Chapter 193 Showdown
…
"Have we arrived yet?"
Lu Yi stuck his head out and looked at the city wall not far away.
Looking from afar, he saw a lot of people standing on both sides of the city gate.
These people only crowded on both sides of the huge city gate, leaving the spacious aisle in the middle intact for them.
"Are they here to pick us up?" Lu Yi asked.
Astor nodded, "Most of them are residents of Inle City, and some are servants of the Klein family."
The attendant driving the steam car in the front row turned his head to look at Astor in the back row. Astor looked indifferent and said briefly: "Go straight in."
This meant not stopping at the city gate. The servant withdrew his gaze and concentrated on driving the car.
The steam train continued to move at a fast speed and soon approached the city gate. It then passed directly past the people waiting at the gate and entered the Rhine City.
Lu Yi looked through the half-open car window at the figure that was left there and was getting smaller and smaller.
"Don't you want to stop for a while? Brother, didn't you say that there were servants coming to pick us up..."
Astor's eyes fell on him, and his eyes, which had seemed a little cold, softened slightly.
"Don't stop, Lu Yi, there's no need to waste time here."
As if he was afraid of disappointing Lu Yi, Astor added: "If you are interested in them, I will take you to see them after I finish those trivial matters."
…
When he actually arrived at the study in Klein Manor in Inle City, Lu Yi realized belatedly that the trivial matters were really trivial matters.
The pages were piled up on the side of the study, with a mountain of account books and various records from January 1 last year to yesterday. From the purchase and expenditure of grain seeds and harvest details to the fact that a resident in Inle City bought two bags of seeds on credit last month. All these things, no matter how big or small.
Lu Yi just flipped through the paper casually, but his scalp tingled because of the densely packed small words on the page.
He turned around and asked Astor, who had already sat down and looked through the account book: "Do you want to read all of these?"
Astor replied without even looking up, "Of course not. Just check the key text marked with a star on the cover."
Lu Yi roughly assessed the books marked with stars and felt a little relieved.
Although the number of starred texts is still not to be underestimated, it is still a relief compared to the astonishing total number that fills half of the room.
"The main work has actually been completed before, and we are here just to finish it off."
Astor motioned Lu Yi to sit next to him.
"Father asked you to come with me because he wanted you to start taking care of the family affairs. Start with the cleanup work in the territory and slowly build up your own cognitive system. After you graduate from Bryside, you can officially participate. Or when you have your own territory in the future, it will be easier to manage."
Lu Yi looked at the general catalog that Astor spread out in front of him, and said in silence for a while: "...I thought I was a dandy boy who just needed to lie at home and not work."
Astor raised his eyebrows and looked at him, "Do you think it's possible?"
"I think it is very, very good." Lu Yi emphasized, "Besides, with my elder brother here, there is no need for me to add unnecessary things here, right? I can just do odd jobs..."
Perhaps it was because Lu Yi's attitude of lying down was too prominent, Astor finally became a little angry.
"What do you mean by adding unnecessary details? Lu Yi, you carry the name and honor of the Klein family, so you are destined to not be able to live a carefree life. I thought you had grown up, is this how you grew up?"
These words are not harsh, nor are they excessive.
But the person who said this to Lu Yi was his elder brother Astor who always indulged him, so even the slightest accusation seemed particularly heavy.
Lu Yi was slightly stunned.
The atmosphere was somewhat tense for a moment.
Astor began to feel annoyed almost the moment he said this.
Especially when he saw the smile frozen on Lu Yi's face, he immediately felt that his words were too harsh and his attitude was too cold.
Lu Yi did nothing wrong, but he arbitrarily imposed his will on him.
Astor opened his mouth to try to make amends: "Lu Yi——"
He had just uttered two syllables when Lu Yi interrupted him.
The smile on Lu Yi's face had returned to normal, and there was a hint of intimacy and annoyance in his eyes.
"Brother, have you eaten an explosive stone? Whoever made you angry took it out on me. I am so wronged."
Lu Yi stood up slightly and moved the chair under him, getting closer to Aster.
"Just learn it, I didn't say I wouldn't do it. If I didn't want to do it, why would I follow you here? That would be superfluous..."
"Lu Yi, hug——"
"Okay, if you feel embarrassed, just give me fewer tasks later."
"good."
As promised, Astor only assigned Lu Yi very few tasks.
With his experience as the chief of Braceside, Lu Yi got the hang of things much faster than the two expected.
By the time he had finished dealing with the books on his desk, Astor had only finished one-third of his work.
Seeing Astor's intention to increase his workload, Lu Yi hurriedly said before he could speak: "My task for today is over, huh?!"
The implication is that he is not allowed to be given more work.
How could Astor not see through his hint? He indulged, "I know you can't sit still. Just remember to come back for dinner."
Lu Yi gave him an OK gesture and disappeared in an instant.
Astor shook his head helplessly, lowered his head and continued to work hard.
This part must be processed today.
In previous years he had to work alone until midnight, but this year, thanks to Lu Yi, he was able to finish before dinner.
Astor was working hard over there, and Lu Yi over here had successfully left Klein Manor.
When he came here, he took a steam train and only passed through Inle City briefly. Now that he was actually walking on the muddy road, Lu Yi felt that Inle City was neither small nor big.
It is probably no more than the size of a few villages gathered together, and the lord's mansion, Klein Manor, alone occupies one-sixth of the entire city-state.
Lu Yi, with his magic power, walked around the entire Inle city wall.
Inle is a square city-state, and Klein Manor is located in the center behind Inle City. The remaining land in the city-state forms an "concave" shape, enclosing the manor.
This layout not only highlights the central position of the lord's mansion, but also facilitates the management of the city-state. From the watchtower in the manor, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Inle city.
Lu Yi glanced at the watchtower and thought that he must go up and take a look after dinner.
He spent this afternoon wandering around in and out of the city.
…
After dinner, it was Astor who took him to the watchtower.
The two stood side by side in front of the railing.
Lu Yi leaned forward, resting his hands on the railing, his eyes looking forward to the city of Inle under the watchtower.
His golden hair looked particularly gentle under the dim warm light, and even his originally aggressive facial features became gentle.
When Astor saw Lu Yi's dusty sleeves, his brows jumped, but seeing that he was in a good mood, he endured it and said nothing.
It was not even known what his mentality was, but for the first time, Astor disregarded the etiquette that nobles should follow and stretched out his hands to lean forward.
His action caught Lu Yi's attention, and Lu Yi turned his head and blinked at him.
Astor coughed lightly and asked, "What were you looking at just now?"
"I was looking at my father's territory, the short houses, the flickering lights." Lu Yi replied, "I walked around the city wall a few times in the afternoon. Inle City is not as big as I imagined, but it is not that small either."
"Inle City is about 10,000 acres. Originally, it was just an inconspicuous little corner of the New Victory Empire. After several posthumous titles from Your Majesty, it became my father's largest territory. Over the past decade, with the help of capital and population, Inle City has gradually developed into what it is today."
Astor said this, pointing further away.
Lu Yi looked in the direction he pointed and saw a dim light outside Inle City.
“Although the smaller towns over there are not within my father’s territory, they also rely on Rhine City for operation.
“As glamorous as the Klein family looks, there are just as many gears running behind the scenes.
"This huge ship carries countless people, but there are only a handful of people at the helm."
Lu Yi said: "The quality of the helmsman is more important than the quantity."
Astor shook his head slightly, “Variables are the most difficult to predict.
"Since my father gained a firm foothold in New Victory, and now the family business is flourishing, the Klein family has become one of the largest families in the entire Isaiah continent, but the large family here only refers to wealth and status.
"The rapidly rising new nobles almost all have the same fatal flaw - a small population. The family history and number of people are far inferior to those of the old nobles, and our Klein family is even worse."
"…But this is an unsolvable problem." Lu Yi said.
And he is a homosexual who is destined to have no offspring, Lu Yi thought.
"Yes, there is no answer to this question." Astor sighed, "Who knows how long the Klein family name can last? We can only do our best to support it while we are alive."
"So this is why my father and brother want me to get involved in family affairs?"
Astor nodded, "If father and I are gone, you and Zorn will be able to support each other and continue on."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yi immediately said, "Bah! What nonsense are you talking about, brother!"
"It's just stating a possibility."
"It's impossible." Lu Yi said seriously, "It's impossible."
"Brother, you underestimate our father and the Klein family name."
Astor keenly sensed something from this sentence, stared at Lu Yi and asked: "Lu Yi, do you know something?"
Lu Yi said calmly: "If brother is referring to the fact that father is actually a mermaid, then I know."
Astor suddenly withdrew his arms that were leaning on the railing and stood straight in front of Lu Yi.
"When did you know that?"
"When I was in Bryceside, you know, my godfather was a ninth-level wizard. During a magic riot, he discovered something was wrong."
Lu Yi made up stories without blinking and put the blame directly on Ares.
Astor frowned and said, "Magic riot? When did your magic riot again? Why don't I know anything?"
Lu Yi felt bad and said awkwardly, "It's not a big deal. I was right in front of my teacher at the time and I suppressed it quickly. I was afraid you would worry, so I didn't tell you."
"You deliberately didn't tell me? How could you hide something like this from your family?!"
Lu Yi immediately changed his words and said, "Brother, I was wrong. I did not handle this matter well. I will definitely not do it again next time. Even if I don't tell father, I will definitely tell you! Besides, I was too shocked by what the teacher said at the time... I don't know how to tell you."
He smiled bitterly as he spoke, "After all, I have been a human for twenty years, and suddenly one day I was told that no, I am not completely human, I have mermaid blood in my body... No matter who suddenly knew this, it would be difficult to accept, right?!"
Seeing Astor's relaxed expression, Lu Yi thought he had barely gotten through this hurdle.
As expected, one lie requires countless lies to cover it up.
"Brother, what's going on with the mermaid blood in our bodies?"
Astor's expression had completely returned to calm. He glanced at Lu Yi and said, "Don't you already know? Father is not human, he is a mermaid."
"Is it that simple?" Lu Yi's eyes widened. "Shouldn't there be some other secrets or something like that?"
Astor said noncommittally, "Then I don't know. When you get back, ask your father."
Lu Yi immediately became alert and asked, "What? Ask who? Ask my father? Brother, are you going to sell me out to my father?!"
Astor patted his head, showing an elegant and intimate smile and said, "Silly boy, how can this be called betrayal? Although your teacher is a high-level wizard, he is a human after all. You still need to let your father know about your magic riot and check it again."
Lu Yi forced a smile and said, "Can I say no?"
"You can choose whether I tell Father or you tell him yourself."
The author has something to say:
Ares, a powerful all-round tool that can handle many tasks due to its strong strength
There's still next week's defense left, wish me good luck (lie down peacefully)
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