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Volume 12 Chapter 3 Part 5

Going up from the 1st floor to the second floor might be the easiest thing in the world, but starting from then, going to the 3rd, 4th, 5th floor and so on and so on is going to get progressively harder, and that gap is only going to widen the further up you’re going to go, so I assume that advancing from the 49th floor to the 50th floor is going to be a considerable undertaking in and out of itself.

More than anything else, I want Roxanne to understand that simple truth… no. For her, understanding that might be impossible, since for her, going to every floor is the same as if she was going from the first floor to the second floor, something that might have been within the range of the measurement error.

There is a possibility that even going from the 44th to the 45th floor might be well below the threshold for her.

What I am saying is that things have been tough, and I have a sneaking suspicion that they are only going to progressively get tougher.

「Tell me Rutina, is it still your dream to be taking an active role in the Lord’s Assembly?」

Elder Cassandra asked that of Rutina. Wanting to play an active role in the Lord’s Assembly? Did she even have such a dream? This is the first time that I’m hearing about it.

「No. That was my dream when I was still nothing but a naïve child…」

Rutina responds to her with a low voice that was barely louder than a whisper. So she had such a dream when she was still an innocent child, ignorant of how the world around her works, similar to how every little boy in the world once dreamt of being the best soccer player in the world?

I wonder if she ever said something as cliched as 「I’m going to be Papa’s bride when I grow up!」?

「There is nothing wrong with that. It is an admirable dream.」

「…Yes.」

That must be why both the Duke and Gozer are scared of and cannot do anything against this person who knew them ever since they both still needed to have their diapers changed for them.

「Do your best. If you’re troubled with anything, I’ll be here to advise you. It’s for the sake of the family’s cute daughter, after all. You can seek me if you need consultation.」

I heard that the Lord’s Assembly is a conference that is held in the winter season when the lords of all the territories within the empire gather together in the Imperial City.

Is this even something that is being held once very generation?
As a girl coming from a noble household, it wouldn’t be strange at all for Rutina to want to participate in it and play an active role there.

「Choosing a human isn’t all that bad. This way, I can manage the women of this family well. In the absence of descendants, one can judge everyone fairly and impartially. There’s that reason, too.」

Belonging to different tribes, a Human and an Elf cannot bear a child together. Because Elder Cassandra doesn’t have children of her own, she oversees the family fairly, or at least she claims that she’s able to do so.

「I see.」

As for the peerage, she brought her husband’s clan, who is human, so she is not related to her own blood. At this rate, it’ not going to be strange to see her adopted children not being able to look her in the eye.

「Yes.」

「The head before me gave preferential treatment to their daughter and grandchild, garnering notoriety, which is why I think that it might be a good idea to have a woman without any such ties that would limit her to be the next head of the clan, so perhaps you are going to inherit that duty from me, Rutina.」

「N-No, I can’t! I feel that I am not ready for such a…」

「Don’t worry about it for now. Even if it does end up being the case, then you won’t be inheriting the position anytime soon, since I fully intend to be active as the head of the clan as long as there is strength in these old back of mine.」

「Yes.」

This granny is 107 years old already, and yet she’s still planning to carry out her duties as the head of the clan? Just how long does she plan to live anyway?!

「How about it, boy? Won’t you entrust Rutina to me from now on? If Rutina becomes the head of the clan in the future, it will be beneficial for you as well, since I’ll be sure to train her good.」

Elder Cassandra made me a proposition. There was no carelessness and gaps in her words as well. Does she really mean that then?

「No, I cannot do that. I still need her help with the battles in the Labyrinths.」

「Hmm… I guess you do have a point there.」

「Lord Michio…」

It seems that Rutina is on the fence about this idea herself, so everything should be fine this time.

「Oh well. Regardless of the way, if you live earnestly and make sure to make Rutina happy, I will not complain. However, if you act excessively cruel and make her cry, then you should know that I have a plan of my own that I might use to make you regret mistreating her.」

Why do her eyes feel like they are glaring at me? And what’s the plan that she spoke of?

It must be something scary, so I’ll pass on doing anything that might spur her to action. Yeah, It must be something scary.

I repeated it twice just now to emphasize the significance of it to myself.

「I cannot even think of making her cry.」

「Tomboying, disappearance, eloping, downfall, slavery; these cases aren’t rare. The head of a clan cannot afford to panic over each and every single one of them. So it’s better to just learn to accept them.」

「Is that how it is?」

I feel like you should be upset about it even a little, especially whenever eloping is involved.

Other than that, I have to say that I somewhat agree with her. And then there’s the possibility that someday I might just go missing while in the Labyrinth as well.

They may go missing in the labyrinth, too.

「Currently, what worries me the most is the girl’s father whose whereabouts are still unknown. Even though she’s the daughter of a noble, what will her mother be thought of as? With her father a fugitive on the run, she won’t be received at an acceptable place while she cannot be left to grow somewhere unacceptable either. She’s still the member of the clan nonetheless; therefore, ensuring her happiness is the responsibility of the clan’s head. Also, whenever I think she’ll soon be of age, I cannot help it but to get a huge headache. With that being said, would you like to take her for yourself?」

There’s a country in contemporary Europe where the number of illegitimate children born out of a wedlock is numerous, but this world doesn’t seem to have developed to that point just yet.

It’s probably difficult to be a noble’s wife.

「Nope.」

「I don’t have any particular issue with you being a human. As long as you’re capable of keeping her happy, even if you have god knows how many mistresses, I promise I won’t complain about it in the slightest.」

Is this old lady trying to push me into doing something? But if that’s the case, then I might as well take her up on her offer.

As you could probably guess, I cannot say that out loud. But she would surely be a beauty, for she’s an Elf.

Well, if it’s about an elf, I have Rutina. Roxanne and the girls are there for me, too.

Or it may likely be a bait in order to observe my reaction.

Is she trying to pull me into a Badger Game here?

「No, really.」

「Oh well. Since it’s as such, I cannot make a ruckus about that girl’s matter. The more the family members knew about it, the more harmful gossiping would emerge.」
「I see.」

It doesn’t seem to be a story that can originally be impeached. Was it merely a character introduction then?

「Fine then, I am going to help you a bit. Not that much further from here is the town of Nesco, with a Labyrinth located at the back of the city. And since there is a Labyrinth there, I assume you know what that means, right? Yes, train there for a while.」