The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 30

 

Episode 30: The Evening with the Master

 The place where the head of the Fregrance family, one of the kingdom's five great noble families and reputed to be the "sword of the kingdom," sat down, whether on the frontlines or not, the inside of the camp was, to all intents and purposes, neat and tidy.

"So what's the matter?"

 There was only me and the head of the main family here. He sat on a stool with a deerskin cover, and I sit down on the opposite side. By the way, I am not sitting on a chair or a stool, and my ass is already starting to hurt.

"What... I want to hear your personal opinion."

"Personal opinion?"

 When I tilted my head, the master said, while taking off the crimson cloak he was wearing.

"We can talk about the empire up to the present day or what will happen in the future."

 And, he added.

"Let me hear your own thoughts on the current state of the Kingdom's Army."

 I have no power to reject it when he said "let me hear it" instead of "I want to hear it," and it is almost an order. The vague question was also presented at the end, but if it is an order, I have to respond to the master's request even if I don't want to. If I take credit for something big, I may be able to offer my opinion, but I don't really care about that.

 What I can say now is that I was ordered...... which means that my statements here, to a greater or lesser extent, are forced and I can escape or shift the blame as much as I want. It can't be helped.

 I'll just have to come up with a few excuses in my mind. No, otherwise I would not be able to say what I think.

"If I had to sum up this expedition in one word, it would be "extraordinary". Especially on the Kingdom's side, we are winning but we are going to lose."

"......Go on."

 He glared at me, but I wasn't offended anyway, so I continued as I was told.

"The cause, first of all, is the speed of the march; it's too fast. The enemy resistance is too weak, but I think the main cause is those nobles at the frontlines......."

"It's hard to rein in the greedy."

"Yes, really......"

 I nodded at the master's words with resentment from the bottom of my heart.

 The greedy people are the rootless nobles such as Viscount Fabian.

 This expedition to the Empire was to be a cut-and-dried affair. The ones who were entrusted to lead the expedition were the rootless nobles. For them, the lack of their own territory was their complex.

 However, in this expeditionary force to the Empire, many rootless nobles were entrusted to lead, and the land they had captured was allowed to be ruled on, depending on their achievements.

 It was a long-cherished dream to have their own territory. These rootless nobles who have been entrusted on the frontlines are biting into the empire like hungry beasts.

 As a result, the entire kingdom's army is advancing at an extraordinary speed, and supply lines have been strained to the limit. Horses pulling wagons are constantly running around, and it is not uncommon to arrive at a designated spot only to find that the army has already moved on to the next town.

 That had made me, as one of the people in charge of supply, have more than double the workload that I originally had. Damn it!

"Between us, if we keep going at this speed, the supply line will eventually collapse."

"......So you're telling me to stop here?"

"Well, technically speaking, yes."

"How long should we have to stay here?"

"......This is a personal opinion, right?"

“………………………………Yes, personal opinion.”

 He fell silent for too long. But the master said so, glaring at me and saying, "Speak quickly".

"We need at least two weeks."

 When I gave up and honestly told him how long it would take, his face contorted.

"No one will be convinced. Especially those who were entrusted to lead the army."

"I'm sure. That's why I said it earlier, right? We are winning, but we are going to lose."

 Reaching the capital itself will be easy due to the light resistance from the enemy. But once there, an army that lacks everything is just a lump of meat. And we will be driven into a corner.

 If we were to stop here, however, the rootless nobles would feel as if they were being left to fend for themselves. If that happened, their anger will be directed toward us, the landowning nobles, and even the kingdom itself. If things go badly, there may be a rebellion by the disgruntled rootless nobles.

 The current Kingdom Army is a perfect example of the fact that too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

 Furthermore, this war is not good for landowning nobles like me and the head of the Fregrance family, and we are really working for free, not to mention figuratively.

 No matter how much they will give, new land away from the land the landowning nobles already have is difficult to manage, and ridiculously expensive to maintain.

 In such a harsh war, this expedition to the Imperial capital can be seen as a war for the rootless nobles.

 Soon, there is going to be a fight between the landowners and the rootless nobles.

 The stupidest thing in war is a quarrel among themselves. We, the Kindom Army, exist on a fragile and crumbling foundation.

"...I thought. Well, there is a possibility that it will work, so it's just my personal opinion."

 I dare to say so to change the heavy atmosphere. I mean, at the moment, no harm has been done to me, and if the need arises, I am near the exit, so if I escape at the first opportunity, I will not be harmed.

 And to be honest, I think the rootless nobles should suffer a painful blow once.

 The number of rootless nobles has been gradually increasing over the past few years, and their influence has reached a point where it cannot be ignored. Due to that, the recent behavior of the rootless nobles has been unacceptable even to me, a lowly nobleman, and above all, unpleasant.

"Well, yes. It's just your personal opinion."

 The master smiled and then clapped his hands once on the spot.

 Then, out of nowhere, a female knight with red eyes came into the room, and after being told something by the master, she bowed to me and disappeared outside again.

 Could she be the master's concubine? It is a common practice to have someone accompany a noble on the battlefield to relieve him, but is this old man still active?

 Well, I guess he is insuring himself as well as me, the stallion, to give birth to his successor, but it's been three months since we met. I have yet to receive any reports of any congratulations on the part of the head of the main family. He is still a pitiful great nobleman in the lower part of his body.

"Then, by the way, how about the empire? I find it puzzling that there is no resistance, but what else is there?"

 The head of the family was very eager to hear what I had to say, even as I contemplated the possibility of being executed for insolence if I said such a thing. I don't think that not only his daughter, Lady Ritia, but also her father, the head of the Fregrance family, has come to the point of being interested in me? I don't want to be delirious with a swarthy old man......

"......As for the empire, this is complete speculation, but I think it would indeed be impossible to handle being hit from two fronts at the same time."

 This expedition to the imperial capital is not being carried out by the Kingdom on its own, but by its ally, the Northern Principality, which will also begin crossing the border at the same time. Although the Northern Principality's military power has recently declined compared to the Kingdom, the Federation, and the Empire, it was the largest country in the world until several hundred years ago.

 Even the empire is indeed having a hard time dealing with two countries. This is just my personal speculation. I can't deny the possibility that they have some kind of strategy in place.

"I am surprised that you are thinking this through so well......"

 The master, who had been listening intently to what I am saying, let out a short sigh and fell silent with his eyes closed.

"... But why did you want to hear my thoughts?"

 I felt uncomfortable in the silence that had somehow been created, so I questioned the master to break the silence.

 I wonder what he was trying to do by suddenly asking me about my personal opinion.

"What. I just want to chat, before I get down to business. I think you've heard the gist of what I have to say."

"Business?"

 Before the master could answer my question, the red-eyed lady knight who had just left reentered with a tray containing a bottle of wine and two glass cups in her hands.

 The glass cups are filled with purple liquid, and one of each is placed in front of me and the master.

"It's an early celebration."

 The master grinned and picked up a glass of wine and pointed it at me.

 However, as I have decided not to drink alcohol on the battlefield, I thought about refusing at first, but when a high-ranking nobleman urged me to drink a toast, I had no choice but to accept.

 In the first place, I would like to say what early celebration is all about. It's not like we've made it to the capital and won the war yet.

 As I was expressing my reluctance while accepting the toast, the master raised his head slightly, shook his head as if to deny my thoughts.

"Not of this war. It's a toast for your wedding."

"…………………Ha?"

 For a moment, my thoughts couldn't catch up and gave a plain reply. But the master did not seem to be bothered by my response, but rather looked surprised at my reaction.

"What, you haven't heard from your father yet?"

 What was this abrupt talk about? The head of the main family was filled with question marks, but he did not care and continued.

"I told your father that when I visited your house the other day."

 At any rate, I haven't heard anything from my father, and from the flow of the conversation, I assume it's about my marriage. What do you mean, marriage?

"That...... may I ask about the details?"

"I don't mind."

 Then the head of the main family began to answer my questions, recalling what he had told my father.

 After a few more glasses of wine, I finally began to get a detailed picture of the marriage that had been going on without my knowledge.

 As I was being considered as a candidate for the stallion to have sex with the head of the main family's daughter, my father expressed one concern to the master, who was drinking in front of me.

 I need the master to find a woman for my son to marry.

 That's right, my father asked.

 At first glance, this may appear to be a cunning way of seeking further connection with the main family, but it is not.

 In noble society, there is a certain custom regarding the lower half of the body between men and women. It is that tradition that Mashiro and I have not been able to have sex for a long time.

 You are not allowed to have a concubine before you have a regular wife.

 In other words, you must not have sex with another person before you have sex with your legal wife.

 And in the noble society, which places great importance on this custom, a huge hurdle was created for me to find a marriage partner, since I was known to have been chosen as a stallion.

 Your son isn't a virgin, right? Then I'm sorry.

 Originally, my father had negotiated with two or three noble families as potential marriage partners, but they all rejected it because I was chosen as the stallion.

 Even if he tried to find another family, it was normal for them to reject me at the door.

 Therefore, my father made a request to the head of the main family.

 He asked the head of the main family to find a woman for me to marry. As he couldn't do it by himself anymore.

 So while I was having sex with Lady Ritia, they were looking for a woman for me to marry.

 Frankly, it was a big deal, and I thought, "Why don't I just take Mashiro as my wife," but both the head of the main family and my father would think that as men of the nobility, it was unacceptable.

No, I'm fine with that, and that's the best answer.

 And finally, they found the one.

"Um, so who's the woman?"

 As I asked him that question, trying my best to calm my heart that was about to explode with discomfort, the master took a sip of his drink and told me her name.

"It's Ritia-tan's maid. I believe her name was Glass?"

"Eh?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, the maid herself has already given her consent."

 At that moment. I remember the attitude of the maid who had been by the young lady's side until the other day.

 No, that was not a good attitude of the one who had given her consent to be my wife, no matter how I look at it. It was not a shy expression like the young lady's, but a piercing one.

 When I inquired about it, the head of the Fregrance family spilled out the reason easily, probably because he had been drinking too much...... No, it's really because of the alcohol, right? It's not because it's a trivial matter that you don't mind mentioning, is it?

"Actually, I've been having a hard time finding one. Since the situation is such, I thought it would be better to adopt her and have her marry you, so that there would be no conflict.　The maid knows what's going on too. And the maid's family of birth is a former nobleman. Besides, you are going to be a son-in-law of the family so it's not so bad, right?"

 How can you talk so much? The point is that the only person who knew the stallion's situation and was close to the young lady was Glass, and that was the only reason she was chosen.

 I felt the wine I drank in order to calm my nerves go bad all at once.

 The fact that the two of us have been talking a lot lately, it was getting more and more casual, but this head of the main family is a person who would trample on the hearts of others...... or even his own family members for the sake of his family.

 I feel repulsed at myself for forgetting that. Yes, even if he called her "Ritia-tan", which is a parental idiocy in full swing, it is a contradiction to let her accompany me to the battlefield because he wanted to have a successor as soon as possible.

 Above all, this marriage proposal is not only about me and Glass, the young lady's maid, but also about someone else whose feelings have been unwittingly trampled upon. Thinking of that, I would like to kill this old man sitting in front of me right here and now if I were allowed to. Such an impulse came to me unintentionally.

“…………What's the date?”

"After this expedition is over...... Well, that's why I asked for your personal opinion. I thought you, living along the border, might have some perspective on the war."

 But I am angry with myself for not being able to do so.

 I want to kill myself too for not being able to do anything about it, even though the other girl's heart is being trampled on unknowingly.

"Well, I'll think about it later so that we don't end up losing the battle. Hence......"

 The head of the Fregrance family is still saying something, but from that point on, I have no memory of it until I return to Gruve City, where the supply unit is located.

 Maybe it was the multiple drinks I took to distract myself, or maybe it was my body forcing me to refuse to listen to something I didn't want to hear so that I wouldn't remember it.

 There is only one thing I never forgot.

 She is forced by her parents to have sex with a complete stranger in order to produce an heir, and on top of that, she was even brought to a dangerous battlefield, and now, she was deprived of the maid she had spent her entire life with.

 What should I do when Lady Ritia heard about this, who had been trampled by her own parents while not knowing it?

 Such was the only thought that remained in my mind.