Damn, I recarneted As A Judge in Fantasy World-Chapter 263: Preparations for the Duchy of Crawford
Count Titus probably looked at Abel with displeasure.
'But you came here to get a loan? Those interest rates are really high.'
Of course, Abel had no strong feelings about him.
Even if Titus had lost the land, it was basically just a border area.
It had originally been a place where nothing could be done, so he probably didn't really regret it.
Abel nodded willingly.
"Come in."
***
A loan service that Abel had never heard of before left him feeling helpless.
Nowadays, bank tellers were nothing more than guides.
Their role was to inform newlyweds—who had come from a multi-party matchmaking company—about loan products.
There was no way such personnel could be allowed to face high nobles.
They would simply feel oppressed by authority and be at a complete loss.
'Oh, damn it. This just adds to the workload.'
In truth, this had started as a light initiative—just another step to make the marriage promotion policy successful.
But when he tried to do it properly, the scale had grown far beyond what he had anticipated.
"But that doesn't mean I can be careless because of my personality."
The day of departure for the Duchy of Crawford was approaching, yet there were still so many things left unprepared.
He would have to delegate some of those tasks to others…
While he was deep in thought, he suddenly noticed a pair of bright, eager eyes staring at him.
"Huh? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Abel glanced at his desk and saw Shuguri and Peltron staring at him—eyes full of anticipation.
At first, he couldn't understand why they were acting like this.
But after recalling what had happened over the past few days, he quickly figured it out.
'Oh, these guys… are they aiming for another position?'
The football league was in full swing.
Tickets for all games had sold out, and even the merchandise was completely unavailable.
That meant the two half-demons were effortlessly collecting spirit energy.
Of course, it wasn't as pure as when Abel had directly supplied it, but they must have sensed its potential.
'I realized that high positions command respect from people.'
But these two only knew one thing and not the other.
Would holding a high position alone earn them genuine respect?
Of course not.
If they didn't act in a manner befitting their rank, they would only incur resentment.
"Yeah. No."
"Oh, why? We've been running the football club properly. Isn't that enough qualification?"
"That's right! That's right! Just give up your position as president of the marriage information company!"
Seeing them continue to make excuses that clearly wouldn't work, Abel decided it was time to set things straight.
The reason he had let them form a team in the first place was that he had no one else to handle it.
Everyone was so busy that they had to resort to organizing a soccer match just to manage things.
So, he had simply used the two half-demons—who did nothing but play and eat—as placeholders.
"I'm talking about you two."
"Huh?"
"Step down from the position of club owner."
"...Huh?"
For a moment, Shuguri and Peltron's expressions hardened.
It was as if they had been frozen solid.
"No, how is that fair?!"
"Yeah! Do you know how pissed off I'd be if you took something away from me after giving it to me?"
Abel looked at the two of them with a dumbfounded expression.
Then, without hesitation, he launched a relentless barrage of facts.
"Let me ask you one thing. Whose money was it that built that club?"
"T-That's..."
"Who was the one who applied and recruited the players?"
"Ugh!"
Shuguri and Peltron looked at each other, their mouths hanging open.
They had no argument to make.
Because all the support had come from Abel.
Naturally, that meant the authority to appoint or dismiss the club owner belonged to him as well.
The two half-demons seemed to have finally realized the truth.
They were nothing more than figureheads.
'After the whip comes the carrot.'
Abel grabbed Shuguri and Peltron—one in each hand—then casually placed them on his shoulders, as he often did.
"I'm not saying I'm just going to kick you out. Be honest. Was the spirit energy you gained while being the club owner high in purity?"
"No, it wasn't. There was more than before, but it wasn't as pure."
"That's because you were basically extorting energy by intimidating people. That's what high-ranking positions are like."
"But human nobles are respected. How does that work?"
"It's too difficult to explain in words."
Why did people trust and follow Abel?
It was because his actions were different from those of the existing nobles.
A fair trial, an attitude of not trying to take what belonged to others—
A good influence that encouraged people to move forward together without resistance.
'These guys are demons, so they won't understand, right?'
Half-demons were fragments of the devil's power.
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Their very nature was rooted in evil, so ruling over others came more naturally to them than coexisting.
"Don't you want to obtain pure spirit energy? Then you should stay by my side and listen to me carefully."
"Hmm."
"If you don't believe me, then don't say anything."
"No! I understand. So where are we going this time?"
"The Duchy of Crawford. We're going to do something similar to what we did in Deliat."
"Wow!"
Shuguri excitedly danced around, waving his front paws.
He was clearly remembering the highly concentrated spiritual energy he had gained from Deliat.
But Peltron looked puzzled.
It was a natural reaction.
He hadn't experienced the time when Abel had governed the region.
Then Shuguri confidently reassured him.
"Don't worry. The human who runs the governor's office is really sweet."
…No, why was this kid phrasing it like that?
Anyone who heard that would find it suspicious.
Abel wordlessly waved his hand before smacking Shuguri on the head with a stick.
Bam!
"Kyuuk!"
"Alright, then it's settled. Let's go. To the Duchy of Crawford."
