Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 43: Bitter truth

"Do it!"

Alaric yelled.

He was standing on top of a hill, Ava and Hina standing behind him.

At the bottom of the hill was a long newly crafted road that stretched from the barony’s mining ground all the way to the mainland.

Beauty-wise, the road was lacking by a lot, the reason being Alaric didn’t focus on that. All he wanted was a road that could last for as long as possible.

And now that he was done, he was more than prepared to test it out.

Waiting at the end of the road were about 30+ carts, ready to move out.

After hearing their lord give them the go-ahead, the workers all began to move the carts down the road.

It was simple.

Each cart had a long iron handle connected to different reptilian beasts called Liznona. Alaric brought them one random day; how he got the beasts was news to them.

All they knew was, with the beasts on their side, they could use them as replacements for horses and transport the materials they had mined all the way to the barony.

As they moved, Alaric watched from where he stood, the happy cheers of the workers echoing all over the place.

Finally, they had finished, with a single day to spare before the month ended.

"You did it. You met the deadline," Ava spoke from behind Alaric.

"Right? Impressed?" Alaric grinned, though he didn’t take a second to look away from the sight in front of him.

"No, I’m just surprised. It’s very rare to see you doing something... not falling," Ava said as she also looked to the side.

Alaric sighed and then turned around to look at her.

"Can you not ruin this perfect moment?"

"What do you mean?" Ava asked with an innocent look.

Just as Alaric was about to speak—

"Still, I’m sure the people of the barony are proud of you. The young master has really come so far." This time, Ava couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

"Wow..." Alaric seemed invested at first, until he gave a disgusted look, "Can you not cringe me out this morning?"

"I apologize."

"I have a question, my lord," Hina raised her hand.

"No, Hina, you’re not getting paid. Geez, you’re my student, not my employee," Alaric spoke as he turned his gaze back at the workers.

"That’s not wha..." Hina shook her head. She knew it was pointless going back and forth with him. "I wanted to point out something I noticed."

"Oh? What’s that?"

"The road. I noticed the cobblestones were intact but not so much that the gravel in between won’t start loosening up. Is that normal?" Hina asked.

Alaric stretched his hand a bit, "Oh yeah, totally," he replied.

Ava raised a brow.

"Even the roads in the kingdom face the same issues. The only reason no one notices is because there’s a maintenance team at the ready to refill the sand at least once a month," Alaric continued.

"The same will be done here. It’s easy fixing—just set aside a small team to act as maintenance. If cement was here, it wouldn’t be an issue, but since it isn’t, we’ll have to make do with this."

As Alaric spoke, Hina wrote it down in her jotter, her expression as serious as ever.

Stealing a side-eye at her, Alaric couldn’t help but smile.

No doubt, he was aware she had been acting like his secretary ever since the old man handed her over to him.

Not like he had any complaints—he had used his free privilege to forge nothing less than 25 different materials from the old man.

Sigh!

I’m glad I got rid of this issue. I should be able to rest now. Tomorrow determines that anyway...

He thought to himself while watching as Aurora and Laura oversaw the workers as they drove the carts down the road.

After that, I’ll have to pay the workers for their month’s work. I found expensive stuff in the family vault; that should cover the payment. And then after, money from the mining ground should be rolling in. Ah yes, I can finally rest. There’s no way an issue can occur now—

...

"Alaric! What the hell were you thinking trying to sell our family’s treasure?!" Rashin yelled.

They were all seated at the family dining table that night.

Since Erica was still at the county speaking to the Count, the family table was one seating short,

giving Alaric’s parents the opportunity to pour all their attention on him.

"What?" Alaric was speechless, his spoon slowly leaving his mouth.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about," Rashin frowned.

"Husband, please calm down..." Kika spoke, placing her hand above her husband’s.

"Your son is planning on selling something that has been passed on from generations. How are you okay with this?! He never even planned on telling me. If not for Ava—"

"Ah, so you found out from her. I’ll be careful not to let her know about it next time," Alaric shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

"I’m not joking, Alaric! This is serious!" Rashin angrily stood up from his chair, his face hitched with rage.

"In less than a month, I settled the family’s debt. Another month, I made use of the mining ground and took care of the Neuk barony," Alaric calmly took another spoonful of rice. "You say it has been passed down from generations? I’ll tell you now..."

Alaric looked up at his father. "There won’t be any generation to pass it down to if you keep focusing on the wrong thing rather than the betterment of this land and its people."

Rashin could barely say a word back.

"You always told me as a leader you should make certain sacrifices. This is one of them. You people have worked hard for months just to see this barony grow, and you would rather tell them they won’t be getting rewards than sell some old used-up painting?"

"... "

"Well, not like I was planning to get your opinion on it anyway. Mother, I’m done eating." Alaric stood up and then looked at his father. "I know you’re emotional about it, but don’t worry. I care more about money than any of these things you’ve said. You’ll watch your barony grow with a broken heart."

And with that, he left.

...

[A\N: Please vote for this book]