Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 132: Homecoming

Thwack!

“Ow!”

Someone smacked the back of Cain’s head, who was still sulking despite Eurius’s answer.

“How dare you be rude to His Highness the Prince!”

“Huh?”

Eurius looked back with a puzzled expression.

“Father! I’m a wounded man! And this is not in front of His Highness? You should be more supportive of your successor…”

“You stupid son!”

Thwack!

A palm struck his back of the head again. 

Then it pressed down on Cain’s head and forced him to bow.

“Your Majesty! I apologize for my son’s rudeness.”

“Son?”

Eurius watched the quarrel between the father and son with interest. 

The person who was bickering with Cains was an old nobleman with gray hair.

‘So this is the current Count Cains?’

“Even though you’ve changed a bit, I can guess how your knight order life was by looking at this! Sigh…”

The old nobleman sighed deeply and quickly turned his head to Eurius. 

Then he prostrated himself on the ground and bowed.

“I greet Your Highness the First Prince. I am Count Cains. The father of this worthless son.”

“…!?”

Eurius made a slightly dumbfounded expression. 

No matter how high his status was, it was not enough for a nobleman of a count’s rank to prostrate himself and greet him.

He quickly gestured to Cains.

‘Why is your father doing this?’

“Haha…”

Cains made a sheepish expression and tried to lift up the count, but he did not budge and kept shaking his body with emotion.

“Thank you for saving this hopeless son!”

“What?”

***

The beginning was a few weeks ago.

“Brother! This is really suspicious. Something seems to be going on, but I’m the only one on vacation.”

“Well? Would His Highness give you a mission while sending you back to your hometown? He would have told you in advance if that was the case.”

“That’s true, but…”

Two people were talking in a carriage heading south. 

They were Cains and Devon.

They were about the same age and had similar experiences of wandering, so they got along well and became close enough to call each other brothers.

Devon’s tone was relaxed.

“I’m rather envious of you. From what I heard, His Highness has been very interested in you from the beginning. Others might even envy you.”

“Do you say that too, brother?”

“No matter what, from what I heard, that plan is supposed to take place in the capital. Maybe he cares about you and took you out of the dangerous place.”

“Your words make sense.”

Cains agreed with Devon’s words. He thought it made sense.

‘My hometown is nothing but a countryside compared to the capital. What could happen there?’

He felt peaceful for the first time in a long time as he saw his hometown scenery. 

There was nothing to see except the vast wheat fields, but he felt peaceful for the first time in a long time.

‘Still nothing in this rural territory. But I can relax for a while!’

With that inflated dream, Cains headed to the castle in the center of his territory. .

But something was strange about his territory.

‘It should be busy with farming at this time of year, but why don’t I see any people?’

There was no one in sight on the fields around the road leading to the castle.

‘Are they all gathered somewhere for a festival? It’s not that time of year, is it?’

He tilted his head and approached the castle gate and announced his arrival. 

A quick welcome came out because he was the eldest son and heir of a count.

The gate opened and an old knight with neatly tied gray hair greeted him warmly.

“My lord! You’re back.”

“Max, long time no see.”

The loyal old knight Max was someone who had taken good care of him since he was young. 

He smiled brightly and opened his mouth.

“I’ve heard all about your achievements in the knight order. The count was also skeptical at first, but I could see that he was secretly pleased.”

“Father? Speaking of which, I should greet him first. Where is he?”

He said that, but Cain’s expression was not very good. 

His father, the count, was a very strict person and their relationship was not very good.

It got worse when he started to slack off, and they stopped exchanging letters. 

It had been several years since Cains joined the knight order, but he only came home now for a reason.

Max made a slightly worried expression.

“Actually, he’s out of town for a while. The situation in this territory is not very good lately.”

“What do you mean? There’s no one outside either. Is something wrong?”

Cains looked more puzzled. 

He thought there was nothing like that in this territory.

It was a small territory with only a little fertile land, not a major source of income like a mine. 

What kind of incident could happen here?

“…”

But Max, the knight, couldn’t answer that question for a moment.

“Actually…”

Boom!

As he was about to open his mouth, suddenly the sound of the castle gate closing was heard. 

Hearing that sound, Max changed his words.

“It must be time for the lord to return. Let’s go greet him. He’ll be very happy to see you.”

At that, Cains looked toward the gate. 

His father, the current lord of Cains, was a former central knight who received a small territory in his later years for his merit. 

It was a rare case for a knight.

The lord walked into the castle with a dignified stride, as befitting a knight. 

He ran into his son, Cains.

Cains quickly bowed his head.

“Greetings, father.”

“…”

The lord seemed surprised for a moment, but soon put on a cold expression and stared at Cains for a while.

“What are you doing here in this backwater? I thought you were staying in the capital.”

His words were so cold that Cains flinched. 

He said he came on vacation. The lord snorted.

“Hmph! You still haven’t changed your lazy habits. I heard you’ve been doing well lately. Did you come to brag to this old man?”

It was no different from picking a fight with him, even if he was his son. 

Cains couldn’t help but feel hurt.

“Father!”

“You haven’t changed your personality either… You’re lucky you’re good at flattering the First Prince. Go back as soon as possible. I don’t want to see your face!”

The lord said harshly and walked past Cains.

‘No, why is that old man acting like that again!’

Cains was about to argue with him right away, but there was a hand that quickly grabbed him. 

It was Max.

“Why is he like that? Did I do something wrong?”

“Sigh…”

Max sighed. 

The lord had ordered him not to say anything, but he sincerely wished that the lord and Cains would reconcile.

“Let me take you to your room first. I’ll tell you there.”

A little later.

Cains widened his eyes in his room.

“A territorial war?”

“That’s right. It’s more like coercion than a war.”

Max began to explain with a rare angry expression.

“Recently, some nobles who claimed to have power in the nearby area secretly contacted us.”

[We, the New Southern Alliance, are trying to maintain the order of the empire against the tyranny of the first prince.

… (omitted) …

We ask for your cooperation, Lord Cains. The content is …]

Recently, a group called the New Southern Alliance was established among the nobles in the south. 

They were secretly gathering the nobles in the south and plotting something. 

But not all nobles agreed with their idea.

“The lords nearby, including you, all refused. But then they started to pick fights with us openly.”

At that time, the capital was in turmoil due to the nobles’ protests and it was impossible to ask for mediation from the central government.

The nobles who belonged to the New Southern Alliance were trying to force the lords to surrender or drive them out by requesting territorial wars through duels.

“In the end, we also had to do a proxy war through a duel. The lord must have decided that it would be better than shedding blood since we have so few soldiers.”

Cains looked puzzled.

“No, if it’s a duel, he should welcome me instead? There’s no decent knight in this territory?”

He felt a little embarrassed to say it himself, but Cains had gained quite a reputation lately. 

Well, he still got beaten up regularly in special training though.

Max became more serious.

“I actually tried to tell him that too, but he adamantly refused.”

“Does he hate me that much?”

“That’s not it. The problem was who we were going to fight against.”

“…!?”

Cains looked more curious. H

ow good could a personal knight of a mere count be?

“The person who requested the territorial war this time was Count Lawrence, who has the largest power in the nearby area. He has already fought two duels in other territories. The results were shocking.”

“Shocking?”

“The knight who came out from Count Lawrence’s side defeated the opponent knight in just over ten moves. The defeated knight was master-level.”

“…”

Cains finally realized how serious the situation was. 

He didn’t know how such a skilled knight could be under a mere count, but this was undoubtedly a carefully prepared plan.

But he knew it was reckless, so why didn’t the lord just join them?

He asked that question, and Max hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“Actually, there’s another reason why the lord didn’t call you.”

“What is it?”

“Are you not holding a position in the First Prince’s knight order right now? The lord thought of your future and made this choice.”

“Ah!”

Cains, who understood everything, let out a small exclamation. 

His father was indeed blunt, but he was not the kind of person who would pick a fight like that.

Max continued.

“He didn’t show it, but as I told you, he was very pleased every time he heard your news. Please don’t take his harsh words too much to heart.”

After that, there was silence in the room for a while.

“…”

Then Cains opened his mouth.

“Max.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“When is that damn proxy war?”

He got up from his seat with a determined expression.

***

Meanwhile, in a castle that was quite splendid compared to the shabby one of the Cains lordship.

The man had a smug expression on his face as he wore rings on his fat fingers.

‘Hmm… I heard that the Cains lordship’s territory is quite fertile, even though it doesn’t have any major income sources.’

He was Count Lawrence, who had the largest territory in the area. 

He was also a noble who had considerable connections in the central government based on his solid foundation.

As a noble who was famous for his greed in the nearby area, he was one of the most active participants in the formation of the New Southern Alliance. 

He was given the important task of absorbing the neighboring nobles as a reward.

‘Hehe… It would have been fine if they had obediently submitted, but they accepted a territorial war instead. It’s like a blessing from heaven.’

As he was chuckling to himself, a grim voice reached his ears.

“You look very happy.”

“Huh! You’re here?”

Count Lawrence, startled, got up with an astonishing speed for his bulky body and bowed politely.

He had a faint fear in his eyes as he looked at the man who came in. 

The man smiled slyly.

“I came to hear some information since the next opponent has been decided.”

“Hehe… To be honest, I doubt you’ll have a chance to step in. I heard that all the knights there are old and weak, including the lord.”

“Don’t be careless. You never know what tricks the first prince will pull.”

“You’re right. Of course, I’ve done proper research too!”

The man looked like he was in his mid-thirties with no insignia on his plain armor, but Count Lawrence, who was over fifty, couldn’t move or say anything but please him.

That was because this man was the most crucial person in this plan. He could even be seen as the leader.

“I’m very grateful that you came here.”

“Shh! I’m just an ordinary freelance knight now. Watch your mouth.”