How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary-Chapter 53

Chapter 53
When Johnson Territory was in an uproar over the suppository potion incident, there was a place even more chaotic than Johnson Territory — Haken Territory.
Irene had rebelled against Lord of Haken’s unilateral decision to marry off his youngest daughter to one of the territory’s knights, and the clash between father and daughter had escalated into quite a serious situation, which rapidly soured the territory’s atmosphere.
Thinking this was unacceptable, Irene finally requested a private audience with the Lord of Haken, and today they intended to settle it.
“Who gave you the right to decide a marriage? And Sir Roman? Why on earth Sir Roman?”
“Then who else in Haken Territory do you think would be suitable to match with you?”
“Sir Roman has never once beaten me, to begin with.”
“But……”
With both of her older brothers vying for the position of the next lord and both of them targeting her, Irene declared that she would never marry anyone who was not a knight stronger than herself.
And Sir Roman was the knight who had challenged Irene seven times and had never won even once.
Of course, Sir Roman was a rising knight being touted as a future Master, but that alone was not a reason for Irene to choose him.
From the start, the Lord of Haken’s ambition to marry Sir Roman to Irene had been badly misguided.
“But you’ve already announced it, haven’t you?”
“I did.”
“You rushed into it without asking my opinion.”
“But Sir Roman……”
“Are you aware that Sir Roman belongs to the faction of the second older brother?”
What was worse, Sir Roman was aligned with the second son’s faction.
For the Lord of Haken, who had proclaimed his first son as the next lord, arranging Irene to marry a knight from the second son’s camp was highly unusual.
It was hardly a political decision.
It was a mistake born of emotion rather than reason — a human error committed by the Lord of Haken in a matter concerning Irene.
“So then, I’m leaving. One cannot marry someone who effectively doesn’t exist.”
“What? What nonsense is that?”
“Why is it nonsense? I told you before — the territory’s mood has become strange, so I would remove myself from the situation. I’ve already decided.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Irene insisted she would leave before the territory grew noisier.
And the Lord of Haken insisted he would never allow Irene to go.
But Irene intended to settle the matter today.
Until now she had considered briefly removing herself and then returning to the territory, but this marriage matter had completely changed her mind.
She would leave the territory altogether and find a new place to belong.
Either she would become a Master so no one could force her into marriage, or she would just marry someone on her own terms.
If neither of those two things happened, she had no intention of returning to Haken Territory.
“The place I intend to go is Johnson Territory.”
“What? You’d go to such a dangerous place?”
“A knight is supposed to protect residents in the most dangerous places, isn’t he? Where would be safe for a knight?”
“Then why would you, a knight……”
“Why? Are you going to argue that too?”
The Lord of Haken had already lost the dispute over her becoming a knight.
Her resolute willingness to fast, the tact of gathering female knights into her personal retinue, and the firmness to pour everything into maintaining the order of knights — the Lord of Haken had already raised both hands in surrender and no longer wished to mention it.
He had planned to at least bind her by arranging the marriage, but things kept getting oddly tangled.
Should he have waited until a man she admired appeared, or until he found a young knight strong enough to break her at once?
It was a frustrating situation, but he decided to hear her out to the end.
Why Johnson Territory? What did she intend to do there?
In this kind of situation, reasoning was the only way to persuade someone.
“If I left for Johnson Territory, there would be three benefits.”
“Three benefits?”
“First, it would avoid the regrettable reality of strengthening the second older brother through a hasty marriage.”
“We already covered that.”
“Very well. Then second: the trade route that leads north. Isn’t that the most urgent matter right now?”
“That is……”
The trade route connecting the south and north of the Ribella Peninsula was monopolized by Levelium.
In practice, trading with the north without passing through the Levelium area was difficult.
The merchant groups in the Levelium region were taking advantage of geographical benefits to impose gradual profiteering, leaving the Lord of Haken in a very awkward position.
It had been manageable so far, but there was no guarantee that things would remain satisfactory, so this problem demanded consideration.
Moreover, the politically unstable coalition of six territories that made up Levelium was another risk.
If war broke out in Levelium, the north and south of the Ribella Peninsula would be severed in a troublesome way.
In times of war, nobody would be leisurely running trade convoys through the chaos.
Security would collapse, and many mercenaries working around Levelium would turn into raiders, making it burdensome to operate separate trade routes.
For Haken Territory, which obtained many goods from the Ribella Peninsula’s north and the Levelium area, this factor had to be considered.
“But if we opened a northern trade route centered on Johnson Territory, we wouldn’t have to rely solely on Levelium. If I went to Johnson Territory, I would do my best on this front as well.”
“…Well, putting that issue aside, what’s the other benefit?”
“This one is simpler. I would take all the elements that disrupted unity within the territory and relocate them to Johnson Territory with me.”
“What?”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Crimson Comet and I are of that sort too.”
“Ugh, you really are something.”
When running a territory, some people inevitably became marginalized, whether intentionally or not.
Crimson Comet, who had become one of Irene’s retainers, was a similar case.
If these people gathered one by one and grew into a dissatisfied faction, conflict with the existing privileged class would do no one any good.
Therefore, if Irene embraced that dissatisfied force and carried out a migration, it would certainly be beneficial even at the territory level.
“When did you start preparing to migrate?”
“It’s been some time. I thought this was too much.”
Talking like this in front of him meant the coordination had already been completed in advance.
Irene’s popularity was undeniable, but the fact that she was ready to embrace dissatisfied elements was profoundly meaningful.
Perhaps she herself was a potential next lord.
For the Lord of Haken, he could only lament that Irene was not his son.
“Hah.”
“You are the lord. Think of the territory’s benefit.”
Aside from everything else, the plan to secure a trade route to the north through Johnson Territory was a very appealing proposal.
He himself had first thought of opening trade with Johnson Territory.
And if Irene joined him in such an undertaking?
Haken Territory would certainly gain much.
“Either way, you were going to send someone, weren’t you? Just leave it to me.”
“Right now there’s no justification for it.”
“From now on, you’ll never have justification. Especially if the counterpart is Sir Roman.”
“I’ll allow it for now. But I won’t wait long.”
“You’ll have to wait quite a while.”
“Whose daughter are you, really.”
The Lord of Haken gave permission with a bitter smile.
But he had not given up.
He intended, somehow, to find a suitable match, marry Irene off, and put an end to her dangerous work as a knight.
A step back for the sake of two steps forward.
The Lord of Haken concluded Irene’s journey to Johnson Territory as such.
Of course, whether that would become reality remained to be seen.
“Everyone, pack up.”
“Captain, has the decision been made?”
“Yes, the Lord has permitted it. We leave at once.”
Back at the knight order’s barracks, Irene gave instructions to the Crimson Comet knights.
Since things had gone according to plan, they would depart from Haken Territory immediately.
The knights, who had been secretly preparing for the migration, hurried to organize their company.
“Then what happens with Sir Roman?”
“What do you mean, what happens? It’s finished.”
“Well, Sir Roman wasn’t the Captain’s type anyway.”
“Yeah, Captain likes someone solid like a bear.”
“That’s why we’re going to Johnson Territory — to catch that bear~”
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
Irene’s taste leaned quite close to Iron.
If she had to choose, it was clear she would pick Iron over Sir Roman.
And so, to see that bear once again, Irene and the Crimson Comet set out for Johnson Territory.
It began with a communication from Haken Territory.
-Ha, Lord Iron.
“Yes, what is it? Is there some issue with the trade, perhaps?”
-No, that’s fine. Just…
When I heard word from Haken, I thought there was a problem with trade.
But it wasn’t.
If it wasn’t about trade, then what reason did the Lord of Haken have to contact me?
I began to feel uneasy.
-Irene has left home. She’ll be arriving at Johnson before long.
“Sir Irene?”
-That’s right… ha, even I don’t know anymore.
What on earth.
If he didn’t know, what did he expect me to do?
Absurdly, the Lord of Haken had contacted me only to inform me that Irene had left home.
And her destination was none other than Johnson Territory.
For me, who had secretly hoped Irene’s refuge would be anywhere but Johnson, this was a very unwelcome development.
But it had already happened, and I had to make a choice.
Preferably, one that would satisfy Irene, the Lord of Haken, and myself.
‘Still, the best option is the Lord of Haken.’
If someone forced me to choose between the two, my choice could only be the Lord of Haken.
Irene was someone who would eventually return to Haken, and we had to continue trading with them in the future.
“So, all I need to do is persuade Sir Irene to return to Haken?”
-Persuade her? I doubt that’ll work. Don’t even expect it.
“If I don’t accept her, Sir Irene has no way to do anything, does she?”
-No, that won’t do. If you did that… ha, just see it with your own eyes.
What on earth was this?
What exactly was I supposed to do?
If he was going to say this much, he might as well explain clearly.
It seemed he judged that I wasn’t fully aware of the internal circumstances of Haken, and so could not speak plainly.
The story of brothers engaged in a power struggle, and the youngest daughter fleeing to another territory because she couldn’t bear the pressure — that wasn’t an easy thing for a lord to tell another territory’s lord.
I asked again to grasp the Lord of Haken’s intent.
“So you wish me to take care of Sir Irene here in Johnson, at least for now?”
-For the time being, yes. Lord Iron would have no choice but to accept her.
What did that mean, “no choice but to accept”?
If I refused, that would be the end of it.
This was getting increasingly troublesome.
“And the Lord is fine with Sir Irene being here?”
-There was no other choice.
“I see.”
-Anyway, when Irene arrives there, take good care of her. Just… not too dangerously. And, if possible, keep in contact often.
“…I’ll keep it in mind.”
It would be easier if he just told me to send her back immediately, but phrasing it that way left me with no grounds to refuse Irene.
Irene coming to Johnson Territory…
I couldn’t tell whether it would be a blessing or a disaster.
I had wanted to refuse Irene, who could easily become a source of discord.
At least it was fortunate that since the Lord of Haken himself had made this request, her presence here would not sour relations between Johnson Territory and Haken.
That meant I would have to manage things properly.
I would ensure that, because of Irene, our Johnson Territory wouldn’t end up too deeply entangled in Haken’s affairs.
-Ah, so this is it. Surely this too is the blessing of Lord Bestia. Everything is being restored to order.
‘Restored to order, my foot!’
And before me was that rabbit, dancing again the moment he heard Irene was coming to Johnson.
Ah, this was infuriating.
What on earth was going on?
Suddenly, my head began to ache.