Chapter 150: Savings! Savings! Savings! Savings! Savings! Savings! Adopted Son-in-Law ☆ (Kyuu!)
The five carriages Viscount Drephon had arranged arrived at the inn, and we students of the Royal Academy split into groups of six to board them. The ones riding with me were the usual members.
“It’s an honor that he’s invited even us to the luncheon, but it really doesn’t seem like they can afford it, does it?”
Rosalie murmured, looking at the desolate townscape flowing past outside the window.
The town of Valleed, mostly turned into a ghost town by the epidemic seven years ago. The income from there must be next to nothing. Just entertaining Prince Lucas must cost a fair bit. And if you add us on top of that, it certainly does become worrying…
“Nobles put on airs even if they can’t afford it. Should I call it the nature of nobility?”
Idiot nodded, looking somewhat sympathetic. To put it in terms of my previous life, it’s like ‘a samurai uses a toothpick even when he hasn’t eaten’… Even though they’ve become a viscount house, they were originally one of the kingdom’s leading noble families. That pride and honor probably aren’t things they can easily cast aside.
“Besides, there’s a reason to entertain us even if it strains them a bit. Students of the Royal Academy, and especially in Class A, selected for its top students, tend to attract relatives of great nobles.”
“I see, so they can use it for networking.”
Now that you mention it, just among us here, there are scions of two prominent noble families, House Puridi and House Hortness, and on top of that, even the Holy Maiden of the Divine Blessing Church. If you look at the whole class, there’s also the daughter of House Traji, and there are probably many other relatives of renowned nobles I’m not familiar with.
“Not just nobles, but even commoners gain prestige if they graduate from the Royal Academy. There might be students who will hold important government positions in the future. In that sense too, there’s value in inviting us.”
To put it bluntly, it’s an upfront investment in the future… For nobles, connections are power. Even problems that can’t be solved alone can sometimes be resolved if they get help from other nobles. House Drephon, isolated due to the epidemic, might want that more than anything.
“I understand the reasoning, but in town, there are people struggling with their lives… Oh? There aren’t any, are there?”
Rosalie, who was looking out the window, tilted her head. Certainly, since entering the town of Valleed, I don’t recall seeing a single vagrant. I’d felt that people were struggling due to the desolate townscape full of ruins, but there were no impoverished people anywhere in sight.
“It seems Viscount Drephon is quite capable, isn’t he?”
“Capable, you say?”
Lecty tilted her head at Lily’s words. Lily prefaced it with, “This is just a guess, but,” and told us about the policy Viscount Drephon likely implemented.
“The town of Valleed, whose population has drastically decreased, is far too large for the remaining people. So, I wonder if Viscount Drephon gathered the residents into one section of the town. Because if people live sparsely over a wide area, the entire town will decline, so he concentrated them in one place to create density. By doing so, he aimed to make economic activity more efficient, you see.”
“I see. That’s why the area around the inn was lively.”
“Yes. I think the reason we don’t see vagrants is also because the town’s economic activity is healthy. If anything, they might even be short on people, don’t you think?”
“I see…”
I could only find myself convinced by Lily’s speculation. As expected of someone welcomed into House Drephon as an adopted son-in-law, Viscount Drephon seems to be a capable person.
Still, concentrating the limited population within the territory in one place instead of dispersing them to make the economy more efficient, huh? Maybe this could be applied in the Pnosis Territory too?
Given my position, I’ll have to inherit the territory eventually, whether I like it or not. I can’t just abandon managing the territory and enjoy a Slow Life, so maybe I should study a bit of economics and such before then.
As I was thinking that, Lily looked at me and smiled sweetly. That smile seemed to say, “If it’s about managing the territory, why don’t you leave it to me?” If I left the territory management entirely to Lily, the Pnosis Territory would undoubtedly achieve incredible development.
…Yeah, well, I’ll think about that later.
The carriage left the town of Valleed and proceeded through a hilly area for about ten minutes. Eventually, a small, castle-like mansion built on a small hill came into view. That’s probably the Drephon family mansion.
“That’s Mother’s…”
Rouge murmured, looking up at the mansion. I felt a chill, wondering if Idiot and Rosalie, who don’t know the circumstances, had heard her, but luckily, it seemed they hadn’t.
Still, I see. For Rouge, this is also a sort of homecoming to her maternal family’s home…
To be welcomed only by an uncle she’s not related to by blood, and moreover, as Rouge and not as Lucretia, is just… indescribable. Her feelings must be complicated…
It was probably about two kilometers from the town of Valleed. The carriage arrived at the Drephon family mansion less than twenty minutes after leaving the inn. Since our carriage was at the very back, the other classmates had already disembarked and were being guided to the mansion’s garden.
It seems the luncheon will be a buffet-style affair in the garden. There’s a table and chairs prepared further in, but those are probably for Prince Lucas.
Table manners and such are complicated, so it’s a relief it’s not a formal dinner party. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so; the commoner classmates also looked relieved.
“Clever of him, Viscount Drephon. A buffet style saves on costs, and it also serves as an excuse that he’s being considerate of the commoner students. By using the garden, he doesn’t have to decorate the mansion, so he can keep expenses to the bare minimum.”
“He really is a capable person…”
In our line of sight, a man in his late thirties with a gentle demeanor was welcoming Prince Lucas. And next to Prince Lucas,
“Oh, so his younger sister is accompanying him as well? It’s rare for Her Highness Princess Lucretia to show herself in public. Lily Puridi, it’s been a while since you’ve seen her too, hasn’t it?”
“Y-yes. That’s right…”
Asked by Idiot, Lily nodded, her face twitching slightly.
Next to Prince Lucas, Merry, disguised as Lucretia… was snuggled up close with a sweet smile.
Idiot showed no signs of suspecting the fake Lucretia. It seems she’s functioning properly as a body double.