I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 19

Chapter 19

That gap confused Basil more than anything.

It’s especially obvious when she’s sitting still or indoors.

Habits she herself didn’t even seem aware of.

……How did she end up living in a slum?

Basil found himself wondering about Haniel’s past.

So he had Camilla look into it.

If that seemed creepy, so be it.

There was a chance the child genuinely didn’t remember her past, and somehow, he doubted she would simply tell him everything if he asked.

I need to know something about her if I’m supposed to protect her.

Of course, Camilla was currently too busy shoveling to investigate anything……

Once things settled down, he would send her outside the territory to look into it.

I feel like I understand her completely, and yet……

Basil exhaled slowly.

“……I don’t understand her at all.”

“What…… don’t you understand……?”

A chill ran down his spine.

“When did you get here?”

A pair of pink eyes had appeared beside him without warning.

“Your shovel stopped moving.”

“Hey, brat!”

Basil finally lost patience and scolded her sternly.

“When do we get to rest?!”

“Oh, you can rest! Then energetic Hani will take over!”

Ah, damn it.

“No! Energetic Hani can go eat some bread! I’m working, okay?”

“Fighting~”

Whatever else happened, right now……

Thud! Thud! Thud!

We need more people……!

Maintaining his pace of two shovelfuls per second, Basil muttered,

“Hurry up and get here already……”

You bastards from Brad’s team!

He practically roared the name of the knight squad currently on its way back.

Come back and make some new northern relocation flyers.

Make them as wildly exaggerated and misleading as possible and lure some people in.

Basil desperately needed more victims to throw into this endless labor hell with him.

Desperately.

“What the hell is this?”

The Vertus Knights.

Brad Smith, leader of Brad’s Team, read the letter two more times.

The elegant handwriting definitely belonged to Camilla……

but—

Is this really what it says?

Sir Brad, apologies for the sudden request.
If there is room in the budget, please purchase as many of the following items as possible before returning.

Five sacks of fertilizer
A full set of additional farming tools
Children’s clothes (girl, age six)

What was with this full-scale farming supply list?

And then—

……Children’s clothes?

The next page was even more serious.

Children’s shoes.

Children’s gloves.

Children’s hat.

Children’s hairpins.

Children’s bag.

Children’s moisturizer.

Children’s tableware.

Children’s chair.

Children’s doll.

Children’s educational materials……

“Sir Brad, are you preparing for a pregnancy?”

“……”

Do I look like I am?

Brad glared slightly at Knight Aisha, who had been peeking over his shoulder at the letter.

“Something serious must have happened back at the territory……”

“Hmm. Maybe Lady Camilla is pregnant.”

“……”

She’s not.

Camilla was nearly sixty.

“The battle’s over~!”

At that moment, a young brown-haired man came running from the distance.

He was tall and covered from head to toe in blood, yet his expression was absurdly cheerful.

“And with my ultimate Four-Direction Acupuncture Technique, I just figured out the correct direction~! Now we can escape the Phantom Mist. Watch this~ Khaaak! Ptoo!”

The man—Knight Felix—spat onto the ground.

Then he stared at it.

“Judging by the direction of the spit, we go this way—!”

“Ew, disgusting! I told you not to do that!”

WHACK!

Aisha had already flown over and smacked Felix on the back of the head with all her strength.

“You think naming it a technique makes it okay? And didn’t I tell you to leave my monster alone? My blood! My meat!”

“Aaaagh! That barbarian hit me!”

Felix and Aisha immediately started fighting.

“Stop! Stop fighting!”

Brad desperately tried to separate them.

<Pathetic.>

A young mage wearing a trailing black robe approached from behind.

He looked about twelve years old.

A magic scroll floating beside him unfurled with a shrrrk, and words appeared in midair.

“……Noah, you’re the most pathetic one here. You lost your voice because of a bet with another mage! How am I supposed to report that to His Grace?”

<LOL, sorry. But I got an eyeball out of it, didn’t I? It’s fake, though.>

Noah shook a grotesque artificial eyeball inside a glass bottle.

He was a fallen mage who enjoyed all sorts of underground gambling and wagers.

<I’ll win my voice back next time. One huge score, let’s goooo~!>

“No, stop aiming for one huge score in the first place…… Hah. Forget it.”

Every member of his squad was a disaster.

Brad buried his face in his large hands.

There is no joy in my life. None……

How had a timid person like him ended up as the leader of a team like this?

Surrounded by eccentric experts, he constantly felt crushed.

Even his name was painfully ordinary.

Brad.

Was becoming a mercenary a mistake in the first place?

A delicate, ordinary person like me becoming a mercenary……

All I have is a slightly large body and the ability to smash monster skulls with a steel hammer……

“Anyway, the monsters are cleared out and the illusion has lifted…… Let’s stop at a nearby village before we continue. We can’t ignore Lady Camilla’s letter.”

“Yeeees~!”

“Yep!”

So, before reaching the northern gate, they decided to stop at the nearest village and buy the requested supplies.

They still had a decent amount of reward money left after purchasing food, so the numbers should work out.

Northon Village.

Before Vertus territory was opened, this had been the Empire’s northernmost village.

Located right beside the Northern Crystal Transportation Portal, it served as a small waypoint for wandering travelers.

“But seriously, why do we need to buy baby things? Ah! Don’t tell me…… His Grace!”

Brad immediately dismissed Aisha’s theory.

“There is no chance he got pregnant. And there’s no chance he requested these himself. Not him. Absolutely not.”

Basil and a child?

That combination made about as much sense as Holy Knight Dantelion and childcare.

“What are we going to do about how dumb Shasha is, seriously……”

“Want to die? Stop calling me by that nickname.”

“……You’re okay with him calling you dumb? Anyway, I’m hungry! Captain~ Let’s eat before we go~!”

At Felix’s suggestion, the four headed toward a tavern.

For Northon Village, it was unusually crowded that day.

The instant they opened the door, the rich smell of food hit them—

along with a familiar word.

“Are we seriously sure it’s safe to enter Vertus territory?”

Huh?

Our territory?

“What if monsters attack?”

“Exactly. There weren’t even soldiers guarding the gate……”

“They said the road leading to the inner village has at least mostly been purified.”

“But what if something happens? If I work up the courage to go there and just drop dead, huh? Who’s taking responsibility for my life?”

“That’s true, but…… if you really can farm and make a living in Vertus, then that changes things.”

“I’m still scared……”

Huh?

What are they talking about?

The knights exchanged glances.

Then—

BANG!

A man suddenly slammed his hands down on the table and shot to his feet.

There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and he looked practically half-dead.

“Then are you not going!!!!”

“No, it’s not that……”

“I told you! I got a letter!!”

He snatched up a sheet of paper.

“If we go there, huh?! They give us a house! They give us land! Everything! For wanderers like us with nothing but the clothes on our backs, it’s basically heaven!”

Brad’s eyes widened.

Wait.

That looked strangely familiar.

It was a very neat promotional flyer.

……Written crookedly on sketchbook paper.

More importantly—

what?

Farming Available

……Seriously?

“Hey, Paul. Are you sure farming is really possible in the North?”

“Yes!! My kid—no, wait. My traveling companion went ahead to scout it out, and she sent me this letter a few days ago!”

“Hmm. No matter how I look at it, this seems like something a child wrote……”

“Hey! There’s an official seal stamped on it!”

At the very bottom of the page was a mark.

The mouths of the roughly ten people gathered there snapped shut.

Felix and Aisha exchanged glances.

That really is one of our seals.

It’s not His Grace’s, though. Looks like the kind Lady Camilla or Sir Luden uses for trade…… But why does Sir Luden’s handwriting look like that?

Aisha scratched the back of her head.

“Ah. Did Sir Luden accidentally drink one of those potions that makes you younger, like Noah?”

<No.>

“So! Are you coming or not?!”

Paul pressed them.

Ever since Haniel had been kidnapped by the bird near the northern gate, he had soaked his pillow with tears every night.

He had remained here, trying to find a way into the territory so he could at least recover the child’s body.

Then a messenger bird arrived carrying this.

To Mister Paul,

Mister, it’s Haniel!

You’re in Northon Village right now, right?

Then could you show the flyer I’m sending with this letter to the people there?

You can show it to the people who rode the carriage with us too! There were lots of people wandering around without homes!

I’m planning to live here, but there are fewer people to work than I thought……

If we get lots of neighbors who can work, I think it’ll be perfect for working together!

Oh, Haniel…… That poor little thing must be suffering so much.

“Come on! Anyone who’s going, hurry up! Three, two—!”

“Then let’s at least hire some escorts before we go!”

“Where are we supposed to find escorts?! We’ll just work together and force our way through!”

“Ah, being the meat shield is a little……”

Then another person who had been quiet until now stepped forward.

“Um…… we’re members of the Vertus Knights.”

“……!!”

Brad asked, still slightly bewildered,

“Would you like to travel with us?”

Around ten heads whipped toward him.