My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 48

§ 48 – Ruben’s P2W (3)

Leah couldn’t hide her surprise.

It was as if she knew Ruben.

But Leah hadn’t left the hall in a thousand years, had she?

How could she know Ruben?

“Do you know where this is?”

-Of course!

Leah nodded immediately at Cian’s question.

-This is the Forest of Darkness.

“That’s right, but…”

Cian trailed off.

Then Leah opened her mouth as if recalling old memories.

-I fought the demons here in the final battle a thousand years ago. It was a real mess back then.

“Ah…”

Cian could only nod.

It seemed Leah didn’t know Ruben, but rather this place.

The Forest of Darkness.

Come to think of it, Ruben wasn’t around a thousand years ago.

How would Leah know Ruben?

-This is where we eliminated the demons for the last time. That’s why this place became the Forest of Darkness.

“Wasn’t this originally the Forest of Darkness?”

-Originally, it was the most lush mountain range and forest on the continent. Elves and dwarves lived together. Elodie and Morcru’s hometown is here, you know?

“Oh…”

That was a secret not even told in myths.

-After it was corrupted into the Forest of Darkness, everyone left for other places… But I never thought a territory where people live would be established in such a place.

Leah looked over Ruben’s scenery with a sense of wonder.

At that moment.

“Lord. You were here.”

A familiar voice was heard from one side.

Looking there.

Amelia was approaching Cian.

“The troll carcass this time needs to be managed a bit specially. Since its blood is precious…”

It seemed she wanted to discuss the disposal of the troll carcass.

Amelia slowly moved towards Cian.

Then she stopped.

“…?”

Amelia froze in her spot.

First of all, the large rock in front of Cian.

This rock was so huge that you had to crane your neck all the way up to see the top of it.

Moreover, the dark bluish light it emitted made it seem like a mana stone [a crystal that stores magical energy].

But did such a mana stone even exist on the continent…?

More than anything, wasn’t it not there just now?

Where did this come from…?

No, well, okay.

Up to this point, it was possible.

It was understandable that a rock suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Even if that was a mana stone, she could somehow understand it.

Cian must have done something again.

Considering Cian’s actions so far, this wasn’t even surprising.

But.

The being in front of that mana stone.

Long silver hair and captivating looks.

That beauty could only be described as truly ethereal.

However, the blurry shape made it difficult to definitively call her a person.

Also, her eyes.

Her eyes, reflecting the light, were a deep grayish-white.

It was as eerie as if two tombstones were embedded in her face.

Therefore, that was a being that was alive, but not alive.

People called it…

“… A ghost?”

… That’s how they described it.

Her body stiffened.

A sharp fear gripped Amelia’s body.

‘Ah, right.’

Cian realized at Amelia’s reaction.

He hadn’t told Amelia about Leah’s existence.

Amelia had never seen Leah.

She didn’t even know Leah existed.

The only two people who knew of Leah’s existence were Cian and the Saintess Aria.

-Hello?

Leah smiled brightly at Amelia.

She seemed to be greeting her happily.

The problem was that her eyes were a grayish-white without focus.

There was no madness felt, but there was nothing more eerie than that at first sight.

“Ah… Ahh…”

Amelia’s body began to tremble.

Her mind faded in the face of the fear she was confronting.

-Huh? Are you feeling unwell?

Leah approached Amelia with concern.

Leah’s deep grayish-white eyes met her right in front of her nose.

Thud.

Amelia fainted, rolling her eyes back.

#

Fortunately, Amelia was fine.

She fainted from fear, so there wouldn’t be any major problems.

Well, anyway.

Amelia was able to hear about Leah’s existence from Cian.

And.

“Sh-sh-she’s the younger sister of Emperor Charlotte!?”

Amelia almost fainted again in surprise.

-Nice to meet you!

“Eek!”

That’s how Leah greeted the first resident of Ruben.

Leah looked over Ruben, which would be her new home.

“Are there any uncomfortable places now, Dana?”

“No. I feel much better than before. Thank you so much, Ellie.”

-This recovery energy… It’s not disgusting and it’s cozy. How can this be?

“Oh? This forging iron. It would be good to use it to make weapons for the soldiers, right?”

“Hmm… But it’s still a bit difficult to handle.”

-Forging iron…? That’s something you can only get if dwarves refine it…?

“Heave-ho! The pickaxe is digging in really well.”

“What kind of magic did the lord use!”

-Huh? What are these mana stones…? Moreover, this energy is magical energy?

“Hey! Is it time to harvest the corn yet? There’s so much to harvest.”

“The farmland has changed, and the crops are growing quickly!”

-No way! The Forest of Darkness is cursed land! How can crops grow?

“Hahaha! The kid the lord brought this time is really amazing! It’s docile when I use the method that kid taught me!”

“At this rate, we can slowly use monsters as labor, right?”

-Monsters being tamed by human hands? How can such a thing be…!

“Everyone! Eat your meals!”

“It’s food! Ahhh!”

“Everyone move aside! I’m going to eat first!”

-It looks delicious…!

“Ah…! This is the best!”

“I really live for this one meal!”

“Hahahahahaha!!”

The space of death, the Forest of Darkness.

Ruben, located in such a Forest of Darkness.

This place should have been filled with the energy of death.

But Ruben, as Leah saw it, was not like that.

A tiring but ordinary daily life.

In it, people were feeling small but clear happiness.

Ruben, which was poor but full of warmth.

“Please give me one more bowl!”

“Duras, are you possessed by a glutton? Stop eating so much!”

Paak!

Someone slapped the back of Duras’ head as he ran.

“Argh! Which ba–!”

His eyes widened as he looked up.

Cian was standing there with a frown.

Duras lowered his eyes slightly and muttered.

“…I don’t know which bird flew by. Why are you being so mean about food, Lord…”

“Mean my ass. You’ve been eating so much since you fought the troll last time, why is that?”

“Because it’s delicious…”

“You have to eat moderately. Don’t you remember you ate so much yesterday? You ended up throwing up during training!”

“Th, that’s…”

Duras was flustered.

“Then the food was so delicious, so you wondered if the vomit would also be delicious…? And you ate the vomit!”

“Th, th, that was just out of curiosity…! I spit it out right away!”

“It’s not about spitting it out, it’s about why you ate it in the first place!”

“Puhahahahaha!”

The people in the cafeteria each burst into laughter.

Cian shook his head.

At that moment.

-Cian!

Suddenly, Leah appeared in front of Cian.

Is it because she’s a ghost?

Leah appeared out of nowhere.

She had disappeared earlier, saying she was going to look around Ruben, so he wondered where she had gone.

Cian tilted his head and looked at Leah.

Soon, Leah spread her arms wide and shouted.

-I really, really like it here!!

Then Leah smiled brightly.

She looked quite happy.

He didn’t know why, but she seemed to like Ruben quite a bit.

However, one thing.

“Gh, gh, gh-ghosts!?”

“Hiiiik…!!!”

“Ru, run away!!!”

It seemed it would take some time to become friends with the residents of Ruben.

But is even the reaction of those people enjoyable?

-I am a thousand-year-old ghost!

Leah was startling the fleeing residents, laughing like a girl.

“……”

Cian wondered what she was doing.

She’s not even a child.

If you only count her age, she’s a thousand years old…

“Well.”

She had been alone in the hall for a thousand years.

She must have missed people a lot.

Fortunately, she also likes Ruben.

It seems like it would be good to live here.

However.

“Hmm…”

There was still one problem that had not been resolved.

“The mana stone continues to emit magical energy.”

As Leah said, the mana stone continued to emit magical energy.

Fortunately, it was the Forest of Darkness, which was full of magical energy.

The magical energy that escaped from the mana stone could be reabsorbed.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about Leah disappearing.

But the worry was this emitted magical energy.

The mana stone was accumulating tremendous magical energy in proportion to Leah’s resentment.

The emitted magical energy was also proportional to it.

Even now, even though the distance from the mana stone was quite far, he could feel the tingling energy of the magical energy.

Cian was fine.

He was training in the Demon Confusion Art now.

He could control this magical energy.

Also, he could not go crazy.

But the residents of Ruben were not.

If left unchecked, the residents would be eroded by the magical energy and go crazy.

In short, it was difficult to keep Leah in the territory.

“Hmm…”

Cian fell into deep thought.

And perhaps she felt uneasy at Cian’s expression.

To be exact, she seemed to know what Cian was worried about.

-I, is there no way? I really want to live here with you…

Leah asked anxiously.

She was restless, and she really seemed to like Ruben.

Of course, Cian had no intention of abandoning Leah either.

But that didn’t mean he could leave that mana stone as it was.

‘What should I do…’

Just as his worries deepened.

Ding!

Suddenly, the smartphone’s notification sound rang.

‘What is it?’

Cian checked the screen of his smartphone.

《You’ve done an absurd P2W!》

《The development level of the territory has reached its limit!》

Ding!

《The territory grade has been changed from ‘Hamlet → Village’!》

《Facilities that can be built in the village grade are now open!》

At the same time, new buildings were added to the 【Territory Facilities】 section.

It seemed there was a grade according to the territory’s development level.

Thanks to Jerry’s active research coupled with this P2W, the grade seemed to have changed.

‘More than that, I was being treated as a hamlet?’

Well… it was understandable.

Even so.

Cian let out a hollow laugh.

Cian checked the added facilities.

Quite a few facilities were added to the 【Territory Facilities】 section.

But there was one facility that particularly stood out.

『《Lord’s Manor Lv.1》 (450,000G)

▶You! Where do you live now!

You’re not living in a normal house, are you?

If so, get out of there right now!

You’re not thinking of hosting guests visiting the territory in a normal house, are you?

The lord is the representative of the territory!

That is, the face of the territory!

The dignity of the territory is determined by the dignity of the lord!

Living frugally is not necessarily a virtue!』

– (Basic Effect) You can grasp all the situations in the territory!

– (Basic Effect) You can install lord-related convenience facilities!

– (Basic Effect) You can upgrade the territory’s facilities up to Lv.3!

.

.

“Hmm?”

Cian tilted his head.

Of course, it wasn’t a facility with significant effects.

It seemed to be a facility related to the lord’s dignity.

But this one thing.

– (Basic Effect) You can upgrade the territory’s facilities up to Lv.3!

‘Was there a limit to the upgrades?’

It seemed that was the case.

And it seemed that Lv.2 was the last level.

Soon, various convenience facilities could be installed in the Lord’s Manor.

Rest areas, personal training grounds, etc.

They were literally convenience facilities.

Then suddenly.

One facility caught Cian’s eye.

『《Lord’s Manor Barrier Stone》 (30,000G)

▶The Lord’s Manor is where the lord lives!

Such a space should be more special than other places!

This Lord’s Manor Barrier Stone forms a barrier in the Lord’s Manor based on the magic power of the mana stone!

The better the mana stone, the higher the grade of the barrier!

Highly recommended for those who want to stretch their legs and sleep at night!』

.

.

“Lord’s Manor Barrier Stone?”

To be exact, it wasn’t a barrier stone.

It could be called a room for creating barriers.

The internal structure was quite large, built in the basement.

Almost the size of a public hall.

Inside, a mana stone.

In other words, the barrier would activate when a barrier stone was inserted.

And the grade of the barrier would be determined by the grade of the barrier stone.

“With this…?”

He might be able to insert Leah’s mana stone.

Then the terrible magical energy wouldn’t leak out.

Moreover, since that magical power would be converted into a barrier, those in the Lord’s Manor wouldn’t be affected either.

Looking at the blueprints, roughly…

There seemed to be enough space for Leah’s mana stone to fit.

“450,000 gold and 30,000 gold…”

The problem was that the price was insane, considering how large it was.

A total of 480,000 gold.

Cian checked the gold coins remaining in his inventory.

[Gold Coins Held – 500,000 G]

500,000 gold.

He had used a whopping 550,000 gold to develop from a village to a town.

Adding Charlotte’s pride, he had spent a total of 1,050,000 gold in P2W [Pay to Win, spending real money for in-game advantages].

Anyway, if he bought the Lord’s Manor, he would only have 20,000 gold left.

And considering the territory’s maintenance costs.

20,000 gold was money he couldn’t spend carelessly.

It was practically using up all his money.

‘I don’t really need the Lord’s Manor right now…’

That was because he wasn’t uncomfortable with where he was staying now.

And there were no facilities to upgrade immediately.

He would have to buy it someday.

But there was no need to build the Lord’s Manor now, paying 480,000 gold.

And in fact, he had already decided where to use that money.

[Ad Removal + Unlimited Growth Buff Usage Ticket (500,000 G)]

None other than ad removal and unlimited growth buff usage.

Now that he was training the Mahon Sura Sword and the Mahon Emperor Technique.

Cian’s days were truly packed.

Managing the territory.

Training.

Solving the problems of the territory residents.

Even with Charlotte’s buff applied, his days were still packed.

But whatever.

‘I can just watch some ads and move a little more diligently.’

More than anything.

-Is there no way…?

Seeing Leah’s anxious appearance, he couldn’t think of anything else.

Leah, who had been waiting for Kyle alone for a thousand years.

Cian couldn’t even imagine what kind of time Leah had spent in that terrible loneliness.

Then, like fate, she met Cian.

Following Cian, she felt the warmth of people in Ruben.

-I really, really want to live here…

Seeing Leah so happy.

How could he just ignore it?

And well.

Strictly speaking, wasn’t this money Leah had stolen from the pawnshop?

So it wasn’t bad to use it for Leah.

“I think I’ve found a way.”

-Really? Really?

Leah was overjoyed at Cian’s words.

“Yes.”

-Thank you! Thank you so much! I’ll really do well! If anyone bothers you, just tell me!

Leah shouted, floating around in the air.

Leah, the vengeful spirit of a thousand years.

Even Aria couldn’t do anything about Leah, and there was no one on the continent who dared to oppose her.

Durak, a master-level being.

Egrid, who had reached the 8th level.

Wouldn’t it take those two?

-If anyone tries to harm you, I’ll protect you all! Don’t worry!

Cian burst into laughter.

It wasn’t like there was anyone who would harm Cian, and there was no way a crazy person would come to Ruben to harm him.

Cian shook his head.

And then, far away.

He called out to Amelia, who was slowly slipping away.

“Amelia.”

“Hah! Yes, yes?”

Amelia seemed startled by Cian’s sudden words.

Then she glanced at Leah.

She still seemed scared of Leah.

Cian chuckled and said.

“About the troll corpses I mentioned last time.”

“Ah, that.”

Amelia continued immediately.

“I was going to put it on hold for a while. After all, there are still mana stones that haven’t been sold. And more than anything, you have a lot of money right now.”

That was because Amelia knew of a whopping 1,550,000 gold.

1,550,000 gold.

It was truly an enormous amount of money.

So there would be no need to worry about money for the time being─.

“Let’s sell them right away.”

“Yes?”

Amelia tilted her head.

“Why?”

“Why indeed.”

Cian stared at Amelia silently.

And.

Flintch!!

Amelia trembled greatly at Cian’s gaze.

Amelia’s trembling eyes.

Some terrible… thought flashed through them.

No way. No way.

It can’t be. It absolutely can’t be.

It mustn’t be.

Amelia only looked at Cian’s mouth with a hopeful heart.

And Cian’s mouth opened.

“I spent all the money.”

“Don’t lie.”

Amelia shook her head immediately.

It didn’t make sense.

How could she have spent 1,550,000 gold, of all things?

Even if she told Amelia to use it right now, even if she threw it at her.

She probably wouldn’t be able to use it all her life.

But she spent it all in just a few days?

‘No way, it doesn’t make sense.’

Amelia shook her head.

But…

“I… I’d like you to sell the mana stones too.”

Somehow, Cian seemed serious.

Amelia stared at Cian with her blinking eyes.

Then Cian subtly avoided Amelia’s gaze.

“……”

What the hell is he really…

No, is he even human?

Is this what they call a bottomless pit?

At this point, I think the bottom is just shattered.

Thud.

Amelia’s mind just snapped.

#

If you were to name the most famous families in the Empire, everyone would name the three families.

The Elan Dur, a prestigious family of swordsmanship.

The Rorschild, a prestigious family of magic.

And the heart of the Empire, the Imperial Family.

However, if you were to name the most famous ‘forces’ in the Empire.

There were others who were added to this.

And one of those was the Shadow Moon.

The best information guild in the Empire.

It was an underworld guild that dominated the dark world.

The dark city of Benere, where the Shadow Moon Guild was located.

And a dark alley in such Benere.

“A request?”

Kuner said, looking at the man leaning against the wall.

The man nodded once without a word.

Then he took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Kuner.

Kuner checked the contents.

“Kill Cian Elan Dur?”

Kuner asked, slightly surprised.

That was because he knew who Cian was.

“Yes.”

The man answered simply.

Kuner stared at the man silently.

Kuner, a member of the Shadow Moon Guild.

Working as an assassin.

As long as the payment was certain, he would carry out any request within his capabilities.

But.

“Is there a reason why I have to do it?”

This time, he was a little puzzled.

“Using an ogre-killing sword to catch a goblin is too much.”

Kuner was a special-class assassin.

A special-class assassin who had never failed a single request.

There was no need to use Kuner to assassinate Cian.

This was literally like using an ogre-killing sword to catch a goblin.

From the client’s point of view, it didn’t make any sense.

“Because it needs to be handled for sure.”

The man answered briefly.

Even though Kuner didn’t understand, the man spat out a word.

“The guild leader is directly managing the request.”

“……The guild leader?”

Kuner was speechless for a moment.

Diana, the guild leader of the Shadow Moon.

Commonly, the underworld is a world where crime and violence.

Various illegal activities were rampant.

And those who lived in such an underworld were not human.

They were creatures who committed murder, torture, rape, and kidnapping without hesitation.

And they didn’t even feel a shred of guilt.

They were truly beasts.

They were less than dogs.

Diana, the guild leader of the Shadow Moon.

She came into the underworld, where such dogs were rampant, alone.

And she crushed all the dogs who were mad with madness.

She gave ‘rules’ to the underworld full of chaos.

And she was the one and only existence who finally rose to the top of the underworld.

And the rules that Diana gave.

That was to suppress indiscriminate criminal acts, which was why Kuner didn’t like Diana.

But he just kept it to himself.

The moment he broke the rules because he didn’t like them.

It was clear that only his head would fly off.

Anyway, a request that Diana directly manages.

That was not a problem to be taken lightly.

“The client is not an ordinary person either.”

“The details about the client are top secret.”

The man cut him off firmly.

Kuner could roughly guess from the man’s appearance.

It was extremely rare to be able to contact the Shadow Moon Guild leader.

A very high-ranking person.

It was impossible unless they could control the Empire.

And there weren’t many such people.

If you apply the element of Cian here…

Kuner shook his head slightly.

If a request came in, he would just carry it out.

Kuner asked the man.

“What’s the request fee?”

“200,000 gold. I’ll give it to you in advance.”

The man handed Kuner a slip.

Kuner widened his eyes.

200,000 gold.

This was quite excessive for a request fee.

It was definitely a shady request.

But whatever.

Doesn’t matter, does it?

Kuner put the slip in his pocket.

“I’ll finish it quickly and come back.”

Soon, Kuner’s body disappeared into the darkness.