SLSL 75

Chapter – 75

It was only late at night that Carlisle opened his eyes.

“Kool, kooool…”

The baby dragon was curled up in a ball, fast asleep by his bedside.

Why is it here…?

Carlisle was puzzled about how the baby dragon had managed to find him.

Grumble. Suddenly feeling hungry, Carlisle opened his room door.

In front of the door, there was food left by the innkeeper, which had gone cold, probably because it was past mealtime.

‘I guess I should just go down and eat.’

Carlisle pulled his hood low and left the room.

Inns in this world typically had a dining hall and tavern on the first floor and guest rooms from the second floor up, so he had to go downstairs to eat.

Perhaps because it was dinner time, the first floor of the inn was quite crowded.

“Ah! You’ve come down? I left the meal by your door…”

As Carlisle took a seat at an empty table, the innkeeper rushed over, dropping everything.

“It was cold. I guess I woke up too late.”

“O-oh, I see.”

“Warm bread, soup, beef. A little bit of vegetables.”

“What would you like to drink?”

“Hmm.”

Carlisle thought for a moment before answering.

“Beer.”

“…”

The innkeeper was taken aback.

For a moment, the noisy interior fell silent as if cold water had been thrown on it.

“What? Beer?”
“He said he drinks beer?”
“What kind of brat drinks beer?”

The atmosphere suddenly turned ominous.

“U-um, sir?”
“…?”
“Asking for beer here might be a bit… dangerous.”

“Ah, right.”

Carlisle realized his mistake.

Beer was a specialty of the [Schwerin] territory, ruled by the Loren family, one of the Sigurd family’s hostile factions.

The problem was that Northerners hated the Schwerin territory almost as much as they hated the barbarians.

No, Northerners *despised* Schwerin.

Once, Schwerin was an ally of Decaron.

During the era of Chaos King Cain, the 3rd family head of the Sigurd family, it was a member of the [Northern Alliance], a union of three territories in the north, and they were as close as blood relatives, even having political marriages.

But when Chaos King Cain led the Northern Alliance in a rebellion, Schwerin was the first to betray them.

Schwerin showed its cowardice by attacking the north while Cain was leading the main force to the capital. Because of this, the Northern Alliance collapsed and Decaron was devastated.

The rebellion failed, and Decaron and the Sigurd family were forced to kneel and surrender to the royal family.

Since then, Schwerin, as the primary contributor to suppressing the rebellion, received the fertile favor of the royal family and was granted vast, fertile lands, becoming the largest food-producing region in the kingdom.

Furthermore, as the royal family’s loyal dogs, they constantly pressure and check Decaron, making them the prime culprit behind the impoverished lives of the Northerners.

The beer enjoyed by continental people was also made from barley produced on the vast lands granted to Schwerin by the royal family, so it was no wonder Northerners gritted their teeth at the mention of beer.

From the beginning, Northerners mainly drank cheap, strong vodka, while the people of Schwerin had primarily drunk beer since long ago.

“Give me vodka instead.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll bring it right away.”

Only after Carlisle ordered vodka instead of beer did the ominous atmosphere ease somewhat, and the concentrated gazes dispersed.

‘As if I’d be scared to drink a beer.’

Carlisle smiled wryly.

He thought it was highly likely they didn’t even sell beer in the first place…

As he ate, Carlisle listened to the conversations among the guests.

It wasn’t that he was intentionally eavesdropping, but the interior was so narrow and the tables were so close together that he couldn’t help but hear.

“Things are a mess these days. Did you see the Black Officers roaming around?”
“They’re all over every household.”
“I wonder how many are dying on the front lines. I’m worried they might issue a conscription order soon.”

The [Black Officers] the guests were talking about referred to the messengers who delivered the news of soldiers’ deaths to their families.

‘It seems there are many casualties in other units besides mine.’

That was probably the effect of the headquarters forcing each unit to carry out magic stone mining operations…

Carlisle decided to listen more closely to the conversations going around.

“Those damn royal family bastards.”
“Why are you suddenly cursing the royal family?”
“Haven’t you heard? I heard the royal family raised the tax rate ridiculously.”
“Is that so?”
“The amount of magic stones they’re demanding is enormous. It seems the sappers are suffering immensely.”
“Goddamn it, really. How long do us Northerners have to be exploited?”
“Indeed.”

The guests conversing voiced their resentment.

‘So there was a reason the headquarters was forcing the magic stone mining operations so harshly.’

Then, why did the royal family increase the tax rate?

At a time like this, when the barbarians’ movements are unusual and a large-scale war could break out at any moment…

‘Could it be… because of the Evangelin incident?’

Perhaps that was possible.

The royal family, the Parnassus family, was never generous.

They hadn’t ruled tyrannically, but that didn’t mean the successive kings were sage rulers either.

They ruled strictly based on the logic of the carrot and the stick and were famous for not tolerating even the slightest challenge.

They were the type to inevitably retaliate in some way if their pride was wounded.

‘If that’s the case… did so many people die because of my stubbornness? Because I refused to send Evangelin to the royal family?’

His heart turned cold.

A chilling feeling made him shudder.

‘It can’t be. It must not be.’

Carlisle downed his vodka in one go.

Thud. The empty vodka glass hit the table.

A few guests glanced over, but Carlisle paid them no mind.

Tremble…

The hand clutching the glass shook minutely.

* * *

Carlisle holed up in the inn for three days, drinking nothing but alcohol.

Not that he drank until he was completely drunk, though.

He just sat by the window, occasionally taking a sip of vodka, lost in thought.

He was troubled, thinking that the reason for the many recent casualties on the front might be because of his own stubbornness.

“Steward.”
“What.”
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Just stuff.”

Carlisle gave a wry smile at the baby dragon’s question.

“Is it something you can’t talk about?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Come on, tell me. I’ll listen.”
“You?”

Carlisle let out a snort.

“What do you know?”
“Steward, are you looking down on me now?”
“Not looking down. You’re a newborn, right? You don’t know much about the world, how can I talk to you about this?”
“You *are* looking down on me.”
“When did I?”
“I’m a dragon, you know.”
“So?”
“Do I really look like a newborn?”
“Well… no.”
“See? So tell me.”
“Hmm.”

Carlisle wondered where to begin, thought for a moment, and then opened his mouth.

“So, what happened was…”
“Hmm.”

The baby dragon quietly listened to Carlisle’s story.

“If the tax increase this time is because of the Evangelin incident… then the deaths of those soldiers would be entirely my responsibility.”
“Why is that your responsibility?”
“Whose else would it be?”
“Thinking one-dimensionally, it could be your responsibility. The royal family wanted that girl, and you refused, so it’s retaliation. But that’s not the fundamental problem. The real problem is the exploitation by the royal family, isn’t it?”
“……!”
“Steward, problems like this will keep repeating until the unequal relationship between your family and the royal family is resolved. One way or another.”

In this world, dragons were considered very wise beings.

It seemed even a baby dragon was no exception.

“But you can’t just hand over an Earth Spirit Master to the royal family. That girl has high strategic value and a clear identity as a Northerner, right?”
“That’s true.”

Carlisle recalled what Evangelin had said before.

– Because I am a Northerner.

She had clearly stated her identity as a Northerner and refused to go to the royal family.

“And the royal family’s retaliation isn’t even confirmed yet, why should you feel guilty unnecessarily?”
“That’s also true.”
“Whether you feel guilty or seek revenge, you need to confirm the circumstan…”

The baby dragon dozed off mid-sentence.

It seemed drowsiness was setting in soon after eating.

“You really are a newborn.”
“Kool, kooool.”

Carlisle looked at the sleeping baby dragon and chuckled.

‘Then I should first figure out the exact circumstances. If it really is retaliation for Evangelin… I’ll make them regret it.’

Carlisle’s eyes gleamed coldly.

* * *

Two days later.

“Steward, when are we going home?”
“Well. If there’s no pressing reason to go, I wasn’t planning to.”
“Then can’t we live somewhere else?”
“Somewhere else?”
“It’s too narrow, smelly, and dirty here.”

The baby dragon frowned, clearly displeased.

“Somewhere else…”
“Can’t we just buy a house?”
“Shall we?”

Money wasn’t an issue.

His high-capacity spatial inventory was filled to the brim with gold coins, gold ingots, and various gems looted from the dungeons of Antiros and Crowley.

“Well. We can’t live here forever.”
“So let’s go house hunting!”
“Alright, then.”

Carlisle put on his cloak and pulled up his hood.

“Let’s go, house hunting.”
“Hehe.”

As if waiting for this, the baby dragon slipped inside Carlisle’s cloak.

‘Where do I need to go to buy a house? There’s no way this world has real estate agencies. There must be something similar. What was it?’

Thinking this, he went down to the first floor, where someone was waiting for him.

“Are you finally coming down, young master?”
“Hey, what.”

Maranello was smiling.

“How did you know I was here?”
“……!”

As Carlisle spoke while removing his hood, the innkeeper and the guests were utterly shocked.

The suspicious guy who kept his hood deep over his head even indoors was the infamous troublemaker…

“You’ve been watching and knew all along?”
“Yes, young master.”
“Father?”
“He has no particular instructions.”
“Is that so?”

A slight smile formed on Carlisle’s lips.

“His Grace said he has no intention of forcing you to do anything, so stop wandering around and come home.”
“He said that? Father did?”
“Yes, young master.”
“Hmm.”
“Young master, let’s go peacefully. This is unbecoming.”
“Unbecoming?”
“Rebellion requires some sort of pressure or coercion to resist, right? But you, young master, ran away from home outright without any basis…”
“I think of it as establishing discipline preemptively.”
“Excuse me…?”
“You have to show a warning first so they don’t even think of bothering you.”

How can you say that…

“Hoho.”

Maranello could only laugh, finding it absurd.

A son who lies down first, telling them not to bother him…

Maranello unconsciously felt his fist clench and barely managed to calm himself.

“So, will you come?”
“I should. If he says he won’t bother me, he surely won’t go back on his word.”
“Let’s go, then.”
“Alright.”

Carlisle nodded and said to the innkeeper,
“You can keep the deposit. I don’t need it.”
“Th-thank you! Young Master Carlisle!”

The innkeeper nodded with a face as if he’d seen a ghost.

Stepping outside the inn, he saw the same six-horse carriage waiting from before.

The carriage bore the Sigurd family crest.

“Maranello.”
“Yes, young master.”
“There’s something I’m curious about…”

Just as Carlisle was about to say something.