117: Aristocratic District 3

June 27, 2022 – 2 minutes read – 348 words

Later that day, Count Abbott came to visit me at my mansion.
I made sure to explain about Pi-chan before opening the door.

Count Abbott is a thin man in his fifties with silver hair and about 170cm (5.5 feet) tall.
The wrinkles etched into his face seem to reflect a strength of will or hard work and stress.

His house was ambivalent to me up until now, though he was watching my escapades like a lot of nobles.
It’s only natural that a person like him would investigate the rapidly growing liquor trade in my territory.
It was only bad luck that led to the spy being captured.

“How did you manage to catch him?” Count Abbott

He opens his green eyes to listen, it seem he can’t think of how I was able to capture a skilled spy.

It seems the Count places more importance on the territory management than military skills, as my military experience seems to be unknown to him.
It seems he is worried about the fact that I was able to discover his involvement in the spying.
The spy had been serving for years and was highly trained.

After the explanation of the interrogation (torture) by Patrick, the spy obviously gave up his secrets.

“I feel like vomiting…” Count Abbott

He looks a bit askance.
He apologizes again and gifts me ten daggers made of fine iron from his territory.
There are many territories with mines in the North, but Abbott’s territory is known for especially pure iron and skilled blacksmiths.
I gratefully accepted the daggers and we started to talk about future relations between our houses.

“It makes sense to trade iron from the Abbott territory in exchange for liquor from my territory, so let’s setup a direct trade route for that purpose.” Pat

“It would also be good to exchange pertinent information and such, so let’s work together in the future!” Count Abbott

“That sounds great, it would be my pleasure.” Pat

Then we shook hands and I gave the Count a selection of liquor and a fine chess set.

Editor Note: Right now, I'm heads down on wrapping up the last chapters for Volume 1 (translation and images).
Then I've got to tweak the combined chapters to make them cohesive and so on.
I've never tried to edit a book-length text before, it's…
interesting.