WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ The Protagonist of a Romance Fantasy Only Likes Me ◈
Chapter 29: Wealthy Marigold. (3)
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‘It can’t be.’
It couldn’t be.
This time, Lancel firmly denied it. No matter how unpredictable Marigold was, there was no way she had become the leader of a bandit gang in just two years.
Having put his mind at ease, Lancel returned to enjoying the harvest festival.
But for some reason, he could not focus on anything. Not the sweet scent of fruit wine filling the festival, the smell of sizzling meat, the dancing in the fields, or the sound of instruments.
Only when a figure appeared before him, lingering in front of the notice board at midnight, did he finally give up.
“Seriously, how many did they put up?”
There was nineteen-year-old Marigold, grumbling as she tore down the wanted posters.
‘I knew it would be like this.’
Lancel picked up a stick from the ground and lightly tapped her head.
“Got you, bandit chief.”
“Eek!”
She leaped back about five steps before falling flat on the ground.
“Ow!”
Lancel crouched to meet Marigold’s eyes as she sat clutching her nose.
“That bounty must be nice and high, Bandit Chief Mary.”
“N-No, it isn’t! I’m innocent! It’s all a false accusation! I’ve never done anything bad! I’m just a pitiful person! Please spare me... Huh?”
Marigold, who had been muttering with her eyes squeezed shut, met his gaze.
“...”
“Why don’t you try making an excuse?”
She stared blankly, giving no response.
Whenever he tapped the space between her brows with a finger, she merely blinked in silence.
“Benefactor...?”
Fat tears began to fall from Marigold’s eyes.
6.
“Sniff, sob, gulp.”
After moving to a nearby inn, Lancel waited until Marigold, who had clung to him and cried for quite some time, finally calmed down.
“Why do I always reunite with you, Benefactor, when I’m in such a state?”
“I should be asking that. Why are you always on the verge of death whenever I see you?”
At this point, it was more surprising that she was still alive.
“Stop crying and tell me what happened. Before I drag you to the guards and exchange you for twenty-five gold coins, you bandit chief.”
“I-It’s a f-false accusation! Baron Bake, that horrible man, took my money and framed me!”
“What are you talking about?”
“When I acquired the trading company, I also acquired the right to collect its debts, but it was all a scheme between Baron Bake and the company! I got tricked without knowing anything, and now I’ve been framed as the leader of a bandit gang...!”
“Explain it slowly.”
Lancel wiped away a cold sweat as her story poured out in a trembling rush.
Marigold gulped down a cup of cold water to settle herself, then spoke again.
“A year ago, I got lucky and made a lot of money. I bought a shipwreck, but, ah, you don’t need to know that much, Benefactor...!”
She hadn’t invested in a pirate ship again, had she? Lancel’s eyes sharpened, and Marigold hurriedly changed the subject.
“After spending time around trading companies, I realized that if I wanted to make money, I needed to become the owner of one.”
“The commissions you earn just sitting there are pretty nice.”
“That’s right! Exactly, Benefactor!”
Marigold brightened at once when he agreed with her, babbling excitedly before her expression quickly darkened.
“So when I heard that a famous trading company in this region was being sold as a whole, I bought it.”
“For how much?”
“Twenty-five gold coins...”
Coincidentally, that was exactly the price of Marigold’s bounty.
“And with it, I acquired the right to collect the one hundred and fifty gold coins that Baron Bake owed the company.”
“And then Baron Bake labeled your company a bandit gang?”
“Yes! That’s it! Benefactor, y-you believe me, right?”
“...”
“You believe... me, right...?”
Lancel had honestly suspected as much.
From the moment Marigold had suddenly been branded the leader of a bandit gang, he had guessed it was probably something like this.
‘Get rid of the creditor, and the debt disappears.’
Over the hundreds of years he had lived in this world, he had seen and heard noble schemes far worse than this.
Bandit was a useful label in this era. A nearby neighbor, someone bearing a grudge, another country’s soldiers, or simply someone you did not like the look of. If it sounded plausible, the label could be stuck on anyone.
After all, it was common to seize someone at random, cut off their head, hang it up, and call them a bandit without hearing the full story.
“Benefactor...”
“Wipe your face first.”
“Mmph!”
Lancel rubbed Marigold’s tear-soaked face with a handkerchief.
“Do you have the debt contract?”
“Yes, yes!”
Taking his response as trust, Mary rummaged through her clothes.
Soon, she took out a neatly rolled parchment document.
“Here...!”
“I brought your food.”
That was when it happened.
The inn room’s door began to open without a knock. Lancel immediately shoved Mary’s head beneath his robe to hide her.
A brief scream echoed inside the robe. At that exact moment, the waitress opened the door and entered.
“...What are you doing?”
The waitress looked at Lancel strangely as he hurriedly straightened the fallen cup of water.
“Nothing. Leave it there and go.”
Lancel answered while pressing the squirming Marigold deeper into his robe.
“All right...”
Her gaze was suspicious.
“Is there anything else you need?”
Sniff, sniff.
He lightly pushed away the head that had suddenly started sniffing at his chest.
“I’ll tell you if I think of anything.”
“We’ll have bathing assistance ready soon, so just let us know whenever you need it.”
The waitress left, and the door closed.
Only after he heard her footsteps fade completely did Lancel pull out what was in his robe.
Marigold emerged from the thick folds, her face flushed with heat after being trapped inside.
It seemed like she had resisted coming out for a moment. It was probably his imagination.
“Anyway.”
“...Yes!”
He took the debt contract from the startled Marigold.
“So all we need to do is collect this money?”
“I-Is that possible?”
“There’s always a way. I’m a noble, after all.”
If he used his family’s influence.
* * *
“I’ve come to collect a debt.”
On a spring morning, as the season began to stir awake, Lancel arrived before Baron Bake’s stronghold.
“I’ve come to collect the one hundred and fifty gold coins Baron Bake borrowed. Open the gate, please.”
After he had shouted for some time before the walls surrounded by wooden palisades, soldiers cautiously poked their heads out.
“Where are you from?”
“I’m from the Mary Company.”
“The Mary Company? Was there such a company?”
“Baron Bake will know when he hears.”
“Wait there.”
The soldier who disappeared returned soon after. He held a bow in his hand. The gate opened, and guards rushed out.
“Catch that bandit!”
“How dare a bandit shamelessly come here demanding money!”
Lancel quickly urged his horse into a retreat. Several arrows whistled through the air past him.
“Baron Bake! You made a mistake!”
7.
“So that happened.”
“Tsk, tsk.”
Lancel recounted everything that had happened at House Dante, his hometown that he had visited for the first time in a while.
Marigold sat beside him, her eyes darting around as though she could not sit still.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had brought her home.
“So.”
Viscount Dante began, deep lines carved between his brows.
“You invested money in this trading company owner named Mary, and Baron Bake, who owed that company money, labeled this woman a bandit? You too, along with her? Not content with turning you away at the gate, he threatened you by shooting arrows at you?”
“You understand quickly. You really are my father. If those arrows had been a little more accurate, what do you think would have happened to me by now? Imagine it.”
“I would’ve said it served you right.”
His mother, Lady Dante, sitting opposite him, pressed a hand to her forehead.
“I thought you had finally decided to get married when you brought home a woman, but why are you such a troublemaker compared with your brothers?”
“I’m a free spirit...”
“Free spirit, my foot!”
Marigold flinched at the fierce shout.
“Enough.”
After some thought, Viscount Dante spoke.
“Baron Bake wouldn’t have done this for no reason, you brat. If you ask me, you must have done something bad. You’re the worst one here, always making enemies for no reason.”
“You’re being quite harsh to your son.”
“Bullshit...”
Viscount Dante waved him away, clearly troubled by the matter.
Even with just cause, he wanted to avoid clashing with another noble.
“Enough. Treat the money as lost and forget it. I’ll send a messenger myself to clear up the misunderstanding. Then he’ll at least offer a small gesture of goodwill.”
“One hundred and fifty.”
“...”
“Gold coins.”
“...”
“Just the principal.”
“...!”
Viscount Dante abruptly rose from his seat.
“Whose vassal is Baron Bake?”
“I heard he serves Marquis Chalet. He is said to be reasonable.”
“Prepare yourselves.”
Viscount Dante began getting dressed. Beside him, his wife slowly shook her head.
“Let’s go collect the money right away. Your name was Mary?”
“Y-Yes, yes! Your Excellency!”
“Lead the way.”
.
.
.
“You fucking Baron Bake! Crawl out of your stronghold at once for daring to call my precious son a bandit and threaten him!”
Viscount Dante’s booming voice rang across Baron Bake’s territory.
From the soldiers to the residents, everyone watched the unwelcome visitors with tense expressions.
The harvest festival was over, yet armed cavalry had gathered across the fields beneath the clear sky.
The guards protecting the village did not even dare stop them. Faced with the aura of a traditional knightly house, those militia-level guards could only scramble out of their way. Baron Bake’s rural territory was no match for them.
“Baron Bake! Can’t you hear me? Crawl out here at once! Or should I open the gate myself before I’m satisfied?”
Before long, the stronghold gate opened.
“Pant, pant!”
“So you’ve finally come out.”
A fat, middle-aged man ran out, his back drenched in cold sweat. It was Baron Bake.
“W-Why has the renowned Viscount Dante come all the way to this humble countryside...?”
“I hear you put arrows into my son, and you still pretend not to know why I’m here?”
“A-Are you referring to your son?”
“Yes. Don’t you remember this brat’s face?”
A finger pointed at Lancel.
Baron Bake’s eyes passed him and settled on the woman riding before Lancel.
“Mary, y-you bitch...!”
Mary gave the shocked man a smug smile, as though she could feel an army of a thousand at her back.
“Give me back my money!”
“Y-You bitch...!”
“Watch your tongue, Lord Bake.”
Lancel cut him off.
“The owner of the Mary Company is one of House Dante’s people. Everything you said and did to the company owner was no different from directing it at our house.”
“...”
The force drained from Baron Bake’s eyes. They bowed before the strong and preyed upon the weak. That was the law of this world.
“Well, then.”
A smile formed on Viscount Dante’s lips.
“Shall we go inside and settle the accounts properly?”
“W-Wait, we do not have that much money either, Your Excellency. If you give us a little time, we will repay it in installments, without fail...!”
“What are you talking about?”
Viscount Dante slowly looked around.
He took in the broad scenery of Baron Bake’s territory.
“Is there not land?”
“...!”
Despair filled Baron Bake’s eyes.
.
.
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==========
Sudden Event Success! Based on the interest rate in the payment contract, 35%, you have acquired 30 gold coins, 30% of Baron Bake’s territory, and two forests for hunting grounds! The Mary Company’s success begins now!
※The Dante viscount’s family has acquired a 50% stake in the Mary Company. It’s a little disappointing, but having a partner is reassuring! (Charm, Sex Appeal, Sensitivity, Stamina UP!!)
※Starting today, the Mary Company will hire employees! The first recruitment quota is 100 people! (Charm, Elegance, Sex Appeal UP!!)
==========
It began in the borderlands.
The suspiciously wealthy trading company.
This was the moment the Mary Company was officially established.
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