Chapter 48: Joshua’s Side Story

Chapter 48 of “I, A Commoner, Was Actually Reincarnated Part 2”

My name is Joshua, and this year I will be twenty years old. Ever since I became an official of the royal castle of Elementia, I had been living in the civilian dormitory. When I first entered the castle, I was surprised to see that there were both a civilian and a nobleman’s dormitory in the castle. I did not expect to find a dormitory for commoner officials in the castle.

Not to mention the difference in status, the standard of living between the nobles and the common people was far too different in this country. The common people, who did not have magic power, had many inconveniences in doing anything in a place dedicated to nobles who did have magic power. Magic tools made from magic stones and various materials could be used by pouring in magic power. The aristocrats who used these tools in their daily lives, and the common people who did not have magical powers, had very different lives.

Because the servants working in the aristocrats’ mansions were commoners, the places where the servants worked and lived must have been designed for the common people. I had only ever lived among the commoners, so this was all in my imagination…

The nobles were able to pour their magic power through magic tools that used magical stones and so on to produce water and flames at will, but the commoners who did not have that power were unable to use those tools. That is why there were facilities for both the common people and the nobles to use in the castle.

Normally, the common people would use water from a well, and the wealthy common people living in the royal capital would be able to live in a mansion with water supply facilities because of the waterway that was being pulled in. But that was only in the middle area where waterways were deployed. Only a few commoners were able to live like that.

Elementia, the place where I was born and raised, is this kind of a country. Therefore, the difference in status between the nobles and the commoners due to magic power was an insurmountable reality.

However, it is also true that most of the people in this country are commoners and are the main labor force. If there were only nobles, this country would not be able to survive. That is why the government had to create policies for the common people.

The aristocrats, because of their magic, did not fully understand what life was like for the common people. There were many problems that could not be understood from the perspective of the nobles, whose lives were so fundamentally different. That was where the commoner officials, who understood common people like us, came in handy.

It had been a dream of mine since my childhood to become an official of the country. There was once a time when I thought it was a career that I could pursue and take for granted due to my special self. But I now understand that this dream only came true because of the environment in which I received my education.

Nowadays, I receive a letter from my mother about once a month. I reply to them, but they are always plain and simple.

The reason for this had to do with my sister. I have two sisters, one is two years younger and the other is three years younger. The two years younger sister is named Fiara, and she has been missing for six years.

It wasn’t until about a year after she disappeared that I heard about it. I haven’t been able to return to my parents’ home ever since I learned of that event.

It was written in my mother’s letter that the reason she didn’t tell me about my sister was because she was afraid that she would get in the way of my life, but I just couldn’t accept that.

I felt angry with myself and with my parents, and I couldn’t forgive them or myself for it. I couldn’t get the full details from my mother’s letter, so I wrote to our aunt to confirm the contents of the letter. After that, I devoted all my time to studying. I knew that if I didn’t pass the national exam, I wouldn’t be able to face my sister who had left home. She was a very clever girl. I was told that if things happened differently, she could have been recommended to a senior academy. I had known that she had suffered our burdens and pretended not to see it.

My mother’s imprinting, which made me think I was special, disintegrated so quickly after I left home. I learned from my experience in the outside world that there were many people with greater abilities than myself. I also realized that the appearance of a nobleman was of no benefit to me. It was a rather unnecessary element that was misleading and confusing to me, living as a common man.

Looking back, there must have been something I could have said to my father, who was oblivious to my mother’s discriminatory and prejudicial attitude towards his own children. In this way, my thoughts were now going round and round in a maze that I couldn’t get out of.

After passing the national examination and being assigned as an official in the Ministry of Finance, I studied at the library in the Royal Capital on my days off. I never had any fun in the royal city. Recently, I started going out of town with a colleague, but all I could think about was my sister Fiara. Whenever I went out, I would find myself looking for her.

Just my feelings began to calm down little by little, I discovered a girl in the capital who looked very much like my sister. She was a young lady of high rank among the nobility.

I’m not sure how it was possible, but I couldn’t help but think of her. Although she was a nobleman, she did not have the hair color of a nobleman, yet she was a celebrity with strong magical powers regardless of such things. She was the daughter of the Marquis Tizar family. She was known as the ‘Saintess of the Fifth Magic Division.’ It is said that she possesses a very rare purification ability. With her magical power, a magical tool called the ‘Saint’s Eye’ was created, which was useful for various things throughout Elementia.

My mother had been from a branch of this Marquis Tizar family. Perhaps it is because we had even the slightest bit of blood connection, but for some reason, I was still very curious about her. I happened see her at a commoner’s restaurant one time when I went with a colleague. He had said that nobles come to commoner restaurants for fun.

She was there visiting with her knight brother. The brother and sister look very happy together. ‘Ah, if only I could find Fiara now, I would take very good care of her and love her very much,’ I thought as I watched them. I would take better care of her because I couldn’t do so in the past. It was really selfish of me…

Even though her hair was a commoner’s hair color, her long, shiny, lustrous locks were very eye-catching. There were no commoners with such beautifully long hair like that. I heard a colleague say the same thing I was thinking, and I realized that it must look that way to everyone.

My sister, Fiara, had always worn her hair in a braided pigtail. She was always busy cleaning the house, making meals for everyone, and running the family’s household, so she didn’t have any time for her own business. She always moved around like a mouse.

Yet I know that wasn’t what she had wanted to do. My life was a clean and orderly place at the expense of her labor—the abuse of such a young child.

And yet what am I doing now? I wanted to find her, but in the end, I kept on working for a living and doing nothing. That is why I haven’t moved from the Royal Capital, just chasing after her face.

There were times where I dreamed of her jumping up and down. That figure was still the same as it was as a child when we parted, and in my dreams she always spoke to me about the same things.

It wouldn’t make any difference if I was gone, would it?

You’re just pretending to be sad like that.

Because my brother is fine, even if I disappear.

My brother is no different from Mother.

Even after I disappeared, you didn’t come looking for me, even if you say that you care.

Nobody ever really tried to find me.

The people I thought were my family just weren’t who I thought they were.

That’s why I left you guys first. Before I was thrown away.

I don’t need you guys anymore.

“N-No, no—wait! It’s not…”

When I woke up in the morning, I realized that I was drenched in sweat, so I got out of bed and changed my clothes. I put them in a laundry bag.

Then I got ready for the day, ate, and went off to work. It was all I could do.

Living under the same sky, thinking that she must be doing her best.

***

One day, I was called in by my boss to brief me on a special case. The work of the Ministry of Finance at the Royal Capital is diverse. I was assigned to the Main Taxation Bureau, one of the many bureaus that were involved in the domestic taxation system. I was in charge of the domestic tax system in the city. I was a low-level worker, but I had been entrusted with the job in my own way.

“Joshua, you’re going to have to come in here for a minute.”

“Yes, Group Leader Ignatz, how can I help you?”

The taxation department in the Royal Capital is divided into about 10 groups. The Ignatz team to which I belonged was called to the team leader’s desk—all eight of us.

“The northern region, including the part of the city known as the Ghost Town, which had been abandoned, has now been put under Duke Valmonter’s control for a limited period of time.”

“““The Duke of Valmonter!”””

Everyone’s voices overlapped

“But isn’t that dump or cesspool or whatever it just a downstream neighborhood hangout?”

Gusto, who was in sync with me, said as such in surprise. He was a bit light-hearted in some places. Indeed, that district was an untouchable wasteland of the Royal Capital that no one wanted to raise their hands to do anything for, even in Royal Capital. Behind the scenes, it was said to be the shameful part of the royal capital. It was a place that was looked upon without any regard.

“We’ve been neglecting the collection of tax revenues from that part of the city…”

Jurgen-senpai said so with concern. He was two years older than me.

“Is there any blame for this? It wasn’t us who were neglecting them, but rather the people at the top.”

Marcel, who was the only junior, said so in a troubled manner. He was a bit faint-hearted.

“That’s right, no matter how much we in the field say it, they didn’t want to deal with that place like a lid covering over the stink.”

This time, it was Kaspar-senpai spoke up and lightly tapped the desk. This senior was the type who had a fierce temperament.

“Hmmm, if that man is going to come out, then I’m sure he won’t be able to bear what’s going on, even if he’s a busy man.”

Jurgen-senpai said that calmly. Beside him, fellow senior Philip nodded in agreement. Philip-senpai was always a calm person.

The people in the group were saying all sorts of things about him. After all, the royals always tried to rely on Duke Valmonter for anything. As a result, the kind of slum inhabited by the poorest of the poor was created in the royal capital, and it was left untouched.

Deputy Leader Bruno has a faraway look in his eyes. That’s right. The people at the bottom of the lower classes were mercenaries, beggars, drifters, incoming peasants, and prostitutes. These were the people who drifted there without paying taxes, and their descendants would never get out of the negative cycle. They just lived and died in the same way, at the bottom of the pyramid. There was no family register.

“Yeah, we’ll have to think about that too…But first we need to make a few visits to the site to get a better understanding of the situation. The seventh group will come to support us, but I hear that the knights will also be there for safety reasons. Well, basically, just keep that in mind.”

Leader Ignatz told us.

As expected, when Duke Valmonter started moving, he did so swiftly. Everyone seemed to be surprised.

But no one really understood, in the true sense of the word, what it meant for Duke Valmonter to be in control of the northern region.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: Hello everyone! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy!

Finally, we got little more perspective on Fiara’s real brother! I really want him and Fiara to meet up soon!

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