Ch.182Chapter 182

A rumor circulated through the university, a landmark of Manheimr and cornerstone of its founding.

The rumor told of a suspiciously friendly professor who would appear on nights when the moonlight sparkled beautifully, taking students away…

“How is that a rumor? Professors are just regular people who drink and enjoy hobbies after classes end.”

“Listen to the end. If you naively follow the professor, you’ll enjoy good meat and dried fruit while drinking—”

“That sounds like a heartwarming story, not a rumor.”

“But the next morning, you wake up to find yourself with your thumbprint on a Manheimr civil service application.”

“Oh, shit.”

The university students at a nearby bar shuddered as if they’d heard something horrifying.

Why would anyone dislike becoming an official in the north’s only kingdom, where honor and success were guaranteed?

Though not entirely wrong, these clever university students knew well how difficult life as a civil servant could be.

Wasn’t it rumored that the palace lights never went out because officials trapped inside worked endlessly, unable to distinguish day from night?

“A senior who recently became an official visited me. He used to be quite robust, but after becoming an official, he became unrecognizably thin.”

“If he can still visit, doesn’t that mean he has some free time?”

“He wasn’t visiting for fun…”

Hearing his friend’s naive question, the young man gulped down his beer and said:

“He wasn’t visiting for fun but was dispatched to find sacrifices. His superiors probably ordered him to catch new officials.”

“Come on… that’s a bit…”

“What do you think that rumor was about? The professors are just passing along suitable talents because they don’t want to be dragged into civil service themselves.”

“……”

A brief silence fell among the young man and his friends. The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Come to think of it, the professors had been acting friendlier lately… could it be…?

“Ha, hahaha. No way that’s true, right?”

“Y-yeah. There are plenty of people who want to become officials, so that’s a bit far-fetched.”

“The world has principles. It doesn’t make sense to forcibly recruit people who have no intention of serving.”

They dismissed it as a joke and ordered more drinks.

Elven fruit wine, recently popular in the capital, was in high demand not only for its flavor but also for its higher alcohol content than beer.

The white fox beastkin who took their order approached with elegant steps and set down the fruit wine they ordered.

She looked around at the students with a haughty expression, then turned and walked away without hesitation. One of the men muttered while watching her leave:

“Wow, white fox beastkin are really pretty.”

“This guy looks normal but has a weird interest in beastkin.”

“Leave him alone, he’s in love.”

“H-honestly, I think she’s pretty attractive too…”

“What are you saying, Hans? Have you gone crazy from hanging around this guy too much?”

Perhaps it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just friends sharing meaningless banter.

They forgot about the conspiracy theory they had been whispering about and continued drinking…

“How about it? Are they ready to be handed over to the lord?”

“No. From what I heard, they seem to be doubting the rumors.”

“Tsk, can’t be helped. We can’t risk another incident with someone swinging an axe and causing a riot…”

The bar owner clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively at the white fox beastkin’s report. It seemed that today would be difficult to create a new slave—no, official.

What a pity.

* * *

Manheimr officials worked harder than anyone, to the point where rumors circulated that they had more work than slaves.

Yet officials never requested to resign. Though the process was painful, the results never disappointed.

The fertile land continued to increase its production as new farmers moved in.

Merchants visited the north, attracted by safe trade routes, reasonable tariffs, and quality goods, enriching the region’s resources.

Officials dispatched throughout the kingdom, backed by overwhelming central control, maintained stability.

“I’ll achieve success and fame even if just to justify all my hard work!!!”

“My hometown keeps sending letters and gifts of gratitude, so I have to continue out of guilt if nothing else…”

“If I can lure in some close juniors like my senior did, I might get some relief… I mean, we could enhance our honor together.”

It was the sense of accomplishment that kept people moving despite exhaustion. It might not be the heroic honor built with a sword from legends, but what did that matter?

Could a hero make an entire village prosperous with a single stroke of a quill pen?

We can.

From these desks, wielding quill pens, we can defeat the worst monster that even heroes cannot vanquish—the monster of poverty.

The greatest driving force for officials was the pride in being able to make this country and all its people happy.

…Of course, that didn’t mean officials should be worked to death.

Geron, his face haggard with fatigue, pressed his temples as he reported:

“As Your Majesty said, those dwarves are indeed proving very helpful. The merchants highly value their skills.”

Trom’s passion for success began to bear fruit after about two months.

The wood-starved dwarves showed great support for the gift of trees from this great adventurer, and the clan leadership established a guild with Trom as their representative.

The Steel-Anvil Trade Company.

Despite its grand name, it was simply a company created by the king, nobles, and guild master with Trom as its representative.

In a way, it was nothing more than the leadership’s desire to control everything, but there wasn’t much resistance. After all, even the lower classes could now eat wood instead of coal.

Without the leadership’s support, regular trade would have been difficult anyway, so neither side lost anything.

“Honestly, I was baffled that trees are so abundant on the surface… but according to reports from personnel dispatched to Dwargbog, iron and copper are common underground.”

With mutual needs aligned, there would be no problem maintaining trade.

Wendigo nodded with satisfaction and said:

“I told you they would be helpful friends. So stop being angry.”

“…I’m not angry, just tired. Someone brought me work without warning, cutting into what little rest time I had.”

He still doesn’t seem to have gotten over it.

Wendigo kept that thought to himself.

Geron was one of the few people in this world he could speak comfortably with, which sometimes led to speaking too freely.

Geron continued his report.

Promising talents among newly graduated students, petitions from nobles coming from the provinces, scholars requesting academic exchanges with elves…

“Recruiting talent is good, but tell them to refrain from getting people drunk and kidnapping them. For the nobles’ petitions, dispatch officials to assess the situation before accepting them.”

“What about the scholars’ requests?”

“I’ll ask Dario about that later. Dario probably knows more about elves. Anything else?”

Wendigo tapped the throne with his finger as he looked at the documents Geron was handing over. It felt draining to handle official duties after so long.

“The rest aren’t significant enough to require Your Majesty’s attention, so we can handle them.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Wendigo leaned back on the throne, inwardly sighing with relief. He never got used to official duties no matter how long he did them.

With some exaggeration, he felt much more at ease when he was managing a small village in the past.

“…What is Skadi doing now?”

“Probably similar work? I heard she established a new faction with the magic acquired—I mean discovered—in the recent war.”

After studying Dencan’s magic recovered from the war, Skadi recognized it as a legitimate branch and established a new faction.

Naturally, there was an overflow of applicants—not only summoners eager to explore well-preserved ancient magic but also witches looking to incorporate these abilities into their own practices.

The fact that this was a previously unknown type of magic wasn’t much of an issue.

Since ancient times, summoners had been fanatics who would go crazy at the mere mention of the word “ancient.”

Some summoners even abandoned their existing magic and rushed to learn this well-preserved ancient magic.

As a result, Skadi had to select summoners with good character, decent abilities, and teaching skills…

“With Skadi’s personality, she wouldn’t do things half-heartedly, so she must have had a hard time.”

“Indeed, the first steps in matters involving people are always the most important.”

It wasn’t an easy task, so Skadi’s struggle was inevitable. Fortunately, she had recently appointed suitable people to lead the faction and only had minor tasks remaining.

“Hmm… I’d like to have a meal with her after so long.”

“That would be fine, wouldn’t it? If Your Majesty invites her, it gives her a reason to rest, so she would probably appreciate it.”

“Is that so? Then send someone to convey the message to Skadi.”

At Wendigo’s command, one of the attendants who had been standing silently like a statue quickly approached Geron.

“Before telling Lady Skadi, inform the kitchen to prepare a banquet. And…”

“?”

As Geron lowered his voice, the attendant looked at him questioningly. Geron mouthed words without making a sound:

‘Also tell them to decorate the banquet hall more brightly. Enough to make one’s heart flutter.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Don’t try to understand, just do it.’

When the attendant asked with a puzzled expression, Geron gave a firm order. He had anticipated that no one else would understand.

Indeed, only Geron, who had spent the most time with the two, could understand such an order.

What kind of person would think that a Djin and a human would lo—

“Is something wrong?”

“Ahem, no. I was just thinking if there was anything else to convey.”

Geron cleared his throat and pushed the attendant’s back. The attendant, though confused about the situation, nodded and headed outside.

Thud!

The attendant leaned against the closed door, pondering deeply. He believed there must be a reason why Geron had given such an order.

But the meaning was too profound for the attendant trapped in his preconceptions…

‘…Lord Geron must surely have some grand purpose for this!’

The attendant gave up thinking and hurried his steps. Just realizing there was a greater purpose was enough effort on his part.

…Had he understood the true meaning, he would have viewed Geron with much more suspicion.

* * *

Those who worked in the palace were fundamentally competent. Having passed Geron’s evaluation based solely on ability and character without regard for their past, how could they be incompetent?

“He said to make it bright… how about decorating with flowers and golden silk?”

“No, he also mentioned making hearts flutter. Let’s spray some rose fragrance and use red as the main color…”

“Lady Skadi seems to be coming, so perhaps we should focus on white to match her—”

Upon hearing that Skadi had been invited, the attendants united in decorating the banquet hall.

If Wendigo was the most respected person in Manheimr, Skadi was the most popular.

Her distinctive white hair and red eyes weren’t objects of hatred?

How could anyone hate the devoted companion who guided the king on the right path, the great witch who enlightened other witches, the one who dedicated herself to the people?

At least in Manheimr, there was no one who hated or despised Skadi. Such statements would be considered hostile to the kingdom—if you were stabbed while walking for saying such things, you’d have no excuse.

The attendants decorated the banquet hall with colors and ornaments suitable for Skadi, and the dishes were prepared to be eaten elegantly so as not to detract from the lady’s beauty.

After checking everything meticulously, Geron was confident.

Surely this time there would be great results!

“Ho ho ho, it’s been a while.”

“……”

…At least it would have been, if not for the tactless old man who appeared without notice.

Alfodur, for whom no news was good news, had chosen today of all days to visit. Geron glared at Alfodur with cold eyes.

Though merely human, the anger in his eyes was quite intense.

Perhaps that’s why Alfodur scratched his eye patch and averted his single eye.

“I would have preferred if it remained ‘a while’ longer… so what brings you here?”

As the appetite-ruining Alfodur appeared, Wendigo asked him in a transparent voice.

What could this busy man who spent his time voyeuristically—no, observantly—watching dozens of lives from the heavens want?

“Well, you see… oof!?”

“Kyaaaah! It’s really Wendigo!!!!”

“Huh?”

A woman who appeared from somewhere pushed aside Alfodur, who had been hesitantly speaking, and claimed the seat in front of Wendigo.

The woman, with pink hair that seemed to emit a fresh floral scent, grabbed Wendigo’s fingers with sparkling eyes and exclaimed:

“Hello, hello! You’re even more handsome and dignified in person~ No wonder Skadi fell for your charm!”

“Who is this?”

Wendigo, who had inadvertently shaken hands with her, asked Alfodur in an uncomfortable voice. Alfodur tried to answer as he got up…

Thwack!

The woman pushed Alfodur down again and answered Wendigo herself:

“My name is Frigg! I’m the poor girl who became this good-for-nothing’s wife. And…”

Grab!

Still holding Wendigo’s fingers, the woman said with shining eyes:

“I’m a huge fan of you and Skadi!”

“……”

Wendigo stared at the pink-haired woman, Frigg, as if she were insane, clearly disgusted.