I Was Told, “I Can’t Leave the Territory Management to You, Brother-in-law!!”, So I Restarted My Adventurer Life in My Mother’s Homeland – Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Footsteps of Collapse
  Rufus rushed around town, asking his business partners to reconsider their deals and influential people for loans, but he was continually refused.
 
  “Why…… Why won’t anyone listen to me……”
 
  He muttered to himself while taking a break, sitting in a shadowed alley. Looking up at the sky, he saw a blue sky with thin clouds. In that sky, he saw Sandrea’s smile.
 
  Rufus was the second son of a branch family of an influential upper-class family in the central capital and was raised without any particular expectations. Rufus himself planned to live a comfortable life after graduating from the academy, relying on the connections of the main family.
 
  He met Sandrea in his final year at the academy. Although her appearance wasn’t particularly his type, they worked on assignments together, and at that time, they talked about their backgrounds and hit it off. At that time, the thought crossed his mind, could he make Sandrea a lord, and could he become her husband and wield power?
 
  In fact, Eld was somewhat famous at the academy. Due to the age difference, Sandrea and Rufus didn’t attend the academy at the same time, but rumors about him reached their ears. For example, he was close to a commoner with red hair. Or he had a life-or-death struggle with the Fifth Prince. Or he became an adventurer because he was disowned.
 
  From Sandrea’s perspective, knowing her older stepbrother’s personality, she could say that half of the rumors were true and the other half were complete nonsense. However, from Rufus’s point of view, if such a person was Sandrea’s older stepbrother, he must not be someone worthy of being a lord.
 
  At first, his relationship with Sandrea was nothing more than working on assignments together, but he gradually became attracted to her. Therefore, when he proposed to her at graduation, it seemed inevitable to Rufus.
 
  Sandrea readily accepted Rufus’s proposal. They immediately went to her parents’ house and introduced him. Rufus’s first miscalculation was Sandrea’s stepfather. This stepfather was against Sandrea’s marriage. The reason was quite legitimate: Rufus proposed without having a job.
 
  To gain her stepfather’s approval, Rufus started a business. His grades at the academy weren’t good, but he had a silver tongue and seemed to have a talent for business. Within six months, he was making a decent living.
 
  Seeing this, her stepfather approved of Sandrea’s marriage. After that, Rufus joined the Faniaal family and started living in the mansion.
 
  Six months later, Sandrea’s parents died in an accident. Her older stepbrother, who had been wandering as an adventurer, returned home and took over as lord. At that time, Rufus suggested that Sandrea, who had been assisting the lord, should succeed him rather than Eld, who had been wandering all this time. However, Sandrea shook her head.
 
  It was originally decided that her older stepbrother would succeed. He thought,”Well, it can’t be helped if it was decided beforehand,”and backed down at that time. In reality, even though Sandrea had been helping, it was only for about a year, and she hadn’t really done much work.
 
  Rufus’s biggest miscalculation was that Eld was a competent lord. At first, he struggled with the unfamiliar work, but the butler Tohlight and the maid Mary, who had been hired at some point, assisted Eld and got the work done.
 
  At this rate, he thought that his initial plan of making Sandrea the lord and enjoying the benefits as her husband wouldn’t come true. Therefore, he contacted his uncle from the main family, who had been looking after him to some extent, and spent three years telling him how incompetent Eld was and how his wife was cleaning up his messes.
 
  At the same time, he spent time with Sandrea, telling her that if things continued this way, the Faniaal family, which had existed since the founding of the country, would disappear. However, Sandrea was the daughter of the second wife. Even though she bore the name Faniaal, she had no blood relation. But after being persuaded by Rufus for a long time, and the fact that she didn’t like her older stepbrother to begin with, she became interested in removing Eld from his position.
 
  They couldn’t think of a reason to remove Eld from his position. They could have made up something, but Tohlight would have immediately refuted it. So, even though they knew it was a bit of a stretch, they decided to confront Eld, emphasizing the declining population.
 
  With the royal decree prepared by his uncle, Eld left without saying anything. Although it was a miscalculation that Tohlight quit afterward, he didn’t mind, thinking that Sandrea would be able to manage without any problems.
 
  After that, everything seemed to go well. He was about to make a big business deal, and he was able to get funding that he had struggled to raise before as a subsidy from the lord.
 
  But…… I haven’t made any particular mistakes, so why have I been dumped by my business partners……?
 
  While he was lost in thought, a person completely covered in a cloak sat down next to him.
 
  “Whoa!! Who are you?!”
 
  Rufus cried out in surprise at the person who suddenly appeared.
 
  “Hee hee hee…… I was trying to talk to you because you seem to be in trouble.”
 
  It was a hoarse female voice.
 
  “N-No, I’m not particularly in trouble……”
 
  “I have a good business deal for you. How about it? Just listen to me……”
 
  The woman’s face was hidden by her hood, but he certainly felt like she was smiling.
 
  “N-No…… I’ll have to decline. I don’t do business with suspicious people, you see.”
 
  Rufus stood up and tried to leave.
 
  “Oh my, oh my. That’s fine if you say so, but I don’t think there’s anywhere else in this town, no, in this territory that will do business with you anymore.”
 
  Hearing those words, Rufus turned around.
 
  “W-What do you mean?!”
 
  “It’s simple. There’s someone who has pressured others not to do business with you.”
 
  The cloaked woman said, laughing.
 
  “Well, we’re not afraid of such pressure, so we’re the only ones who can do business with you.
 
  How about it? Let’s cooperate and take down the one who’s doing this.”
 
  Rufus gasped at the woman’s words.
 
  “D-Do you know who’s putting the pressure on?”
 
  “Of course. They came to me directly and applied pressure, so I know.”
 
  “W-Who is it?!”
 
  “Landred. That despicable man would easily do such harassment.”
 
  Rufus gasped.
 
  “So, what will you do? Will you just tuck your tail between your legs and run away? You’re the Lord’s Danna-sama, so it wouldn’t hurt you to quit your current business, but as a man, will your pride allow you to cry to a woman?”
 
  Hearing those words, Rufus thought. It was true that his original goal was to quit his business and become the lord’s assistant. However, after starting his business, he developed a desire to make it bigger. And there was a possibility that he might be able to do just that.
 
  “……Okay…… I’ll hear you out.”
 
 
 
  When Rufus returned to the Faniaal residence, he was summoned by Sandrea and headed to her office.
 
  “I’m sorry I worried you, my honey. But it’s okay now. It looks like things are going to work out with my business.”
 
  He spoke to Sandrea in sweet words as soon as he entered the room.
 
  “I see. But what about this debt? It seems like the payment deadline has passed.”
 
  Sandrea showed him a reminder notice that had arrived today. Rufus had also heard about this from the cloaked woman. Landred had put pressure on them to demand repayment.
 
  “That’s okay too. I’ve already paid it back.”
 
  Rufus showed Sandrea the receipt.
 
  “Where did you get that money?”
 
  “From a new business partner. But don’t worry. It’s an advance payment for a new product delivery contract.”
 
  “……I see…… Are you sure you don’t need any support from me?”
 
  Sandrea sighed and put on the face of a worried wife. Rufus kissed Sandrea’s cheek, reassuring her not to worry.