Chapter 3-45 : Falling Second Daughter (part 2)

 

「Who the hell is this ‘kind baron’!?」(Aaron)

「L, Let me continue. We may find out soon.」(Alex)

Alex was startled when Aaron shouted. He was afraid of being punched for no reason, so he immediately continued reading the letter.

「”Your daughter, Robin de la Atwood, tried to deceive some noble bachelors by faking her identity. Do you know what people call her here? Robin, the landmine woman.”」(Alex)

「Landmine woman? What the hell does that mean?」(Aaron)

「I’m not sure… I’ll continue. “She also used the baron’s name to go on a shopping spree without permission, and the baron had to pay one thousand, two hundred and sixty gold coins to some stores for all the luxurious items she took.”」(Alex)

「One thousand two hundreー… What the…」(Aaron)

Aaron was surprised by the amount of money mentioned in the letter. He muttered and glanced at Robin.

「”The baron was very angry. However, because she is a forgiving person, she won’t ask you to return all of her money. She knows that your family is poor. Still, you have to pay a small fraction of the total bill as punishment for not educating your daughter properly and letting her go wild in the royal capital.”」(Alex)

「Huh!? How much!?」(Aaron)

Hearing that he had to pay money, Aaron shouted again.

「”Y, You have to pay thirty gold coins within ten years…”」(Alex)

「Thirty gold coins!?」(Aaron)

Aaron gritted his teeth and looked up at the sky.

The cold wind of winter chilled his body and heart.

Thirty gold coins were not even three percent of the total bill but it was a huge amount of money for a poor family like the Atwood Family. It would take them several years to pay.

Moreover, the Atwood Territory was far away from any big cities. They could only rely on the caravan of merchants that came from the southern city of Hamanulle twice a year to do some tradings, buying items and selling lavender jam and other stuff to get money.

It would be very difficult for them to save thirty gold coins in ten years.

「Father… what should we do?」(Alex)

Alex’s face turned pale. He thought that Aaron would work him to death for sure.

「Hmph! Like hell I will pay!」(Aaron)

As a matter of course, Aaron decided to ignore it.

He thought that he would be fine because he was sure that this ‘kind baron’ wouldn’t take the trouble to come to the Atwood Territory just to collect a mere thirty gold coins.

There were no nobles who dared to come to the Atwood Territory because they had to pass through monster territory to get there.

「A, Ahaha… You’re right, Father. We don’t have to pay… Hm!?」(Alex)

Alex was relieved for a second that he didn’t have to work to death for Aaron, but then his face turned pale again after he read the continuation.

「What?」(Aaron)

「U, Umm, let me continue… “I would like you to know that if you refuse to pay, my relative, Duke Griffith, will become your enemy. I will also talk to Baron Hansen and ask him to stop sending his caravan to your territory so that you can no longer sell your lavender jam, so don’t even think you can get away without paying the bill.”」(Alex)

Aaron gritted his teeth and clenched his fists even harder and looked down at the ground.

「That bastard…!!」(Aaron)

「Fa, Father… This person is Duke Griffith’s relative. I don’t think we can keep living peacefully without paying. You… don’t want to mess with a duke, right…?」(Alex)

「Dammit! Dammit!!」(Aaron)

Aaron felt great despair when he realized he couldn’t run away from this matter. He had to pay no matter what.

「There’s an invoice with Robin-san’s thumbprint and signature, so I think this letter is legit…」(Alex)

「You can write letters, right? Then do something about it!」(Aaron)

「Eh? What do you think I can do…?」(Alex)

「Write a letter and send it to that bastard, you idiot!」(Aaron)

「B, But, Father, we are up against a duke’s relative. We would be doomed if we made them angry.」(Alex)

「Tsk. You’re such a coward, you useless son! In the first place, don’t you think it’s weird that a duke will take action just for the sake of thirty gold coins?」(Aaron)

「But it’s really written in this letter…」(Alex)

「Where?」(Aaron)

「H, Here…」(Alex)

Alex showed Aaron the letter and pointed at the phrase saying that the ‘kind baron’ was a relative of Duke Griffith, but then Aaron yelled at him.

「I can’t read, godammit!」(Aaron)

「But you askedー」(Alex)

「ーShut up!」(Aaron)

Aaron looked down at Robin and frowned.

「It’s all your fault! Wake up already, you useless daughter!」(Aaron)

He crouched down and slapped Robin’s cheek, but there was no reaction from her at all.

He then returned his gaze to Alex, got up, and grabbed his collar.

「Tell me why! Why did this happen to me!?」(Aaron)

「I, I don’t know! Why are you yelling at me?」(Alex)

「Because you pissed me off! Why didn’t you stop Robin back then!?」(Aaron)

「Ehh!? It’s my fault!?」(Alex)

Aaron and Alex started arguing with each other while the sun was starting to set and the sky was starting to get dark.

The two villagers who were standing nearby could only stay still like scarecrows. They didn’t dare to even open their mouths.

「A, Anyway, there’s still more. Let me continue.」(Alex)

「Tsk. Go on.」(Aaron)

Aaron let go of Alex and let him continue reading the letter.

「”Since you are…」(Alex)

「What’s wrong?」(Aaron)

Alex hesitated to read for a moment. He was worried that he would make Aaron even angrier.

「N, Nothing… “Since you are an uneducated person who has no idea at all about financial management, let me give you advice. You should stop hunting and start doing something more useful like learning how to read and to do business so that you can make your territory prosperous.”」(Alex)

「Don’t screw with me!!」(Aaron)

Unable to hold his anger, Aaron yelled at Alex, grabbed his collar again, and lifted his body.

「Ughh…! I can’t… breathe…!!」(Alex)

「Who wrote this letter!? Tell me who this f*cking baron is!」(Aaron)

「Please… release me first… Ughh…!」(Alex)

「Tsk!」(Aaron)

Aaron clicked his tongue and pushed Alex away as he let go of his collar.

「*Cough cough*… “W, We hope you can *cough* pay before the deadline, and we hope you will educate your daughter so as not to make trouble for other people again. Thank you for your attention. -Baron Mylia de la Atwood and Baronet Chloe de la Atwood-” …Eh?」(Alex)

「Baron Mylia…? Baronet Chloe…!? Haaahh!?」(Aaron)

「Th, There’s more… “P.S. Since we are no longer part of your family, please stop thinking of us as your daughters, and don’t even think of asking us to send you money ‘cause we won’t listen to any of your requests ever again. Farewell.” …No way…」(Alex)

「…Oi, Alex…」(Aaron)

「Y, Yes…?」(Alex)

Getting more and more annoyed, Aaron clenched his fist real hard, glared at Alex, and punched him in the face.

「Guha!!」(Alex)

Alex was blown backward by the shock and fell over Robin’s body.

Although she was still unconscious, Robin made a croaking sound like a frog as Alex’s back fell on her chest.

「Fa, Father!? What was that for!?」(Alex)

「You think you can mess with me just because I can’t read, huh!?」(Aaron)

「N, No! I’m not messing with you! I read what really is written in this letter! Trust me!」(Alex)

「Do you think that Mylia, the absent-minded girl who can do nothing but breathing and daydreaming all day, can become a baron!?」(Aaron)

「But, Father, we saw her use magic when she took Jasmine away! She had been keeping it a secret from us but she’s actually a talented child!」(Alex)

「Khh…!」(Aaron)

After Alex told him that, Aaron thought for a moment and then he realized that what Alex said made sense.

「…Dammit! How dare she deceive me! How dare she keep a secret from me!! That useless daughter!! MYLIAAAAAA!!!」(Aaron)

 

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18 Comments

  1. Ahhhh their reaction was quite satisfying to behold!🤤 Now PLEASE Author-San for the sake of all thing cute and huggable plz don’t bring these idiots back into the story unless their names are being compared to the Devil😈 and his Bish demoness daughter!👹

  2. You know. Looking at it from the perspective of Japanese culture, since Buddhism is big there, Aaron and Robin both seem to practically embody what is considered the roots of suffering and evil in Buddhism, and thus probably to some degree embodies what the Japanese might consider evil. Aversion (more commonly referred to as anger or hatred and sometimes passion), attachment (often referred to as Greed, but sometimes Lust, Alex probably fits that second one), and ignorance (sometimes referred to as delusion which probably also fits Aaron and Robin). They have all three in truly excessive amounts. And it makes them do evil stuff and causes themselves suffering, with their anger making them abuse Mylia and making themselves feel worse emotionally, with their greed making them commit fraud and leading to their current situation of owing a shit ton of money, and their ignorance fueling the other two in various ways.

    The most significant Buddhist text on the Three Poisons (as this trio of mental states is sometimes referred to, although the part that says “poisons” is one of multiple translations/interpretations for the word “klesha”). Is the Ādittapariyāya Sutta, and yes I did copy and paste that name from wikipedia, in english it is more commonly known as the Fire Sermon, but I could only find the text online by typing in the name in Pali (essentially the sacred language of Buddhism) i mentioned above. I would recommend finding it and reading it, it is really interesting. Honestly, even from a secular standpoint, the Buddha’s teachings hold up really well to modern psychology. So well in fact that atheist Buddhism is a thing, taking out all the mythology and focusing solely on the philosophy. You can see how the Three Poisons make our society worse quite clearly for sure.

    Anyways, sorry for my long rambling.

    1. Looks like someone here knows some amount about what Buddhism really is about. Yes, they do have a lot of the 3 Kleshas that are the source of all other Kleshas. But you missed 1 thing. To begin with, true Buddhism has always been atheistic. Real Buddhists don’t pray. There’s no God or deity in Buddhism. It’s just a way of life. You’re mixing it up with Hinduism, which is full of mythology and has 3 gods that have many aspects (avatars, etc.). The reason I know is because I’ve read just about almost every religion, ideology, way of life, philosophy, moral rules, etc.

    2. But to be honest, among all the comments so far, yours impresses me the most Commana. At least it gives me hope that some people still bother to read and research.

  3. Call me a scum for I feel sorry for the Alex for this chapter… No, I should go back to chapter 1 and bring back that negative feeling for this scum. Bye for now for I will reread it again to bring my feeling back

    1. Alex didn’t deserve to get punched for nothing though, to be fair. He was just reading out the letter word for word as he was told to. I’m just being fair here as I always do in real life.

  4. I hope they did something stupid that will not only bring anger from the duke, but also the queen herself. Mylia is basically a title holder, someone with a great value for the kingdom. Surely the queen won’t like it when Mylia is being disrespected too much. The queen can’t have a possibility of Mylia rampaging, after all.

  5. I don’t know how I feel about this chapter. The father is too stupid for it to be believable. He literally got his ass handed to him by his youngest daughter with magic and she took away her sister, and you’re telling me he forgot that in his anger? Anyone would have been mentally scarred by such an unbelievable event. I would understand if he was doubtful the event was even real in the first place being stupid as he is, but he didn’t even doubt it and accepted it way too fast. It’s almost like he’s so stupid that sometimes he forgets or skips things that should’ve been known to him, making him selectively stupid. Is that even a thing?

    1. Ever played Leisure Suit Larry? He’s got an IQ of only 55. Dies easily. Anyway, I’ve dealt with lots of stupid people and taught some people with intellectual disability. It’s within reason.

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