Chapter 109: Saved by the Bell (2)
[You have shown heroic courage and determination by risking your life for the Frontera barony and Lacona viscounty.]
[For that, the people of the two fiefdoms have been deeply moved and praise you greatly.]
[You have earned a new title.]
“…”
Hmm… Finally, Lloyd thought to himself. When the message appeared in front of him, he perused the message without a show of surprise.
I suppose I saw this coming.
He had gotten quite used to receiving messages in moments like these, so he expected this to happen from the second he started to exterminate the locusts.
This was the perfect time for a new title.
He had risked his life and saved the fiefdom. At that point, it would have been disappointing if a new title hadn’t appeared. In fact, it was the reason why he had paraded around hollering that he was Captain Frontera and saving everyone.
Otherwise, no one is going to know who came to save them. Why bother accomplishing anything if no one is going to acknowledge me?
The importance of PR could not be emphasized enough in an age like this. Thinking such, Lloyd studied the message that continued to pop up.
Ding Dong.
[A new title
[Bell Saver]
[Title Level: Regional talk]
Murky clouds covered the eastern sky. Carrying an apocalypse, they flew. Livestock perished, houses crushed. Humans weeped, swords snapped. When death neared everyone. When two fiefdoms despaired as one. A bell tolled aloud in unison. Bong. The livestock was saved. Bong. The people woke up. Bong. Hope was alive. That is why we will cry out the name of our savior.
[Compliment Effect: The Frontera barony and Lacona viscounty, who have undergone the attack of the plague of locusts, will consider you as their lifesaver throughout your lifetime. Moreover, every kind of insect monster will instinctively fear you and lose heart when it sees you.]
[Title Region: Frontera barony and Lacona viscounty.]
[Active Period of Title: 110 Years.]
[A title’s powers can be activated for 24 hours in the region where the compliment was given. Moreover, the time and region can expand or shrink depending on your actions.]
[Monthly CP Earned from the Title: 3]
[Current CP: 2]
Woah.
Bell Saver. Its effect was as grand as the name sounded.
Does this mean that I became the most respected hero in the region?
That wasn’t all.
To summarize its effects, I can automatically discourage insect monsters.
Come to think of it, this optional skill was awesome. The description didn’t even mention any limits on things like the size of the monster.
This means that there are no conditions attached to it whether it’s the size or whatever else. Anything that’s shaped similarly to an insect will be affected by it. So, this means that something like the Gigatitan that I had fought back in Cremo would be scared and shy away from me if we met eyes.
If he was in the modern world, pest companies would have paid big bucks to hire him. Nonetheless, its effect was going to come in handy in many ways in this world as well.
I’ve had a lot of unlucky experiences with insect monsters.
He really did. The wild ants, the Gigatitan, and the locust swarm… Each and every single monster was yet another great crisis to overcome. But if he had held the title back when he was fighting them, victory would have come easily. He wouldn’t have had to risk his life so many times.
And I think it’d be very useful for catching mosquitoes in the middle of the night.
That might be the sweetest take away from the title. Lloyd closed the message window as he grinned contently. He looked across his table, where the baron and baroness were enjoying dinner. The two appeared to be happy, basking in the peaceful dinner. Understandably so. The fiefdom had faced an unprecedented disaster, and it had been overcome thanks to their heroic son. How could they not be happy? How could they not be satisfied? Lloyd could easily understand the baron and the baroness. But it didn’t mean that preparation for other possible future attacks wasn’t necessary. And so…
“Um, I am sorry to say this to you right now, but it won’t end with this,” announced Lloyd.
Lloyd spoke with an empty salad plate in front of him. The happy conversation between the baron and baroness ceased right away. They gazed at Lloyd, which was followed by the concerned voice of the baroness.
“My. Do you wish to eat more salad?” she asked innocently.
“…”
“You should have told me. This isn’t the end? Well, I suppose I should’ve known that wouldn’t be enough for them. Still, you must be tired from traveling all the way from the capital.”
The baroness spoke and then took Lloyd’s plate to serve him a full heap of salad. Lloyd looked at it. There was way more meat than vegetables on his plate.
“Tell me if you need more,” she added. “Today must have been tough for you, too.”
“Um, I didn’t mean that way, but-”
“Care for some sausages?”
“…”
His heart was touched against his will. Memories were problematic for this very reason. Lloyd wondered why mothers were like this. He shoved away the thought of his mother that flashed across his mind, and he forced a cough to remove the awkward expression from his face.
“Ehem. Hmm! It’s not that, but I actually do have something to tell you both,” Lloyd finally managed to say.
“What is it?” the baron asked, and the baroness put down the salad spoon. The two seemed to have noticed that Lloyd wasn’t talking about food. Lloyd gazed at them.
“Please forgive me for what I am about to say while you are feeling happy and relieved,” Lloyd said, “and it makes me feel like a wet blanket to say this. However, there will be time to celebrate later on. The same goes for you both and me.”
“Is…” the baron murmured, “something going to happen again?”
“Yes.”
“Will it happen again in the future?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us in more detail?” the baron asked once again.
“Of course.”
The baron’s gaze was now serious. Feeling the intensity, Lloyd opened his mouth to speak.
“Yesterday’s disaster was terrifying, to say the least. Thankfully, we managed to overcome it well. But now is just the beginning. To tell you the reason and our current situation in detail…”
Lloyd began to walk through the whole thing one by one, just like the time he had reported the matter to Queen Magentano. The things he had learned from the novel and the facts he managed to deduce were laid on the table in a logical manner.
“Therefore, a string of invasions, just like the one we’d witnessed, will occur down the road.”
“A string of them?” asked the baron.
“Yes, it’s…” Lloyd paused for a second before he spoke again. “I am expecting three to seven at most.”
“…”
The baroness blanched at Lloyd’s words. The happy-go-lucky and peaceful atmosphere that hung on the dining table was instantly killed to be replaced by a horrendous and suspenseful one.
“Ha… What should we… How about we leave the fiefdom at once?” the baron suggested.
“That won’t do.”
Lloyd shook his head firmly before continuing. “You must remember, that once we lose the fiefdom, it’s over for us.”
“It’s over for us?” repeated the baron.
“Yes.”
It was true. Abandoning this fiefdom wasn’t an option. This fiefdom held his dreams, hopes, and a comfortable and prosperous retirement life for Lloyd. And if they gave this place up because of the monster hoards and let it become ruined, it would become a wasteland. All of the villagers would either die or flee. And what would happen afterward?
We’ll lose the fiefdom. Some might say that we could simply run away for safety and establish the fiefdom again on an empty lot. But this isn’t a video game. Doing that would be impossible.
If the fiefdom’s lord and his family fled for their lives in front of a threat… That would nuke the people’s trust in the lord. Even though he poured gold coins into building up the agricultural lands and distributed them to them afterward, they wouldn’t be so willing to settle there. No, even before that happened, the royal palace would surely come down hard on the baron.
Since a fiefdom is nothing but a land given by the monarch.
Therefore, it was to be managed and maintained on behalf of the monarch. Abandoning the land was the same as stripping himself of the qualification to rule over the land. The land would forever be out of his rule.
“And so, running away must be the final resort when death is our only alternative. First, for now, we must stick around here and protect this land.”
Lloyd never wished to lose the fiefdom. He didn’t want to end up homeless and be summoned to the capital. The queen would then comfort him and give him a job there, where he would be committed to a lifetime of backbreaking work. He had been snowed under endless work and labor already enough back in South Korea as he tried to make ends meet. It sickened him. His strong resolution seemed to have been conveyed well to the baron and the baroness. The former nodded with a resolved expression on his face.
“I understand what you mean. You are 100% right,” the baron acknowledged.
“Isn’t that right?” Lloyd said, feeling relieved.
The baron, who seemed to be afraid, mustered up the courage. Lloyd thought that since he and the baron were on the same page, things would be much easier to plan out. However, it was revealed a second later that the baron must have mustered up too much courage.
“So, you shall run away alone,” the baron announced.
“Excuse me…?” asked Lloyd, dazed.
“As you said, countless monsters and beasts will sweep over the fiefdom as the locusts did. That is why.”
“I don’t get-”
“If you need to survey and design things for defense, just do that and nothing more. As soon as possible,” the baron explained.
“Wait,” Lloyd asked as he grimaced a little, “are you saying I should run after assigning the project to someone else?”
“Yes.”
The baron’s tone seemed to tell Lloyd, “Duh.”
“What would be the point of putting yourself at risk? You have risked your life already by taking the matter into your own hands this time. I am sorry and ashamed of that alone. Therefore, from now on, you shall stay somewhere safe. Don’t act recklessly from now on. Let this old man deal with it.”
The baron’s voice was stern, which was something rare for him. And so, Lloyd was able to catch how serious the baron was about keeping Lloyd safe, even if it meant putting himself in danger.
“…”
Lloyd was touched once again. He wondered why his father came to mind. His father used to comfort Lloyd that everything was okay and that he must focus on his studies as the old man could pay off the debt. The baron reminded Lloyd of his father, who spoke with conviction like now.
When in fact, he was the one most scared and tired by it all.
Why fathers always tried to carry every single burden all to themselves was beyond Lloyd. He drew his breath at length, smothering emotions that tried to spill out of him. And he spoke to the baron.
“But even so, it will not be enough,” Lloyd said.
“Not enough…?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying that your father will not be able to protect the fiefdom?”
“No. That is not what I mean. However-”
“However?”
“Things will be much easier if we work together. So, here is my promise,” Lloyd said.
“Promise? What promise?”
“Without looking back, I will run as soon as things get dangerous. To a faraway place that is safe. How does that sound?”
“Are you really serious about keeping that promise…?”
“Of course,” Lloyd assured.
That was obviously the case. Even though this barony was his golden ticket to a happy retirement, it wasn’t more valuable than his life. The moment he sensed he was near death, he would be the first to run. Thinking that in his head, Lloyd spoke to the baron.
“So you do not have to tell me to run away first. Instead, I wish to ask you for something.”
“Ask for something? What is it?”
“Please provide me with as many workers as you can.”
“Is it to shorten the time needed to build a defensive structure?” the baron asked.
“Yes. We need more workers on top of the villagers and civil engineers. Especially those who are strong and brawny. So…”
Lloyd paused as he stared at the baron. With a grin on his face, he uttered a request that was sure to frighten the baron.
“Please summon the commander of the White Cavalry after dinner for me and tell him that the entire member of the cavalry will be transferred to the civil engineer corp first thing tomorrow,” Lloyd said.
“What…?”
Gulp-
It was only seconds ago that the baron promised full cooperation to protect this fiefdom.
I know that we have been given the command control as the lord of the fiefdom, but it’s directly under the command of the monarch! What is he going to do with them?
The baron was concerned that the commander of the cavalry might go apoplectic. But Lloyd was nonchalant, and he spoke much more brazenly.
“Of course, you should be worried. And about how you will bring it up to him is another concern. I wish to do it myself, but I am not the lord. So, the job is yours, and it’s imperative that you do so,” said Lloyd.
“Imperative? Why so?”
“Because it’s our chance to attain 500 brawny and well-built laborers.”
Lloyd continued to speak.
“The next wave of monsters will rush down here now that the locusts are gone. We will need people for shoveling then,” he added.
“Shoveling?” the baron asked in curiosity.
“Yes, but not just this time. I have a bigger, much bigger picture in mind for the future. So they must master how to use the shovel and get used to the tool beforehand. Please make sure that you make them come around. Also, if he gets mad…” Lloyd paused.
“What if he does?”
Baron Frontera shot the question in a hurry, thinking that Lloyd might have a wonderful trick up his sleeve. He waited for the hopeful answer to come. Lloyd grinned.
“Act thick-skinned and brazen,” Lloyd finally uttered.
“…”
“You can do it.”
“…”
“Good luck.”
“…”
The baron wondered if he could really pull off such a thing. His Adam’s apple fluctuated hard as he gulped.