A week later.
Noel was looking out the window before turning back to his book.
'Ardagan. This is boring. Is it the right time to get the reward for the spirit information?' Noel asked in his thoughts.
[You will need a good and comfortable place. And more importantly, it's better for you to not be disturbed by others.]
'Is this reward that important?'
[I can guarantee you that you won't be disappointed.]
'Still, this is boring.' Noel had been wondering what he should do. He had been writing a lot in his notebook. It was the current status of Ardagan, his plan of development, and his own analysis. Once he returned to the Ardagan family, he could use this note to speed up their progress.
'Well, there is something I can do to speed this up. His territory is far away from me, so I think it's fine.' Noel thought of an evil idea.
Earl Silmer had been observing him this whole time, but as expected, there weren't a lot of things to do inside the carriage.
"You have been staring at me the whole trip, Earl Silmer. If you are someone of my age, people will think that you are smitten by me." Noel looked at him with a disgusted expression.
Earl Silmer was startled, not expecting Noel to open such a conversation. He coughed to recompose himself before saying, "Please don't smear my reputation, Earl Ardagan."
"Do you really have a reputation to begin with? Your people are so lazy that we have only reached this far after a week of travel." Noel complained. He even opened the window while saying, "Your people are so weak that their walk is so slow. Why don't you change your territory name to snail? Snail City? Sounds like a good name for you, no?"
Earl Silmer's expression darkened. "Earl Ardagan. I haven't said anything bad about you this whole time. Why are you personally attacking me?"
"What do you mean I'm attacking you? I'm just doing my analysis." Noel shrugged. "I wonder if there is an animal slower than those two… Maybe they are more suitable. No, they might be faster than you."
"Earl Ardagan!" Earl Silmer gritted his teeth, glaring at him. Even the soldiers felt uncomfortable when they heard Noel's comments.
"I wonder if your family name is inspired by Silver. Silmer and Silver. They are pretty close, right?" Noel smiled.
Earl Silmer fell silent. A lot of them had been asking about that question, and it could be said that they weren't entirely wrong. They got this Silmer name because their territory was blessed with an abundant amount of silver mines.
"In this world, people will always remember the first one, not the second one. Who is the first person to create the Muivell Kingdom?"
"That's His Majesty, Leon Ve Lenfenth."
"Then, who is the next king?" Noel smirked.
"That's…" Earl Silmer paused for a moment. He eventually answered after ten seconds. "It's His Majesty, Ryan Ve Lenfenth."
"Took you long enough to even remember his name." Noel smirked.
"Are you trying to insult me? Or are you trying to smear the royal family's name?"
"What are you talking about? I am merely asking you about names and not insulting them." Noel shrugged.
"So, you're trying to insult me by saying that I'm always in the second position and will always be forgotten because my name is Silver?"
"Silver?" Noel chuckled. "You are Silmer, not Silver. When I hear your name, I can't help but think that you are a loser. Even when there are competitions for losers, you are still in second place."
"You…" Earl Silmer felt his blood pressure rising.
"What? You don't understand what I'm saying?" Noel smirked. "I think I have said it pretty clearly. You can't even get the name Silver, which makes you a loser."
"You…" Earl Silmer felt a sharp pain in his body.
"And silver itself is second to gold. Basically, the loser. That's why I said, Even in the competition for the loser, you are still in second place." Noel chuckled.
Earl Silmer was fuming in rage. "Are you trying to provoke me, Earl Ardagan?"
"What do you mean? I told you earlier that I'm simply talking about my analysis. You can deny it if my analysis is wrong."
Earl Silmer wanted to cough up blood. Noel's mouth was so poisonous that he almost had a heart attack.
"So, are you saying you are the winner? You are the first in the kingdom?"
"Of course not. I am also a loser like you. Who dares to claim the first place from the royal family?" Noel skillfully avoided that tricky question. If he dared to claim he was the winner, it was the same as challenging the royal family. Earl Silmer would use that to attack Noel.
"I wonder how your father even taught you. You couldn't even respect your elders."
"I expected that you would put a better argument than the classic respect the old, never have I imagined that such an elderly gentleman as yourself could utter such a common saying. My father has taught me virtue, and of course, I should respect my elders."
"Virtue? I don't see that in you." Earl Silmer snorted.
"In the Muivell Kingdom, the elderly wake up early in the morning, preparing the house. The husband wakes up and works on the field, enduring the blazing hot sun so that the family can eat before dark. The wife takes care of the elderly out of filial piety and the children so that they will grow strong and take care of their family in the future. The children, seeing their parents' hard work, want to repay their parents for their hard work and wish to grow up as quickly as possible.
"Please, tell me? You, an Earl, wake up much later than your people and work less than them. Yet, your belly is filled to the brim, never understanding their hunger. Yet, your pocket is shining with gold and silver when your people have to work to the bone just to earn some copper. Please, tell me… are you worthy of my respect?"
Earl Silmer was clutching his chest. "If we wake up earlier than the maid, they will have to wake up even earlier to not worry their lord. If I work harder than them, they won't be able to sleep. Are you saying that I'm in the wrong?"
It was normal for the maid to wake up earlier and sleep later than their lord since this was a way to show their diligence.
That was why Noel said, "Of course, you're not wrong. I love to talk with smart people. I can learn a lot."
Earl Silmer smiled as if he had beaten Noel.
However, Noel added, "But if we can't do that, we have to show them the result. We have to show them a bigger result than our hard work. We have to show them that we appreciate their work. Isn't that what noblesse oblige means? Unfortunately, I don't see that in you. Just take a look at this carriage, it's so slow. You work so slowly, and your result is barely visible."
Earl Silmer started breathing heavily. "You…"
His face started to look pale. Earl Silmer bit his lips and suddenly opened the door of the carriage.
"Get off that horse. I will be riding it from now on. You can join the other guard," Earl Silmer commanded his knight, who had no choice but to accept the new arrangement.
However, the knights were looking at Earl Silmer with a dark expression. First of all, Earl Silmer had just lost in an argument with someone a third his age. It was an embarrassment for them.
Of course, they knew that this was an arrangement they had to follow, but losing to someone was still embarrassing. This was the Lord they served after all.
Secondly, the Earl just escaped as if he were running with his tail between his legs. He couldn't even counter a single argument that Noel presented.
Thirdly, while they were angry about Noel's remark, they could see that Noel was working hard for the people. They had heard rumors about the Ardagan family, which were spread by Harley.
The lord who defended his city against all odds. The genius who made a lot of new inventions to help his citizens. The ruler everyone wanted to serve.
His words were not empty and they could believe in him.
That was why they were ashamed to actually respect the man who had insulted them and the Lord they served.
Earl Silmer kept pressing his chest for a while, but he didn't know that this was within Noel's calculation.
"Now, I have the carriage all for myself." Noel smiled as he lifted his legs so that he could stretch them fully. 'Ardagan. Can I use this chance to accept the reward?'
[There is a chance that they will disturb you.]
'I see. In that case, I think it's better to wait until we reach the capital. And I don't think the inn will be a good idea, so I will ask my soon-to-be father-in-law to take me in.'
[That'll be good.]
'Got it. Well, I might be able to quicken the pace here. Say…' Noel smirked. 'If I annoy Earl Silmer to death, won't we need to arrive at the capital city faster? I'm pretty sure that Earl Silmer doesn't want to die in such a dumb way. So, he will subconsciously ride a bit faster so that he can escape from me.'
Noel didn't know at that time what his mouth could actually do. However, the moment they reached the capital, there was soon to be a rumor that Earl Silmer stepped down from his position and gave his mantle to his successor due to a health issue.
