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“Margrave Baumeister, you must admit you made quite an astounding career. It hasn’t been that long ago when I referred this mansion to you. Seriously, successful people are a totally different breed of people.”
“(Wend-kun, who’s this shady man?)”
“(He’s a real estate agent)”
“(Are we really going to be okay with this guy?)”
“(He does look pretty shady, but he’s the person who set us up with out mansion in the capital, so…he does look super fishy though…)”
“(Given that he does his work properly…I think his appearance is clearly working against him)”
“(Well, his appearance, speech and conduct…)”
After becoming a Margrave, it became necessary for me to possess a bigger residence in the capital. I acquired the mansion I was currently using during my time as appointed Baron and thus it was too small for my current station. Personally I didn’t really mind either way, but everyone was telling me so.
It’s true that the number of retainers and servants, permanently staying at the mansion, had increased, compared to the past. Above all, the biggest reason seemed to lie in avoiding to be looked down upon by nobles, who visited my mansion in the capital.
Roderich told me that the other nobles would mock me, saying stuff like 『Such a small mansion despite being a Margrave…』 or 『He’s probably poor as Margrave in name only, seeing how he can’t even arrange for a decent mansion…』.
It was bad for nobles…and especially high-ranking nobles to be treated with contempt. Accordingly I needed a mansion that fit my rank.
What a major pain in the ass.
With that said, I’ve come to the capital today to check out a new place. Roderich allowed me to take off from work for that reason…but then again, this is work as well…
Me thinking that I’d rather focus on developing the Savage Lands with my magic might be a sign of me still being unable to escape the mindset of a corporate slave.
Either way, currently I’m at my mansion in the capital, and when we’re speaking about looking at such properties, the name Rinnenheim immediately cropped up in my mind. After arranging a meeting with him, we joined up in front of my mansion.
He looked as shady as usual. At the moment, his son is running a real estate agency in Baulburg. Thanks to that I also learned that his flashy outfit and the glasses were part of the reason why he had risen to such success within one generation.
Even Amalie-san, who was seeing him for the first time today, felt that he was a shady guy, but that’s nothing unusual with this man.
“Elise-sama, allow me to congratulate you on your safe childbirth. Cardinal Hohenheim-sama has also requested from me to arrange for a suitable mansion for you and your family, yes.”
Apparently a fire has been lit under Cardinal Hohenheim, the great-grandfather of my heir Friedrich, after Friedrich’s birth.
“Erwin-sama, I hear you have had a successful life thus far as well. If you require a second residence or a secret refuge, please get back to me at any time.”
“Ahaha…as of now I don’t really think I need any of that…”
Erw warded off Rinnenheim’s sales pitch with an ambiguous smile. Because Elise and Amalie-san were right next to him.
I hear it often happens that chief retainers of high-ranking nobles prepare second residences in the capital or rent secret refuge as estates where they allow the women, whom they got close to, to live. When it came to being appointed to the capital, many of the retainers of high-ranking nobles desired the available spots.
Contrary to his appearance, Rinnenheim was a tight-lipped guy. Referring to such properties was part of his business and his close connection with the church also meant that he likely referred such properties to priests, too.
Though it was something we could never tell a serious girl like Elise.
“Margrave Baumeister-sama, you must be busy, so let us go and take a look at the potential candidates right away.”
“I don’t mind that, but is there anything actually available? I heard there’s a severe lack of free properties in the capital right now.”
It’s so bad that it even reached my ears as someone who has nothing to do with real estate. With the Helmut Kingdom developing rapidly at the moment, the lack of mansions keeps getting worse. Due to the economic growth coming with the development, there’s quite a few nobles who are trying to move to a bigger mansion after rising in rank.
“The Upper Noble District is already full and there’s plans to rework a part of the Lower Noble District to expand it, right? They say the number of low-ranking nobles is increasing and their mansions are going to be built anew in the section where the wealthy commoners are living.”
Since the nobles don’t work, if they don’t live near the palace, they’re naturally being pushed out after being unable to secure a mansion. However, this world’s public works level is lower than that of Earth, so you cannot expect for the shortage in mansions to be resolved anytime soon.
Baron Rembrandt, you ask?
He possesses a skill that allows him to relocate buildings, so if buildings suitable to serve as mansions of high-ranking nobles don’t exist, his ability is meaningless. As such, the problem won#t be resolved, unless many of such buildings are erected in the capital.
There exists another method, but…
“Elise and the church have already handled most of the purifications for the cursed properties, no?”
Because the shortage in mansions was so grave, the church finally got off its butt. Having said that, the church called Elise in to purify a property, if they couldn’t handle it themselves.
Given that Elise’s mana capacity had risen after marrying me, they seemed to have relied on her quite a lot.
“With Cardinal Hohenheim-sama standing at the front of the priest corps, the church performed a major purification campaign in the Upper and Lower Noble Districts with Elise-sama helping out, so 『most of the properties were done』. I hear only a few extremely troublesome properties remain.”
“I had such a hunch.”
“Me too, Erw.”
In other words, the properties, which the church could purify alongside Elise, have been sold to new owners a good while ago. Now I only had the choice of obtaining a big mansion by purifying the problematic cases myself.
“Properties even Elise-san couldn’t purify…is this going to be alright?”
It’s only natural for Amalie-san to be worried. Those are all properties terrible enough that even Elise couldn’t purify. It’s logical for them to be regarded as more than dangerous.
“And that’s where you come in! If you, Margrave Baumeister-sama, and Elise-sama cooperate, you might be able to purify the cursed properties said to be part of Helmut Kingdom’s dark side, the client said.”
“Client? It’s not Cardinal Hohenheim?”
“Isn’t it my great-grandfather?”
“Well, no. Seeing how they’re dangerous enough to justify a sealing, the Kingdom#s government is currently possessing the ownership and accountability…”
Rinnenheim was unusually unclear towards the end of his reply to Elise and me.
“It’s scheduled for us to meet up with the client on-site, so let us be off then?”
“Is it okay, Wend?”
“We won’t undertake it, if it looks like the property cannot be purified.”
I’m not a man who will bet his own life over material possessions. And I’m definitely not willing to pay for a failure with my life.
“Client, you say…is it a very important person?”
“Yes. Otherwise we wouldn’t be allowed to enter properties belonging to the royal family after getting sealed away,” answered Rinnenheim to Amalie-sam while walking through the Upper Noble District.
After some time we arrived at an area located on the other side of the royal palace.
“I’ve never heard anything about this area here… Hmmmm…”
“Dear, the air here is stuffy and sinister.”
Performing a search with 『Detection』, I quickly felt a luxurious mansion with a clearly dangerous atmosphere. Even from a slightly distant place, similar presences could be felt in several locations.
Maybe because no humans have lived there for many years, the mansion’s walls and gate were overgrown with vines, making any visitor experience a gloomy atmosphere. And in front of that mansion…
“Yo, Wendelin. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Your Highness?”
For some reason His Highness stood together with very few attendants in front of the sealed mansion.
“Your Highness..why?”
“This is unexpected…”
“Rinnenheim, listen…”
“Erwin-sama, I didn’t anticipate this either. Margrave Hohenheim-samawould have been surprised as well. Usually, a noble in charge of this place would show up.”
Figures.
No matter how many sealed mansions you manage as chief executive, it’ll become impossible for the people to do their other jobs normally, if His Highness shows up every time.
“I just had some free time by chance. Besides, hearing that my friend Wendelin would be looking for a new mansion, I rushed here without even bringing a sword or shield with me.
“That’s…we’re extremely lucky…”
If possible, I want to leave him back here.
“(I’m innocent)”
Watching Rinnenheim insisting on his innocence while being unusually flustered, we exchanged looks, deciding to finish this job as quickly as possible.
＊ ＊ ＊
“This here is the first candidate. It’s the former mansion of Duke Brüver.”
“I heard the Duke Brüver family has already gone extinct…”
“As expected of you, Elise-sama. You’re very well-informed. However, although they have officially gone extinct after the sudden death of the family head, the real reason is something else. As a matter of fact, it seems like they were conspiring against the Kingdom while meeting with collaborators inside the mansion. Then again, it appears the Kingdom found out about their plot early on. The royal army then raided this place, where they had gathered, and killed all of them.”
“I ended up hearing about the Kingdom’s dark history, which I didn’t want to know…”
“True…”
Rinnenheim immediately returned to his usual mode. Since he wouldn’t be able to do his job while being flustered all the time, I’m sure it’s good like this.
He immediately explained the reason why this mansion turned into a cursed property, but to be honest, I’d have been better off to not know about it all.
“Rebels, eh…?”
“It’s something from fifty years ago. Since it has stood here for many years after the ceasefire with the Empire, people earnestly looked for evidence to prove that those people were plotting a rebellion, but in the end they didn’t find anything.
“No matter the reason, they wouldn’t be able to announce the real reasons anyway…”
After listening to His highness’s explanation, Erw clearly looked as if he didn’t want to know any of this. Obviously, we felt the same way.
Planning a rebellion after accepting the Empire’s invitation, huh?
People depending on illegal drugs would try to start a reckless rebellion after losing their normal judgment. If anything, they must have hesitated to make the official announcement.
“Do you believe that the evil spirits of those, who were arrested by the royal army, are gathering in the mansion, trying to scheme a rebellion against the Kingdom?”
“Back then more than a hundred were killed, I heard. It must have been a very gruesome battlefield.”
“Your Highness, do you wish to keep the mansion’s interior design as it is?”
If everything goes as Amalie-san has been predicting, it will become much harder to enter the mansion’s audience hall.
Mmh, everyone should have a similar opinion.
“Since it’s officially a sudden death, they cannot afford to not hold a funeral. It doesn’t mean that dead bodies are still left inside the mansion.”
“That’s good to hear,” I felt relieved for the time being when His Highness announced this.
But…
“However…”
“What is it?”
“The royal army swarmed into the mansion when they found out about the conspiracy, turning the great hall into a crimson mess full of ghastly slaughter. No matter how often attendants tried to clean it away, blood was still sticking to the floor and walls. But, it should be fine with a proper purification.”
“(Hey, Wend, wouldn’t it be better to decline this job?)”
Erw, if I could do that, I’d have done so long ago. Besides, once the purification finishes, the blood stains on the walls and floor should disappear. Let’s finish our job here as soon as possible.
“(Wend-kun, are you going to use the purified mansion? I don’t mind either way, but…)”
“(There are many other houses after all)”
I asserted to Amalie-san that we should go to the other candidates.
“(But, it’s not just this mansion with such a background…)”
“(…)”
Let’s think about that later. In the worst case, I just need to build the mansion back up with the power of my money.
＊ ＊ ＊
———– End of Part 1 ———–
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Translation Notes:
