episode_0057

57. How to Connect with Unnie

We arrived at the coal mining village.

A remote place that took 12 hours of riding warhorses from Frezia, the capital of Redmain.

It was also a village of miners digging up abundant underground resources such as clay and iron, for which Adele held the mining rights.

As expected of a world where men and women are equal thanks to magic, soot-covered miners of both genders welcomed us.

To be precise, the miners’ expressions weren’t particularly welcoming.

They didn’t seem all that happy to greet us.

Well, if you put yourself in their shoes, it must feel like a sudden visit from a brigade commander or a two-star general.

As if confirming my thoughts, what appeared to be the village mayor bowed nervously to Adele, sweating profusely.

“A-Ah, Lady Adele! To what do we owe this unexpected visit…?”

“What, can’t I drop by?”

“N-No, of course not! Hahaha…”

“Right? I almost thought you didn’t like me, Secretary.”

The mayor—no, the secretary—was bowing and scraping before Adele while sweating buckets.

Adele, with just a flick of her tongue, expertly cornered and teased him.

“Got any lodgings in the village?”

“I’ll guide you to the finest accommodations we have!”

By now, the sun had already set, and the moon hung high in the sky.

The secretary, having rushed out in such a hurry upon hearing of Adele’s arrival, was still wearing his sleeping cap.

He bowed smoothly and guided us to the best lodgings the village had to offer.

“Bear with the tight space. It’s not exactly a place meant for nobles.”

“I don’t mind as long as there’s a bed and a desk.”

The lodging was surprisingly spacious—about 25 pyeong (82.6㎡) per room.

The flooring was made of pristine white wood, and the walls were polished smooth, likely crafted by a skilled artisan.

In a medieval setting, walls would typically be made of clay, gravel, or limestone, but how were these so unnaturally straight?

With that thought, I lay down on the plush bed prepared for honored guests and fell asleep.

The next morning.

The rising sun revealed the village that had been hidden in darkness the night before.

Houses, one or two stories tall, stood with wooden pillars and whitewashed clay walls.

Unpaved dirt roads wound through the village, and people washed their faces using water scooped into wooden basins.

The scent of livestock dung, typical of rural areas, mingled with the greenery.

A coal mining village with an ordinary medieval vibe.

While I felt a warm, countryside-like comfort, Adele, on the other hand, grimaced in displeasure.

Naturally, the secretary, who had come out early to greet us, broke into a cold sweat at the sight.

“The lord will surely return within two days! Until then, we’ll do our best at Scarlett’s castle…”

“No need. I just came to take a quick look.”

The coal mining village named Scarlett.

Though it had a rural feel, it was sizable enough to have its own lord.

Most notably, there were walls and even a castle—smaller than the Grace mansion, but still impressive with its stonework.

After brushing off the secretary, Adele and I rode to the mines.

Scratching my cheek, I turned to Adele riding beside me and asked a question.

“Hey, Lady Adele?”

“What?”

“Even if you’re from the former ducal family, aren’t you being a bit too dismissive here?”

The Grace family was a powerful house, one even the Five Emperor Candidates couldn’t easily challenge.

Though demoted from duke to count due to Erika’s mistake, their influence remained formidable.

And Adele beside me was both a general of the Grace army and a member of the Grace family.

Still, no matter how high your rank, courtesy is necessary.

Even high-ranking nobles should at least meet the local lord, shouldn’t they?

But Adele just snorted at my question.

“Heh, you know why Scarlett grew into such a large village?”

“…Because of the nearby mines, since it’s a coal town?”

“And who owns all those mines?”

Ah… Now it makes sense.

No matter how much authority the village lord has, if Adele shuts down the mines, Scarlett would collapse instantly.

That’s why even if Adele acts rudely, the lord has no choice but to grovel before her.

Effectively, Adele is the real ruler here.

“If talented Grace family members split off to become lords, it’d just be a headache, right?”

In other words, the messy administrative work is shoved onto puppet lords.

She holds the lifeline of the region and siphons the profits.

That’s terrifying.

“Besides, if we ever run short of limestone or iron ore, Erika unnie would be in trouble.”

She bought these mines for Erika’s sake and now wields them to shake down weak lords.

Already feeling exploited myself, I silently sympathized with the unnamed lord of Scarlett.

We rode for hours after that.

We passed several mines along the way, but most were silver mines.

After a long ride, we finally arrived at the clay mine.

“Finally…”

Somehow, even though only two days had passed, the journey felt unbearably long.

Hopping off the horse, I entered the exposed sedimentary layer of the clay mine.

Quickly moving past the workers, I picked up a piece of clay ore.

For the first time in a while, I used my identification skill to inspect the clay.

[Silica 38%, Alumina 30%, Iron Oxide 10%, Other 12%]

“Dud.”

I tossed the clay ore aside.

There was too little silica and too much alumina.

But since clay composition varies by layer, I asked a nearby miner to dig deeper.

“This whole mine’s a dud.”

“No idea what that means, but let’s move to the next one.”

At least having an identification skill is a lifesaver.

Without it, I’d be stuck doing all sorts of ridiculous experiments to analyze compositions… Or maybe not.

In novels and comics, everyone starts with some overpowered cheat skill.

“…Points! Status window! Shop!”

“Whoa! What’s gotten into you?”

“Suddenly realizing how unfair life is…”

“?”

Adele gave me a completely baffled look.

Honestly, if you’re going to reincarnate me into another world, couldn’t you at least give me one cheat skill?

Then I wouldn’t have to roam clay mines analyzing compositions like this.

Like, collect points, then *pop*—a shop menu appears, and you casually build an apartment.

Thinking about it made my identification skill feel pathetic.

“You feeling sick?”

“No, let’s go.”

Yeah… When has my life ever been easy?

If I gave up over something like this, I would’ve quit back in grad school.

With that, I slapped my cheeks and hyped myself up.

────────────────────

Three days passed.

The Cain before me had searched every clay mine without sleeping.

He descended into exposed sedimentary layers, examined ores, sighed, and requested miners to dig higher or lower—only to sigh again.

“You can really tell just by looking?”

“Trade secret… But trust me, it’s reliable.”

I wasn’t convinced, but I had no choice but to rely on Cain’s “Heaven-Sent Genius” title.

One thing was certain: Cain was giving it his all.

For three days straight, he scoured every corner of clay mines, rode straight to the next, and repeated—all without sleep.

Of course, fatigue became visibly evident over time.

The more tired he grew, the more erratic his movements, as if desperately fighting off sleep.

Late at night, with no miners around, Cain even wielded a pickaxe himself.

After inspecting the ore with his own eyes, he hurled it onto the ground like a pottery master rejecting flawed clay—shattering it.

“This isn’t the right one!”

Insane.

But true to his reputation for responsibility, he spent hours meticulously checking each mine.

Meanwhile, I sat on the grassy slope above the sedimentary layer, killing time.

“What does unnie even see in him…?”

Was it because I was a lesbian? Or was unnie’s taste just bad?

I couldn’t understand why she’d fall for some commoner and go through all this trouble…

*Yawn…*

Bored out of my mind, alternating between riding horses and watching this lunatic.

I stoked the nearby campfire a little before crouching down to pass the time.

Despite being a general, fatigue weighed on me, and my eyelids grew heavy.

Like a boulder pressing down, my blinking slowed as my eyelids turned leaden.

Even with the fire nearby, my body chilled—apparently, the lingering spring cold hadn’t left yet.

Wearing light clothes meant for mobility left me vulnerable to the cold, but I was too mentally drained to move.

Then, just for a moment…

When I slowly closed and reopened my eyes, feeling as if only a second had passed…

“Huh?”

The night sky, which had been dark enough to warrant a campfire earlier, was now blue.

Not only that, but draped over my exposed outfit was a large man’s coat.

Realizing I’d fallen asleep, I jolted up—

“You’re awake?”

“……”

There sat Cain, crouched nearby, scribbling something in a notebook.

Embarrassment flared instantly.

How pitiful must I have looked—the great general of Erika Grace, dozing off from exhaustion?

And here was Cain, without even mana, working tirelessly while I, who claimed to be Erika’s right hand…

Annoyed, I tossed his coat back at him and snapped a question.

“…Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You looked tired.”

“I was just meditating!”

Only an idiot would believe that excuse—and I sounded like one.

Cain must’ve thought so too, smirking as he took back the coat.

“I was exhausted too. Three days straight with no rest nearly killed me.”

“Hah, weakling!”

The bastard was oddly considerate—enough to make my heart flutter.

Is this how he charmed Vivian and angelic unnie?

Now I understood why Erika called him a fox.

“So what’re you writing?”

“A list.”

“List?”

Cain showed me the notebook.

Inside was a ranked compilation of the quality of every clay mine we’d visited so far.

Had he been working on this while I slept?

Impressed beyond expectations, I watched as he stretched and stood up.

“Ngh… Time to head to the next one?”

“…Hold on.”

I pulled out a piece of paper, wrote a letter, and handed it to a miner just starting his shift.

The miner’s expression screamed reluctance, but…

“Deliver it quickly.”

A token of sincerity (money) later, he left for Scarlett, grinning ear to ear.

Cain gave me a puzzled look.

“You seem suddenly cheerful?”

Oops, didn’t mean to let that show.

Why was I so happy?

All this time, I’d loved and served Erika unnie.

But marriage or relationships between women can’t produce heirs.

Besides, Erika unnie became the Grace family head—eventually, she’d have to marry and bear successors.

Of course, she’d likely marry some disgusting noble for political reasons—someone I wouldn’t even want to share space with.

But what if…

What if Cain successfully married Erika unnie?

Then, wouldn’t I be able to connect with unnie too?

Women can’t couple physically, but sharing the same ‘tool’ counts, right?

“Hmph, it’s nothing.”

I brushed it off with a smile before mounting my horse and riding with Cain to the next clay mine.

Thankfully, the moment we arrived, Cain’s excited shout echoed.

“Found it!!”

Afterward, I negotiated with the mine supervisor and ordered a large shipment of clay to Frezia.

Exhausted, Cain kept nodding off on horseback, so I took his reins and led us back to Scarlett.

By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, we arrived at the same lodging from before.

Rubbing his eyes, Cain mumbled an apology.

“Sorwy… So tired…”

“You worked hard. Get some proper rest.”

“Okay…”

Tired Cain in tow, I entered the first-floor lobby.

The barkeeper-innkeeper spotted me and flinched before reciting lines like a bad actor.

“My apologies, guests. We only have one room left.”

“……What?”

“Seriously?”

Good—looks like the letter arrived safely.

────────────────────

Erika was in the war tent with Luna, Vivian, Fenrose, and Lukarion, discussing the war’s progress.

They were steadily advancing toward the imperial capital at the heart of Romania.

Though the invincible Reina or the general-slaying Gron hadn’t appeared yet, their progress was decent.

Better yet, with Cecilia and other monarchs contributing, casualties were minimal.

Good news all around—yet…

Erika clutched her head, groaning from a sudden migraine.

“Ugh…”

“Unnie, headache again?”

“My lord! Are you alright?!”

Vivian and Luna fretted over her in concern.

Though she suffered from chronic headaches, being separated from Cain—her emotional support—made them worse.

But this pain felt different; Erika scowled and muttered.

“…Something’s happening.”

“Something?”

Vivian tilted her head.

Erika, dead serious, addressed the gathered generals and strategists.

“It feels like someone’s about to betray me—hard.”

“My lord, none here would betray you.”

“Though I surrendered, my life is pledged to you.”

“Ancient wisdom says rulers with virtue possess uncanny senses.

I swear no betrayal, but I advise caution.”

Luna, Fenrose, and Lukarion reassured her worries.

Erika’s influence was currently unparalleled.

Redmain was developing at an astonishing rate, with food and livestock issues resolving steadily.

Plus, as population equated to national power, Aris reported a massive influx of new residents.

Overpopulation and housing were issues, but with Cain handling it, Erika didn’t worry.

That fox would pull a miracle out of thin air if needed.

Everything was going well—so why?

“O-Of course! Who’d ever betray unnie?!”

Vivian’s voice wavered slightly, but I trusted her.

After all, Cain, Adele, Aris—everyone in Frezia was loyal.

Erika forced down the nagging headache and uneasy premonition.

“No one would.”

Only Vivian whistled innocently, avoiding eye contact.