Ch.103103. Resolve

After disbanding the Burko family.

I finally called Ember out for a face-to-face meeting. While I was away in the Papal State, Ember had been recruiting technicians needed for the territory.

The meeting place was the salon that Ember once loved dearly.

I hadn’t chosen this place to tease her. It was because meeting at open-air cafes or restaurants would attract too many onlookers.

In the Imperial Capital, people typically don’t bother with formalities when encountering ordinary nobles on the street, but for the Hero, it was different. This was better than risking encounters with elderly people suddenly kneeling or people rushing up asking me to bless their possessions.

“Erick. It’s been a while… right?”

“A while? It’s only been a few days.”

“…Haha. That’s true.”

She seemed to be contemplating how to treat me.

‘It’s natural to be surprised when someone who left as an envoy returns as the Hero.’

I could imagine how shocked she must have been hearing about the Goddess’s rampage.

I didn’t need to ask her directly. Even now, Ember was looking at me with an expression of uncertainty.

“Just so you know, don’t call me ‘Lord Hero.'”

“I wasn’t planning to. But that holy sword…”

“Don’t worry. I’ve poured holy water on it dozens of times to remove Gwon Heejin’s fingerprints. It’s a bit unsettling, but I’ll have to bear with it.”

There was no need to express the regrets I’d been mulling over since taking on the role of Hero in front of Ember. I’d already sorted out my feelings.

To be honest, I hadn’t called Ember out just to see her face this time.

“I know you’re busy, but I have something for you to do.”

“Me?”

Ember was currently involved in merchant guild affairs.

Bingo, the financial officer, was already overwhelmed with managing my personal assets and monitoring the status of territories with futures contracts.

Eventually, Ember, one of the few nobles in my territory, had to share the responsibilities. Fortunately, she had been handling things reasonably well so far.

So it seemed appropriate to add another task for her.

It was related to the rehabilitation of John Burko and his clan.

“I think we need to set up a workshop in the territory.”

“I was already preparing to produce herb products.”

“Sorry, but I’m not talking about a workshop for soap and bath products. This would be a workshop for producing magic scrolls.”

I was planning to set up a labor camp in my territory for the rehabilitation of the Burko family.

At first, I considered setting it up in the Imperial Capital or just handing it over to the Magic Tower. That would have been the simplest solution.

But after thinking it through, I realized that wasn’t the answer.

“I thought it would be better to develop the county at the same time.”

Ember stared at me for a moment before nodding.

“…Well, aside from you being the lord, our territory doesn’t have any special features. It only stands out because other territories are so impoverished.”

The Wellesley County was a common territory like any other in the Empire.

All it had were wheat, beans, turnips, grapes, cattle, pigs, and so on. No resources to exploit, no special products to boast about. We even had to purchase hay from outside due to slightly insufficient grasslands.

In the midst of this, producing scrolls would help develop the territory.

Ember seemed to have caught on to what I was suggesting.

“…So we’ll have those people produce scrolls, and we’ll distribute them. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes. There should be some profit left even after taking out the creditors’ share. And even if it’s not about income, just the rumor of a territory with reasonably priced scrolls would naturally create competitiveness. Though it will be tough for you.”

At this point, Ember should have said something predictable like “It’s no trouble” or “It can’t be as hard as what you’re going through, Erick” with a smile…

But Ember didn’t do that and instead nodded.

“It will be quite difficult to manage.”

“Yes. It won’t be easy to command people who used to live as privileged class. Supervising them to work hard will be even more difficult.”

“Still, I’ll give it a try. If the territory develops, I’ll benefit too.”

After confidently saying this, Ember immediately came up with ideas for operating the labor camp.

“…As far as I know, John Burko’s nephew is studying at the Academy. I heard he’s ranked 4th or 5th in his year—isn’t that good enough to enter the Court Magician Corps?”

Even with just this much, I could tell what Ember was thinking.

“You want me to give preferential treatment to that nephew? Instead of making him create scrolls.”

“I thought it might be better if they could see some future prospects. And it would be easier to manage him if he’s in the Court Magician Corps.”

That’s true. I readily nodded.

Ember looked worried that I might think she was being mercenary. After all, she was essentially suggesting taking a promising family member hostage to extract labor from the rest.

“Don’t worry about it, Ember. I don’t think badly of you at all.”

To get along with me, she needed to be able to think this shrewdly. With a head full of nothing but flowers, it would be hard to survive. Actually, in a normal world, one should be able to live happily even with a head full of flowers, but the current situation didn’t allow for that.

“I think you’re the only man who would praise something like this, Erick.”

“Well, it’s fortunate that there’s at least one. Anyway, get things ready. Hire people if needed, and purchase materials.”

After giving these instructions, I sipped the tea Ember had ordered. I also didn’t forget my promise to find her cousin who was following John Burko’s second son. I needed to disband the Unicorn Party anyway.

‘I’ve essentially set up a slave labor camp.’

The events since my appointment as the Hero naturally came to mind.

Refunds, purges, and now personal rehabilitation.

I couldn’t help thinking these weren’t things a Hero should be doing—but at the same time, they were things only a Hero could do. After all, I had reduced a once-prestigious noble family of magic to mere tools overnight.

‘Moreover, when people learn that this fallen family is working in my territory, they’ll all be disgusted.’

But that sentiment wouldn’t pose a threat to me.

“Erick. Actually, while staying in the Imperial Capital, I encountered people from some influential families. Not because I wanted to, but because they approached me.”

“They were probably trying to sound you out.”

“Yes. They seemed very curious about you. Even though you’re not a Hero who suddenly appeared one day, but someone who’s been active across the continent since your days as a regular member. The fact that they approached even me probably means…”

“Everyone who knows me must be suffering.”

People seemed anxious to know what I was thinking and who I would purge next.

In truth, I had been quite unpopular among the nobles so far.

Even after becoming a Count, many people criticized me behind my back. Generally, they accused me of taking everything for myself, and there were still many who made wild speculations about short selling or futures.

But from now on, they would find it difficult even to whisper behind my back. Not if they didn’t want to be condemned in the name of the Hero. If anyone tried to lecture me by bringing up my predecessor, Gwon Heejin, I could simply show them my warhammer.

‘Maybe being appointed as the Hero isn’t all bad…?’

The only advantage seemed to be a reduction in gossip and false rumors.

It was pathetic, but I was grateful for any advantage. I was tired of seeing the expressions of people who would boldly criticize me but then hesitate and back away when face-to-face.

“By the way, Erick. That rehabilitation thing, is it possibly…?”

“It’s a concept from the Saintess’s mind, not Gwon Heejin’s. The Saintess is truly a Saintess, implementing rehabilitation as soon as she arrived.”

I made a nonsensical comment, but Ember didn’t bother to point it out and just nodded.

Up to this point, it seemed like a relatively peaceful day.

Of course, reality was still a mess if you just shifted your gaze slightly.

Through the window, I could see one of the ghosts from the leaderless exchange walking with its mouth agape, and at the table across from us, young Academy students were muttering about losing money on Hero gambling.

“I really was going to choose number 4, why did I change at the last minute, it’s such a waste,” “I want to slap those bastards who are showing off because they won money,” and so on.

Fortunately, the Hero gambling refunds were being processed. The ghosts from the exchange could be put into the rehabilitation system. But I knew better than anyone that the situation wouldn’t be resolved with just that.

“…Um, Erick. We’ll need to monitor the Hero party members to prevent them from gambling.”

“Of course.”

I readily agreed.

***

At the same time, in the Papal State.

Saintess Gang Hannah was touring a poorhouse for the disabled with Elder Priest Edin.

It was something she had volunteered for. She knew that learning sacred laws to join the Hero’s party was her most important mission, but she wanted to contribute in other ways if possible.

But then.

“That young man’s name is Matthias. He was once a royal family member likely to be named Crown Prince, Saintess.”

Gang Hannah momentarily froze at these words.

The person Elder Priest Edin pointed to was a young man attending to the disabled.

Shabby priest’s robes, a regularly shaved head, and a gaunt appearance with prominent cheekbones. Even now, he was feeding porridge to the disabled with vacant eyes.

Perhaps his ability to feel emotions was damaged. He didn’t seem to mind at all when one of the disabled people he was caring for kept hitting him on the head.

‘That person… is royalty?’

Gang Hannah tried to appear calm while swallowing hard.

She had been frightened when a nun told her how Gwon Heejin had died, but this was a different kind of fear.

“…It may not compare to where the Saintess originally lived, but the situation here is not easy either.”

“Ah, yes. Everyone has their difficulties.”

The Saintess hurriedly replied with a smile.

But she could feel the tension rising within her.

In truth, when she first accepted the Goddess’s offer, she was primarily motivated by a desire to escape her grim reality. But after the transfer, she found that the situation here was no walk in the park either. No, it was more than just difficult—it was somewhat brutal.

‘But I can’t go back now.’

A duty she had accepted without much sense of mission. Yet there were many people who treated her with respect as the Saintess and took care of her.

Some even pitied her. There was an atmosphere of viewing her original world as a living hell. They seemed to misunderstand it as a world where corpses littered the streets and every neighborhood had its own Gwon Heejin.

Sorry, but she couldn’t correct that misunderstanding. She had a sense of foreboding that doing so would lead to trouble.

Yes. Let’s survive first.

Gang Hannah clenched her fist, reaffirming her resolve. The Elder Priest looked at her with what seemed like pity.