Chapter 139 - 139 Exactly the Same
Steve and his family had visited the Marquess Mackintosh. This was because the Marquess Mackintosh's birthday party was being held.
The birthday party itself ended without issue, and before leaving, they decided to tour the town of Mackintosh Land, which was the capital of the domain.
For Steve, there was a feeling that perhaps some idea for a new product was lying around somewhere. The family went out into the town dressed as commoners.
Arthur and Isabella were still toddling, and since it was dangerous to take their eyes off them, Steve was carrying both of them.
"The security is good,"
Steve commented.
Christina smiled and said,
"It's because the economy is good. And perhaps it's due to my father's skill."
In the north, too, territory expansion had flooded the area with work, and there were no unemployment issues. There were plenty of jobs, so no one had to resort to crime. Well, even so, the old criminal guilds were hiding underground.
"Is there any hint for a new product?"
"Sir, unless you ask if anyone is in trouble, you won't find any hints,"
Nancy said.
Hearing this, Steve looked around and tried to call out to someone.
Then, a young woman carrying an infant came from the front and stopped right in front of Steve's eyes.
"Hold this child. It's your child."
Declared like that, Steve froze. Then, his wives' cold gazes pierced him.
There was a person in trouble. It was himself.
"Sir."
"Steve-sama."
Both women's tones contained strong accusations.
However, upon hearing Christina call him "Steve-sama," the young woman made a puzzled face.
"Steve? Not Jacob? Or are you introducing yourself as such to these people?"
"I am meeting you for the first time. Are you mistaking me for someone named Jacob?"
Since the names were different, he realized it wasn't a misunderstanding. But he worried about how to make the woman in front of him and his wives understand. And a crowd of onlookers had gathered around everyone. Everyone was looking at Steve with eyes expecting a bloody scene.
"I have hardly ever been to Mackintosh Land. How could I have made a child with you and a child in such a situation?"
"Weren't we always together? We were together for a while even after my pregnancy was discovered. You disappeared the moment childbirth approached. So you had another woman, didn't you? And two of them."
She said that. Then the crowd murmured. They said it was terrible to have three lovers, or that he wasn't even that handsome, and so on.
Among them were shouts like "Take responsibility!"
"Hmm, I really have no memory of this, but how can I make them believe me?"
"Don't tell lies. I need money to raise this child. Take care of my child too!"
The woman in front of him believed Steve was the father of the child forever. After repeating the same exchange a few times, the patrol soldiers came because the onlookers, including the crowd, were blocking the thoroughfare.
"What are you doing on the imperial thoroughfare?"
One of the soldiers shouted.
The onlookers scattered, and the soldiers could clearly see Steve and the others.
Christina spoke to the soldiers who had arrived.
"Thank you for your service. It's troublesome to be seen by the public, but could we perhaps borrow a police station?"
"Miss."
The soldiers naturally knew Christina's face and bowed their heads right there. Then, one of them asked.
"Rather than a police station, wouldn't the castle be fine?"
"I cannot let my father hear about my husband's infidelity."
"Infidelity?"
Christina explained the situation to the soldiers.
Watching this scene, the young woman understood that the person she had spoken to was an incredibly noble person and that they had come in disguise. She turned pale, realizing she had done something terrible.
"Please, at least spare my life. At least the child's life."
"No, we aren't going to do anything like that. If we can help find the real father, we will. Let's go to a place where we can talk calmly. I'm curious about this story too."
Steve persuaded the woman, and just as they were about to move, a middle-aged man with a bald head and a pot belly arrived.
And he grabbed Steve by the collar. Since he wasn't trying to harm the children, Steve let him hold on.
"Jacob, today I'll make you pay off your accumulated debt. If there are soldiers here, that's perfect. If this guy doesn't pay, arrest him and put him in jail."
"Let go of me immediately!"
"Why? This guy hasn't paid for the food and drink he consumed at my shop."
The middle-aged man, rejected by the soldiers, looked at them with dissatisfaction. However, when the soldiers drew their swords and looked at him with serious faces, he understood this was no ordinary matter.
To the soldiers, Steve, who was Christina's husband, was the top of the nobility in this country. If he were to be injured by a commoner in Mackintosh Land, no one knew what punishment the Marquess Mackintosh would inflict.
Also, there was fear that if Steve got angry and went wild, they couldn't stop him.
"I don't know who you are mistaken for, but are you coming with us? The child is scared, so please let go for now."
"Ah, yes."
The soldiers' strange atmosphere didn't change, but the middle-aged man, driven by the desire to get his money, followed Steve.
And they borrowed a soldier's police station to have a discussion.
"First, let me introduce myself. I am Steve T.S. Archibalt. I was granted the Dragon Head Medal by Your Majesty, and in the Yellow Empire, I hold the position of Duke. With such a status, I would not impregnate a commoner woman or eat and drink on credit."
The middle-aged man was an owner of a restaurant and seemed to think Steve was a customer who hadn't paid for food and drink on credit.
Both of them turned pale upon hearing Steve's introduction.
"From what you two said, is it correct that there is a man named Jacob who looks like me, who fathered a child and ran away, or eats and drinks without paying?"
"Yes."
The two nodded. By now, the atmosphere was such that they couldn't pursue him even if Steve had actually done it.
"So, I am innocent."
Steve looked at his wives.
Nancy accepted what Steve said, but she still had dissatisfaction.
"Sir, this isn't the end. We must teach that insolent person who looks exactly like you a lesson."
"That's true. Unless that person is reformed, I can't walk around Mackintosh Land in disguise."
"Worst case, that person might pretend to be you and cause trouble for us."
"If you forge a noble's identity, it's a capital offense. Well, even so, there are those who would do it. First of all, we are already in trouble. Yes, I will buy your debts. I don't know how much child support will be, but..."
The woman and the middle-aged man were surprised by Steve's proposal.
"Is that alright?"
"I can't get angry just because someone looks like me. Since I bought your debts, I intend to punish that Jacob."
"Thank you."
The two received money from Steve, bowed their heads, and left. Only the woman intended to make him bear responsibility as a father, so she confirmed his name and address. Her name was Claire. She was a woman living in the general district of Mackintosh Land.
Steve and the others continued talking at the police station.
"This is truly troublesome."
Steve sighed.
"I was sad thinking that Steve-sama had secretly fathered a child,"
Christina said while holding Arthur.
Steve felt a strong sense of incongruity.
"Yeah, sad?"
To Steve, that seemed more like anger than sadness. In fact, anyone would have seen it as anger. Christina couldn't honestly apologize for suspecting and getting angry at Steve.
To Christina and Nancy, they thought there was a problem with Steve, who returned every time receiving the affection of some woman. However, they also disliked having a husband who was completely ignored by women.
Steve had a premonition that it was better not to pursue this too deeply, so he gave orders to the soldiers to search.
"I feel bad giving orders to the Marquess Mackintosh's soldiers, but I want you to find that man named Jacob. I will inform the Marquess myself."
"Understood. However, how should we distinguish between His Excellency and him?"
The soldiers' doubt was also reasonable. In the unlikely event that the other person claimed to be Steve, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Nancy said to such soldiers.
"If you cut off his right arm, you'll know. If it's Sir, he will dodge it, or even if cut, he will regenerate. If it's a fake, the arm will remain fallen."
"That's certain, but it's brutal."
Steve smiled bitterly.
"It was a nice disguise, but we'll stop here. So, if you see me dressed as a commoner, that is Jacob."
Saying that, Steve decided to return to the Marquess Mackintosh's castle.
And Jacob was found immediately. The next day, upon receiving that report, Steve went again to the police station where Jacob was captured, this time with his wives.
When facing Jacob, he was truly an exact double.
"Hmm, it's no wonder they mistook him for Sir."
"He seems useful as a body double. Although Steve-sama doesn't need a body double,"
Those were the wives' comments.
Even Steve himself thought he looked too similar and wondered if he was Brian's secret child. However, since Abigail would get angry with jealousy if told, he had no intention of reporting this matter.
Steve commended the soldiers who found Jacob.
"Good work. You found him well."
"As a result of inquiries, there were many eyewitness reports in the pleasure district, so we sent soldiers there to set up a stakeout. Then, he was caught perfectly in the net. He was with a woman different from yesterday's woman, so persuading that woman was the most difficult part."
"Oh, that sounds like information that will cause trouble when I call Claire later."
Jacob seemed to be a playboy, and there were other women. The one he was with yesterday was one of them. Hearing this, the faces of Christina and Nancy changed.
Steve later reminisced that he thought Christina might say something about castration.
"Jacob, be careful not to speak wrongly from now on, or you might not know what happens."
Steve spoke to Jacob with a serious face.
Jacob nodded, having heard that Steve was a noble. However, he wasn't convinced.
"I didn't cause trouble to a noble, did I?"
"I bought Jacob's debt. If it's not repaid, it's trouble."
Claire, called by the soldiers, arrived there.
"Jacob!"
"Claire, did you sell me to a noble?"
Jacob glared at Claire.
"What are you saying? You disappeared the moment the child was about to be born. How much money do you think I was struggling with? I was helped by this noble."
Claire was not to be outdone. She scratched Jacob's arms, who was tied to a chair.
"Ouch."
Steve stopped the fight that started right in front of him.
"Jacob, from now on, live with Claire and work seriously. You can repay the debt slowly, but if even one monthly payment is delayed, I will send you to the mines."
Steve declared that and handed a document to the soldiers. It was about Jacob's debt repayment. It was to make him repay whatever amount at the end of every month, and if it was delayed, send him to the mines.
Jacob could not oppose Steve, who was a noble, and had to accept the contract.
After Jacob and Claire left, Steve had something lingering in his mind, so he stayed at the police station to think about what that lingering thing was.
"Mining labor, mining labor."
"Sir, what is mining labor?"
"There is something that seems like a new business idea."
"Shall we make and sell pickaxes?"
"Pickaxes, huh."
Thinking from the word "pickaxe," Steve remembered the Gold Rush. He thought there was a story that the one who made the most money in the American Gold Rush was the merchant who sold pickaxes. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration.
"Let's make jeans."
"Jeans?"
"They are durable pants."
Jeans were originally born in France with denim, passed to Italy, and finally completed in America. The shape with those rivets was made in America.
If it is durable, it will sell, and there is a track record that it sold in Earth. And although it might be copied, he had confidence that he wouldn't lose on cost if he made the rivets by cold forging.
Steve immediately returned to his domain and tried to put the making of jeans into shape.
Thank you always for your typo reports.