How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary-Chapter 116

Chapter 116
Black Lions had been dispatched to Hawrun Castle.
Their role was to provide support until the knights of Hawrun became familiar with this region.
From the beginning, I had never expected that the knights from the central regions would be able to adapt to the situation here right away.
Still, even on our side, morale was incredibly low.
“Lord, when are we going back?”
“When the knights get used to life here.”
“Is that even possible?”
“You think so?”
When I told them they had to stay until the knights adapted, their expressions immediately soured.
The situation here was bad enough — I could tell that much just by looking at Albio’s reaction — but maybe it was worse than I had anticipated.
Their tone made it clear they thought it was impossible.
“This won’t be easy.”
“You think so too?”
“Yes. The knights are one thing, but the residents are a complete mess. They’re hopeless.”
Leon had been dispatched here as well.
He had been the one negotiating with Albio all this time, and perhaps because of that, he volunteered himself.
He said he wanted to stay here with the other lions.
It felt a bit like child labor to leave this work to him, but since he wanted to, I didn’t stop him.
Leon was like a hidden strategist of our territory, and he had already proven his abilities in the battle against the pigs.
Technically, sending him here was still deploying troops to another territory, so constant communication was necessary — but since I couldn’t entrust such talks to Limond or Leisha, there really wasn’t another option.
However, even Leon viewed the situation in the Hawrun Territory with pessimism.
Apparently, the knights here were quite disappointing.
Still, when he said the residents themselves were rotten from the start, I couldn’t help but question it.
“Aren’t these the same stubborn people who endured that long, grueling escape march for weeks? No matter how harsh things are here, it should be far better than back then.”
“That’s different. The monsters we met on the plains were all small fry.”
“Really?”
“They were absolutely terrified by just a few Forest Trolls.”
“Ugh.”
During the residents’ journey here, they had encountered many monsters.
But none of them had been particularly strong.
The monsters roaming the eastern plains of Levelium were mostly weak — small Raptor groups and the like.
They must have been tired and worn out, but they hadn’t faced many true life-threatening dangers.
‘Right. Even the large Raptor group we ran into while escaping with the Rabbit Tribe was practically bad luck more than anything else.’
But the situation here was different.
Just a few days ago, several Forest Trolls had emerged from the Forest of Illusions, and for those delicate people who had only ever encountered weak monsters like the seaside Nagas, that alone was enough to send them into a panic.
What was a good potion source for us — the Forest Troll — had been a shocking nightmare for them.
Naturally, morale in the castle plummeted, and according to Leon, they still hadn’t recovered from it.
He said there was no hope for them — that their temperament was nothing like that of the residents of the Johnson Territory.
‘That’s troublesome.’
-If this keeps up, it’ll all collapse. It may be home once they get attached, but if they can’t, it’s just a foreign land.
‘That’s true, but still…’
For now, all I could do was believe in human adaptability.
Adaptation doesn’t happen overnight.
It was true that the Levelium region was vulnerable to monsters, but given enough time, people would find a way to adjust.
Even the residents of the Johnson Territory had been the same when monsters first appeared.
Of course, given that the Great Cataclysm was already subsiding, such reactions were a little unexpected, but if they held on long enough, things would work out somehow.
“We can’t just stay here forever, can we? We should probably set a time limit.”
“A time limit, huh…”
Leon wasn’t wrong about that.
We couldn’t take care of this place indefinitely — and the people here needed to know so they could prepare themselves.
If word spread that we were leaving, it might even motivate them to get their act together.
After all, for now, they had no other option but to endure here.
“Still, let’s help them as much as we can. Once winter comes, we’ll bring everyone back.”
“Winter, huh. So you’re really going to help them until the end.”
When winter arrived, conditions in the Johnson Territory would become even harsher than here.
The Black Lions would have to return.
I was already giving them as much time as I could afford — but who knew if the people here would see it that way.
Hawrun’s winter would surely be just as brutal, perhaps even more so than Levelium’s.
‘Well, in the end, time will solve everything.’
All I could do was hope they’d adjust quickly.
“Hmph…”
“Mmm…”
The matter of Hawrun’s adaptation was something time would eventually fix.
And even if they failed to adapt properly, it wouldn’t cause me any personal harm.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t my land anyway.
Since the region was short on manpower, I wanted them to settle successfully — but even if they didn’t, it wasn’t a real loss.
However, the scene before me now was a problem I couldn’t ignore.
‘What on earth are these two doing?’
Yuria was atop Ultra, glaring down at Leisha.
And Leisha, in turn, was staring up at Yuria with a scowl.
I’d been wondering where Leisha had gone — turns out, she was here having a staring contest.
And Yuria, sitting on her mountain goat with her legs crossed of all things — I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
The atmosphere was so tense it felt like the temperature in the area had dropped by two degrees.
-Indeed, the fox female. She compensates for the difference in aura with height.
And to make things worse, that rabbit chimed in from the side, turning the place into a complete circus.
“Bear, don’t tell me you’re going alone with that fox female?”
“It’s not just the two of us. There are people from the Merchant Group too. Peter’s coming.”
“The Merchant Group? Those are just her lackeys — all weaklings. And that Peter male doesn’t look reliable either.”
“Well, that’s…”
Leisha… just what was her problem?
All I wanted was to set up a salt kiln for Henil, but she was making such a fuss about it.
“I can’t allow this. To protect that weak bear, I’ll have to come along myself.”
Leisha declared she’d be joining the journey to Henil as well.
So that was it — it wasn’t dissatisfaction, just boredom. She must have decided following me would be far more entertaining than staying here.
But really, was that necessary?
I felt like she was needed here more than with me.
“Hmph, that’s an amusing thing to say. Is there really any reason for the black cat to tag along?”
Before I could even reply, Yuria stepped forward.
Apparently, she wasn’t pleased at all with Leisha joining the trade expedition.
‘Come to think of it, those two never really got along. This is exactly when we need Sir Irene around.’
Unlike those two who always snarled at each other whenever they met, Sir Irene got along well with both of them.
Leisha treated her as a martial arts mentor, and Yuria respected her as the Master of the Merchant Group, so neither of them had any complaints about her.
If Irene had come along, this exhausting clash wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
-Indeed, the mountain goat worshipper, the human female, knows how to conduct herself well. Is this what they call a “main wife move”? The fox female who claims that title, on the other hand, lacks generosity.
Even while that rabbit muttered his useless commentary, the argument continued.
“So this is what they call a desk-bound scholar. This land is dangerous enough that anything could happen at any moment — that’s why foxes are hopeless.”
Leisha criticized Yuria’s lack of caution and insulted the entire Fox Tribe along with her.
“That’s a funny thing to say. Aren’t the Black Lions stationed here to deal with exactly that kind of danger? Or are they just useless? The person feeding them must be terribly frustrated.”
Yuria wasn’t one to back down either.
She shot back that if something went wrong, it was the fault of the Black Lions, not hers.
‘What a completely pointless argument.’
I couldn’t help but sigh in disbelief.
“Phew~.”
The stationed Black Lions also sighed in unison.
Leon and Limond both buried their faces in their hands and sent me looks that screamed, ‘Please take that troublemaker and get out of here.’
‘So… they’re basically telling me to drag her away by force, huh?’
Judging by the mood, they thought it’d be far better for me to take Leisha with me than to leave her here.
The situation in this region wasn’t great, but there was no particular reason Leisha had to stay behind either.
So I decided to take her along.
It wasn’t exactly a trade expedition that needed more guards, but showing that mountain-born lion who had never seen the sea a glimpse of the wider world didn’t seem like a bad idea.
‘She was already sulking about being stationed here — if I leave her behind this time, it’ll be a real headache later.’
When it came to handling Leisha, I always had to tread carefully.
“I’ll guard the bear’s back. The fox can’t protect him.”
“I told you, there won’t be anything that needs guarding.”
“Silence, fox. Get on the wagon.”
“And if I refuse?”
And there they went again.
The two beastwomen were having their second beastly brawl, fighting over the back seat on Ultra.
Sure, Ultra always offered the smoothest ride, but was it really worth fighting over?
They were hopeless.
“Ugh, enough already. Both of you — ride in the wagon.”
“What!?”
“But that’s—”
“Keep talking and I’ll leave you both behind.”
In the end, I put an end to their fight by banishing them both to the wagon.
They muttered complaints as they shuffled to the back, but since I sounded firm, they didn’t push it further.
Maybe it was the petty kind of victory where they thought, ‘As long as it’s not me alone, fine.’
-Indeed, a very male-like decision this time. A good male knows when to scold.
Even the rabbit’s ridiculous commentary as he rolled on the ground laughing couldn’t bother me.
“Well, well, Lord. To silence Leisha in one go — you might be the only male alive who can pull that off.”
“It’s rare for Sister Leisha not to swing her fist.”
That was Limond and Leon’s amazed commentary.
“I didn’t know the Chieftain had that side to him.”
“As expected of a human lord.”
“Indeed, we chose a good home.”
Even the murmurs of the Merchant Group members — whatever they meant — I pretended not to hear as I climbed onto my mountain goat.
It was supposed to be a simple outing to Henil, but it was already exhausting before we’d even started.
After two more days of travel, we finally arrived near Henil.
Had the roads been better, we could’ve made it in a day, but since they weren’t, it took an extra one.
At least it wasn’t a large convoy — just a single wagon carrying iron ingots, pulled by four horses — so our pace wasn’t too bad.
‘I was hoping the Hawrun Territory would have repaired this road by now.’
-That seems unlikely, doesn’t it?
‘Yeah. Annoying.’
We’d been attacked by monsters twice on the way.
Nothing serious — just a few fifth-class monsters like Grid Fangs, leopard-like creatures, and wandering Raptor groups in the area.
The Raptors were more like mischievous brats, so I didn’t mind, but the Grid Fangs could be quite troublesome in packs.
If the knights of the Hawrun Territory were fully operational, I could’ve left it to them — but given the current mood, there wasn’t much to expect.
‘If they can’t even handle monsters properly, fixing the roads is probably out of the question.’
Once again, I was reminded that nothing in this world ever goes as planned as we rode toward Henil Castle.