The Extra Wants To Live

Nero, who had teased him for no reason and lost his original intention, closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his eyes.

The sound of Carl's voice, as if he were truly astonished, made his heart ache.

"I was punished for being a foolish older brother who was always smiling at the thought of teasing my younger brother. Unlike you, I can't take Lilly with me, right?"

At Carl's words, Nero muttered in a slightly gloomy voice. It was now common knowledge that Carl regarded Lilly as his mother.

But Lilly was not Carl's mother and was of humble birth. By imperial rule, Lilly had to follow Carl's example to attend the party. And Carl had no intention of treating his mother Lilly as a servant, even in name.

In the room where silence had descended, Nero took a slow breath. The situations of Carl and Nero were no different. experience-MVLeMpYr

They were all captured and held captive in this palace, using their mother as bait.

'…What on earth was Brother Adrian feeling?'

Nero thought about Adrian, who lost his mother last year. Until then, they were just normal people who laughed a lot, liked to play, and even joked around when they met.

However, after Emma died for unknown reasons, Adrian appeared to have not changed much from before but gave off an ominous aura.

It was a terrible thing to even imagine.

That was why Nero had no choice but to become even more desperate to protect his mother.

"… … Carl."

"Yes."

Because Nero's voice was heavier than usual, Carl answered seriously without any playfulness.

"If, if anything happens to me, and if you have the means… then can I ask you to take care of my mother?"

Nero muttered. He had already fallen from grace and had now lost most of the strength to protect Adne when the time came.

All that was left of him was a spear and his body.

Carl slowly raised his head and looked at Nero with his eyes as clear as glass beads.

"Didn't I promise before?"

Promise…

Nero, who was struggling to understand what Carl was saying, suddenly remembered it.

Yes, the price of Carl and Lilly's lives. Two lives, Carl will repay with two lives. He made that promise.

"… … Okay, thank you."

Nero took a long time to choose the words that were rolling around in his mouth and finally said briefly. That was enough.

Phew… … .

Wow… … .

From far away, trumpets and shouts could be heard. It looked like Aric had entered Himmeln. Carl and Nero looked at the cloudy sky in the quiet room. Maybe it was because it wasn't snowing, but it felt a little lonely and dark.

"I will go to Lilly. The little gentleman will also go to his mother's arms."

"Do you not know that you are more extreme than me?"

"I will take it to mean that my love for my mother is greater."

"You don't lose a single word."

"If you're the older brother, you should give in to your younger brother a little bit."

"You lose every day, but you're still greedy."

"It's not that I'm giving in, it's that I'm losing."

"Go away."

"Yes, see you later."

Nero smiled and waved his hand, and Carl also smiled and left the room.

"A report has arrived."

"Speak."

Harmon followed and whispered.

"It is progressing normally and I heard that it has attracted quite a lot of people."

"How about the extraction?"

"It's still clean."

"Just in case, pay extra attention."

"Yes, Lord Carl."

This was a story about Hillfin's growth. Hilpin had been steadily put on track by the plan arranged by Carl and was now growing rapidly. In particular, Carl was quite focused on increasing his forces, a plan he had discussed with Howell, who shared his overall picture.

In order for Hillfin to grow significantly right now, it would be best to develop the underdeveloped territory based on the silver mine.

But then they would be noticed, and there would be weeds lurking everywhere.

This was something that even Azgoth could not stop.

So, first, Carl planned to increase his troops to be able to defend his territory right away, and then, based on the strength they had gained, make deals with the Marquisate of Gasto to strengthen their defenses, and then aim for explosive growth.

In fact, Carl originally intended to hire mercenaries. Because if you had money, you could get troops without any cumbersome process. But his experience with the Salgarez mercenaries in Dabron made Carl feel the danger of trusting mercenaries.

Of course, most mercenaries didn't betray easily because they would lose their jobs if they lost trust. Still, he couldn't take the risk. It was safer to gather people, drive stakes, put leashes on them, and get them into the regular army.

If you married someone and started a family in Hillfin, you would have no choice but to fight as you were told, even if you didn't like it.

"How about Howell?"

"There's nothing unusual, he's just being faithful to the job he's assigned to do."

"Good. Tell them to keep an eye out for me in the future."

"Yes."

By the way, Carl also kept an eye on Howell. Nominally, Howell was acting as an escort to protect a valuable talent, along with Harmon. But Howell knew full well that it was surveillance.

"Oh, and the clothes have arrived finished."

"At last…"

Carl clenched his fist at Harmon's words, which seemed to have suddenly occurred to him. As for those clothes, they weren't Carl's…

"You haven't told Lilly yet, have you?"

"Of course not."

… This was Lilly's clothing, which Carl had ordered made using fabric he received as a gift from Goban. He had to go back after the party and give her the gift.

He was sure she would be very happy.

Carl smiled and walked with a brisk gait.

Harmon, the consistent filial son of Carl, followed closely behind, shaking his head slightly.

'This is totally a mama's boy,' Harmon thought to himself.