Reincarnated as a Villainous Duke (37) Who Gets Condemned by His Daughter ～I Stopped Acting Like a Villain, Yet My Daughter Keeps Becoming the 'Ice Lady'～ - Chapter 08: To the Royal Capital

Chapter 08: To the Royal Capital

With some progress made on stopping my mid-level boss moves, the day finally came to leave for the royal capital.

Naturally, we traveled by carriage, with 20 knights as our escort. Honestly, with my mid-boss strength and my “God Speed” skill, there were hardly any enemies who could pose a threat to me. But maintaining appearances was part of a noble’s duty.

Technically, 20 knights were a small escort for a duke, but these knights were “high-level” by game standards. They could easily wipe out 200 regular bandits. They could probably handle a B-rank monster too, though in that case, it would be faster for me to step in.

The carriage carried both me and my daughter, Forsina.

Her maid, Miar, and my attendant were also with us, seated in the servant section at the back of the carriage.

The journey to the royal capital would take seven days by carriage. In this world, a week was also counted as seven days. We would stop at various inn towns along the way.

We were seen off by Mildart, the steward, and Dalton, the general.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Forsina, seated across from me, spoke up.

“It feels like it’s been such a long time since I’ve traveled far with you in a carriage, Father.”

“Yes, it has. The last time was when I took you along to inspect the southern border. That was five years ago now.”

“Yes. I still remember the beautiful lake we saw. You told me you used to visit that lake often with Mother.”

“I may have said that. Perhaps we should go again once we return from the royal capital. I think the lake spirits would love to see how beautiful you’ve become.”

“Oh, Father… But I’d really like that. I’d love to go.”

“Good. We’ll plan for it. By the way, how did your ice magic practice go?”

“As you suggested, I tried ice magic, and it seems I do have an affinity for it. But my magic power isn’t strong enough yet, so I want to work on increasing it.”

“Hmm… To increase your magic power, daily training is important, but so is defeating monsters and absorbing their power. How about joining me in the Forest of No Return or a dungeon soon? Your magic should be strong enough for that, right?”

In this world, “defeating monsters and absorbing their power” was the equivalent of “leveling up” in the game. Just like in the original “Orlea Old Stories”, the more monsters you defeated, the stronger your physical abilities became. However, special abilities or skills couldn’t be gained without consistent training. This was one key difference from the game mechanics.

In any case, I had suggested this “level-up” idea. Naturally, fighting and defeating monsters was a high hurdle for most ordinary people. For a 14-year-old girl, it should have been even more daunting. But Forsina’s face lit up with excitement, and she leaned forward eagerly.

“Really, Father? I can definitely use magic strong enough to defeat monsters. Please let me come with you!”

“Alright, we’ll do that. It’s great to see you so motivated. That’s my daughter!”

“Yes, Father. I will keep working hard to be of use to you.”

It felt like I was finally able to communicate with Forsina normally.

Still, her eagerness seemed to come from a desire to avoid being abandoned by her father. To avoid the condemnation route and build a healthy father-daughter relationship, I needed to address that issue properly.

With that goal in mind, we set off on our seven-day journey. But spending the entire trip in a carriage alone with Forsina turned out to be pretty tough.

The main problem was that we didn’t have many shared topics to talk about. What saved me was that Mark Stewart Blaumont was an avid reader with a wealth of knowledge. Combined with my game knowledge, I managed to keep conversations going by sharing little bits of information here and there.

On the seventh day around noon, we finally arrived at the royal capital.

The royal capital was a massive fortress city. It was probably three times the size of the ducal capital. After living as Mark Stewart Blaumont for 37 years, I was used to the sight, so it didn’t really impress me anymore.

But Forsina was clearly amazed by the royal capital.

Due to kingdom law, some noble daughters weren’t allowed to enter the royal capital until they reached a certain age. This law had been created because too many nobles had once tried to introduce their daughters to the prince, leading to constant trouble.

Because of this, this was Forsina’s first visit to the royal capital. Seeing her pressed up against the carriage window, eagerly watching the scenery, made her seem like a normal teenage girl. It was reassuring to see.

The carriage passed through the city gates and into the capital. The buildings were mostly made of stone, with many structures rising to three stories or higher. In a fortress city where land was limited, buildings had to grow upward. As usual, the streets were crowded with both people and carriages. People of various races bustled about, filling the air with energy and noise.

…Or at least, that’s how it should have been.

“Hm, the atmosphere feels a bit gloomier compared to the last time I was here.”

It seemed like the usual liveliness was missing from the people. The number of street stalls was noticeably fewer, and this wasn’t just my imagination.

“Is that so, Father? It still looks so dazzling to me.”

“It’s certainly still thriving, but there used to be more street stalls and more people. Some shops seem to be closed, too.”

“Now that you mention it, I do see quite a few closed shops. Did something happen?”

“The economy is probably declining. Ups and downs in commerce are hard to avoid.”

“I see. Does this happen in the lands you govern as well?”

“It’s not unheard of.”

I remembered when I raised taxes to fund the military buildup. The effect on the city was immediate—commerce slowed down noticeably. Thanks to Mildart’s advice, things recovered quickly, but looking at the royal capital now, there might have been a tax hike or some kind of financial tightening.

Come to think of it, Aramund, the Dark Elf ninja, had mentioned that supplies were being bought cheaply.

If that was the case, the issue here went beyond a simple “economic downturn.” But this wasn’t something I needed to worry about right now.

We continued through the streets toward the central district and entered the ducal mansion in the royal capital.