I Was Reincarnated as a Marquis in Another World

The position of a bailiff may seem quite significant, but in reality, it is not that prestigious.

At most, it refers to a management role similar to that of a local chief in a district of Seoul.

Moreover, since the bailiff is not an actual noble who has received the land as a fief, he merely performs duties akin to a department manager or an assistant director at a company…

However, most aristocrats, just like knights, live in cities owned by nobles who hold titles, seeking out the comfortable and splendid lives of the urban elite, while lords like knights consider the involvement of elegant nobles in the lives of commoners trivial.

Thus, nobles who possess land as a fief receive their taxes without caring much about other matters.

Therefore, the ‘deputy chief’ bailiff possesses an absolute power that generally goes unchallenged.

This is how he could commit such corruption, which is why I am personally going to deal with him.

“Your Excellency, we are almost at Bailiff Mars’s residence,”

At those words, Balt, who was sitting next to me, grumbled.

“With a place this good, isn’t it better than most knights’ homes? This is a mansion, regardless of it being in the countryside and the land being cheap!”

Indeed, as he said, the house was too large for a ‘deputy chief’ bailiff.

With a red brick wall, a house with a lime-coated exterior, a roof made of thin bricks rather than a stack of straw, and even a small garden.

This was on par with the level of mansions owned by those with quite expansive territories among the knights.

It was not a mansion that a bailiff, whose official salary is not much, should be able to afford through standard means.

“Balt, what do you think? Doesn’t it reek of corruption?”

“Yes, I think so too.”

As we were talking, a chubby man came running towards us from the main gate of the mansion, shaking his belly.

The sight of him wheezing and running looked a bit like a character from a comic, which made me chuckle.

I’m not kidding; at that rate, wouldn’t he be wheezing even when he breathes?

The bailiff, who had run over with his belly swinging, bowed his head as he saw me and spoke.

“Ha, ha… I am Bailiff Mars, here to greet SIEL, the heir of Count Croilet, Your Excellency.”

I concealed my displeasure and returned the greeting with a calm smile.

Upon seeing me, the bailiff seemed relieved and spoke.

“Upon hearing of Your Excellency’s visit, I prepared a little banquet. Ah, please don’t feel burdened as this is given with pure intentions.”

“Oh? What do you think, Balt?”

Upon hearing that, Balt blinked at me and replied.

“Of course, it’s only right that Your Excellency accepts it.”

From the signals he was giving me, it seemed he was suggesting I pretend to go along with it.

Since corrupt officials like our magistrate often take you away when trying to pull something on village maidens.

It would probably be better to act along for dramatic effect.

“Thank you, Bailiff. Despite my looks, I have a keen eye for women, so I’m counting on you.”

The bailiff wiped away his worried expression and beamed a bright smile, saying,

“Leave it to me. I happen to have just the right girl for you, Your Excellency.”

That wicked scoundrel; I want to kill him.

**

After staying at the bailiff’s residence for several days, the night before my departure finally arrived.

“Good night, Balt. You’re not going to guard me even in my room, are you?”

“Would a bailiff go crazy enough to kill you, Your Excellency? I’ll be resting well! By the way, there was a girl named Chris in the village we passed through that I liked… It’s a shame I couldn’t even hold her hand.”

“It’s one thing for a man nearing thirty to take an interest in a widow just over twenty.”

Balt huffed in irritation at that remark, and I entered the guest room designated by the bailiff.

I intended to sleep, but for some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep that night.

No, my head was spinning.

No matter how much I was trying to uncover the bailiff’s misconduct, the things I had done to the serfs in this village over the past few days were an unimaginable nuisance and cruelty.

That crazy bailiff had called for serfs to gather under the pretext that His Excellency needed to go hunting, forcing them to abandon their farming.

Then, he treated the flour in the serfs’ homes as if it were his own, making the serf women bake bread to bring.

When I expressed that I wanted to drink beer, he seized the beer stockpiled in the serfs’ homes.

When one serf looked distraught, the bailiff kicked him in the shins and stomped on his back.

Even now, the resentful glares from the serfs directed at me and the bailiff were vivid in my mind.

How could I possibly fall asleep? I should just throw a cloak over myself in the carriage and sleep despite the discomfort.

As I was thinking like that, suddenly, someone knocked on my door.

If someone was knocking at this hour, who could it be? Is it Balt again?

“Balt, why are you coming at this hour? Is something urgent?”

“….”

After about a minute passed, there was still no reply from outside.

It didn’t seem like Balt, so could it be an assassin or some other suspicious person?

I quickly dressed, grabbing the sword I had left next to my bed.

Then, slowly, I cracked the door open to peek outside.

There, I saw a girl shivering and standing.

I was momentarily stunned by the ridiculousness of the scene, but it seemed that the girl noticed I was about to open the door and said with trembling words,

“Y-Your Excellency, please let me in.”

I was so taken aback that I remained speechless for a moment as I stood there with the door open.

Surely, even that crazy bailiff wouldn’t go as far as sending such a young, little girl to my room without any request to do so.

But I suppose I have to let her in for now.

Then I can politely ask for an explanation and send her back.

After all, that bailiff would soon send an inspector to deal with his corrupt practices and treachery against the lord within two or three weeks…

Would he even do anything crazier?

“Y-you may come in.”

Upon hearing that, the girl carefully stepped into my room.

As I closed the door, she stood hunched a little away from my bed.

It was then that the sight of the girl caught my attention, and to cut to the chase, her appearance was exactly the image of my ideal type drawn to perfection.

With long brown hair and fair skin, adorably large eyes, a small face, and a height that was just right…

Despite wearing a quite loose dress, her body line stood out impressively.

Listening closely, her voice was as sweet as the sound of wind chimes swaying in the summer.

In an instant, I was blinded by her beauty and cuteness, even forgetting the anger I felt toward the bailiff, who was exploiting people by all evil means.

So while I was blankly staring at the girl in front of me, she timidly asked with a frightened voice,

“Y-your Excellency… Is there something wrong with me?”

“No, that’s not it. You’re really cute.”

“…”

Normally, a girl would be pleased to receive such compliments, but it seems she was too frightened given the circumstances.

For now, although I want to kill the bailiff immediately… Killing the bailiff, the steward of this fief, is procedurally impossible for me at this moment.

I should calm this girl down first.

Then, I should ask her about her situation and add that to the bailiff’s list of crimes.

I pointed to the chair I had been sitting on moments earlier and said,

“First, sit over there. Don’t be too scared; I won’t do anything bad.”

“Yes, Your Excellency…”

The girl nodded and sat in the chair I had indicated.

“Okay, what’s your name and how old are you?”

“Um… My name is Ela. I’m 13 years old.”

“I see. I am SIEL von Croilet, the heir to Count Croilet. Are your mom and dad not around?”

At those words, Ela suddenly began to choke up.

I hurriedly patted her back to comfort her.

After quite a while of soothing her, Ela finally calmed down enough to stop crying and said,

“They were taken away last winter because there was no food. Then, becaue of bailiff’s orders, we were told to pay a death tax, and they took our house and our remaining cow…”

What? No matter how much a person is blinded by power and sacrifices, isn’t this a bit too crazy for the sake of money?

Unlike those of us nobles, he should at least consider receiving support from the villagers, but he didn’t care at all and took away the orphans’ inheritance under the pretext of a death tax?

Especially from a child who was just crying over the loss of her mom and dad?

Isn’t this behavior absurd? It’s beyond a violation of common sense, ethics, and morality to the point of begging to be killed instead.

Regardless of my inner thoughts, Ela continued with her story.

“Then right after the priest’s mass, the bailiff brought me and my younger brother here and made us work.”

“He made you work? What kind of work?”

“I was made to cook, clean, do the laundry, and even work on sewing clothing as directed by the lady. I got beaten a lot for messing up the clothes. And my younger brother Jacques was forced to work the bailiff’s land, sweating day and night, and it was too hard for him.”

As Ela spoke, memories of horrifying experiences seemed to come flooding back, and she began to sniffle again in front of me.

Although she couldn’t articulate it fully, it seemed like… the story ended in death.

That damn bailiff Miles probably didn’t care whether a young serf boy died, meaning he would have worked him tirelessly until he actually passed away.

“He died, didn’t he…”

“Yes, a few days ago I went to see my brother lying on the straw in the stable, and he was weak, breathing heavily. When I held his hand, he said, ‘Sister, I want to eat the porridge full of flour that mother made for me,’ and then shortly after, he died. When I cried to the bailiff that Jacques had died, he hit me, telling me not to cry over a worthless bug.”

Even back when the Shin’an salt field slavery incident happened, they would at least not go to the lengths of killing like this; they would just make them work like slaves. This is absurd.

They make a child of 11 or 12 work harder than an adult until the boy dies intentionally, and they leave the girl because of her looks, thinking she could still be useful.

Otherwise, that scoundrel might be planning to use her as a connection to noble families like mine.

Suddenly, the girl approached me with tears and said,

“Your Excellency, why… do Jacques and I have to go through such things? Jacques and I, and mom and dad always lived with gratitude towards the lord and the bailiff… Why? Why… Jacques, Jacques, dad, mom…”

My heart felt heavy.

Of course, strictly speaking, since it wasn’t a tragedy caused by me, I could evade responsibility by saying, “It’s not my fault”.

However, SIEL von Croilet cannot be free from this responsibility.

Because he is the noble governing this fief.

He is the soon-to-be lord who has agreed to protect these people in exchange for collecting their taxes for his own wealth and glory.

Before I knew it, tears began to trickle down my cheeks.

Momentarily taken aback by this, Ela hurriedly began to wipe my tears with the sleeve of her dress.

As she drew closer, her rather attractive chest caught my eye, but…

I felt no excitement nor any lewd thoughts.

I could only think about how much I wanted to kill that damned bailiff.

How could, even in a classist world where justice is upside down, one snatch the last bit of property from an orphaned child?

What’s more absurd is that he effectively murdered her younger brother outright.

I tried to endure as much as I could, but this was something I couldn’t tolerate any longer.

That bastard who might have wanted me to accept her saying, “Thank you for the tribute,” should be killed as soon as possible.

Thus, Ela, who carefully wiped my tears, returned to her spot and said,

“Thank you, Your Excellency… thank you.”

“What for?”

Ela then, with a brilliant smile laced with a touch of sadness, replied,

“This is the first time since my parents passed that someone has listened to my heart… I’ve tried to present a brave front in front of Jacques, so I could never show him this weak side. Thank you, Your Excellency.”

Then, before me, Ela began to pull at her dress, loosening the strap on her right side.

I quickly grabbed her hand to stop her, saying,

“Well, those things are meant to be done with someone you truly love. Someone you want to be with for a lifetime, whom you can face the pain with, and whom you want to share joy with. So, it’s fine that you don’t worry about it now.”

Upon hearing that, Ela’s eyes sparkled with tears welling up as she said,

“Really?”

I placed my hand gently on her head and lightly scratched it, forcing a bitter smile and saying,

“Yup, it’s okay. So relax and rest. How about we stay together in my room until morning?”

“Yes…”

Ela’s expression as she spoke those words showed no traces of the sadness and hurt from earlier.

She looked at peace, as if someone who had suffered all her life had finally found a moment of solace.

And I stayed up through the night, speaking soothing words to her.

Though it was not a relationship that warranted it, I felt compelled to do so.

Eventually, Ela fell asleep on the bed, and I on the chair without knowing who drifted off first.

**

The next day, I departed for the castle, escorted by the bailiff.

And once another day had passed, I returned to the bailiff’s house again.

To punish the wretched child who wore his skin.

---