30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?!-Chapter 270: How a Knight Deals with Beasts (6)
“?”
The large, pinkish-red eyes that an old man once likened to a pink pearl widened in surprise, blinking rapidly.
The child, still far too young, found it incredibly difficult to adjust to the sudden changes in her environment overnight. She was utterly bewildered.
“Th-this isn’t my room, is it?”
“No, my lady. From today onward, this is indeed your room. And please, speak informally. You are now our master.”
“??”
Just a few days ago, her room was nothing like this. The walls were made of worn-out wooden planks, and the only bedding she had was the foul-smelling hay she had scavenged from the stables, which served as both her blanket and mattress.
But now...
“I-Is this really a room? It’s bigger than the yard...?”
It was spacious. Incredibly spacious.
The entire room was bathed in shades of pink, the same color as her eyes. The decorations were extravagant, the bed was soft and fragrant—so large that even a young foal could roll around on it comfortably.
Even the floor was soft. Far softer than the bed of hay she used to sleep on.
Wouldn’t it be fine to just sleep on the floor instead of that overly luxurious bed?
In fact, when she tried it, it was warm and cozy. But the moment morning arrived—
“Oh, my lady!”
“We’re so sorry! Please forgive us! P-please spare us!”
“P-please, my lady, sleep on the bed, we beg you...!”
“????”
Louise tilted her head in confusion.
But despite her confusion, she obediently followed the maids’ requests.
‘These sisters are kind!’
They were the ones who had secretly given her soft bread and fresh cherries behind the back of the mean old head maid.
So, of course, she wanted to listen to them.
More than that—
‘I like these sisters!’
Louise, who had always been forced to wash in cold water, was now being bathed in warm water by the maids. They even wiped her down carefully with soft, warm towels, gave her a sweet and soothing drink called cocoa, and even fed her soft bread and cherries.
There was no way she wouldn’t like them.
Thus, in the past few days, Louise had undergone many changes.
The grand room and the kind maids were one thing, but the biggest change of all was probably—
‘All the bad people are gone?’
The bad people.
The adults who had always tormented her were nowhere to be seen.
The ones who made her {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} cower just by looking at them, who shouted at her, who tripped her whenever she walked—every single one of them had disappeared.
And that made Louise happier than anything else.
...Still, she was curious.
Where had they gone?
“Sisters, where did the bad lady and the bad men go?”
She had only asked out of curiosity.
But—
“Eek!”
“We’re sorry! We’re so sorry! P-please spare us...!!”
“...Pay them no mind, my lady. They’re just... a little traumatized.”
“??”
“And as for those people... Well, let’s just say Santa is punishing them right now. That should be enough of an answer.”
“Oh, I see!”
The moment Louise heard her dear ‘friend’s’ name, she understood everything.
‘Santa is strong, so he’s punishing the bad people!’
Since Santa had even scolded the mean old head maid, it only made sense that he could punish all the other bad people too!
While Louise was delighting in this realization—
“Duke Louise! P-please, I beg you! Just once—just grant me an audience, just this once! Forgive me...! Please, grant me mercy, Y-Your Grace...!!!”
...Another strange person came today.
Yes, the people and the room had changed, but the thing that Louise found strangest of all in the past few days was the fact that strange people kept coming to her.
Every time, they would say things like, “Please forgive me!” or “Have mercy!” or “I will give you everything I have!”
And every time, Louise never understood.
‘Why are these adults asking me for forgiveness?’
She didn’t even know them.
To Louise, this was all incomprehensible. These adults were intimidating and overwhelming, and a little scary.
But the reason she didn’t feel anxious despite it all—
Thwack!
“Waaah!”
—was because every time one of those scary adults appeared, her friend would send them flying.
“Santa!”
Louise’s face lit up as she ran toward her friend, who caught her in a warm embrace.
“My lady—no, Your Grace. You mustn’t run at me like that. It’s dangerous.”
“Hehe, but Santa is strong, so it’s fine.”
“Good grief. With how rough you are, how will you ever get married in the future, Your Grace?”
“What’s marriage?”
“Hmm, well, it’s something like... Hmm. There’s a lot you need to learn.”
“Hmm?”
“...Never mind. For now, just play and do whatever you want. Kids should enjoy themselves.”
“Okay!”
Louise answered energetically, and every time she responded like this, Santa would gently pat her head.
And every time—
“Hehe!”
—she felt so warm and cozy.
Even more than when she drank cocoa.
‘Santa is like a real magician!’
Like the wizards in the fairy tales her grandfather used to read to her.
A magician who could create anything and give out wonderful, fantastical gifts.
And so—
“Santa, you’re just like a magician!”
Louise spoke her thoughts aloud, pure and sincere.
But then—
“...Where did you learn to say such vulgar things?”
“Hmm?”
“N-no, never mind.”
“??”
For some reason, Santa looked like he had just suffered a massive shock.
Seeing her friend like that, Louise could only blink in confusion.
Innocently.
“...So, noble blood really does show, huh? She actually just insulted Sir Ihan to his face. That’s brutal.”
“I don’t think she meant it that way.”
“Then what did she mean?”
“You wouldn’t understand. You’ve lost the innocence of a child.”
“The innocence of a child? Hah... I was the same back then as I am now.”
“......”
The secretary was suddenly curious about what kind of childhood Simon had, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
Because, well—
“Secretary! We’re short on manpower!”
“Here too!”
“Please, for the love of everything, send reinforcements...!”
“Sigh...”
Right now, they didn’t even have time to hear anyone’s life story.
A man who claimed to hunt vampires—why had he conquered Mordred instead, leading to all this chaos?
As an ordinary secretary, he still couldn’t understand.
***
One Week Ago.
Thus began what would later be known as the Wales Unification War, a sudden seven-day conflict that caught everyone off guard.
— What kind of nonsense is this?
A messenger from Mordred’s domain—Wales, an isolated land known for its closed-off policies—had practically crashed into Simon’s office. The entire guild, including Simon himself, spent the next thirty minutes in stunned silence.
[Establish a guild in Wales. We will provide all the necessary funds.]
It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand the words—it just took time to process their meaning.
That was how shocking it was.
But whether they were confused or not...
[If you hesitate, we’ll consider working with the Merchant Alliance instead.]
Less than a day later, House Orodo had been annihilated, and when another urgent message arrived, the guild had no choice but to pull itself together.
If nothing else, they absolutely did not want to cede this opportunity to the Merchant Alliance.
— Like hell we’re handing anything over to those money-grubbing merchants!
— The only thing those bastards deserve is sewage water!
Expanding into Wales.
This was a long-cherished goal for both the Guild and the Merchant Alliance, two major factions operating in the South.
Rumors spoke of Wales as a land rich in natural resources, abundant food supplies, and a sizable population.
The only reason neither the Guild nor the Merchant Alliance had established a foothold there was its extreme isolation.
So Simon saw this proposal—no, this gamble—as an investment worth making.
If it worked, the payoff would be massive.
— Might as well bet my life on it!
With that reckless determination, Simon made his decision.
His executives strongly opposed the move, but for some reason... something about this deal felt right.
Thus, with firm resolve, Simon hired countless mercenaries and workers before heading to Wales.
Only to find—
— I’ve taken care of about 30% of them. As for the remaining 70%... Honestly, I haven’t figured out what to do yet. Got any ideas?
— ...???
...Did they even need him here?
Simon had known that the knight was strong.
But he had never even considered the possibility that a single person could subjugate the aristocratic forces of Wales on his own.
No one in their right mind would believe that a single individual could take on an entire high noble faction.
Simon felt like he was dreaming.
— High nobles, my ass. They don’t even have their main family members or elite knight orders. They’re just cats wearing tiger pelts. Cleaning them up was easy.
— .......
— You know the Red Blood Hawks? Ran into them a few days ago. They’ve completely changed. They even mastered aerial footwork, which makes them a pain to fight. Their skills have grown way sharper. If Mordred’s elite knights were at that level, even I wouldn’t have been able to handle them this easily.
— ...Why are you using one of the five strongest knight orders in the capital as an example?!
— .......
He might have claimed that it was easy because the elite knights weren’t present, but even so, the power of Wales’ forces was not to be underestimated.
They might have been branch families or vassals, but they had supported Mordred for generations. Their strength was nothing to scoff at.
In other words...
— We need to increase this guy’s combat rating. At least to Rank 8... No, maybe even Rank 9.
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The Guild classified combat power into twelve ranks, from 1 to 12.
For reference, Ranks 5 and 6 were usually reserved for leaders of elite knight orders or champions from noble houses.
Rank 9 was...
‘A tier reserved for legendary heroes or monsters.’
...In other words, it basically meant the person was not human.
Simon swallowed dryly.
It was becoming increasingly clear that this knight—this man he was now tied to—was going to be an even bigger deal than he had originally anticipated.
So...
— The key to investing is buying at the lowest possible price.
Simon doubled down on his investment.
His gut told him that betting on this man might yield returns that weren’t just tenfold, but a hundredfold, or even more.
Present Day.
“...I might actually die at this rate.”
It had been a full week since the end of the unification war.
In those seven days, Simon had managed a total of four hours of sleep.
He was on the verge of losing his mind.
And for good reason—
“Sir Simon, ‘it’ has appeared again!”
“...Again?”
“Yes! And this time, we have ten eyewitnesses.”
“......Son of a b—”
Simon clutched his head in frustration.
Forget investments—he should have stuck to what he was good at...!!
‘What the hell do you mean, ghosts?! Damn it!!’
For the first time in his life, Simon fully understood why real estate agents cursed whenever rumors of ghosts popped up.
