Chapter 98: The Great Bear of the North 3
TL/Editor: Raei
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Perhaps it was the Northern Duke's, Arthur's, intent to separate from Kaiden and have a conversation between men.
He strides forward, leading the way.
"Lo, Loyalty!"
"Do you have any orders, sir!"
The soldiers around the guest buildings immediately scramble in all directions, like ants swept away by the rainy season's flood.
With the esteemed Duke suddenly storming out as if he was furious, the soldiers must be terrified.
"I'd like to have a little private chat, can we borrow a place?"
"Yes! Understood!!"
Ah, I can feel it...
I can almost read the soldier's thoughts through their eyes.
Not as Roland, a senior adventurer of 10 years, but as a military veteran returning from service.
I can feel them cursing in their minds, questioning why we're causing a fuss in the soldier's area instead of holding a conversation in the guesthouse.
Regardless, this bear-like Duke chose to occupy one of the tents that seemed to be a rest area for the soldiers and casually plunks himself down at a table.
"Ah, there is something I want to discuss first."
Arthur's mana spreads out like a wave.
After thoroughly checking that there was no one within earshot, he begins to talk while habitually scratching his head.
The soldiers, who are used to having to accommodate visiting nobles, have moved away from the tent.
Now, the only ones left in the tent were the Northern Duke, myself, and Han Se-ah's persistently following camera drone.
"Kaiden is not my son but my daughter. So, I'd appreciate it if you could be a bit cautious around that."
"Are you saying Kaiden is a woman?"
Ah, so we're starting with that.
I can sense an inexplicable pride as he begins to explain, assuming I was unaware of Kaiden's cross-dressing.
I wonder if this cross-dressing is some hidden technique of the Wesley family.
Misinterpreting my perplexed expression, Arthur Wesley nods.
"It's a bit complicated, but our family has a magic artifact bestowed from the royal family. It's a disguise magic artifact primarily used when we need to win public favor..."
"Isn't it a valuable item, being a royal gift?"
Are you okay with using such a thing for a run-away daughter?
"Haha, well, the story is a bit long. You're the only male in the party, right? As a father, I'm worried that there might be a misunderstanding and an unfortunate incident may happen."
Swallowing the words that were about to burst out, Arthur once again laughs awkwardly.
Nevertheless, he doesn't seem to have any intention of hiding anything and continues to speak anxiously.
From his fidgeting fingers, his twitching jaw to his tongue moving around in his dry mouth.
He appears less like a Duke and the leader of a Knights Division, and more like a bear waiting for a snack.
"Where should I start... I have two daughters. The older one is Ann Wesley, whom you met earlier in the forest. The younger one is Katie Wesley, who is in your party and is using the alias Kaiden. They were very close when they were young."
He seems to reminisce about old memories, his eyes become distant.
Arthur Wesley's story continues, and the viewers pour out like a flood.
-The royal disguise cross-dressing kit for running away... name needs some work
-If you say it's a polymorph transformation artifact, it sounds cool, but when you say it's a runaway crossdressing artifact, it sounds like total garbage.
-Why is it that when I come back from the bathroom, instead of seeing beautiful faces, I see a scarred old man?"
-They were close? Is some kind of 'secret birth' story coming up?
If its a K-drama-style story, it has to have things like a family feud, a stepmother, and so on.
But since BB Games doesnt seem to be a Korean gaming company, I'm not sure how the story will pan out.
Both the viewers and Han Se-ah are listening to the story with great interest.
Of course, I'm just as curious.
What kind of backstory would make the youngest daughter of the Northern Duke disguise herself as a man and become a mercenary?
From birth secrets to political family feuds, I feel like all kinds of stories could emerge.
It reminds me of all the absurd plots in the K-dramas I've heard about before coming to this world.
"The problem, was when the two daughters came of age and their opinions diverged. They usually got along well, so I didnt expect them to fight so intensely over succession."
"Did the two of them fight over the position of the successor?"
"They fought over the succession... well, in a way, they did."
But the follow-up from Arthur took an unexpected direction.
"The two of them fought because neither wanted to succeed me as the Duke."
"...What?"
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Raei Translations
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The aristocracy in Heroes Chronicle seems to have borrowed from the European nobility and K-fantasy titles, a hodgepodge of European-style titles mixed into a Chinese rank system, typically seen in fantasy or romantic fantasy novels.
Considering that the foundation, Heroines Chronicle, was a Korean mobile game, it was a given.
It provided the perfect setting for princesses, knights, and all kinds of noble ladies to emerge.
Therefore, the Northern Duke held various titles all at once.
He was the Northern Duke, the leader of the Frost Wolf Knights Division, the General of the Army, the Lord of the Manor, and the Owner of the Northern Mountain Range...
He had omitted his introduction due to its length.
"My daughters look exactly like their mother, but their habits resemble mine. Seeing them argue over their disinterest in the Duke title, gave me quite a headache."
So, becoming the Northern Duke means becoming the owner of the vast North, but it also implies getting involved with politics and holding dozens of official titles.
Even women who lose their husbands and fall from power still have to handle politics every day.
How about the one with the title of Northern Duke?
Ann Wesley and Katie Wesley, the two sisters of the North, could not accept such a future.
The sister who becomes the Northern Duke will be tormented by politics.
There will be countless people wanting to be her husband for political reasons, and she will have to care about political diplomacy for trade between the North and other regions.
On the contrary, the one who doesn't become the Duke can roam the world freely.
Because all the political titles are taken by the Northern Duke, she can enjoy a free life distanced from politics, as the Vice-Commander of the Frost Wolf Knights Division, and as the North's Sword.
"So, what happened then?"
"My older daughter, Ann, insisted my younger daughter was smarter and tried to provide her with a tutor for successor education right after Katie's coming of age ceremony. Ann, who had more interest in economics than politics, planned to manage the North's finances after ceding the title of Duke to her younger sister."
"And Katie?"
"She said she would rather learn swordsmanship, grabbed a set of armor and a sword, and ran off. On the day of her coming of age ceremony, she said she wanted to check out the family's magical artifacts. She raided the secret vault, took her ancestor's armor and the disguise artifact, and fled that very night."
Looking at Arthur, who was half-heartedly muttering as if he had given up, a corner of my heart was filled with sympathy.
It felt like seeing a father crying in a bar after getting drunk.
I had imagined a young lady who was pushed by her sister in a power struggle and had to risk her life by joining a mercenary group... but it was completely the opposite.
A sister who tried to forcibly hand over the successor's position, and a younger sister who absolutely refused and ran away after robbing the family's vault.
As the Northern Duke and the father of two daughters, he was in a dizzying and distressing situation.
Well, those two were surely quite the characters.
-Is this a dispute over the successorship? Something seems off...
-A political war between two noble ladies, huh?
-Look how much the Northern Duke has aged, damn lol
-It wasn't silver hair, it was white hair, turned due to his fire-element daughters
-I thought it was weird that the Northern Duke didn't have black hair, it must have turned white from all the stress
"At least it's fortunate that it's not some bloody family dispute... but this does break my image of Kaiden.
I thought she was cool, calm, and collected. The cool type of swordsman."
Han Se-ah and her stream are heating up*.
As a father caught in his daughters' fight, it's an exasperating situation, but as a spectator, it's as entertaining as it gets.
"Hold on, I have to support Kaiden's sister to become the Northern Duke, right? Otherwise, our rear guard Sword Princess would be forcibly re-classed as the Northern Duke. How messed up would it be if I lost my 4 character like this."
-Yeah, lol, if the sister wins, goodbye to the party
-Make sure she does a face reveal before she goes, okay?
-Aren't they just jobless sisters arguing because they don't want to work?
-Princesses of the North, but they both have the fire attribute
So, there never was a cool beauty with a heartbreaking story.
Just an elder sister who wants to pass the title to her sister and live a leisurely life, and a clueless young girl who ran away because she didn't want to handle the mess.
"So, by any chance, my daughter... she doesn't lack talent as an adventurer, does she?"
"As a swordsman, and as a vanguard of an adventurer's party, she is excellent. She never lets her guard down while adventuring and reliably protects the party. Moreover, her combat ability, her swordsmanship, is also outstanding."
"Is that so..."
Who's trying to take away our reliable swordsman from our party?
It's hard enough to find a 3 scout, where are we supposed to find another 4 swordsman to entrust our rear to?
I don't care about the position of the Northern Duke, Kaiden needs to stay in our party.
...The viewers say the older sister is a 3, so it would be better to keep the 4 in our party.
Arthur's deep sigh pours down onto the table, over the uncomfortable silence.
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