My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 8

§ 8. The Necromantic Territory, Ruben (1)

“Who is it!”

At his words, the people startled and looked at Xian.

The men gripped their weapons, exuding a fierce aura.

Xian scanned them once and slowly opened his mouth.

“I am the new lord appointed to the Ruben territory.”

Abruptly.

The people’s movements froze.

“Lord…?”

Soon, they began to stir greatly.

And just then.

“Are you saying you’ve come as the lord of Ruben territory?”

Someone stepped forward from the crowd and asked Xian.

A roughly built middle-aged man.

With a thick beard and a stern impression, he looked less like a mercenary and more like a veteran hunter who had toughened up in harsh environments.

Judging by appearances, this man seemed to be the leader of the group.

And as the man didn’t use honorifics towards Xian, Hans started to step forward.

But Xian stopped him.

He didn’t particularly care.

However, Xian also saw no reason to use honorifics.

“Yes. I am Xian Elan Dur.”

“Elan… Dur…?”

The man’s expression turned blank.

Because in the Empire, everyone knew the name Elan Dur, and what it meant [a powerful, influential family].

“Why is an Elan Dur here…?”

The man’s dazed gaze turned to Xian.

And behind him, the expressions of the people showed a glimmer of hope.

“If it’s Elan Dur, could it be that they are finally paying attention to us!”

As if facing a long-awaited hope.

But that was only for a moment.

“Wait, if it’s Xian Elan Dur…”

The moment the man recalled Xian’s name, his expression turned cold.

The Marquis’s good-for-nothing.

A bastard who should never have existed.

A useless bum.

“Ah…”

“I knew it…”

Soon, the people’s faces showed a ‘there it is’ kind of emotion.

“Tsk. Another one came to die.”

“Why come to such a dangerous place instead of just running away…?”

“The atmosphere in the Dark Forest is already ominous these days, and now a lord.”

The people began to stir greatly once more.

Some with pitiful expressions.

Others with annoyed expressions.

The people looked at Xian with their own expressions.

Soon, the leader-like man asked Xian.

“By any chance, did you deal with these goblin groups?”

“What if I did?”

Xian nodded.

Of course, it wasn’t just Xian, but Hans who helped deal with them.

But either way.

The important thing wasn’t that.

“…”

At Xian’s answer, the man’s expression began to twist strangely.

It wasn’t just the man, but the others as well.

It was a reaction far from admiration, as if it shouldn’t have happened.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes. A very big problem.”

The man’s expression was now twisted fiercely.

“The goblin groups you dealt with were scouts.”

“Scouts?”

Those many goblin groups?

“Yes. Scouts to find out if there was prey or not. You shouldn’t have dealt with these goblin groups. You should have just let them pass… The main force will be here soon, because of you.”

Soon, the man turned his back and began to prepare to leave with the people.

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

The man answered without looking at Xian.

Xian frowned slightly.

Of course, he knew they were trying to escape.

However, what Xian was asking was why they were trying to escape.

“Weren’t you people the residents of Ruben? Your home is being trampled by monsters, and you’re trying to escape?”

“Residents?”

Then the man turned back around and scoffed as he continued.

“Can you still call us residents after seeing this sight?”

The man scanned the ruined surroundings.

Half-destroyed or completely wrecked.

The desolate sight, which could hardly be called a territory, was at a level that made it embarrassing to call it a home.

“…”

Therefore, Xian had nothing to say.

The man looked at Xian and continued.

“If you’re going to say something foolish about fighting… I refuse. We will not fight.”

“…Does it matter if the territory is trampled?”

“You speak as if there’s anything left to be trampled on.”

Xian looked at the man once and said again.

“If I order you as your lord.”

Then this time, the man glared at Xian and said.

“I’ll say it again, we are not residents of Ruben. We may have been in the past, but you people abandoned us, Elan Dur. So don’t force the duties of residents on us.”

Soon, the man turned his back on Xian again.

And at the same time.

Ding!

The sound of a smartphone notification came from his pocket.

『[Tutorial Territory Quest] – ‘The authority of a lord arises when they do not forsake their duty!’

▶You have magnificently defeated the monster groups that occupied Ruben!

Chest puffed out!

Shoulders raised!

You confidently enter Ruben!

A triumphant return!

Now, behold!

I am your lord, so doesn’t respect spring up endlessly!

But wait…?!

The reactions of the residents are rather cold…

Embarrassed, you!

Put aside your bluff for a moment and have a conversation…

Oh my goodness!

The monster attacks on Ruben territory haven’t ended?!

The monster groups you faced were just scouts!

A tremendous number of monsters are about to come…

The number is a whopping hundreds!!

W, what should we do!!!

The residents are only thinking of running away in fear!

Besides, they refuse to fight, saying they are not residents of Ruben!

Of course!

The authority of a lord arises when they do not forsake their duty!

But you haven’t done anything!

A lord in name only!

A fake lord!

Above all, the residents of Ruben territory have been abandoned by the world.

No one reached out to Ruben.

You can’t easily open their wounded hearts.

At this rate, all the residents will leave!

You can’t just stand by as their lord!

Magnificently defeat the monster army that is attacking Ruben territory!』

.

.

“If you’re thinking of a useless struggle… don’t. Neither you nor us. We’re all abandoned beings anyway.”

The man left with those words.

#

After the residents left, Xian stood there for a long time.

How much time had passed?

“Young master, I will drag them back, even if I have to force them.”

Hans, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward.

However, Xian stopped Hans.

“No. Don’t do that.”

“But…”

“What right do I have to hold them back?”

“…”

Hans shut his mouth at Xian’s words.

Xian looked at Hans and turned his gaze to the ruined territory.

Xian couldn’t bring himself to hold back the people who were leaving.

Of course, he could force them to stay if he insisted.

Even though Xian was a discarded bastard, Elan Dur was still Elan Dur.

The power that name held could not be ignored.

So if he forced them, if he threatened them, he could hold the people back.

But Xian didn’t do that.

In the first place, he doubted they would listen, and more than anything, he didn’t want to.

Oppression and coercion were the things Xian had been subjected to in the family.

‘If you’re thinking of a useless struggle… don’t. Neither you nor us. We’re all abandoned beings anyway.’

The words the man spat out kept echoing in Xian’s mind.

Just then.

“Young master.”

Suddenly, Hans called Xian in a low voice.

A serious atmosphere appeared on Hans’s wrinkled face.

He seemed to be contemplating something…

As expected, Hans carefully opened his mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to run away now…?”

Hans didn’t finish his sentence; he was just looking at Xian.

Xian looked back at Hans.

And to be honest, Xian also fully understood and sympathized with what Hans was saying.

The Necromantic Territory, Ruben, was, to put it euphemistically, a place of exile.

To put it directly, it was an execution ground.

Ruben territory was Isabel’s scheme to kill Xian.

Even now, look.

The moment he arrived in the territory, he was almost killed.

So it was a wise decision to run away as he was.

But if I run away, what’s next?

Xian thought.

“Will Isabel leave me alone?”

“…”

Hans had nothing to say.

Because it didn’t matter much to run away from here.

However, the mistress of Elan Dur, Isabel, would know that fact.

There was no way she would just sit back and watch.

It was Isabel who sent Xian to Ruben territory to get rid of him.

However, because Elan Dur’s blood was mixed in, she couldn’t directly harm him.

Therefore, appointing Xian as the lord of Ruben territory with the pretext that he would soon come of age was the best plan Isabel could come up with.

But what if Xian runs away from here?

This was disobeying the family’s orders.

A runaway who disobeyed the family’s orders.

There was no better excuse to kill Xian than that.

Perhaps at this moment, Isabel might be hoping that Xian would run away.

“Then how about joining another family? Even a kingdom around the Empire, not necessarily the Empire…”

Of course, if Xian joined another family, the story would be different, because then he would no longer be an Elan Dur.

However.

“Have you forgotten what my surname is? It’s Elan Dur. What family in the continent would ignore Elan Dur’s pressure?”

Nowhere could a family withstand Elan Dur’s pressure, not even the royal family of another kingdom.

There were only two families that could withstand Elan Dur’s pressure: the Rothschild family, which supports the Empire along with Elan Dur, and the heart of the Empire, the Imperial family.

“…”

Hans shut his mouth once again, because that statement was also an undeniable fact.

Above all.

“Who would accept a good-for-nothing like me?”

Xian, who was called the Marquis’s good-for-nothing.

There was no way a family would accept such Xian.

Xian waved his hand, a gesture that he had nothing more to say about it.

But unlike Xian’s intention, Hans opened his mouth again.

“I keep saying, but… you are definitely not a good-for-nothing, young master.”

Hans’s face said that even if he admitted everything else, he could never admit that.

Because in defining a typical good-for-nothing, the following concepts must be included: alcohol, gambling, and women.

However, Xian was not involved in any of them.

In the first place, he couldn’t be involved.

Xian was not in a situation to commit such atrocities.

A life of oppression and suppression meant Xian always had to survive by being careful.

But Xian commits atrocities like a good-for-nothing?

There was no way Isabel would let that happen, saying that he tarnished Elan Dur’s image, that he was a disgrace to the family, etc.

She would have banished Xian from the family long ago, citing various reasons, maybe even killed him as he was.

Therefore, Xian had to live a more decent life than anyone else; he was more upright and righteous than anyone else in the Marquis family.

He could never be associated with the word good-for-nothing.

Nevertheless, the reason why Xian was called the Marquis’s good-for-nothing was twofold.

The first was that Xian’s surname was none other than Elan Dur.

“He’s completely useless. Then what else is he but a good-for-nothing.”

That Xian had no talent.

In Elan Dur, incompetence was as good as a sin.

“…If you have to be called a good-for-nothing for the reason of incompetence, it would be rare to find someone who isn’t a good-for-nothing on the continent.”

“That’s enough. What’s the point now.”

Xian waved his hand again.

It wasn’t that Xian didn’t know the meaning of what Hans said.

“Then how… do you have a plan?”

“Well.”

But Xian couldn’t easily answer Hans’s question, because there wasn’t really a way to stop the goblin attack.

Of course, Xian had S-rank equipment.

Amazing equipment that makes the goblins’ attacks meaningless, which doesn’t seem like just 3,000G [currency] at all.

But that was only when the goblins were few in number.

The goblins attacking this time numbered hundreds, perhaps exceeding 1,000.

No matter how much S-rank equipment he had, Xian couldn’t handle that many alone.

If it were Arnaise, who saved the world a thousand years ago, it might be different; if it were Arnaise, it wouldn’t matter how many goblins came…

Well, anyway, there was a limit to what Xian could do alone right now.

No, even if there were residents, honestly, he doubted he could stop the goblin army.

Hundreds of goblins versus only a few dozen residents.

It was a power difference that he couldn’t guarantee victory even with ordinary goblins.

Moreover, if they were goblins living in the Dark Forest, the result was obvious.

‘If I could take advantage of the defense…’ But currently, Ruben was no different from a ruin.

There was no equipment or facilities to defend.

In a word, it was a battle where defeat was certain.

There was no way.

Therefore, as the man said, the most sensible choice was to abandon the territory and run away.

However, Xian had no intention of doing so, because nothing would change by running away.

Above all, the newly emerging territory quest.

[Tutorial Territory Quest] – ‘The authority of a lord arises when they do not forsake their duty!’

As the quest said, there were times when he had to fulfill his duty as a lord, even if that duty required risking his life.

“Hmm…”

Xian’s thoughts deepened, or rather, were about to deepen.

It was just then.

Bbam-ba-ra-bbam~♪

Suddenly, a cheerful fanfare sounded from Xian’s pocket; it was the sound from his smartphone.

“What is it?”

Xian took out his smartphone and checked.

A new notification window appeared on the smartphone screen.

《Loading 100%》

《Collected all territory information!》

《Opening the territory management system!》

At the same time, a landscape painting unfolded on the smartphone screen, like looking down from a high sky…

“Ruben?”

It was none other than the scenery of this place, Ruben.

Wondering what it was, he blankly stared at the screen, and new notification windows appeared on it.

《From now on, you can build facilities related to the territory!》

《Use your senses to create the most wonderful territory in the world!》

.

.

《You can check the facilities that can be purchased in the store item.》

At that moment, the entire screen darkened.

Soon, a certain part, the 【Territory Facilities】 item, began to sparkle, and next to the item, a ‘☞’ mark was flashing, as if telling him to click here.

What is it?

Xian pressed the 【Territory Facilities】 as if possessed.

Click.

『Recommended! [Sturdy Wooden Fence Lv.1 (5,000G)]

▶Defending the territory from external enemies is the basics of the basics!

And the wooden fence is the root of the defense facility!

Are you afraid that monsters will attack the territory?

Then here, it’s not that great, but let’s see something amazing!

A sturdy wooden fence!

It’s not just a simple defense facility, but a wooden fence that maximizes the advantages of defense!

What?

You’re worried that it’s made of wood and will be flimsy?

That’s a NO! NO!

It’s an amazing wooden fence that boasts the strength of steel, hand-forged by a transcendent craftsman!

Of course, it’s inferior compared to real steel!

If it were as strong as real steel, would it be wood?

But with this wooden fence, monster armies are a piece of cake!

Come at me!』

.

.

Ding!

《If you get stuck while progressing, try spending money!》

“…What is it this time?”

Xian’s mind went blank for a moment.