeast, the protest of a few farmers meant nothing.
It was possible for them to be caught by the throat and killed.

At least for Dmitry’s people, it was.
Wasn’t that why the Conrads had the confidence to destroy the crop?

It was an unreasonable situation.

At the thoroughly trampled rights of the weak, Chris said,

“Lord.
The situation of the farmers is unique, but that doesn’t mean we can do anything.
The land leased by the farmers belonged to the Conrad family.
Even if we prevented them from taking the land into possession, it would only lead to problems between the two noble families.
The Conrad family is forming their own group of nobles in the northeast, they are not a simple target for us.”

The northeast.

If Barco and Dmitry were two mountains, then Conrad was a force below them.
Although their individual power wasn’t great, they had the alliance to protect one another.

The Northeast Alliance.

They were like bats.
When Barco was in power, they stuck to them, and when Barco fell, they appeared at Dmitry’s banquet.

They didn’t normally raise their voice.
They were a group that united in the face of danger, so there was no reason to touch such groups.

The problem was that right now their opponent was Roman Dmitry.
The situation in the northeast was closely related to the future plans Roman had.

So he said, “Chris.
If we ignore a problem because it is not simple, then no one can solve it.
And bystanders only increase the intensity of the problem.
Before I increase my influence, I need to get rid of the root of the problems around me.”

“…!”

Chris was shocked at Roman’s words and understood the meaning behind them.
Chris took a step back and bowed his head.

“I obey the command of my Lord.”

If Roman made the decision, then it was his duty to follow it.

They finally arrived in Dmitry.
The gates were wide open to welcome the return of Roman and the men cheered for them.

“Roman! Roman!”

“Roman! Roman!”

“Hero of Cairo! Pride of Dmitry!”

It was a mess.
These people heard the rumors too.
The fact that Roman played an active role in the Southern Front and was called Cairo’s hero.

This was a moment of pride for the people of the Dmitry estate.
He was once a fool of Dmitry, and now everyone looked at him with respect.
Roman moved through the crowd.
It was a familiar scene to be welcomed by people, and wherever he looked, people cheered for him.

At the entrance of the inner city, Baron Romero ran to hug him.

“Son! You have been through so much!”

“How have you been?”

“All is fine.
What can be special about this place? We have prepared a grand party for you.
Consider this the last day of your life and eat and drink while having the most fun.”

Baron Romero walked ahead, but Roman didn’t follow him.
He spoke with a face that didn’t like the cheers of the people.

“Father, can you spare some time for me?”

In the office of the Lord, the deafening cheers were no longer heard, and Roman explained what happened at Conrad’s, to which Baron Romero replied with a firm face,

“…I did hear about something like that, but, Son, there are a few sensitive issues in the world that shouldn’t be touched.
No matter the fact that a contract was signed, there is no way to prevent Conrad from reclaiming the land that is rightfully theirs.
Will the farmers of Dmitry be able to farm properly on the land of Conrad? Rather, it would be better to create a peaceful solution by giving them new jobs.”

Just like Chris said, Baron Romero didn’t want this issue to grow any further.
Even if it seriously harmed the people of Dmitry, this was a matter that happened on the border of both states.

And Roman said, “I do understand what Father is talking about.
But there is one thing I want to ask.”

“Go on.”

“If…if it wasn’t Dmitry, but the people of Marquis Benedict, do you think the Conrad family would be able to take back the land given to the farmers?”

At that, his expression went stiff.
This was a sensitive issue.
It was meaningless to give this as an example, but still, the Baron couldn’t understand what Roman’s intentions were for bringing this up.

“I do not understand what you mean by that, Marquis Benedict isn’t an ordinary man.
He is the head of the Central Government that controls the Cairo Kingdom.
Count Gregory and Count Denver are protected by the empires they side with, but in the Cairo Kingdom, in the end, it is Marquis Benedict who holds power.
Who can touch such a person? This is a wrong example in the first place and has nothing to do with our current problem.”

He drew a clear line.
He had a point.
Assuming that Marquis Benedict was in this position, such a problem would have never occurred.
The people looked up to him for his power, so who would touch him?

“You are right.
As Father said, Marquis Benedict is a living power, so no one will think of touching him or his people.
Then what do you think of Dmitry’s position in the northeast? Just half a year ago, we didn’t hold a solid position either.
But as we overthrew the Barco family, we are now the strongest in the northeast.”

“I will not deny that.
Although Dmitry is said to be the strongest in the northeast, we never know what dangers await us if we attack a neighboring estate and blindly trust our newfound power.
This isn’t a matter of pride.
There is no need to create a fight between Dmitry and other troops by raising a problem that we do not have to touch.”

“No.
There is no need for that.”

He said firmly.

Despite the Baron’s words, Roman didn’t step back.

“We defeated Barco.
At that time, the northeast was an area that seemed to follow the words of Barco and was protected by the Central Government.
But what about now? Although it is said that Barco held the power of the Central Government, the Conrad family and other nobles are showing that Dmitry doesn’t hold the true power.
People say that Dmitry isn’t as good as Barco, so there is no need to worry too much.
Even touching the people of Dmitry doesn’t seem to be a problem for them.
After all, Dmitry is just a family in the northeast, and they think we have a limit to our tasks and actions as we do not receive protection from those who hold power.”

Northeast.

A small word.

The king was way too insignificant compared to the entire Cairo Kingdom.

“Father.
The people of the Conrad family touched the people of Dmitry.
It wasn’t a problem between the estates, but the Conrad people had directly gone to do it, and they made the decision without another thought that touching the people of Dmitry was alright.
What does this mean? That we have a limit? People say that Dmitry is the best in the northeast, but isn’t the reality much farther from that?”

His voice had changed.
After the war with Hector, Roman found the wildness he held in his previous life.
The predator went after the weak in the world, and he knew that this was a problem that shouldn’t be overlooked.

He looked straight into Baron Romero’s eyes and continued with a firm voice,

“Now is the time to organize the power flow in the northeast.
Who is above, and who is below? We will have to show it clearly through this incident.”

Sparks flew off.

The northeast area.

Roman revealed his new ambition.