“Hmm… a knight…”
The baroness took out the estate’s financial documents and examined them.
“What we’re paying the knights in wages right now… since it’s paid every month…”
While the baroness was in the middle of calculating, the butler interrupted her.
“You do not need to pay him a wage.”
“Pardon? That won’t do. We must treat him properly as a knight.”
“I am not suggesting that we impose duties on him without any treatment in return. In truth, across the empire as a whole, there are not many knights who receive wages.”
“Then…”
“Yes, most receive a manor from their lord. However, the Snowhill territory has very little farmland that could be granted as a manor… Simply having the people farm the land and collecting taxes from them already leaves the estate barely able to operate. That is why Snowhill’s knights did not receive separate manors, but instead received monthly wages.”
“Yes. That’s true. And that is still the case now. We cannot give away the land inside this basin as a manor. But to give someone the mountain range and call it a manor would be… Ah.”
“Yes. Does he not have a ranch that he operates?”
“But haven’t we already fully recognized his ownership and operating rights over the ranch?”
“Yes. We did for the ranch… but the ‘land’ on which that ranch sits is still, according to imperial documents, the property of the Snowhill baronial house.”
“You mean we should appoint Sir Dawi as a knight and grant that land to him as a manor?”
“That is correct.”
“It’s truly… a tempting suggestion, but isn’t it far too shameless? In truth, that ranch is something Sir Dawi built up all on his own. If not for him, we would not even have properly known about that land, let alone that there was a lake there.”
“Yes. It is truly a shameless proposal. In the past, it would have been such a disgraceful act that people in high society would have talked about it every day. However… this is Sir Dawi, who asked for nothing more than a ‘bath’ as a reward. I do not think he will refuse.”
“…But in the end, that means we would be making a show of granting him a title and then using him as a knight without actually giving him anything.
Besides, he was formerly a military mage. Butler, do you not place great importance on imperial tradition?
If he was a military mage, then he must have received at least a non-hereditary barony, and at most even a county… And you want to make such a Sir Dawi serve as a knight by giving him the land where he built his own ranch and calling it a manor?”
“First of all, a non-hereditary title is clearly lower in status than a hereditary title.
Of course, if Sir Dawi received a non-hereditary county, then a baronial family would not be able to appoint such a person as a knight.
However, if it was a non-hereditary viscounty or barony, it is possible.
It is more common than one might think for a noble to appoint a lower-ranking noble as a knight. The Imperial Knights and their knight commander are representative examples.
They held noble titles, but they received knighthoods again from the imperial family.”
“Ha… Look at his level of magic. Though he only uses that one spell that makes a thunderous sound, its power and activation speed alone are enough to infer his skill. There is a high possibility that he received a county. Isn’t that why we all treat him carefully? Calling him ‘Sir Dawi’ with respect.”
“But there is no other way. I did not think I would ever say such a thing, but… even if he was someone who had received a county, there is no one now who can verify that.
He has no imperial documents, nor any noble crest. Of course, that geometric signature of his may be that crest… but in any case, nothing remains in document form.
We have no choice but to hope that it was not a county and grant him a knighthood. Otherwise, every time he subjugates zombies or beasts, we will have to reward him and drain the estate’s finances dry.”
“Haa… Very well. I will speak to Sir Dawi first.”
“Yes. If you grant him a knighthood, you must refrain from addressing him as ‘Sir Dawi’ with such honorifics.”
“Butler, I already speak politely to most people. I do the same to you, don’t I?”
“However, you do not call me ‘Sir Butler,’ nor do you call the other knights ‘Sir Knight.’ Using an extreme honorific like ‘sir’ for a knight to whom you have granted a title is not appropriate.”
“Haa… Let’s think about that after we actually grant him the knighthood. More importantly, appointing the escort unit is also an issue. In order to appoint the escort unit, we must first appoint a knight commander. It does not fit the chain of command for the senior knight to command the escort unit as well.”
At present, the Snowhill territory had no knight commander. Ever since the knight commander died during the zombie incident long ago, no one had been appointed.
“All the knights remaining in the territory now are knights of commoner origin. It is tradition to appoint someone of noble blood as knight commander, even if they do not hold a noble title themselves. Even if they are merely an illegitimate child of a noble.”
“That does not mean we can leave the knight commander’s position empty forever.”
“Yes. However, if we grant Sir Dawi a knighthood… we would have a knight of noble origin. Therefore, while granting Sir Dawi a knighthood, we could appoint him as knight commander…”
The baroness cut off the butler’s words.
“That will not do. First, there is a high chance the other knights will dislike it. And the knight commander must stay at the lord’s castle and handle duties there. Do you think Sir Dawi would like that?
He is so devoted to his ranch that he painstakingly built and operates one deep in the mountains. And you want to bring someone like that to the lord’s castle and make him work?
Then what about the ranch granted to him as a manor? There may be a way to operate it through an agent, but I doubt Sir Dawi would like that.”
“Mm… The baroness is correct. I apologize.”
“Phew… I know you won’t like it much, Butler, but this time we have no choice. We must break imperial tradition. I will appoint a knight commander of commoner origin.”
“…Understood. However, it is tradition for the lord to personally appoint the knight commander and the escort unit. That is better for the lord’s authority as well. But we are not in a situation where we can wait until next year, when the baron comes of age. Therefore… though he may not yet be able to work as lord, how about having the baron personally conduct the appointments?”
“Hmm… Very well. If we are going that far, then it would be better for my son to grant Sir Dawi his knighthood as well. We should hold the knight commander and escort unit appointment ceremony together with the title bestowal ceremony.”
“Yes. Then I will make preparations accordingly.”
***
After finishing a refreshing bath, Dawi was guided to an empty room in the lord’s mansion.
Since the sun had set, he planned to stay here for the day and return to the ranch tomorrow.
As he was resting in his room, someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Yes, you may come in.”
The person who opened the door and entered was the baroness.
“Baroness? What brings you here at this hour…”
“Well… there is something I must tell you.”
Dawi listened to the baroness’s long explanation.
They were not in a position to reward Dawi every time. Therefore, please accept a knighthood.
Instead of wages, they would grant him the land of the ranch as a manor. But if he wished, they would also provide him with separate wages.
That was roughly the gist of it.
“Baroness, I do not need to receive rewards. There is no need to grant me a knighthood either. Even without such a title, I will help the territory.”
“Yes. I know. I knew you would say that, of course. But this is also a matter concerning the dignity of the baronial house.”
“Dignity…?”
“There may not be other nobles left before whom we must preserve dignity… but it will not look good to the people of the territory either.”
At present, Dawi was a hero to the people of the territory. If they treated Dawi negligently, the people might grow dissatisfied with the baron and the baroness.
“Hmm… If that is the case, then I understand. But I do not need wages. As for a manor, there is no particular need… You have already given me ownership and operating rights over the ranch, so there is no need to do even that separately.”
“The manor is really only in name. It is not as if we are doing anything more for you. Please accept at least that much.”
“Well… if you insist, then I understand. I will gratefully accept it.”
The baroness silently looked at Dawi, who answered readily, for a moment.
“Why… are you like this?”
“Pardon? Like what…”
“Why do you not show greed? In truth, you could have demanded the entire greenhouse garden owned by the baronial house.”
“Hahaha. The greenhouse garden is far too far from my ranch, isn’t it? And it is not as though I can set up a ranch inside the lord’s castle. I am more than satisfied simply being able to buy the crops from the greenhouse garden.”
“How can you be satisfied with just a ranch? Or… have you given up hope? It would not be an exaggeration to say the world ended because of the zombie incident…”
“Hope?”
“Yes. Are you thinking that no matter what more you gain, it will all be useless in the end?”
“Hahaha, no. I am truly satisfied with my ranch. Mm… By any chance, Baroness, do you have no hope?”
The baroness hesitated for a moment, then confessed her feelings.
“Yes… If I am honest, that is how I feel. We are building irrigation facilities now, and even if the barley and rye farming succeeds, in the end, it will only improve the food situation. On this continent where the empire has fallen, all we can do is survive. There is no room to develop beyond that. I feel guilty even passing such a territory on to my son.”
“Ah…”
“You said zombies might come farther up along the western coast, didn’t you? Then the threats to our territory are no longer only beasts. Since the zombie incident, the situation has only grown more difficult and has not improved.”
“Hmm… If you put it that way, I suppose I do not have much hope either. Having a great ranch with hundreds of horses and cattle would be impossible in those mountains.”
“As expected…”
“But there is still the hope of being able to carry on with daily life.”
“Pardon?”
“These days, I wake up every morning to the horrible cries of geese. A rooster’s crow sounds like a song compared to a goose’s cry. Hahaha. Mm… But I enjoy that kind of daily life. I dreamed of having a ranch like this for a very long time. Of course, I would like to raise more horses and cattle, but that does not mean I am dissatisfied with my current life.”
“Ah…”
“I will continue such daily life from now on as well. Greeting the morning with the screams of geese… repairing fences every day, hunting bighorns and beasts… feeding the animals, cleaning up manure, and so on.”
“…I see.”
“And within that daily life, there is romance.”
“Pardon? Romance?”
“Yes. To me, romance is a truly important value. But in truth, this thing called romance… is quite subjective. If you simply think something is romantic, then it is a romantic situation. For example, the romance of drinking a glass of bilberry wine after going through hell?”
“Pfft! That is romance too?”
“Yes. That is romance too. People often say you must have hope for the future to be happy. Of course, that is also true… but I think happiness is ultimately self-hypnosis.”
“Self-hypnosis…?”
“Compared to the people of the territory, the baroness’s life is likely quite comfortable.”
“That is… true.”
“But you are probably just as filled with anxiety about the future. And because of that, you are likely not very happy either. I, mm… ultimately believe that everyone experiences the same degree of happiness and pain. A pain that is nothing to me can be great pain to someone else, and a happiness that is nothing to me can be great happiness to someone else.”
“Mm… I don’t quite understand.”
“To me, bathing in warm water is a great happiness. But to the baroness, it must be everyday life. And bathing in cold water on a cold day would likely be suffering to you. But to the people of the territory and to me, that is everyday life.
Of course, objectively speaking, it is obvious whose life is more comfortable and easy. But in the end, life is one’s own and cannot be compared with others, and there is happiness and unhappiness felt within one’s own life. Even if one lives a comfortable and easy life compared to others, there is happiness and unhappiness, and even if one lives an inconvenient life, there is happiness and unhappiness.”
“Mm… But would a noble not be happier than a commoner?”
“Hahaha, if you compare their circumstances, yes. But happiness is ultimately an individual’s subjective emotion. In terms of an individual life… if someone who lived as a commoner lived as a noble, they would certainly be immensely happy at first. But eventually they would grow used to that happiness, and it would become everyday life. Then new happiness and unhappiness suited to a noble would arise. In the end, the degree of happiness and unhappiness each person feels in their own life is the same. Only the situations in which they feel happiness and unhappiness change.”
“Ah…”
“That is why self-hypnosis is important. You turn your eyes away from your misfortunes as much as possible, and become as sensitive as possible to happiness. Just like savoring the taste of bilberry wine to the fullest.”
“I see…”
“That is why I focus on romance. The romance that comes from the daily life of running a ranch. Aside from that, I try to find romance in every situation I experience. And then I think to myself: what a romantic life this is, what a happy life…”
In that way, Dawi’s gaze was fixed solely on romance.
While turning his eyes away as much as possible from the misfortune that his Texas ranch had collapsed, and from the despair even greater than that… that he could never return to Earth again.
If he could not be satisfied with the makeshift ranch he had barely managed to build here, if he could not feel the romance he pursued… his mind would collapse before despair.
“So… prepare for the misfortunes that may come in the future, but do not think of the present as unfortunate. Past misfortune, future misfortune, present misfortune—all of it… know it only in your head and erase it from your emotions. And live by consciously searching for things that make you happy. That is how I live here.”
The baroness could no longer complain in front of Dawi.
She could guess the size of the despair that Dawi had suppressed beneath the thin film called “romance,” and she was afraid that because of her, it might burst out.
Still, Dawi’s words were helpful.
‘Yes. Being able to carry on with daily life is happiness too. Being able to live like this with my son is also happiness.’
Prepare for misfortune, but remove the emotion of misfortune. More precisely, intentionally ignore it. Live while searching for happiness, even if by force.
That was how one endured the day, and made the territory endure.
.
.
.
A few days later, the knight appointment ceremony was held.
It was a ceremony officially presided over by the young baron, who would come of age next year, and it was a small festival for the people of the territory.
Though no one knew when zombies might come up along the western coast again, the people of the territory enjoyed today’s festival.
On that day, Dawi received a knighthood, and along with it, the land where his ranch stood as a manor.