episode_0464

Under Princess Mona’s orders, I arrived at the area where strange phenomena were occurring.

“Sigh….”

As I moved, I carefully read the investigation report on the strange phenomena.

Even though I already knew what was happening from reading the report, experiencing the strange phenomena firsthand still left me in awe.

“The situation on-site seems more serious than what was reported.”

Is it possible to enter?

The city was completely engulfed by the strange phenomena to the point where it became a challenge to even consider entering.

“How could this happen?”

There are various types of natural phenomena.

Here, a typhoon accompanied by heavy rain had swept in, turning the entire city into a sea of water.

Although the ground was not low, the city had become submerged due to the pouring rain.

“I might need to use a boat to enter.”

The problem was that even moving by boat wouldn’t be easy.

Due to the typhoon, the residents’ belongings were floating around, and the strong winds made it difficult to navigate through.

The only silver lining was that there was a shelter.

The city’s residents had safely evacuated to the shelter and were being protected.

Although safety wasn’t an immediate concern, the continuous downpour and rising water levels were surely causing anxiety for the residents.

“This is too severe.”

This typhoon was on a completely different level from any previous ones.

If one could feel fear just from watching the rain, would you believe it?

The emotion I was feeling was undoubtedly fear.

“I have to resolve this.”

It felt burdensome.

A cold sweat broke out.

Of course, the cold sweat was quickly washed away by the pouring rain.

The raindrops were so heavy that it was difficult to keep my eyes open.

To ignore the instinctive warning not to enter, I pulled my hood down further.

“I have to go in.”

I couldn’t just stand by while people suffered in the typhoon.

“I should remember the note Mr. Soo-han gave me. He said as long as I remember the contents, I’ll be fine.”

It was a good idea to keep the note deep in my pocket to prevent it from getting wet.

Although it felt wrong to use the note inappropriately, facing such a daunting typhoon made me feel like I had no choice but to rely on it.

“Let’s go in.”

Into the heart of the typhoon.

Kurung- kurung-

The sky above the city engulfed by the typhoon echoed with ominous thunder as dark storm clouds swirled menacingly.

If there was an entrance to hell, wouldn’t it be there?

And I, a soldier of the empire, willingly had to enter that entrance to hell.

※ ※ ※

“To think such ominous events are happening in the empire right after Princess Mona’s ascension….”

“Shh! Do you want to get into trouble for saying unnecessary things?”

“I’m not saying this for no reason. Even news from my uncle has stopped. I heard there was chaos over there as soon as it happened.”

“Let’s pray for their safety.”

Many people were disappearing due to the strange phenomena occurring throughout the empire.

The empire was on high alert, dispatching soldiers to areas where strange phenomena were happening.

The Emperor had entrusted Princess Mona with resolving the strange phenomena and had taken a hands-off approach.

No one had expected the Emperor to take an interest in the empire’s affairs.

Princess Mona wasted no time in preparing to address the strange phenomena.

She must be in a busy situation without a moment to rest.

The phenomenon was not limited to one place, but rather a disaster of such immense scale that it was hard to imagine there being no casualties.

“I never expected Princess Hwangtae to come all the way here.”

“I didn’t even know she would come here.”

And she ended up at our general store.

Nae-gi seemed lost in thought, looking like she might collapse at any moment, so I suggested she go inside and rest.

When Princess Hwangtae appeared, was running the store really that important?

Surprisingly, Nae-gi obediently closed the store and disappeared into her house.

“There are some kids I haven’t seen before. Who are these children? They’re cute.”

“Oh, you guys didn’t go out?”

Whether they were hiding in the shadows or not, Princess Hwangtae mentioned the children, and Dan-ya and Ru-ya popped out of my shadow.

“Sorry!”

Ru-ya looked surprised, as if she didn’t expect to be caught, while Dan-ya looked at Princess Hwangtae with a curious expression.

“These are the children we recently took in for protection. Shall we introduce ourselves?”

“Hello. Sorry! It wasn’t intentional! We had to go out, but missed the chance…”

“They usually like hiding in my shadow. They were probably in there even before you arrived, Princess Hwangtae.”

When asked how it feels to enter someone’s shadow, I heard that different people feel differently, but for some reason, entering my shadow makes them feel at ease.

It’s perfect for taking a nap when feeling sluggish all over.

After hearing that, the twins didn’t resist entering my shadow as much.

They must have been in my shadow as usual today, so it was quite embarrassing.

“I didn’t expect Princess Hwangtae to suddenly show up.”

Ru-ya was especially vigilant.

She looks worried, as if she has done something terribly wrong.

“It’s okay. I’m the uninvited guest who didn’t inform you beforehand. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

Princess Hwangtae smiled and spoke to the twins, and Ru-ya, feeling relieved, took Dan-ya’s hand.

“Let’s go outside.”

“Huh? Can’t we stay here?”

“No. We have to go out.”

Ru-ya dragged Dan-ya, who didn’t want to, outside.

“They’re cute. Are you about ten years old?”

“I’m thirteen.”

“Hmm, I knew there was no reason for you to protect them if they were raised in a good home, but they seem to have been raised poorly.”

“I’m doing my best to feed and educate them.”

“What about the academy?”

“They say they have no status because they grew up on the streets. They don’t know how to read or write, so I’ve been educating them for about a year and plan to send them next year.”

“Have you resolved the children’s status issue?”

“I’ve applied, so it should be resolved soon.”

“Due to the recent strange phenomena, administrative work has almost come to a standstill. Can you believe that the empire’s talent grew up on the streets? We need to improve the orphanages as well.”

Princess Hwangtae was creating work even here.

It didn’t seem entirely bad.

The busier she was, the better the empire would be, after all.

“You should focus on the orphanages, but aren’t you busy because of the strange phenomena?”

“I am. It was quite a stretch for me to come here in person.”

“If you had contacted me, I would have come to see you.”

“I thought I could visit the museum after a long time under the pretext of seeing you.”

Princess Hwangtae’s love for the museum still seemed strong.

Honestly, meeting me was just a side benefit, and the main purpose wasn’t the museum, was it?

“The most regrettable thing about being here is that I can’t visit the museum often.”

Mona was confident that if Princess Hwangtae became empress, she would build a new museum in the palace.

“Anyway.”

The conversation suddenly veered towards the museum, which made me feel awkward, but fortunately, Princess Hwangtae redirected the conversation back to its original purpose.

“I heard that you are doing a very commendable job.”

“A commendable job?”

At the mention of Hwang Taenyeo’s words, I couldn’t think of anything right away, so I asked back, puzzled.

“Do you not know that we have set up shelters to protect the residents who have lost their homes due to the abnormal phenomena? Did you think it was something I did, but it wasn’t?”

“Ah- that was indeed something I did. I didn’t immediately recall it because setting up shelters was something we did when we established the upper headquarters.”

“Why did you build shelters near the upper headquarters when you were setting it up?”

Hwang Taenyeo’s eyes sparkled sharply.

She seemed to have noticed that I had been moving with knowledge of the future, and this time, she seemed to be suspicious that it might be something similar.

In fact, it was too far-fetched to deny it was not already happening.

But I couldn’t outright say that I knew the future, so I decided to divert the conversation.

“It was probably used as a village hall in the past. Since our upper headquarters started late, it wasn’t easy to build rapport with the local people in a strange city by building an upper headquarters. So, I thought about how we could quickly integrate the upper headquarters into the city and came up with the idea of building a building that could be used like a village hall for everyone.”

“It seems like it would have been effective. There shouldn’t be anyone who would object to lending out the space for free.”

“Yes. And since the building was originally built as a shelter, it seems to have been useful in the current situation.”

Whether my explanation was convincing or not, Hwang Taenyeo nodded in approval.

“In fact, it doesn’t matter why the shelters were built. What’s important is that they are now greatly benefiting the Empire. You’ve managed to build many upper headquarters in various places in a short period of time. Would it be okay for the military to use the shelters to rescue people?”

“Feel free to do as you please. There’s no reason to refuse if it’s for the benefit of the Empire’s citizens.”

Even if the country said they would use my home as a shelter, I would have to accept it.

With my casual permission, Mona Hwang Taenyeo smiled satisfactorily and brought up the next agenda.

“To be honest, the conversation we just had was just a formality, as you probably know. The real discussion starts now.”

“Yes. I will listen attentively.”

“Through this recent incident and past experiences, I know that you have insight into the future.”

“It seems like an overinflation of the abilities of a rather unremarkable person.”

Despite my humble words, Mona Hwang Taenyeo continued without batting an eye.

“The contaminated zone that had stopped moving has started moving again. Natural disasters originating from the contaminated zone are plaguing the Empire, and even if we resolve this issue, the probability of similar incidents occurring again is high.”

I hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but it seemed like Mona Hwang Taenyeo wanted to gain access to the future knowledge I possessed.

Just as I had prepared the upper headquarters in anticipation of the abnormal phenomena occurring, if this information had reached Mona Hwang Taenyeo’s ears, receiving such a proposal wouldn’t be entirely strange.