The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects: Volume 7

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-7183-3144-0
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects

The snow has melted and spring has returned to the grasslands. It's been one year since Dias arrived in the domain now known as Baarbadal, and the start of the year marks a time of celebration...as well as a huge spring-clean! When things finally calm down, Dias and his family reward themselves with a trip to Mahati to see Eldan. It's a chance to take in new sights, meet old friends, engage in unexpected wrestling matches, and shop for the best horses on the market!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fuurou

Weitere Mitwirkende

Kinta

Lim, Hengtee

Leseproben

“Am I right to think that you three are the only ones moving in?” I asked, because it was something I was mighty curious about. “I have to admit, I was expecting at least five or six people...”

Seki and his brothers all shared an awkward glance with one another, and then Seki—who appeared to be the one in charge on account of being the eldest—gave us an answer.

“Yes, about that... When our mother, Kiko, visited last, she was quite enamored with this village and you, Lord Dias... Since her return, she has been steadfast that we are not to cause you any trouble, and she doesn’t want you thinking of the lostblood as mere displaced persons. As such, she has been incredibly insistent on making sure that we are all thoroughly educated.”

“Her teachings cover languages, culture, poetry, the arts, and even basic board games. A wide array, to be sure...but also the lostblood must be taught the reading and writing skills necessary for trade by the Peijin family. The vast majority of lostblood have not shown sufficient skills in these areas, and so mother has yet to give them a passing grade.”

“We three have benefited from our mother’s education since we were young, and so we passed quite easily. Unfortunately, many of the lostblood live in much harsher environments, and so they will require a little more time before they arrive here.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied. “We’re happy to handle the education ourselves, and Ellie can teach you all the ropes when it comes to trade, so none of that’s an issue for us here...”

The three boys were silent for a moment before they all shook their heads.

“Once our mother is set in her ways, she will not listen to anyone,” said Seki.

And well, they her sons, so I had to assume they knew her best. All I could do was nod. Alna and Ellie then told me that they were going to start trading with Peijin, which left me to show the boys around.

“These are called yurts,” I said, pointing them out as we walked, “and they’re our homes here. We’ve got everything we need to build some for you too, so just tell us how many you want and we’ll put them up. That there’s the village square, and those fields belong to Senai and Ayhan—they’re my daughters—and I think they’re busying themselves with a new field to put saplings in. Over there you’ll find the kitchen range, and you can see that over there is where we keep the privies.”

While we moved along I introduced the boys to any villagers we passed, and the boys looked around with great curiosity until they saw the privies, at which point that stopped them. Seki raised his hand.

“I have a question...” he said.

“What is it? You can ask whatever you like,” I replied.

“Well, it’s about those privies. Why are some big and others small?”

“Hmm? Oh, we built them to match with the different body types here. I figured it would be tough for the dogkin to use the regular privies because they’re so much smaller than us humans. But also I just wanted to avoid people having to wait in line to use the toilet, so it just made sense to make more of them.”

“You boys all look about the same as us humans, so you shouldn’t have any issues with the privies, but I want you to tell me if you run into any inconveniences while you’re living here. I want to make sure that everybody lives comfortably when it comes to daily necessities.”

All three of the boys were a bit surprised, and they went pretty dang quiet. It struck me as a little strange, but because they didn’t seem to have any questions, we headed on to the storehouses. In front of them were our wagons, their axles all waxed neatly. I put a hand on the smaller one, which was the one that Seki and his brothers would be working with.

“This here’s the wagon you boys’ll be using for your work here,” I said. “The horses are set to arrive fairly soon, and we’ve got six of them coming so you’ll always be able to let one or two rest while you go on your trade trips. Now, you’re going to have to learn how to take care of horses and how to handle a wagon, and of course you’ll learn about baars and their wool products too. Once you’ve done all that, you’ll head off with Ellie to trade goods in Mahati and the Beastland Kingdom. You’ll be paid based on how much you earn, but...you can ask Ellie about the particulars.”

“Oh, and before I forget. We’re planning to visit the neighboring region of Mahati pretty soon, and we want you three to join us. Ellie wants to introduce you to the merchants she’s worked with over the winter, and I’m sure she’ll teach you the ins and outs of trade while she’s at it.”

Saku and Aoi heard that and their expressions shifted. Their cheeks went red and they gritted their teeth like they were trying to hold something in. When Seki started acting the same way, Saku and Aoi couldn’t contain themselves any longer. They took off for the wagon, jumped in the driver’s seat, and touched the wheels.

“Wow! Th-This is... This is gonna be wagon!” cried one.

“Hey, look at these wheels!” cried the other. “They’re so well-built! No broken or warped parts!”

They were all smiles as they shouted back and forth, delighted at the fact they’d have their own wagon. Seki, meanwhile, looked like all he wanted to do was be a part of the fun, but he held those emotions back and stood up straight.

“Um...Lord Dias,” he said, looking me straight in the eyes. “We’ve only just met. Are you really going to just loan us the use of such a magnificent wagon? Have you not thought this through? Have you not considered that we might simply take it and run?”

“Hmm...” I murmured, thinking it over as I tilted my head. “If I started thinking and talking like that, then I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone with anything. If you were to try and run away, then yeah, it’d be some trouble for sure. I’d be pretty sad about it too, but...I just don’t think any child of Kiko’s would try it. I’m choosing to trust you boys.”

Seki heard that and his shoulders trembled, his feet digging into the ground. I couldn’t work out why he’d even say something like that in the first place, and my puzzlement only grew with each passing moment. That was when Saku sneaked up to whisper in my ear.

“Lord Dias, for us lostblood, we’ve lived our whole lives being told that the reason we’re like this is that we were bad in our past lives. People say that when you’re a liar or a thief in your past life, you end up a lostblood in this one. And they don’t just say it either—people treat the lostblood like they’re criminals. Everybody looks down on you, nobody trusts you, and you get bullied from the day you’re born. It’s the worst.”

“We’re not used to people saying they’ll do things for us or give things to us. That’s why big bro is frozen like that—he’s been so moved by the gesture he’s in shock. So just give him a minute, and he’ll calm down.”

Seki’s fox-like ears twitched.

“Saku!” he shouted. “Quit shooting your mouth off!”

“Dammit. The guy could hear a whisper in a tornado!”

Saku bolted at top speed. Seki was just about to run off after him, but when he noticed me watching with a smile he hurriedly straightened himself up again.

“Give me just a moment, please,” he said.

And then Seki was after his brother as fast as his legs would take him.

It wasn’t long before all three of the lostblood boys were smiling and as energetic as you’d expect for kids their age. I told them all about how we lived our lives in Iluk, and then Alna turned up, who I thought would still be busy with Peijin.

“Hmm, looks like you’ve got things covered here,” she said. “But I figured as much. I checked the three of them out earlier and they’re all strong blues.”

When Alna came over and said that, the boys all felt suddenly like they should give us some space, so they did just that.

“Do you mean you did a soul appraisal?” I asked, my head tilting to the side. “When did you do that? I didn’t see your horn glow blue at any point when we were all introducing ourselves...”

“I learned about other kinds of magic from Grandma Maya over winter, and she taught me a trick to tell if a soul is blue or red without the use of my horn. I haven’t perfected it yet, and it’s not as accurate as the usual spell, but I’m working on it. After all, it can’t hurt to have a way to secretly check a soul, right? Well, this time the accuracy wasn’t on point and I had to double-check with the actual spell, which shows I still have a long way to go. Still, when I do cast it, all three are blue. They won’t be a problem.”

While she spoke, Alna’s horn lit up three times—one for each of the lostblood brothers—and she nodded.

“That is... Well, that sure is something,” I said.

Alna didn’t think so.

“It’s really not...” she sighed. “It won’t work against the likes of Narvant or anyone who knows their way around magic. It also requires a lot of magic to cast, so I’m really going to have to work hard to make it more efficient and effective.”

“Oh, I see... Yeah, I think being able to use it anywhere would sure be swell, but don’t go pushing yourself too hard, okay? Anyway, how are things...