The Villainous Aristocrat's Efforts Led to a Genuine Harem - Episode 6

Episode 6

After several hours of repeated combat, the training session with Lord Reis came to an end.

Lord Reis was looking exhausted. He wiped the sweat from his face and gave me a small nod.

“Thank you. I’ll be counting on you tomorrow as well.”

I was a little surprised. I hadn’t expected him to thank me like that.

…Staying silent would be rude. After letting out a small breath, I nodded.

“…Yes. It’s the Lord’s order, after all.”

To be honest, I still felt reluctant.

But that day, for some reason… I felt the same presence from Lord Reis that I had once felt from the previous head of the family.

After watching Lord Reis’ back as he walked away from training, I headed to my quarters.

My room was a size larger than the others — a privilege granted because I was the captain of the guards.

In that sparsely furnished room, I found myself once again thinking about retiring.

Originally, I had come to this house because I was indebted to Lord Reis’ grandfather, Lord Rotul.

I was born a commoner in this Vale region. But Lord Rotul recognized my strength and recommended me to the knight order.

Thanks to that, I was able to earn many titles within the order.

It’s no exaggeration to say that he changed my life. And I felt deeply indebted to him. His final request to me was, “Take care of my son, Roubel.”

…Lord Rotul had not been blessed with children for a long time. Roubel was born when he was already old.

Before Lord Rotul could fully pass down the teachings of the Validor family, he passed away while Roubel was still a child.

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse his dying wish. So I left the knight order and returned to this town to support Lord Roubel, now the current head of the family.

However… Lord Roubel turned out to be completely different from Lord Rotul.

No—more precisely… he was *changed*.

By the time I left the knight order, he had already been influenced by the corrupt nobles he had come into contact with. And he too became corrupted.

Like the other nobles, he looked down on commoners and imposed excessive taxes for his own gain—just another despised noble.

The only reason I remained with this garrison was because I didn’t want to abandon the subordinates I had grown close to—my friends.

A knock came at the door.

“You may enter.”

“Excuse me.”

It was Garing, a young, handsome man who entered the room with a gentle smile.

Garing was the vice-captain of the Validor garrison. He approached with his usual refreshing grin.

“How was it? Training with the third useless son?”

“…How many times must I tell you not to call him that? You never know who might overhear.”

Garing often referred to Lord Reis like that. But he wasn’t the only one.

Many in the garrison held some kind of resentment—large or small—towards this house.

Of course, I had my own opinions too. But no matter what, he was still our employer. We couldn’t afford to be disrespectful.

“Yes, we finished.”

“And? I bet he wanted to quit right away, didn’t he?”

“…No, surprisingly. He trained the entire scheduled time without a single complaint.”

“Ehh… I guess I lost that bet, then.”

Garing sighed in disappointment. I remembered that some members had started a wager when I told them I’d be training Lord Reis.

Garing was likely one of them.

…Yes. Lord Reis had faced the training seriously.

Even though I held back to match his ability, I properly fulfilled my role as a training partner.

Despite that, he never once took a break until I pointed it out—gripping his dagger relentlessly the entire time.

“Hmm… Then maybe we should start betting on how many days until he gets bored.”

Garing muttered under his breath. I then gave him a sharp glare.

“Don’t tell me you came here just to say that?”

“No, of course not. I came to report that Goblins from the ‘Forest of Rebellion’ were spotted outside the first layer.”

“…Again? Monsters outside the forest? Any damage?”

While they were just Goblins, the ones from the Forest of Rebellion were stronger—possibly due to the forest’s unique magical influence.

Stronger-than-normal variants like these are said to be higher level. And in this forest, such powerful creatures are common.

“No damage. Fortunately, some nearby adventurers handled it.”

“Was Lord Roubel informed?”

“…He was. But he ordered that the garrison handle all matters regarding monsters.”

“I see.”

Of course, that’s the proper stance—but what we were hoping for was an increase in military funding.

Our current supplies—our weapons, recovery potions, everything—were stretched to the absolute limit.

For now, monsters occasionally slipping out wasn’t a problem. But if the numbers kept increasing…

If, say, a ‘stampede’ like the one that supposedly happened centuries ago were to occur again. Then this town would—

Recently, the number of monsters leaving the Forest of Rebellion has clearly increased.

It’s undeniable that the barrier—said to have been erected long ago by a sage—is weakening.

“Continue strengthening security.”

“…Understood.”

With a nod, Garing left the room.

“…If only Lord Reis…”

If only Lord Reis had inherited Lord Rotul’s spirit—

“…No. I should stop thinking pointless thoughts.”

I no longer had any expectations for this country.

As long as I could live peacefully now, that was enough.

The dream I once had in my youth—that a world would come where commoners were evaluated equally… I had long since given up on it.

From that day forward, Lord Reis’ training began.

At first, I thought he would get bored after a few days. But it didn’t end that day.

The next day, and the day after that.

I was also instructed to accompany him on morning runs, not just combat training.

As I spent more time with him, I was astonished by his rate of growth.

After just a day of training, the entire experience seemed to become ingrained in his body.

…Without a doubt, he had talent.

And today’s training—

Lord Reis closed in on me during a simulated battle.

With a strong kick off the ground, he instantly closed the distance. And I held my breath.

“…!?“

An overwhelming burst of speed. I hastily boosted my body with magic and blocked his strike.

…That moment—

That attack definitely reached me.

…It’s only been about two weeks since training began.

And yet he’s grown this much, this quickly…?

I’ve never done one-on-one instruction before. So I can’t say for sure—but none of our garrison members have grown this fast.

As I readjusted my sword grip, Lord Reis glared at me in exasperation.

“…Are you even taking this seriously?”

Those words stabbed deeply into my heart.

If it had been the old Lord Reis saying that, I would have just felt irritation.

But now it was different.

Lord Reis truly wanted to become stronger. That’s why he was angry at me for treating his training half-heartedly.

“…Forgive me.”

Lord Reis genuinely wanted to learn to fight.

From that moment, I put more strength into my guidance and began teaching him with full effort.

…As we fought, my thoughts kept drifting to how much he’d changed.

His demeanor… had clearly shifted in recent days. Not so much in his tone of voice. But his posture, his attitude — it felt kinder.

Even the servants had noticed. Someone once asked me,

“Zangell-san, did you do something to him?”

Apparently, he had even stopped forcing them into S&M play…

But I hadn’t done anything.

It meant Lord Reis had chosen to change himself.

I don’t know why he changed. But it was clear he truly intended to grow.

However… because of that… I felt disappointment.

If only Lord Reis had been the rightful heir of the Validor family…

If that had been the case, perhaps he would have addressed the problems of this territory with care and sincerity.

“…Why couldn’t he have been born the eldest son?”

All I could do was let out a sigh.