Erika was awed by his look of strong determination . She didnât know what Zenâs real intentions were when he spoke out those words .
Without any basis and just by her intuition, Erika felt that if she refused his offer, then sooner or later, she would deeply regret it . She was spurred on by an uneasiness similar to a compelling feeling .
ăUnderstood . Which way should we proceed in?ă
To lead her to that place, Zen turned on his heels and with firm footsteps, he stopped in front of a certain room .
Zen chose it as a fitting place for talking about the truth . That wasâ
At the development which was outside her expectations, she involuntarily leaked out a stupid voice . Erika was so confused that she didnât even have the composure to be embarrassed about it .
From the flow of the talk, she thought that he would reveal some kind of circumstances regarding the murder of the servant that Harold was hiding, that is to say, Haroldâs secret .
What did it mean by doing that it in the room of the person who had wanted to expressly hide it . Maybe, she had fatally misunderstood something in her conversation with Zen .
But where in the world, what kind of misunderstanding was it?- Erikaâs mind was in complete chaos .
ăEh? Ah, heyâŠâŠ . . ă
While she wasnât on guard due to her confusion, Zen pushed Erikaâs small back and stepped inside the room . He didnât hesitate at all since he had already confirmed that Harold wasnât present .
Zen looked around the room restlessly, and when his eyes fell on the closet, he opened it and pushed Erika, who couldnât keep up with the situation, inside it .
ăSorry! Please wait here for some time!ă
Closing the closet, Zen tried to run out of the room .
Once again, a voice which couldnât be though of as herâs leaked out from Erika . She was a guest of the owner, and that too when she was a person who had the position of the fiancee, locking her up in this kind of place had already surpassed the level of being disrespectful . If it were some other person, they would even go as far as killing him .
Fortunately, Erika wouldnât choose to express her anger in such a severe manner, but still normally thinking, she couldnât not offer some complaints about this kind of treatment . But this wasnât the time for that . Before anything else, she must give the highest priority to getting out of this room .
From Erikaâs viewpoint, although it was completely against her will, she was still an intruder . If this was exposed, she didnât know what Harold would spout out .
Thinking of following after Zen, the moment she put her hand on the closet door, cruelly, a âgachaâ sound reached Erikaâs ears .
Subsequently, Zenâs surprised shout reached her . With a timing when he was just about to open the door, since the owner of the room returned, it wasnât unreasonable for him to be surprised .
Hearing his shout, Harold frowned .
ăDonât give out an annoying voice . Or rather, what are you doing in my room?ă
ăUh, umm ïœâŠâŠâŠ . . Actually, I needed to inform you about something, Harold-sama, but even though I knocked on the door, since there was no reply I peeked inside the roomă
ăIf thereâs no answer, leave obediently . How much of an idiot are youă
Erika peeped through the gap between the blinds furnished inside the closet and observed the situation . She had completely lost the chance to escape .
If she came out here and explained, she could still make some excuse . But what would happen to Zen?
Harold was a person who would kill someone just because he didnât like them . Even though it could be said that Zen reaped what he sowed, she wanted to avoid getting him killed .
But it wasnât known whether Harold would listen to Erikaâs pleas to spare his life . Judging from his behavior, she thought that the possibility was low .
(What should I doâŠâŠ . . ?)
While Erika was trying to make a decision, the situation was rapidly growing worse .
ăSo, about the thing I wanted to tell!ă
Zen forcefully returned back to the topic . To that, sighing as though he was exasperated, Harold sat down on the sofa .
And against Erikaâs expectations, Harold urged Zen to continue speaking .
ăWhat is it? Keep it shortă
ăEe, itâs extremely difficult to say this, but that rumor has spread quite farâŠâŠ . ă
Zen was being ambiguous with his words by calling it that rumor, but to the people present, it was obvious as to what it was .
ăJust now, when I had gone to buy goods from the town, in the shop where I stopped by, the shopkeeper and the customers altogether were persistently questioning meă
Harold crossed his arms and with his eyes closed, he just kept listening to Zen .
Even Erika, who was inside the closet, didnât understand what he wanted to say, so she listened closely .
ăAlthough it hasnât been revealed, and precisely because of that, Harold-samaâs reputation will fall to the ground, and I feel that itâll be bad is we donât take any measuresâŠâŠâŠ . ă
ăAnd here I was thinking of what you might say, worthless . Hasnât such a thing already fallen down and completely smeared with mudă
ăBut, What? Do you want to announce that âClara and Colette have run away to the Brosch village and are still livingâ?ă
ăNo way! Even if I die, I wonât speak of that truthă
Listening to their exchange, Erikaâs mind became completely white .
What did Harold say? The servant and her daughter, Clara and Colette are still alive?
What did Zen say? That is the truth?
The shock she received exceeded last nightâs acknowledgement of the murder . Erika, whose thoughts and body were frozen over, could do nothing but listen to the 2 of them talking .
ăThen donât think of meaningless things . If by chance my parents find out that they are still alive, Iâll be under suspicion . To thoroughly eliminate that possibility, itâs already a determined matteră
ăAlthough I know that, at least how about telling Erika-sama the truth? Due to believing in that rumor, it seems as though sheâs very depressedă
If the temperature of his voice could be measured, without a doubt, it would be below freezing point . Zen and Erikaâs muscles froze in an instant .
Zen couldnât help but ask .
Why did Harold reject Erika to that extent . That was because, for Harold, in this world of ăBrave Heartsă, in a way he thought that the one he must be the most cautious about was Erika .
The main feature of the character called Erika was kindness . But before that âthe way of livingâ was included .
In the original work, Harold thought that he was a special existence and he was lump of consciousness that believed himself to be the chosen one by thinking that no matter what was done to other people, it would be allowed . That was why he could unconcernedly kill a servant, discriminate and oppress the powerless populace, and could even make a town into a complete sea of fire as a sacrifice for the monsters just so that he could continue to live .
He had all these atrocious deeds piled up, and yet Erika, even while hating Harold, without giving up, continued to suffer by staying as his fiancee .
The reason for that was because she was felt a sense of obligation since the Stokes family had provided financial aid . Normally thinking about it, due to the connection with the Stokes, their family would get scorned at and there was even the danger of the Stokes pulling their legs, but as expected, that was just to enliven Erikaâs event, for the convenience of the gameâs scenario .
And so, there was a fear that the kindness due to the setting would stick through with the idiocy and bare its fangs against Harold from here on .
Firstly, as the main premise, Haroldâs objective was to survive without dying . The things he thought that were necessary for this was avoiding death flags and clearing the original workâs scenario .
There was no need to explain the former . Then the reason for the latter was, if for example, in the case the last boss wasnât defeated, then almost all the people of the continent including Harold would die .
Although it wasnât confirmed, by guessing from the information inside the game, that possibility was exceedingly high . At any rate, if the rampage of the last boss isnât stopped, then the only continent in the world would sink- was how it went .
In other words, even if he avoided the death flags, if the last boss wasnât defeated because of deviating too much from the original work, there would be no meaning in it .
There was a need for the protagonists to clear the scenario by any means possible, and inside the protagonist party, Erika held an important position of being the healer . With her presence or absence, the questâs difficulty level would change . Since their survival rate would be greatly influenced, even for Haroldâs sake, it was absolutely necessary for Erika to become friends with the protagonist and if that didnât happen it would be troubling .
Moreover, he had a faint hope that if the scenario was cleared like the original work, he might be able to return to his original world . Or rather, he couldnât think of anything other than that with regards to returning back to the original world .
Returning back to the topic, what would happen if Erika, who couldnât abandon Harold until the last moment, learnt common sense and general conscience, and on top of that saw Harold extending a hand to the Sumeragi when they were in a predicament .
It was a hypothesis he didnât want to imagine . She might actively push for the engagement . Well, that would still be fine .
But if because of that, she didnât join with the protagonist, what would happen . That was the situation that Harold was afraid of .
That was why, other than not walking the evil path for avoiding death flags, Harold judged that the the risks would be lower if he got hated by Erika thoroughly in everything other than that part . It would even be fine to declare- Let her affection points eat shit .
How easy it would be if he could explain it like that, but the drawback would be that they would suspect the condition of his head . He decided to just make up some appropriate reason and stop Zenâs questioning .
Breaking the long silence, Harold started talking .
ăâŠâŠâŠShe was cryingă
ăI donât know if it was because of the truth that I killed a person, or if it was for the mother and daughter who were killed . But no matter for what, her heart was pained for some stranger and she shed tears . Sheâs nothing but an idiotă
He recalled last nightâs memories . Illuminated by the moonlight, there was single line of tear firmly traced on Erikaâs cheek .
Though she was caring to the extent which couldnât be helped, that was certainly Erikaâs virtue .
ăAnd simultaneously, she is too kind . That too, a kindness which only sympathizes with the other person, a weak personâs kindness . If such a person tries to walk with me, sheâll bear an innumerable amount of woundsă
ăThatâs why, youâre purposely distancing yourself from her? Thinking for Erika-samaâs sakeâŠâŠâŠă
ăDonât spout nonsense . Why would I need to think for her sake . Iâm just saying that cancelling the marriage to a troublesome girl, who cries for each and every little thing, is what even I wish foră
Haroldâs words pierced Erikaâs heart very deeply . It was very sharp, but it was a completely different pain compared to last nightâs .
Pangs of conscience, self-hate, regret .
Negative emotions came out successively and tried to swallow Erika . The wave of emotions and Haroldâs words didnât stop .
ăSuchâŠâŠâŠ . Eh, Harold-sama has no intention of marrying Erika-sama?ă
ăThereâs no way Iâll have anyă
ăThen why did talks of engagementâŠâŠ . . ă
ăTo put it simply so that even your brain can understand, this is an engagement bought by moneyă
The Stokes family, who wanted their lineage, took advantage of the Sumeragi, whose revenue was in a considerably unfavorable condition since the proceeds from forestry, which was the linchpin of their economy, became low because of the unnatural outbreak of miasma in the forest .
Since the unnatural outbreak of miasma was a calamity which had no precedents in the whole continent, it wasnât known whether the Sumeragi would be able to recover, and also repay the money they had borrowed . Among the royalty and other nobles who were hesitating whether or not to provide large-scale financial aid due to these various reasons, the engagement was the result of the Stokes family going to sell a favor without even thinking about the consequences .
After coming to know the motives and circumstances of both the families, Zen noticed a certain thing .
ăThen, for the Sumeragi, wonât cancelling the engagement be fatal?ă
Certainly, as Zen said, if the Sumeragi lost the financial aid by Harold unilaterally cancelling the engagement, then in the near future, the Sumeragi territory wouldnât be able to maintain itself . Well, even if Harold threw a tantrum, there was no way that his parents who were obsessed with lineage would allow to cancel the engagement .
But Harold had no intentions of trifling with that .
ăIâve already made a move . The medicine and LP farming are for the sake of thată
In the regions where pollution due to the miasma was weak, by using that medicine they would be able to lumber wood like always . Until the protagonist disperses the accumulated miasma, it would gradually extend its range, but putting it in another way, it shouldnât extend more than it had done in the game .
Even in the letter to Tasuku, he had dug up the gameâs map from his memories and had informed him about the expected maximum range of pollution . If they could predict the maximum range of damage beforehand, even the Sumeragi could pull back their defense line .
Adding onto that, he also had the intention of offering the know-how of LP farming . Although, since the outlook still hadnât been good, in the letter he had stopped by writing some dubious statement like- ăIâm even considering offering some knowledge about industrial techniquesă .
Receiving the explanation which left out the parts of the information about the game, Zen expressed as though he was dumbfounded .
ăYou have even thought about such thingsâŠâŠ . ă
This was the first time he had heard about the medicine and the letter, and knowing that there was such an intention hidden behind LP farming, Zen could do nothing other than be wonder-struck . How far into the future was this boy gazing at .
And Zen wasnât the only one to be surprised . Even Erika, who was holding her breath, was shocked by Haroldâs foresight and depth of thinking .
Harold had sensed the danger towards the Sumeragi in advance . That too, before the talks of engagement had come out, immediately after the outbreak of miasma . If thought of it like that, then she could understand how he was able to gather the information about the ingredients required to make the medicine even without a few days passing by after the engagement was decided .
In other words, this meant that Harold had tried all possible means for the sake of saving the Sumeragi who should have been completely unrelated to him . Although he was insisting that he had done it for selling a favor, if the money, time and effort spent until the medicine was created, was put on scales, then the merit of saving the Sumeragi would be too less . All the more when considering Harold, who seemed to be for the pure blood principle from the way he talked .
Thinking about that dedication and his thoughts, Erikaâs vision blurred .
Honestly, even Harold had made this decision only after thinking over it for a long time .
It was clear that if Erika knew he was giving them this much support, then her sense of obligation would be much more than that in the original work . Then the reason why he took actions which werenât in the game was because he wanted a patron .
In the place where the Stokes coupleâs eyes could reach, he wouldnât be able to move freely and he would also be unable to have his way with gathering people who could act for him .
And there, he thought of making contact with the Sumeragi with the cover of a fiance . He had thought that he could trust Tasuku, since he knew Tasukuâs personality from the game . He had compassion, was understanding and also had personal connections, and if Kazuki could gain his cooperation, it would become easy to support the protagonists from the shadows .
By offering the medicine, industrial cooling down could be delayed, LP farming could bolster the economy and if the protagonist took care of the miasma accumulation event, even forestry could be restored . If that happened, even without the financial aid of the Stokes, the problem of managing their territory would disappear, and if Erikaâs engagement was cancelled, they wouldnât receive a serious blow . Moreover, regarding the cancellation, Harold himself had informed in that letter that it would be fine to do it .
(Exactly like a âdebtâ parade on the scale of Kazoe Yakuman* . Although that salesmanship feeling of pressure isnât half-assed, as long as I donât have any unreasonable requests, Tasuku should cooperate in most of the things)
(TL â *A term in RÄ«chi(Japanese) Mahjong about which I have no idea of . I think it means the person who has that gets a high amount of points, maybe . You can look it up here . If anybody has a thorough understanding of it, please explain in the comments)
That wasnât confidence but conviction .
However, he had a single concern . That concern which might be classified as an âunreasonable requestâ was connected to Zen who was in front of him, so he unintentionally warned him .
ăRight, after that think about your future alsoă
ăWhat do you mean by that?ă
Harold who had adjusted his voice so that it couldnât be heard from outside, reduced it even more . It was to the level that Erika, hidden in the closet, was barely able to catch it .
ăIâve told it before, but in the near future, there is a danger that the Stokes family will fall . If you donât want to become jobless, itâll be prudent for you to be prepared just in caseă
ăBut arenât you spreading LP farming to prevent that?ă
ăIf nothing is done about the current taxation and wasting of money, itâll just be to the degree of an extension . Even Iâll think of something, but it might not succeed . I have no intention of helping you bastards, so do something by yourselfă
Even the always happy-go-lucky Zen lost his composure at this .
Harold who was talking about it as though it was natural, was the one who was weird .
ăIf that happens, what will happen to the people of the Stokes territory?ă
ăWho knows . But if it is Tasuku Sumeragi, he wonât do anything bad to themă
He spoke in a slovenly manner . But a name which Erika couldnât let slide rose up .
(Why is fatherâs name being used hereâŠâŠâŠ . ?)
ăErrâŠâŠâŠWhat do you mean?ă
ăIn the letter, I have appealed to the Sumeragi side to not deal with the populace unjustly when the Stokes family falls . Really, I canât help but laugh at their weakness since they wouldnât survive if something like this isnât doneă
Even if he told appeal, it didnât mean that he asked for the Sumeragi to provide for them . If it were the Sumeragi who were close to the royalty, the people could expect some influence and support from them .
It could also be said that since Kazuki didnât know whether Tasuku would accept this ârequestâ, he sold an excessive amount of favors .
(Most probably, itâll become the territory of another noble, and I pray that a person more decent than the one now comes)
Although, by that time, he wouldnât be there in this land . He was completely ready to throw away everything to the successor .
ăAnyways, thatâs how it is . If you break the ban by telling it to others, you wonât simply get away with ită
ăI, I understand . I havenât told it to anybody, alrightâŠâŠ . ?ă
Pierced by the sharp glint in Haroldâs, Zenâs voice quavered . That there was another reason for his voice quavering, and Zenâs roundabout way of telling- ăI havenât told anyoneă, Kazuki didnât notice it at this time . Well, even if he noticed the existence of his nemesis (Erika) hidden in the closet, it was already too late .
Kazuki, Harold, Kazuki (Harold) â since many complaints have come out that 3 representations is confusing, I have chosen to use only Harold .
Itâs painful for Zen to be called incompetent .