I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 84

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (85)

The members of a noble family in their twenties. Ethan looked at the documents listing their personal details.

“All five are here.”

The five people he was most interested in were these.

From those whose names he had at least heard of in his previous life to those who had once held significant fame, the group was diverse.

Among them, there were two individuals he remembered particularly well.

Gailun, the third son of the Halain Count.

“He was an outstanding administrator.”

If Prexian was a seasoned veteran, Gailen was a young warrior. His drive to push forward with urban development plans was unmatched.

The small town he developed turned into a medium-sized city generating cash flow in less than three years.

“Of course, in the end, he was completely destroyed by the dragon clan, leaving not even a speck of dust behind…”

He could have been considered a guarantee for the future. There was one more familiar figure.

Erkan, the second son of the Count of Belmont.

“He was an administrator who turned a city into a granary.”

He was one of the noble sons who was well versed in agriculture.

The fertile land he created helped alleviate the food shortages that arose during the war with the dragon tribe.

With the two people he was most interested in arriving, he considered the interview to be more than 80% successful.

Ethan looked at the interviewer.

As it was related to administration, it had been agreed that Silvia would lead the interview.

Soon, the interview began.

Five young men from noble families entered the room.

They stared blankly at Ethan, who appeared to be around their age.

They quickly bowed their heads.

“Greetings, Duke!”

The only thing that set them apart from the duke standing before them was their age.

Ethan looked at the young men from noble families.

“I am Ethan. Let’s begin the interview. My scribe, Lawrence, will ask the questions. If you don’t like the answer, you will be eliminated immediately. Do you understand?”

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“…Yes!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Lawrence, the scribe sitting next to Ethan.

“First question. Please tell us what area you would like to manage.”

At that moment.

Four out of five chose the earl’s domain. Only one chose the viscount’s domain, the other option.

“Four of you chose the earl’s domain. I will hear from each of you why you chose the earl’s domain and how you plan to develop it in the future. Let’s assume that the budget is 500 platinum coins per year. Prince Nelson?”

The young man called Prince Nelson answered.

“Well… The reason I chose the earl’s domain is… Because it has a large territory, there are many resources and people here…”

“How do you plan to develop it?”

“Well…”

“Did you choose this place simply because it is large and spacious?”

The interviewer’s cold words left the interviewee speechless.

His gaze naturally turned to the duke sitting next to him.

Duke Ethan.

He smiled as if amused, looking back and forth between the interviewer and himself.

“You’re rejected. Please leave the interview room.”

“Yes.”

The interviewee left the room without any energy. Ethan nodded at him.

He had no intention of selecting people who had rushed over without any plans just because they were supposed to establish friendly relations with the central region.

The number of territories to be ruled was fixed, and there were more than 20 applicants.

Thus, the candidates began to be sorted out.

Three of the five he had been watching closely were assigned to the viscountcies, and the remaining candidates were assigned to the baroncies one by one.

By the time he had interviewed fifteen candidates, only two of the eight domains remained.

The Ferneese and Amelton baronies. These two baronies were different from the others in terms of size.

To be honest, the people who would govern these places were already decided.

Soon, the last group entered.

Gailun and Erkan.

These two were in the group.

Once again, they were asked which land they wanted.

“The Earl of Pernes.”

“The Earl of Amelton.”

Gailen pointed to the Earl of Pernes.

Erkan pointed to the Earl of Amelton. The other three did the same.

Sylvia asked the same question to the three who were not chosen.

The elimination was instantaneous.

Ethan looked at Gailen.

These two were important talents, so he wanted to check them out himself.

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“Now there are only two left. Gailen, let’s hear your answer first. How do you plan to develop your earl’s domain?”

“I plan to build a city of culture and pleasure centered on Hermes, the capital of the Earl of Pernes.”

“A city of culture and pleasure?”

“Excluding Londinium, there are no cities in the duke’s domain that can be said to have any distinctive characteristics. In order to rapidly expand the size of the city, we need to attract money from outside. In that sense, culture and pleasure are quite good means to that end. Would you take a look?”

Gailen immediately handed him a pile of documents.

“Hm.”

Ethan’s eyes lit up at the sight. He had met Gaillan once in his previous life.

He looked exactly the same.

However, his personality was completely different.

“I remember him as being very timid.”

In his previous life, he couldn’t even look him in the eye.

He remembered being quite surprised that such a person had the drive to transform an entire city.

The current Ga-il-roon was completely different. He was standing up straight, calmly presenting his plan.

When he looked at Sylvia, who was looking over the documents, she nodded. She must think the plan itself is excellent.

The plan involved gathering various traveling theater troupes and artists, hosting a festival, and transforming the entire count’s territory into a tourist destination. Even the entertainment aspects were meticulously planned.

“Not bad.”

Choosing and focusing within a limited budget.

From that perspective, he had properly set his priorities.

If he combined his drive from his previous life with his confidence in his current life, he might be able to raise his reputation even higher than before.

“What about Erkan?”

“The Amelton County has more fertile land and abundant water resources than other regions. I want to develop this city into a granary that supplies food to the entire Duchy. Here is my plan.”

Coincidentally, both of them had prepared plans.

Moreover, their plans seemed feasible within the given budget.

Ethan and Silvia nodded. It would be difficult to find anyone more qualified than them.

“You’re both accepted. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Thank you!”

“We’ll do our best!”

The two shouted in unison.

“I’ll assign you knights and carriages. Head to your respective domains immediately.”

“Yes!”

The two left the office.

Count Halayim and Count Belmont.

The two families were powerful noble families in the central region.

Not only had he established connections with them, but he had also secured talented individuals.

“This will lighten my workload.”

The southern part of the duchy.

The foundation for governing that area had been laid.

* *

The Seven Houses of the Kingdom.

All seven heads of the houses gathered in one place.

In addition to the seven heads, there was a figure dressed in a dark robe in the conference room.

“…The Archbishop is also here.”

The Archbishop.

He was a member of the church that cooperated with the Seven Houses of the Kingdom. No one had ever seen his true face.

All anyone knew about him was his voice.

He occasionally appeared at the meetings of the Seven Houses of the Kingdom.

Just like now.

The archbishop nodded quietly. All eyes were on him for a moment.

“Let us begin the meeting. I believe everyone here knows why we are gathered here today.”

Duke Gerond spoke.

The six heads of the families nodded in agreement.

The Grand Duke.

Rumors about him, who had been nominated as the new duke, were already spreading throughout the kingdom.

“Count Marek, who is standing next to me, has experience fighting the Grand Duke himself. Count, please explain.”

“Yes.”

The count stepped forward and spoke.

“The Grand Duke is growing faster than any knight in the Western Continent. He is even growing faster than the heirs who will succeed the seven families of our kingdom.”

The six heads of the families widened their eyes at his words.

“…Are you saying that the Grand Duke is that skilled? Stronger than the heirs of each family?”

“Yes. In my opinion… I don’t think there is anyone who can match the Grand Duke except for Prince Milton.”

Prince Milton!

The most talented heir among the Seven Houses was none other than Prince Milton, the eldest son of Duke Gerond.

Not only had he inherited the secret techniques that combined the dragon clan’s and the Seven Families’ skills, but he also consumed all kinds of elixirs as if they were food and even learned the Black Flame created by the Seven Families.

Despite being only seventeen years old, it was said that he had reached the level of an 8th-rank knight master.

Even the heads of the six families, excluding the Laysian family, had no choice but to acknowledge his talent.

“…Count Marek. I have one question.”

“Please speak.”

“If it’s Prince Milton, you can definitely defeat him, right?”

The count had clearly used the phrase “can defeat.”

If he had thought that Milten’s skills were overwhelming, he would have used the phrase “able to defeat.”

Marek shook his head quietly.

“To be honest, if the two of them were to fight right now, I would say the odds are about 7 to 3.”

Everyone gasped.

That meant Ethan had a 30% chance of winning.

“Please take a look at these documents. This is what the strategic analysis department that accompanied me has gathered.”

Count Marek passed the documents around.

The six family heads’ eyes widened. The documents stated that Ethan’s skill level was close to that of a skilled 7th-rank swordsman.

That wasn’t all.

―His responses are very skilled, as if he knows the sword techniques of the Yongin tribe.

―His sword skills are perfect. Even Count Marek expects him to be inferior to the Grand Duke in terms of sword skills alone. Otherwise, it would be impossible to injure the Count.

―He shows the experience of having fought in hundreds of battles. Nineteen years old. That’s impossible at that age.

“…What is this!”

“Didn’t the Grand Duke receive any support from his family?”

“How did he achieve this level in just half a year? Count Marek. Are you sure this assessment is accurate? This is beyond belief!

Marek nodded toward the six heads of the families.

“I would stake my life on the fact that there is not a shred of bias in this assessment.”

“…”

The second-in-command of the Laysian family.

These were the words of a man who had faced the Grand Duke himself.

Now he had no choice but to accept it.

“…All right. I understand. However, I still cannot comprehend the Grand Duke’s growth. How can a person reach the seventh rank in just half a year? Especially someone who had been lying in a coma for ten years, even with all that experience!”

“…I have one hypothesis. Would you like to hear it?”

“…Yes.”

Marek looked around at the people sitting at the round table and said.

“Until now, the seven families of the kingdom believed that the Duke of Ardan fought against the Yongin tribe with pure intentions and sacrificed themselves. Is that not correct?”

“…Yes.”

“However… now that I think about it, something feels very off. No matter how much they hated the Dragon Clan or how much they wanted to protect their family… could they really have sent all their direct descendants to the battlefield with nothing but a pure desire to sacrifice themselves?”

“……”

Everyone flinched at Marek’s words.