My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 13
“The powerful Kiedland not only provided periodic assistance in clearing monsters for Grunwald, who lacked soldiers and labor, but one year, they took advantage of a moment of carelessness on Kiedland’s part. The monsters descended all the way to the Lord’s castle.”
“Did the Lord suffer an attack from the monsters at that time?”
“That’s the most likely scenario.”
Considering Kiedland’s past favors of monster extermination for Grunwald without any compensation due to their old relationship, he couldn’t hold Kiedland responsible for the accident.
After that incident, Grunwald, which was already gradually declining, collapsed even more rapidly.
…It’s different from the truth I know.
I gazed at the lord’s castle beyond the wasteland.
“So, Dale, how should I go about buying land? Do I just pay money to Lord Grunwald?”
“No, he is not the owner of this land.”
“Then who is it?”
Dale pointed to the area behind the lord’s castle.
“It’s Lord Kiedland.”
***
Can Kiedland, who is not even from Grunwald, own the land of Grunwald?
It might be a question, but considering the messed-up power structure in the empire left by the previous Emperor, it wasn’t surprising.
Until the current Emperor, the male protagonist, ascended the throne, the power dynamics between the Imperial Family and Nobility had been chaotic.
It was possible to think that the previous Emperor, in his quest to recruit people, allowed nobles he permitted to buy land in other territories.
“The land purchase law was the issue.”
The next day, I returned to the wasteland, looking at the Lord’s castle.
It looked poor.
Incredibly poor.
Not because I wanted to ridicule the castle, but the walls were torn down, the ivy wasn’t even managed, and the once mighty fortress had become ruins.
Even if I lied and said it was not a fortress but a ruin, people would readily accept it.
Yet, people lived there.
The Lord and granddaughter of Grunwald.
And, in addition to that, the swindler who sold Dale’s house to me…
No, the intermediaries, housekeepers, accountants, civil affairs managers, and advisors also live here.
There aren’t many other people.
Even the hands to manage the castle are scarce, so I could understand the current situation of Grunwald.
‘I’m curious about how they pay Dale’s wages.’
I scanned the wasteland once, stretching endlessly.
‘Over there is the Lord’s castle.’
Just as in the original work.
‘Next to it is a Ginko Tree forest, and the boundary leading to Kiedland.’
Finally, down to the soil of the wasteland.
When I grasped the sand, it scattered.
I smelled the earth.
The scent of this soil is different from the smell of Grunwald.
Something else is mixed in.
To my sensitive sense of smell, accustomed to living off the land, it was apparent.
Swish, swish.
I swept the ground widely with my fingers.
I need to go deeper.
‘Euch!’
I forcefully dug into the ground with a shovel, expecting a new soil hidden inside…!
But it didn’t come out.
I needed to dig deeper.
“Oh!”
Bam!
“This is it.”
Discovering what I wanted, I threw the shovel and jumped.
A distinctly different aroma from the soil.
Fresh earth rich with microorganisms from the land where the Gonia Mountain Range continues.
‘The smell is different from the original.’
It was indeed the kind of land that Duke Hexagon would covet in the original work.
Duke Hexagon was the villain, and the Emperor, not to mention Duke Lockheart, detested him.
And most importantly, they both produced herbs.
‘I’ll make herbs too.’
But Duke Hexagon never intervened directly.
He only planted seeds.
“It’s here too.”
The area under the lantern is dark, and blood ties are easily believed. Good people are taken advantage of, and the bad ones know the cunning ways to become wealthy.
It wasn’t different in this world.
‘Kiedland.’
I pondered the name of the landowner.
It would be better if they were the owners of this land.
