Only after emptying two more bowls did Ian feel satisfied.
After finishing his meal, Ian dismissed the maids and watched them leave through the bedroom door.
‘If they keep reacting like this in front of me, it’s going to be uncomfortable.’
Seeing how anxious they were with every move he made, Ian couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
The current ‘Ian’ was a completely different person, but to those who didn’t know, he was still just the troublemaker young lord.
“For now, I’ll just have to adjust the pace appropriately.”
He knew he’d have to endure their uncomfortable gazes for a while, but he believed their attitudes toward him would gradually change over time.
“Now, the next issue is the lord…”
At the moment, he had to address the most pressing problem.
Hugo’s cough from yesterday.
He had dismissed it as a simple cold, but Ian knew the condition would gradually worsen.
In fact, Hugo’s illness was part of the game’s setting.
Right now, it was just the early stages.
“If things continue like this, the lord will definitely die not long after I turn twenty.”
‘And that’s when the event begins.’
Around that time, the hostile territories would also start their invasions.
‘So I need to raise the loyalty of the territory’s people as quickly as possible.’
The current lord, Hugo, was respected by everyone, so he didn’t have to worry about loyalty.
‘But that’s not the case for me now.’
Some might argue that it doesn’t matter since there’s Hebel, the heir.
‘Of course, Hubert is well-liked, and if he succeeds in becoming lord, it would be fine. The problem is that Hubert gets assassinated while Hugo is on his deathbed, and I end up becoming the lord by default.’
‘I’ll definitely prevent that future, though.’
Ian had to prepare for the possibility of failure.
Suddenly, he stood up from his seat and flung the door open.
“Y-young lord?!”
As the door opened, the maids passing by the bedroom came into view.
They bowed their heads deeply, their faces pale with fear.
Ian quickly checked the loyalty of the maids in front of him.
[Maid Merina’s Loyalty: 0]
[Maid Direnzia’s Loyalty: 0]
“….”
It was beyond hopeless.
Ian’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
Loyalty was measured on a scale of 0 to 100.
0–20 meant they had little to no loyalty and would betray him at the first opportunity.
21–30 meant a high chance of betrayal.
31–40 meant a slight chance of betrayal.
41–50 meant a low chance of betrayal.
51–60 meant they were relatively safe, with almost no chance of betrayal.
61 and above meant they were completely loyal, and 90 and above meant they were devoted enough to lay down their lives for him.
‘If I become lord, they’ll leave without a second thought.’
In fact, if Ian were to become lord, many of the retainers and servants would leave, creating a vacuum in the family.
With all the workers like this, it was a hopeless situation.
[The maids feel threatened.]
“W-we’re sorry!”
Their faces had already turned pale.
“W-we’ll be more careful from now on!”
“We’ll make sure to walk more quietly!”
“….”
It seemed they thought he had come out because their footsteps were too loud.
‘I do feel like my hearing has improved, but it’s not like I’d wake up from that.’
Besides, the carpet in front of his bedroom door muffled outside noise.
“We’re sorry, truly sorry!”
Yet, the maids kept bowing, looking like prey cornered by a predator.
“…Go.”
Feeling that no matter what he said, they’d react like this, Ian sent them away.
He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them as they desperately apologized.
“Yes, young lord. Thank you. Thank you so much!”
Ian eventually went back into his bedroom and closed the door.
If every servant he encountered acted like this, it would be a problem.
“I expected it, but this is worse than I thought.”
Just making eye contact or doing nothing at all made them feel threatened.
With this kind of perception of him, it was no wonder their loyalty was in shambles.
It seemed he needed to raise their loyalty and change their perception of him faster than he thought.
‘I need to do something about the title I have first.’
Ian’s title, ‘Troublemaker Tyrant,’ was the biggest obstacle to raising loyalty.
[Troublemaker Tyrant]
―Everyone in your territory fears your reckless behavior to an extreme degree. Even those who meet you for the first time dislike you.
Effect: Loyalty –30, Favorability –20. Due to the negative perception, loyalty and favorability gains are reduced by 50%.
The title’s effects were overwhelmingly negative.
During the monster subjugation, the soldiers’ loyalty increased by 2 due to the rewards, but without this title, it would have increased by 4.
‘The question is whether I can get rid of this within two years.’
This was one of the reasons why playing as Schrantz’s troublemaker young lord was so difficult.
This title could only be obtained by committing all sorts of atrocities that would spread rumors throughout the territory.
Conversely, to remove it, he needed to perform overwhelming acts of kindness or achieve significant accomplishments.
“If I had money, it would be easy to solve…”
If he could pour money into welfare and benefits for the people, he could get rid of it quickly.
‘But the problem is that Schrantz doesn’t have the resources for that.’
Schrantz was a tiny, remote territory.
With a population of about 3,000, 300 soldiers, and twenty knights, it was a miracle the territory even had that much military strength.
Even then, many of the soldiers were reserves, not regular troops.
Fortunately, the territory could grow crops, but the farmland was limited, making it hard to expect much.
Most of the territory was rocky mountainous terrain.
In the end, the only immediate source of income was monster carcasses, but even that wasn’t a reliable solution.
‘There’s no guarantee that 300 monsters will appear every time, and the longer it takes, the greater the expenses.’
Moving an army naturally cost money.
A lot of money.
“Everything the soldiers need—food, weapons, supplies—it all costs money.”
That’s why the profits from monster subjugation had clear limits.
In other words, using money to remove the title was unimaginable at this point.
‘Sigh. It’ll work itself out over time.’
Shaking his head, Ian once again recalled what was to come in the future.
‘I need to prevent the Count and my brother from dying. Even if I can’t stop that, I at least need to delay the lord’s death. If things continue like this, my life is in danger.’
Currently, the Schrantz County was surrounded by hostile families to the east, west, and south, with unknown territory to the north.
It wasn’t large, wealthy, populous, or resource-rich.
And the loyalty of the people toward him was far from high.
If he were to become lord in such a state, unprepared?
Nine out of ten servants would likely betray him.
With hostile families scheming from the outside and traitors emerging from within…
‘Damn, this is like hell difficulty.’
There was a reason people jokingly called it the “Schrantz Troublemaker Young Lord Difficulty.”
But for Ian, this wasn’t just a game anymore—it was reality.
No matter how infuriating the situation was, he had to find a way to survive.
‘Let’s see. First…’
Ian’s eyes lit up as he recalled a video he had seen years ago from a streamer.
He flung the door open again and walked out quickly.
In the office, Hugo was having a simple meal.
The sudden increase in work due to the recent expedition—reports, war expenses, and more—had left him with no time to spare.
He had been so busy that he had been working since dawn, but a smile lingered on his lips as he ate.
Beside him was Oswell’s detailed report on the recent battle.
It documented how they had fought the monsters, what had happened, and so on.
“Are you reading it again?”
In contrast, Jurdan Bendelin, Hugo’s aide, was looking at him with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
“I’ve read it several times already, but I can’t get enough of it. Ian’s first achievement is truly spectacular.”
Achievements were important for nobles.
For those who lived by the pride of their nobility, it was valued more than life itself.
“He’s truly my son. Doesn’t it remind you of me and Sir Oswell in our younger days?”
“Yes. If nothing else, his combat skills are certainly on par with yours and Sir Oswell’s.”
“Right. That boy just doesn’t apply himself, but if he puts his mind to it, he can do well. His talent definitely surpasses mine.”
Hugo chuckled as he set down the battle report.
Jurdan shook his head at Hugo’s doting behavior.
It wasn’t that loving one’s son was bad.
‘It’s good that he’s trying to fill the void of maternal love with paternal love, but…’
When Ian was three, his mother passed away after giving birth to Hubert.
‘The problem is that his love is too excessive.’
It was so excessive that even when Ian did something wrong, Hugo would turn a blind eye.
It had gotten to the point where people said Hugo’s only flaw as a lord was his eldest son, Ian.
Thankfully, Hubert, the second son, was normal, but if he hadn’t been, the situation would have been even worse.
‘What if he causes a major incident one day?’
Just as Jurdan was thinking that, the door to the office opened abruptly, and Ian walked in.
“It’s me.”
Hugo looked at him in surprise.
“You’re up at this hour? That’s unexpected.”
If it were the usual Ian, he wouldn’t have woken up until past noon.
Barging in without knocking was incredibly rude, but Ian had been rude for so long that no one even batted an eye anymore.
“Then again, you skipped dinner and went straight to sleep, so I suppose it’s natural. Well, what brings you here?”
“I have a request.”
“A request? Go ahead.”
“29 goblins and 23 orcs.”
“Huh?”
“That’s the number of monsters I killed this time. Could I have the money from selling them as my allowance? Or even half of it would be fine. Is that possible?”
Out of the 312 monsters killed this time, about 100 were to be used for the territory’s finances, and the rest were to be distributed evenly among the soldiers who participated, as Ian had suggested.
“Aide, how much would that be?”
“At the current market rate, 79 gold and 60 silver.”
Jurdan did the math instantly.
“That’s an excessive amount for an allowance. What do you plan to use it for?”
“I’ll explain later. I need the money right now. Even half would be fine.”
“Even half is no small amount, my lord. No matter how much the young lord has achieved, this is excessive.”
Jurdan quickly intervened, worried that Hugo might readily agree to give such a large sum as an allowance.
Fortunately, even Hugo, the doting father, wasn’t planning to give that much as an allowance.
“The aide is right this time.”
Jurdan visibly brightened at Hugo’s response.
“But a reward for this achievement is in order. Let him take 20 gold.”
20 gold was still a significant amount, but it wouldn’t strain the finances too much, and it was an appropriate reward.
Ian made a disappointed face but bowed his head and left the office.
‘That’s a relief.’
Jurdan nodded slightly.
If Hugo had tried to give the amount Ian had asked for, Jurdan would have immediately stopped him.
‘But why did the young lord back down so easily?’
Normally, Ian would have thrown a tantrum, lying on the floor and protesting like a child, regardless of who was watching.
‘This is suspicious.’
It was too suspicious.
Jurdan couldn’t help but suspect that Ian was up to something.
No, it wasn’t just suspicion—it was closer to certainty.
What could he possibly want to buy with that amount of money?
‘The territory doesn’t have much money to begin with. When will that man ever grow up?’
No, would he even grow up?
The Ian he knew seemed beyond redemption.
‘That man is beyond saving. When he becomes lord… no, I should resign before that happens.’
Jurdan glanced at the door Ian had left through, his expression filled with disdain, though he made sure Hugo didn’t see it.