"The Talented Dragon Hides Its Claws" ~ The Eldest Son of the Baron Family, Called Useless, is Actually One of the World's Strongest ~ - Episode 5

The day after the incident, all the servants had gathered in the audience chamber. Ryu was seated in the head of the household’s chair, and of course, Sebas was standing beside him.

Amidst the heavy atmosphere, Ryu opened his mouth.

“First of all, everyone gathered here well.”

The servants, sweating nervously, nod silently.

No wonder. They knew that Ryu and the others had been treated poorly for a long time, yet no one came to their aid during that time. Rather, anyone who could act so brazenly in this situation wouldn’t be fit for the high-ranking position of a noble’s servant.

“Yesterday, the former lord Gray Arden was involved in an ‘accidental incident’ where a bridge collapsed during his territory inspection, and he lost his life. The knight order is currently investigating, but the results are unlikely to change. Although our relationship wasn’t very good, as his son, I am deeply saddened. So, Sebas, please continue.”

“Yes. According to the customs of the Arden family, the head of the family will be succeeded by the eldest son, Lord Ryu. Everyone, from now on, dedicate yourselves wholeheartedly to Lord Ryu.”

“Ha!”

Sebas, stroking his magnificent beard, makes a sarcastic remark.

“Well, originally, I was supposed to have been serving you since the moment you were born… right, Ryuu-sama?”

At this point, the servants’ faces turned even paler.

Nice pass, Sebas

“I’ll let that matter slide. You all have families to support as well. A few years ago, if you had followed us, there was a high chance the former head would have had you executed on the spot. Given the circumstances at the time, anyone would have made the same decision. So don’t worry about it. As Sebas said earlier, just do your best to support the baron family under my leadership from now on, and that will be enough.”

「「「「「「「……！」」」」」」」

At those words, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

I never imagined there would be no repercussions.

What a magnanimous person they are…

I can’t believe I have been keeping such a wonderful person confined to the old residence until now.

We all misunderstood Lord Ryu, didn’t we?

Since Ryu had been active in secluded places since he was young, the servants didn’t know much about him. Moreover, although they didn’t say it out loud, many considered him a good-for-nothing, playboy young master.

Ryu cleared his throat and slightly raised the intonation of his voice.

“So, the real problem starts here. You there, explain the current situation of the barony succinctly.”

Saying this, he pointed to one of the butlers.

“Y-yes! However, um…”

“Be clear. We must properly face the facts.”

“Um… we’re in quite a precarious financial situation.”

“Keep going.”

“Since the trust from the residents, adventurers, and merchant guilds has already plummeted, restoring everything from now on will be an extremely difficult task.”

“That’s right.”

The air in the audience chamber grew heavy once more.

Sebas asks.

“Ryuu-sama, what will you do?”

“Two years.”

“When you say that?”

“In the next two years, we will definitely surpass the peak of Arden. Don’t worry, we already have the reconstruction plan in place.”

「「「「「「「？？？」」」」」」」

“Apparently so. Well then, everyone, let’s all work together and do our best… hehehe…”

Sebas made a bad face.

“As everyone knows, Mom’s body is still afflicted by illness. So always have five maids assigned to her. And also assign three maids to my sister Lena. And finally…”

“For this week, gather information within the territory under Sebas’s instructions. Anything, no matter how trivial, will do. Important keys are surprisingly hidden in ‘those kinds of places.’ Understood?”

“Ha!”

“Well then, dismissed.”

Then, under Sebas’s orders, all kinds of information within the territory were gathered, and issues that had previously gone unnoticed began to come to light one after another, making the main estate quite chaotic.

After that.

“Sebas, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Yes, leave it to me. Just to confirm, we are still not going to inform anyone about ‘that matter,’ right?”

“Yeah. Considering the current situation, there’s a possibility that there are traitors among us. Until Arden is completely cleared, we plan to proceed on our own.”

Understood.