Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 177: Agent
The next day, Owen began to receive the nobles who came to redeem people. The first to come were the Yum family.
The person sent by the Youm family was indeed Kuros Youm, the son of Count Youm and also Owen’s good friend.
After a body search and confirmation that there was nothing wrong, Kuros entered the reception room and saw Owen sitting in a chair drinking tea.
“I never thought we would meet again in this way, Ow… Marquis Eisen.”
“You should just call me Owen like before. It sounds more familiar to you.”
Putting down his teacup, Owen continued.
“Kuros, I received your letter. Thank you for your concern, but I will not abandon my subjects. Therefore, I will have no choice but to confront Duke Eddie’s army head-on and defeat them.”
It turned out that the border town already had such strong military strength. Kuros felt that it was a bit unnecessary for him to write a letter to inform Owen to run away.
“Let’s sit down and talk.”
Owen raised his hand to indicate the empty seat in front.
Kuros walked over and took a seat. As soon as he sat down, he couldn’t wait to ask.
“Is my father okay?”
“Count Youm surrendered early. He was just a little frightened and is fine. You can rest assured.”
Owen responded.
“That’s good.”
Hearing this, Kuros breathed a sigh of relief, then asked.
“So, Owen, how much ransom do you want? As long as the Youm family can afford it, I will raise it immediately and send it to you.”
“I just devoured all of Duke Eddie’s wealth yesterday. To be honest, I’m not really short of money.” Owen stroked his chin and said, “I want people and livestock.”
“People?”
Asking for livestock was not unprecedented, and Kuros understood it, but asking for people was not quite clear to him.
“To be honest with you, Bianshu Town has experienced a severe population loss in recent years. If I want to develop my territory, I must replenish the population.”
As he spoke, Owen took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table, handing it to Kuros.
“Here’s the ransom note.”
Kuros took the list and took a look. It listed the number of territory, farmers, craftsmen and livestock that were needed to redeem the nobles of different titles. The higher the title, the more was needed.
Territory were the largest group, making up the majority.
“Just to be clear, the one person I want refers to one family, and family members cannot be used to make up the number.”
Owen reminded him.
“If a certain item really cannot be filled with the required number of people, it is allowed to use livestock to replace the missing part. However, the value of territory and craftsmen is different, and different numbers of livestock are required to replace them. This is clearly stated below.”
Moving his eyes to the bottom of the paper, Kuros immediately found that one territory was equal to one sheep, while one stonemason was equal to five sheep.
“Please organize the delivery of craftsmen and livestock as soon as possible. As for the territory, please send them in batches a little later.”
Owen added.
The main reason was that the Bianshu town did not have enough places to accommodate the largest number of territory, so they had to make such a request.
“I see.”
Kuros raised his head, frowned, and asked again.
“But isn’t Bianshu Town suffering from the curse of the Kazitu? Can it afford to support so many people?”
“No problem.”
Owen’s mouth curled up.
“I have found a way to break the curse.”
“What?!”
Kuros looked incredulous.
“Kuros, when you and your sister visited me last time, didn’t you notice that there were more newly reclaimed farmlands?”
Looking back now, it seems that there are more farmlands than before, but Kuros didn’t notice this change at the time.
He couldn’t help but admire:
“Owen, you are really getting better and better.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Owen smiled.
“I need to take this list back to see if I can gather the necessary people and livestock. I’ll then make a detailed list for you to review.”
After saying that, Kuros was about to get up and say goodbye.
“Wait, there’s something else I want to talk to you about.”
Owen suddenly called out to Kuros with a serious expression.
“I won’t be staying here for long. I’ll be returning to Bianshu Town with the army in a few days. Kuros, are you interested in acting as my agent and managing Dongsheng Fortress?”
As soon as Duke Eddie’s treasure is moved, Owen will set off back immediately.
“Why do you want to go back?”
Hearing this, Kuros suddenly looked at Owen with wide eyes, surprised.
“It was so hard to capture Dongsheng Fortress. It’s a large city, isn’t it countless times better than Bianshu Town?”
“I don’t have time to deal with the various forces entrenched here. It will take at least one or two years to fully control Dongsheng Fortress, so it’s better to let you take over. As one of the four major families in Dongsheng Fortress, your Youm family must be very familiar with this city.”
Owen explained.
After a pause, he added.
“What’s more, Bianshu Town is what I inherited from my father, and I have feelings for it.”
With the current strength of the People’s Army, it is not enough to destroy all opposition forces in Dongsheng Fortress at one time, which is bound to waste a lot of time.
Owen doesn’t have so much time. Prince White will take action against him sooner or later.
Therefore, Owen must go to the Bianshu town to prepare for the response instead of staying in Dongsheng Fortress.
“All right.”
There must be more reasons than these, but Kuros reluctantly accepted Owen’s statement.
“But why did you choose me? Is it just because we have a good relationship?”
In addition to the Yum family, the Collette and Pearl families are also capable of taking over the Dongsheng Fortress.
“That’s about right. I can’t trust anyone else except you.”
Owen nodded.
“Besides, now that you’ve taken over Dongsheng Fortress, your father will definitely help, so I’m relieved.”
“I knew it.”
Kuros was speechless.
Then he asked.
“You didn’t choose to stay, so you want to focus on dealing with the Third Prince? I’ve heard that rumor, is it true?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
Owen didn’t deny it.
“I recently received news that the Third Prince is currently at war with the Second Princess of the Southern Territory. He won’t be able to take care of the Eastern Territory for a while, so I want to make good use of the limited time.”
This news was brought by the spy that Owen was sent to the royal capital.
“This……”
Kuros found that he was used to being shocked and did not show too much surprise.
“The Third Prince is a ruthless man. You’re right to be wary of him. But if you defeat the Third Prince, what will you do next? Will you…become king yourself?”
He looked quite cautious when asking the last question.
“If it really comes to this…”
Owen was silent for a long moment before he said.
“I think I will.”
The kingdom cannot be without a king for a day. Since he has royal blood, he must take responsibility to the end.
“In that case, I won’t refuse. I will take charge of Dongsheng Fortress for you.”
Once they agreed to this, the Youm family would be completely bound to Owen. If Owen failed, the Youm family would also suffer a devastating blow from the Third Prince.
Kuros believed in Owen and had no regrets even if he failed.