Gamer Reborn-Chapter 497

As Ajax and Xavier returned both of their mood soured a little. They had been putting it off in their minds but the reason they didn’t have long to spend in the dungeon was because the execution would be happening soon and that was not something either of them could skip out on.

“Are you sure you want your brother to be the one carrying this out?” Xavier asked.

“I already asked him and he said he’s sure it’ll be fine.” Ajax nodded.

Unlike back on Earth this world has a much lesser aversion to killing. One thing that hadn’t even begun to spread was the sanctity of life, if he was honest Ajax didn’t even think it would spread and he wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing.

A great portion of the city's population was eager for the execution to be carried out. Former House Nestor’s youngest child had done a lot to spurn the resentment of the populace and they were all looking forward to him getting what he deserved after so long. Having Tom carry out the execution would not only increase his approval from the people but it would also solidify his position as the mayor instead of just a former guard whose brother became important.

“Lancel do we have any word on attendance?” Ajax asked after he returned to the mansion.

“Former House Nester won’t be attending.” Lancel reported, it was something Ajax understood. While they might understand the reason for the execution, that was still their family up on the block. Not showing up was smart on their side, more than that it was a good idea to just comfort the bond they would be looking after as losing a bond like that would be a traumatic experience.

“What about other nobles?” Ajax asked.

“There will be three Barons, one Viscount and the daughter of a Duke.” Lancel reported. “It would have been a lot more if the king hadn’t revoked their nobility.”

Ajax didn’t show it but he was very glad the manchild had broken into their meeting so aggressively. It gave them the perfect standing to execute him without drawing the anger of all the other nobles who would have seen his other infractions as something more minor.

“Do we know their stance on all this?” Ajax asked.

“The Viscount is in agreement with your decision.” Left unsaid was that the other four weren’t in agreement with the execution, nevertheless there was simply nothing they could do about it.

“Do we have accommodations for visiting nobility?” Ajax asked a little worried.

“Lady Silvia has already handled the matter.” Lancel said with a smile. “It was very enterprising of her.”

Ajax would soon find out that what Lancel meant by that is that his mother was ready to make the nobles pay for their comforts. While noble customs did dictate that he was to give them preferential treatment it did also impose on them to pay well above market price for the privilege.

“Where are the nobles from?” Ajax asked.

“The Viscount is our neighbor to the north.” Lancel informed me. “He also has access to the great lake separating us from the Empire. Of the nobles only one of them borders us to the West, his lands are not particularly important, the other two are his neighbors, one of them has a rich silver mine that has recently struck a decently Mana rich vein in the last few months.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“And the Duke?” Ajax asked.

“Unlanded.” Lancel answered quickly. “He resides in the capital, his daughter is here to delve the dungeon with an escort. She is also here to recruit any promising recruits.”

Those words caught the attention of both Xavier and Ajax. “Are you sure?” Xavier asked.

“Her people haven’t made any inquiries yet but she has three of her House’s trainers with her.” Ajax was amazed by the depth of knowledge Lancel had. He knew the man had hundreds of years to collect some of this knowledge, having lived in the capital for most of his life he had probably met those trainers previously but with the amount he knew Ajax wasn’t sure how the man was keeping everything straight in his head. ＲαɴỖ𝐁Ёş

“How do you want to handle this?” Xavier asked Ajax.

It was common for unlanded nobles to look for talented commoners when they sent their people to delve the dungeons outside the capital. The areas surrounding the three dungeons, while usually more underdeveloped than the rest of the country, did have the greatest density of talented commoners as they had the difficult dungeons to push themselves with. Trying to recruit people just as a duchy was established however was a very antagonistic move.

Ajax didn’t have an answer for that and instead headed towards the dining room, he had yet to eat something and he was getting hungry, this would also be the perfect chance to see if the rest of his family had any opinions on the matter.

“How was your delve?” Lexi asked Ajax as soon as he entered as she gave him a hug.

“It went as expected, though I will have to see about getting a team to push further into the dungeon. Quite a few of our retainers have surpassed things found on the second floor.” Ajax answered as he returned the hug before taking a seat at the table. “Is everything ready for the execution?”

“It is.” Tom nodded, he was already dressed in more official clothes that not only marked him as a noble but also as the mayor. A large ceremonial executioner’s axe rested against the wall behind him.

“What are we going to do about the visiting nobles?” Ajax asked, he was sure the rest of his family had already heard Lancel’s report.

“The Viscount seems interested in trade.” Elija started. “He was pleasantly surprised when he saw the cement road but his focus is on growing and expanding his fields.”

“How did that lead him to us?” Ajax asked.

“After your return from Sylvanthal we had started to add Mana dense fertilizer to the already mana rich garden you started.” Sam Judy explained. “It worked very well, but the increased Mana density has grown to the point it started drawing attention and nobles are very interested to find out how you did that. It also doesn’t help that the royal family monopolised all the plots around ours and aren’t sharing everything.”

“It would be a good idea to share with him.” Elija gave his opinion. “He doesn’t have the funds to try and create extremely Mana dense gardens but he does have expansive grasslands over his territory that he can increase the Mana density of. He could slowly develop into a nearby renewable source of low Mana density common herbs.”

“It also wouldn’t hurt to have a friendly relationship with our neighbors.” Lexi added. “At least the ones who make an effort to be friendly.”

“What about the Barons?” Ajax asked.

“They are all bluster.” Tom waved away the concern. “Hoping to intimidate a newly raised commoner. One look at Xavier and Lexi and they’ll quiet down real quick.”

Ajax couldn’t help but chuckle at that. While dealing with such self-important ignorant nobles was a pain it did have its upsides considering how highborn his friends and fiance were. The same logic that made them dismiss Ajax and his family automatically put them beneath people like Lexi and Xaiver.

“That leaves the Duke’s daughter.” Ajax said.

“Ugh, Camilla Berrymore.” Lexi let out an exasperated sigh.

“You know her?” Ajax asked.

“I’ve met her a few times.” Lexi waved away the question. “I know her son, he made a few attempts at courting me before I was accepted at the Academy.”

“Anything we should be looking out for?” Ajax asked.

“They won’t try anything.” Lexi shook her head. “Duke Berrymore is no fool. Though they will be looking to poach any talents they find. This is as much a reaction to the execution of a noble so quickly as it is to our engagement.”

“How do you want to deal with it?” Ajax was more than willing to go along with Lexi’s plan since she was more familiar with the situation and their guest.

“Might I suggest a meeting following the execution?” Lancel said. “One they aren’t expecting.”

“That would probably work best.” Lexi nodded in agreement. “They’ll be looking to make a statement following the execution so they’ll head straight to the adventurer’s guild and look for promising retainers.”

“Sounds like we have everything handled.” Ajax said as he finished his meal. “Let's see how it all shakes out.”

With that he went and got dressed appropriately for the event before his family headed for the city in five carriages.