The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 233

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 233    Father’s thoughts

“…Hah, it’s almost laughable. Your daughter ended up like that probably because of those who left this city—meaning the residents here. Isn’t it quite foolish to say ‘thank you’ to me as their representative?”

“Even so, it wasn’t your directive, was it? It’s merely the fact that the thieves who carried out the act had some connection to this place. Therefore, I am grateful to you. Thank you for saving my daughter.”

While Father’s words seemed to portray him as a villain, which was unlike his usual self, the viscount still expressed words of gratitude towards Father. His attitude and words were completely different from when they first spoke, and he addressed Father with respect.

“In a situation where you can say that your daughter was saved by someone? I didn’t save anyone. I provided protection, but… that’s all. And even when I say ‘protection,’ the result is like that.”

However, even when the viscount said so, Father seemed to be unsatisfied or unable to accept something, as he frowned even more.

From his demeanor, it felt like he was trying even harder to act like the bad guy. Maybe, this was Father’s way of being considerate. If there is no one to resent, he can’t release his feelings.

“But she’s alive… I’m not her, so it’s not easy to say good things. Maybe for her, it would have been better to die. But even so… I’m glad she’s alive.”

However, Father, who was thanked without any resentment or anger directed at him, could say nothing more and only let out a small sigh while turning his face away.

“I want to express my gratitude to you as well. Thanks to you, I was able to reunite with my daughter.”

“No, I feel like I haven’t done anything…”

Honestly, I haven’t done much. I might have provided some guidance, and my presence might have facilitated things, but, to be honest, that’s about it. Guiding and having a brief meeting might have taken a bit of time, but it’s something anyone else could have handled.

“That’s not true. It’s precisely because of the connection we share that I was able to reunite with my daughter today. Therefore, I’m grateful. Let’s uphold our contract. I promise that I will not meddle with this city, including the village known as ‘Flower Town.’ If anything happens, I will do my best to provide assistance.”

“Thank you.”

It feels a bit strange, not entirely clear if this is the right course of action, but if he’s making this promise, then it’s fine. I’m not expecting to receive help, but refraining from involvement is a significant relief for us.

“So, what will happen to that girl? Will she stay here, or will you take her with you? If you plan to take her with you, you need to go back first to gather equipment and people.”

It didn’t seem feasible to take her with them, but if the viscount—her father was still interested in taking her back. So, I asked about taking her along.

However, even if they wanted to take her with them, it would be challenging in their current situation. Even though he’s her real father, she displayed such a strong aversion. If they want to take her back, they’d need to ensure she isn’t seen by others, arrange a suitable living environment, and hire female servants to take care of her. But none of these conditions are met at the moment.

However…

“No, I’d like her to remain here.”

The viscount chose not to bring back the daughter he had been searching for.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Right now, it’s probably best for her happiness to stay here. Besides… she probably doesn’t want to be seen by others in her current state, even if they were her siblings. It would be especially detrimental for a young lady. But if you’re okay with it, I’ll ‘entrust’ her to you.”

“Yes, I’ll continue to keep her here. I don’t know when, but you will definitely come to pick her up. Until then, I will take care of her.”

With this agreement, the viscount once again bowed in gratitude before leaving with his guards.

“Hey Dad, why did you create a place like this?”

In the room, which now only housed family, I sat in front of my father and asked.

“Dissatisfied?”

“I don’t have an issue with what you’re doing per se. But this is ‘Karakas,’ right? A nest of criminals, a cesspool of a city. That’s what this place is. How can I put it… it’s a daily occurrence, isn’t it? It’s just a regular part of life. Even so, why go out of your way to offer protection and healing here?”

I wasn’t dissatisfied with his actions, but I had questions.

It felt, how should I put it, “uncharacteristic.”

“Well, yeah. I never really liked that kind of stuff to begin with. I never thought about wanting to save everything, and I do understand that some things are just unavoidable. But when I see it happening right in front of me, I can’t stand it, and when I know it’s happening within my reach, it makes me feel sick enough to want to break it.”

Well, yeah. I think it’s inevitable that things happen, and I understand that it’s just how things are, but it’s unsettling to see it happening right in front of you. Whether I help or not depends on the situation and my mood at the time, but at the very least, I don’t enjoy watching it.

“When I came here to this eastern district, I, well, took care of it, and because of that, my ‘range of influence,’ if you will, expanded. So, well, I decided to do it since I was already here. The Old lady and Glasses were doing something similar, so it seemed convenient. While we’re doing similar things, it may not make us allies, but it does make it easier to establish friendly relations. Well, even though we’re doing similar things, the two of them have their own reasons for doing it. The Old lady is in charge of securing and controlling prostitutes in her jurisdiction. Glasses, on the other hand, protects the daughters of influential people and sells them to their parents. That’s the idea.”

“So you helped them, right?”

“I helped them because I could be helped.”

…Well, I thought it wasn’t like me, but it’s quite a “me” thing to do. After all, in my case, my old man risked turning the country into an enemy to save a baby who was supposed to die just because he didn’t like it.

Oh, right. It certainly isn’t a typical boss move. But it was a sufficiently dad-like move.

“But wait a minute. Wasn’t Edward dealing with noble’s daughter? Why did you go out of your way to protect her when she didn’t even come to the East? Either the old lady or Edward should have taken care of it, right?”

“Well, yeah…”

“The boss did it for you.”

“For me?”

“Hey, shut up.”

Instead of my reluctant father, Eddie interjected.

My father turned around to stop him, but by now, Eddie was used to that kind of look.

Without paying attention to the kind of gaze that would make an ordinary person flinch, he started to explain.

“I knew she was a girl connected to you, so if such a girl was kidnapped and went missing, I assumed her parents would come to you. Well, something like that.”

Well, that thought was spot on. Actually, if my father hadn’t secured her, it would have been quite a struggle to find her.

“Also, technically, she’s a distant relative on your mother’s side, so I thought it would be less troublesome to help her considering all those family connections. Something like that.”

Come to think of it, she had some connection to my mother’s family. I think they were pretty distant relatives, but even so, if I had chosen to be with my mother’s family as a noble, it could have become a problem at that time. Even if not, if I could secure her, they could owe me a favor.

Probably, my father was thinking about those things when he took the trouble to secure that girl.

“I don’t know why, but my parents, regardless of blood ties, are overprotective.”

“I’m not overprotective. Besides, if that were the case, your real father was like ‘oh well,’ so it’s balanced.”