Tylamian affairs could be said to be plentiful or very scarce...
Most of the time, it involved mediating neighborly relations and settling petty brawls.
Don't be fooled by the humble, amiable tone the townsfolk usually used when they saw him—once a neighborhood dispute flared up, it could lead to two families coming to blows. Sean had been the baron in town for quite a while and had witnessed such incidents more than once.
So even when he left, he still had to appoint someone to manage things in his stead, and then urge the townsfolk to continue tending the orchards.
The first batch of fruit would take at least two to three years to ripen... Earlier, Sean had asked Igniya to try using magic to make the saplings grow, but growth spells seemed unable to promote full development. Either the branches grew large while the leaves stayed small, or the foliage was lush but bore no fruit—as if defying the fundamental laws of growth caused things to become deformed.
Even magic couldn't break the laws of the universe's growth...
On the carriage, Sean glanced at the Cain tablet in his hand. The text carved on this unknown-material stone was utterly indecipherable! He had studied it for a long time but found nothing—just a small slab covered in tiny, fine script. Unless one was an expert in this field, it was completely incomprehensible.
Sean had previously thought that if he got the chance, he could try to transcribe these characters in the city, perhaps only partially, and then seek out some record-keepers or scholarly experts there. As long as he didn't connect the pieces, they shouldn't notice anything amiss.
"What are you doing, Sean?"
Igniya poked her head out from the carriage behind him.
He quickly tucked the tablet away... He hadn't yet figured out how to tell her about this.
The girl stepped out and sat down right beside him...
"What are you thinking about?"
"Hmm... a lot."
"Worried about Luke and the others?" Her curious eyes shifted slightly to try and catch his expression.
They were riding a large cargo carriage, which was quite long. Three horses were led by the driver at the front, connected to the cargo box behind. With a bit of modification, it could also carry passengers.
Drivers often used this to take on two people for some extra income...
"A little, but Esmeralda and Danti are there too. Entrusting the town to them should be fine."
"Still, come to think of it, Sister Esmeralda hasn't had it easy... She's loved Luke for so long without marrying, insisted on living her own life, and shouldered her family's entire business. Now that she's finally seen Luke, she must not want to leave." Above the girl's head appeared [Fantasy!] and [Envy!] statuses.
Igniya was still young—by Sean's estimate, around sixteen or seventeen.
At that age, she was still in a phase of fantasy... easily moved, easily influenced.
He wondered if this world had novels about princesses and knights; there probably were similar ones. Sometimes he'd see the girl looking at Luke and Esmeralda with [Envy!] in her eyes...
"Yes, persevering is no easy feat. The most trying thing in this world is time... but if you can hold on, there will surely be good results." Sean said with a smile.
Suddenly, he felt his arm tugged, and Igniya buried her whole face against it.
"What's wrong?"
"The sun's a bit harsh..."
He noticed [Joy!] appear above her head again.
He didn't press further.
That was probably enough.
Sean could tell the girl had feelings for him, but he hadn't delved too deeply into the relationship.
Mostly, he thought she was still too young, or perhaps he had other things on his mind. But in the end, he was dragging it out... That probably made him a jerk.
Yet Sean didn't see himself as heartless. The current circumstances just weren't suitable for discussing such matters—or rather, until his ambitions were realized, it felt too early. Otherwise, taking the girl to Rietis to ask her mentor, Ashur, for a betrothal wouldn't be hard. Then they could return to town, marry, have children, and raise the next generation to live the same life.
That wasn't what Sean wanted...
From the moment he stepped outside, he had hoped for change.
But how exactly to change left him somewhat lost.
This was probably what people meant: the more you think, the less you know what to do...
Sometimes simplicity was better!
But for now, there was one thing Sean desperately wanted to understand: the true reason for the death of the previous Viscount Weigel—his "father"—and the connection between the Adak Sun Crown organization and his "mother."
………………
After arriving in Koga City, Igniya needed to go to the Ailin Tower first, mainly to check if her mentor had returned and to see any messages from Rietis.
As the local wizard organization tied to the kingdom, the Ailin Tower was among the first to receive news from the north... After the Takoma region incident, they didn't know how things were up north.
Of course, another goal was to gather information on the Sub-Sun Crown...
"I'll head over first, then come find you later."
"Alright, no problem. Just look for me at Skov's shop." Whenever Sean came to Koga City, he usually stayed with Claude. After all this time, Skov's shop had become a liaison point between the town and the city.
Any news from the town's carriages would be directly relayed to Skov's gun shop...
After parting with Igniya, Sean didn't head straight to Skov's shop. Instead, he thought of visiting the estate of Aria Hamil, who had sent a letter asking for help.
Since losing the inheritance struggle, she had been driven out of the Count's mansion. The new Count Hamil had given her an estate and some money for this former sister to retire in the northern suburbs outside the city—essentially the same as kicking her out.
The roads in the northern district weren't as bustling as the east; most were old houses and slums. No wonder Aria couldn't stand it and eventually sought his help—this direction was likely the poorest part of Koga City.
Pedestrians hurried by, but even in broad daylight, the dirty streets were sparsely populated.
A few people in an alley furtively glanced his way...
Sean instinctively reached into his belt, feeling for his flintlock, readying it. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to summon the Ghehros Eye. It was better to handle things himself if he could—after all, that was a power he didn't understand.
But the people in the alley just kept looking back at him without making any move...
Above their heads, however, appeared statuses like [Conversation!], [Whispering!], and even [Prayer!].
They didn't seem like bandits but rather some kind of gathering of believers or something!