BGFV 135

Chapter 135

The next day, Hestia and her group returned to the navy base. As they were touring the base with Max, they heard a loud commotion.

“We told you again and again not to send out any ships during this period! What was that about yesterday?”

“Oh no…”

It was the very situation Max had feared. Someone from House Humphrey had come to complain about a ship that scouted Sunset Vale the day before.

“We have a duty to scout the area and keep it safe. Please understand.”

“Understand? What if guests start complaining? Will the navy take responsibility?”

The marines tried to explain, but the person wasn’t listening. He was a messenger from the prestigious House Humphrey in the south—so the marines couldn’t do much.

“What’s going on here?”

“Colonel!”

Max stepped forward, and the marines looked relieved. The messenger scoffed.

“Colonel Max! I needed to talk to you—”

“Then talk to me.”

“Who do you think you… Wait! Lady Frost?!”

He was shocked to see Hestia. Then, he noticed the two bright red-haired figures behind her.

‘Why is Winston’s family here?!’

“I heard you told them not to scout. Is that true?”

“Well…”

The messenger turned pale.

“Can you tell me the reason?”

To his surprise, Hestia asked calmly.

“What?”

“Why did you stop the navy from scouting? Let’s move somewhere else to talk.”

The messenger realized this might be his chance and started planning how to convince her.

“As you know, the nobles are very picky about these things,” he said pitifully now, completely different from before.

“That’s true,” Hestia agreed.

“Exactly! We respect the navy—we really do.”

Max gave a dry laugh at the blatant lie.

“It’s just… this area is already safe, right? As long as the navy stays away from Sunset Vale, we’re fine with scouting elsewhere.”

“But pirates could show up.”

“What? Hahaha! That’s funny. I grew up here and have never heard of pirates attacking.”

“Still, what if it does happen?”

The man froze at Hestia’s quiet voice.

“If we can’t scout that area, it might delay the navy’s response.”

“Don’t worry! If something happens, we’ll take care of it!”

“And?”

“And…?”

“Don’t blame the navy then. This was your decision.”

“Of course! We won’t blame the navy at all.”

“Good. Then sign here.”

“What?”

“Let’s make it official. Write a statement saying that the navy won’t scout Sunset Vale and that you take full responsibility.”

“Wa—!”

“Lady Frost…!”

Both Max and Sylvester gasped.

“Lady Frost, are you sure about this? What if something happens?”

“Relax, Colonel. Just watch what I do.”

Max sighed but gave in. The messenger eagerly wrote and signed the document—since it was what he wanted anyway.

“Then from now on, the navy won’t scout Sunset Vale! Thank you for understanding!”

“Just don’t forget what we warned you about.”

“Of course!”

“Oh, by the way, you’ve already opened your resort, right? How’s it going?”

The man flinched—he hadn’t invited Winston.

“Oh! It’s going smoothly. We’re still in the investor phase. We’ll send you an invite soon.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Once the man left, Max turned to Hestia.

“What were you thinking?”

“Exactly what you saw.”

Hestia smiled at the signed paper.

“This issue was going to be a problem anyway.”

Even before opening the resort, they had already complained to the navy to stay away. If the navy refused to stop scouting, they’d just keep getting complaints.

“Better to let them do what they want. This way, at least the navy won’t get stressed out.”

“But what if pirates do come?”

“They said they’d handle it. And now we have this document—they can’t blame you.”

“Still…”

“Don’t worry. If something happens, you can just go clean it up. It’s not far.”

Max had no argument for that.

“If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility,” Hestia reassured him.

“Sigh… fine. Honestly, I was frustrated too.”

Max admitted they sometimes wanted to give up. Hestia laughed at that.

Sylvester, watching from the back, looked puzzled. As they rode away from the base, he finally spoke.

“I still don’t understand. Why give them what they want?”

Hestia and Luciard looked back at him.

“The colonel said it himself—there might be pirates.”

“We did all we could,” Hestia said.

She stopped the navy base from relocating, and Max did constant scouting. But the others still kept protesting.

“They told us not to scout near Sunset Vale. We didn’t just agree for no reason.”

“But if something bad happens—”

“It’s their responsibility. Why should we care?”

Sylvester frowned, still unconvinced.

“Your Majesty, they know exactly how important scouting is,” Luciard said.

“They know this area better than anyone. But they chose profit over safety.”

“Let me give you an example. Say there’s an important law. If someone breaks it and suffers for it, can they blame the lawmakers?”

“Everyone has to take responsibility for their choices—especially nobles,” he continued.

“So who really stopped the scouting? The messenger, or Count Humphrey?”

“…Count Humphrey.”

“Exactly. If something happens, it’s his problem.”

“Also, Count Humphrey tried to move the navy base before. But Winston denied the request, and he’s been interfering ever since.”

“If we hadn’t acted, he would’ve kept harassing the navy.”

“Grr…”

Sylvester hadn’t known all this and was frustrated.

“Why is Count Humphrey so irresponsible?”

“No need to be so upset, Your Majesty. Even if pirates do come, it won’t be too bad.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“Because when they built Sunset Vale, they kicked out all the locals and made it a fancy resort for nobles only.”

“Pirates these days are smart. They won’t kill people for no reason. Nobles are useful as hostages.”

In her past life, that’s exactly what happened. Many were hurt, but no one died.

“Plus, the navy is close by. If anything happens, they can respond quickly.”

Sylvester was a little relieved, though he still felt uneasy.

“Everyone must take responsibility for their actions,” came Leonhard’s cheerful voice.

“That’s what grown-ups do. Maybe Count Humphrey thinks he doesn’t need the navy because he can handle things himself.”

“…Leonhard.”

“So don’t worry too much, Your Majesty! Tia said our job is to protect people overall—but we can’t control everyone’s personal choices.”

Sylvester was silent. He felt a little ashamed that a child understood something he was still struggling with.

“You’re right… Sorry, I spoke out of turn.”

“No need to apologize, Your Majesty. It was a fair concern.”

“We’re sorry we surprised you,” said Hestia and Luciard politely.

Seeing their calm and thoughtful behavior, Sylvester felt like he was starting to understand what kind of leader he wanted to become.