In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 12

Damn it.
I froze.
Should I try to escape?
It’s obvious I’d be caught quickly anyway.
Is there no other way?
Thoughts raced through my mind even as I realized my mistake.
“Hey, can’t you hear me?”
As I showed no reaction, the Sheshou soldier spoke in a sharper voice.
No choice.
I raised my head towards the soldiers and asked.
“What is the matter?”
“Please take off your hood for a moment. We need to check something.”
“…Alright.”
I nodded readily and lowered the hood that had been pulled deeply over my head.
“Is that enough?”
When undergoing inspection or interrogation, it’s always best to act even more confidently.
“Hoo.”
One of the two soldiers approached and scrutinized my face.
However, for some reason, unlike the other soldiers I had seen earlier, he didn’t compare my face with the drawing in his hand.
As if I wasn’t the person they were looking for from the start.
It was just as his gaze was becoming increasingly blatant and I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Let’s go.”
The other soldier, who seemed to have more sense, urged him.
But the soldier who had been looking at me chuckled amusedly and said flippantly.
“What’s the harm? It’s a nice sight for sore eyes, isn’t it?”
This shabala.
“Well, it’s clear it’s not her.”
It was when the soldier, with that unpleasant smile, was about to turn away.
“Um, may I ask something?”
Where do you think you’re going?
If you’re going to make me uncomfortable, at least spit out some useful information before you leave.
The soldier raised an eyebrow, surprised that I had called him back.
“What?”
“Is something happening in Akedia? I’m traveling, and the atmosphere feels quite ominous…”
I continued, acting very scared.
“If something bad has happened, I think it would be better to move on to the next city right away.”
“Oh, it’s nothing much.”
The soldier waved a hand and replied.
“It’s just that we received information that a wanted person is traveling through Sheshou territory, so we’re just looking for them.”
“Wanted… person?”
Are they looking for me?
It seems a bit crazy to mobilize soldiers just to find me, but it’s entirely possible for Chanton Sheshou.
I asked with an anxious face to get more information.
“Surely it’s not someone who committed a heinous crime…”
“Not really. No, if you mean heinous, then perhaps? Actually…”
“Hey, I said let’s go!”
The other soldier, who seemed to have his head on straight, frowned and cut him off.
Tsk, too bad.
“You don’t need to worry too much, so have a good trip and go back. Let’s go.”
The two soldiers moved to another spot, and I, left alone, sat on the bench and began to ponder.
“They haven’t noticed that Perez and I aren’t in Lombardi, have they?”
No way.
But that cunning black bear was so quick-witted that nothing could be guaranteed.
If it wasn’t me, then who on earth were they mobilizing soldiers to find?
However, there was nothing I could do right now.
Going to find the manager of the Pellet Merchant Guild or the Lombardi Merchant Guild here could expose my identity.
For now, I could only hope that the person they were looking for wasn’t me.
“Isn’t that too much!”
I suddenly turned my head towards where a loud voice had erupted.
It was the checkpoint where people were lined up.
“I clearly heard His Majesty the Emperor command to stop the indiscriminate inspections of our Pellet Merchant Guild! What kind of situation is this, to have detailed inspections again!”
Now that I looked, the person protesting loudly had the Pellet Merchant Guild’s emblem embroidered on their clothes.
“We’re just carrying out the same inspections everyone else receives, so why all the fuss?”
“Can you swear that other merchant guilds are also being inspected two or three times like us and made to wait for days each time?”
“Haha, well…”
The argument between the checkpoint soldier and the person who seemed to be in charge of the Pellet Merchant Guild continued for a long time.
And watching that dispute, I gradually regained my composure.
It’s not a trip.
The reason I secretly left Lombardi was to stop Chanton Sheshou’s project to narrow the river width in the Tamal region.
But I had forgotten that reason for a moment.
My mind, which had been buzzing because of Perez, gradually cooled down.
The childish jealousy that had made my face flush was pushed aside.
“Shall I go back to work?”
I muttered as I stood up.
And before turning away, I didn’t forget to take in the sight of the angry Pellet Merchant Guild members.

“Welcome to Chesayu.”
A soldier dressed in slightly brighter clothes than those in Akedia smiled as he returned our IDs.
“The atmosphere is quite different from Sheshou territory.”
Perez said, as if reading my thoughts.
“Indeed. It’s really different.”
After several days of travel, the carriage carrying us finally arrived in Chesayu.
“We don’t have time to explore every corner. Shall we just take in the scenery for a bit?”
Instead of heading straight to the dock, we stopped the carriage on a low hill.
“Come, come, buy Ivan’s coal that’s hard to get these days!”
“Fresh seafood just arrived on the fast ship from the East!”
The lively voices of merchants hawking their wares reached the top of the hill.
“Even though Sheshou’s greed has reduced the supply, the market still seems lively. That’s a relief.”
I said, secretly relieved.
The merchants of Chesayu didn’t seem as idle as the people in Akedia earlier.
That wasn’t all.
“See those big warehouses over there? They used to be all farmland.”
“Yes, I think I remember. Chesayu has developed much more than when I last came.”
“Right? You think so too, don’t you?”
I couldn’t help but smile.
Since my father became the lord, and since he started eastern trade, Chesayu had been growing day by day.
Who could imagine that this large city, now bustling with people in every alley, was once a poor territory where people starved during lean years?
“Duke Gallahan is widely praised as a very capable lord.”
Perez said to me, who was smiling proudly.
“But seeing Chesayu in person, I feel like I can even sense Duke Gallahan’s affection for his territory.”
I fully agreed with Perez.
My father wanted Chesayu to grow like Lombardi.
To become a home where the residents could live without worry, unaffected by good or bad harvests.
So he opened the port, lowered taxes, and personally walked around to understand the hardships of the residents, incorporating them into the territory’s management.
And in just a few years, he had achieved such a transformation.
“Shall we go to the dock now?”
Perez held out his hand to me and asked.
“Yes. We should board before it’s too late.”
We held hands and slowly walked towards the carriage.
As we did, a thought suddenly crossed my mind and I spoke it aloud.
“I hope Chesayu becomes an even better land when our children inherit it someday.”
Thump.
“Oh, Perez, are you okay?”
“…Yes.”
Perez, who had been walking fine but suddenly almost tripped over his own feet, replied belatedly in a low voice.
Then, with his lips tightly sealed, he looked at me with trembling eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it obvious?”
“You surprise me when you say things like that suddenly, Tia.”
He’s so easily embarrassed!
“I’m just stating the obvious, aren’t I?”
I said even more confidently.
“I told you before. We have to have at least three.”
“Hoo.”
Perez started running a hand over his face.
Regardless.
I continued speaking.
“The Lombardi family, the Lambru Empire, and here, Chesayu. We have a lot to pass on.”
“That’s true, but.”
“So let’s work hard, Perez.”
“Work hard…”
Perez, covering his mouth with one hand and barely nodding, looked noticeably tired.
I patted his back with a loud thud and laughed.
“Are you secretly weak, physically? At this rate… Just bear with it a little longer, you can rest well once we board.”
“…I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep more on the cruise.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Perez shook his head and smiled faintly.
Then he gripped my hand even tighter and said.
“Next time, let’s really go on a trip, Tia.”
“A trip?”
“That time, I’ll let you have a slow, proper trip. There are many places I want to show you.”
Perez, saying that, looked somewhat like a child.
“Let’s see more places, and you can confirm if I’m as capable a ruler of the Empire as Duke Gallahan.”
It was like a child wanting praise for a diligently completed homework assignment.
I looked up at Perez for a moment, then slowly stroked his head.
“You’re already a good Emperor. I know that best, even without touring the Empire.”
“…”
Perez made no reply.
He just quietly let me stroke his head like a docile animal.
He’d be offended if I scratched his chin.
I suppressed the sudden urge and said.
“Come on, let’s go. To the cruise.”
“There’s still time. No need to rush, Tia.”
The carriage carrying us headed straight for the dock again.
Perez said we could go slowly, but there was no telling how long the check-in process for general cabin passengers, not high-ranking ones, would take.
When we hastily arrived at the dock and showed our ‘general cabin’ tickets to the cruise crew.
“Congratulations on winning the event! You’ve received a special cabin voucher for our cruise!”