Surviving as the Fallen Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 20: Encounter (1)  

“Wow, swords can actually melt.”  

“Is this really the time to be impressed? We need to move him quickly.”  

“But shouldn’t we at least see it through? I mean, I’m supposed to become a knight, and getting carried away in the middle of it would be pretty embarrassing. Should we wait until he gets up?”  

“Are you out of your mind?”  

Murmur, murmur.  

Through Kevin Duran’s half-closed eyes, he saw several faces.  

‘What’s going on right now?’  

Why could he see the sky?  

‘No way… Did I collapse? And are they looking down at me?’  

He couldn’t believe it.  

And what was even more unbelievable was—  

“Ugh, it smells burnt. Hey, someone take him to the infirmary.”  

The way that knight responded, as if he had completely abandoned any sense of responsibility as an instructor.  

It seemed like everyone in this land was just like that Northern Grand Duke, Johan Kraubitz.  

‘I will destroy this damn Northern Axen territory… One day, I swear…’  

Kevin gritted his teeth and made a vow…  

But—  

Swoosh!  

His eyelids were unbearably heavy, and he drifted into deep sleep.  

Kevin Duran, lying with his hands neatly folded over his stomach, earned the nickname "The Sleeping Beauty of the Forest" from that day on.  

***

Erina handed Krisha a package of cookies and sent her off with instructions to deliver them to the Sleeping Beauty.  

- “If you beat someone up, you should at least apologize.”  

- “But he started it.”  

- “Then beat him up first and apologize afterward.”  

- “Got it.”  

Following that lesson, Krisha hurried over to the infirmary.  

Swoosh.  

Crunch.  

It seemed like Erina had packed some really tasty cookies.

Krisha decided she would only eat one more before delivering them.  

And finally—  

Knock, knock.

Clatter!  

“Teacher, is he still sleeping?”  

“I don’t know. I’m eating right now.”  

“Okay, make sure to chew thoroughly.”  

Krisha walked straight toward the Sleeping Beauty’s bed.  

Tap. Tap.  

“Hey, wake up. I need to talk to you.”  

“Ughhh?”  

Kevin Duran cautiously opened his eyes at the sudden intrusion.  

Actually, he had been awake for a while, but he was too embarrassed to move until now.  

Krisha held out the bag of cookies.  

“Sorry for burning you. I went a little too far earlier. I should’ve gone easier on you.”  

Kevin looked up at Krisha, whose fingers were covered in cookie crumbs as she handed over the bag.  

‘She ate a ton of them…’  

She didn’t even bother to wipe the crumbs off her lips and clothes.  

Anyway, Kevin accepted the apology.  

‘Respect the strong.’  

That was the logic that dictated Kevin’s thought process, so he politely accepted the apology from this overwhelmingly strong individual.  

“I was the one who challenged you to a duel first. I shall train harder and grow stronger.”  

And he even added a rather gentlemanly remark.  

Huh?  

Krisha looked at Kevin, as if something was bothering her.  

Then, with a cold expression, she asked—  

“Do you always talk like that?”  

“What do you mean?”  

“Just speak normally.”  

“…Alright.”  

Kevin wanted to ask, ‘Can’t you, as someone much younger, use formal speech instead?’  

But he decided to save that argument for the future, when he would be much stronger.  

Anyway, Krisha was about to leave the infirmary.  

But before she left, she casually remarked—  

“You look a lot better now. I was actually a bit worried earlier because you were so badly burned.”  

“Huh? What do you mean?”  

Tap. Tap.  

Krisha pointed to her own hair and then left.  

And then—  

“What?”  

A sudden sense of unease crept over Kevin, and he rushed to the mirror.  

And then—  

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”  

Kevin’s scream echoed from the bathroom.  

“Jesus, what the hell? Kevin, I’m eating here. Can you keep it down?”  

But Kevin couldn’t hear a word of that.  

Swoosh.  

In the mirror, Kevin Duran saw his reflection—  

His hair was completely burned away, leaving him with a ridiculously neat…  

Bald head.  

It was a moment when Kevin Duran nearly became a villain.  

***

Crunch.

"Erina, finish your tea after the meeting."

"Roger."

It was meeting time.

After failing to return to reality using the 'Essence of the Northern Continent,' I had been trying various methods to ensure my survival and safety in this world...

And one of the most important of those was this 'regular meeting.'

To be honest, until recently, I had been running the Duchy of Axen rather haphazardly.

After ascending to the title of Duke at a young age, I focused only on strengthening myself.

Until Erina arrived at the duchy and the main scenario of the novel started unfolding, I had simply spent my days waiting for the day I would obtain the Essence of the Northern Continent.

However—

'I can't afford to do that anymore.'

Since my quick escape plan had failed, I would now have to endure the main scenario of the novel "Trapped by the Beastly Northern Grand Duke" for the next five years.

So, I created these regular meetings.

It was clear that there was a limit to how much I could manage the territory on my own.

Those who failed to acknowledge their own limitations would be doomed to defeat, so I decided to rely on collective intelligence.

Swoosh.

Bjorn, the highest-ranking mage in the territory, raised his hand to ask a question.

"Uh, Your Grace..."

"Go ahead."

Since he had not yet reached the level of a 6th-circle mage, he still spoke formally to me.

"Matthias and I were invited here because of the academy, so why are we participating in a meeting for the Duchy of Axen...?"

"...Don't be so petty about drawing lines. We're all in the same boat now. If the territory is attacked, aren't we all going to die together?"

"That's a fair point."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll even establish a magic tower here, and you, Bjorn, might end up as the tower master."

"That sounds great."

Erina had a look on her face that said she had no idea what kind of conversation was taking place.

She probably thought mages were all noble and dignified, which was why she didn’t understand. But—

"Haha, then does that mean you'll make me the Pope?"

It was only after the priest Matthias joined in that she finally seemed to grasp what was going on.

Anyway, I needed to determine the next steps for the development of the territory.

"For now, we've mostly solved the issue of food self-sufficiency within the territory. We've diversified our crop varieties following the last harvest, so we'll soon see results. Until then, I’ll count on continued magical support. Meanwhile, the kids at Axen Academy seem to be growing well while constantly fighting with each other… So, what should we do next? Let's hear some ideas."

...

Silence.

"If no one speaks up, I'll go around clockwise and have everyone present their ideas one by one."

But it didn’t come to that.

Krum's eyes sparkled as he raised his hand.

"How about a conquest war?"

"What?"

"No matter how well we develop our territory, there's only so much we can achieve within these lands. Why not follow in the footsteps of the northern tribes of old and conquer the neighboring territories one by one?"

"Rejected."

"Why?"

Sigh.

I let out a deep breath before explaining.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it. But do you really think the Emperor would just sit by and watch if we started a conquest war?"

"......"

"We've already drawn too much attention with the defense of the Ducal Castle, the extermination of the beasts, agricultural advancements, and the establishment of Axen Academy. If we make any more blatant moves, we'll be hit with a crackdown soon enough."

"...Still, it was a good idea, right?"

"Yeah."

Encouraged by Krum’s initiative, Mangala also raised his hand.

"Then how about securing an ice-free port?"

And from him, I received an idea I had never even considered before.

"As you know, our Duchy of Axen struggles with food supply and trade because our neighboring ports freeze over every winter. Additionally, travel to other regions becomes practically impossible in the winter. So, what if we made securing an ice-free port our next objective, to fundamentally change the trade and transportation system of the duchy?"

"...Wow."

I was genuinely impressed.

It was a challenge I had never thought of, but the potential benefits were enormous.

I looked around to gather opinions.

Bjorn, the mage, chimed in.

"Now that I think about it, the main reason mages and priests are reluctant to come to Axen is precisely because of that. Once they arrive, they get stranded here. If transportation becomes more convenient, it will increase opportunities to attract talented individuals and promote the duchy."

At the mention of being ‘stranded,’ Erina nodded vigorously in agreement.

Victor also seemed to support the idea.

"If we secure an ice-free port, we could import preserved foods from the distant southern nations during the winter. That way, we wouldn’t have to worry about whether the neighboring vassal states decide to cut off their food exports."

When did these guys get so smart?

I was deeply impressed as I nodded.

And at this point, I needed to set the next step.

"Alright, based on today's meeting, our next goal will be securing an ice-free port.

For now, let's search the nearby coastline to see if there's one available."

And so, I led the meeting attendees on a freezing winter expedition to the coast.

Little did I know—

That this single decision would forever change the geopolitical landscape surrounding the Duchy of Axen.

"I don't think we need to look any further. It really seems like there isn't one at all."

Erina Trotsky sniffled as she spoke.

After two days of exploration, we confirmed a harsh reality—

There wasn’t a single stretch of coastline in our domain that remained unfrozen during the winter.

Ugh.

This situation was becoming quite the dilemma.

Honestly, I had been secretly hoping that a natural ice-free port would exist.

If there had been one, we could have quickly brought in skilled craftsmen, built a dock, and started constructing ships right next to it.

However—

‘If we have to create an ice-free port artificially, the cost will skyrocket…’

If we wanted to set up a barrier around the terrain here and artificially maintain an ice-free port…

‘There’s no way our territory’s mages alone could handle that.’

If we needed to cast melting magic over such a vast area, I couldn’t even begin to estimate how many mages we would have to recruit.

Of course, it was possible.

But from my standpoint, I had to calculate whether this massive project would actually break even.

Splash.

The small rowboat we brought along hit another small iceberg.

We had split into groups and were currently rowing around the coastline in tiny boats, since we had brought vessels that didn’t require a dock.

"Shall we head back? I think we need to return and discuss whether it’s worth developing this place."

As Priest Matthias suggested, everyone seemed to have grasped the general situation by now.

So—

‘Whether we profit or take a loss from the ice-free port project… that’s for His Grace to calculate.’

That was the only logical conclusion left.

Sigh.

I let out a heavy breath.

With the cost of securing an ice-free port increasing, it was now difficult to justify the project unless there was a clear and visible profit.

And at that moment—

“Huh? What’s that?”

Krum shouted.

"Isn’t that a fishing boat? How did those guys get all the way out there?"

"What?"

I turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

In the distance, several fishing boats were lowering their nets.

‘Right, even in polar regions, fish still live in the sea. Are they catching them to eat? No, wait, that’s not what’s important right now.’

The important thing was—

How did those guys even get there in the first place?

Swoosh.

Just by looking at them, I could tell that their ships were at least ten times bigger than ours.

Our rowboats were small enough to be carried and launched anywhere, so we didn’t need a dock.

But those ships?

They absolutely required one.

And while I was watching them, lost in thought—

"Huh? Their ship is heading toward us!"

As Matthias pointed out, they had turned their bow in our direction.

And soon, they gradually closed the distance between us.

Thud.

A man, dressed in somewhat ragged clothing, stepped onto the bow of their ship.

Then he looked at us and called out—

"Who are you, sirs? I am…"

?!

"I am Bruno, Grand Duke of the Duchy of Flang, the ruler of the East."

I was completely taken aback by his words.

And for good reason—

I had never even heard of such a name before.