Chapter 180: The Gold-Panning Knight

The man had a wavy mustache and wore a long top hat with a green frock coat.

From his appearance, he did not seem to be of ordinary status.

I did not know who he was, but I could not let such rude behavior slide.

I grabbed the man’s wrist and lightly raised my arm.

The man was lifted clean off the ground.

“Uwaaah?”

He let out a flustered groan and struggled.

However, he could not escape from my hand.

He was quite large, but in the end, he was just an ordinary person.

“You bastard! Let go of me this instant! Do you know who I am?”

There it was.

The typical repertoire of people who held some position somewhere.

But those words did not work on me at all.

“What did he say? Hey, do you know who this guy is?”

—I do not know. He just looks stupid.

At Shugl’s answer, the man’s face turned bright red.

Being called stupid seemed more humiliating than being overpowered by sheer strength.

“You rotten—!”

“Ah, enough. I will just ask someone from this area.”

Still holding the man, I moved toward the path beside the river.

Two farmers pulling a cart happened to pass by.

An adult and a child.

They seemed to be father and son.

“May I ask you something? Do you happen to know who this guy is?”

“If he is someone who has been hanging around the riverside, there is a high chance he is a gold panner. Those kinds of people…… Eek? N-Night Gosling?”

The farmer who had been answering calmly widened his eyes as if they were about to pop out.

I roughly handed the man over to Adam and asked for more details.

Soon, a rather absurd story came out.

“You mean this is Knight Macum Gosling, the lord of the manor in the southeast?”

“T-That is correct.”

The farmer stammered slightly, perhaps flustered by the blunt remark.

It was only natural for him to be surprised.

I was treating a local notable like a child, after all.

From what I had heard, this guy’s tyranny was no joke either.

“Originally, he is not supposed to cross into Lelbrant Barony, but he secretly comes to pan for gold, is that right?”

“Rumors like that circulate quite often.”

“With such clear evidence right here, what do you mean by rumors?”

“Ahem! That is just what people say.”

“But why has the lord’s office not taken any action?”

“It is probably because he helps with monster extermination.”

The farmer lowered his voice and whispered.

The situation was becoming clearer.

It was a case of mutual dependence.

Gosling’s manor served as a kind of defensive fortress.

That was why Kazan had turned a blind eye to the gold panning even though he knew about it.

After all, the amount was not that significant anyway.

Still, it was a bit undignified for a knight to come and pan for gold himself, was it not?

While thinking that, I looked toward the riverside and spotted four shabby-looking men.

Judging by the panning pans they held, they seemed to be the people Knight Gosling had brought.

He had probably come in person because he did not trust those gold panners.

“He has a very suspicious personality, huh?”

Anyway, the reason this guy was angry was because of the dam construction.

If the water flow weakened, it would inevitably affect gold panning.

But was it not much better for the water to flow slowly?

I did not know why he was angry, but it was not something I needed to care about much.

I had thought he was from some environmental group or ecological research team or something.

Well, there was no way such people existed in this era.

“Hey, stop talking nonsense and get lost. I will deal with your crimes later.”

I nodded toward Adam.

It meant to let Knight Gosling go now.

But then, a rough scream suddenly burst out.

“Kiyaaaaah!”

Splash—!

I hurriedly turned around and saw Macum’s body flying far away and crashing into the middle of the river.

If the water volume had not decreased due to the dam construction, he would have been swept away long ago.

I gave Adam a thumbs-up at the unexpectedly refreshing action.

—Was that good?

“Very good.”

For now, the waterway was blocked and the water volume had decreased, but it would gradually increase from now on.

A certain depth was needed for ships to pass.

“But how much gold is even coming out for him to be this sensitive?”

I approached the riverside and looked at the gold panners’ table.

Only a tiny amount of gold dust, about the size of mouse droppings, caught my eye.

“Eek? Is this really all there is?”

“It came out less than usual. But who exactly are you to treat Knight Gosling like that?”

The gold panner’s expression was extremely complicated.

It was satisfying to see Macum Gosling, who always acted tyrannically, get beaten up, but he seemed worried about the aftermath.

It could not be helped.

If that bad-tempered guy woke up, he would definitely cause a scene.

“My name is Abel Carius.”

“Carius? S-Surely you are not Duke Carius himself?”

“That is correct.”

The gold panner looked confused.

He was probably unsure.

Rumors that a high-ranking person was coming from the capital had already spread.

So someone like me, whom he was meeting for the first time and who was dressed neatly, must have seemed like the real deal.

At the same time, he was probably thinking, “What if he is a swindler?”

In any case, my identity was not important.

“You do not have to worry about Knight Macum Gosling’s tyranny. I will take responsibility and deal with it.”

I sent the gold panners away and cleaned up the area.

They would not be able to pan for gold here anymore anyway.

From now on, a massive dock and canal would be built in this place.

“Ah, by the way, Adam.”

—Why are you calling me.

“Gold dust only comes out if there is a gold mine nearby, right?”

—Not necessarily, but the probability is high.

“Then find me one gold vein.”

—That is my specialty, but I am a bit tired right now.

“If you do it, I will send you a guidebook for the latest fashion items from Midias when we return. How about a full set from head to toe?”

—D-Don’t tell me I will be the first to receive it?

“It is brand new and not even released yet.”

—Kiyahoo! I will go find it right now!

The way to handle Adam was different from the half-demons.

Those guys were idiots who only knew about vitality, but this one was crazy about fashion.

A single new outfit from Midias was enough to make him work hard.

Adam, who was extremely excited, began roaming all over Marlow Lake, searching everywhere.

While he was doing that, I pulled Macum Gosling out of the river.

If I left him like that, even a knight would obviously die.

“You still have not come to your senses.”

—Just drag him along. You were going to beat him up for being annoying anyway, right?

“That is true.”

—We should beat him up thoroughly as an example and hang him somewhere.

“Whoa! That is brutal.”

—In this era, setting an example is basic. It is already generous that we are not displaying his head.

At Shugl’s cruel words, I shrugged.

It was a bit much to take his life just for grabbing me by the collar.

Still, I did not particularly like the idea of Gosling’s manor benefiting either.

Once the canal on the Kurin River was completed, that area would also receive an enormous trickle-down effect.

It would be nice if I could legally buy the land.

Should I go see Kazan first?

It seemed better to ask the acting lord for advice.

Roughly ten days later, I visited Lelbrant Castle again.

As I casually passed by the training ground, I suddenly heard screams from somewhere.

“Uwaaaah! I-I think I am going to die, Instructor!”

—Endure it. If you do not loosen your muscles, you will not be able to do the next training properly!

“Ueeeek! Uhehe! Khehehe!”

—You are slowly getting better. Next!

When I looked toward the barracks, a giant white bat was walking among about a hundred soldiers.

“Feltron?”

—Is the training actually going well?

“I will have to check.”

Honestly, I was half doubtful.

Feltron’s capabilities had already been proven.

Even if not to the same extent as before, his authority had mostly recovered as well.

But this was not the harsh north. It was the central region of the Empire.

Even though they were the same people, the culture itself was completely different.

Moreover, these were standing troops specialized in combat.

There is no way they would accept a white bat that suddenly appeared as their instructor.

If they did not even listen to the acting lord’s words, how much worse would it be?

However, the soldiers were all lying face down on the ground while being stepped on by Feltron.

What was even more absurd was that they did not try to run away even while screaming.

“Hah.”

I let out a dry laugh and approached the training ground.

Feltron, who had been thoroughly stepping on them, greeted me.

—Hey! Captain, you are here.

“You seem to be doing quite well, unexpectedly?”

Ehey! Who do you take this body for? Educating only 140 people is easy.

“Keep going. I want to watch a bit.”

—Right now is recovery time. I will work them after lunch.

“I meant keep doing what you were doing.”

—Understood.

Feltron went back to the training ground and picked up a large club.

I thought he might beat them with it, but fortunately, he did not.

He simply rolled the club thoroughly over the entire bodies of the soldiers lying face down.

As if he were kneading flour dough.

“Kuaaaah!”

Naturally, screams burst out.

Anyone receiving such an enormous massage would react the same way.

Moreover, if their muscles were already sore from intense training……

“Oof! That must be almost like death.”

But the pain was only temporary.

The screams quickly died down.

As their muscles loosened, they adapted to the massage.

The exhausted soldiers sprawled out in one corner.

The knights were also lying down with satisfied expressions.

I quietly approached one of them and spoke.

“How is the training?”

“Huh? You must be Duke Carius, right? I am sorry to greet you like this. My name is Marif Uten.”

“There is no need to worry about formality on the training ground. Training is more important.”

“Kuh! I am truly grateful. To think you would send such an excellent instructor.”

Surprisingly, Knight Uten’s reaction was very positive.

I mixed in with the knights and listened to stories about Feltron.

To my astonishment, the training schedule was extremely systematic.

It was almost personalized according to the level of the knights and soldiers.

Of course, it was not actually applied individually to every single person.

He had simply divided them into roughly five stages and adjusted the intensity.

On top of that, he even completed tactical training perfectly?

The knights did not hold back their praise, saying there was much to learn from Feltron.

「The respect of the Lelbrant Knight Order is directed toward the subordinate half-demon ‘Feltron’.」

「840 vitality points have been accumulated.」

Oh? So this is how it works?

I smiled while watching Feltron thoroughly massaging the soldiers.

Only ten days had passed, yet he was already earning 6 points per person.

At this rate, he would be able to collect several thousand vitality points in no time.

Of course, I had no intention of eating all of it by myself.

Everyone needed appropriate rewards in order to work properly.

“Hey. Feltron.”

I called Feltron, who had just finished the massage.

—Why?

Perhaps because the soldiers were watching, his voice sounded reliable.

There was no need to damage his dignity here.

I could treat him casually when we were alone.

It was only natural to maintain a subordinate’s face in front of others.

Soon, I whispered secretly into his ear.

“You are doing well. As a sign to work even harder, I will secretly give you 300 points from Shugl.”

—Hup! Really?

“Yeah. Keep up the good work from now on too.”

—I-I will do my best.

As expected, bribery was the most effective form of motivation.

I patted Feltron on the back and headed for the Lelbrant lord’s office.

The original purpose of coming here was to deal with Macum Gosling and to look into purchasing his manor.

But for some reason, I felt a sense of emptiness.

While tilting my head, Shugl suddenly spoke.

—Are you looking for the guy whose collar you grabbed earlier?

“Yeah.”

I left him at the training ground just now.

I turned my head sharply and saw that Macum Gosling was receiving Feltron’s afternoon training.

He must have gotten caught up among the soldiers while I was talking for a moment.

“Let him figure out how to get out on his own. We should just do our own work.”